Koestler, Arthur. The Thirteenth Tribe. New York: Random House, 1976.
Kranebitter, Andreas. “Aribert Heim, Lagerarzt im KZ Mauthausen, im Spiegel der Dokumente.” In KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen/Mauthausen Memorial 2008. Vienna: Bundesministerium für Inneres, 2008.
Kulish, Nicholas. “Germans Corroborate Reports of Nazi Doctor’s Death in Egypt.” New York Times, February 5, 2009.
———. “Hunt Ends for a Nazi Now Believed to Be Dead.” New York Times, September 21, 2012.
Kulish, Nicholas, and Souad Mekhennet. “Police Confirm Cairo Link to Fugitive Nazi.” New York Times, August 13, 2009.
Lagnado, Lucette. The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family’s Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World. New York: Harper Perennial, 2008.
Läpple, Wolfgang. Ludwigsburg in den ersten Jahren nach dem 2: Weltkrieg—dargestellt anhand von Quellen des Stadtarchivs. Ludwigsburg: Historischen Verein für Stadt und Kreis Ludwigsburg e.V., 1991.
———. Schwäbisches Potsdam: Die Garnison Ludwigsburg von den Anfängen bis zur Auflösung. Ludwigsburg: Stadt Ludwigsburg, 2009.
Lebrecht, Norman. “The Tragedy of Koestler.” Evening Standard, September 26, 2005.
Le Chêne, Evelyn. Mauthausen: The History of a Death Camp. London: Methuen, 1971.
Levy, Alan. The Wiesenthal File. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1994.
Lichtenstein, Heiner. “NS-Prozess—viel zu spat und ohne System.” In Aus Politik und Zeitgeschicte, Beilage zur Wochenzeitung das Parlament. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 1981.
Lifton, Robert Jay. The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide. New York: Basic Books, 2000.
Lotz, Wolfgang. The Champagne Spy: Israel’s Master Spy Tells His Story. London: Corgi Books, 1972.
MacDonogh, Giles. After the Reich: The Brutal History of the Allied Occupation. New York: Basic Books, 2007.
Marsalek, Hans. “Er hat jedem geholfen: Unserm Pepi Kohl zum Gedenken.” Der neue Mahnruf. RÖ BMI IV/7 Archiv R/1/1.
Marsot, Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid. A History of Egypt from the Arab Conquest to the Present. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
McLaughlin, Gerald T. “Infitah in Egypt: An Appraisal of Egypt’s Open-Door Policy for Foreign Investment.” Fordham Law Review 46, no. 5 (1978).
Medical Science Abused: German Medical Science as Practiced in Concentration Camps and in the So-Called Protectorate, Reported by Czechoslovak Doctors. Prague: Orbis, 1946.
Mitchell, Richard P. The Society of the Muslim Brothers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Mix, Andreas. “Als Westdeutschland Aufwachte.” Spiegel Online, November 18, 2009. http://einestages.spiegel.de/static/topicalbumbackground/1853/als_westdeutschland_aufwachte.html.
New York Times. “Ex-SS Doctor Is Fined $255,000 in Germany for the Killing of Jews.” June 14, 1979.
———. “Nazi Found in Uruguay, Wiesenthal Tells Israelis.” December 28, 1980.
O’Connor, John J. “TV Weekend.” New York Times, April 14, 1978.
Osman, Tarek. Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to Mubarak. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2010.
Osterloh, Jörg, and Clemens Vollnhals. NS-Prozesse und deutsche Öffentlichkeit: Besatzungszeit, frühe Bundesrepublik und DDR. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011.
Posner, Gerald L. Hitler’s Children: Inside the Families of the Third Reich. London: William Heinemann, 1991.
Posner, Gerald L., and John Ware. Mengele: The Complete Story. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2000.
Raim, Edith. “NS-Prozesse und Öffentlichkeit: Die Strafverfolgung von NS-Verbrechen durch die deutsche Justiz in den westlichen Besatzungszonen, 1945–1949.” In Osterloh and Vollnhals, NS-Prozesse und deutsche Öffentlichkeit.
Raymond, André. Cairo: City of History. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2007.
Reiman, Victor. “Der Weg ins Leben.” Salzburger Nachrichten, May 18, 1946.
Rodenbeck, Max. Cairo: The City Victorious. New York: Vintage Departures, 2000.
