Zvi Aharoni (Hebrew: צבי אהרוני; 6 February 1921 – 26 May 2012) was an Israeli Mossad agent instrumental in the capture of Adolf Eichmann.[1]
Zvi Aharoni | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hermann Arndt 6 February 1921 |
| Died | 26 May 2012 (aged 91) |
| Known for | Capture of Adolf Eichmann |
Biography edit
Hermann Aronheim (later Zvi Aharoni) was born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany. He immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1938 with his mother and younger brother Michael.[2]
After retiring from Mossad in the 1970s, Aharoni became a businessman in Hong Kong and China before settling in Devon, England, with his second wife Valerie, his first wife having died in 1973.
At his death in 2012, aged 91, he was survived by Valerie and by a son and daughter from his previous marriage.
Secret service career edit
After serving in the British Army, he joined the Israeli secret service and spent 20 years as a Nazi hunter. He was the Mossad agent who identified "Ricardo Klement" as Eichmann.[3]
Aharoni flew to Buenos Aires and tracked down the family's house in a remote neighborhood on the outskirts of town. On 19 March 1960 he spotted Eichmann. In his account of the capture, Aharoni wrote: "I saw him about two o'clock in the afternoon ... a man of medium size and build, about fifty years old, with a high forehead and partially bald, collecting the washing."[citation needed] His assistant photographed Eichmann using a camera hidden in a bag.[4][5]
Published works edit
- Aharoni, Zvi (1997). Operation Eichmann: The Truth about the Pursuit, Capture, and Trial. Wiley-Blackwell. ASIN B0015GWWPO.
References edit
- ^ "Zvi Aharoni, Israeli spy who spotted Eichmann". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. May 31, 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
- ^ Aharoni, Ṣevî; Dietl, Wilhelm (1996). Der Jäger: Operation Eichmann: was wirklich geschah. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. pp. 9ff. ISBN 3421050317.
- ^ Operation Eichmann, Pursuit and Capture
- ^ "SF Sentinel". www.sanfranciscosentinel.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
- ^ "Zvi Aharoni and Yaakov Meidad". The Daily Telegraph. 2012-08-16. Retrieved 2013-07-27.