Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 36 and 37 -- Jews in Norway, Italy, Berlin; paperwork for property

Session 36. Ms. Henriette Samuel is brought up and sworn in. She was born in Berlin, but her husband was appointed as chief Rabbi in Norway, so they moved there in 1930. 00:03:38 Tape jumps. Ms. Samuel describes a surprise action at 5am where the women and children were taken from their home and deported. She describes the Norwegian government warning the Jews that danger was coming and they must flee. Many made their way to Sweden with the help of the underground. She describes hiding in a house for only one day because they had children and it was possible that they would tell their friends about the Jews. They had to hide in the back of a truck among potatoes, with the kids given sleeping pills. Over the last leg, they had to go by foot, in 20 below zero temperatures. 00:16:38 Tape jumps. A document signed by Eichmann is being submitted, complaining to the Foreign Ministry about the Swedish government accepting Jews. Another document concerns a Swedish Jewish woman married to an Aryan Italian man, complaining about the marriage, and furthermore complaining that the Swedish government recommended the woman not to return to Italy. A third document complains about Sweden giving all of the Norwegian Jews Swedish citizenship. 00:26:23 Tape jumps. Dr. Hulda Campagnano is sworn in, and she is asked the basics of her history. 00:28:40 Tape jumps. Dr. Campagnano is testifying about the German occupation of Rome, and the ghetto there. The Jews were told if they handed over 100kg gold, their safety would be assured. They managed to pay it. A woman who was described as "a little bit insane" was told to warn everyone that an action would happen that night. Only a few families listened and fled. That night, the Nazis came from house to house removing all Jews. She had entrusted her children to a few Italian families whom she did not know before that. She says that the Italian population was very helpful, and every Italian Jew owes their lives to the Italian people. 00:33:31 Session 37. The Prosecution concludes the evidence for Western Europe. They begin again in Germany. The laws enacted against the Jews will be submitted. 00:34:45 Tape jumps. Mrs. Hildegard Henschel, widow of Moritz Henschel, the last president of the Jewish Community of Berlin who died in 1947, is sworn in as a witness for the Prosecution. She is asked some basic questions about her history. 00:38:10 Tape jumps. Mrs. Henschel speaks about when the badge was first required. Suicides, and those who were injected with Coramin. If they would survive, they were the first deported. 00:43:29 Tape jumps. The confiscation of people's objects is discussed. SS men had a system, to take things that they liked. She describes one officer who liked to take lotions of all sorts, and drank any alcohol found on the spot. There were Jewish ushers and policemen to stand as guards during this. 00:46:20 Tape jumps. The seizure of patients from the Jewish hospital for transport is discussed. She says that a pregnant woman would not be transported if she would give birth during the journey. She would be deported six weeks after the birth. She describes the deportations, how cold the day was that her husband was deported, and how crammed they all were. She says that deported people had to sign two papers, one a kind of agreement to purchase their apartment. 00:53:22 The second form was a relinquishing of property. Theresienstadt was described as a community for the aged, and in order to have the privilege of living there the rest of one's life, they had to make a deposit to the treasury; their property would be this deposit. Mrs. Henschel is shown the form, Vermoegenserklaerung, and she identifies it as the form they had to fill in for property, in excruciating detail. She says that her husband left all of his valuables when he went to Eichmann's office.