The Mossad's Operation Finale Coin

This number, with the word "YEARS" below it, marks the 60th anniversary of Adolf Eichmann's capture in 1960. It establishes the coin as a commemorative piece, bridging the historical event with the present day of its minting in 2020.

This map pinpoints the location of Eichmann's capture, with "Buenos Aires" explicitly marked. It grounds the operation in its real-world geographic context, highlighting the global reach of the Mossad in its hunt for Nazi fugitives.

This building represents the unassuming house on Garibaldi Street in San Fernando, a suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This was the final hiding place of Adolf Eichmann, who lived there under the alias Ricardo Klement. The house itself was the focal point of the Mossad's intense surveillance operation, as agents worked meticulously to confirm the identity of the man living within. It was on the street outside this very house that the Mossad team physically captured Eichmann on May 11, 1960, ending his 15 years as a fugitive. The depiction of this simple, suburban home symbolizes the quiet, banal evil that the Mossad had to penetrate, and it marks the precise location where justice finally caught up with history.

This depicts the Bristol Britannia aircraft of El Al, Israel's national airline, which was used to secretly fly Eichmann out of Argentina to stand trial in Israel. The flight itself was a masterpiece of covert logistics and represents the final, successful step of the extraction.

The binoculars are a direct references to the tools of espionage used by the Mossad agents. They symbolize the meticulous, patient surveillance required to positively identify Eichmann, who was living under the alias Ricardo Klement.

The blue Star of David is the central symbol of the Israeli flag and the modern State of Israel. Its placement here, connected by an arc to Argentina, signifies the State of Israel acting on behalf of the Jewish people to bring one of the Holocaust's chief architects to justice.

* **Original language:** הרקדן הוא אדום

* **Transliteration:** *Ha'rakdan hu adom*

* **Translation:** "The dancer is red"

* **Context:** According to former Mossad agent Avner Avraham, this was a specific code phrase used after the capture to signal a crucial breakthrough. It meant that Eichmann had confessed and signed a document agreeing to be tried in Israel. The code was a clever play on his name: "The dancer" (*Ha'rakdan*) alluded to his alias, **Ricardo** Klement, while "red" (*adom*) alluded to his real first name, **Adolf**. Its inclusion is a deeply significant detail, revealing the moment the legal path to his trial in Jerusalem was secured.

The official emblem, featuring a menorah flanked by olive branches, is positioned directly above the six memorial pillars. This placement is deliberate and profound, signifying that the operation was a sovereign act of the State of Israel, carried out in its role as the guardian of the memory of the Six Million.

This English text clearly states the theme of the coin for an international audience.

This bilingual inscription names the operation. "Finale" was chosen to signify that this mission was the final act in bringing a chief perpetrator of the Holocaust to justice.

In Jewish folklore, a *dybbuk* is a restless, malicious spirit. The Mossad code-named the initial surveillance phase of the mission "Dybbuk." This name powerfully evokes the sense that Eichmann was a ghost from a haunted past who needed to be confronted and exorcised.

* Original language: "שישים שנה ללכידת אדולף אייכמן"

* Transliteration: *Shishim shana le'lkhidat Adolf Eichmann*

* Translation: "Sixty years to the capture of Adolf Eichmann"

The flag of Israel is shown unfurled, a symbol of national pride and sovereignty. It is the banner under which justice was pursued and delivered for the victims of the Holocaust.

This is the "Judenstern," the yellow badge that Jews were forced to wear as a mark of shame and segregation. On this coin, its meaning is inverted. It is a stark reminder of *why* the operation was necessary, representing the millions of victims—memorialized by the six pillars on the obverse—in whose name justice was sought.

The barbed wire immediately evokes the imagery of the concentration and extermination camps. It represents the imprisonment, dehumanization, and murder that defined the Holocaust, which Eichmann meticulously organized. The wire appears torn, symbolizing that the capture of Eichmann was a piercing of that dark legacy.

This stylized emblem shows a pair of gloves—a symbolic reference to the covert nature of the Mossad operation.

The crosshairs represent the successful targeting of Eichmann after a 15-year manhunt. At the very center of the sight are the double lightning-bolt sigil of the SS (Schutzstaffel), the Nazi paramilitary organization that carried out the Holocaust. This detail signifies that the Mossad was targeting the monstrous ideology and organization he embodied.

The English name for the operation is given prominence, reinforcing the coin's central theme.

* Original language: "מבצע פינאלה"

* Transliteration: *Mivtza Finale*

* Translation: "Operation Finale"

* Original language: "חטיפת הפושע הנאצי אדולף אייכמן על-ידי 'המוסד' למודיעין ותפקידים מיוחדים במאי 1960"

* Transliteration: *Khatifat ha'poshe'a ha'natzi Adolf Eichmann al-yedei 'ha'Mossad' le'modi'in u'le'tafkidim meyuhadim be'Mai 1960*

* Translation: "The capture of the Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann by 'The Mossad' for Intelligence and Special Operations in May 1960"

* Context: This is a direct, factual description of the event.

* **Original language:** "באין תחבולות יפול עם..."

* **Transliteration:** *B'ein tachbulot yipol am...*

* **Translation:** "Without stratagems, a people falls..."

* **Context:** This phrase, from Proverbs 11:14, is the official motto of the Mossad. The Hebrew word *tachbulot* refers to cunning, artifice, and skillful strategy.

This text provides a clear and concise summary of the event for a global audience, crediting the Mossad and dating the event to May 1960.