by Isser Harel
There were no fingerprints available, and the other means of identification we had were limited. There were, in fact, only three possible courses of action: to have a laboratory compare the old photographs of Eichmann with Kenet’s pictures; to show the photographs of Klement to people who had known Eichmann in the past; to send one of these people to Argentina to take a look at Klement in person. Even if we adopted all three methods, there was still the chance that none of them would bring conclusive results. Eichmann’s old photographs were of low quality, and Klement’s, taken in adverse circumstances, were not particularly clear. Furthermore, a personal identification after twenty years or more might also be doubtful.
Nevertheless, I decided to act on these lines without delay.
It wasn’t easy to find people who had seen Eichmann face to face. We couldn’t advertise publicly for such people to present themselves at our office, nor did we dare let it be known even in the most restricted circles that there was any official interest in the criminal. So I decided to confine the search in the first stage to a small circle of veteran Zionist workers from Germany.
One of our senior operators at the time was German-born Dr. Yael Pozner who came to work for us in the early fifties because she was looking for something to do that would prove a personal challenge. At first her duties were nonoperational, but it wasn’t very long before her skill and her knowledge brought about her transfer to the operational section. Her particular specialty was devising cover and documentation for operators on undercover missions. I summoned her and, without explaining my purpose, asked if she knew any people of German origin who had met Eichmann personally. I hit a bull’s-eye. She told me straightaway that from 1936 to 1938 Benno Cohen and Dr. Hans Friedenthal had served as co-chairmen of the Zionist Organization in Germany, the former in charge of internal and the latter of external affairs, and by virtue of his office Friedenthal had maintained contact with the German Foreign Ministry, with the British Consulate in Germany, and with the Gestapo. She had heard Friedenthal himself say that he had occasionally been with Eichmann in his office in Berlin, and as far as she could remember Benno Cohen also knew Eichmann at the time.
I sent Kenet to Dr. Friedenthal with the photographs of Klement. Friedenthal said he didn’t recognize the man. Then Kenet asked him if he had known or met Adolf Eichmann.
‘Yes,’ Friedenthal answered, ‘I saw him twice, each time for a quarter of an hour. That was in 1938, when I was a chairman of the Zionist Organization in Germany.’
‘Where did you meet?’ asked Kenet.
‘In his office in Berlin. The first time, I went to him about a certain Jew who had been arrested. Eichmann asked me if I was prepared to guarantee that the man would leave Germany immediately on his release. I agreed to this, but I requested him not to give us a time limit because I would have to set about obtaining a certificate of immigration to Israel or a permit for some other country. Two or three days later he was in fact released.’
Kenet asked, ‘And how did Eichmann behave toward you?’
‘On both occasions his behavior was correct, even though the second time I stood before him under accusation. He claimed to have been told that I had criticized the German government at a Zionist meeting. I rejected the accusation and explained that I was referring only to the new anti-Jewish legislation in the news at the time, and I had said that the Jews could draw their own conclusions. I left Germany in November 1938, after the “Crystal Night.”’*
‘And now,’ Kenet asked, ‘do I need to tell you who the man is whose picture I showed you?’
‘No, I can guess who he is.’ Friedenthal smiled.
‘We have no certain proof of his identity,’ Kenet explained. ‘Will you take another look at the photographs?’
Friedenthal pored over the pictures for a long time. Finally he shook his head. ‘I’m sorry. Even after what you’ve told me, I can’t say definitely that the man in these pictures is Eichmann - though, on the other hand, I’m not prepared to state that he is not.’
The laboratory identification brought more encouraging results. The head of the Criminal Identification Department of the Israeli Police, whose aid we had enlisted, gave the photographs to Eli Ilan for comparison. Ilan, who came from Canada, specialized in the comparison of photographs for identification purposes. He didn’t know who it was he’d been asked to identify. He was given some photographs which had obviously been taken secretly under operational conditions and asked to compare them with another set of photographs showing an SS officer in uniform.
On both sets of photographs Ilan drew lines joining the extremities of the various limbs to form polygons, on which certain comparisons were based. Another method brought him still better results: checking and comparing one ear in each of the two sets of photographs. From the size, the point at which the ear joined the head, the angle at which it was attached to the face, and the shape of the outer ear, Ilan was able to establish that there were reasonable grounds for identifying the man in the operational photographs as the SS officer in the old pictures. In his report he stated that he found eight points in favor of identification in the two groups of photographs, and not one point against it. He wasn’t prepared to go so far as to state unequivocally that it was the same man who appeared in both series of photographs ... but the report he drew up described the identification as a virtual certainty.
