The Good Assassin

How a Mossad Agent and a Band of Survivors Hunted Down the Butcher of Latvia

Stephan Talty

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781328618856
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Latin American & Caribbean History
• Index: History

Inspiration for the hit new podcast "Hunting the Butcher" 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 he was soon better known as the Butcher of Latvia, a man who murdered some thirty thousand Jews. By 1965, a statute of limitations on Nazi war crimesthreatened to expire, potentially absolving ex-Nazis like Cukurs of their crimes. Jacob Medad, the misfit Mossad agent who had previously kidnapped Adolf Eichmann, knew if Cukurs was not captured soon, he may never be brought to justice. In a thrilling undercover operation, Medad traveled to Cukurs' new home in Brazil in an elaborate disguise, befriended him, and earned his trust, while negotiations to extend Nazi innocence neared a boiling point.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Prologue: The Apartment on the Avenue de Versailles
• Part One: The Aktions
• The Club on Skolas Street
• Zelma
• First Night
• Gogol Street
• 19 Waldemars
• The Moscow Suburb
• November 30
• The Valley of the Dead
• Part Two: Those Who Will Never Forget
• A Latvian in Rio
• “The Epitome of Humanity”
• Anton Kuenzle
• The Merciless One
• The Late One
• First Contact
• The Campaign
• “Our Own Thomas Edison”
• The Plantation
• Photographs
• Paranoia
• The Sabras
• “Certain Categories of Murder”
• The Camera
• “To Live With a Few Murderers”
• The House on Colombia Street
• The Wait
• An Offer
• The Legislator
• The Asylum
• The Trial
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Photo Credits
• Index
• About the Author
• Connect with HMH