Shop - THE GOOD ASSASSIN : How A Mossad Agent And A Band of Survivors Hunted Down The Butcher of Latvia

By 1965, as a statute of limitations on all Nazi war crimes threatened to expire, Germany sought to welcome previous concentration camp commanders, pogrom leaders, and executioners, as citizens. The global pursuit of Nazi criminals escalated to beat the looming deadline, and Mossad, the Israeli national intelligence agency, joined the cause. Yaakov Meidad, the brilliant Mossad agent who had kidnapped Adolf Eichmann three years earlier, led the mission to assassinate Cukurs in a desperate bid to block the amnesty. In a thrilling undercover operation unrivaled by even the most ambitious spy novels, Meidad traveled to Brazil in an elaborate disguise, befriended Cukurs and earned his trust, while negotiations over the Nazi pardon neared a boiling point.
 
Soon after German forces pushed the Soviet Army out of Latvia in 1941, Cukurs, a renowned aviator, became second-in-command of the Arajs Commandos, volunteer paramilitaries who assisted the S.S. in carrying out mass killings. Eyewitnesses describe Cukurs murdering women and young children, and supervising the liquidation of the Riga Ghetto, which sent nearly 30,000 Jews to their deaths.
 
In 1946, he fled to Brazil and started a successful boat rental and sightseeing business. Despite lobbying by Latvian Holocaust survivors and Brazilian Jews, local police refused to take action against Cukurs, and by 1965 the statute of limitations for prosecuting Nazi war criminals was set to expire in West Germany.
 
In a plan approved by the Israeli prime minister, Mossad agent Jacob Medad, who’d helped to capture Adolf Eichmann, disguised himself as an Austrian businessman, befriended Cukurs, and brought him to Uruguay, where a team of assassins killed him.
 
According to Talty, international publicity over the case helped push German legislators to extend the statute of limitations (it was formally abolished in 1979). Talty efficiently mines archival records for vivid details and tracks the complexities of Medad’s undercover mission with flair. The result is a captivating and gruesome real-life spy thriller.
 
“The Good Assassin” provides historical context by delving into the history of Latvia during World War II, the atrocities committed by Cukurs and others, and the broader context of Nazi war crimes. This book also offers a unique perspective on the pursuit of justice for Holocaust crimes and serves as a testament to the resilience and determination of those who sought justice for the victims of the Holocaust. Therefore it explores the challenges faced by Holocaust survivors seeking justice for the crimes committed against their families and communities. It uncovers this little-known chapter of Holocaust history and the pulse-pounding undercover operation that brought Cukurs to justice.
 
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About the Author :
 
Stephan Talty is a critic and journalist who has contributed numerous pieces on race and American culture to publications such as the New York Times Magazine, Vibe, George, Chicago Review, the Irish Times, and Playboy. Originally from Buffalo, New York, he now lives in Brooklyn.