Hunting Eichmann by Neal Bascomb

Author:Neal Bascomb [Bascomb, Neal]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

In New York, Yosef Klein could not fathom why El Al headquarters wanted him to be in Argentina—or why it had to be immediately. The young station manager already had all he could handle running the airline's activities in New York. What did they want with him in South America, where he had no experience? But that was what the telex message detailed in its shorthand: "Go to Buenos Aires. Meet up with Yehuda Shimoni. Arrive by May 3." There had to be some mistake. He telexed back: "There is probably some error. What do I have to do with Argentina?"

He received a reply that there was no error, and it had been signed by the El Al director himself. After some more back-and-forth with headquarters, Klein learned the route that Shimoni was taking to Argentina and booked himself onto the same Swissair flight from Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires. That way, he might be able to find out more before he arrived in Argentina. He expected that they were going to put together some kind of charter flight. The thirty-year-old bachelor planned to have some fun on the trip and to spend several days vacationing in the newly built Brasilia, about to be inaugurated as Brazil's capital, where the government had commissioned astonishing modern architecture. Before the Nazis had invaded his native Poland, Klein had wanted to be an architect.

As Klein was packing his bags, Luba Volk, a onetime El Al corporate secretary who had retired and moved to Buenos Aires with her husband and three-year-old son in 1958, also received a telex from El Al headquarters: "You are hereby appointed El Al representative in Buenos Aires for the purpose of all activities required vis-à-vis the government agencies, national airline, and travel agents, with regard to the Britannia flight carrying the Israeli official delegation for the 150th anniversary of Argentine independence. We are sending two representatives, Yehuda Shimoni and Yosef Klein, to assist you in everything connected to the operational side of the flight."

The thirty-five-year-old was not surprised by the first part of the message. Over the past two years, her former bosses had tried several times to win her back; they valued her efficiency and graciousness. To keep her at least partly within the El Al fold, they had hired her on a freelance basis to investigate opening a route to Buenos Aires to serve the large Jewish community there. She thought it very strange that two senior El Al officials were being sent to be her assistants in managing a single flight—regardless of its diplomatic status. But the message was clear. She was told to meet them at the airport on May 2. Loyal to the airline, she did not question the request.

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