The Plumbat Affair
Elaine Davenport, Paul Eddy and Peter Gillman
Additional research by Leni Gillman
1978
Contents
List of Plates
Author’s Note
Cast of Characters
11 Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen
13 Loose Ends
17 Confession
20 Consequences
Index
List of Plates
Between pages 112 and 113
PLATE ONE
The Scheersberg A
PLATES TWO AND THREE:
Dan Aerbel in his role as a salesman
Dan Aerbel after his arrest in 1973
Zwi Zamir
Herbert Schulzen
Francesco Sertorio
Asmara Chemie’s premises near Wiesbaden
PLATE FOUR:
Ali Hassan Salameh
Ahmed Bouchiki
Sylvia Raphael
Steinar Ravlo
AUTHORS’ NOTE
The Plumbat Affair is based primarily on inquiries we made in seventeen countries and some 200 interviews. We conducted most of the interviews ourselves but we owe a considerable debt to a number of other journalists who either gave us the product of their own interviews or questioned witnesses on our behalf: in Paris, Antony Terry, European Editor of The Sunday Times; in Hamburg, Jay Tuck; in Mainz, Gunter Kitzinger; in Milan, Dalbert Hallenstein; in Oslo, Arvid Bryne; and in Copenhagen, Ole Schierbeck. We also owe thanks to Tony Geraghty of The Sunday Times whose original investigation of the disappearance of the uranium provided valuable guidance.
We benefited, too, from the work of authors who have written about related topics. A full bibliography appears on pages 183-84.
Finally, we have some personal debts to pay. Georgetta Moliterno, Laurie Zimmerman and Tammy Pittman, all in New York, and June Pratt in London did dozens of jobs for us patiently and well. Shirley Poluck typed the manuscript with remarkable energy and Gordon Phillips compiled the index. Robert Ducas, our agent and friend, provided, as always, magnificent encouragement. And, most of all, we have to thank Leni Gillman whose research and administration made this book possible.
Elaine Davenport
Paul Eddy
Peter Gillman
February 1978
Cast of Characters
The reader is invited to use this list of main characters both as a preview of what is to come and, later, as a reference for a name forgotten.
MAGNHILD AANESTAD Norwegian detective with slender wrists and a liking for simple summer dresses
DAN AERBEL Mossad agent who gave away every secret he knew, and…
DEBRA AERBEL his Israeli-born wife
FELIX AMIOT built the Israeli gunboats in Cherbourg
MEIR AMIT replaced Isser Harel as director of Mossad
ASMARA CHEMIE of Wiesbaden bought 200 tons of uranium oxide
ROLF BAHER Mossad agent caught up in murder
WILHELM BARCON Asmara Chemie salesman who broke down the resistance of front-office secretaries
PETER BARROW temporary skipper of the Scheersberg A with a predilection for dark blue shirts and trousers
KEMAL BENAMENE perhaps a courier for Black September, he led Mossad to Lillehammer
DAVID BEN-GURION Israel’s first Prime Minister who ordered Mossad to employ restraint
JUERGEN-ADOLF BINDER a senior partner of August Bolten, he looked uneasily on the sale of the Scheersberg A
BISCAYNE TRADERS SHIPPING CORPORATION gave the Scheersberg A a Liberian flag and a new and mysterious crew
BKA the West German equivalent of the FBI, conducted an energetic investigation
BLACK SEPTEMBER planned the Munich massacre and caused Mossad to seek revenge
BND West Germany’s CIA, helped plant an Israeli agent in Cairo
AUGUST BOLTEN a Hamburg shipping company which sold the Scheersberg A to the elusive Burham Yarisal
PIERRE BOMMELLE Euratom’s bloodhound who took his Geiger counter to West Germany in search of the uranium
AHMED BOUCHIKI met a stranger in Lillehammer and marked himself for death, and…
TORILL BOUCHIKI his Norwegian wife
MILA BRENNER set up Starboat in Panama to get the gunboats out of Cherbourg
GUIDO BRUNNER become Energy Commissioner of the EEC and tried to explain the Plumbat cover-up
CHIMAGAR the Moroccan company originally selected to receive the uranium
CIEEMG gave French government approval for the Starboat deal
CMN Felix Amiot’s company which was Cherbourg’s life blood
FRANCISCO COUSILLAS replaced Peter Barrow and wanted to know where the Sheersberg A had been
RAOUL COUSIN another member of Mossad’s ‘hit team’
MOSHE DAYAN Israel’s Minister of Defence, he argued for conversion of the nuclear option
DENIS DEWEZ sold Asmara Chemie its uranium and then, innocently, nearly wrecked the plan
MICHAEL DE WITT employed Aerbel as a salesman in Europe
DIMONA the site of Israel’s nuclear reactor, guarded mercilessly
MICHAEL DORF was arrested for the Lillehammer murder but later cleared
ALDO EGGERS-LURA was sorry when Aerbel gave up his job as a salesman of Danish furniture
E-GRUPPA the Norwegian police squad which investigated the Lillehammer murder
DAN ERT / ERTESCHIK / ERTZ / ERTL the different names Aerbel used
EURATOM Europe’s nuclear watchdog which had no bite and little bark
EUROPEAN COMMISSION the EEC’s executive which decided to cover up the Plumbat affair
EEC the European Economic Community, then made up of Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT was furious when it found out about the cover-up
COMMANDER EZRA obeyed orders and took the gunboats from Cherbourg to Haifa
JOB FASS made knick-knacks which Aerbel sold to Galeries Lafayette
