To recognize any other veterans in other areas or any active duty personnel. Please stand or wave to be recognized. [applause] i would like to welcome all of you to this special evening with acclaimed author neal bascomb to discuss his work on the captors and trials of Adolf Eichmann. A webinar with students earlier today. The program has been very well received so far. Antacid program. Tonights program is a part of our exhibit that i hope many of you were able to see in the last hour or so that you are here. And is about the capture trial of Adolf Eichmann. It is currently on display. In those special exhibit hall. This is presented here in new orleans and a wonderful coproduction with several esteemed partners. Peopleeum of the jewish in tel aviv, israel. Museum of heritage in cleveland, ohio. If you have not been able to see the exhibit yet, it is open until 10 or 25. Open until january 25. Eichmann was the head of the Jewish Department and managed the transport of millions of people to nazi camps and vanishes after the war. Host more about how teams from the Israeli Mossad capture them and brought him back to israel where he stood trials for his crime. Hasis work, neal bascomb presented this true story as gripping we as it was a spy thriller or any spy novel that you might read. So many of our staff numbers have been raving about it. Students really enjoyed their webinar with you. We are really excited to have you. He is a New York Times bestselling author. He focuses on true stories of adventure or achievement. The story he tells about eichmann captures both, and i think it fits squarely with the museum mission. Presentr goal to lesserknown stories like this one from the war, and it is particularly meaningful to see the emotional connections that our visitors are making to the story. Im happy to introduce the writer who has brought the story to life. So many minimum and that the criminal not get away with the atrocities committed during the war. Without further ado, i like to bring to the stage author neal bascomb. [applause] neal good evening everybody. The members of the staff asked me if i get nervous speaking in front of audiences like this. The truth is, there is probably a small part of me that still get service. But after those 3000 middle schoolers, i think that i can handle this crew here tonight. Ive written a lot of different books about many vast different kinds of subjects. Ive written about a russian aboutship, the black sea, breaking a four minute mile. I written a book about the sabotage of the nazi bond program. About a david is goliath kind of story. People often ask me, how the heck do you choose the subject . I dont quite understand. Hewife rather ungenerous says that i pick them based on where i want to travel next. I dont think that is necessarily true. I look for stories about will people are doing as to what we think are impossible. Stories are ordinary people being put in extraordinary situations and coming through it. Ask myself two questions before i start a book. The first question is do i have something new to say about the story . This story about Adolf Eichmann and his capture. Story was largely missed. It was largely written by people involved in the operation. Argentina. S in everything went swimmingly, and nothing went wrong. It was a perfect operation from start to finish. That cannot not be further from the case. Various Mossad Agents and clicking archival information, i was hopefully able to tell the story in a fatal way to what actually happened. The second question asked is does this story have something to say . I think of all the books that i have written, i think that this has one of the most important things to say. Many about memory and the importance of justice. I came to the story and college. I came to visit story and college. I did not have much money. I walked dogs, a very glamorous job. I walked dogs for extra cash. One of my clients turned out to be a holocaust survivor. She was a lovely person, but she had a mutt that was terrible. She would bring me over for tea, and after we got to know each other, she told me that she was a survivor. She said she never really spoke about what happened to her during the war. She said she never felt able to tell her story, until Adolf Eichmann was captured, and told the story about the holocaust that came out at the trial afterward. For her, a kind of gave permission to tell the story. As i later became a fulltime thrillingis was a narrative and an incredible spy story that had a remarkable impact on history. That is why i told the story of hunting eichmann. Lets first talk about Adolf Eichmann. I will briefly give you a snapshot of who he was. The context is important. In 1932, 1933, 1944, he took on a position as the head of the Jewish Department. His role was essentially to help target jews in germany and helped make plans for the future, in order to emigrate and push them out of germany. 1938 comms, the idea of immigration is now forced deportation. He is put in charge. When germany annexes austria, he is sent to austria. A frienda note back to saying, they are finally in my hands. We have this idea of Adolf Eichmann, and i do not know if here ofe any fans in our writing about this trial. Eichmann did not necessarily have any bent, demonic bent to jews or otherwise. That could not be further to the case. He was committed to the job. By 1944, he became the master of the jews. He was the operational master of the execution of the holocaust. Invaded,a country was he would generally start from the outer regions and make his way toward the urban centers, moving the jews in the camp and sending them to extort ration camps. It,masterwork, as he called 724,000ary, there were jews living in hungary. Finished with his work, for 50,000 had been sent to camps. 