If you ask people who the hero of the Entebbe Raid of 1976 was, Israeli commando Yoni Netanyahu or Air France Pilot Michel Bacos will likely be mentioned. Very few, if any, would name passenger Michel Cojot, even though without him, the IDF special forces operation that saved 103 hostages would probably never have succeeded.

A new documentary by Boaz Dvir celebrates this unsung hero. “To Kill A Nazi” premieres in New York on June 22 and will have other screenings in Croatia and online this summer. The film is narrated by award-winning Jewish actor Jason Alexander.

“I was nine years old and growing up in Israel when Entebbe happened. I was riveted and followed developments minute by minute. Air France captain Michel Bacos became a big hero for me. Here was this non-Jewish French guy who was given the chance to leave but chose to stay with his Israeli and Jewish passengers,” filmmaker and journalism professor Dvir said.

“Fast forward years later, and I decided to make a short documentary on him… and I was shocked to discover that although there was a hero named Michel among the hostages, it was not Michel Bacos! It was Michel Cojot,” he said.

On June 27, 1976, French business consultant Cojot and his 12-year-old son, Olivier, were passengers aboard Air France flight 139 from Tel Aviv to Paris. The plane made a scheduled stop in Athens to pick up more passengers. Just after takeoff, the plane was hijacked by four terrorists: two Palestinians from the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations, and two West Germans from the Revolutionary Cells. The plane was diverted to Benghazi, Libya, for refueling, and then on to Entebbe, Uganda, where it was welcomed by dictatorial president Idi Amin. Amin lent troops to assist the hijackers, mainly in guarding the abandoned airport terminal where the 303 passengers and 12 crew members were being held hostage.

The hijackers demanded a ransom of $5 million, as well as the release of 53 Palestinian and pro-Palestinian terrorists, 40 of whom were prisoners in Israel. They said that if these demands were not met, they would begin killing hostages on July 1. On June 29, the hijackers separated the Israelis, including those with dual citizenship, and some non-Israeli Jews from the rest of the hostages.

On June 30, they released 47 hostages from the non-Israeli group — mainly the elderly and sick, and mothers with children. Cojot’s son, Olivier, was among them. When Israel signaled on July 1 that it was open to negotiations, the hijackers extended the deadline to July 4 and released 100 more non-Israelis and non-Jews.

Throughout, Cojot stepped up as a leader. He translated when Idi Amin came regularly to address the hostages. He negotiated with the hijackers to improve conditions for all the hostages and aligned himself with the Israeli group. Although not a military man or a spy by training, he slyly gleaned information from the hijackers and made notes on the building’s layout, the tarmac, and the surrounding area, as well as on the fighting capabilities of the hijackers and Ugandan soldiers. He took the brave step of having Olivier smuggle the material out in his........

© The Times of Israel