The Good Assassin
How a Mossad Agent and a Band of Survivors Hunted Down the Butcher of Latvia
by Stephan Talty
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Pub Date Apr 21 2020 | Archive Date May 21 2020
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Mariner Books
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Description
The untold story of an Israeli spy’s epic journey to bring the notorious Butcher of Latvia to justice—a case that altered the fates of all ex-Nazis.
Before World War II, Herbert Cukurs was a famous figure in his small Latvian city, the “Charles Lindbergh of his country.” But by 1945, he was the Butcher of Latvia, a man who murdered some thirty thousand Latvian Jews. Somehow, he dodged the Nuremberg trials, fleeing to South America after war’s end.
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.
The Good Assassin uncovers this little-known chapter of Holocaust history and the pulse-pounding undercover operation that brought Cukurs to justice.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781328613080 |
| PRICE | $28.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 320 |
Featured Reviews
Greville W, Reviewer
This was an unexpected surprise and a good one too. I have read much about the Holocaust but noting previously about Riga and Latvia and I was intrigued to read about the "Butcher Of Latvia" and how the Mossad finally tracked him down and assassinated him.
Herbert Cukurs is brought to life brilliantly by the author who has conducted deep research into his subject.
An enigmatic character who was an accomplished pilot alongside his murderous brutality, he was seemingly ignored by the allies at the end of the war before being tracked down by the Mossad who befriended him and gained his confidence before administering justice.
A well written and fascinating book.
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