Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased Down the World's Most Notorious Nazi

by Neal Bascomb

Eichmann ran his office as if he was the division head of an international conglomerate. He set ambitious targets; he recruited and delegated to effective subordinates; he traveled frequently to keep tabs on their progress; he studied what worked and failed and adjusted accordingly; he made sure to account to his bosses in charts and figures how effective he had been.

He secured permission from the German plenipotentiary to send 50,000 Jews to labor camps in Austria. The fact that there were no available trains to take them on the 125-mile journey, because of Allied bombing raids, did not deter him. As winter settled in, he sent the first 27,000 Jews, including children and the infirm, on a forced march. With few provisions and no shelter, scores began falling behind within a few days. They were either shot or left to die in roadside ditches. Even the Auschwitz commandant Höss, who witnessed the scene while driving between Budapest and Vienna, balked at the conditions the Jews endured.

Then he said harshly, “I will gladly and happily jump into the pit with the knowledge that with me are 5 million enemies of the Reich.” Five million was the number of Jews Eichmann estimated had been exterminated during the Final Solution. Despite this pride in his accomplishments, he had already burned all of his department’s files.

In answer to a question from Lieutenant Colonel Smith Brookhart of the prosecution as to whether Eichmann had shown Wisliceny the order from Himmler to begin the Final Solution, the witness said, “Yes, Eichmann handed me the document and I saw the order myself.” “Was any question asked by you as to the meaning of the words ‘Final Solution’ as used in the order?” Lieutenant Colonel Brookhart asked. “Eichmann went on to explain to me what was meant by this. He said that the planned biological annihilation of the Jewish race in the Eastern Territories was disguised by the concept and wording ‘Final Solution.’”

“Yes. It was perfectly clear to me that this order spelled death to millions of people. I said to Eichmann, ‘God grant that our enemies never have the opportunity of doing the same to the German people,’ in reply to which Eichmann told me not to be sentimental.”

The network would never have been as effective without the aid of the Catholic Church, most notably that of Bishop Alois Hudal, rector of Santa Maria dell’Anima in Rome.

Ben-Gurion was unequivocal that he wanted Eichmann taken alive, to stand trial in Israel for his crimes against the Jewish people. Cohen was apprehensive about the legality of such a move, as he had already discussed with Harel. From a purely legal perspective, West Germany had much more of a right to try Eichmann than Israel, which had not existed when the crimes were committed. Nonetheless, Ben-Gurion told the Israeli attorney general to investigate the matter further and arrive at a justification. As for the operation itself, Ben-Gurion had complete faith in Harel, writing confidently in his diary that night, “Isser will deal with it.”

For a while, the two sat in silence, and Klein was overcome by memories of the past: Nazis driving his family into a Hungarian ghetto only a couple of weeks after his parents had decided not to escape across the Slovakian border. Stepping off the freight train in Auschwitz, guards separating his father and him from his mother and younger brother and sister. His father saying that Yosef was seventeen, not fourteen, to try to keep him alive. Looking at the smokestacks that towered over the rail yard. Shuffling between labor camps, surviving only because of his father. Parting from him when put to work constructing an underground aircraft plant near the Austrian border. Turning fifteen as a prisoner; spending his days pouring concrete, cutting down trees, and loading coal; struggling to stay alive while others either died in their bunks or were shot by the guards. Nearly being killed during Allied bombings of the installation. Five days and five nights of suffering the crush of human flesh in a freight car destined for an extermination camp. Stumbling out of the train to see American tanks send his guards fleeing.

Over the past few days, Harel had been plagued by the concern that someone might connect Eichmann’s disappearance with the arrival of the first-ever El Al flight to Argentina. If the two events were linked—and this was certainly conceivable—government forces or vigilantes could easily stop the plane before it had a chance to take off. A contingency plan was essential.

Then he asked Eichmann, “How did you come to do what you did?” “It was an order. I had a job to do.” “Just a job?” Malkin said incredulously. “Are you not a soldier? Don’t you have your orders? You captured me. Why did you do it? Because of an order.” “Yes, I got an order to capture you, but there’s a big difference between you and me. I had an order to catch a criminal. But you went after innocent people. They had done nothing wrong at all. You followed those orders because you hated these people.” “No . . . I, in a way, I love Jews.” Malkin could hardly believe what he was hearing. This was too much. “You love Jews? Then what were you doing in the SS in the first place?”