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Revision as of 21:53, 28 November 2024 by Jonathan Deamer (talk | contribs) (→Later years: typo)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Prison guard| Shalom Nagar | |
|---|---|
| Born | Yemen |
| Died | (2024-11-26)November 26, 2024 |
| Occupation | prison guard |
| Known for | Executing Adolf Eichmann |
Shalom Nagar (Hebrew: שלום נגר; born 1930s, died 26 November 2024) was a Yemeni-born prison guard known for executing war criminal and Nazi Party official Adolf Eichmann by hanging.
Israel Prison Service
While working at Ramle Prison, Nagar was one of 22 handpicked guards "Eichmann guards", selected to ensure none of them would have a personal motivation to kill the prisoner. Suicide-watch was a key duty. Nagar was also charged with testing food given to the prisoner, for fear someone would try to poison him.
After Eichmann's sentencing to death in December 1961, Nagar was randomly selected to carry out the execution. He didn't want the duty, but was convinced to accept it after being shown pictures of Holocaust atrocities against children. In 2005, he told orthodox Jewish magazine Mispacha "It so appalled me that I agreed to do what needed to be done".
Such was the secrecy around the execution that Nagar's commander collected him for the duty by bundling into a car while he was walking with his wife. Nagar was concerned that she would believe he had been kidnapped, so they returned to he had been called in as the prison was short staffed.
The execution took place on 30 May 1962. This was the only judicial execution ever held in Israel.
Afterwards, it was Nagar's job to take the corpse for cremation. He struggled, with shaking hands and difficulty walking unaided. In the following years, he suffered from PTSD and nightmares.
Later years
In the 1980s Nagar was asked if he would carry out the execution of Ivan Demjanjuk. He refused, later saying he had "had enough trauma".
Nagar's identity as Eichmann's executioner was kept secret for 30 years due to fear of reprisals, until it was revealed by journalists in 1992. Nagar said that he was sworn to secrecy, but after Mossad chief Isser Harel had published a book about Eichmann's capture he felt he had nothing to fear, saying "Besides, I was involved in the great mitzvah of wiping out Amalek".
According to the Jewish Herald-Voice, when a German media outlet asked to interview Nagar in 2004 he insisted that the interview take place in his kollel. The paper describes the "Jewish study hall" as being "anything but quiet", with "piles of books scattered all over and loud argumentative voices". When the German reporter asked why he wanted to be interview in such a noisy environment, Nagar responded that he wanted any television interview, likely to be watched by millions of Germans, to show that the Jewish people were thriving on the values, culture and traditions that "Hitler and Eichmann wanted to decimate".
Nagar was the subject of a 2010 documentary, The Hangman.
Early life
Sources differ as to when exactly Nagar was born. Haaretz and The Times of Israel report his year of birth as 1936, meaning he was 26 when he executed Eichmann and 88 when he died. The Jerusalm Post gives his age of death as 86. According to BBC News, "Nagar was born in Yemen in the late 1930s and moved to Israel as an orphan in 1948. His exact age is not clear".
Before joining the Israel Prison Service, Nagar served in the IDF’s Paratroopers Brigade.
References
- ^ "Shalom Nagar, hangman of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, dies". BBC News. 2024-11-28. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
- ^ Winer, Stuart. "Shalom Nagar, reluctant hangman of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, dies aged 88". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
- ^ Ginsberg, Rachel (2009-05-09). "Eichmann's Executioner | Aish". Aish.com. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
- ^ "Shalom Nagar, Adolf Eichmann's Reluctant Executioner, Dies at 88". Haaretz.
- "Interview of a lifetime: The man who hanged Eichmann". jhvonline.com. Retrieved 2024-11-28.
- "Shalom Nagar, executioner of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, passes away at 86". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2024-11-27. Retrieved 2024-11-28.