Eidel was an officer in the SS-Leibstandarte and a member of Adolf Hitler's inner circle.
Biography[]
Eidel was a small, thin man who was more of an office worker than a soldier, but nevertheless enjoyed flaunting his authority over others, who put up with him due to having a direct line with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. As a result, Colonel Herman Dietrich disliked him along with the other SS members that he perceived as being black-uniformed thugs who thought they ran the world. It was Eidel who assigned Dietrich at his Wilhelmstrasse office the all-important task of recovering the Ark of the Covenant in 1936, and also directed him to hire the French mercenary archaeologist René Emile Belloq over Dietrich's misgivings.[1]
Personality and traits[]
A pompous incongruously petite man, Eidel enjoyed making himself feel important, using stacks of manila folders to compensate that and having the manners of a small-time university professor. He didn't like being treated lesser by others, demanding Herman Dietrich to not warn him but advise him. Like all Nazis, Eidel had a dislike for Judaism, laughing at the fact that Adolf Hitler could possibly have a genuine interest in a Jewish artifact like the Ark of the Covenant other than its symbolic significance. He had thin, pale indelicate hands as if he were someone who failed to become a concert pianist.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
Eidel only appears in Campbell Black's novelization of Raiders of the Lost Ark in a chapter that fleshes out Herman Dietrich's backstory and what led him to be in charge of the Tanis Dig.[1]
Appearances[]
- Raiders of the Lost Ark novel (First appearance)