by Isser Harel
The celebration in Argentina was scheduled to begin on May 20, 1960, and all the visiting delegations were supposed to gather in Buenos Aires before then. I was interested in advancing our special flight as much as possible. If the plane made a prolonged stay in Buenos Aires, it was liable to cause surprise: it was permissible to consider at the very most a stay of three days. The time for the capture had to be as close as possible to the day the plane would take off, in view of the difficulties inherent in keeping a man in private custody on Argentine soil. It was therefore necessary to maintain close coordination between the time of the capture and the time of the flight. If the plane could arrive a week before May 20 and the operation arranged to correspond with this, all the better. Then if it should become necessary to postpone the capture at the last minute, it would still be possible to delay the flight until a time nearer to the opening of the celebration. However, if the flight were planned for just before May 20 and the operation had to be postponed, we would be in a difficult situation; the plane would not be able to remain longer in Argentina without causing suspicion, and we might have to send it back to Israel without using it for the main purpose of its trip. Another consideration was that we ought to complete as much of the operation as possible before the influx of high-ranking delegations from all over the world increased security at the airport, in the capital itself, and on the roads linking the two.
After prolonged discussion between the Foreign Office and the airline, the date of the flight was fixed for May 11. The explanation to the Foreign Affairs Ministry officials was that this was the only suitable date in light of the difficulty involved in taking a large passenger plane out of the regular flight schedules of the company. Only a few people knew that I took an active part in setting the time of the flight.
The earlier flight suited the members of the delegation, for apart from representing Israel at the anniversary celebrations they would have more time for lecture tours and other personal appearances in Argentina.
When all the negotiations were concluded, the special flight was announced in the press, and the public was offered seats to Buenos Aires or intermediate airports. But the company still had to attend to all the official and technical arrangements: obtaining landing clearances, securing agents for servicing the plane, assuring fuel supplies, and setting up a special Telex code for communication between the Argentine capital and Tel Aviv.
At my request, Shimoni went on ahead to deal with all these matters and also to try to obtain a permit for taking passengers from Argentina to Israel. In addition, I asked him to survey conditions at the airport so that when the time came he could help us coordinate the plans for secretly taking Eichmann out of Argentina. Shimoni suggested, and I agreed, that he should have an assistant in Buenos Aires. He selected Yosef Klein, manager of New York station.
And so all the arrangements for the special flight to Buenos Aires were gradually completed, a flight that was much more special than most of the people handling it could ever guess.
* Kristallnacht. Pogroms against the Jews occurred throughout Germany in reprisal for the assassination of Ernst von Rath, at the German Embassy in Paris, by the seventeen-year-old Polish Jew Herschel Grynszpan. Six-million-marks’ worth of shop windows were smashed, hence the name.
11
EFRAIM ILANI would be the first member of the task force to leave for Argentina. Earlier I had questioned him about Argentina in general and Buenos Aires in particular – local customs and characteristics, behavior at cafés, hotels, and restaurants, living conditions, possibilities for renting or buying houses and apartments, transport, roads, prices, traffic licenses, police methods, routine papers and documents, tourism, procedures at harbors and airports, and so on. For here I was, about to go where I knew very little about the country and even less about its people, and Ilani, because he knew Buenos Aires extremely well, could help me with all the information the books and tourist guides don’t provide. He gave me as many answers as he could and promised to find out the rest, discreetly, from his Argentine friends.
I explained that we’d have to know everything in advance, because I had made up my mind that from the moment we arrived in Buenos Aires we would never ask for help from any of the locals or from any person or group having any direct or indirect connection with Israel’s official representation there. He would have to be our ‘living encyclopedia’ in everything to do with the affairs of the city and the country and the interpreter of local customs for the members of the task force who would be going into action ignorant of the culture or conditions of the place they’d be working in. Ilani agreed without hesitation and went off to make technical and organizational preparations for the operation.
Since the force had to be self-sufficient in every sense, and had to provide all its own needs even in the vital matter of documentation, Shalom Dani was an essential member. He was a skilled craftsman in that delicate art, the forging of official documents of all kinds, especially identity papers. But Shalom was more than an expert of rare capability, he was a person of refined character and unusual dedication. His modesty, his willingness to perform any task or service, his courage, and his ability to do his work at any time under any conditions, made him a shining example to all his fellow workers.
Shalom once went out on an arduous and complicated operation in the guise of an artist (painting was his hobby) and while carrying out his assignment he earned quite a name for himself as a talented artist – only the most rigorous search of his studio could have revealed that it contained certain tools and implements that had nothing to do with the usual artist’s equipment. That operation entailed very precise work, and every letter, every line, and every signature he drew could have withstood the most stringent examination. His documents were written in the local language, which was foreign to him, and he had to use local aides; but the clandestine nature of the work was too much for the aides and they gave up, leaving Shalom alone with piles of material accumulating on his desk. He was forced to work sixteen to eighteen hours a day, permitting himself no rest, not even for meals; for days on end he didn’t change his clothes.
