Prompt 1: Setting
How does the setting of this book affect the characters and the central conflict?
Where and when do the book’s events occur? What unique features of this setting make the story interesting? How do these features affect the characters—their beliefs, values, needs, concerns and goals? What is the central conflict (or what are the main conflicts) of the story, and how do these conflicts relate to the story’s setting?
Throughout The Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb the location of the events transpire throughout many locations in Europe and South America. The novel begins on March 19, 1944, when Adolf Eichmann was at his pinnacle of leading the Nazi party, and ends when he was executed in Tel Aviv, Israel on June 1, 1962. Although the story starts and concludes at Eichmann’s high and low points of his life, the process and techniques that Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service, used to hunt down Eichmann were fascinating. Some of the various tactics included sending spies out to spend years undercover with his wife to recover photographs and traveling alone without official cover. The Nazi Hunters remained confident that they would capture Adolf Eichmann, but at times feared that the risk to capture him was greater than the reward. The nazi hunters beliefs of taking down Eichmann impacted their families lives because there was a tremendous risk of being killed. The special agents are concerned that they will not be able to find Eichmann because he could be in any location throughout the world. The main conflict of the story is that the Nazi Hunters did not know whether they would ever capture Adolf Eichmann and that the time they spent trying to capture him would all be a waste of time. At times their mindset was pessimistic, but in the end the Nazi Hunters gratification they received from capturing one of the top Nazi advisors was worth the immense amount of time spent trying to capture him.
Prompt 2: Character
Choose one main character (preferably the protagonist). How has this character developed and changed over the course of the book?
What choices has s/he made, and how do those choices reveal her/his motivations or personality? Do these choices make the character more or less likeable? Is the character ethical or unethical, mature or immature, admirable or detestable? Write a precise and accurate analysis of her/his development as a character.
Roughly two years after the second world war, Manus Diamant, one of the Nazi Hunters, was given the special task to launch a probe into tracking down Eichmann. The choice that Diamant made to follow the orders given by Simon Wiesenthal and take on the case to capture Eichmann reveals that he believed that justice should be served for the jewish people. As the story develops and finding Eichmann seems so close but yet so far, Diamant becomes more patient and is willing to spend more time undercover with Eichmann’s ex-wife and people in Argentina to find his location. Diamant understands that this task will not be easy, but will prevail as one of the most important captures of human history if successful. Also, Diamant continues to showcase positive qualities such as optimism and even encourages some of the other Nazi Hunters to continue on the investigation and not give up. Diamant is very ethical in the sense that he believes that justice should be served for the Jews, but is not honest in the sense that he would do anything, ethical or unethical, to track down Eichmann and capture a photograph of him. Many people today believe of Diamant as a hero for helping to track down one of the most powerful Nazi masterminds and admire his work ethic, determination, and grit that he showcased in his lifetime.
Prompt 3: Theme
What seems to be the central theme, message, or moral of this story?
What have you learned from the characters’ experiences? Do their choices seem wise and good or foolish and evil? Does the narrator or protagonist ever make a statement that seems to summarize the lesson of the book as a whole? Does the book confirm what you already believe or challenge you to think differently? (How and why?) Is it possible to tell what the author is trying to teach you? Or does the author raise philosophical questions that s/he does not answer?
The central theme of message of this story is, “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. Adolf Eichmann caused horrific tragedies for many jewish families across Europe, and the snatch team which included Rafi Eitan, Peter Malkin, Zvi Aharoni, and Moshe Tabor were determined for justice to be served for the jews throughout europe. The sacrifice that the Nazi Hunters made to risk their lives and capture Eichmann proved to be a commendable decision not only for the Jewish people but all people throughout South America and Europe because he would no longer be a threat to society. The team’s decision to take on this challenge was very wise in the sense that Adolf Eichmann deserved justice for the crimes he committed, and could have easily expanded his Nazi influence throughout South America. A quote that summarizes the book as a whole occurs when they had just captured Eichmann. The narrator says, “ After 15 years on the run Adolf Eichmann was now a prisoner of the jewish people” (Bascomb 134). Their mission was now completed and justice would be served for the Jewish people. Before reading this novel, I knew a lot of information about the Holocaust but did not realize that the Holocaust was a movement that included lots of other influential people besides Hitler. The author is conveying to the readers that hardwork and dedication will always pay off in the end.