Ben-gurion Reports to Cabinet on Reply to Argentine About Eichmann

Israel Premier David Ben-Gurion today reported to the Cabinet on the request made by the Argentine Government for a report on the capture of Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi leader who directed the annihilation of 6,000,000 Jews, and who is now being held in jail here awaiting trial. The Premier also informed the Cabinet of the reply given to the Argentine Government through the Israeli Ambassador in Buenos Aires.

(In Buenos Aires, a motion was introduced yesterday in the Chamber of Deputies, asking the Argentine Government what action it had taken concerning reports that Eichmann had been captured in Argentina by Israel personnel. The motion was introduced by Agustin Rodriguez Araya, an opposition member, who also wanted to know whether the Israel Government had previously tried to obtain information from the Argentine authorities on the whereabouts of Eichmann.)

Eichmann today was remanded to an undesignated jail by a magistrate whose name is being kept secret by police authorities. Even the period for which Eichmann has been remanded is being kept secret. Previously, police authorities had furnished the name of the magistrate before whom Eichmann had been first arraigned. Now, however, it has been decided to veil all the legal moves in secrecy. Revelation of the name of the magistrate who remanded the war criminal today might indicate the place of his present confinement, police authorities said.

Abraham Salinger, police commander and head of the Sixth Bureau, which tracked down Eichmann, disclosed today that direct interrogation of Eichmann had been going on since last Sunday. He described the prisoner’s attitude as “cooperative” and said he had freely agreed to give his version of his activities.

Eichmann has already prepared material covering the pre-war years when he was an SS man in Austria, and the war years up to the middle of 1943. The prisoner dictates the material to a police officer, who has been with him for several hours daily. In some of his notes, Eichmann–who was warned that all statements he makes may be used against him–did mention his office’s role in executing Jews, but not his personal part in the killings.

ISRAEL MAY SEND INVESTIGATORS TO COUNTRIES WHERE EICHMANN OPERATED

Salinger, the Polish-born commander, said that his bureau was assigned to investigate but not to prosecute. He said he will investigate Eichmann’s actions both as an individual and as a member of the Nazi hierarchy both before and during the war. He revealed that Eichmann was asked to write his recollections of events, but that the Nazi criminal chose to make notes rather than to put down a running story.

The police official refused to answer any questions about the contents of Eichmann’s notes, saying merely that they were Eichmann’s own free version of events. Describing the functions of his Sixth Bureau, he said the unit would be divided into sub-units to deal with the “enormous amount” of materials and witnesses. He said the archives of the Yad Vashem, the central agency for data on the extermination of European Jews, and of the Ghetto Fighters, as well as documents from other institutions, would be studied to pinpoint Eichmann’s war-time role in the extermination program.

Other official evidence, including minutes of the Nurenberg trials, and trials of Nazis in Poland and Czechoslovakia, also will be used in preparing the case against Eichmann, Mr. Salinger said. He reported that there were no immediate plans to send investigators to other countries, but that this possibility was not excluded.

He also disclosed that he has received numerous letters offering evidence, but that no official contact had been made with either the Polish or Czechoslovak Governments, because most material from those sources is available in official documents. Saying he had “no idea” when “this huge work” would be finished, he estimated that it would be a “reasonable time” until the file was ready.