Israel secret service opens archives on Adolf Eichmann's capture

    9:45 AM, Feb 8, 2012   |    comments
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    TEL AVIV, Israel (CBS) -- Fifty years after Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death by an Israeli court for Nazi war crimes, the country's secret service opens its archive to reveal the story behind his capture.

    Israel's secret service, Mossad, opened its archives to the public on Tuesday retelling the story behind the capture of Adolf Eichmann, a senior Nazi organizer of the Holocaust, who was captured and hanged 50 years ago in Israel.

    Eichmann had been the world's most wanted man for his part in the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis during World War II. He was eventually located and captured by Mossad agents in 1960 in Argentina. He faced trial for his crimes against humanity and was executed in June 1962.

    The exhibition at Beit Hatfutsot museum of the Jewish people in Tel Aviv displayed original Mossad documents, accessories and sketches used during the operation, code named "Dybbuk", Hebrew for "evil spirit", to abduct Eichmann.

    Avinoam Armoni, Director of Beit Hatfutshot Museum of The Jewish People told Reuters that the capture and trial of Eichmann was one of the most important events in the history of the state of Israel.

    "The importance of this exhibition is not so much in the spy story, in the capture, but in the lessons that need to be learned so that the world will never allow a monster like Eichmann and the machinery that he operated ever to emerge again," he said.

    Eichmann took charge in implementing Adolf Hitler's "final solution" and then fled to Buenos Aires in 1950. He was the first and only person to be sentenced to death in the Jewish state.

    "Operation Finale" displays for the first time items such as sketches showing how forensic experts identified Eichmann's facial attributes, a license plate, briefcase, camera and hand written notes used during the operation.

    Israeli Minister Without Portfolio, Yossi Peled, who was assigned by the government to organise events marking the 50th anniversary of Eichmann's trial, told Reuters the trial was a pivotal event for Jews around the world and especially for those who had immigrated to Israel from Europe after World War II.

    "Eichmann's trial was a very formative event, and the government gave me this mission (of organizing events to mark 50th anniversary for Eichmann's trial). And the first of various events we are planning to hold is this exhibition that was never exposed to the Israeli public. I think it is important that those who acted, and for nowadays' young people, to know what was done and will understand the scale of this event in shaping the Israeli society here," Peled said.

    Peled added that the exhibition will travel around the world and will be displayed in Germany and in the U.N. headquarters in New York.

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