Eichmann: The Nazi Fugitive

As one of the architects of the Nazi's final solution, "Jewish expert" Adolf Eichmann supervised the systematic killing of Jews in all conquered lands. After the collapse of the Third Reich, Eichmann slipped through the hands of American troops, hid out in Europe for a few years, then fled to Buenos Aires, Argentina under a Vatican passport. There he assumed a false identity while living among other ex-Nazis in a large German community. For years, Eichmann eluded capture while living quietly with his family. This video is the cloak and dagger story of how the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, located Eichmann and devised a plan to spirit him out of Argentina to face justice in Jerusalem, where the Third Reich's most feared executioner would become the only criminal ever hanged for his crimes in Israel. It was a classic cat and mouse game, involving forged documents, hidden cameras, and safe houses for hiding Eichmann. Ironically, the anti-Semitic Eichmann was sedated and slipped aboard the Jewish nation's official airline under a fake Israeli passport. The video gives little coverage to Eichmann's trial and mostly ignores the larger story of Nazi war crimes (for that, viewers should turn to PBS Video's The Trial of Adolph Eichmann [VL-9/97]). However, the documentary works as a fascinating and exciting true spy saga. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)