Customer Reviews

Operation Eichmann: The Truth about the Pursuit, Capture and Trial

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Zvi Aharoni knows from personal experience the inside story of Eichmann's capture and has given us the definitive insight. The description of the trial, however, is less detailed. A lot of myths are laid to rest. For example the SS criminal on the run never tried to disguise his identity after capture contrary to other accounts and movies. Nor did he speak the Hebrew language as has sometimes been claimed by apologists. But the over-riding lesson of this spy story is how it all very nearly went wrong. The undercover agents made the mistake of pretending to be estate agents when visiting Eichmann's neighbor and their cover was very nearly blown. Eichmann himself was surprisingly careless about his personal security in Buenos Aires even though he knew the Israelis were planning to capture him. It is an interesting sidelight that he and his family lived poorly in a house without electricity or fresh water supplies. If organizations such as Odessa had plenty of nazi gold in South America, Eichmann certainly never saw much of it after his arrival there. Apparently, he was the only man executed in Israel since 1947. In the worst sense of the term, Eichmann was indeed a special case.

This book gives a brief history of the beginings of a terrible time in history. It then tells an intriguing story of espionage and kidnapping. The author had intimate contact with Eichmann, and relates some of the conversations with him, giving some insight into a twisted mind. This book has pictures(vital when studying history) which helps to put the reader in Buenos Aires. To get the full story of Eichmann's capture "The House On Garibaldi Street" is an important companion book. Note should be taken that the names are different in the two books, but as the reader gets to know the characters they tend to meld together. Operation Eichmann is a fasinating read as a part of our history that needs to be told and never forgotten.

If you want an overview of the capture of Eichmann this book will give it to you, but don't expect a gripping story. This is unglamorous espionage. Israel receives very specific information of Eichmann living in Argentina but ignores it twice. When they finally decide to pursue him it turns out that Eichmann had given up running. He and his family were living thinly concealed lives in squalor.

The author's style is slow and plodding as if he was trying to stretch the story to fill the 180 pages. For example, we learn a bit too much about the difficulties of renting cars in Buenos Aires in 1960. But the book is worth the read if you don't know the story.

The claims in this book and by the literary critics above are such complete, watered-down, political CRAP intended to sell another book on the subject. It is all third-hand, and poor at that. Read the TRUE and ACCURATE account by the Israeli Spy, recently declassified WHO ACTUALLY CAUGHT ADOLF EICHMANN. His famous book is called "EICHMANN IN MY HANDS". Before this book, he had to write under an alias, Peter Z Mann. His action novels reflect his life and are must-reads: "ULTIMATUM PU 94" and "CARLOS MUST DIE". (Also recommend the underground book written in 1961 immediately after Eichmann's capture "THE PLOT TO SAVE EICHMANN".

The book is based on a true story. It's like a suspenseful adventure story that you would not want to put down when you start reading it!

I have read this book twice and love to see someone will make a movie out of it!

This book, first published in English in 1996, was the most recent of 3 eyewitness accounts of the Eichmann operation Although fairly consistent in details with the other two books written by task force members ('The House on Garibaldi Street,' by Isser Harrel and 'Eichmann in My Hands' by Peter Z. Malkin -- see my reviews of these books), there remains one question to be answered.

Zvi Aharoni and Peter Malkin seem to have a mutual animosity towards each other, a point that is illustrated many times in this book. Of historical importance, however, is Aharoni's claim that Mr. Malkin's discussions with Eichmann while in the former's captivity could not have taken place, both because it was against orders, and also that Malkin and Eichmann did not share a common language. Aharoni claims that Malkin spoke Yiddish and Hebrew, the former sufficently similar to German to communicate simple commands and needs, but certainly insufficient to discuss the fine points of the Holocost. I recently sent a letter to Mr. Malkin asking to clarify his language skills, especially inquiring whether he was fluent in German. It would make sense, since Malkin did extensive undercover work in Germany prior to the Eichmann operation. As of this writing, he has not responded.

Aside from this point, this book probably is the most complete in recounting the research and operational details that went into the making of the capture of Eichmann.

This account of the life of Nazi Adolf Eichmann from his role in persecuting the Jews under Adolf Hitler's infamous Third Reich until his capture in May of 1960 and his ultimate death by hanging is told by Zvi Aharoni, the man who was a key player in the plot to kidnap Eichmann and bring him to trial. Vivid details that had to be attended to both prior to and after the capture of the Nazi criminal are provided to appreciate the difficulty in carrying out this complicated undertaking. Eichmann had a number of sons, the last of which, Richardo, was a generation younger than his brothers who really has no recollection of his father. He states he feels nothing towards his father, and can't find words to describe his terrible deeds during the war. During a visit to the site of the Wannsee-Konferenz which showed a photo of Adolf, Ricardo explained the role of his children's grandfather to them. The two children sadly said they "could not love a grandpa like him." I guess we all serve as an example to others, even if it is in a negative way. Anyone interested in Hitler's shady characters will enjoy seeing justice served in this book.

Very interesting book. A story I was about which I was always curious.

This is a first-hand account of the search for, capture and trial of one of the most prominent Nazi war criminals. Adolf Eichmann played a key role in transporting millions of Jews to the extermination camps. After he vanished at the end of the war, Zvi Aharoni, an experienced Mossad operative, led the search for him.

Eichmann, along with at least 300 other leading Nazis escaped from Austria to Italy and then to Argentina via the convent route, assisted by the Roman Catholic Church and the Red Cross. However, after Aharoni located and identified Eichmann, the Israeli Government made no attempt to get him extradited from Argentina. It ordered Aharoni to kidnap Eichmann and smuggle him to Israel. The kidnapping, in May 1960, broke Argentinas laws, as Israels Prime Minister David Ben Gurion later admitted. The United Nations General Assembly passed a Resolution condemning the abduction as a violation of Argentinas sovereignty.

The Israeli Government put Eichmann on trial in 1961. He famously claimed that he was only obeying orders, but was found guilty of instigating the killing of millions of Jews. He was executed on 1 June 1962.

The whole enterprise showed the Israeli Governments cavalier attitude to other countries sovereignty. Its technical success was used to warrant later repeated attacks on other nations sovereignty. These aggressions damaged the countries attacked: they also degraded Israel itself. Aharoni laments that after he retired the rules changed and the ideals of his past no longer applied; with the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Israel had become a different country. (A key indicator of this change was that, appallingly, confessions obtained by force became admissible evidence in court.) But he cannot see that his careers most triumphant moment - the forcible abduction of Eichmann - contributed to this moral degradation.