The Nazi Hunters
8 x 60
- drama docs whereMunich meets The Boys From Brazil
- action-packed manhunts, assassinations and kidnaps
- the greatest detective stories ever told
- edgy, contemporary drama recon,all shot on HD
- secret agents, avenging heroes, boys own adventure stories
- a classic battle between good and evil
- a new take on the Nazis for a new generation of viewers
The Nazi Hunters
The wind whistles down a quiet residential street in a modest, working class suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
It’s getting dark. A fork of lightning illuminates a car parked at the end of the street, its bonnet raised. Two men are hunched over the engine, tinkering, while a third sits behind the steering wheel.
A bus draws up and a man in a heavy coat descends. The first drops of rain patter on the pavement as he walks past the broken down car.
Suddenly one of the men standing by the bonnet jumps out and knocks the man in the coat to the ground before bundling him into the back of the car.
With a screech of tires the kidnappers are gone. But these are no ordinary criminals. They are highly trained Mossad agents and this is the culmination of a three-year secret operation. They have just captured Adolf Eichmann, the chief architect of Hitler’s Final Solution.
Welcome to the world of the Nazi Hunters…
Action Packed Thrillers
“Despite four of us holding him down, Cukurs almost managed to pull the gun out of his pocket. But we beat him to it…One of us put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger twice.”- ‘Anton Kuenzle’, Mossad agent
Forget the crackly black and white archive. This is kick-ass, in-your-face drama doc with all the action and intensity of a Bourne movie and the sensibility and story-telling prowess of Munich.It’s a complete reinvention of a classic history TV genre – the Nazis.
Featuring eight spellbinding missions, The Nazi Hunters tells the story of how a select band of secret agents, avengers and streetwise detectives hunted down some of the most evil men in history.
Narrated in the first person by real-life Nazi hunters, each episode tells the action-packed story of one electrifying hunt. From the audacious Mossad operation to kidnap Adolf Eichmann on the streets of Buenos Aires to the dramatic take down of Klaus Barbie in Bolivia, every story has a plot that’s worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster.
These are some of the greatest detective stories you’ll ever hear. But in addition to classic cat and mouse intrigue and edge-of-your-seat story telling, there’s also plenty of action. We’re talking secret agents who strip down to their underwear to prevent their clothes getting splattered with blood just before they smack a Nazi war criminal over the head with a hammer and finish him off with a double tap to the head from a 9mm pistol.
With unique access to real life Nazi hunters, some of whom have never appeared on film before and are still on Interpol’s wanted list, we’re able to reveal fresh information, like the fact that Mossad had Mengele in their sights but held off seizing him in case it jeopardized the Eichmann operation.
Often violent and visceral, and always full of action and drama,The Nazi Hunters vividly brings to life the story of how the Nazis finally met their nemesis.
How It Works
“I grabbed him by the neck with such force I could see his eyes bulge. A little tighter and I would have choked him to death.”- Rafi Eitan,Mossad agent, talking about the Eichmann kidnap
The Nazi Hunters is a unique, highly stylized format that tells the story of some of the greatest manhunts in history.
Every episode tells the incident packed story of the hunt for one Nazi war criminal. Told through the “I was there” personal testimony of real surviving Nazi hunters, these hunt narratives play out chronologically from the beginning of the operation to the final dramatic moment of closure.
By telling these stories through the eyes of the hunters, we put the audience right at the heart of the action, bringing to life some of the most dramatic detective stories of the 20thCentury.
Whilst compelling testimony moves the story forward, the chase is visually realized through high-end drama re-enactment shot in a contemporary, edgy style with little or no dialogue. From secret agents learning how to kill with one karate blow and detectives trailing suspects in the shadows to armed kidnap attempts and full blown murder, these scenes will feel like they’re happening right here, right now – not in the dusty eons of history.
The story of the hunt is always the main thread in these films. But as the hunter discovers new information about his prey, so viewers also learn the back-story of the Nazi – what he did in the war, why he managed to escape in the post-war chaos and how he managed to stay hidden for so long. Along the way we reveal the existence of a shady organized escape system involving elements of the Catholic Church and Nazi sympathizers in Europe and beyond.
Revealing documentary scenes also feature alongside the drama reconstruction and first person interviews. For instance: we’ll film on the crowded streets of Buenos Aires where the spectacular kidnap of Eichmann actually took place; we’ll follow a team of Israeli special forces as they practice covert urban assault techniques; and we’ll see inside the Nazi safe houses where iconic Nazi villains led their secret lives.
