The Nazi Hunters

"Despite his feelings toward Jews, Eichmann was unnerved by what he saw. But the fear of losing his job, and the power that went with it, outweighed his misgivings, and he accepted the need to rid Europe of the Jews though extermination."

This quotation demonstrates how Eichmann's morality was built, and the process by which he carried out genocide. It is important to note that Eichmann felt enmity toward Jews, but was still upset by the killings; this, by itself is not remarkable. What is important to note, however, is not just that Eichmann selfishly chose to retain his position and stature in Nazi Germany, but the belief that to "accept" the extermination of the Jews was morally distinct from promoting it enthusiastically or consciously. This is crucial to understanding Eichmann's mentality: that he purposefully saw himself as without a choice, in order to excuse his choices.

“Eichmann took on his new job with bloodless enthusiasm. He got rid of any guilt and discomfort aby telling himself that his bosses had 'given their orders.' He had not set the policy of annihilation, he reasoned, but it was his responsibility to make sure it was a success.”

The significance of this quote is the shift in how Eichmann views his own responsibility, and the priorities implicit in that. Specifically, Eichmann's responsibility shifts from a sense of morality to merely obedience. Again, in this arrangement, he is not responsible for conceiving of, and reflecting upon, moral decisions; instead, he only concerns himself with administrative, operational aspects. This forced blindness is important to understanding he Holocaust.

“In the few remaining hours before the Allies' final attack on Berlin in April 1945, Adolf Eichmann returned to his German office and gathered his dejected unit together. He bid them goodbye, saying that he knew the war was lost and that they should do what they could to stay alive. Then he said, ‘I will gladly happily jump into the pit with the knowledge that with me are 5 million enemies of the Reich.’”

This quote is important for at least two reasons: on one hand, it illustrates Eichmann's hostility and hatred for the "enemies of the Reich," and his outward justification for the murders the Nazis committed. In essence, if Eichmann is willing to promote genocide, he is complicit in it, no matter what he may claim to feel inside. Secondly, the timing is important: the end of the war has brought with it the end of his official duties, so Eichmann opts back to his original, Nazi party-line stance, one of obedience and acquiescence.

“The Mossad's lack of activity in pursuing war criminals reflected a lack of interest within Israeli society in general. Holocaust survivors, roughly a quarter of the population, rarely spoke of their experiences, both because it was too painful and because they did not want to focus on the past. They had a country to build.”

This quotation explains the particular mentality of the Israeli security forces, as well as illustrating how the Holocaust was treated—or not treated—in culture, at the time. The focus is important, as it shows how the priorities of the present took precedence over the past, as well as the degree to which history was suppressed, even for Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.

“A New York Times reporter described an ‘almost nation-wide need to pull the blinds on the past’ in West Germany. Schoolteachers were found to be teaching incorrect information about Hitler's regime. A ninth-grade textbook devoted only a single paragraph to the ‘Jewish question’ during World War II. Extermination camps went without mention.”

This quote explains how in West Germany, the Nazi period and Holocaust did not enter popular consciousness. In connection with the steady rise of Neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism, and despite the official condemnation by government officials, it illustrates in finer detail the collective suppression of this shameful past. Similar to the situation in Israel, the focus on the present—rebuilding, and creating a future—does not allow for the lessons of the past, nor the reconciliation provided by history.

“Soon after the Cologne incident the Foreign Affairs and Defense committee of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, asked Isser Harel about the possibility of a Nazi revival. Even to these high officials, Harel could not reveal the major blow he intended to deliver to such a revival: the capture of Adolf Eichmann. Harel was now convinced that Ben-Gurion was right. Bringing the fugitive to justice and airing his crimes in a public trial would remind the world of the Nazi atrocities, and the need to remain vigilant against any groups that aimed to repeat them.”

The easiest way to deal with Eichmann is to have Israeli security forces assassinate him. However, doing so would disallow turning Eichmann, and his trial, into symbols for the need to not forget the atrocities of the past. To this end, it’s decided that the security team will extract Eichmann from Argentina and bring him to Israel.

