The House on Garibaldi Street
Author: Isser Harel
reviewed
by Theresa Welsh
This book is a spy thriller, with exciting action on two continents involving a secret
search for an internationally wanted criminal by extremely dedicated and talented people driven by
strong personal motives to do whatever it took to capture the fugitive and bring him to justice. A disciplined team carries out a daring capture,
then must smuggle thier captive out of the country, which they manage to do without the knowledge or suspicion of the nation which harbored
him. They broke international law but ultimately won the admiration of the world.
This suspenseful, superbly-told tale is all true. Isser Harel, the author, was head of Israel's security service, and the criminal he tracked down in Argentina in 1960 was Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi responsible for carrying out Hitler's "final solution," the murder of six million Jews.
The House on Garibaldi Street is Harel's personal story of how he got a tip that Eichmann was living in Buenos Aires, and his pursuit of that tip, which involved three preliminary trips to follow up information which finally led to their
discovery of Eichmann living in a simple house on the outskirts of Buenos Aires as Ricardo Klement, along with his wife Vera and his sons. The various people who went to Argentina had to be careful that no one suspected they were shadowing Eichmann, and they had to be certain
that Klement really was Eichmann. Once they were sure, they put in place a complex scenario for capturing him as he walked from the bus stop to his house.
They were able to make the capture, but had to keep Eichmann in a safe house until a special plane could come from Israel; the stated purpose of the plane was to bring dignitaries from Israel to help celebrate Argentina's centennial, but the trip back to Israel had a substitute crew member who had taken "ill." Dressed in an airline uniform, a drugged Eichmann was put aboard and taken back to Israel where he was put on trial.
While the team members did not know what to expect once they nabbed Eichmann, they were surprised to find he did not resist and even expressed some regret at the part he had played in the torture and killing of so many Jews. He seemed ordinary, and sometimes pathetic to his captors, who were counseled by Harel not to talk to him. But one of the men guarding the captive could not help himself; he spent a lot of time talking to Eichmann and developed almost an affection for his prisoner, sometimes bringing him wine or extra food. To other members of the team, the time spent with Eichmann was emotionally difficult as they recalled their own family members who had died in concentration camps. It was puzzling why Eichmann did not attempt to escape. Was it guilt, or just a sense of the inevitable?
At his trial (not covered in the book), Eichmann made this statement after the sentence was read: "And I would now ask the Jewish People on a personal level for forgiveness, and I would admit that I am overwhelmed by shame when I think about the evil committed against the Jews and the acts that were perpetrated against them." However, he also stated that he did not feel the primary guilt was his because he did what his superiors told him to do. He said the top Nazis wanted to shift the blame, "...the National Socialists of the time and others have spread untruths about me. They wanted to exonerate themselves at my expense, or to create confusion for reasons unknown to me." For more on the trial, see the PBS web site.
Harel tried to find Dr. Joseph Mengele too, learning he had also been in
Buenos Aries, but the doctor who did goulish experiments on innocent victims
eluded the Israelis. It would have been a nice bonus if they could have brought
back both Eichmann and Mengele. Eichmann was subsequently found guilty by an
Israeli court and hanged. Mengele was hotly pursued in the 1980s, as death camp
survivors held a trial in absentia in Jeruselem in 1985. But efforts to
find him in South America led to a grave in Brazil and forensic confirmation
that the body in the grave was that of the evil doctor who had drowned in 1979.
I found the incredible details of the Israeli plan for the capture of Eichmann so fascinating that I had trouble putting this book down. If it had been a work of fiction, it could not have been more exciting to read. The dedication and hard work of Harel's team, who often went without sleep, and who had to do their work under difficult conditions, was almost unbelievable. They located houses and apartments they could use in their plan, spent untold hours trying to find cars they could rent that wouldn't break down -- and several of them did, including a rollover on the main street leading to Eichmann's house. Harel met with his team members at an endless series of cafes, conducting the final phase from a crowded and chaotic airport staff café, where he and his men went unnoticed in the general din of the place.
This book was written back in 1975 and is no longer in print. I enjoy reading and reviewing books
that interest me, regtardless of when they were published, and since I get most of my books second-hand, I'm often engrossed in older books like this one. I'm writing this review knowing the book is not readily available, but I enjoyed it so much, I want to let others know about it. This
book shows you how real undercover agents operate, and it lets you in on the complete story of the capture of one of the world's
most notorious war criminals. The complete transcript of the trial of Eichmann, along with much more information about his part in the
Holocaust, is online at various sites -- just do a search on Eichmann.
Look for a new/used copy of this book at amazon.com or other online
stores. Or you may find it at a local used book store.
