Come on and Ride the Train: The Kastner Story Part IX

February 7, 2026

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5 min read

Come on and Ride the Train: The Kastner Story Part IX

In 1957, a Dutch Nazi named Willem Sassin sat down in Argentina with Adolf Eichmann, who had no idea he would be captured by Mossad three years later. Eichmann spoke openly about the Final Solution, proud and unrepentant. And when he discussed the deportation of Hungarian Jews, he brought up Rudolf Kastner on his own initiative. "This doctor Kastner was a young man about my age, an ice cold lawyer and a fanatical Zionist," Eichmann said. "He agreed to help keep the Jews from resisting deportation and even keep order in the collection camps if I would close my eyes and let a few hundred or a few thousand young Jews emigrate illegally to Palestine. It was a good bargain." This final episode of the series examines the legacy of the Kastner affair, focusing on three areas: the Sassin interviews, Ben Hecht's book Perfidy, and the spectrum of scholarly opinion that has developed since the trial.

Eichmann's Testimony and Its Limits

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What you'll learn

1 (00:14) **Introduction & Episode Goals** - The host outlines three objectives for the final episode: discussing the incriminating Sassen interviews with Eichmann, analyzing Ben Hecht's book *Perfidy* and its outsized influence, and surveying the spectrum of scholarly opinion on Kastner.
2 (04:06) **The Sassen Interviews: Eichmann's Indictment of Kastner** - The host presents the most incriminating evidence against Kastner: Eichmann's 1957 interviews with Dutch Nazi Willem Sassen, where Eichmann claimed Kastner agreed to keep Hungarian Jews calm in exchange for allowing a few thousand to escape.
3 (12:02) **Ben Hecht and *Perfidy*: The Author's Background** - The host shares his personal introduction to the Kastner story through *Perfidy* in a yeshiva dormitory, then provides a detailed biography of its author, Ben Hecht, a formerly assimilated, secular Zionist Hollywood screenwriter.
4 (25:10) **The Content and Limitations of *Perfidy*** - The host dissects the book's four main arguments, acknowledging its strengths (citing court transcripts) and its serious flaws (conspiracy theories and fabricated claims about the Zionist leadership).
5 (40:27) **The Impact of *Perfidy* and the Spectrum of Historians** - The host explains why *Perfidy* resonated in religious circles (as ammunition against a secular establishment) and then maps out the spectrum of scholarly opinion on Kastner, from extreme critics to defenders.
6 (55:45) **The Mainstream Consensus and the Counterfactual** - The host summarizes the core debate: the counterfactual question of whether warning Hungarian Jews would have saved them, and concludes that Kastner is a complex figure with both heroic and deeply flawed actions.
7 (63:01) **Series Summary & Conclusion** - The host lists his five modest contributions to the topic across the nine-part series and thanks listeners for their feedback, inviting them to stay tuned for future content.

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Guests on this episode

Adolf Eichmann Rudolf Kastner Rudolf Vrba

Show Notes

In this final installment of the Kastner train series, the legacy of the Kastner trial is explored in three ways. In a series of interviews in 1957 known as the Sassen documents, Adolf Eichmann described his view of the role that Kastner played in the negotiations. In 1961 famed Hollywood screenwriter and novelist Ben Hecht authored Perfidy, a harsh critique of Kastner and the Zionist leadership. Who was Ben Hecht and what are the limitations of Perfidy. Finally, a broad swath of scholars, historians, historical figures and writers are presented in a sweeping summary of the spectrum of views criticizing and defending Kastner.

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