He follows the ambulance and discovers it is en route to pick up the body of an elderly man who has committed suicide, leaving behind no family.

Salomon's diary details information on his life in the Riga Ghetto during World War II, (including the name of the SS officer who ran the camp, Eduard Roschmann).

Salomon's diary catalogues all of Roschmann's crimes including the murder of a highly decorated Wehrmacht officer while attempting to flee at the end of the war.

Peter is filled with a determination to hunt Roschmann down and he sets out to meet famed Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal, who informs him about ODESSA, a secret organization for former members of the SS which is developing a missile guidance system for Nasserist Egypt.

Suspicious, Peter rings Klaus' home from his hotel and having had no answer is wary, and sees the armed assassin who is waiting for him.

Peter victorious returns to the Israelis and details all he has found but refuses to disclose the location of the file until Roschmann has been apprehended.

The Israeli agents reluctantly agree to Peter's demands and he then leaves for Roschmann's home where he finds him living an opulent life as a munitions factory owner using an alias.

Peter then discloses to Roschmann, Salomon's description of the murder of a fellow German Wehrmacht officer at the end of the war.

The detailed ODESSA files obtained by Peter are used to arrest numerous Nazi war criminals including high-ranking members of the police.

"[4] Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote that The Odessa File as a 'seriously inane thriller' but did praise Jon Voight's German accent.