“The Cologne Incident in question referred to acts of vandalism and violence on Christmas Eve, 1959. It was widely believed that there was a Nazi revival happening in West Germany. This becomes a primary focus of Prime Minster Ben-Gurion and Isser Harel. The two men reasoned that Adolf Eichmann and other such fugitive Nazi war criminals were figures of resistance for this Neo-Nazi movement, and its sympathizers. Moreso than going after the Neo-Nazis, capturing Eichmann would reintroduce the reality of Nazism to this new generation. […] If the mission succeeded, Harel knew that not only would the Mossad earn its place among the top intelligence agencies in the world, but also [that] the Jewish people would see justice done to one of the leading organizers of the Holocaust. The world would be forced to remember what had happened, and it would be reminded that such horrors must never be repeated.”

This quotation is important because it illustrates the necessity and motivation for the Israel intelligence services to capture Eichmann. Isser Harel and others believed correctly that indifference towards the real history of the Second World War and Holocaust, as well as lasting enmity for Jewish peoples, would stymie any legal extradition of Eichmann. This was certainly true in Argentina, where Eichmann and other former Nazis had plenty of allies. This was the justification for using clandestine, extralegal means to capture Eichmann.

“Argentina was not alone in providing sanctuary for former Nazis. Postwar Europe was full of people on the run. Fake passports, forged identification papers, and willing smugglers were all easy to find. The Allies also smuggled out a number of war criminals, among them former SS officers, who were then recruited for intelligence activities against the Soviet Union and its satellites. In fact, the United States used some of the same routes and safe houses to smuggle people out of Europe as Argentina did.”

This quotation is important as it shows the opportunism and moral relativity practiced by even the Allies at the close of World War II. It is easy to cast blame categorically; instead, this passage illustrates the practical, if immoral, valueof choosing to ignore the atrocities of World War II, and how the justifications of the Cold War created the opportunity to do so.

“Once Eichmann and Vera were alone, she brought out the pile of newspaper clippings she had collected about the terrible crimes he had committed. She wanted an explanation. Eichmann became enraged. ‘Veronika,’ he said, ‘I have not done a single Jew to death, nor given a single order to kill a Jew.’She never asked him about the past again.”

An important element in considering Adolf Eichmann's character is how he chooses to communicate truth and falsity. In this situation, he is clearly being dishonest with this faith, in choosing to relate only technically plausible details. Also, he is abusing her trust for him, in choosing not to divulge his own role in the Holocaust, and his full consciousness of its goals and methods. While in his own mind Eichmann might believe he is trying to protect his family, he is only protecting himself by including them in his lie.

"It was a good team. Each member had almost a decade of experience in the Israeli intelligence services. They spoke a wide range of language—key to keeping their cover. Apart from the doctor, they all knew one another extremely well and had worked together on numerous assignments. They understood one another's strengths and weaknesses, could communicate without speaking, and, most important of all, had absolute trust in one another."

This passage illustrates the nature of the team the Israelis to capture Eichmann, and how this team was able to function. While each of the members has special strengths, the author makes clear that what makes this team effective, in the end, is their ability to trust one another. This trust is required due to the difficult and uncertain conditions of espionage and clandestine operations; the lesson is that only individuals who trust one another can thrive in such a field.

"It was clear that capturing Eichmann would violate Argentine sovereignty, as one country cannot arrest the citizens of another country without a formal extradition process. But that would be a minor diplomatic issue between the two countries. In their legal opinion, the abduction would not affect Israel's right to prosecute Eichmann, because, they believed, Germany was never going to pursue extradition seriously, let alone hold a trial."

This passage is importantas it outlines the precarious legal situation of Adolf Eichmann's capture—both the stakes involved for the agents, if they are caught, and the conviction of the Israeli intelligence chiefs and authorities in capturing Eichmann, no matter what. The passage also provides a sense of the distrust the Israelis had for the institutions of the German legal system at the time.

“There might well be difficult repercussions. We know this. We have not only the right but also the moral duty to bring this man to trial. You must remember this throughout the weeks ahead. You are the guardian angels of justice, the emissaries of the Jewish people.[...] ‘We will bring Adolf Eichmann to Jerusalem,’ Harel said, ‘and perhaps the world will be reminded of its responsibilities. It will be recognized that, as a people, we never forgot. Our memory reaches back through recorded history. The memory book lies open, and the hand still writes.’”