Rosenbaum, Eli. Betrayal: The Untold Story of the Kurt Waldheim Investigation and Cover-Up. With William Hoffer. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993.
Rückerl, Adalbert. NS-Verbrechen vor Gericht: Versuch einer Vergangenheitsbewältigung. Heidelberg/Karlsruhe: C. F. Müller Juristischer Verlag, 1982.
——. Die Strafverfolgung von NS-Verbrechen, 1945–1978: Eine Dokumentation. Heidelberg/Karlsruhe: C. F. Müller Juristischer Verlag, 1979.
Ruether, Tobias. “The Man Who Came from Hell.” 032c, no. 12 (Winter 2006/2007).
Ryan, Allan A., Jr. Klaus Barbie and the United States Government: A Report to the Attorney General. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, 1983.
Schmeitzner, Mike. “Unter Ausschluss der Öffentlichkeit? Zur Verfolgung von NS-Verbrechen durch die sowjetische Sonderjustiz.” In Osterloh and Vollnhals, NS-Prozesse und deutsche Öffentlichkeit.
Schmidt, Dana Adams. “Arab Shells Rock City of Jerusalem.” New York Times, April 11, 1948.
Schreiber, Jürgen. “Der Anwalt des Bösen.” Die Zeit, November 1, 2009.
Schrimm, Kurt, and Joachim Riedel. “50 Jahre Zentrale Stelle in Ludwigsburg: Ein Erfahrungsbericht.” Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, 4/2008.
Segev, Tom. 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year That Transformed the Middle East. London: Abacus, 2008.
———. Simon Wiesenthal: The Life and Legends. New York: Doubleday, 2010.
Shapiro, T. Rees. “Tuviah Friedman, Credited with Helping to Find Adolf Eichmann, Dies at 88.” Washington Post, January 20, 2011.
Sher, Neal M., and Eli Rosenbaum. In the Matter of Josef Mengele: A Report to the Attorney General of the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Office of Special Investigations, 1992.
Sims, David. Understanding Cairo: The Logic of a City Out of Control. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2010.
Der Spiegel. “Das Attentat: Mord nach Fahrplan.” April 18, 1977.
———. “Den Bundeskanzler Misshandelt.” November 11, 1968.
———. “Deutsche Raketen für Nasser.” May 8, 1963.
———. “Entnazifizierung/Prominenten Vermogen: Sie soll alles erben.” July 20, 1955.
———. “Es geht mir gut.” August 29, 2005.
———. “Graue Maus.” February 28, 1972.
———. “Heidi und die Detektive.” March 27, 1963.
———. “Hinten raus.” February 5, 1979.
———. “Kollegen.” December 17, 1958.
———. “NS-Verb Rechen: Speziellen Note.” June 18, 1979.
Strauss, Christof. “Zwischen Apathie und Selbstrechtfertigung: Die Internierung NS-belasteter Personen in Württemberg-Baden.” In Kriegsende und Neubeginn: Die Besatzungszeit im schwäbisch-alemannisch Raum, edited by Paul Hoser and Reinhard Baumann. Konstanz: UVK, 2003.
Der Tagesspiegel. “Anwalt forderte ‘faires Verfahren’ gegen untergetauchten KZ-Arzt.” December 15, 1979.
———. “Flüchtiger KZ-Arzt bezieht Einkünfte aus Mietshaus.” February 6, 1979.
———. “KZ-Arzt Heim offenbar in Caracas.” February 23, 1980.
———. “Teil der Vollstreckungsclique um Hitler.” June 14, 1979.
Die Tageszeitung. “Alles ‘Latrinengerüchte.’ ” June 15, 1979.
Tatari, Yoash. Ein deutsches Schicksal: Kriminalkommissar Alfred Aedtner. 44’ BetaSP, BRD, 1987.
Time. “The Champagne Spy.” November 23, 1970.
Uhlenbroich, Burkhard. “Zum ersten Mal spricht sein Sohn Rüdiger Heim (52).” Bild am Sonntag, August 25, 2008.
UPI. “Israeli Aide Is Linked to Killing of Latvian Nazi in Montevideo.” New York Times, March 10, 1965.
Van der Nat, Dan. “Cyla Wiesenthal.” Guardian, November 14, 2003. www.guardian.co.uk/news/2003/nov/14/guardianobituaries.
