The Man Who Captured Eichmann (1996)

The Man Who Captured Eichmann is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered on US television (TNT) in 1996. It is the story of how the former high-ranking Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was captured by Israeli agents in Argentina and secretly transported to Israel. Here is some basic information:

** Director: William A. Graham

** Writer: Lionel Chetwynd

** Based on the book Eichmann in my Hands by Peter Malkin and Harry Stein

** Run time: 96 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Robert Duvall as Adolf Eichmann // Ricardo Klement (1906-1962) – a former high-ranking Nazi official

** Arliss Howard as Peter Z. Malkin (1927-2005) – a Mossad agent

** Jeffrey Tambor as Isser Harel (1912-2003) – director of Mossad 1952-1963

Peter Malkin was a member of the Mossad team which identified and captured Eichmann in Buenos Aires in 1960. His first-hand account about this remarkable event (co-authored with Harry Stein) was first published in 1990. This drama is based on his book.

Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. Therefore I feel free to mention some of them in this review.

While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here. But the basic story is true.

In 1945, when the war ended, Eichmann was captured by American forces, but they did not know his real identity. He managed to escape. For a while he lived under a false name in the north of (West) Germany. In 1950 he escaped to Latin America. He settled in Argentina where his family joined him in 1952: his wife Veronika – aka Vera – and three children; a fourth child was born in Argentina in 1955. While living in Argentina, Eichmann used the false name Ricardo Klement.

In 1960 he was identified and captured by a team of Israeli agents who kept him in a safe house for a few days until they could bring him on an Israeli airplane that transported him to Israel.

Once in Israel, he was placed in a court of law where he was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.  In 1961 he was found guilty. He appealed, but his appeal was denied. He was executed in 1962. However, the court case of 1961 and the execution of 1962 are not included in this drama, which ends when he is on the way to Israel.

What do reviewers say about this historical drama? On IMDb it has a rating of 65 per cent, which corresponds to ca three stars on Amazon. If you ask me, this average rating is too high. Why? This drama has a fatal flaw: the language that is spoken. Almost all dialogue is in English. This is a huge violation of historical truth.

In Israel many people speak Hebrew. In Argentina many people speak Spanish. The Eichmann family came from Germany. They would speak German among themselves and when they met other people from Germany. But in this drama all characters speak English!

I know why: the director was afraid to hire actors who could speak the proper languages, because this would mean that he would have to use subtitles. Most American directors are afraid to do that. They worry that their prime audience - US viewers – will avoid the movie if it comes with subtitles.

There are other violations of historical truth in this drama:

# 1. Eichmann was first identified by Lothar Hermann (1901-1974), a refugee from Germany, and his daughter Sylvia Lothar (born 1942). They both appear briefly in this drama, but the father is called Laszlo Ungari and the daughter is called Angela Ungari. Why?

For a while, Sylvia dated Eichmann’s oldest son Klaus Eichmann, who was born in 1936. When Sylvia talked about Klaus, her father realized that the young man had to be the son of the former high-ranking Nazi official Adolf Eichmann, who had disappeared after the end of the war. But in this drama the son is called Nicolas. Why?

# 2. Towards the end of the drama, Eichmann is put on an airplane that will transport him to Israel. In the drama, we see how Argentinian police officers and some Nazi supporters are racing to the airport hoping to stop the airplane from taking off. They are too late: they arrive at the very moment when the airplane is taking off.

In the real world there was no such drama: the people who tried to stop the plane arrived at the airport half an hour after the plane had taken off. This fact was not dramatic enough for the movie makers, so they changed to chronology of events.

As you can see, this drama has several flaws; and one of them is very serious. That is why this drama cannot get more than two stars.

PS # 1. For more information, see the following first-hand accounts:

** The House on Garibaldi Street by Isser Harel (first published 1975)

** Operation Eichmann by Zvi Aharoni (first published 1997)

PS # 2. The following movies focus on how Eichmann was captured by Israeli agents in Argentina in 1960:

** The House on Garibaldi Street (1979) – based on Isser Harel’s book

** Operation Finale (2018) – available on Netflix

PS # 3. The following article about the first identification of Eichmann is available online: Uki Goni, “Blind refugee led Israel to Eichmann,” The Guardian, 25 January 2002.

*****

 

 The cover of Peter Malkin's book about Eichmann

*****