Art and designצבי מלחין

Peter Malkin

Peter Zvi Malkin was an Israeli Mossad agent and painter, known for his part in the 1960 capture of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.

1927 to 2005Capturing Adolf EichmannMossad Chief of OperationsPaintingThe book Eichmann in My Hands

Born: 27 May 1927, Żółkiewka-Osada
Died: 1 March 2005, New York City
Occupation: artist, spy, painter

Peter Malkin was born in 1927 in Żółkiewka-Osada

Malkin was born in 1927 in Żółkiewka-Osada, Poland, to an observant Jewish family. The family fled antisemitism and moved to Palestine. His sister Fruma, her 3 children and 150 other relatives were murdered in the Holocaust.

At 12 he joined the Haganah as an explosives expert. He later served in the IDF in the same field.

He served 27 years in Israeli intelligence, first as an agent and later as Mossad Chief of Operations. He helped expose the Soviet spy Israel Bar and led an operation against Nazi scientists aiding Egypt's weapons program. On May 11, 1960, he physically seized Adolf Eichmann in Argentina as part of a team under Isser Harel.

After the Munich attack in 1972, he took part in Mossad operations against those it targeted, including a bomb planted at the home of Mahmoud Hamshari in France. In the mid 1980s he led a team of former agents seeking Josef Mengele, but called off the operation.

He retired in 1976 and turned to painting, which had been his cover. He wrote books, including Eichmann in My Hands, and advised on anti-terrorism. He spent his last years in New York and died in 2005.