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The Eternal Nazi: From Mauthausen to Cairo, the Relentless Pursuit of SS Doctor Aribert Heim
The compelling story of the hunt for Aribert Heim, whose decades-long flight from justice turned a mid-level SS officer and concentration camp doctor into the most wanted Nazi war criminal in the world
Dr. Aribert Heim worked at the Mauthausen concentration camp for only a few months in 1941 but left a horrifying mark on the memories of survivors. According to their testimony, Heim euthanized patients with injections of gasoline into their hearts. He performed surgeries on otherwise healthy people. Some recalled prisoners' skulls set out on his desk to display perfect sets of teeth.
In the chaos of the postwar period, Heim was able to slip away from his dark past and establish himself as a reputable doctor in the resort town of Baden-Baden. He was tall, handsome, a bit of a charmer, and quickly settled down with a wife and children in peace and comfort. But certain rare individuals in Germany were unwilling to let Nazi war criminals go unpunished. Among them was a police investigator named Alfred Aedtner, who turned finding Heim into an overriding obsession; his quest took him across Europe and across decades, and into a close alliance with legendary Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal.
This is the incredible story of how Aribert Heim evaded capture, living in a working-class neighborhood of Cairo, praying in Arabic, beloved by an adopted Muslim family, while inspiring a manhunt that outlived him by many years. He became the "Eternal Nazi," a symbol of Germany's evolving attitude toward the sins of its past, which finally crested in a desire to see justice done at almost any cost.
Dr. Aribert Heim worked at the Mauthausen concentration camp for only a few months in 1941 but left a horrifying mark on the memories of survivors. According to their testimony, Heim euthanized patients with injections of gasoline into their hearts. He performed surgeries on otherwise healthy people. Some recalled prisoners' skulls set out on his desk to display perfect sets of teeth.
In the chaos of the postwar period, Heim was able to slip away from his dark past and establish himself as a reputable doctor in the resort town of Baden-Baden. He was tall, handsome, a bit of a charmer, and quickly settled down with a wife and children in peace and comfort. But certain rare individuals in Germany were unwilling to let Nazi war criminals go unpunished. Among them was a police investigator named Alfred Aedtner, who turned finding Heim into an overriding obsession; his quest took him across Europe and across decades, and into a close alliance with legendary Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal.
This is the incredible story of how Aribert Heim evaded capture, living in a working-class neighborhood of Cairo, praying in Arabic, beloved by an adopted Muslim family, while inspiring a manhunt that outlived him by many years. He became the "Eternal Nazi," a symbol of Germany's evolving attitude toward the sins of its past, which finally crested in a desire to see justice done at almost any cost.
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First published January 1, 2014
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September 19, 2017
3,5 ⭐
Zwei Dinge haben mich beim Lesen wirklich erschüttert: zum Einen die Verbrechen von SS-Arzt Dr. Aribert Heim (Dr. Tod) und zum Anderen wie halbherzig (bis gar nicht) in der BRD bekannte Nazis verfolgt und zur Rechenschaft gezogen wurden.
Das Buch erzählt die Jahre nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg aus mehreren Perspektiven. Zunächst sind da die Kapitel über Aribert Heim und seine Familie, dann werden die Ermittlungen von Polizeikommissar Aedtner dargelegt, der sich der Suche nach Heim verschrieben hat und zu guter Letzt springt das Buch viel zu anderen Persönlichkeiten und Geschehnissen dieser Zeit. So finden sich andere Nazi-Verbrecher wie Eichmann oder Mengele wieder, aber auch die RAF oder der Nazi-Jäger Simon Wiesenthal. Und genau das war auch ein stückweit das Problem: das Buch wirkte recht zerfasert und gerade ab der zweiten Hälfte hatte ich den Eindruck, es geht nur noch marginal um Aribert Heim. Sicher sind letzten Tag von Mengele und Eichmann auch interessant, aber dann lese ich ein Buch über diese beiden! Ich hatte manchmal den Eindruck, als hätten die Autoren ein wenig den Fokus verloren und wollten den letzten Teil des Buches irgendwie strecken, da ja Heims Leben in seinen letzten Jahren nicht mehr viel Interessantes hergab.
Zwei Dinge haben mich beim Lesen wirklich erschüttert: zum Einen die Verbrechen von SS-Arzt Dr. Aribert Heim (Dr. Tod) und zum Anderen wie halbherzig (bis gar nicht) in der BRD bekannte Nazis verfolgt und zur Rechenschaft gezogen wurden.
Das Buch erzählt die Jahre nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg aus mehreren Perspektiven. Zunächst sind da die Kapitel über Aribert Heim und seine Familie, dann werden die Ermittlungen von Polizeikommissar Aedtner dargelegt, der sich der Suche nach Heim verschrieben hat und zu guter Letzt springt das Buch viel zu anderen Persönlichkeiten und Geschehnissen dieser Zeit. So finden sich andere Nazi-Verbrecher wie Eichmann oder Mengele wieder, aber auch die RAF oder der Nazi-Jäger Simon Wiesenthal. Und genau das war auch ein stückweit das Problem: das Buch wirkte recht zerfasert und gerade ab der zweiten Hälfte hatte ich den Eindruck, es geht nur noch marginal um Aribert Heim. Sicher sind letzten Tag von Mengele und Eichmann auch interessant, aber dann lese ich ein Buch über diese beiden! Ich hatte manchmal den Eindruck, als hätten die Autoren ein wenig den Fokus verloren und wollten den letzten Teil des Buches irgendwie strecken, da ja Heims Leben in seinen letzten Jahren nicht mehr viel Interessantes hergab.
January 21, 2022
While I was walking down the steep, rough hewn staircase at Mauthausen concentration camp on a school trip, Aribert Heim, who was known in the camp as "Dr. Death" was living undercover in Cairo, Egypt.
