Robert Servatius today asked the Government of Israel to pay him $20,000 for his fee and expenses in defending Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi colonel who directed the extermination of 6,000,000 European Jews.
According to an official communique, the Cologne attorney was received by Attorney General Gideon Hausner. He told the Israel official that he was willing to undertake Eichmann’s defense in the trial slated to start March 6 but that this would be possible only if the Israel Government financed the defense costs and fee.
The German attorney presented a letter, addressed to Justice Minister Pinhas Rosen, in which he said he had no sources to pay his fee and costs and asked the Government to cover fees and expenses for him, an assistant, and a secretary. The letter cited a statement reportedly made by Eichmann in Buenos Aires, after his capture last spring, in which he stated his willingness to stand trial in Israel if guaranteed a proper legal defense.
The Attorney General promised to give prompt consideration to the matter and an early answer to the request. The latest development reinforced widespread opinion that there was something strange about the entire question of financing the Nazi mass murderer’s defense. It was recalled that Eichmann’s brother initially told the press in West Germany that Dr. Servatius in offering his services “hardly even discussed the question of finances.”
West German Parliamentarians and newspapers consequently ridiculed reports that fees from Eichmann’s memoirs in Life magazine would pay for the Eichmann defense. The belief was expressed that former Nazi leaders and neo-Nazis were quietly providing the defense money. Then came stories that the Cologne attorney was asking the West German Government for funds.
When he arrived in Israel this week he was reported to have told correspondents that the Bonn Government would pay and that for the time being he did not intend to ask for any help from the Israel Government. However, after three meetings with Eichmann, the attorney did ask Israel for fee and expenses.
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