The tragedy of the WWII Holocaust defies imagination. Many people were responsible for that level of death and destruction. But if we had to pick the one person most responsible for the deaths of millions, many would pick Adolf Eichmann.

At first, this seems illogical. At the close of WWII, when the Allies hunted down those responsible for war crimes, Eichmann was virtually unknown. It wasn’t until the Nuremberg trials, a year after the war ended, that investigators began to hear his name and understand the role he had played.

Eichmann was particularly devoted to deporting Jews in order to exterminate them. He accomplished this task with gusto and did so even when told by his superiors, on certain occasions, to desist. He claimed to have no remorse for causing the deaths of so many innocent people. Whenever one of his subordinates expressed even the slightest hint of remorse, Eichmann responded, “Don’t get sentimental.”

How could such a depraved and guilty person remain, at least initially, basically unknown to the war crime investigators? There were many reasons. First, Eichmann was not a national leader in Nazi Germany. He was a middle management army officer. While people like Hitler, Himmler, Goering, and Goebbels were grabbing all the headlines, Eichmann was content to work behind the scenes. He had been given the task of murdering these “enemies of the state” and was more than glad to accomplish it without any fanfare. The results, not the fame, were what mattered to him.

But there was more. Even when his contemporaries boasted of their work, Eichman didn’t. In fact, he markedly desired secrecy. He assiduously avoided publicity. He went to great lengths never to have his photo taken. He destroyed any such photos, including the negatives. When investigators eventually went to the homes of his parents and his wife, they couldn’t find a single picture of him.

Quite simply, he was a man who lived in the shadows. While he claimed to his close associates that his work–ridding the world of an evil race of people–was righteous, he didn’t want the world to know him or what he was doing. Because his contributions to the Holocaust were unknown, he was able to flee Europe after the war, eventually ending up in Argentina.

Some may say he operated in this manner because he realized that Germany might lose the war, and he wanted to avoid punishment for what the Allies considered crimes against humanity. He thought he was doing good but knew that the ignorant world would not share his views. He hid in the shadows in an attempt to hide any knowledge of his actions should the Allies be victorious.

But that’s giving him too much credit. Yes, he had a depraved mind (Rom 1:18-32), and that mind might have tried to excuse what he was doing. But I think he was a hypocrite who operated in secrecy because he knew what he was doing was evil. He didn’t want the world to know because he knew the world would punish him for his deeds, and rightfully so.

Eichmann was one of the most heinous hypocrites in history. Even though our sins are not as tragic, we may follow his example in at least one way. We may hide in the dark as we do things of which we know others will not approve. The Lord warned His disciples about acting and speaking in such a hypocritical way. He told them that everything done in the shadows will be revealed. It will all come to light (Luke 12:2-3).

We can be like Eichmann. We can think we’re able to keep others from knowing what we’re doing. When we sin, we can hide the evidence, but we’re only fooling ourselves.

That’s what happened to Eichmann. When witnesses who saw what he did behind the scenes and in the dark told the world what he had done, the new Jewish state devoted itself to finding him. It took fifteen years, but he was discovered hiding in Argentina. A group of Jewish secret agents kidnapped him and brought him to Israel. Those who saw what he had done testified against him in court, and Eichmann was executed. I have to think that for those fifteen years, Eichmann thought nobody would ever hold him to account.

One day, Christ will come. If we have believed in Him for eternal life, we will be in His kingdom forever. But let’s not fool ourselves. If we sin and think the world will never know, we are mistaken. What we do in the shadows will come to light.