His superior officer on the operation was amazed at how he overcame all obstacles and produced perfect work in a language he didn’t understand, a language which Shalom, with wondrous persistence, learned in a few weeks of uninterrupted hard labor to read and write. Perhaps knowing that he was engaged in an operation of great importance encouraged him, for when he finished his job, crushed with exhaustion but glowing with contentment, he said simply, ‘It was worth the effort.’
People who watched him do his delicate work were fascinated by his rare proficiency. He could make the tiniest printed letters indistinguishable from real print, and he could do all this, and even more, not only seated comfortably at his desk but also standing up or rocking from side to side in a car or train.
At the beginning of 1960 Shalom was living in a European capital, doing work which made it possible for him to fulfill one of his longings: to study the art of vitrage, the making of stained glass. However, when I called him to take part in a new operation he didn’t hesitate. On hearing the nature of the operation and our plan to capture Eichmann and bring him to trial in Israel, his eyes filled with tears. Dani was a survivor of the holocaust. I did not have to explain the special national and humane significance of the undertaking.
Shalom Dani was born in Hungary in 1928 and was still a boy when the Germans took over the country and sent his father to die in Bergen-Belsen. His older brother was conscripted for manual labor while he, his mother, and his younger brother and sister, were first shut up in a ghetto in their home town and later shunted about from camp to camp, until Shalom decided to run away. The whole family escaped from the transports and remained hidden in an Austrian village until the Allied soldiers arrived. The older brother was found in a hospital, wounded. While they were still making their way to Israel, Shalom helped other war refugees whether they had immigration certificates or not, and he was
caught in an ‘illegal act’ and put into an American prison. Later Shalom and his family sailed on an illegal refugee ship which was caught. In the British camp in Cyprus where the passengers were imprisoned, Shalom put his special talents in documentation to good use, advancing the release of many of the refugees and their immigration to Israel. His years in Israel were spent serving in the army and security organizations.
There was no need to tell Shalom Dani what preparations to make for his departure. I have never come across such a resourceful man. He could do his work to perfection even with minimal equipment, with primitive means, and under conditions of severe pressure. He realized what hinged on his preparations and knew, too, that he was going to have to solve for himself the problems of transporting his equipment to the target country without arousing suspicion.
Shortly after I appointed Rafi Eitan to command the operation, he came back to me with the first outlines of a plan as well as a suggestion for the composition of the limited operational team. He had based his rough plan on the material in our files, on Kenet’s reports, and on the information that had been accumulated in the meantime about the target area, and I authorized it on general lines.
And now the team. The success of the operation depended on the character and capability of the people taking part in it, all excellent operatives, devoted heart and soul to their work, and completely fearless.
First there was Avrum Shalom, Rafi’s personal friend and, like him, an outstanding operations man, an excellent planner, proficient in several languages, and experienced in actions abroad. Avrum was the son of an assimilated family in Vienna who led a pleasant easy life until the day Austria was annexed to Hitler’s Third Reich. For Avrum the change manifested itself when about thirty of his classmates fell on him and another Jewish boy in the class and gave them a brutal beating in the presence of the teacher, who didn’t intervene. Avrum was confined to bed for two weeks, and when he was well again he didn’t go back to school. His father’s business was confiscated, and then the family was evicted from their apartment. Avrum’s childhood memories were interwoven with visions of the flames from the synagogues on the ‘Crystal Night.’ The day World War II broke out the persecuted family reached the safe shores of Israel. Avrum finished high school, joined Palmach, and later served in a reconnaissance unit in the Israeli Defense Force. His commander was Rafi Eitan and through Rafi he came to the operations group. The friendship that had grown up between them in the days of their army service deepened in the daring operations the two of them took part in.
Eli Yuval, the second man to appear on Rafi’s list, was born in Poland. He went to Israel with his parents when he was six. His sister and her three children remained in Poland – it was impossible to get immigration certificates for them – and they were murdered by the Nazis. The day the youngster Eli heard about the fate of his sister and her children he swore an oath to avenge their deaths. When Avrum Shalom informed him that he’d been chosen for the operational team and, what’s more, according to the preliminary plan he would be the first to come into physical contact with Eichmann at the moment of capture, he regarded it as the fulfillment of his vow. Eli was extremely fit, which was why he was cast in the role of the man to seize Eichmann, but he was also remarkable for his technical skill. After being wounded in the War of Independence and taken out of active service, he wrote one-act plays for the troops and often acted in them. His hobby was make-up and he became so efficient at it that he had succeeded at various times in fooling a watchman in the building where he worked, an old friend, and even his own mother. This talent had also been taken into consideration when he was chosen for the team.