GEORGES FRANJISTAS bought the Scheersberg A from Aerbel and renamed it after his daughter
CHARLES DE GAULLE the French President who said ‘non’ when Israel wanted more aeroplanes and uranium
REINHARD GEHLEN ran the West German BND
ABRAHAM GEHMER another Mossad agent, he pretended to be a schoolteacher from England
MARIANNE GLADNIKOFF short and slightly plump she found she had been recruited for a Mossad ‘hit team’
GUNNAR HAARSTAD head of Norway’s secret service he realized the enormous implications of the secret in the Lillehammer file
WILHELM HAFERKAMP was EEC Energy Commissioner when Mossad mounted Operation Plumbat
LUDWIG HANSEN was ordered to abandon his post as captain of the Scheersberg A
ISSER HAREL Mossad’s first director, he captured Adolf Eichmann but then went too far
HAROULA became the Scheersberg A’s new name when Georges Franjistas bought her
NORA HEFFNER another member of Mossad’s ‘hit team’
MARCEL HEYNEN worked for Ziegler & Co and drank whisky with Captain Barrow
TORBEN HVIID lived on the edge of the law and gave Aerbel free admission to ‘Love In’
JONATHAN INGLEBY Mossad agent and killer
ENRICO JACCHIA led Euratom’s investigation
ROLF JAHRMANN head of E-Gruppa, he did not understand the significance of Aerbel’s explosive confession
PETER KOERNER returned to the Scheersberg A and found that two vital pages from the logbook had been torn out
GERARD LAFOND unwittingly provided cover for another member of the Mossad ‘hit team’
GERD LANZ set up Biscayne Traders Shipping Corporation but refused to reveal the identity of his client
HERBERT LETTKO Asmara Chemie’s persistent salesman, he missed the point of a joke
PAUL LEVENTHAL heard intoxicating rumours on Capitol Hill and broke the Plumbat story
LEIF LIER heard an amazing confession from Marianne Gladnikoff
MORDECAI LIMON ordered the gunboats to sail from Cherbourg
WOLFGANG LOTZ spied for Israel in Cairo and joined in an explosive campaign to deter German scientists
KAJ LUND used his legal skills to set up ‘Love In’ and dissolve Biscayne Traders
RUDOLF MADSEN was taken aback when Aerbel sold souvenirs in Libya
GEORG MANNER led Mossad’s hit team to Lillehammer
GOLDA MEIR Israel’s Prime Minister, she ordered revenge for the Munich massacre
METALLURGIE HOBOKEN-OVERPELT stored the uranium near the red-brick village with an improbable legend
JEAN MIKOLAJCAK was titular head of SGM’s uranium division and stressed that the deal was confidential
UWE MOELLER helped Yarisal to buy the Scheersberg A and Aerbel to sell it
MOSSAD the Institute was the most battle-hardened secret service in the world
YUVAL NE’EMAN computerized Mossad’s files and designed Israel’s bomb
FELIX OBOUSSIER gave Asmara Chemie the approval it needed
LESLIE ORBAUM was the alias used by Abraham Gehmer
KNUD PEDERSEN provided the Cherbourg connection and died mysteriously
SHIMON PERES Israeli cabinet minister, he rented the smallest car he could find to drive to West Germany
GUSTAV PISTAUER told Aerbel to stop asking questions
GEORGES POMPIDOU m President of France, he was reckoned by Mossad to be no de Gaulle
PFLP Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine which struck at Israel through terrorism
SYLVIA RAPHAEL cruised on a yacht with Aerbel and joined the Lillehammer ‘hit team’
STEINAR RAVLO knew that Aerbel was going to confess
KLAUS REHWAGEN hired Ziegler & Co to get the uranium to Antwerp
PATRICIA ROXBURGH Sylvia Raphael’s alias
SAICA [Società Anonima Italiana Colori ed Affini], the Italian paint company which run into a little trouble
ALI HASSAN SALAMEH planned the Munich massacre and became Mossad’s prime target
HERBERT SCHARF named his new company after a town in Ethiopia
SCHEERSBERG A showed her age but kept her silent rendez-vous in the Mediterranean
OLE SCHIERBECK remembered a meeting in a Hamburg hotel and revealed the Cherbourg connection
HERBERT SCHULZEN was called ‘the Nazi pilot’ but his name went into Mossad’s files
FRANCESCO SERTORIO was not bothered that his paint company had no idea how to treat uranium
JEAN-LUC SEVENIER served with Aerbel in Mossad’s advance team
SGM received an order for uranium which it could easily fill
MARTIN SIEM impressed the French with his entry in the international edition of Who’s Who
STARBOAT said it wanted to use gunboats for oil exploration
ZWI STEINBERG Mossad agent with a double identity – ‘My God,’ said the policeman, ‘that’s Zipstein’
TAMARA Manner’s mistress and a killer
FIRST OFFICER TILNET nearly steered the Scheersberg A into trouble
GEOFFREY TOLLMAN was not sorry when his partnership with Aerbel ended
INGO TREPEL had a bright idea which got Schulzen started
JOSEF VERHULST got up early to make sure the uranium was loaded
VIKING had no substance but reduced Aerbel’s unwelcome air of mystery
HAKON WIKER Norwegian state prosecutor, he found himself in the hot seat
BURHAM YARISAL founded a company and bought a ship and disappeared when it suited him
ZWI ZAMIR replaced Amit as head of Mossad and changed the rules – with disastrous consequences
ZIEGLER & COMPANY made all the arrangements and paid the bill for the consequences of an unfortunate accident
VICTOR ZIPSTEIN Steinberg’s alias when he drove Admiral Limon’s car
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