Eichmann Trial -- Session 3 -- Attorney General's reply to preliminary introductions

Session 3. Recording begins while the court is in recess. There are several camera shots of audience members, court officials, and Adolf Eichmann as he enters the courtroom. As the trial commences, Attorney General Hausner introduces precedents and protocols established by the United Nations and the International Military Tribunal regarding war crimes trials. He cites several documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the proceedings from such conferences as the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Hausner also refers to the "Knesset Reports" when discussing the right of Jews to prosecute Nazi perpetrators. As the tape continues, Hausner addresses both Dr. Servatius' concern for the trial's venue, and Servatius' assertion that the German nation has already atoned for the Holocaust thereby rendering the Eichmann trial somewhat irrelevant. Hausner states in response: "For such crimes there is no expiation, there is no forgiveness or forgetting." The court is adjourned for a fifteen-minute recess. Upon the court's return, Presiding Judge Moshe Landau calls forth two witnesses, Mr. Zvi Tohar and Mr. Jack Shimoni, and dismisses them for the present. Following their exit, Hausner continues his argument against the defense's allegation that the court is incompetent and unable to objectively oversee the Eichmann trial. He refers to various international laws and studies to prove Israel's jurisdiction regardless of the circumstances surrounding Eichmann's capture and extradition. Hausner's speech turns to the Israeli state; he discusses the reasoning behind its foundation. After his explanation of Israel, Hausner focuses on previous war crimes trials in which war criminals were prosecuted outside of the territory where the crime was committed. The tape ends as Hausner addresses the questions surrounding Eichmann's extradition from Argentina.