Adolf Eichmann was a Nazi SS officer. He was responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust.
After the Israeli secret service (the Mossad) received a tip in 1957, they started an investigation. While they confirmed their sources of information they decided to go to Buenos Aires in Argentina. There they met an old man who gave them Eichmann’s address. Eichmann had changed his name to Ricardo Clement, but the old man recognized him.
When they came to see the house Eichmann wasn’t there, but they saw workers who painted the house. At the beginning the workers didn’t want to tell them where the family was, but eventually they admitted that the family moved to another house.
The Mossad men continued their investigation and went to the new house. They took pictures of the people inside and they found out that the woman in the house is Vera Eichmann, but they had a problem – Eichmann wasn’t there. So they pretended to be delivery men and questioned his kids and one of them said that their father works in Tucuman.
That was the biggest breakthrough they had so far. They waited for him to return home and then followed him back to Tucuman and investigated his life.
The Israeli secret service finely knew they found Eichmann, so they planned a big operation to catch him and bring him secretly to Israel. The operation was scheduled on Argentina’s Independence Day. The agents waited in a car near his house and when he got closer to the car on his way home they jumped quickly and caught him. They drove to the safe house very fast and on their way they asked Eichmann questions about his true identity and he confirmed everything they said and confessed. They arrived at the safe house and the agents had to watch Eichmann 24 hours a day for 9 long days. Those 9 days were the longest and the most mental breaking days in their lives.
After 9 days the agents had to take Eichmann to the airport and fly with him to Israel.
In order to bring him to Israel without raising any suspicions, they brought him a fake passport and made him dress like an El Al worker. They also prevented his communication with anyone around him. When they arrived in Israel many important people waited for them and it was a very happy day.
Eichmann was given a fair trial, which was a very long process that included many harsh testimonies from eye witnesses. He was convicted of his crimes and was executed by hanging – he was the only person to have been convicted by a civil court and executed in Israel.
Eichmann’s capture (video from NHDEichmannProject on youtube.com)
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