This quote is perhaps the best expression of Isser Harel's feelings towards the mission. A consummate professional, it is unlike Isser Harel to be so effusive as to his personal feelings. Yet, this example shows how exceptional this mission is, in the minds of the agents participating in it. The explicit concern with "justice" and "history" make clear the motivations behind Eichmann's capture, and place the responsibility for realizing these abstract qualities, in the team’s hands.

“Avraham Shalom had been struck by Eichmann's impoverished existence. He lived in a shabby neighborhood, without electricity or running water, and dressed in the threadbare clothes of a simple factory worker. Given the power Eichmann had once held, it was hard for Shalom to believe that this was the same man.”

This passage illustrates just how jarring the image of Eichmann was to the Israeli intelligence agents. In the mind of someone as intelligent and experienced as Shalom, it gives context to both the failure of the Israeli intelligence agencies to zero in on Eichmann for years, and illustrates the role in which expectations cloud perception. Finally, it shows Eichmann's own determination to escape his past, and his consciousness that even his old appearance, must be discarded. In any case, his deception was complete, and successful—for a time.

“We're not here just to do a job...this is the first time the Jewish people will judge their murderer.”

This quoteillustrates the break from the professional, operational environment of the Israeli intelligence culture, and speaks to history. In claiming that this operation will allow for the "first time" for Jewish people to be able to judge their murderers expands and applies Eichmann’s capture to the entire history of the Jewish people, and the frequent, unanswered persecutions attached to that history.

"As the bus shuddered to a start, Aharoni felt a rush of emotion that left him physically weak. Severely distressed, he could not wait to get off at the San Fernando station. If there was ever any doubt in his mind that they were after more than just a man, this brief encounter dispelled that doubt. He felt they were closing in on evil itself.”

Zvi Aharoni is one of the most level-headed and collected of the agents sent to capture Eichmann; these are qualities that enable him to be effective in the field. However, the scope and implication of this mission breaks through this demeanor. Whereas in typical intelligence and clandestine work, morality becomes relative, closing in on Eichmann reintroduces a sharpness and starkness to the moral universeAharoni does not anticipate.

“Aharoni outlined the plan. The Chevrolet would be stationed on Route 202. It would turn on its lights in order to blind Eichmann as he walked toward them. The Buick would be parked on Garibaldi Street, facing away from Route 202, with its hood up, as if it had broken down. As Eichmann drew near to the Buick, Malkin would say something to him in Spanish to distract him before grabbing him. Then Tabor and Eitan would help drag [Eichmann] into the backseat.”

After years of searching and months of meticulous logistical and operational planning, the actual "plan" to physically capture Eichmann is straightforward. It is also the section of the plan that the agents have the most control over, and where the most danger lies. The simplicity of the plan allows the agents to rehearse it, and to place the needed elements where they ought to be, without attracting too much attention.

“Adolf Eichmann began his day as usual, rising from bed before sunrise. He shaved, washed himself in a pail of water, and then had breakfast. He left his house, caught bus 203 at the kiosk, and began his daily two-hour trek to work at the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant. He switched buses twice, catching the one for the final leg at Saavedra Bridge, which separated the city center from the outlying districts of Buenos Aires. This bus was filled with the same people every day, mostly his fellow workers. He offered only spare greetings to the other passengers during the twenty-mile ride. Some of them knew his name, Ricard Klement, but that was about it.”

Eichmann is a creature of routine. The passage describes the orderly simplicity that Eichmann has created in this new life. This simplicity and harmlessness contrasts with the incredible harm and suffering his old life in Germany rendered upon Jews. In the present, everything about Eichmann is unremarkable, by design. This is what allows him to evade capture and outwit his pursuers for so long.

“‘As soon as you told me to keep quiet, there in the car, I knew I was in the hands of Israelis,’ Eichmann continued. ‘I know Hebrew. I learned it from Rabbi Leo Baeck. Sh'ma Yisrael, Ha'Shem Elokeinu—'

‘That's enough,’ Aharoni said sharply. The words were the beginning of the Sh'ma, the holiest prayer in the Jewish religion, recited in the morning and at night by the faithful. It was the prayer spoken at the hour of death, and millions, millions, of Jews had come to utter it because of Adolf Eichmann. Disgusted, the agents left the room to regain control over their emotions and fight the temptation to beat up their prisoner.”