Judging from the failure of Dr. Friedenthal’s attempt at identification, I didn’t suppose anyone else who had seen Eichmann more than twenty years ago would be able to identify him from a photograph. On the other hand, I considered it dangerous to send somebody from Israel to Argentina for a ‘live’ identification of Klement- Kenet and his men had already spent too much time in the neighborhood of Klement’s house, and any additional activity there could jeopardize the entire operation. I was beginning to doubt whether it was worth choosing one of the people who had known Eichmann before and attaching him to the task force due to leave for Argentina. Special preparations would be involved in making surveillance comfortable and safe for a nonprofessional with no experience in such matters, all the more so since it would necessarily be a person of middle age. But I believed we’d be able to surmount this difficulty too, provided we planned the operation in such a way that the identification was part of the operation itself, and the instant Klement was identified as our man we could go ahead with the capture.
After a prolonged search – needless to say, in absolute secrecy – we found a woman who had met Eichmann. She was asked if she would be prepared to participate in a dangerous and strenuous undertaking. She said she could do it, but the state of her health was questionable, and this made us fear for her safety, for considerable physical and mental demands would be made on her.
After weighing all the circumstances, I decided it would be best to count her out. But all the same, arrangements were made for her to be standing by in case of emergency.
The wheels of the operational machine were turning fast. As soon as it became obvious to me that we had to give up all further attempts to identify Klement, and that we had to act on the assumption that the final identification could be made only when the man was already in our hands, I began giving some thought to the preparation of the actual plan of operation. It didn’t take me long to conclude that the team who prepared the plan would have to be the ones to carry out the action. True, I knew that this would entail complicated arrangements and also increase the number of people we would have to send. However, I was unwilling to take a chance that, between the time the planning team finished its work and the time the operational team would go into action, conditions might change or Eichmann’s suspicions be excited.
Accordingly, I decided that the task force must be assembled immediately and that it should be divided into two sections: an advance party to go to the target site to establish that Ricardo Klement was still there and that conditions for carrying out the capture were reasonably good, and the main body to be primed and ready for action but wa
iting for the advance party’s call before setting out.
The means of transporting Eichmann to Israel had to be ready before we fixed the time for the task force to go into action, I reasoned, for there was no point in making the capture without assured transport. Furthermore, the manner and conditions of transportation could affect the time of the capture and maybe even the method of carrying it out.
The operational team of the task force could be recruited from one source alone: a group of operations men who, almost from the very beginning, were outstanding for the daring of their actions and their infinite resourcefulness. Each one had been chosen with meticulous care, to create a body of courageous men who regarded no assignment as too difficult and were both modest and ready to risk their lives in an unseen struggle and for no personal glory.
I knew the leaders of the group personally, from the days when I was their commander, and since then I had kept in contact with them and had on several occasions gone into action with them on assignments abroad.
I approached another senior intelligence officer – the one I have called Haggai – and asked if he would put at my disposal the men I required for the assignment. He responded willingly, offering me the head of the operations group himself and several men who in his opinion were likely to get on well together in an undertaking of this kind.
I promptly summoned the leader of the group, Rafi Eitan, an old acquaintance of mine and a person with outstanding operational ability. I knew him to be a fine commander, a man of good, common-sense judgment and great resourcefulness. Rafi Eitan came from a Jewish village in pre-Israel Palestine and at the age of twelve was already active in the ranks of Hagana, the Jewish self-defense organization, forerunner of the Israeli Defense Force. At eighteen he was recruited into Palmach, the striking force of the Hagana, where he first acquired the taste for daring operations. He participated in the attack on the camp at Atlit to free the illegal immigrants, and after that in the destruction of the British radar installation on Mount Carmel. On the eve of the War of Independence he was appointed commander of a reconnaissance platoon, and the day the state was declared – March 15,1948 - he was wounded in the leg in the battle for Galilee. He crawled back to his base, and before he had properly recovered, his leg still in a cast, he rejoined his battalion, took part in Operation ‘Dani,’ and went to the Negev, where he became an expert at guiding troops at night to the battle areas. Rafi finished his military service in 1950 and joined the operations group.
Our conversation, when I told Rafi what sort of operation he was going to lead, was practical and to the point, like all the conversations we had had over the years. Nothing in the world could excite this lean smiling sabra: ‘It’s a big action,’ he said. ‘We’ve never yet had such an operation.’ I knew that this was the highest pitch of enthusiasm he would display.
Rafi was known to his friends as a person who estimated everything in percentages. ‘What are the odds that this man is really Eichmann?’ he asked.
I told him about everything we’d done and about my conclusion that the definitive identification could be made only once the man was in our hands. ‘From one angle,’ I said, ‘this operation is different from any we have done up to now. This time it’s not just a mission under orders. This time we are being sent by the Jewish conscience as well. So I want to take only those who are in wholehearted agreement with the idea. Participation in this operation has to be voluntary. Anyone who shows the slightest hesitation mustn’t be taken.’
‘None of them will hesitate,’ said Rafi confidently.