Vinocur, John. “Bonn Parliament Vote Abolishes Time Limi
t on War-Crime Cases.” New York Times, July 4, 1979.
———. “Germans Buy TV ‘Holocaust.’ ” New York Times, April 28, 1978.
———. “Germans Hard Hit by TV ‘Holocaust.’ ” New York Times, May 9, 1979.
———. “ ‘Holocaust’ TV Series, Criticized, Is Sidelined by West Germans; No Longer a National Event.” New York Times, July 3, 1978.
Voss-Dietrich, Valeska. “Untergetauchter SS-Arzt Verliert Sein Miethaus in Moabit.” Berliner Morgenpost, June 14, 1979.
Wahrheit. “Eine Hausgemeinschaft kämpft gegen unselige faschistische Vergangenheit.” March 23, 1979.
Walters, Guy. Hunting Evil: How the Nazi War Criminals Escaped and the Hunt to Bring Them to Justice. London: Bantam Books, 2010.
Weindlin, Paul Julian. Nazi Medicine and the Nuremberg Trials: From Medical War Crimes to Informed Consent. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
Werkentin, Falco. “Die Waldheimer Prozesse 1950.” In Osterloh and Vollnhals, NS-Prozesse und deutsche Öffentlichkeit.
Wiedemann, Andreas. “Zwischen Kriegsende und Währungsreform: Politik und Alltag in Landkreisen Friedberg und Büdingen, 1945–1949.” Wetterauer Geschichtsblätter: Beiträge zur Geschichte und Landeskunde 43, pt. 2 (1994).
Wiesel, Elie. “TV View; Trivializing the Holocaust: Semi-fact and Semi-fiction.” New York Times, April 16, 1978.
Zuroff, Efraim. Occupation: Nazi-Hunter. Southampton, U.K.: Ashford Press, 1988.
———. Operation Last Chance. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
Photo of Mauthausen: BMI/Fotoarchiv der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen
Photos of Alfred Aedtner: courtesy of the Aedtner family
Photo of Simon Wiesenthal: courtesy of the Simon Wiesenthal Archive, Vienna
Photo of Waltraut Böser: courtesy of Waltraut Böser
Photos of al-Azhar mosque and Kasr el-Madina hotel: Ariana Drehsler
Photos of Heim’s briefcase, Egyptian documents, Mahmoud Doma, and elderly Heim in Egypt: courtesy of the authors
Photo of Gaetano Pisano and Blandine Pellet: Joseluis Aznar Muñoz
All other photographs courtesy of the Heim family
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Nicholas Kulish is a correspondent for The New York Times. He was the paper’s Berlin bureau chief from 2007 to 2013.
Souad Mekhennet is a journalist and reports for The Washington Post, the Daily Beast, and ZDF German television. She is an associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and a fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and she previously worked for The New York Times.
SS officer Dr. Aribert Heim is pictured here in a tuxedo, enjoying Germany’s postwar prosperity.
Aribert Ferdinand Heim was born in Austria on June 28, 1914, the same day that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was murdered, plunging Europe into war. His twin brother was stillborn.
His father, Josef Ferdinand Heim, was a gendarmerie commander in the town of Radkersburg in what was then Austria-Hungary.
Heim moved to Vienna in the fall of 1931, when he was seventeen years old, to begin studying at the university there.
Heim (far left, with bandage) played professional ice hockey and was so skilled he was invited to play for the Austrian national team. He suffered a gash to the corner of his mouth, which left a distinctive V-shaped scar.
Heim (center) at the University of Vienna, where he completed his medical degree in 1940 at the age of twenty-five, a few months after World War II broke out. He was drafted into the SS upon graduation.
Heim’s older brother, Josef Heim (right), was a staunch Nazi who took part in a failed coup attempt in Austria and then served in exile in Germany as part of Hitler’s Austrian Legion until the Anschluss. He was killed during the invasion of Crete in 1941.
Heim worked as a doctor at Mauthausen for several months in 1941. The concentration camp, located near the Danube River in Austria, was one of the harshest in the Nazi system, designed as a forced labor camp for quarrying granite.
Heim’s signature on the Mauthausen operation book. Records show he operated 263 times while he was at the camp. All eleven of the Jewish inmates he operated on were listed as having died within a few weeks.
