Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was a key figure in the Holocaust, but he still managed to escape to Argentina, believing it to be a safe haven. By the 1950s, Eichmann had adopted the name Ricardo Klement, obtained a fake passport, and left behind the horrors of World War II to start a new life. However, the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and the Israeli National Security Agency received news that Eichmann was living in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Ironically, Eichmann's escape to Argentina sealed his fate.

The following years unfolded one of the most thrilling spy stories of the century—a daring extraction operation by Mossad, which nearly failed at the last hurdle due to a forged document. Now, the full story is finally revealed through a traveling artifact exhibition curated by former Mossad lieutenant colonel Avner Avraham. "Operation Finale: The Capture and Trial of Adolf Eichmann" marks the first time Israel has allowed the public to examine Mossad's spy equipment and declassified documents related to this shocking operation. The story touches the core of Israel and its intelligence operations.

In the year, when Nazi SS officer Adolf Eichmann was tried in Jerusalem, he sat behind bulletproof glass. The operation to capture Adolf Eichmann made a breakthrough. Adolf Eichmann was in charge of organizing the transportation of millions of Jewish prisoners from Europe to the Auschwitz concentration camp and other death camps in occupied Poland. Mossad was determined to bring Eichmann back to Israel for trial, but how? Finding and extricating Eichmann from South America required years of arduous undercover work. Eventually, an Argentine colleague of Eichmann provided a tip to Mossad, who photographed the suspected war criminal in the late 1950s. This Nazi SS officer seemed to have found work at Mercedes-Benz in Buenos Aires and had risen to become a department head.

This photo is an exciting breakthrough, but is that really Eichmann? Mossad and National Security Agency intelligence officers devised a cunning plan. Mossad's Leica camera Adolf Eichmann and Mossad: gathering evidence In the year, intelligence officers flew to Argentina to photograph the suspect. They brought a small Leica camera, whose casing had been modified and equipped with a secret camera trigger. Thus they could secretly photograph the suspect. They developed the negatives at a local photo studio, conducted a 12-point analysis of Eichmann's ear, and compared the results with the photos in Eichmann's top-secret Mossad file—long before this method was used in criminal cases.

Why the ear? Mossad had a photograph of Eichmann as a World War II soldier, taken from the side, revealing his left ear (see left image below). Mossad needed a photograph of the Argentine suspect taken from the same angle in the year , to compare his facial structure and ear with the World War II photo taken about years earlier. Mossad's file on Adolf Eichmann compared with his photo The kidnapping of Adolf Eichmann Mossad's two photos illustrate how the spy agency's detailed ear analysis showed a match. After a decade-long search, Mossad believed they had finally found Adolf Eichmann in his home in Buenos Aires.

Next, Mossad will send a number of agents to fly to Argentina to kidnap Eichmann on the streets of Buenos Aires. They want to capture Eichmann when he is alone and unprepared, so they need a car and fake license plates for the abduction. Mossad's spy chief and head, Isser Harel, flew to Argentina to personally oversee the mission. Avner Abraham, a former Mossad lieutenant colonel, said at the Eichmann exhibition that as soon as Eichmann got off the bus, Israeli agents approached him and said, "Sir, come with us now." After distracting him with a broken-down car, the intelligence officers stuffed Eichmann into the getaway car.

The kidnapping process took minutes, while smuggling Eichmann out of the country required more time. First, Eichmann needed to be taken to a safe house for debriefing. Capturing Eichmann was a difficult and moving operation. Among the Mossad officials responsible for the arrest, one preferred to wear gloves. "He was a Holocaust survivor and didn't want to touch him with his hands," said Avraham. This official later became a renowned artist and made a model of the gloves.

Although Mossad successfully captured Eichmann on the street, officials were also preparing to implement the plan. The spy agency's technicians in the 1960s created a lathe, a key cutter driven by a sewing machine motor. Mossad used this lathe to replicate the keys to Eichmann's house on Garibaldi Street, in preparation for the break-in. Smuggling Eichmann out of Argentina in Operation Finale involved several other major obstacles—the most important of which was administering medication to the target. Mossad hoped a doctor would inject Eichmann with a sedative so he would not resist when forcibly repatriated to Israel.

Israeli anesthesiologist and Holocaust survivor Dr. Jonah Elian was recruited for the task. Dr. Elian's role was to administer the appropriate amount of sedative to render Eichmann immobile while keeping him conscious and capable of movement. Reportedly, although Dr. Elian successfully completed his assignment, he remained in seclusion for many years afterward, keeping the needle used to inject the sedative in a drawer.

The final step of the operation was to dress Eichmann in an El Al uniform and convince the Buenos Aires airport authorities that Eichmann, now injected with a sedative, was a sick airline crew member. Dr. Elian accompanied Eichmann, ensuring he remained upright. The team of Mossad and Shin Bet personnel also posed as El Al crew members to make the cover story more believable. However, an obstacle emerged at the last moment that could have jeopardized the entire operation. The team needed to pass through Buenos Aires customs with forged identification, including Mossad chief Isser Harel, who claimed to be a flight engineer. Harel's fake ID contained a rare error.

The forged identity document contained errors. The document claimed he was born in the year, while the city was not actually established until the year. The Argentine customs officials were unaware of this, and after the team cleared customs, Mossad set off for Israel. On May 23, 1960, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion announced to the world that Adolf Eichmann had been imprisoned. After eight months of trial and testimony from over 100 witnesses, Eichmann was convicted of 15 counts, including war crimes. He was hanged in 1962.

Avraham's detailed knowledge of the operation caught the attention of Hollywood director Chris Weitz, who was preparing to film the spy thriller "Operation Finale" (2018). Weitz hired Avraham as a consultant to ensure the authenticity of the film's details. "Operation Finale" is a 2018 American historical drama thriller directed by Chris Weitz, written by Matthew Orton, and tells the story of the 1960 secret operation by an Israeli intelligence team to capture former SS officer Adolf Eichmann and bring him to Jerusalem to stand trial for crimes against humanity. The film stars Oscar Isaac (also a producer) as Mossad officer Peter Malkin, Ben Kingsley as Eichmann, with Lior Raz, Mélanie Laurent, Nick Kroll, and Haley Lu Richardson in supporting roles. The story is based on multiple original sources, including Peter Malkin and Harry Stein's "Eichmann in My Hands."

For instance, in one scene, Avraham knew that a group of Mossad agents would not arrive in Argentina on the same flight at the same time, and their luggage would not be tagged with Air France labels. The Argentine government was unaware of Mossad's covert operation. The arrival of a large number of agents could arouse suspicion and expose their identities. Avraham intervened to correct the errors in the film, one of many misconceptions he has tried to clarify since Eichmann's capture, a story that forever changed the world's perception of Mossad and espionage operations.