The third member of the small party was Zev Keren, Lithuanian-born, who also came to Israel as a child. A graduate of a technical school, he was known as ‘the man with the golden hands’: he could open any lock and improvise solutions to all kinds of problems that crop up during operations. Zev had a colorful security history. For a year he served with Wingate pursuing Arab marauding gangs, and during the war he fought in the Jewish Brigade on the Italian front. After the defeat of Germany he and some of his friends from the Brigade were engaged in punitive actions against Nazi war criminals. Rafi had these exploits in mind when he suggested that Zev take part in the capture of Eichmann. Zev was ready to kill Eichmann with his own hands and was deeply disappointed when Rafi informed him that he would be the technician of the team. Rafi soothed him with the promise that he would also be able to do his bit in the capture itself, but he must start attending to technical problems immediately.
Ezra Eshet was still in Europe, keeping the Eichmann family under observation. Rafi suggested including him in the operational team as he was experienced, level-headed, and an extremely capable organizer; he was the natural candidate for handling all organizational matters.
Rafi also kept Kenet in mind. Kenet would have to deal with everything relating to the identification of Eichmann before the capture, and with interrogating him afterward; but Rafi could use him in the limited operational team as well, since he was not only an excellent interrogator but also a first-class operations man.
I knew all these men from various operations I had directed, so I unhesitatingly confirmed the composition of the team and asked Rafi to talk to each of the candidates. I told him he must stress the voluntary nature of the operation. If any of them seemed reluctant, I told him, they must be let off immediately, and nobody would think any the worse of them.
A day or two later Rafi advised me that all the candidates had responded to his offer with great enthusiasm. They were all asked to start work immediately, without attracting attention, on the arrangements for their combined activities, and to devise suitable explanations for their absence. It was decided that the cover story for their families should be different from the one for their colleagues and close friends. They would each tell their friends a different story, but at home they would all say the same thing: they were going to take part in a special mission which must be kept secret from everybody.
Meanwhile the group under the leadership of Drori went into high gear. They had to attend to hundreds of details in connection with equipment for the members of the task force, including the preparation of personal documentation for the journey to the target country, the stay there, and the departure on the completion of the operation. Escape arrangements in case of mishap had to be very carefully worked out. The group also gathered all the operational equipment, insofar as it was possible to prepare it in Israel and take it to the scene of action without too much difficulty. They prepared itineraries for all the members of the task force and arranged meeting places for each one of them in Buenos Aires. Before setting out they all knew where they would be lodging and how they would establish the first contact with their friends. Yael Pozner handled the personal documentation in Israel, and Moshe Vered, Drori’s assistant, dealt with the organizational work.
The men could not travel directly from Israel to Argentina, each had to be sent first to someplace outside of Israel and then from there, equipped with suitable documentation, to their common destination. Each had to be provided with permits, character references, health certificates, travel tickets, and all the rest. We couldn’t go to a travel agent for help – we had to set up our own ‘travel agency.’
The man to whom I entrusted this important task was Zvi Zohar, Latvian-born and one of the first intelligence men in the Hagana, who during his many years of service excelled at handling complicated problems and getting out of tight spots. His good nature, kindheartedness, simple ways, and willingness to undertake any task at any time earned him many friends and admirers. He never asked me why he had to do something; in many cases, I wasn’t even sure that he knew what sort of operation he was taking part in. But he could always be relied on to respond to a call, even without any previous warning, and to do his job intelligently and loyally.
On this occasion I explained that we were preparing to capture Eichmann and make him stand trial in Isr
ael. At the time I was still considering attaching him to the task force, and he was very happy when I told him so. I told him that first he would have to go to Europe to organize the journeys of the rest of the task force. I explained to him the special importance of keeping his actions secret, and told him how essential it was to be meticulous in every detail, in view of the possible political complications. There was no room for mistakes in these arrangements, I explained. Every passport and document had to be given separate attention and special thought so that there could be no indication of a combined departure, no hint that these men belonged to one group. I summed up by telling him that, with one exception, all the men would travel separately, by different routes, at different times, and from different airports, so that there should be no possibility of tracing their stay in any particular place, their journey, or their arrival or departure.
Zvi coordinated his work with the group in Israel – Moshe Vered and Yael Pozner – and took great care that none of the travelers should have to present himself at any consulate to obtain a visa or at any travel office to get a ticket.
When his preparations in Israel were done, Zvi left for Europe to deal with the onward journeys. I told him we’d see each other again in Europe, as I would also be a client of his ‘travel agency.’
Yitzhak Nesher was not an operations man and had no special technical talents, slightly phlegmatic, and slow in his reactions. But he had a rare gift: he could inspire trust in everyone who saw him. He had an innocent face, almost expressionless, but this lack of expression enabled him to assume other identities most convincingly and to implant in everyone’s mind an instinctive faith that every word issuing from his mouth was the unadulterated truth. This facility stood him in especially good stead among German- and English-speaking people. Nobody could be as convincing in so many alternating identities and with so many rapidly changing documents as naturally as he could, and the task I assigned to him was to rent or, if necessary, buy everything the team would need – including safe houses, emergency accommodation, cars, and anything else for which a person is obliged to show his papers. He would also have to live with his ‘wife’ in the safe house where we proposed keeping Eichmann after his capture, the idea being to present a natural front to the neighbors.