Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 6, 7 and 8 -- Hausner's opening statement

Identifier
irn1001025
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1999.A.0087
  • RG-60.2100.011
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • English
  • Hebrew
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Emil Knebel was a cinematographer known for Andante (2010), Adam (1973), and Wild Is My Love (1963). He was one of the cameramen who recorded daily coverage of the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem (produced by Capital Cities Broadcasting Corp and later held academic positions in Israel and New York teaching filmmaking at universities. Refer to CV in file.

Scope and Content

Sessions 6, 7 and 8. Begins during Attorney General Hausner's opening speech. He describes the terrible conditions inflicted upon the Jews in concentration camps. There is a blip at 00:04:42 and then Hausner continues his description by quoting eyewitness accounts of Nazi violence. There is another blip at 00:08:50 and the prosecutor refers to the extermination of Galician Jewry; he states, "The accused, as head of the Gestapo Department for Jewish Affairs, as Special Commissioner for the extermination of the Jews, bears direct responsibility as the initiator and implementer of this blood bath." Hausner continues to describe Eichmann's actions as a member of the Nazi regime. He moves on to discuss Germany's annexation of Poland, and the establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto. There is a blip at 00:16:47. Hausner uses eyewitness accounts to illustrate the conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto. He talks about the youth movements, and the Polish underground; through collaboration with the Polish Underground, a group of Jews led by Mordechai Anielewicz and Yitzhak Zuckerman were able to temporarily resist the Germans in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Hausner quotes from the Einsatzgruppen records including testimony from the Commander of the Einsatzgruppen D, Otto Ohlendorf about the murder of 90,000 Jews. The prosecutor further describes the records as "blood-curdling and hair-raising documents." The tape ends as Hausner continues his discussion of mass killings by deportation in Latvia, Estonia, and Vilna.

Note(s)

  • See official transcripts, published in "The Trial of Adolf Eichmann", Vol. I-V, State of Israel, Ministry of Justice, Jerusalem, 1994. Also available online at the Nizkor Project http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/e/eichmann-adolf/transcripts/Sessions/. The dialogue is in three languages: German, Hebrew, and English. Adolf Eichmann and Defense Counsel Robert Servatius speak in German, which is translated into Hebrew. The Judges and Attorney General Gideon Hausner speak Hebrew. An English translation of the proceedings is dubbed over all of the dialogue by translators. The presiding Judges are Moshe Landau, Benjamin Halevi, and Yitzchak Raveh. Also present are Assistant State Attorneys Gabriel Bach and Ya'akov Bar-Or. There are periodic breaks in the footage.

Subjects

Places

Genre

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