The Cologne Administrative Court today upheld the stand of the West German Government in refusing to pay the fee of Dr. Robert Servatius for the legal defense of Nazi Adolf Eichmann whose trial opens in Jerusalem next Tuesday.
Dr. Servatius had filed a complaint against the legal section of the West German foreign office which had refused to pay 120,000 marks ($30,000) for Eichmann’s defense. The West German Government said Eichmann was not eligible for legal aid because his crimes were committed “outside the scope of war duties.” The Cologne court, in sustaining the Government’s position, also ordered Dr. Servatius to pay the court costs of his suit.
Dr. Servatius received a commitment from the Government of Israel to pay a fee of $20,000 to him. He said later that if the West German Government accepted his claim, he would return the Israeli payments.
The Evangelical Press Service published a report today that the Federal Government had refused to pay for Eichmann’s defense “in order to show all the world that this man by his crimes has excluded himself from the community of the German people.” The church publication also indicated a belief that official help was denied to avoid “the least impression that Eichmann is regarded in the Federal Republic as a fellow citizen, even of the most degenerate sort.”
It was learned here meanwhile that West German authorities had financed the expenses of a seven-man delegation which will attend the trial as observers for the West German Government.
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.