00 had been sent to camps. That is who Adolf Eichmann. Was he said we need to use jews as bargaining chips. Adolfff Eichmann Eichmann continued his work. Yet to be ordered to stop. Stop. Had to be ordered to look, this sort of power. Conversely 20 individual you see later in the presentation. Eichmannwar was over, escaped and he ran. He went to northern germany and worked as a forest worker. His name was largely unknown by the allies. Trials, when his name was first presented, one of the judges wrote on the side of the piece of paper, who is Adolf Eichmann . Rankd a relatively low even though we had massive power over the jews. People did not know who he was outside of germany, largely. Somethingecame important a little later. He escapes northern germany and remains there. By 1950, he begins to make his way down through germany and austria, and into india and into italy. Many members of the Catholic Church are hiding out in monasteries along the way. He gets himself on a boat to argentina. This is the red craft task force that he used to escape europe. I found this in the Argentinian Court system, almost 50 years after he used it. You notice the name here. The alias that he took on. Boat to argentina, and people often ask me why . Haven fory was a skate beat nazis four escaped nazis. He wanted to use them to help bolster his estate. Who juanou an idea of perrone was he said that the trials were the worst atrocity of justice. That is to juan perrone was. Arrived in argentina and goes out to the countryside. He worked as a dam engineer. He was provided an id, a passport, a job, money. He was provided the whole life when he arrived in argentina. He eventually brought his wife and three sons argentina with him. He was living free. To the people who were involved in actually bringing him to justice. The first person that i would like to mention is one of the important ones. This individual here. Simon wiesenthal. We all have this idea of Simon Wiesenthal as important, famous, historic nazi hunter. Ingine Simon Wiesenthal 1945. He was a former architect, with no police experience. He stumbled out of a concentration camp, weighing less than hundred pounds. He was a really tall guy. Alla very keen memory of the guards names. He was determined to go after these worker minerals. One of the these war criminals. One of the chief people on that list was Adolf Eichmann. Things, he core determined that Adolf Eichmann was still alive and more accurately was not dead. Petitionedn family the family petition the government to declare that he had died. We have prevented that that was not the case. Enthalcond thing that wies did is that he collected documents. Adolf, despite only being a lt. Col. Believed in his heart that he would be sought after the war. He made it his mission to never be photographed. So that there was no evidence of what he looked like when he was on the run. He made the mistake of having an affair and taking a picture with one of the individuals that he was having an affair with. Simon wiesenthal found this woman and found the photograph of eichmann. It all comes to not. In 1948, 1950, Simon Wiesenthal and another were the only truly going after these war criminals, with both of them largely giving up by 1950. They collected their documents and put them away and their garages and give up. Eichmann was free, and no one was looking for him. 1957, eichmanns in argentina wasworking from the dam and dissolving as a human being. He was at the german club proclaiming that he would happily jump in his grave knowing that 5 million jews would meet him there. He works as a rabbit farmer. That is unsuccessful. He starts a laundromat and is a failure. Your, automobile plant, and his sons are there. Hermon, out that sylvia this young lydia on the left this young lady on the left, finds herself dating a man named Nicholas Eichmann. A name toann name is be sought after. The world does not know this name really. Nothing is thought of it. Sylvia is dating Nicholas Eichmann, and she invites him over dinner at her house with her father and mother. One was blinded when escaping germany before the world began. Nicholas is having dinner, and he does not know that sylvia is half jewish. Dinner, it that this is too bad that the germans did not finish off the jews during the war. Like father, like son. Sylvia, you can imagine how long that relationship lasted after that. Nothing was said at dinner. They quietly took that in, and their relationship was ended. Passes, and sylvia is reading the newspaper to her father as she did, the german newspaper. They come across this story about this west german prosecutor. Dr. Fritz bauer. Individual even thinking about pursuing world criminals. Insaid to gather momentum that direction, he wants to publish a list of the war criminals that he was to go after, and on that list is Adolf Eichmann. So there is reading this news report, and they come across the name Adolf Eichmann. There is hesitation. They began to have this conversation about whether or not Nicholas Eichmann is the son of Adolf Eichmann. Nicholas nevere invited her to his house. Saidr two, nicholas had this father was a high raking officer during the war. Three, just two. That is what they talked about. They have a suspicion. They began to suspect and decide, what are we going to do . They decide to write a letter to dr. Fritz bauer. I believe the letter is here in this marvelous exhibit here in the museum. In the letter, they say that they read the newspaper article, and we believe that Adolf Eichmann might be living here and when srs living here in buenos aires. What sylvia was thinking after that. Spies werehing like coming leaping out of the woodwork and would seize capture the next day. This letter goes all the way to west germany, and first bauer receives it in the question is what is he going to do with it. He