60 years ago, Adolf Eichmann abducted by Mossad, brought to Israel

Eichmann was the only person in Israel's history to be executed by the state.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Eichmann (photo credit: Holocaust Memorial Museum)
Eichmann
(photo credit: Holocaust Memorial Museum)
It was 60 years ago to the day on Monday that one of the most notorious Nazi war criminals paid for his role in helping to orchestrate the mass extermination of European Jewry.
In its broad outlines, the story of Adolf Eichmann, his capture in Argentina by the Israeli Mossad, and his trial in Jerusalem are well known - and 60 years following, the memory has not faded.
Eichmann was the only person in Israel's history to be executed by the state.
“Today marks 60 years since the capture of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina by Israeli agents. He was smuggled to Israel and put on trial for crimes against humanity, the Jewish people, and more," Yad Vashem tweeted on Sunday.

Eichmann was appointed head of the Gestapo’s Jewish Affairs division at the start of World War II and was later placed in charge of organizing the “Final Solution” throughout Europe.
“60 years ago today, Adolf Eichmann, one of the Nazi organizers of the Shoah, was kidnapped in Argentina in a daring Mossad mission. It was 15 years after the Holocaust. This time, Eichmann didn’t escape justice. He was brought to Israel — and made to stand trial for his crimes," said the World Jewish Congress on Twitter.

At the end of the war – and at the conclusion of the Holocaust – Eichmann was arrested by the US Army. He soon escaped his captors, however, and eventually made his way to Argentina, where he lived under the assumed name of Ricardo Klement.
Information regarding his whereabouts began to reach Israel in the late 1950s, spurring both the Mossad and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) to track Eichmann down. On May 11, 1960, Eichmann was abducted near his home in Buenos Aires by a team of Israeli agents, smuggled out of Argentina and flown to Israel.
Eichmann was placed on trial in Jerusalem in April 1961, convicted in December 1961, and hanged on May 31, 1962. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at sea, beyond Israel’s territorial waters.
“60 years ago today, Israel showed the lengths it would go to seek justice for the Jewish people when it captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina, and brought him to Jerusalem to stand trial. Then, #Holocaust survivors shared their stories. Today, we #neverforget,” ISrael Ambassador to the UN Danny Dannon wrote on Twitter Sunday.

Carl Hoffman, Zachary Keyser and Reuters contributed to this report.


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