On this day in 1960, Ben-Gurion informed the Knesset of the capture of Adolf Eichmann, and bringing him to trial in Israel.
During the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann served as a senior member of the Nazi SS, and was entrusted with a logistical organization of the Nazi extermination system, and the transfer of millions of Jews throughout Europe on the way to their extermination in the camps. After the war, Eichmann escaped arrest, and managed to arrive in Argentina under an fake name, where he settled. But the Jewish people did not forget, and after the 50s, indications of Eichmann’s location were accepted, and the Mossad, led by Isser Harel, began to investigate the matter. The Mossad agents in Argentina found Eichmann, and as part of ‘Operation Finale’, they kidnapped him during the night and managed to smuggle him into Israel in 1960. (Anecdote: When Harel informed Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion that Eichmann was in Israel, Ben-Gurion refused to inform the state before he was proven to be Eichmann. Harel was forced to find a Holocaust survivor who had met Eichmann in the years of the war within a few hours, and confirmed the matter.) Ben-Gurion informed the government and the Knesset, and the State of Israel was stunned. Eichmann’s trial reopened the story of the Holocaust and exposed the horrors to the world and the state, and Eichmann was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.
Photo Source: Wikipedia
