Nazi Fugitive Tells of Role in Syrian Plot for Bombing of Jewish Talks

Nazi fugitive Alois Brunner, accused of helping kill more than 100,000 Jews, has told a West German magazine that he was involved in a Syrian plot to explode a bomb at a meeting in Vienna of the World Jewish Congress.

Brunner, a former SS captain and aide to Adolf Eichmann, told the magazine Bunte that the Syrians, discovering his identity in Damascus, enlisted his help to plant a bomb at the meeting in 1961. But the 73-year-old fugitive told the interviewers in Damascus that the planned attack was foiled when Austrian police learned of it.

Brunner also told the magazine that the Syrians wanted his aid in a scheme to free Eichmann from captivity in Jerusalem after his 1960 capture by Israelis in Argentina--but security was too tight for Eichmann to escape.

“The Jews moved him to an impregnable prison and the plan had to be abandoned,” Brunner was quoted as saying.

Tried and Executed

Eichmann was head of the apparatus that rounded up Jews in Europe during World War II and sent them to extermination camps. He was tried and executed.

Brunner was interviewed in Damascus, the Syrian capital, where he has lived for 30 years despite attempts by West Germany to extradite him. He has been using the assumed name Georg Fischer, and Tuesday’s disclosures were the second part of an article on his life as a fugitive.

At the end of the war, Brunner used a fictitious name and managed to escape being identified by American and British forces in Germany. Eventually, he made his way to Egypt via Rome.

“The first few weeks, I rented a furnished room from Jews in Heliopolis (a suburb of Cairo),” Brunner said. “Quite nice people, really.”

When he was unable to get a permanent residence permit in Egypt, he told Bunte, he went to Damascus.

The magazine reported that Brunner worked in Damascus as a representative of West German firms until he was apprehended by the secret police in 1960 on suspicion of drug smuggling.

Situation Altered

When Brunner revealed his true identity, he said, “that altered the situation completely.”

Brunner said a police captain shook his hand and said:”Welcome to Syria. The enemies of our enemies (the Israelis) are our friends.”

His help was then enlisted, he said, for a bomb attack against the World Jewish Congress being held in Vienna.