Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann Extended In Cleveland Through July 24 Before Traveling U.S.

"The museum has presented 27 special exhibitions on everything from biblical treasures to comic book superheroes over the last 10 years," says executive director Ellen Rudolph. "The secret history behind the daring, high stakes spy operation that made a key perpetrator of the Holocaust accountable for crimes against humanity has emerged as one of our most popular exhibitions to-date." The new, 4,000-square-foot multimedia exhibition created by the Maltz Museum in partnership with the Mossad — Israeli Secret Intelligence Service, and Beit Hatfutsot — The Museum of the Jewish People, was originally slated to end its Cleveland debut on June 12. It will now remain on view in Northeast Ohio through the Republican National Convention.

"Operation Finale" was the code name for the effort to capture Eichmann. Responsible for transporting millions to death camps during World War II, the high-ranking Nazi official was hiding in Argentina when he was apprehended by Mossad agents in 1960 and smuggled out of the country. Films, photographs and 60 recently declassified mission-related artifacts encourage visitors to explore the spy story's twists and turns. "This is the first time the Mossad has allowed archival materials from a clandestine operation to travel outside of Israel," says Rudolph. "The printed maps, hand-forged passports and handwritten case files underscore the complexity of this operation in a pre-digital era."

The exhibition's immersive, three-channel video installation and actual bulletproof booth from which a dispassionate Eichmann claimed innocence ask visitors to consider a legacy of one of the most high profile trials of the 20th century—the empowerment of survivors to tell their stories and challenge future generations to address crimes against humanity.   

"Ultimately," Rudolph says, "Operation Finale reminds us that, as Elie Wiesel declared in his 1986 Nobel Prize speech, 'Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must—at that moment—become the center of the universe.' Because still every day, everywhere across the globe, people are experiencing discrimination, exclusion, persecution and acts of violence based on their race, religion, gender, gender identity or politics."  

Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann will travel to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center and other venues across the country following its Cleveland run. For more information on Operation Finale or to inquire about borrowing the exhibition, call 216.593.0575 or visit maltzmuseum.org.

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwX69pVsB2g

SOURCE Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage

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