The ODESSA File
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The ODESSA File is a thriller novel by Frederick Forsyth, first published in 1972, about a struggle between a young German reporter and the ODESSA, an organization for ex-Nazis.
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[edit] Plot outline
The plot begins on November 22, 1963, the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. A young German reporter happens to see an ambulance on a highway. He chases the ambulance and discovers it contains an elderly Jewish Holocaust-survivor who had committed suicide. The reporter obtains the diary of the man, which contains information on his life in the World War II camps, and the names of members of the SS who ran the camp. He makes up his mind to hunt a Nazi who is mentioned in the diary, not just for a sensational cover story, but for a more serious personal reason. The personal reason is that his father, a highly decorated Wehrmacht captain, was shot dead by an SS officer during a war-time altercation. He believes the Nazi was the one who killed his father, which turns out to be true when he interrogates him at gunpoint.
Real-life investigator of Nazi war criminals Simon Wiesenthal makes a brief appearance as a character in the story.
[edit] Film adaptation
A movie adaptation of the same name was released in 1974 starring Jon Voight and directed by Ronald Neame with a score by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
[edit] Cast list
- Jon Voight - Peter Miller
- Maximilian Schell - Eduard Roschmann
- Maria Schell - Frau Miller
- Mary Tamm - Sigi
- Derek Jacobi - Klaus Wenzer
- Peter Jeffrey - David Porath
- Klaus Löwitsch - Gustav Mackensen
- Kurt Meisel - Alfred Oster
- Hannes Messemer - General Richard Glücks
- Garfield Morgan - Israeli General
- Shmuel Rodensky - Simon Wiesenthal
- Ernst Schröder - Werner Deilman
- Günter Strack - Kunik
- Noel Willman - Franz Bayer
- Martin Brandt - Marx
[edit] SS Captain Eduard Roschmann
Although the movie was based rather loosely on the book, ironically it was the movie which brought about the downfall of the real life "Butcher of Riga" aka SS Captain Eduard Roschmann-after the movie came out he was arrested by the Argentines; skipped bail and fled to Assuncion, Paraguay where he died in 10 August 1977. See List of SS personnel.
