The kidnapping that stunned the world -

The passing of Rafi Eitan, the man who led the 1960 Mossad operation to capture Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, renewed interest in one of the boldest and most controversial intelligence missions ever mounted. Eichmann, the architect of the Holocaust, was kidnapped in Argentina and spirited back to Israel to stand trial for war crimes. He was hanged in 1962.

Browse this gallery and find out more about Eitan and the former SS officer who never expressed remorse for the crimes he committed.

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Adolf Eichmann ( 1906–1962) - A leading Nazi, the SS-Obersturmbannführer ("Senior Assault Unit Leader") was one of the major organizers of the Holocaust during the Second World War.

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Rafi Eitan (1926–2019) -

An Israeli intelligence officer, Rafael "Rafi" Eitan was in charge of the Mossad operation that led to the arrest of Adolf Eichmann.

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Wannsee Conference -

On January 20, 1942, senior Nazi and SS officials met at the villa Am Großen Wannsee to implement the "Final Solution" to the Jewish question. Eichmann was present and prepared the official distributed record of the meeting. The villa is now a Holocaust memorial and museum.

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The Final Solution - Soon after the meeting, large-scale deportations of Jewish civilians to extermination camps began, under the direct supervision of Eichmann.

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Nazi hunter - Eichmann's office was responsible for collecting information on Jews, confiscating their property, and arranging for and scheduling trains.

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End of the Second World War - At the end of the war, Eichmann was captured by US forces, but later escaped. He lived and worked in Germany until 1950 before emigrating to Argentina.

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Escape - Assisted by Nazi sympathizers, Eichmann traveled secretly across Europe to Genoa, Italy. From here he boarded a ship to Buenos Aires, traveling on a Red Cross passport in the name of "Ricardo Klement."

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Argentina -

After sending for his family, Eichmann settled in Buenos Aires, where he lived and worked for the next 10 years.

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"Operation Finale" - Meanwhile, Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, had been tipped off about Eichmann's whereabouts. A daring mission to kidnap the Nazi fugitive and bring him back to Israel was given the green light. Code-named "Operation Finale," it was headed by Rafi Eitan.

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Kidnapped -

Eichmann was abducted off the streets of Buenos Aires on May 11, 1960, by a team of Mossad agents. Spirited out of Argentina on a plane, he arrived in Israel on May 22. Pictured is the teleprinter that was used to send messages regarding the capture to Israel's diplomatic missions around the world. 

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Nazi war criminal - The original Israeli police documents, dated August 8, 1960, show the fingerprints and signature of the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.

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On trial - The world was stunned by Eichmann's capture. Nine months later he stood trial, indicted on 15 criminal charges, including crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes against the Jewish people, and membership in a criminal organization.

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Judgement day - The trial was presided over by three judges: Moshe Landau, Benjamin Halevy, and Yitzhak Raveh.

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Unrepentant - The defendant denied any personal responsibility for the atrocities committed by the Nazis, arguing that he was only following orders. He felt absolved of any guilt.

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Guilty as charged! -

On December 12, 1961, Eichmann was found guilty. Three days later he was sentenced to death by hanging. He is pictured in the yard of Ayalon Prison after the verdict.

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Diary evidence - Eichmann compiled a detailed diary while he was imprisoned.

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Chilling entries - His notes are especially chilling in their description of the way the Nazi regime came to the "Final Solution" against the Jews, and the way the extermination was implemented. Eichmann's signature is at bottom right and dated September 6, 1961.

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Request for clemency - Eichmann's defense team appealed the verdict, with the convicted prisoner even requesting clemency in a handwritten plea.

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Executed - Adolf Eichmann was hanged on June 1, 1962. Rafi Eitan, who accompanied the war criminal to the hanging, claimed that Eichmann's final words were: "I hope that all of you will follow me."

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"The banality of evil" - American philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt covered the trial, and her subsequent report, 'Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil,' was published in 1963. She famously coined the phrase "the banality of evil" to describe the phenomenon of Eichmann.

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House of the Wannsee Conference -

Here is the location where Eichmann and others planned the extermination of the Jews, which is now an engaging and informative museum

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House of the Wannsee Conference - Visitors can ponder original documents from the Wannsee Conference and information about the participants. There are also audiovisual presentations about the history of Jewish persecution. A multimedia center for the study of National Socialism is available for use by anyone interested in this dark chapter in world history.

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Legacy - People look at displays at an exhibition about German Nazi and Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann in Berlin, 2011.

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Educative - A worker arranges part of an installation during preparations for an exhibition about Eichmann at Yad Vashem's Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem, 2011.

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Historic artifacts - Objects used in the capture of Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires are exhibited at the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem, 2011.

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Eichmann in popular culture - Eichmann's capture by Mossad agents has been dramatized in several films, including 'The Man Who Captured Eichmann' (1996) starring Robert Duvall (pictured), and 'Operation Finale' (2018), with Ben Kingsley as the Nazi fugitive.

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Rafi Eitan: beyond Mossad -

After his career in the intelligence service, Rafi Eitan went into business before entering politics as Minister of Pensioner Affairs in 2006. He lost his seat in 2009. A gifted sculptor, Eitan produced over 100 pieces. He died in Tel Aviv on March 23, 2019, aged 92.

Sources: (The New York Times)

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