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Chapters (61)
  1. Prologue
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Chapter Four
  6. Chapter Five
  7. Chapter Six
  8. Chapter Seven
  9. Chapter Eight
  10. Chapter Nine
  11. Chapter Ten
  12. Chapter Eleven
  13. Chapter Twelve
  14. Chapter Thirteen
  15. Chapter Fourteen
  16. Chapter Fifteen
  17. Chapter Sixteen
  18. Chapter Seventeen
  19. Chapter Eighteen
  20. Chapter Nineteen
  21. Chapter Twenty
  22. Chapter Twenty-One
  23. Chapter Twenty-Two
  24. Chapter Twenty-Three
  25. Chapter Twenty-Four
  26. Chapter Twenty-Five
  27. Chapter Twenty-Six
  28. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  29. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  31. Chapter Thirty
  32. Chapter Thirty-One
  33. Chapter Thirty-Two
  34. Chapter Thirty-Three
  35. Chapter Thirty-Four
  36. Chapter Thirty-Five
  37. Chapter Thirty-Six
  38. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  39. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  40. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  41. Chapter Forty
  42. Chapter Forty-One
  43. Chapter Forty-Two
  44. Chapter Forty-Three
  45. Chapter Forty-Four
  46. Chapter Forty-Five
  47. Chapter Forty-Six
  48. Chapter Forty-Seven
  49. Chapter Forty-Eight
  50. Chapter Forty-Nine
  51. Chapter Fifty
  52. Chapter Fifty-One
  53. Chapter Fifty-Two
  54. Chapter Fifty-Three
  55. Chapter Fifty-Four
  56. Chapter Fifty-Five
  57. Chapter Fifty-Six
  58. Epilogue
  59. Author’s Note
  60. Acknowledgements
  61. About the Author

Eight days later, on 11 May 1960, Adolf Eichmann was seized by three Mossad agents, less than a mile from his home, as he made his way back from work. They took him to a safe house in Buenos Aires, where he was held for nine days while the Israeli agents double-checked his identity and began an initial interrogation. Bormann leaned heavily on his government contacts to sanction a massive manhunt of the city and use the full force of the military regime to try to locate him..

On 20 May, Mossad pulled off a sensational escape plan that involved smuggling Eichmann onto a scheduled El Al passenger plane heading for Dakar in Senegal. From there, he was transferred onto a direct flight to Tel Aviv. Eichmann was one of the world’s most wanted war criminals, and his kidnapping in Argentina and arrival in Israel created one of the biggest and most sensational news events of the year.

Three days later Hitler and Bormann sat in front of the small television set in the living room at El Blondi watching the grainy black-and-white footage of the live news conference where Eichmann was put on show to the media. They watched in horror as Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion addressed the worldwide audience.

“Eichmann is a Nazi war criminal who was in charge of the final solution, who will now stand trial in Israel for war crimes.”

Ben-Gurion went on to make a solemn promise that he wouldn’t rest until Mossad had located all the high-ranking Nazis who had escaped justice and were believed to be hiding in South America.

Hitler slumped in his chair and closed his eyes, leaving Bormann still glued to the live transmission.

“Martin, I suddenly feel old. My judgement is betraying me and I regret not listening to your advice. I hope my mistake doesn’t prove to be fatal.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

16 January 2012

Buenos Aires

Los Angeles local time was four hours behind Buenos Aires, so Vargas waited until just before midnight before placing his call to Lieutenant Troy Hembury of the Los Angeles Police Department. He figured Troy should be home and off duty, so they would have plenty of time to talk. Despite living thousands of miles apart, the two men had started an unlikely friendship four years earlier when they’d attended a five-day Law Enforcement Conference at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.