HAUSNER, GIDEON. (1915-1990). Israeli attorney general who led the prosecution against Nazi officer Adolph Eichmann. SP. (“Gideon Hausner”). 1pp. 12mo. N.p., N.d. A sepia bust portrait in three quarters profile, inscribed in the lower margin “To Mr. Samuel S. Kloda with best wishes…” With a TLS. (“Gideon Hausner”). 1pp. 8vo. Jerusalem, April 6, 1973. On the letterhead of his law office. To Samuel S. Kloda of Montreal.

“Thank you for your letter of March 6 1973. I attach an autographed picture. Sincerely yours…”

As Israel’s attorney general, Hausner led the prosecution of Nazi officer Adolph Eichmann in the high-profile 1961 war crimes trial. Eichmann, one of the lead perpetrators of the Holocaust, had been captured by Mossad agents in Argentina and brought to Israel to face trial, a move criticized by the United Nations. The trial, during which Hausner cross-examined Eichmann and called more than 100 witnesses, was broadcast internationally and helped raise awareness about the extent of Germany’s genocide against Jews, an effect magnified by Hannah Arendt’s book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. Found guilty on all 15 counts, Eichmann was hanged in 1962, the only judicial execution ever conducted in Israel.

In fine condition and rare. The last example we could find by Hausner was in 1966.