cover image Eichmann in My Hands

Eichmann in My Hands

Peter Z. Malkin. Warner Books, $22.95 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-446-51418-7

Adolf Eichmann, ``architect of the Holocaust,'' was seized in Buenos Aires in 1960 by Israeli agents and spirited to Israel disguised as an El Al crewman. Malkin ( Carlos Must Die ) was the agent who made the actual capture. Writing with Stein ( One of the Guys ) he reveals how the most sought-after Nazi war criminal was located, apprehended and brought to trial. Particularly absorbing in this tense, exciting memoir, made possible by the expiration of the Israeli embargo on information about the case, are Malkin's reconstructions of his conversations with the prisoner. Eichmann, obedient and eager to please, comes across as a parody of the orders-worshipping WW II German military man: in one grimly hilarious passage he defecates ``by the numbers'' and requests permission to wipe himself. Eichmann was hanged in 1962, his ashes scattered at sea, ``ensuring that there would be no grave for Nazis, present or future, to turn into a shrine.'' First serial to Penthouse; Reader's Digest Condensed Books, BOMC and History Book Club selections. (May)