EICHMANN IN MY HANDS

by Peter Z. & Harry Stein Malkin ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 1990

A masterful combination of gripping drama and compelling moral issues as Israeli spy Malkin and novelist/memoirist Stein (One of the Guys, Hoopla, etc.) team up to tell the story of Malkin's capture of top Nazi Adolph Eichmann. The book opens with a 1962 encounter with the accused behind the glass booth at the first globally televised trial. Eichmann, chief architect of the Holocaust, is the only one in the packed forum who recognizes Malkin--his captor. The narrative flashes back to Malkin's youth and induction into the Israeli secret service. We get to know Malkin the dedicated covert operative, but also Malkin the man who, unlike his famous captive, knows how to break rules and disobey orders. We follow the long trail of Eichmann's escape from Germany, eventually leading to an obscure working-class suburb of Buenos Aires. All the while we are given inside information on surveillance techniques, learn surprising facts about Nazi scientists working on Arab weaponry, and find out about Eichmann's study of Jewish lore. Even the happy-go-lucky Malkin is seized with a fear of failure as his biggest mission approaches. Malkin, the Mossad team member who actually tackles and gags Eichmann on the street, not only fights the urge to kill the monster then and there, but ends up having long, revealing (and illicit) talks with the Obersturm-fuhrer. Eichmann enrages his captors with his professed innocence, while his stereotypical sense of obedience and decorum has them in tears of laughter when the Nazi chief keeps apologizing for a string of bathroom noises. A whisper on his mother's deathbed is the first breach of security that Malkin allows; now, 25 years later, we are grateful to share this remarkable--and remarkably well-told-slice of history.

Pub Date: May 14, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Warner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1990

Categories: NONFICTION