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Author
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Topic: Operation Finale 2018 review
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Will Kutler
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1506
From: Tucson, AZ, USA
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 12-15-2018 08:17 PM
Another historically inaccurate film that continues to perpetuate “yarns” with generous new liberties credited to the film-makers.
Sylvia Hermann is now in her mid-70’s and has lived incognito in the U.S.A. since 1959. She has never granted an interview due to the extreme disrespect both she and her father, Lothar, have endured to this day. Sylvia now speaks thru her niece, Liliana Hermann, who, since ~ 2002, has worked diligently to uncover and document the truth about Lothar and Sylvia’s involvement with Eichmann. Furthermore, Liliana maintains a Facebook page dedicated to both her Great Uncle and Aunt.
Lothar Hermann was born in 1901 in Quirnbach, Germany to a large, prosperous Jewish family of livestock dealers. Isser Harrel concocted this story about Lothar being “half-Jewish”. Lothar officially denounced Harrel’s “label”, further equating it with “Nazi-speak”. He was incarcerated in Dachau Concentration Camp from 14 Sept 1935 – 7 May 1936 as prisoner #9188 for subversive activities. Lothar was able to secure his release from Dachau by surrendering his financial and real assets and possibly thru the intervention of American relatives. Lothar’s blindness was a direct result of the beatings and torture he received in Dachau.
Two of his siblings managed to emigrate to the United States, and another brother, Hugo, pre-dated Lothar to South America. Hugo was Liliana’s Grandfather. Lothar’s parents and remaining siblings were murdered in the Shoah.
Following his release from Dachau, Lothar emigrated to the Netherlands where he met and married his non-Jewish Lithuanian Wife, Marta Waldman. Together, they emigrated to South America circa 1938. They initially settled in Rosario, Argentina where their only child, Sylvia, was born in 1941. They then re-located to Olivos, a suburb of Buenos Aires, circa 1943. Lothar was a practicing attorney specializing in pension claims. After the war, he represented Hitler’s victims with reparation claims. Lothar was effectively able to blend into both the Jewish and German communities: he kept his Jewish heritage private and his surname provides no indication. Sylvia was not even aware of the family history.
Please keep in mind that Argentina’s Dictator, Juan Peron, was a true oxymoron. He accepted both Jewish refugees and later, provided a safe haven for major Nazi War Criminals such as Eichmann, Mengele, Stangl, Barbie and many others. These two groups lived openly within the same neighborhoods (Olivos). They interacted with each other in business, but remained socially divided.
The Eichmann’s moved to Chacabuco 4261, Olivos in July 1953 after Adolf lost his job with CAPRI. Nazi colleagues helped secure the residence and also helped him with employment/business opportunities. Eichmann lived under the alias “Klement” while his sons’ retained their surname. The sons’ especially the eldest, Klaus, had big mouths and openly bragged about their father.
12-year-old Sylvia knew all of the Eichmann boys circa 1954: they attended the same school, had mutual friends and attended the same social events. Sylvia formally met Klaus at the York Cinema, which still exists as a historic multi-purpose venue. AT NO TIME did Sylvia date Klaus Eichmann…this is yet another “yarn” invented by Isser Harrel which continues to be a MAJOR affront to Sylvia. Sylvia had responsible parents, who were interested in who she was socializing with. Sylvia discussed Klaus with them. Lothar, being a Holocaust survivor and an attorney representing Nazi Victims was able to connect the dots. According to Sylvia, Lothar showed her a photo of Eichmann, probably from a newspaper or magazine. Sylvia and a group of girlfriends then simply knocked on the Eichmann’s door to enquire about invitations to an upcoming social event. Eichmann answered the door, and Sylvia was able to identify him, keeping her composure. From 1954-1956, Lothar unsuccessfully petitioned the Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas (DAIA) and the Jewish Community to take action and was routinely ignored. The Hermann family became spooked and possibly threatened resulting in their relocation to Coronel Suarez circa 1955. Sylvia was sent to America circa 1959 for her own safety and has lived there ever since.
On 24 November 1956, German-Jewish Prosecutor Fritz Bauer issued an international arrest warrant against Eichmann. Lothar probably read about this in the Argentinisches Tageblatt.
Hermann connects with Bauer circa Sept 1957: they DID NOT KNOW each other in Dachau. Bauer immediately connects with Israeli colleagues.
November 1957: Isser Harrel dispatches Shaul Darom to meet with Fritz Bauer to discuss Lothar Hermann
January 1958: Isser Harrel dispatches Emanuel Talmor to investigate 4261 Chacabuco Street, Olivios based on information provided by Lothar Hermann. Investigation bungled
March 1958: Isser Harrel dispatches Ephriam Hofstaedter to interview Lothar Hermann. Investigation bungled
20 March 1959: Eichmann begins working at Mercedes-Benz
December 1959: Fritz Bauer travels to Jerusalem for meeting with Attorney General Haim Cohen, Isser Harrel and Zvi Aharoni (Shin-Bet Chief Interroragator). Bauer applies pressure on Harrel to take action based on Lothar Hermann’s information. Bauer provides additional source, a former S.S. officer, who confirms Hermann’s information.
1960: Eichmann family moves into new home on Garabaldi St.
1 March 1960: Zvi Aharoni is dispatched to Argentina to locate and stake out Eichmann.
~7 March 1960: Zvi Aharoni tracks the Eichmann family to the new home on Garabaldi St. Operation Finale begins.
“When we finally caught Eichmann in 1960, the chorus of famous and less famous Nazi-hunters who claimed the credit for having found him became louder and louder. The sad truth is that Eichmann was discovered by a blind man and that Mossad needed more than two years to believe the blind man’s story. Harel’s attitude was simple: Hermann claims to have located Eichmann. Very well, let him prove it!” Zvi Aharoni
In the aftermath of Operation Finale, Lothar attempted to collect the reward posted by Tuvia Friedman. He also sent a letter to Israeli Minister of Justice, Pinchas Rosen threatening to go public with the truth behind Operation Eichmann. In response, on March 21, 1961 a team of Mossad agents, German agents and Argentinian police raided Lothar’s home and arrested him on suspicion of being Mengele. He was incarcerated and beaten for 2 weeks and was finally released after a fingerprint analysis dis-proved the connection. Lothar became a recluse. Marta had since passed away and Lothar eventually re-married. The $10K bounty was eventually paid by the Israeli government, which Loather used to pay his medical expenses: he had terminal cancer.
Liliana Hermann became aware of her family history when her brother went to the German Embassy in Buenos Aires to apply for citizenship. He was accidently given a classified file about his Great Uncle Lothar, which was abruptly taken out of his hands. He relayed this information to his sister, who then went on a major quest to uncover the family history. Thru her efforts, Lothar’s long-forgotten and desecrated grave has been restored to a protected monument, and both Israel and Argentina have officially recognized their contribution to bringing the world’s most notorious mass-murderer to justice.
Furthermore, all of the surviving Mossad agents directly involved with the abduction have condemned Peter Malkin's book, on which this film was based. According to them, Malkin spoke Hebrew and Polish. Eichmann spoke German and Spanish. Hence these extensive conversations could never have taken place. Also, Malkin was not on the departure flight...this was another "yarn" concocted by the film-makers.
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