‘I don’t think they will either,’ I agreed, ‘but I insist that every person chosen for this operation must know that we are going into action with one goal, and only one, in mind: to bring to judgment one of the monsters that rose up to put a bloody end to us. If we succeed, this will be the first time in history that a court of justice of the Jewish people will judge a man who slaughtered multitudes of Jews. That is why I see in this action a humane and moral significance that cannot be applied to anything we have ever undertaken before.’
‘Everyone will understand that,’ said Rafi in his quiet voice.
‘I’d like you to begin an immediate study of the file,’ I said. ‘Kenet will tell you all about local conditions. I expect you to hand me, as soon as possible, a plan of action and a list of the men you suggest for the team.’
I knew that I could now devote my attention to considering ways and means of transporting Eichmann to Israel. I went again to Malka Braverman and asked her to check the sailing dates of the Israeli shipping lines and to find out if any Israeli ship was expected to be in or near South American waters during the coming weeks. I also asked her to inquire into the possibilities of sending a freighter or refrigerator ship to Argentina on the pretext of importing frozen meat, or something like that. She was also to explore the chances of diverting a large cruise ship to Buenos Aires without arousing suspicion.
A few days later Malka reported that no Israeli vessel was likely to be in the target area in the near future. Changing the course of any ship, she said, would involve serious complications because of prior commitments and because it would look strange from the technical and economic point of view. The only possible way would be to provide a special ship to sail with some kind of cargo either from Israel to South America or vice versa. However, the preparations for a special sailing of that nature would be very drawn out, and the round-trip journey would take about sixty days, as the ship would have to stop at various ports on the way.
I decided that transportation by sea would be too slow and might delay the operation by some vital weeks, and the necessity to anchor at foreign ports on the way would increase the security risk considerably. So I applied myself to a thorough investigation of the possibilities of air transport.
The main problem was to find plausible grounds for an Israeli flight to Argentina. At one point we considered announcing it as a trial flight to examine the prospects of opening a new line to South America, but it was the height of the tourist season, and taking a large plane out of regular service to carry out a trial flight at a time like that would cause justifiable astonishment.
Luck came to our aid. News about preparations to mark the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Argentina’s independence appeared in the press. Extensive celebrations were being organized for late May 1960. Israel had been invited to participate in the celebrations, and we found out that the Foreign Affairs Ministry attached great importance to Israel’s being suitably represented at this international event and intended sending a high-ranking delegation.
I sent out feelers to test the reaction of the Foreign Office to the idea of flying the Israeli delegation to Argentina by special plane. The Department of Latin American Affairs, which was handling the arrangements for sending the delegation, received the suggestion very favorably; they considered that the arrival of a plane direct from Israel would enhance the prestige of the state still further, especially in the eyes of the Jewish community in South America.
I summoned Ben-Ari, the El Al deputy director we had contacted before. He could foresee no insurmountable difficulties, he said, but requested that the final answer be put off for a few days, until the director’s return, because our plan would upset the timetable of the company’s regular flights and involve heavy financial loss. Ben-Ari knew that flight arrangements for official delegations on behalf of the State of Israel were not in my province and realized that I was interested in the flight for totally different reasons. When I told him that the composition of the plane’s crew would be subject to my confirmation and asked that Shimoni be available to work under direct orders from me or my aides until the completion of the operation, he appeared to grasp what it was all about. As he was leaving my office, his hand already on the doorknob, he turned to me with a hesitant smile: ‘Does it have anything to do with Eichmann?’ I nodded. Much later Ben-Ari admitted that he had felt very embarrassed at that point: ‘I couldn’t forgive myself for having spo
ken to you a few minutes earlier as though my only concern was the company’s commercial interests, talking about things like upset schedules and financial losses.’
A few days later I met with Efraim Ben-Arci, El Al’s director, who expressed his complete willingness to comply with any request from the Foreign Affairs Ministry and to tender me and my aides all the assistance the company could give. I indirectly informed the people handling the delegation’s journey that the airline would most likely agree to fly the delegation to Argentina by special plane, since it was interested in running a test flight and would like to be in Buenos Aires during such an important international gathering. It was already common knowledge that several states intended flying in their delegations by special planes. On April 22 the Foreign Office made its request to the airline and a few days later received confirmation.
Shortly before that, on April 18, Shimoni returned from his mission abroad and came straight to me. I told him about the operation and informed him that he would have to be ready to leave for Buenos Aires very soon.
Shimoni was ready for anything. Born in Holland, he had been subjected to Nazi persecution for more than a year but managed to escape in 1941, at the age of twenty-one. He reached England and enlisted in the R.A.F. On his return to Holland after the war he found that the Germans had left practically no survivors in his family. His parents, his brothers, his sister and brother-in-law had all perished in Nazi camps. For a while he took an active part in ‘illegal’ immigration into Israel, then he also emigrated there with his wife and his brother’s four-year-old son, who had been hidden during the German conquest and whom Shimoni managed to retrieve. He served in the air force in the War of Independence and then went to work for the airline. It was no wonder that throughout our operation he never once said no to anything.