This is the story of the extensive search for war criminal Aribert Heim. Like most other nazis who were able to escape prosecution by establishing secret lives abroad, Heim did so with the financial support of his family. It is difficult to understand why people who aided these fugitives were never criminally charged. Heim's youngest son, Rüdiger Heim is a perfect example. Because of him and other family members, Dr. Death never faced the music. Some blame too has to go to postwar officials in both Germany, and particularly in Austria, who showed limited enthusiasm for nazi hunting.
The one thing that's missing for me in this book, is any kind of
psychological profile for Heim. By all accounts he lived a very quiet life in Egypt and confided in very few people. Not much is known. But he belonged to sports clubs and had friends. He visited different places in Egypt and presumably met people. He kept receipts meticulously. I wish the authors had unearthed more of Heim's life in Egypt. As far as we know once the war was over he never murdered again. But he did not take responsibility for his actions, instead claiming the accusations against him were lies.
Why did he use his medical training to murder so many in the most cruel and heinous ways? Was it really out of boredom as the book suggests? And what happened to the psychopathy of the man who collected the skulls of his victims as trophies, and proudly displayed them on his desk? That kind of psychopathy doesn't go away. I still have so many questions, but I recognize that finding those answers was not within the scope of this book. Very interesting read nonetheless.
This is the story of the extensive search for war criminal Aribert Heim. Like most other nazis who were able to escape prosecution by establishing secret lives abroad, Heim did so with the financial support of his family. It is difficult to understand why people who aided these fugitives were never criminally charged. Heim's youngest son, Rüdiger Heim is a perfect example. Because of him and other family members, Dr. Death never faced the music. Some blame too has to go to postwar officials in both Germany, and particularly in Austria, who showed limited enthusiasm for nazi hunting.
The one thing that's missing for me in this book, is any kind of
psychological profile for Heim. By all accounts he lived a very quiet life in Egypt and confided in very few people. Not much is known. But he belonged to sports clubs and had friends. He visited different places in Egypt and presumably met people. He kept receipts meticulously. I wish the authors had unearthed more of Heim's life in Egypt. As far as we know once the war was over he never murdered again. But he did not take responsibility for his actions, instead claiming the accusations against him were lies.
Why did he use his medical training to murder so many in the most cruel and heinous ways? Was it really out of boredom as the book suggests? And what happened to the psychopathy of the man who collected the skulls of his victims as trophies, and proudly displayed them on his desk? That kind of psychopathy doesn't go away. I still have so many questions, but I recognize that finding those answers was not within the scope of this book. Very interesting read nonetheless.
June 18, 2024
It’s an intense read. But worth every word. It’s a complex narrative that describes the relentless search for an SS doctor who is accused of gruesome murders which are hard to consume in writing. The authors don’t spare details. They treat the accounts of the victims’ deaths as respectfully as possible and also the narratives of the accused
May 7, 2015
The Eternal Nazi is a good, but not great, look at the decades-long hunt for SS doctor Aribert Heim. During WWII, Heim served at the concentration camp Mauthausen where he performed unspeakably cruel acts. Though he initially escaped prosecution following the war, by the early 1960s Heim is forced into exile in Egypt, while a determined German investigator named Alfred Aedtner doggedly pursues him.
The Eternal Nazi is well-written, well-researched, and very interesting in a lot of ways. It's an interesting look at the families of Nazis and how the justified what their relatives did and supported them even at great personal cost. It's an interesting look at Germany's evolving relationship to its past and how there were definitive tides of anti-Nazi feeling. And it's an interesting look at what constitutes justice.
But while it has these many interesting points, the story itself is a bit anticlimactic. As a fugitive, Heim necessarily lives a quiet and uninteresting life. And the search for him is decades-long, without much success. This isn't a movie with some tense chase scene where everything comes together. Everything just sort of peters out at the end. It's more realistic than a movie, of course, but it's also not as compelling.
Additionally, the beginning quarter of the book is very choppy and a bit hard to follow, jumping from Heim, to Aedtner, to random other people, to the German government, and other seemingly random post-war events. Eventually the book focuses in on Heim's flight and Aedtner's pursuit, but the beginning sections seem unrelated and lacking in logical transitions.
Though not perfect, this book does bring up some interesting topics and I would recommend it to those interested in WWII, specifically the prosecution of Nazi crimes. But it's doesn't have enough spark to hold much broad appeal.
Note: I received this book through Goodreads' First Reads program.
The Eternal Nazi is well-written, well-researched, and very interesting in a lot of ways. It's an interesting look at the families of Nazis and how the justified what their relatives did and supported them even at great personal cost. It's an interesting look at Germany's evolving relationship to its past and how there were definitive tides of anti-Nazi feeling. And it's an interesting look at what constitutes justice.
But while it has these many interesting points, the story itself is a bit anticlimactic. As a fugitive, Heim necessarily lives a quiet and uninteresting life. And the search for him is decades-long, without much success. This isn't a movie with some tense chase scene where everything comes together. Everything just sort of peters out at the end. It's more realistic than a movie, of course, but it's also not as compelling.
Additionally, the beginning quarter of the book is very choppy and a bit hard to follow, jumping from Heim, to Aedtner, to random other people, to the German government, and other seemingly random post-war events. Eventually the book focuses in on Heim's flight and Aedtner's pursuit, but the beginning sections seem unrelated and lacking in logical transitions.
Though not perfect, this book does bring up some interesting topics and I would recommend it to those interested in WWII, specifically the prosecution of Nazi crimes. But it's doesn't have enough spark to hold much broad appeal.
Note: I received this book through Goodreads' First Reads program.
March 21, 2018
Doctor Heim was an SS doctor during the war. While he apparently saw some frontline service taking care of soldiers he also spent time as a doctor at the concentration camp at Mauthausen. He was athletic and taller than average. Witness testimony indicates he murdered Jews by various means while at the camp. These included operating on people without any pain medication and removing their organs, injecting gasoline into their hearts, and multiple witnesses stated he liked perfect skulls and people with perfect teeth were in danger of being murdered so he could take their skulls for his collection. He survived the war and after being interred in a prisoner of war camp for some time was released as not being one of the bad guys as no testimony had been advanced about his time in the concentration camp and he "neglected" to mention that in his record of service he recorded for review of his case.