Here, Eichmann is attempting to curry favor with his captors by reciting this Hebrew prayer, but has not conceived of the monstrous and tragic irony in him doing so. The agents themselves are so appalled they can barely restrain themselves. This will be an important theme for the remainder of the book: the disconnect between how Eichmann is understood by the investigator and Nazi hunters, and what he is really like.

“‘Number one: I did nothing wrong. All I did was follow orders. You could never prove that I committed a crime. Number two: What…what do I have to do with Israel? I'm a German. You can put me...If, at all, if I did commit any crime, I should be judged in Germany. Or in Argentina, I am a citizen here. But not in Israel.’”

This passage is critical to understanding not only how Eichmann was able to participate knowingly in the Holocaust, but how he has successfully fended off any guilt in doing so. What's most important in this exchange is how Eichmann implicitly constructs the idea of "crime" as a violation of given laws, rather than right and wrong. Eichmann wants to believe that whatever he has done is excusable, given the conditions at the time. This is reinforced by his desire to not be tried in Israel, and that he has nothing to answer to the nation founded by Holocaust survivors.

“‘The sight of that miserable runt […][having] lost every vestige of his former superiority and arrogance the moment he was stripped of his uniform and powers of authority, gave them a feeling of insult and profound scorn. Was this the personification of evil? Was this the tool used by a diabolic government? This nonentity, devoid of human dignity and pride, was this the messenger of death for six million Jews?’”

At this point, the agents are confronted by the difference between the Eichmann they have created for themselves, in studying his dossier and wartime history, and the person they have captured. Their own conviction is shaken, as Eichmann no longer fits the category they have created for him. The idea of a diabolical "evil"simply does not fit the person in front of them.

“Harel allowed Adi Peleg, the El Al security chief, to deliver the news; ‘You've been accorded a great privilege. You are taking part in an operation of supreme importance to the Jewish people. The man with us on the plane is Adolf Eichmann.’ A shock wave of emotion followed his words. The flight attendant sitting next to Eichmann felt her heart sink. She stared in disbelief at this skinny, helpless man, nervously drawing on a cigarette, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down in fright. In disgust, she stood up and moved away.”

This passage demonstrates how well-known Adolf Eichmann was and gives some indication of his notoriety in Israeli popular consciousness. Whereas the agents had a special perspective created by months of study and research, that the flight attendant could react so profoundly to Eichmann's presence—and the incongruity of it—shows how jarring and powerful this event was. Her reaction, one of disgust is characteristic of this.

“At 4:00 PM, David Ben-Gurion strode into the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Some had heard he had a special announcement, but no one had any idea what it might be. He stood at the podium, and the chamber hushed. In a solemn, strong voice he said, ‘I have to inform the Knesset that a short time ago one of the most notorious Nazi war criminals, Adolf Eichmann—who was responsible, together with the Nazi leaders, for what they called the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question,” that is, the extermination of six million of the Jews of Europe—was discovered by the Israel security services. Adolf Eichmann is already under arrest in Israel and will shortly be placed on trial in Israel under the terms of the law for the trial of the Nazis and their helpers.’”

Prime Minister Ben-Gurion's statement is particular in its wording and implication. Eichmann is identified, first and foremost, as a "Nazi war criminal” and linked explicitly to the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question," a policy carried out by the Nazi government. These statements are the beginning propositions of the argument by which Israel will place Eichmann under trial. However, Ben-Gurion is speaking as much to Israelis as he is to the entire world, reminding them of the horrors of the past, and how these horrors relate to the responsibilities of the present.

“For five minutes, there was little movement in the hall. Eichmann sat like a statue, looking down at his shoes. There was muffled conversation as people attempted to understand how this man, with his ordinary face and measured demeanor, could be responsible for so much suffering.”

Eichmann is not the monster anyone—even his victims—expected. One theme throughout The Nazi Huntersis the attempt to verify Eichmann's identify, to establish again and again that this is the man sought after. The explanation for the need for repeated attempts is shown here, in the confusion and disbelief that this person can be tied to crimes and suffering of such magnitude.