The Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb | Teen Ink

The Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb

May 2, 2014
By Jack Hovland BRONZE, Scottsdale, Arizona
Jack Hovland BRONZE, Scottsdale, Arizona
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

In the novel The Nazi Hunters, Neal Bascomb writes a nonfiction account of the frantic search by the Israelis for a notorious Nazi war criminal by the name of Adolf Eichmann. The reason for the search is because of his involvement with transporting a number of European Jews to their deaths in the “Final Solution to the Jewish Problem,” which killed around six million of them. The search team consisting of Israeli spies, who have deceased family members from the Holocaust, one Auschwitz survivor, and Israeli defensemen, take part in attempting to capture Eichmann to bring him to justice in Jerusalem.

Bascomb describes in the author’s note that he does as accurate of research as possible on Eichmann’s life events, so the reader is able to know by the end of the book that the events on each page are “real-life” and not made up. At the end of the novel, he lists all of the sources necessary to create this nonfiction account of Eichmann’s life as a fugitive. His research even took him to four continents. In each chapter, there seems to be suspense in trying to find Eichmann, and I feel like I am witnessing each and every action from in the background as I am reading along. There are numerous times as well where Bascomb describes the surroundings of Buenos Aires and where Eichmann lives, and I can picture these vivid imageries perfectly in my head. Images are even added in the text to give the reader an idea of what exactly is going on in the search for Eichmann in each chapter.

I would highly recommend this novel for anyone that is into World War II history or any type of history because there is more depth into the history of the Holocaust and Nazi war criminals than people think. People always hear about Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler’s roles in the Holocaust, but no one talks about Eichmann’s role in the Holocaust, nor his escape to Buenos Aires. The journey to find Eichmann gets suspenseful at every turn of the page, and it is difficult to put this book down as a result. The same will most likely happen when you start reading this fantastic novel.


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