Archival Descriptions

Advanced query tips

There are several ways to be more specific in your search query:

"Phrase"
Search an exact match of your query, e.g. "Member lists"
+Phrase
Given word has to be in the result, e.g. +Gestapo
-Phrase
Exclude given word from search, e.g. -Gestapo

Use the following syntax to restrict the search to specific fields:

field:"phrase"
For instance, you can find all descriptions that have the phrase "Auschwitz Birkenau" in their titles by searching for title:"Auschwitz Birkenau".

The following fields are currently available:

  • identifier
  • title
  • creator
  • person
  • place
  • subject
  • address
Displaying items 11,861 to 11,880 of 33,307
Search result ordering
Language of Description: English

  1. Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 1 and 2 -- Indictment reading of 15 counts

    Sessions 1 and 2. Begins during Session 1 as Attorney General Hausner is countering the Defense's assertion that the Israeli court lacks objectivity. There is a blip at 00:03:04 and the tape skips to Hausner discussing his agreement to accept affidavits from the Defense witnesses and forego his right to cross-examination. 00:05:19 There is another blip and the footage jumps to Session 2 as Hausner is reading international statutes as points of evidence for holding the Eichmann trial in Israel. 00:06:33 Another blip and the footage skips to Hausner discussing Eichmann's extradition from Arge...

  2. 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 ...

  3. Eichmann Trial -- Session 5 -- Excerpts of Attorney General's reply

    Session 5. Begins while the courtroom is empty. The attorneys enter, and the camera focuses on Attorney General Hausner and Defense Attorney Servatius as they exchange pleasantries. The judges enter the courtroom and Judge Moshe Landau declares Session 5 open. Hausner discusses the Nuremberg Trials and its influence on the establishment of international laws and principles. He then quotes from the International Military Tribunal. The judge questions the relevancy of the documents being presented by the prosecution. To answer Landau's question, Hausner refers to the "Nazi Punishment Law," an...

  4. Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 6, 7 and 8 -- Eichmann pleads not guilty

    Sessions 6, 7 and 8. The contents of the tape are not sequentially consistent with the official transcripts; rather the footage is arranged erratically starting in the middle of Session 6 with Attorney General Hausner's opening statement and ending in the beginning of Session 6 with Adolf Eichmann's plea hearing. Begins during Attorney General Hausner's opening speech. He states: "There was only one man who had been concerned almost entirely with the Jews, whose business had been their destruction that was Adolf Eichmann." There is a blip at 00:22:45 to 00:23:15, and the recording backtrack...

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

    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 b...

  6. Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 6, 7 and 8 -- Opening speech of Attorney General

    Sessions 6, 7 and 8. The beginning of this tape repeats the contents of Tape 2009 (at 00:33:51) where the Court is in recess. Eichmann enters the glass booth, and passes paper to his attorneys. The Judges enter the courtroom, and Judge Landau opens the sixth session of the trial. Judge Landau announces Decision 3, in which he addresses Dr. Servatius's two preliminary concerns. There is a blip during Landau's opening comments at 00:04:36. Regarding the validity and objectivity of the court, the Judges find: "While on the bench a judge does not cease to be flesh and blood, possessed of emotio...

  7. Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 6, 7 and 8 -- Opening speech of Attorney General

    Sessions 6, 7 and 8. Begins during Attorney General Gideon Hausner's opening statement. He discusses the death of children during the Holocaust: "But no part of all this bloody work is so shocking and terrible as that of the million Jewish children whose blood was spilt like water throughout Europe." Hausner compares the suffering of Jews who died to Jews who lived. He asserts no one can determine "... who suffered the more terrible fat: those who died or those who concealed themselves in every conceivable hiding place and crevice, who lived in perpetual terror of expulsion..." There is a b...

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

    Sessions 6, 7 and 8. Attorney General Gideon Hausner discusses Adolf Hitler and his use of the Jews as scapegoats: "The Jew was the eternal scapegoat." Hausner notes the anti-Nazi movements in Germany, and German assistance to the Jews: "But after all is said and done, these were a small minority." The Prosecution describes Nazi tactics for the promotion of anti-Semitism such as economic boycotts, the Nuremberg Laws, and the yellow arm badges. Hausner starts Section 2 of his opening speech: "II - The SS, the SD and the Gestapo," which addresses the different groups of the Reich. Upon the co...

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

    Sessions 6, 7 and 8. Begins before the court is in session. The camera focuses on Defense Attorney Dr. Robert Servatius as he speaks with his co-counsel, Mr. Dieter Wechtenbruch. The courtroom begins to fill with spectators, and Attorney General Gideon Hausner interacts with a few people from the audience. Adolf Eichmann is brought into the courtroom; moments later the Judges enter and the session begins. Hausner continues his opening statement from Section 3: "III - The Accused," which discusses Eichmann's life before and after he joined the Nazi Party. The Prosecution follows with Section...

  10. Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 6, 7 and 8 -- Hausner continues opening statement

    Sessions 6, 7 and 8. Attorney General Gideon Hausner continues Section 4 of his opening statement: "IV - The Final Solution of the Jewish Question." At one point during his recitation of Section 4, the Judges interrupt Hausner to ask if they may adjourn; Hausner requests a few more minutes. At 00:40:21, there is a cut from Hausner's speech to Eichmann being led out of the courtroom. The court is adjourned, and the camera focuses on the emptying courtroom as the tape ends.