The doctor went on to establish a medical practice (as a gynecologist) and married a doctor. They started a family and had several children. As Nazi offenders became news as they were hunted and prosecuted the doctor became uneasy as efforts were being made to find him. He moved and cut ties to some of his past to make it more difficult to be found. He stopped playing hockey despite being very good at it. Eventually in the 1960s he hired a lawyer known for representing those accused of war crimes and purchased property that could generate rental income to support himself and his family. He then fled the country as it appears sometime likely tipped him off the authorities were getting ready to arrest him.
His case became very public as Simon Wiesenthal, famed Jewish Nazi hunter, published his name and the crimes he was wanted for. He disappeared from view and despite a large reward being offered for information leading to his apprehension he was not located. Eventually, the German authorities realized he was being supported at least in part by income from owning an apartment building in Berlin. They began legal proceedings to take the building from him to cut off his income. In some ways it was trial in absentia as his lawyer appeared but he did not. The German government was successful in cutting off this funding.
Unbeknownst to those hunting him, Dr. Heim fled to Egypt and lived out the rest of his life there. He changed his name and lived in an apartment with little contact with other Europeans in fear he might be recognized. He eventually converted to Islam and spent time writing a book based on very questionable research claiming the Jews were actually descended from a Turkish tribe and their claims for a Jewish state were based on a false understanding of history. He eventually suffered from cancer and his youngest son visited him and stayed with him until he passed away in the 1990s.
Dr. Heim was never put on trial for what he did as a concentration camp doctor. His family (including a daughter from outside his marriage) suffered shame and reproach because of their connection with him. However, he did suffer some loss. He was cut off from anything like the society he grew up with and spent nearly 50 years in exile living in fear of discovery. He lost his family and aside from his youngest son the rest of his family had little to no contact with him. Had he allowed himself to be arrested in the 60s, Germany at this time had banned the death penalty and the sentences for offenders during this time indicate he likely would have been allowed to serve his time and return to his family and society. By running away he lost that chance.
The doctor went on to establish a medical practice (as a gynecologist) and married a doctor. They started a family and had several children. As Nazi offenders became news as they were hunted and prosecuted the doctor became uneasy as efforts were being made to find him. He moved and cut ties to some of his past to make it more difficult to be found. He stopped playing hockey despite being very good at it. Eventually in the 1960s he hired a lawyer known for representing those accused of war crimes and purchased property that could generate rental income to support himself and his family. He then fled the country as it appears sometime likely tipped him off the authorities were getting ready to arrest him.
His case became very public as Simon Wiesenthal, famed Jewish Nazi hunter, published his name and the crimes he was wanted for. He disappeared from view and despite a large reward being offered for information leading to his apprehension he was not located. Eventually, the German authorities realized he was being supported at least in part by income from owning an apartment building in Berlin. They began legal proceedings to take the building from him to cut off his income. In some ways it was trial in absentia as his lawyer appeared but he did not. The German government was successful in cutting off this funding.
Unbeknownst to those hunting him, Dr. Heim fled to Egypt and lived out the rest of his life there. He changed his name and lived in an apartment with little contact with other Europeans in fear he might be recognized. He eventually converted to Islam and spent time writing a book based on very questionable research claiming the Jews were actually descended from a Turkish tribe and their claims for a Jewish state were based on a false understanding of history. He eventually suffered from cancer and his youngest son visited him and stayed with him until he passed away in the 1990s.
Dr. Heim was never put on trial for what he did as a concentration camp doctor. His family (including a daughter from outside his marriage) suffered shame and reproach because of their connection with him. However, he did suffer some loss. He was cut off from anything like the society he grew up with and spent nearly 50 years in exile living in fear of discovery. He lost his family and aside from his youngest son the rest of his family had little to no contact with him. Had he allowed himself to be arrested in the 60s, Germany at this time had banned the death penalty and the sentences for offenders during this time indicate he likely would have been allowed to serve his time and return to his family and society. By running away he lost that chance.
May 16, 2022
Curious about the man. Not much seems to be known about him. As another reviewer stated, one doesn’t go from that kind of psychopathy to living a normal life for the rest of his life. But I remember thinking the same thing about the Golden State Killer, who seems to have also done exactly that.
Perhaps because I have never faced these kinds of evils against myself or my loved ones, I don’t quite understand the lifelong compulsion of those that relentlessly seek to find certain people. (Like those that spent their lives searching for the GSK). Not that I think their time is wasted, I just do not under that compulsion to see that justice is faced. I do believe that they will face their maker for their crimes as we all will for whatever we have done, and I do believe justice will come then.
Perhaps because I have never faced these kinds of evils against myself or my loved ones, I don’t quite understand the lifelong compulsion of those that relentlessly seek to find certain people. (Like those that spent their lives searching for the GSK). Not that I think their time is wasted, I just do not under that compulsion to see that justice is faced. I do believe that they will face their maker for their crimes as we all will for whatever we have done, and I do believe justice will come then.
May 21, 2016
I found myself with a two hour layover in the Denver International Airport, and since one of my favorite independent booksellers (Tattered Cover) had just opened a new location in the airport, of course I had to browse the shelves. I ended up choosing this book, mainly because I'd never really heard of Dr. Aribert Heim before, and the title of the book was intriguing. I pictured Dr. Heim as being completely dedicated to the Nazi beliefs and continuing to work toward them even while on the run (well, it's not exactly my fault - "The Eternal Nazi" kind of led me there). That's not exactly what happens, but the book is still interesting.