Every case is fraught with enormous risk – not just that the Nazi might elude the hunters, but also that the hunters might become the hunted. In South America, surviving Nazis and their sympathizers ran their own counter-intelligence operations. Powerful, dark forces were arrayed to protect these fugitive war criminals and even some governments stood in their way. In these stories, nothing is certain until they finally get their hands on their man.
Every episode comes to a final, dramatic climax as the hunters close in on their prey. The tension ramps up as we nervously watch to see if they can pull off the capture they have been working towards for so long. In most cases, these stories culminate in capture and ultimately justice is done. But one story ends with the discovery that death has cheated the hunters. And another one climaxes with state sponsored murder.
A Unique Style
Shot on HD, photographed by feature film DPs and directed by some of North America and Britain’s top drama-doc directors, The Nazi Hunters will reach new visual heights.
Neil Rawles, (Manson, Banged Up Abroad, Waco) has already agreed to be lead director. He will direct the first episode.
The drama recon style is pacey, restless and edgy with little or no dialogue. Think hunter POVs, sinister establishing tracking shots that generate tension before the action even begins and shadowy, moody lighting. It’s all about building tension that eventually explodes into frenzied action.
Possible Stories
DEADLY ASSASSINS
THE TARGET
Latvian Herbert Cukurs earned the nickname the Hangman of Riga, committing atrocities with the fascist Arajs Commando unit during the war.He smashed babies’ heads, shot old people and tortured women. In 1941, he set fire to 300 Jews locked in a Riga synagogue, ordered the drowning of 1200 Jews in a lake at Kuldiga, and participated in the ‘liquidation’ of 10,600 people in a forest near Riga.
Shortly before the liberation of Riga in 1944, Cukurs escaped to Germany with the fleeing Nazis, before absconding to Brazil in 1946. He set up a small boat business near Rio, but when Holocaust survivors from Riga identified him, a group of Brazilian Jews stormed his dock and destroyed his business. For the next decade, the Jewish community pushed hard for his extradition. But Cukurs was protected, both by the Brazilian government and, after the Eichmann kidnapping, by the Secret Service.
But he had not been forgotten…
THE HUNT (summer 1964 – Feb 1965)
Former director of Mossad, Meir Amit,and two members of the assassination team he assembled are our key storytellers.
Their story begins in Israel in 1964, the year the PLO was founded to destroy Israel. Surrounded by hostile Arab states, the Israelis were so preoccupied with the immediate threats to their existence in the Middle East, that they had few resources for Nazi-hunting in the far reaches of the globe.
Yet there was a growing awareness that the 20-year statute of limitations meant that many Nazis would soon be able to emerge from hiding, immune from prosecution. The Israelis decided to send a message – that no Nazi fugitives would ever be safe, statute of limitation or not. They picked Herbert Cukurs, to be the bearer of this message.
Mossad appointed a top agent to the job. Yitzhak(his surname is still a secret) created a cover for himself and became Austrian businessman Anton Kuenzle. On 11th September 1964, he flew to Rio, where he built up his cover story, visiting the local tourist ministry and investigating possible businesses to invest in.
On 17th September he flew to Sao Paulo, where Cukurs had begun a new business, renting boats and running tourist flights. Kuenzle introduced himself as a businessman and Cukurs invited him onto his boat.
On board the yacht, Kuenzle played the investor and asked about local tourism. When talk veered towards the war, Cukurs revealed that he’d been accused of being a war criminal and demanded to know whether Kuenzle had served. Kuenzle replied that he’d fought on the Eastern Front and the Nazi seemed satisfied.
Over the next few weeks, Kuenzle visited Cukurs’ home several times and they talked about the possibility of investing together as partners. One prospect was a large inland farm, which they traveled to together. Here, Cukurs challenged Kuenzle to a shooting match – as if he were testing him to see whether he really had been a soldier. Kuenzle passed the test and began to win Cukurs’ trust.
It was time for the next stage of the operation. Kuenzle’s Mossad superiors decided that the assassination should take place outside Brazil to prevent a backlash against Brazilian Jews. On October 16th, Kuenzle invited Cukurs to accompany him on a business trip to Uruguay and the pair agreed to return a month later.
Kuenzle began to plan the hit in detail. He decided that on their next business trip, he would lure Cukurs to a house in a quiet area of Montevideo where an ‘elimination unit’ would be waiting. He assembled a team of five agents who took special karate training to enable them to overpower Cukurs with a single blow.
February 23rd 1965. Kuenzle and Cukurs flew into Montevideo. After driving around a number of rental properties in the city, Kuenzle casually mentioned a small house he’d rented as a temporary office that he wanted to show to Cukurs.
