The spies planned to grab Eichmann between the bus stop and his home as the Nazi returned from work. Fact: Peter Malkin wore gloves to capture Eichmann Israeli diplomats would fly an Israeli plane into the country under the guise of joining in the celebration, and the spies would use that plane to fly Eichmann back to Israel. The Israeli government organized a mission to capture him during Argentina’s 150th independence day celebrations. Germany had tried to extradite Josef Mengele, the doctor who performed twisted experiments on concentration camp prisoners, from Argentina and failed. Fascist-leaning government officials and German expats even funneled ex-SS officers into the country. Mossad knew they could not extradite Eichmann as Argentina was a safe haven for Nazis. Fact: They captured Eichmann during Argentina’s Independence Day celebration He calculated that that day would be the Eichmanns’ wedding anniversary. On March 21, the agent watched the house with binoculars and observed the family hosting a celebratory dinner. In reality, it was a field agent who made the connection. Mossad agents are able to do the math and realize that Eichmann’s wedding anniversary would have been the same day that Silvia visited the home. In the movie, it’s Silvia who notices an anniversary gift in Eichmann’s home. They compared pictures that an agent took with a camera hidden in a briefcase to his SS files and deduced that his ears looked the same. But by 1960 the intelligence service decided to stake out Eichmann’s home and see if they could confirm Hermann’s suspicions. Mossad initially discounted the intelligence when Hermann first contacted them in 1958. Fact: Officers identified Eichmann based on his anniversary But he says recognized Eichmann’s voice from his time at Dachau. Hermann was nearly blind due to the severe beatings he received while imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp. Eichmann claimed that his name was Ricardo Klement. Hermann actually met Eichmann: He and his daughter went to a restaurant and happened to be seated near Klaus and the man Klaus called his uncle. In the movie, Silvia puts this together when Klaus invites her to a Nazi rally.īut the true story is perhaps even more extraordinary than what is presented in the film.
Hermann began to suspect that Klaus was the son of Eichmann. Silvia began dating a German boy named Klaus, who would make anti-Semitic comments in front of Hermann. Hermann and his daughter Silvia were living in Argentina and were not public about their Jewish heritage. Mossad had been searching for Eichmann for over a decade when they received a tip from a Holocaust survivor named Lothar Hermann.
Fact: Mossad found Eichmann through a tip from a Holocaust survivor Here’s what’s real-and what’s fictional-in the movie. The two men strike up a strangely ordinary repartee during the 10 days between Eichmann’s capture and his departure for Israel. Operation Finale expands on this idea by focusing on the interactions between Eichmann (Kingsley) and one of his captors, Peter Malkin (Isaac).