Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann was allowed to see his wife shortly before his 1962 execution, Israel's state archive reports. Vera Eichmann's visit was kept a secret, but the archives noted that while some accounts of the visit existed, a concrete proof that the visit had taken place was never found. The Israel State Archives on Monday produced records of Eichmann's wife visit to Israel and logs of her spending 80 minutes with her husband in prison. Israel permitted the visit as a humanitarian gesture. According to the archive, his wife made the request to visit two months before the scheduled hanging. Then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion granted the request for fear of international criticism. Then-Foreign Minister Golda Meir explained the government decision to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee: "I have no sentiments for Eichmann's wife, but there is no point in burdening ourselves with a matter that doesn't harm us in any way." Eichmann was in charge of implementing Adolf Hitler's Final Solution, the plan to exterminate the Jews of Europe. Six million Jews were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II. Eichmann was captured in Argentina in 1960 in a legendary Mossad operation. The following year he was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity in a landmark trial. He was hanged in 1962, the only time Israel has ever carried out a death sentence.
Revealed: Israel allowed Eichmann's wife to visit him before execution
Two months before the Nazi mastermind was to be hanged in 1962, his wife made a request to visit him, according to the Israel State Archives • Then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion granted the request for fear of international criticism.
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