It's not a secret that Dr. Heim is never brought to justice - even the book jacket itself states that he eludes capture, and the prologue gives "the ending" away, as well. So for those who are looking for a sense of closure in this book, let me save you several hours - it's not there. Instead, Dr. Heim's life, and those who spent most of their lives trying to track him down and ultimately failed in that endeavor, is quite messy, which is just how real life is most of the time. I don't mind messy and complicated.
In fact, Heim's crimes are never truly "nailed down" in a straightforward fashion. It's said that he killed inmates by injecting gasoline into their hearts. It's said that he deliberately killed inmates by operating on them - sometimes without anesthesia. It's said that if an inmate had a particularly good bite and a full set of teeth, Heim would have him killed, cut off the inmate's head, strip the flesh from it, and keep the inmate's skull for a grisly souvenir. But there is never a true "list," shall we say, of what truly happened during Heim's time at Mauthausen. It's not even certain how long Heim was there - witness testimony contradict one another - but it appears that he was there for less than a year.
I think the main reason why Heim's crimes remain rather shadowy and without detail is because he was never brought to trial, at least a criminal trial. There was a civil action against him, but those who were investigating his crimes balked at sharing their information with those prosecuting the civil case. And most of the witnesses against Heim died, while the Doctor himself lived on in Egypt.
I always find it fascinating how people can divorce themselves from the evil they have done, either blaming it on the orders they received or outright denying what they did. Heim falls into the latter category; he claims that he is completely innocent, that he didn't want to be at the camp in the first place and he did everything in his power to get out as soon as he could, and while he was there he did nothing horrific. He insists upon this until the end, leaving the one son who still has something to do with him, Ruediger, confused as to what his father actually did.
Interspersed throughout the book are the fates of other Nazis - some famous, some not. Some got away (Dr. Josef Mengele, who suffered a stroke while swimming and drowned, is probably the most famous), some were able to stave off justice for many years (Klaus Barbie, "the butcher of Lyon," who wasn't captured until a few years before his death from cancer), and some were very publicly brought to justice (Adolf Eichmann, who was brought back to Israel and executed, only the second person - and, at this moment, still the last - executed by Israel [the other being Meir Tobianski, a member of the IDF who was falsely accused of being a spy and posthumously exonerated]).
The book also examines the changing attitudes of German citizens and how they thought the war crimes of Nazis should be prosecuted, if at all. In the beginning, shortly after the end of the Second World War, Germans "wanted their boys home" and were completely against the denazification trials. Even into the 1960s, Germans for the most part thought that what was over should be over - many who faced trials for their war crimes ended up being found not guilty or serving only a year or two for killing thousands. Ironically, by choosing to run and exiling himself to Egypt, Heim's thirty years of exile were probably decades longer than any sentence he would have received in Germany in the early 1960s (which is when he fled). Disturbingly enough, Heim's son Ruediger wasn't even taught what had happened in Germany during the Second World War; many young Germans in that era had no idea what had occurred to the Jews and other "undesirables" under the Nazi regime. That began to change, and by the 1970s, Germans were much more accepting of Nazis being tried and sentenced for their crimes - some even called for it. The evolution of the acceptance of guilt is interesting.
As for Heim himself, and his choice of refuge in Cairo, I had no idea that Egypt had once been a "safe space" for former Nazis. After the war, the Egyptian military was keen on building new war materials, especially rockets, as the tensions with the new state of Israel heated up in the region. Many Nazis fled to Egypt, where they were paid well for the knowledge that they had acquired during the war. Egypt also had no extradition treaty to Germany or any other country in Europe; Egyptian soil was indeed "safe" for the former Nazis. I knew that such things happened in other countries, particularly those in South America, but not Egypt.
Altogether, I recommend this book, although I would suggest at least a working knowledge of the camps and Nazi Germany itself before picking up the book. There are a lot of names and people in this book, and the authors have a tendency to jump around non-chronologically, so it's difficult at times to keep everything, and everyone, straight. Ultimately, though, I feel that this book is an interesting look at this time period.
It's not a secret that Dr. Heim is never brought to justice - even the book jacket itself states that he eludes capture, and the prologue gives "the ending" away, as well. So for those who are looking for a sense of closure in this book, let me save you several hours - it's not there. Instead, Dr. Heim's life, and those who spent most of their lives trying to track him down and ultimately failed in that endeavor, is quite messy, which is just how real life is most of the time. I don't mind messy and complicated.
In fact, Heim's crimes are never truly "nailed down" in a straightforward fashion. It's said that he killed inmates by injecting gasoline into their hearts. It's said that he deliberately killed inmates by operating on them - sometimes without anesthesia. It's said that if an inmate had a particularly good bite and a full set of teeth, Heim would have him killed, cut off the inmate's head, strip the flesh from it, and keep the inmate's skull for a grisly souvenir. But there is never a true "list," shall we say, of what truly happened during Heim's time at Mauthausen. It's not even certain how long Heim was there - witness testimony contradict one another - but it appears that he was there for less than a year.
I think the main reason why Heim's crimes remain rather shadowy and without detail is because he was never brought to trial, at least a criminal trial. There was a civil action against him, but those who were investigating his crimes balked at sharing their information with those prosecuting the civil case. And most of the witnesses against Heim died, while the Doctor himself lived on in Egypt.
I always find it fascinating how people can divorce themselves from the evil they have done, either blaming it on the orders they received or outright denying what they did. Heim falls into the latter category; he claims that he is completely innocent, that he didn't want to be at the camp in the first place and he did everything in his power to get out as soon as he could, and while he was there he did nothing horrific. He insists upon this until the end, leaving the one son who still has something to do with him, Ruediger, confused as to what his father actually did.
