The identities of the Israeli prison guards who ultimately carried out the execution of Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann were revealed on Monday, 52 years after his trial, Israel Hayom reported.
At a conference for commanders of the Israel Prison Service, a short film was screened that re-enacted the measures taken by special unit Unit Aleph-1, to guard Eichmann during his six months of imprisonment, to hang him in June 1962, to cremate his body, and to have his ashes scattered at sea.
According to eyewitness accounts of the guards, the unit contained 22 guards and four officers, carefully selected to ensure that none was a Holocaust survivor.
“We did what we did out of loyalty to the State of Israel and to the Jewish people,” said Ovadia Zakuto, who served as a guard in the unit.
Jewish stories matter. As the new year begins, so does another year of covering the people, stories, and institutions that make Jewish life in New York what it is. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.