rope and bemoaned the fact that the Nazis were unable to “finish the
job.” Nicholas also used the family name Eichmann openly at times.
Mossad agents in Buenos Aires followed up on this information, and
although they were able to verify that one of Eichmann’s sons was in-
deed in Argentina with his father, they found that Eichmann no
longer lived at the address they had been given. The investigation
proceeded slowly and delicately so as not to reveal that any search for
Eichmann was ongoing and risk losing him or capturing the wrong
man. Eichmann had carefully destroyed all evidence of his former
identity, even removing the tattoo that all SS men had in their left
armpit.
In late 1959, it was discovered that after the war Eichmann had
changed his name to Ricardo Klement, though his sons apparently
still used their family name at times. It also became known that Eich-
mann for a while had run a laundry business, which went bankrupt,
but this information contributed little to locating him. Mossad agents
followed Nicholas’s trail, which led to a house on Garibaldi Street in
the San Fernando section of Buenos Aires. The house was kept under
constant surveillance and photographed from every angle in order to
learn Eichmann’s habits. On 21 March 1960, the final proof was ob-
tained. That evening Ricardo Klement got off the bus and walked
slowly toward his home, holding a bunch of flowers. He handed the
bouquet to the woman who greeted him at the door. Their children
were dressed for a special occasion: March 21 was the date of the
Eichmanns’ silver wedding anniversary.
The Mossad team in Tel Aviv prepared a plan for taking Eichmann
and for flying him out of Argentina with forged documents. Every de-
tail was worked out and every contingency planned for with the team
in Argentina. In May 1960, Argentina was celebrating its 150th year
of independence. Isser Hareldecided to send a larger number of
Mossad employees to the country, as if visiting for the anniversary
celebration. Altogether, there were more than 30 members in the
team, each handpicked by Harel for his or her proven qualities, de-
veloped over years of undercover intelligence work. Nothing was left
to chance.
In order to ensure that there would not be any problems with doc-
uments, airline connections, visas, health certificates, or character
references for the unit’s members, a small-scale travel agency was setEICHMANN’S CAPTURE•8306-102 (02) A-G.qxd 3/24/06 7:23 AM Page 83