Interspersed throughout the book are the fates of other Nazis - some famous, some not. Some got away (Dr. Josef Mengele, who suffered a stroke while swimming and drowned, is probably the most famous), some were able to stave off justice for many years (Klaus Barbie, "the butcher of Lyon," who wasn't captured until a few years before his death from cancer), and some were very publicly brought to justice (Adolf Eichmann, who was brought back to Israel and executed, only the second person - and, at this moment, still the last - executed by Israel [the other being Meir Tobianski, a member of the IDF who was falsely accused of being a spy and posthumously exonerated]).
The book also examines the changing attitudes of German citizens and how they thought the war crimes of Nazis should be prosecuted, if at all. In the beginning, shortly after the end of the Second World War, Germans "wanted their boys home" and were completely against the denazification trials. Even into the 1960s, Germans for the most part thought that what was over should be over - many who faced trials for their war crimes ended up being found not guilty or serving only a year or two for killing thousands. Ironically, by choosing to run and exiling himself to Egypt, Heim's thirty years of exile were probably decades longer than any sentence he would have received in Germany in the early 1960s (which is when he fled). Disturbingly enough, Heim's son Ruediger wasn't even taught what had happened in Germany during the Second World War; many young Germans in that era had no idea what had occurred to the Jews and other "undesirables" under the Nazi regime. That began to change, and by the 1970s, Germans were much more accepting of Nazis being tried and sentenced for their crimes - some even called for it. The evolution of the acceptance of guilt is interesting.
As for Heim himself, and his choice of refuge in Cairo, I had no idea that Egypt had once been a "safe space" for former Nazis. After the war, the Egyptian military was keen on building new war materials, especially rockets, as the tensions with the new state of Israel heated up in the region. Many Nazis fled to Egypt, where they were paid well for the knowledge that they had acquired during the war. Egypt also had no extradition treaty to Germany or any other country in Europe; Egyptian soil was indeed "safe" for the former Nazis. I knew that such things happened in other countries, particularly those in South America, but not Egypt.
Altogether, I recommend this book, although I would suggest at least a working knowledge of the camps and Nazi Germany itself before picking up the book. There are a lot of names and people in this book, and the authors have a tendency to jump around non-chronologically, so it's difficult at times to keep everything, and everyone, straight. Ultimately, though, I feel that this book is an interesting look at this time period.
August 7, 2016
The Eternal Nazi: From Mauthausen to Cairo, the Relentless Pursuit of SS Doctor Aribert Heim is written by Nicholas Kulish and Souad Mekhennet. It is a semi biographical sketch of SS officer Aribert Heim, a medical doctor by profession and an able ice hockey player. He was serving at Mauthausen during 1941. People who survived the concentration camp reported that he used to take pleasure in operating healthy people without giving them anesthesia. Plus, he decorated his table with skulls of victims and offered the same as gifts to his mates.
Post war, he served 3 years at prisoner-of-war camps as treating the prisoners. His bloodcurdling horrors at Mauthausen didn’t surface then and around 1947, he was set free. Thus, he moved to West Germany. In 1949, he married and started practicing gynecology in Baden-Baden. He remained there for more than a decade. However, he left his home around 1962 after he heard the news of hanging of Adolf Eichmann, a leading practitioner of deadly Nazi pseudoscience, in Israel.
A list of 70,000 names of war criminals was complied by establishments like Jewish Historical Documentation Centre and similar by the Allies. Around 1946, first case was proceeded at Dachau, where 61 people were tried and 58 were sentenced to death by hanging. All of them were working at Mauthausen. More than 1,400 Nazis were convicted at the court overseen by members of the US military. These many Nazis along with the Nuremberg trials, which were 116 in number, were concluded by 1949. Foundation of Federal Republic of Germany that also happened around the same year was one of the factors, which led to the hastening off the trials. Moreover, factors like lack of funds and infrastructure along with beleaguered investigators made the trails go quickly relatively. Politically, the country was in a mode of assembling the broken pieces and in building up of the social set-up that was left after the war.
Americans that were supposed to help in re-establishing the southeastern area were soon become concerned with the nascent political threat posed by the Soviet Union. Consequent upon which, Allies pivoted to bureaucrats to help with the transition. Some of these bureaucrats were former Nazis who were partaking role in providing justice to war criminals.
It is at this social milieu, two people, one, a Holocaust survivor, Simon Wiesenthal, and second an unknown police investigator, Alfred Aedtner decides to take up the job of finding the Eternal Nazi, Aribert Heim.
Socio politically, accelerating stress on prosecuting his case made him fled Europe. Somewhere along the lines, his prosecution became fervor with these two men as well.
Heim’s place of hiding - Cairo, Egypt- surfaced only after his death although he did remain in touch with his family via physical mail using codenames. The lonely and detached life in the company of local children that he led in Cairo was quite antithetical of what he had lived in Mauthausen.
Although the trails against the SS officers were termed as the postwar justice, but the justice was far from thoughtful trials and sentencing. In fact, people with an awakened historical consciousness like Alfred Aedtner or Wiesenthal’s tireless quest for retribution called more for bloody punishments even at the sake of their own life.
The book is indeed a slow read. No doubts, Kulish and Mekhennet have been pretty much successful in scraping the barrel while surfacing the post war lives of old Nazis.
Reproduced from: The Eternal Nazi
Post war, he served 3 years at prisoner-of-war camps as treating the prisoners. His bloodcurdling horrors at Mauthausen didn’t surface then and around 1947, he was set free. Thus, he moved to West Germany. In 1949, he married and started practicing gynecology in Baden-Baden. He remained there for more than a decade. However, he left his home around 1962 after he heard the news of hanging of Adolf Eichmann, a leading practitioner of deadly Nazi pseudoscience, in Israel.
A list of 70,000 names of war criminals was complied by establishments like Jewish Historical Documentation Centre and similar by the Allies. Around 1946, first case was proceeded at Dachau, where 61 people were tried and 58 were sentenced to death by hanging. All of them were working at Mauthausen. More than 1,400 Nazis were convicted at the court overseen by members of the US military. These many Nazis along with the Nuremberg trials, which were 116 in number, were concluded by 1949. Foundation of Federal Republic of Germany that also happened around the same year was one of the factors, which led to the hastening off the trials. Moreover, factors like lack of funds and infrastructure along with beleaguered investigators made the trails go quickly relatively. Politically, the country was in a mode of assembling the broken pieces and in building up of the social set-up that was left after the war.