  11. Eichmann Trial -- Session 7 -- Hausner's opening statement

    Dr. Robert Servatius walks into the virtually empty courtroom and sits down. He pulls a file folder out of his bag and talks with the person sitting next to him. Adolf Eichmann is brought into a booth. The translator steps up to a podium and guards motion for Eichmann to pull his seat forward. Various shots of Eichmann and Dr. Servatius are shown. A woman sits at a podium opposite the translator. 00:05:31 Everyone rises as the Judges walk in and sit down. Presiding Judge Moshe Landau opens the 7th Session of the trial and requests Attorney General Gideon Hausner to continue his Opening Spee...

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

    Sessions 6, 7 and 8. Footage of an empty courtroom. It is before session 8; the camera focuses on the audience members as they take their seats. Attorney General Gideon Hausner sits at his desk readying himself for the next session. The Judges enter the courtroom and open the trial. Hausner continues his opening statement with Section 7 - "The Extermination in Northern, Western, and Southern Europe." He details the anti-Jewish campaign in Western Europe, instigated by Eichmann's department: "...anti-Jewish legislation, depriving the Jews of human and civil rights; identification of Jews by ...

  13. Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 6, 7 and 8

    Sessions 6, 7 and 8. Hausner discusses Bulgaria's hesitancy to cooperate with Jewish deportations: "Bulgaria did not want to throw its Jews to the wolves..." Despite Bulgarian efforts, Jews were transported to labor camps. The prosecution describes Nazi actions against the Jews in Greece: "Brutality, arrests, plunder, the loot of property accompanied the German conqueror...and the establishment of ghettos." Hausner also mentions Theresienstadt, a temporary collection camp; at Theresienstadt, executions were used as punishment, newborns and pregnancies were terminated, and children were sepa...

  14. Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 6, 7 and 8

    Sessions 6, 7 and 8. The Court is in recess. The camera focuses on the glass booth, and pans to Defense Attorney Dr. Robert Servatius as he walks to his desk. The Judges enter the courtroom and open the session. Attorney General Gideon Hausner continues his opening statement with Section IX - "The Camps." He asserts: "...as late as the beginning of 1945, on the threshold of the end of the war, Eichmann was still planning to wipe out all the Jews still alive at Theresienstadt in gas installations to be erected there..." Hausner describes the conditions in several concentration camps: Majdane...

  15. Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 6, 7 and 8

    Sessions 6, 7 and 8. Attorney General Gideon Hausner continues his opening statement. Hausner refers to the contributions of several Jewish persons to highlight the social and cultural decimation produced by the events of the Holocaust. According to the official court transcripts, the prosecution concludes his opening speech with these words: "By the mercy of Providence, which preserved a saving remnant, Adolf Eichmann's design was frustrated, and the intention that the cherished was not implemented to the end." However, the following transcription was taken directly from the tape starting ...

  16. Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 6, 7, 8 and 9 -- Hausner's opening statement and the first witnesses, R. Bar-Shalom and A. Less

    Sessions 6, 7, 8 and 9. The bulk of this tape is a compilation of points within the prosecution's speech. Attorney General Gideon Hausner's opening statement as he discusses concentration camps, specifically Majdanek: "...in one day, 18,000 Jews were shot." There is a blip at 00:06:54 and the story skips from examination of Majdanek to Auschwitz: "...this camp was established with the sure knowledge that it was to be a slaughter house." Hausner continues to describe conditions and methods of punishment at Auschwitz. There is another blip at 00:17:14, where the prosecution begins Section X: ...

  17. Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 -- Testimony of A. Less

    Sessions 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Attorney General Gideon Hausner questions Avner Less on his interrogation of Adolf Eichmann. In between three blips, the prosecution presents the audio reel tapes of Eichmann's interrogation. The recordings are in German; therefore, the excerpts are translated into Hebrew and English after each excerpt is played. Following the blip at 00:18:00, Eichmann's statement is translated into Hebrew/English. Eichmann discusses his inability to view injuries: "I am often told that I could never have been a doctor." During the recording, Eichmann makes excuses for his fault...

  18. Eichmann Trial -- Session 11 -- Israeli police interrogation of Eichmann

    Session 11. Court is not in session. Camera focuses on the prosecution as they discuss among themselves. The Judges enter and there is a blip at 00:04:13. An audio reel of Eichmann's pre-trial interrogation (in German) is being played. Following a blip at 00:06:43, the court translates the recording into Hebrew/English which discusses child deportation in 1942. During the interrogation, witness Avner Less presents Eichmann with a document concerning child transports. Eichmann's reponse is choppy, and he claims a faulty memory. District Attorney Gideon Hausner requests the tape be played fro...

  19. Eichmann Trial -- Session 12 and 13 -- Testimonies of A. Less and S. Baron

    Sessions 12 and 13. The courtroom is out of session. Eichmann enters the glass booth and exchanges papers with his attorneys. The tape skips at 00:01:43 from a shot of Eichmann to a shot of the audience during the trial. Presiding Judge Moshe Landau asks witness Avner Pakad Less (Israeli police Captain who conducted the pretrial interrogation of Eichmann in 1960) to present his evidence to the court. Court officials organize documents with serial number 1491. There is a blip at 00:04:01 and the story moves to Attorney General Gideon Hausner asking Less about the questions he asked Eichmann ...

  20. Ferencz: German industry, slave labor, compensation

    Audio recording of the German television program "Vernichtung durch Arbeit" that aired November 1984. Program is based on Benjamin Ferencz's authoritative book on slave labor: "Less Than Slaves," Harvard University Press, 1979. The book deals with the Nazi program of Vernichtung durch Arbeit [destruction through work] in which millions were coerced into labor by German industrialists for the Nazi war machine. The book also explains the quest of survivors to get compensation from the West German government. TAPE 1, 2 SIDES.