Robert Servatius (31 October 1894 – 7 August 1983) was a German lawyer, prominent in his profession in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, and especially known for his defense of
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
Adolf Eichmann
Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann" '' Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
on 31 October 1894 to a family of industrialists and farmers. He graduated from the Friedrich-Wilhelm high school, and served as an
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...
officer in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
From 1918 to 1922, he studied law at the
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
,
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
,
Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...
, and the
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...
. He completed a legal clerkship, passed the ''
staatsexamen
The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists, psychotherapists and jurists (i.e., lawyers, judges, publi ...
'' in law, and received a
doctorate of law
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ( ...
from the University of Bonn in 1925.
He then worked as a lawyer in Cologne, specializing in tax and business law. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, he returned to military service as an officer, rising to the rank of
Major
Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...
. He was never a member of the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
, and was never connected with any of its crimes. He served as a
criminal defense lawyer
A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ju ...
at the
Nuremberg trials
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.
Between 1939 and 1945 ...
.Dan Diner, Raphael Gross, Yfaat Weiss, ''Jüdische Geschichte als Allgemeine Geschichte'' (2006) p. 218 "geboren am 31. Oktober 1894 in Köln, war im Ersten Weltkrieg Artillerieoffizier gewesen und hatte am Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges den Rang eines Majors erreicht. Da er nie der NSDAP angehört hatte oder von den Alliierten in irgendeiner Weise mit NS-Verbrechen in direkten Zusammenhang gebracht worden war, wurde er in Nürnberg als Strafverteidiger zugelassen. [born on October 31, 1894 in Cologne, was an artillery officer in World War I and had achieved the rank of major at the end of World War II. Since he had never belonged to the NSDAP or was in any way directly related to Nazi crimes by the Allies had been brought, he was admitted as a criminal defense lawyer in Nuremberg.]" Notable defendants he represented at Nuremberg included Fritz Sauckel, Karl Brandt and Paul Pleiger.Jonathan D. Moreno, ''Undue risk: secret state experiments on humans'' (2001), p. 63: "Robert Servatius of Cologne... represented Fritz Sauckel in the major Nuremberg trial of Nazi political leaders a few months before the doctors' trial."
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in 1961. A number of lawyers had offered to represent him, and Eichmann's family chose Servatius, who had offered to represent Eichmann in a telephone call to Eichmann's stepbrother.
Israeli law had to be changed to enable this, as until that time foreign lawyers had no right of audience in Israeli courts. The change enabled only those facing a capital charge to be represented by a non-Israeli lawyer.
Before he was appointed to defend Eichmann,
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
investigated the history of Servatius, and found nothing which greatly troubled the investigators, e.g., they showed that Servatius had never been a member of the Nazi Party, which would have disqualified him.
Although he had been hired by Eichmann, it emerged that Eichmann would not be able to pay Servatius's fee. As a result, Servatius was paid by the Israeli government, following a precedent set at Nuremberg.
He was assisted in the defense of Eichmann by Dieter Wechtenbruch.''The Israel digest of press and events in Israel and the Middle East'', vols. 4-5 (1961), p. 205 Servatius arrived in Israel in October 1960, where he met with his client and began preparing a defense strategy. Following Eichmann's conviction and death sentence, Servatius handled his unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court and attempted to gain
clemency
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...
for Eichmann from the President, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.
Following Eichmann's execution, Servatius returned to Germany, and made no comments to the media about the propriety and legality of the trial. Servatius died in Cologne in 1983 at the age of 88.