Sylvia Rafael

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Sylvia Rafael (born April 1, 1937 in Graaff-Reinet , South Africa ; † February 9, 2005 in Pretoria , South Africa) was an Israeli secret service agent .

Life

Sylvia Rafael's grave

She was born in South Africa in 1937 to a Jewish father and a Christian mother. She learned from her father that many of her relatives were murdered in the Holocaust . In 1963 she emigrated to Israel and initially lived in a kibbutz , where she worked in a canning factory. She later worked as a teacher.

After moving to Tel Aviv , she was recruited by the Mossad . During her training as a Mossad agent, Sylvia Rafael received Jaakov Meidad as a "fatherly friend" . She was sent to Paris as an agent , using the name of the real Canadian photojournalist Patricia Roxburgh . In addition, she was involved in the liquidation of the masterminds of the Olympic attack .

She was sentenced in 1974 in Norway to five and a half years imprisonment for her involvement in the liquidation of Ahmed Bouchiki in Lillehammer on July 21, 1973. Bouchiki had been mistaken for the Black September terrorist Ali Hassan Salameh . After 15 months in prison, she was released and expelled from Norway in May 1975.

She married her Norwegian defense attorney Annæus Schjødt , left the Israeli secret service and traveled to Norway. In Norway she was later accused of terrorism and therefore expelled again in 1977. In 1992 she moved with her husband to South Africa, where she died of leukemia in 2005.

reception

Moti Kfir and Ram Oren paid tribute in their book “Sylvia Rafael. Mossad agent “the life and work of Jewish women.

Sylvia Rafael is described in Israel as the "heroine of Lillehammer" because she kept her secret, so that later a Norwegian judge said that Norway would also like to have a Sylvia.

“ Sylvia is a well-known figure in Israel to this day. When she came home to Israel after two years in prison, she was recognized on the street: "You are the heroine of Lillehammer!" [...] That referred to the fact that she went to prison for her country, that she did nothing during interrogation , did not reveal anything about their commitment. She stayed firm until Israel sent a lawyer to expose her cover. That made her a heroine not only in Israel. In the court files I found the sentence of the judge: "I wish Norway also had a Sylvia." "

- Moti Kfir

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lillehammer-saken. In: Regjeringen.no. Retrieved March 6, 2010 (Norwegian).
  2. ↑ a b The Avenger at focus.de, accessed on January 4, 2015
  3. ↑ a b Sylvia Rafael. Mossad agent jailed in Norway for the botched attempt to assassinate a Palestinian terrorist leader. In: timesonline.co. March 5, 2005, archived from the original on June 4, 2011 ; accessed on January 4, 2015 . [Obituary] at timesonline.co, accessed on January 4, 2015
  4. ^ Jon Swain: Fresh-faced, I fell into the honey trap laid by Israel's Mata Hari. In: timesonline.co. February 21, 2010, archived from the original on June 4, 2011 ; accessed on January 4, 2015 . [Report] at timesonline.co, accessed on January 4, 2015
  5. ↑ All of Israel called for the wrath of God , interview with Moti Kfir, Frankfurter Rundschau, September 4, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Rafael, Sylvia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Israeli intelligence agent
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Graaff-Reinet , South Africa
DATE OF DEATH February 9, 2005
Place of death Pretoria , South Africa