Eichmann Trial -- Session 114 -- Closing statement of the Defense

Session 114. Dr. Servatius speaking in German. 00:01:04 Tape is interrupted, time code resets. 00:00:27 Tape begins again in the same place. 00:01:11 Tape is interrupted, and restarts with Counts 1-4. Servatius addresses Count 4, preventing the births of Jews. He says that this implicates Eichmann in the actual sterilization of people, when he had no knowledge of these activities (duplicate footage from Tape 2231). Servatius raises evidence that shows that Eichmann did not give the orders for gassing, and that nothing shows that he gave the order for sterilizations. 00:08:49 Count 3, the bodily and spiritual harm to Jews, is addressed. Servatius says that the deportations were made according to a policy before Eichmann's involvement, and even then it was ordered by higher ups. The badges worn by Jews was carried out by the police, not by Eichmann, says Dr. Servatius. All these laws were created by those at the top, and Eichmann could have no part of that. 00:16:40 Tape jumps. Servatius challenges the previously accepted explanation of Hitler giving Eichmann the charge of eliminating the Jews, based on lack of evidence. 00:19:55 The counts are all addressed, beginning with 1B. Servatius says that Eichmann was the head of a department that was large because of its large scope. The actual deportation of Jews was left to the local police forces, commanded by Mueller, not Eichmann. 00:23:26 Dr. Servatius says that Eichmann could not give orders to the police in relation to the extermination of the Jews, and says that Eichmann's office was not intended for deportation, but to encourage emigration, at least until the eastern war. 00:33:40 The court breaks for a 20 minute recess. People leave the courtroom.