After leaving Mauthausen, Heim, pictured here in SS uniform while in Finland, was wounded on the eastern front and received the Iron Cross.
After the war, Heim was detained by the victorious Allies for nearly three years, first at a POW camp in France and then in a series of internment facilities in the American sector of Germany. He was released in December 1947 as part of a Christmas amnesty.
After his release, he resumed practicing medicine (right, leaning over the patient) and played in the German professional hockey championship game under his own name.
Heim married Friedl Bechtold in July 1949, and they moved to this villa on Maria-Viktoria-Strasse in the resort town of Baden-Baden in 1953. They lived comfortably and enjoyed vacations in Italy and Switzerland, where Friedl’s parents owned a place in Lugano.
Heim practiced as a gynecologist and Friedl gave birth to two sons, Aribert Christian and Rolf Rüdiger (pictured with Heim).
Realizing that the authorities were closing in on him, Heim fled his home in 1962. There were rumors that he had settled in Egypt, where a number of former Nazis and German weapons experts had found refuge. Heim, pictured here after his escape, on the Mediterranean coast.
Fritz Steinacker (at right in a photograph taken by Heim) was widely known as a defense lawyer for Nazis, including Josef Mengele and Heim. The lawyer visited Heim in Cairo and carried back a message from Heim to his wife, asking if his sons could travel to his new home where “the climate and the sports facilities are world famous.”
Alfred Aedtner spearheaded the search for Aribert Heim as a police investigator focusing on war crimes for the West German government. He joined the war crimes unit at its inception in 1959, and by 1973, as head of the department in Stuttgart, Aedtner’s primary target was the fugitive doctor.
Aedtner developed a close working relationship with renowned Nazi hunter and Mauthausen survivor Simon Wiesenthal. From his office in Vienna, Wiesenthal used his media contacts to focus the public’s attention on the SS doctor.
Aedtner tracked down Heim’s illegitimate daughter, Waltraut Böser, while she was living in Switzerland and working as a pharmacist. Although she never met her father, she inherited his love of sports and aptitude for languages.
In 1979, German authorities seized an apartment house in Berlin that belonged to Heim, squeezing his income. He moved to the Kasr el-Madina, a hotel in a working-class Cairo neighborhood, where he rented a small room.
With the help of Egyptian associates, Heim was able to purchase property and remain in Egypt even after his German passport expired. At right is his Egyptian driver’s license.
Even as his exile in Egypt grew from a temporary measure to a permanent circumstance, Heim maintained his innocence, drafting numerous written arguments and letters about the case. This is the first page of a handwritten chronicle of his life.
As Egypt was becoming more religiously conservative, Heim, raised a Christian, began reading the Koran and visiting mosques, including al-Azhar, the famous center of Islamic learning in Cairo.
In 1980, the fugitive converted to Islam. Heim, who had gone by the names Ferdinand Heim and Alfred Buediger in Cairo, adopted the Muslim name Tarek Hussein Farid, throwing investigators farther off his trail.
Heim’s son Rüdiger visited his father numerous times in his hiding place and kept in touch with him through letters using code names.
Aedtner worked with Wiesenthal to continue the search for Heim even after he retired from the police force. But as he grew older, he focused his efforts on archiving the case files from Nazi investigations and giving speeches about the crimes of the Holocaust.
Large money transfers from Rüdiger Heim to his friends Gaetano Pisano and Blandine Pe
llet in Spain led investigators to wrongly conclude that the couple was harboring the fugitive Nazi doctor. They were later cleared of any involvement.
In 2008, the authors used this picture of Heim to track down his friends and acquaintances in Egypt.
The authors recovered a briefcase full of Heim’s papers, including medical records and correspondence with his family. Forensic tests and handwriting analysis proved that the briefcase was Heim’s and that he had hidden in Cairo for decades.
Now a grown man with his own family, Mahmoud Doma recalled learning English and playing games as a child on the roof of his family’s hotel with the man he knew as Uncle Tarek.
Heim on the roof of the Kasr el-Madina in 1990. He is believed to have died in 1992. His body was never discovered.
The Eternal Nazi: From Mauthausen to Cairo, the Relentless Pursuit of SS Doctor Aribert Heim Page 30