cannot go to anyone within his government. Half of the west German Government was made of former nazi officials. Fritz bauer decides that he could try interpol or goat to americans with the information. When he goes to the americans, they sent back a letter saying that, we are not in the business of apprehending war criminals. Says, no one is going to help me. He writes a letter back to sylvia and her father. In that letter, he includes the photograph of Adolf Eichmann and details about him and what he sounds like, and a description by many people. This large, powerful presence. And he says to sylvia and her father, basically, go find him. Go see if you can determine with 100 accuracy that that is Adolf Eichmann. Go find one of the worst war criminals in history. You, this 18yearold young lady and your blind father. What is incredible, is that they actually do it. They are living outside of planos aries, and they take a train in, and eventually they determine where nicholas is living through friends. And she goes in a pretty little to this a door twobedroom small, onestory ranch shekel house and knocked on the door. To answers but ricardo clement. , Adolf Eichmann. He invites her in, and nicholas is not there. She cannot quite determine if you will see what he looks like by the times that they capture. They almost look like two different people. She cannot quite tell one way or the other if it was him. She asked him who he was. He said that he was the uncle of nicholas, and he was living there. That is where the conversation ends. Andolas eichmann comes in, you can imagine your exgirlfriend showing up to your house. That is bad enough. Even worse, you know that your father is a war criminal who is living under an alias. Nicholas eichmann, not being terribly bright, grab sylvia and precious pressures her out of the house. Back,s, i will be right father. You got that right . I can always talk the audiences painted you, if they get that. This is very likely Adolf Eichmann. Another letter finds its way all the way across the sea to dr. Bauer. Dr. Bauer determines that he has enough information to do something about this. The americans will not help me, and my own country will not help me. No International Organization will help me. Ill go to the one people who should execute or about his war criminals. I will go to the israelis. He does not actually fly there. He conveys this information through back channels. It reaches a very powerful individual within the newly formed israeli government. He was ahead of the Israeli Mossad and the shin bet, which is essentially being the head of cia and fbi simultaneously. His job was to protect the state of israel from its neighbors. His job was to not pursue work criminals, to find justice. He feels like, well i cannot sweep this under the rug like most of the world has swept under the holocaust. I had to do something, so i would do the least i can possibly do. I will send a police investigator. Determine ifto this information is accurate. For the individual in charge, he did not speak a lick of spanish. Sends the representative all the way to argentina, and he is there for a few weeks. He does not spend much time in surveillance. He goes and looks at the house. Isserds report back to harel. He says that there is no way liveAdolf Eichmann could in such a wretched house. And then, the investigation is over. His or her row isser harel is done, and he says lets move on. Theres always a point when you research a book, that you cannot find a fact. Was delivered as second source in 1959, just a few months after this. Samesource determined the information that sylvia and her father had determined. Under what name he was living under. Likeso had information when he arrived in argentina, and what jobs he was given. How much he made. Everything that you would need to know. It syncs perfectly with what sylvia had found. We now note that this came from the west German Security services, but the information prior to that when i was writing this, that was not available. Bauerless of that, fritz is now in a fury. He has had this information for about 18 months, where eichmann is living. He doesnt know if eichmann is going to stay there or if he is going to be tipped off. This time, he gets on a plane personally and gets in a room with isser harel and the attorney general of israel, and says, you must go after Adolf Eichmann. He is here. Go. He is so convincing, that isser harel is kind of a little bit ashamed into acting right now. He feels compelled to do something. It cannot deny now that this is Adolf Eichmann and that this is where he is living. Want to do . Ser he was to kill him. He wants to kill him. He was to arrange a car accident, assassinate him quickly and quietly and be done with him. Here, and many of you may recognize him, the head of the israeli government, has a very different idea. Bengurian sees an opportunity here to make an affine history. Why he wants to go after eichmann. He wants to capture him and bring him back to israel and put him on trial. He was to remind the israeli and remind the world what happened to the jewish people during the holocaust. This information that the world and the teachers are not teaching, that the world was a put away. This is what happened, and it must be exposed. A mission is put together to go after eichmann. After all of this happens, by a shin bet interrogator, not much investigative experience at one of the top mossad interrogators. He says in argentina, make sure that eichmann is still there, and the team will be spent. When he gets there, he does that he discovers that Adolf Eichmann is now gone. He is no longer living in the neighborhood and cannot find him. Not only do they need to capture them, detain him, and get him out of the country, they defined him again. This operation is happening i