Americans that were supposed to help in re-establishing the southeastern area were soon become concerned with the nascent political threat posed by the Soviet Union. Consequent upon which, Allies pivoted to bureaucrats to help with the transition. Some of these bureaucrats were former Nazis who were partaking role in providing justice to war criminals.
It is at this social milieu, two people, one, a Holocaust survivor, Simon Wiesenthal, and second an unknown police investigator, Alfred Aedtner decides to take up the job of finding the Eternal Nazi, Aribert Heim.
Socio politically, accelerating stress on prosecuting his case made him fled Europe. Somewhere along the lines, his prosecution became fervor with these two men as well.
Heim’s place of hiding - Cairo, Egypt- surfaced only after his death although he did remain in touch with his family via physical mail using codenames. The lonely and detached life in the company of local children that he led in Cairo was quite antithetical of what he had lived in Mauthausen.
Although the trails against the SS officers were termed as the postwar justice, but the justice was far from thoughtful trials and sentencing. In fact, people with an awakened historical consciousness like Alfred Aedtner or Wiesenthal’s tireless quest for retribution called more for bloody punishments even at the sake of their own life.
The book is indeed a slow read. No doubts, Kulish and Mekhennet have been pretty much successful in scraping the barrel while surfacing the post war lives of old Nazis.
Reproduced from: The Eternal Nazi
June 18, 2014
A thrilling read from the New York Times reporters who uncovered the real story behind SS Doctor Aribert Heim. A historical account that reads with twists and turns (and reviewers agree):
“He was hardly as famous as Josef Mengele, but Aribert Heim was every bit as vicious. And, like Mengele, this doctor-torturer-murderer eluded his hunters until the very end. The Eternal Nazi finally reconstructs Heim’s dark odyssey—from his sadistic practices in Mauthausen to his life in hiding as a convert to Islam in Cairo. Part detective story, part meditation on how family loyalties obstructed those seeking justice, this book is a remarkable achievement.”
—Andrew Nagorski, author of Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power
“With exacting detail and a rich cast of characters, The Eternal Nazi chronicles the feverish, zigzagging hunt for the barbarous Dr. Heim. A journalistic masterpiece and a thrilling read.”
—Neal Bascomb, author of Hunting Eichmann
“This is a deeply reported, fascinating tale of obsession and the heavy burden of family and national guilt. Nick Kulish and Souad Mekhennet take us on a gripping search for the handsome Nazi doctor who became one of the world's most elusive war criminals.”
—Evan Thomas, author of Ike's Bluff
“He was hardly as famous as Josef Mengele, but Aribert Heim was every bit as vicious. And, like Mengele, this doctor-torturer-murderer eluded his hunters until the very end. The Eternal Nazi finally reconstructs Heim’s dark odyssey—from his sadistic practices in Mauthausen to his life in hiding as a convert to Islam in Cairo. Part detective story, part meditation on how family loyalties obstructed those seeking justice, this book is a remarkable achievement.”
—Andrew Nagorski, author of Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power
“With exacting detail and a rich cast of characters, The Eternal Nazi chronicles the feverish, zigzagging hunt for the barbarous Dr. Heim. A journalistic masterpiece and a thrilling read.”
—Neal Bascomb, author of Hunting Eichmann
“This is a deeply reported, fascinating tale of obsession and the heavy burden of family and national guilt. Nick Kulish and Souad Mekhennet take us on a gripping search for the handsome Nazi doctor who became one of the world's most elusive war criminals.”
—Evan Thomas, author of Ike's Bluff
February 9, 2014
The Eternal Nazi is a well-researched and methodically told history of how Dr. Aribert Heim eluded capture after being known as Dr. Death at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. During his time at Mauthausen Dr. Heim was known for almost unspeakable cruelties including keeping the skulls of his victims and injecting gasoline into the hearts of healthy patients. After the war Heim was able to clear American detention (rushed due to demobilization) and begin a trek that differed from so many other Nazi’s choosing to relocate to Egypt as opposed to Latin America. The story tracks the investigation for the Doctor as well as his efforts to remain hidden which included name changes and eventually a conversion to Islam. It is a riveting read packed with detail and does not get bogged down at any point. Well worth the time for those who are interested in the hunt for Nazi war criminals or those who enjoy a good drama filled chase.
March 25, 2014
Ok, not that I am rooting for violence but I did think that this book would go into details more about Dr. Heim's procedures and his crimes. I thought that this book would focus on Dr. Heim's time in the concentration camp. Instead if focused more on the time span from when Dr. Heim escaped the camp and Police investigator Alfred Aedtner's hunt to find him.
The investigation was intriguing. It was amazing how Dr. Heim could be easily missed by the authorities. It is not like he really was hiding out that well. Well not in my opinion. He was able to do so because of all of the miscommunication or sloppy investigating. If it was not for people like Alfred not willing to give up then criminals would be able to get away with a lot more back in this time period. This book did more along quickly as it spanned time periods. A interesting look into history and events that should not be forgotten for the people who lived it.
The investigation was intriguing. It was amazing how Dr. Heim could be easily missed by the authorities. It is not like he really was hiding out that well. Well not in my opinion. He was able to do so because of all of the miscommunication or sloppy investigating. If it was not for people like Alfred not willing to give up then criminals would be able to get away with a lot more back in this time period. This book did more along quickly as it spanned time periods. A interesting look into history and events that should not be forgotten for the people who lived it.
March 31, 2014
This book would've been interesting if it was about Aribert Heim. As it was, it seemed to be about every other SS doctor. There was very, very little Heim himself. The book seemed to randomly cut away to what other SS doctors (and war criminals) had done.
