Adolf to Azov

After the 1955 coup d’état in Argentina, many other groups from other countries further away were getting involved in Argentina. One group that had an uptick in activity was Mossad, even though Israel is 8,000 miles away.

One of their first known operations, was the capture of Adolf Eichman. Simon Wiesenthal was a one of the first people to learn about Eichman possibly living in Argentina, from letter to Buenos Aires, that Eichman was still alive in the area, in 1953. The following year Simon drop off his evidence at the Israel embassy in Vienna. Since Argentina was still under control of Pedro Eugenio Aramburu.

Another tip Israel got was from Sylvia Hermann, who was a daughter Jewish immigrant to Argentina. Sylvia was dating Klaus Eichmann when he told her about her Nazi exploits. Sylvia was told by her father to get to know the family. One day she was sent to visit them early so she could meet the family before Klaus arrived. At the door Sylvia met Adolf Eichman himself.

The Mossad needed confirmation that Adolf Eichman was who he said he was. When Adolf Eichman’s father passed away in 1960 the Mossad sent spies to the funeral to photographs Eichman’s family.  The Mossad later confirmed his identity. At first, they tried to use diplomatic means to get Eichman out of Argentina, but that didn’t work. Starting in March of 1960 Mossad set up a reconnaissance operation, to keep a watch on Eichman. In May of that year, the Israeli sent Sin Bet officers to help in the mission. They captured Eichmann walking home from a bus stop.

He was held as a captive for nine days while the Mossad and Sin Bet tried to capture Mengel as well but as time went on, the Israeli spies feared that someone looking for Eichman would find them, ruining their mission. 9 days after capturing Eichman the Mossad sedated him, to make him look drunk, to smuggle him through an airport.

Later he would be brought back to Israel, stand trial and be executed. While the Israeli only captured one person, it sent shock waves through the Nazi community living there and was proof that Israeli spy operations were taking place, where the Nazis escaped to.