After Decades, Eli Cohen's Widow Receives His Personal Archive, Including Last Letter Before Execution

Wednesday, 21 May 2025 | Exactly 60 years after Israeli spy Eli Cohen was hanged in Syria’s Damascus, his widow Nadia was informed on Sunday that thousands of his personal documents and belongings had been brought to Israel in a complex operation. 

“They took my mother to a meeting with the prime minister and the Mossad chief and told her the news,” said Sophie Ben-Dor, 65, one of Cohen’s three children. “She still dreams of fulfilling what she’s fought for all her life—bringing Eli Cohen to burial in Israel.” 

Ben-Dor, who was around five years old when her father was executed, recalled slowly uncovering his story over the years. “To this day, I collect bits and pieces of information about my private father—who’s also a national figure in Israel,” she said. 

“There are a lot of myths and misinformation. Now we have another source of knowledge that was brought here. I’ll read it eagerly to learn more.” 

According to Ben-Dor, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad Director David Barnea revealed the materials to Nadia Cohen on Sunday. The archive includes original documents and personal items, such as Cohen’s handwritten will—penned just hours before his execution—which until now had only been available as a copy. 

“It was only when she left the meeting and was on her way back from Jerusalem that she told us about the materials that had been brought over in this complicated operation,” said Ben-Dor. “I’ll read them with reverence to understand what my father went through. I’ll absorb every detail I can.” 

She stressed Eli Cohen’s dual legacy: “There’s the personal side—Eli as a father, husband and family man—and the national level: his contribution to Israel’s security and his work for the state. For me, these documents are another piece of reality about my father.” 

Brig. Gen. (res.) Franco Gonen, chairman of the Eli Cohen Foundation and founder of the Eli Cohen Museum in Herzliya, welcomed the development. “There was a sense in the air that something was happening,” he said. 

“We’re glad that, on the 60th anniversary of his hanging, they brought the documents that tell his story. We felt something was going on with Eli Cohen, but we didn’t know what exactly.” 

He recounted how Nadia Cohen had asked Barnea for permission to mark the 60th anniversary of her husband’s death at the museum but Barnea asked her to postpone. “Between the lines, she sensed something was brewing,” Gonen said. 

“Today we got the news that the documents have arrived, and Nadia still holds out hope that her husband will be brought to burial in Israel. We hope she lives to see the day when the remains of Cohen, a hero of Israel, are finally laid to rest.” 

The archive includes around 2,500 items—documents, photographs, and personal belongings—most of which are being made public for the first time. These materials were collected by Syrian intelligence after Cohen was captured in January 1965. 

They include audio recordings and investigation files, letters written in his own hand to family in Israel, photos from his time operating undercover in Syria, and items seized from his home after his arrest. 

Among the many files uncovered was a thick orange folder labeled “Nadia Cohen.” It appears Syrian intelligence tracked her efforts to secure her husband’s release, including numerous letters she sent to world leaders and to the Syrian president pleading for his freedom. 

Also among the documents were personal letters Cohen wrote to his family. In one letter to his wife, written in Arabic after his capture and during his trial, he addressed her and their children: 

“To my wife Nadia and my beloved family, I write to you these final words and ask that you always stay in touch with one another. Nadia, I ask your forgiveness. Take care of yourself and the children. Make sure they receive a full education. Don’t deny yourself or them anything, and stay in contact with my family. 

“You are free to marry another man so the children don’t grow up without a father. You have full freedom to do so. Please, don’t waste your time crying over the past. Always look to the future,” he wrote. 

“These are the last kisses I send to you, to Sophie, to Iris, to Shaul, and to the entire family—especially to my mother Odette and her family, to Maurice and his family, to Ezra and his family, and to Albert and his family. 

“Don’t forget your beloved family—send them my final blessings and longing. And don’t forget to pray for the souls of my father and myself. To all of you, my final kisses and farewell.”