Unfortunately, this made this book not only hard to read but it gave them impression that Heim really didn't commit what he's said to commit. I don't think that was the intention nor do I think he was innocent but we aren't given really anything about him. It's basically 'he killed Jews' and 'someone said he performed one operation with the patient awake.'
I'm not saying that's a good thing. It's just so vague and then it cuts out to all these other doctors (and other criminals) and goes into great detail. It just makes it sound, by contrast, that what Heim did wasn't not were near the supposed title of "Doctor Death" the book gave him.
Unfortunately, this made this book not only hard to read but it gave them impression that Heim really didn't commit what he's said to commit. I don't think that was the intention nor do I think he was innocent but we aren't given really anything about him. It's basically 'he killed Jews' and 'someone said he performed one operation with the patient awake.'
I'm not saying that's a good thing. It's just so vague and then it cuts out to all these other doctors (and other criminals) and goes into great detail. It just makes it sound, by contrast, that what Heim did wasn't not were near the supposed title of "Doctor Death" the book gave him.
March 2, 2020
Interesting material and readable enough, but poorly organized, unfocused, and ultimately far too long. This is one of those books that in another era would have been a shorter article published in a magazine, but the magazines that could have printed it have gone out of business.
October 15, 2021
Beeindruckender Bericht über einen untergetauchten Nazimörder, seine Verfolger. Bedrückend der Einblick in die Verdrängungskultur, die Folgen für die Familien und Auswirkungen auf völlig Unbeteiligte.
August 16, 2020
Aribert Heim was a gynecologist, who as the camp doctor at Mauthausen concentration camp, committed crimes so heinous they are hard to read about. Following the conclusion of WWII, Heim went to prison for 3 years (the brutality and barbarity of all his crimes had not been fully discovered), practiced medicine in Baden Baden, and then went on the lamb ending up in Cairo where, for a time at least, he led a decent middle-class life. Eventually, as German authorities and the late Nazi hunter, Simon Wiesenthal, took up the chase, his life deteriorated to the point that the authors remark that the life he led was so bad and desperate that he would likely have had a much better life had he submitted to German justice which by then had abolished the death penalty.
The difference is that his victims lost their lives through painful, tortured medical procedures, some committed while they were alive while he had his life as desperate as it became.
By the time of his death in 1992, and for some time thereafter (authorities and Weisenthal could not place the precise time of his death continuing to believe he was alive even after he died), he became the Number 1 Nazi killer being hunted. As the investigation proceeded, his family became caught up in the investigation such that there were journalists and an American prosecutor who accused his son and Heim's daughter born out of wedlock of being complicitous in his escape. Prosecutors refused to commit to his date of death because doing so meant the end of the government search for him, something both Wiesenthal and other Nazi hunters did not want since he was, after all, the most wanted Nazi of those known to still be alive.
A number of things reported here surprised me, including the information that Egypt was a prime destination for Nazis on the run. German scientists and stormtroopers populated Cairo and assisted Gamel Nasser in modernizing Egypt's weaponry and military. This one fact explained much about Egypt's invasion of Israel in the Six-Day War in 1968.
The difference is that his victims lost their lives through painful, tortured medical procedures, some committed while they were alive while he had his life as desperate as it became.
By the time of his death in 1992, and for some time thereafter (authorities and Weisenthal could not place the precise time of his death continuing to believe he was alive even after he died), he became the Number 1 Nazi killer being hunted. As the investigation proceeded, his family became caught up in the investigation such that there were journalists and an American prosecutor who accused his son and Heim's daughter born out of wedlock of being complicitous in his escape. Prosecutors refused to commit to his date of death because doing so meant the end of the government search for him, something both Wiesenthal and other Nazi hunters did not want since he was, after all, the most wanted Nazi of those known to still be alive.
A number of things reported here surprised me, including the information that Egypt was a prime destination for Nazis on the run. German scientists and stormtroopers populated Cairo and assisted Gamel Nasser in modernizing Egypt's weaponry and military. This one fact explained much about Egypt's invasion of Israel in the Six-Day War in 1968.
August 28, 2017
Not only was The Eternal Nazi about the hunt for Nazi doctor Aribert Heim, it was also a book about why so many Nazi war criminals were never brought to trial. Europe was such a mess after World War II, it almost seems amazing any Nazis were prosecuted. When Dr. Heim realized his days of freedom were possibly going to come to an end in Europe, he fled to Cairo, one place where no Nazi hunters appeared to be looking for him.
Why those searching for him did not think to follow Aribert Heim's youngest son, or uncover where he had travelled, was the one question the authors did not seem to ask or answer. For his youngest son often visited Dr. Heim in Egypt, including up to 1992, when Aribert Heim was dying of cancer. The book also ends on a strange note, with a quote from Dr. Heim's illegitimate daughter, Waltraut, who never met her father, but only knew him from her mother's stories. "She only said good things about him," Waltraut said. "For me, he was a role model." Why did the authors end their story about an atrocious Nazi doctor, who used Jewish skulls to decorate his desk, with that quote?
Overall, though, The Eternal Nazi, was an informative and engrossing read. One of the interesting things the authors mentioned was how the German people were profoundly affected by the mini-series Holocaust. That American TV show seemed to have quickly educated an entire generation that had been kept ignorant about much of the horrors of Nazism. It is so many such facts like that which makes Nicholas Kulish's and Squad Mekhennet's work one that will greatly appeal to the general public. Not surprising by a book written by journalists, since the general public is who journalist are taught to write for and educate.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
Why those searching for him did not think to follow Aribert Heim's youngest son, or uncover where he had travelled, was the one question the authors did not seem to ask or answer. For his youngest son often visited Dr. Heim in Egypt, including up to 1992, when Aribert Heim was dying of cancer. The book also ends on a strange note, with a quote from Dr. Heim's illegitimate daughter, Waltraut, who never met her father, but only knew him from her mother's stories. "She only said good things about him," Waltraut said. "For me, he was a role model." Why did the authors end their story about an atrocious Nazi doctor, who used Jewish skulls to decorate his desk, with that quote?