Meanwhile, the hit team arrived at the house where the assassination was to take place. Unfortunately, builders had begun work on the house next door. But it was too late to call it off. They sneaked inside, stripped down to their underwear to avoid getting blood on their clothes and hid.
Kuenzle pulled up in his car. He saw the lookout across the road waiting in a red VW Beetle and steeled himself. Did Cukurs really trust him? After all he still carried a gun with him wherever he went.
Kuenzle turned the key in the lock. Cukurs was right behind him and followed him into the house. As soon as they were inside, the door slammed shut. Cukurs reached for his gun and made a rush for the door but he was outnumbered. One of the waiting Mossad agents smashed his skull with a hammer, before another put two bullets in his head. They dragged the body into a trunk in the empty room, cleared up all traces of their presence, dressed and calmly left the house. The builders next door worked on, entirely unaware of what had just happened.
Ten days later, Uruguayan police knocked down the door and discovered Cukurs’ body with a note from “Those Who Will Never Forget.” Interpol launched a worldwide manhunt for Anton Kuenzle. But he was never found…
KEY INTERVIEWEES
Mossad Hit Team - We are in discussions with two surviving members of the hit team that killed Cukurs, both of whom would be willing to talk in principle but possibly only to appear in silhouette. We have a contact who is also trying to establish whether Yitzhak the man who was Kuenzle is still alive and able to be interviewed. We know he had terminal cancer, which is why he decided to tell his story (his book has just been published).
Meir Amit - Born in Palestine, Amit fought for the Haganah during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. After studying in the US, he returned to Israel where he joined the intelligence service, eventually becoming director of Mossad between 1963 and 1968. He has agreed in principle to talk about the operation he oversaw.
OPERATION EICHMANN
THE TARGET
Adolf Eichmann was the Chief Architect of Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’. As head of the Gestapo’s Department of Jewish Affairs, it was his job to keep the trains running to the death camps in the East. In 1944, Eichmann told a fellow officer, "I'll die happily with the certainty of having killed almost six million Jews".
For 5 years after the end of the war, Eichmann hid out in southern Germany, protected by Nazi sympathizers. He felled trees and raised chickens for a living. Finally, in 1950, the ‘Odessa’ network smuggled Eichmann out of Europe to Argentina, and gave him a new identity - Ricardo Klement. Two years later his wife and children followed him to South American safety.
During all this time, famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal had been looking for Eichmann. He came close in 1949 when he received a tip-off that Eichmann would visit his family in a mountain resort for New Year’s Eve but Eichmann was warned away.
Finally, when he read of an Eichmann spotting in Buenos Aires in a letter from a holocaust survivor, he decided he could take his hunt no further and sent his file to the Israeli Embassy in Vienna. Maybe they could take the hunt to Argentina.
THE HUNT (1957 – 1960)
In 1957 the Israelis also received a tip-off that Eichmann was alive and well in Argentina. Isser Harrel, head of Mossad, decided to send agents to Argentina to investigate.
For months, they trailed suspected Nazi sympathizers, watched key addresses and built up a network of informants and spotters. Gradually, they began to piece together details about Eichmann’stime in South America – how he’d eked out a living in a series of odd jobs, from factory foreman to rabbit farmer. He’d even run a laundry business for a while, but it went bankrupt. But where was he now?
In 1958 a Mossad agent interviewed a blind Jewish refugee who believed his daughter might have dated Eichmann’s son in Buenos Aires. The son’s name had been Eichmann and he’d been dumped after he’d spouted anti-Semitic rhetoric at school. But surprisingly, his father’s name wasn’t Eichmann. It was Klement.
It was a long shot and when agents first checked out the suspect’s address on Garibaldi Street, Buenos Aires, their first reaction was that surely Eichmann couldn’t be living somewhere as middle-brow as this. They still believed that former high-powered Nazis would be living a life of luxury, fuelled by stolen gold and diamonds.
However, they staked out Richard Klement’s home. After several days the watching agents still hadn’t seen him but several times, they’d seen a woman at a window. They were soon able to identify her as Vera Eichmann.
At about 2 o’clock in the afternoon on 19th March 1960, Mossad agent Zvi Aharoni saw a man collecting the washing in front of the house. He was of medium size and build, about fifty years old, with a high forehead and partially bald. Aharoni was convinced this was Eichmann. But he had to be certain.
They continued to watch and follow Klement. But they were only convinced he was Eichmann after two agents spotted him buying a large bouquet of flowers for his wife on 21st March 1960 – Eichmann’s wedding anniversary.