by Isser Harel
When I offered him the job he showed no signs of enthusiasm, but then Yitzhak Nesher was never enthusiastic about anything. His full and immediate consent was enough for me, as well as his promise to arrange to be ready at my call.
As a possible ‘wife’ for Yitzhak I chose Dina Ron, who would also ‘keep house’ from the time of Eichmann’s capture to the moment of his departure for Israel. Dina was new to the work but had already managed to take part in several complicated operations. She spoke several languages fluently and could assume different identities and adapt herself to different circumstances with ease.
Dina Ron immigrated to Israel with her parents in 1940. Most of their relatives remained in Western Europe and were wiped out by the Nazis. Her family was not particularly religious, yet Dina joined a religious youth movement, founded a yeshiva for girls, and left high school to continue her studies there – the experiment lasted only a year, and Dina went back to high school. Her university studies were interrupted by army service during the War of Independence; when she went back to the university after the war she was active in the Students’ Organization and represented it at an international conference overseas. I first met Dina when she was sent to a country which Jews could leave only by secret ways. She was posing as a non-Jew, and it wasn’t easy for her in those circumstances to keep up her religious observances – she led a double life: in her social contacts she was the complete gentile while in the privacy of her bachelor apartment she was kosher.
Dina wasn’t recruited for the assignment at the same time as the others. I mentioned her to Drori and told him that if a woman should be needed Dina would be the natural candidate, but the final decision would be made only after I reached Buenos Aires. I thought that if there was not much time between the capture and the departure it might be possible to do without a housekeeper, and I didn’t want to include anybody whose presence wasn’t vital to the team or who might prove a burden instead of an asset.
Our plan of action necessitated the presence of a doctor to drug Eichmann both at the moment of capture and later when we were transferring him from place to place. We needed a man of courage, willing to bear the heavy responsibility entailed, since the slightest mistake could have fatal results; he had to be well-qualified to give an anesthetic in an emergency, in unusual circumstances, and in unforeseen situations. The doctor would also have to keep Eichmann under constant supervision so that he would reach Israel in good health and fit to stand trial.
There was another factor that made a doctor’s participation essential: the members of the task force would be isolated, especially during the period of Eichmann’s secret captivity. They obviously wouldn’t be able to call for local medical assistance in the event of sickness, injury, or accident. The capture itself might incur casualties. How could strangers in a foreign country, with papers that were not their own and on a mission whose nature they dared not divulge, call on a local doctor who might display too much interest in their identity and their activities in Argentina?
The choice of the right man for such a responsible job didn’t present much difficulty. We had a doctor available who might have been born for the job. He was working as anesthetist at a large hospital in Israel and was known to be a man capable of quick decisions, sensible, with more than his fair share of audacity. We had gone to him more than once for medical assistance, sometimes in difficult and complicated circumstances, and we never met with a refusal.
I consulted with Haggai, who knew him well, and also with a doctor who was a good friend of mine and who worked in the same hospital as our candidate. They both recommended him as ideal for our purpose. And he was able to create suitable cover.
I asked Haggai to have a chat with him and find out if he was prepared to volunteer for the operation. Haggai went to his house and asked him if he’d heard of Eichmann and if he’d be willing to participate in an attempt to capture him. The doctor replied that he knew who Eichmann was and was fully prepared to take part in any action to capture him. At Haggai’s request, the director of the hospital released the doctor for several weeks without asking questions.
When I met the doctor later, I saw there was no need to go into long explanations. He understood the tremendous importance of the planned operation and was fully aware of the responsibility he was undertaking, as a man and as a doctor.
I arranged for him to meet Rafi and together they prepared a list of the instruments and equipment the doctor would need in the target country in order to be ready for any emergency. They also discussed how best to look after Eichmann at all stages of the action, from the capture itself and the custody in the safe house to the transfer to the plane and the subsequent flight to Israel.
Rafi went to the hospital one day and our doctor gave him a large parcel containing all the requisite medications and equipment, especially all the things that would be difficult to buy at a pharmacy without arousing suspicion or excessive interest. Rafi promised him that when he arrived in Buenos Aires he would find the parcel and all its contents already there.
The men of the task force were busy poring over the details of the plan. They had learned all there was in the files and the reports from Kenet and Ilani. They studied whatever they could find about local conditions, worked over the list of equipment to be transferred to Buenos Aires, and made a note of the things that could be acquired there – they would take only the essential minimum, and buy or install as much as possible in Buenos Aires.
Rafi devoted many hours to discussions of documentation with Drori’s group, since not every member of the task force knew how to operate with fabricated papers.
