Operation Finale is remarkably accurate to the true story of the capture of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann (Ben Kingsley) with only a few changes for dramatic reasons. Directed by Chris Weitz and written by Michael Orton, one of several source materials Operation Finale is based upon is Eichmann In My Hands, the memoir by Israeli agent Peter Malkin (played by Oscar Isaac).

Set in 1960’s Argentina, Operation Finale depicts how SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Jewish Holocaust, was located living in Buenos Aires as “Ricardo Klement”. The Israeli global intelligence service, Mossad, concoct a scheme to kidnap Eichmann and extradite him back to Israel to stand trial for war crimes. The film ends with Eichmann about to stand trial in Israel. However, while there was a lot that Operation Finale got right in terms of the true story, it also made several key changes to the true events too.

Operation Finale Made The Buenos Aires Exchange Much More Dramatic

The Real Eichmann Extraction Was Much Less Tense

One of the biggest alterations Operation Finale made to the true story was in the final escape from Buenos Aires. The movie made the extraction of Adolf Eichmann much tenser for the Mossad agents than the real events and how it was desribed in Peter Malkin’s book.

The moment was repositioned in Operation Finale to be much more like an action movie scene, and it was purely for dramatic reasons. in real life, Eichmann’s son Klaus and 300 members of the Nazi-friendly authorities did for Eichmann, but there was no nail-biting close call where they entered the Israeli’s safe house just as the Mossad agents barely escaped with a drugged Adolf.

Peter Malkin Wasn’t Present At The Airport

Getting The Real Adolf Eichmann Out Of Argentina Was Easy For Mossad

One of the most dramatic moments in Operation Finale is towards the ending when airport where Peter Malkin had to run a landing permit from the airplane to the control tower, allowing the Mossad agents to escape with Eichmann before the Argentine authorities stopped them. While this made for an intense viewing experience, it didn’t actually happen.

Contrary to one of his finest moments in Operation Finale, the real Peter Malkin never even went to the airport with Eichmann and the Mossad agents. In fact, getting Eichmann on the plane went much smoother in the true story. The airport guards not only believed that Eichmann was just a drunken officer sleeping off a binge but they laughed it off and allowed the Mossad agents to pᴀss through without issue. The real extradition was described by Rafi Eitan was “one of the easiest missions we did” but the true story’s details wouldn’t make for an exciting film.

There’s No Such Person As Hanna Elian

A Real-Life Member Of The Team Was Gender Swapped

In many ways, the most creative license used when director Chriz Weitz adapted the Operation Finale true story was turning one of the real-life Mossad agents into a woman. In the film, Mélanie Laurent (who can also be seen targeting Nazi’s in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds) plays Dr. Hanna Elian, the doctor who drugs Eichmann en route to the airport so they can make their escape.

However, there was no Dr. Hanna Elian present during the actual events Operation Finale depicts. The real-life team doctor was a man named Yonah Elian. Like many other changes, this alteration to the true story was for dramatic purposes to create a more dramatic, engaging narrative. The reason Yonah Elian became Hannah Elian was simple – to give Peter Malkin a love interest. In his memoir, Eichmann In My Hands, the real Malkin mentioned a female agent named Rosa who came to Argentina and posed as the wife of another agent, but Peter’s romance with Hanna was purely fictional.

The Real Adolf Eichmann Never Showed Regret

Operation Finale Humanized The SS Officer

There are many moments that Ben Kingsley’s Adolf Eichmann shows signs of remorse, guilt, or regret throughout Operation Finale. However, this humanization of the former SS officer was a peculiar shift from the true story, and some believe painted the architect of the Holocaust in far too positive a light.

The real Adolf Eichmann didn’t deny that he oversaw the deportation of millions of Jews to extermination camps, but he never admitted guilt and claimed he was simply following orders. At the end of his trial, the “Architect of the Holocaust” was sentenced to death in December 1961 for crimes against the Jewish people. Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel on May 31, 1962. As stated at the end of Operation Finale, he was cremated and his ashes were spread in the Mediterranean Sea so that he would have no final resting place.