If the man detained in Panama yesterday at the request of West German authorities proves to be the long missing former Gestapo chieftain Heinrich Mueller, the Israel Government should demand his extradition, Gideon Hausner, prosecutor in the trial of Adolf Eichmann declared here today. Mr. Hausner added that, if extradition could not be obtained, Israel should still insist on a complete disclosure of the facts surrounding the German army’s close cooperation with the Gestapo in the mass murder of Jews and others, of which Mueller was one of the principal architects.
Mueller, who disappeared immediately after World War II, held the rank of Obergrupenfuehrer, the equivalent of lieutenant general, in the German Main Security Office, which encompassed all police and security services of the Third Reich. He was second in rank to Heinrich Himmler, his only other superior in the Gestapo-security hierarchy being Reinhold Heydrich. He was the superior of Eichmann.
According to reports here today, Israeli agents who had been trailing Mueller for over a year, supplied the West German authorities with the name and address of the man in Panama whom they believe to be Mueller. Panamanian authorities are holding him, but have asked the Bonn Government to send an expert who can positively identify Mueller, and to supply other evidence to support Bonn’s request for extradition.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