At a preliminary meeting the task force debated three possible methods of capturing Eichmann: The first was to break into Klement’s house in San Fernando, after shadowings and surveillances had confirmed that the man was at home and that conditions in the vicinity were suitable for action. The second method was a ‘mobile’ arrest, while the man was on the move outside the house. The third possibility they explored was to make the capture at a point designated in advance, on his route home. In all three cases the use of a suitable bait was discussed.
Their planning was vulnerable in one respect: it was based on unchecked and even perhaps unrealistic data. To carry out a practical test of the various possibilities the task force had to be on the spot, set up a surveillance of the house, and maintain a prolonged shadowing of Klement himself; it was also necessary to make a thorough reconnaissance of the areas likely to be used as the arena for the capture. Thus the final planning had to wait until the advance party was on the scene and could determine whether reasonably satisfactory operational conditions prevailed. Avrum Shalom was nominated head of the advance party, with Ezra Eshet and Kenet as his associates.
We decided that Yitzhak Nesher would also go with the advance party to start on a search for as many apartments and houses as would be needed. He would also handle car rentals. My intention was that the rest of the men would leave for Argentina only after the advance party had located Klement and reported that conditions were favorable for making the capture.
The question of the timetable also came into the preliminary planning. The crucial point was the date of arrival of the special plane in Buenos Aires. We had already concluded that the capture had to be carried out before the plane arrived – but not so much before that Eichmann would have to be kept longer under house arrest than would be safe. We had to bear in mind that with every day that passed after Klement’s disappearance his relatives and friends would become more active in their search for him; and should the Argentine authorities be appealed to, they might, in their efforts to find the missing man, put a strict check on all roads, border stations, and airports.
The date of the Israeli delegation’s departure for the anniversary celebrations depended on Argentina’s protocol arrangements. The delegates had to be there before the opening of the festivities, and at the same time it wouldn’t do for them to come much earlier than the other delegations. The ar
rival date had to suit the hosts – and besides, if we brought the flight too far forward people would wonder why, including the delegates who were not aware of the plan.
The special flight was still scheduled to leave May 11,1960, and arrive in Buenos Aires on May 12. It would take off again on May 13 or 14, though the plane could always be held back a little on the pretext of a technical hitch. Once the date of the flight was fixed, all other considerations were subordinate. Eichmann had to be captured before May 11, a few days earlier if possible.
I assumed that, in anticipation of the arrival of official delegations from many countries, the Argentine authorities would intensify their security precautions and keep a strict watch on every stranger entering the country during that time. With this in mind, I had given strict instructions to Zvi Zohar to proceed very cautiously with all the consulates, travel agencies, and airline companies he dealt with in making the travel arrangements for the task force. And he did take extraordinary precautions. He scrupulously avoided sending more than one man from any one city, and in many cases did not even let more than two leave from a single country. When he inquired at travel agencies about flights and timetables he took care not to let it be known that the passenger’s ultimate destination was Buenos Aires. He would get the clerk at the airline to help him plan tours to South America – Argentina was included as only one of the many countries to be visited. After going into all the possibilities, he would order the tickets from another travel agency. In some cases, he would order combined flight tickets from a travel office and then cancel the superfluous flights at the airline. Sometimes he ordered round-trip tickets for other countries in South America, making Buenos Aires just one of the stops on the route.
Obtaining the visas involved enormous difficulty. It was customary for a traveler leaving on a long journey to obtain all the requisite visas from the consulates in his fixed place of residence, and many consulates demanded that persons requesting visas must be inhabitants of the country or at least have the right to reside there. Some consulates even required character references from the local police, letters of recommendation from employers, and so on. Zvi found out which consulates were less strict about transit visas, and used them wherever possible. Zvi soon realized that all the running around entailed in making travel arrangements for the task force was too much for one man, so he recruited men who ran the strangest errands for him without having a clue as to what it was all about. The health regulations of the various consulates constituted a problem all on their own. Applicants for visas were generally required to be examined by an authorized doctor and to have various inoculations for international vaccination certificates. Zvi and his aides, ‘representing’ the genuine passengers, were obliged to undergo several such examinations and they were sometimes even subjected to a thorough interrogation about the purpose of their journey. However, in spite of the difficulties and adventures, Zvi and his aides managed to produce all the documents and tickets for the whole task force in good time.
12
ILANI ARRIVED in Buenos Aires on April 22, with a portion of the equipment, and chose a hotel far from the center of the city to avoid running into any of his numerous friends in the Argentine capital. His function was to prepare a base for those coming after him.
He was to lease an apartment for the task force to use for discussions and preparations. The next day he found a place and paid several months’ rent in advance. He fixed up the apartment for both work and living purposes and laid in a stock of food, especially canned goods. Later the task force gave it the code name of Maoz (Stronghold).