Overall, though, The Eternal Nazi, was an informative and engrossing read. One of the interesting things the authors mentioned was how the German people were profoundly affected by the mini-series Holocaust. That American TV show seemed to have quickly educated an entire generation that had been kept ignorant about much of the horrors of Nazism. It is so many such facts like that which makes Nicholas Kulish's and Squad Mekhennet's work one that will greatly appeal to the general public. Not surprising by a book written by journalists, since the general public is who journalist are taught to write for and educate.
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
December 26, 2024
An interesting book on the hunt for an SS Doctor. A comprehensive analysis of an SS Doctor who escaped Germany and lived in exile for the rest of his life. Over the course of his life, things changed dramatically in his homeland and in his exiled land. The indirectly examines how the concept of justice changes over time.
The positive role of the media is illustrated in telling this story and the insights that can be learned from it. The negative aspects of media are also shown in the story in other contexts.
The Holocaust was at first a shame on the Germany people but now how they dealt with the Holocaust has become a point of pride. This is a lesson that is relevant today as we are in an era of misinformation and conspiracy theories.
An excellent book that challenges many the narratives surrounding the Holocaust, the role of Germany and the popularity of certain policy decisions over time. Highly recommended.
The positive role of the media is illustrated in telling this story and the insights that can be learned from it. The negative aspects of media are also shown in the story in other contexts.
The Holocaust was at first a shame on the Germany people but now how they dealt with the Holocaust has become a point of pride. This is a lesson that is relevant today as we are in an era of misinformation and conspiracy theories.
An excellent book that challenges many the narratives surrounding the Holocaust, the role of Germany and the popularity of certain policy decisions over time. Highly recommended.
February 28, 2018
A quick-reading but thorough history of how post-war Germany, and the world dealt, or rather didn't deal with, former Nazis through the story of one of them.
It shows how much greyer the historu is than the black and white history most of us tell ourselves. And there are hauntingly sympathetic portrayals of how hard it can be to wrestle with a collective guilt, and maddening descriptions of how so many often enthusiastically turned a blind eye.
It's not an earth shaking investigation but it's thoroughly told and really sets the collective sins of an era as something that you cannot bury, despite your many efforts.
It shows how much greyer the historu is than the black and white history most of us tell ourselves. And there are hauntingly sympathetic portrayals of how hard it can be to wrestle with a collective guilt, and maddening descriptions of how so many often enthusiastically turned a blind eye.
It's not an earth shaking investigation but it's thoroughly told and really sets the collective sins of an era as something that you cannot bury, despite your many efforts.
October 13, 2018
I found this book absolutely riveting. The background research carried out by Mulish and his co-author, Souad Mekhennet, is meticulous. How the authorities could have facilitated the escape of Aribet Heim after WW2 beggars belief but he did not have to go to extreme lengths for some time and was able to remain in post-war Europe for some time, gaining recommendations and credibility as a 'good doctor' from a number of institutions. Even after he fled to Cairo, where he was able to remain with the connivance of the authorities there, he was able to maintain a fairly significant life style. A really good, well written book that can be read at a decent pace.
November 21, 2018
A tremendous journalistic effort. Sprawling from the early 20th century into late aughts, Kulish and Mekhennet have crafted a thrilling chronicle, deeply researched and sharply written. Notwithstanding the title, one leaves this work holding onto questions of what really happened behind those closed doors in Mauthausen. The genius of this work lies in its presentation of both sides. You witness the dogged hunt for a man accused of heinous crimes. But you also witness the story of familial devotion and loyalty which followed Heim to the grave. The world is not as black and white as we may wish it.
October 9, 2019
Was interesting in the search for Dr. Heim. Although when it got to the part of his life when he lived apart from his family I started to lose interest as it seemed to me to try a elicit sympathy or understanding for why some people acted the way they acted. The manner in which the good doctor passed was "sad" but not when one realizes he should have died a much more vile death. Please note, I may have mis-understood the "tone" of this part of the book but in the end I dont know how anyone can have any sympathy for a Nazi.
August 1, 2018
This story was well written and researched. The hunt for Doctor Aribert Heim who was a doctor at several camps under the Nazi Regime and committed acts that were a crime against humanity. The documentation was excellent but in the end he evaded capture and lived many years in Egypt hiding in plain sight.
December 8, 2018
3.5 stars. Fascinating, aggravating account-- reads like a "true crime" novel even though most of the account isn't about the crimes itself but the "manhunt" in the following decades. This book caused me to more deeply consider my own stances on revenge, justice, mercy, regret, obeying authority, behavior during war, etc.
April 27, 2022
Mr. Kulish and Mr. Mekhennet reveal the sordid story of SS Doctor Aribert Heim and his fleeing from justice in Egypt. Known as "Dr. Death" or "The Butcher of Mauthausen" eventually after conversion to Islam as Tarik Fared Hussein he would remain a free man until his death. Only history could indict him for what he has done and this is that indictment.
January 28, 2025
Mekhennet wrote one of my favorite books (I Was Told to Come Alone), so I was incredibly disappointed by this book. 60 chapters shows how incredibly hard to follow this book was, not to mention the information was dry, which is shocking on a topic as interesting as this. Finally, they oddly sympathize with the families of Nazis, whole thing just misses the mark.
July 27, 2019
An incredible story during an impossibly evil period of human history. Yet, the story was a bit dry and factually driven. Still, the journey was incredible and worth the read.
December 15, 2019
Good historical book about situation after war...but certainly wasn't a "relentless pursuit"
January 9, 2020
An interesting read.
November 17, 2020
enthralling and unsettling! loved every page of this
December 28, 2023
3.5 started off a bit slow and the end was odd.
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