Ilani had been told to go twice a day, every day, to the different prearranged meeting places to receive the newcomers. Each of the other task force members had received a list of hotels to choose from, arranged so that no two of them would stay at the same hotel and that none would be in an unsuitable neighborhood. Top priority, however, was for each of them to appear for his first contact with Ilani. The meeting points were fixed in areas far apart from each other and at different times of day, so that Ilani would not attract undue attention by going to the same place at the same time two days in a row
Thus, the following day, April 24, Ilani visited the first meeting place to see if any of his associates had arrived. Completely calm on the outside, though in a state of inner tension, he sat in a smart café, a cup of black coffee in front of him. Occasionally he looked up from the magazine spread out before him and glanced at the door. Will anybody come today? - the question repeated itself over and over in his mind. His loneliness was beginning to get him down, even in just these few days; he was fond of company but was forbidden to communicate with friends and acquaintances in the city. He was really looking forward to the arrival of the first member of the advance party and passed the time trying to guess who it would be. He looked at his watch – another four minutes and the time set for the rendezvous would be over.
At that moment the silhouette of a tall slim man appeared in the glass of the revolving door. Ezra Eshet came hurrying in, stopped in the middle of the floor, and looked around at all the people sitting there. Suddenly he saw two smiling eyes gazing at him through the smoke curling upward from a pipe. The smoker rose to greet him and put out his hand.
‘I’m pleased to see you. Come, sit here.’
‘Thanks. How are you?’
They spoke in loud voices, in English. As they sat down they lowered their voices and continued their conversation in Hebrew.
‘I’ve come straight from the airport,’ Eshet said. ‘I was pretty sure I wouldn’t find you still here.’
And I was already beginning to give up hope. I thought nobody would come today. Let’s sit for a while, and then I’ll take you to the place I’ve rented.’
A little later they left the café, collected Ezra’s baggage, and took a taxi to Maoz. There Ezra rested after the strain of the journey, and then the two of them went out to wander around the city.
This was Ezra’s opportunity to tell Ilani about the amusing incident that had occurred when he first set foot on Argentinean soil. After passing safely through passport control, he boarded the bus taking passengers to Buenos Aires. He’d been instructed to avoid using taxis. The bus was full, but its departure was delayed for some time and Ezra wondered what the hold-up was. He’d chosen a seat next to the door, in case he had to make a quick getaway at some stage. Suddenly two men came running onto the bus. One was the driver, but the other planted himself in front of Ezra, took a photograph out of a bundle of papers, and held it out to him while showering him with a spate of Spanish, of which Ezra didn’t understand a word.
Ezra was literally struck dumb. He looked at the picture and saw himself alighting from the plane on which he’d arrived about half an hour earlier. His blood ran cold. What’s happened? he thought. Have they discovered my passport isn’t genuine? Were they forewarned of my arrival? Are they going to arrest me?
Confused, bewildered, unable to think what to do next, he looked around. The man was offering another picture to the passenger sitting next to him, and the passenger was paying for it! Ezra breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously the man was a photographer who worked in partnership with the bus driver, and the driver had delayed the bus to give the photographer a chance to finish his pictures of the unsuspecting arrivals and sell them for a modest sum. Ezra thanked the photographer and paid him generously, double the usual price. He still shudders when he thinks back on the incident, and to this day he treasures the photograph.
On April 25 Kenet arrived. This time he had a new identity and had tried to change his appearance as much as possible. On his previous visit he had met a number of people, and he dared not take the chance of stumbling on any of them. He had to be very careful in his choice of accommodation and rendezvous areas.
Kenet’s principal role was to identify Ricardo Klement as soon as he was in the hands of the task force. For this purpose the special team had prepared a detailed list of everything known about Eichmann’s p
ersonal characteristics and identifying marks:
Personal Description
From an SS document dated July 19, 1937: height -5ft 10in.; circumference of head - 22”; size of shoe -8½
From an SS document dated January 1939: height -5ft 8½.; circumference of head - 22”; size of shoe - 9½; size of clothes-44.
From Wisliceny’s Nuremberg testimony of October 27, 1946: height-5ft 10in.; shape of head-long and narrow; bowlegged; hair – thin, dark blond in color; nose – long and narrow, large nostrils; eyes – blue-gray; lips – thin and compressed.
From an official medical certificate dated November 9, 1934: height - 5ft 8½ in (wearing shoes); weight - 1541bs (clothed); eyes – blue; hair – smooth and blond.
Distinguishing Marks
From Wisliceny’s testimony of October 1946: scarcely visible scar about 1½” long below the left eyebrow.
From Wisliceny’s testimony, same date: double fracture of the skull (in 1932); two gold bridges in the top row of teeth, numerous fillings.
From an official medical certificate of 1934: appendectomy scar (in 1922).
From an official medical certificate of 1937: fracture of the right hand.