Archival Descriptions

Displaying items 11,861 to 11,880 of 55,776
  1. Eichmann Trial -- Session 1 -- Preliminary objections by Defense Counsel

    Session 1. Begins as the court debates the relevance of the Eichmann letter. Dr. Servatius claims the letter is important to his case whereas Mr. Hausner asserts that the letter is irrelevant to the trial. The Judges discuss this matter amongst themselves. After much deliberation, the Judges make the first court decision: "We accept letter T/2 as an exhibit without expressing an opinion as to its value as proof." Hausner continues his speech by responding to Servatius's complaint regarding the lack of witnesses for the defense. Servatius previously stated that his case is hindered by the tr...

  2. Eichmann Trial -- Session 1 -- Reading of 15 counts of indictment

    Session 1. German translation of the First Count, Letter (h). Judge Moshe Landau continues to read the fifteen counts against Adolf Eichmann, followed by the German translation. When the recitation is complete, Judge Landau asks Eichmann if he understands the charges against him, and Eichmann responds affirmatively. Defense Attorney Dr. Robert Servatius requests permission to voice objections against the court before his client enters a formal plea. Judge Landau agrees, and Dr. Servatius states a concern for both the objectivity and competence of the court. Dr. Servatius suggests that an Is...

  3. Eichmann Trial -- Session 1 -- Reading of indictment

    Session 1. Court officials are organizing the courtroom for the trial. Various individuals walk around the room, greeting and talking to each other. There is occasional sound as the trial commentators prepare for Session 001. The trial begins, and the camera focuses on Adolf Eichmann as he sits in the glass box. As the three judges, Moshe Landau, Benjamin Halevi, and Yitzchak Raveh enter the courtroom, the commentators detail trial particulars such as the trial number and specific court officials. Judge Landau formally ascertains the defendant's identity and choice of council. He then grant...

  4. Eichmann Trial -- Session 100 -- Cross-examination of the Accused

    The camera fades in on a long shot of the courtroom. Attorney General Gideon Hausner and Assistant State Attorney Gabriel Bach can be seen standing at the prosecution table to the right and the camera zooms into a medium shot of the two men. Assistant to the Attorney General Ya'akov Robinson enters (00:01:46) and talks with Hausner and Bach. The camera cuts to Eichmann entering the booth carrying documents and escorted by three Israeli guards (00:02:25). From another long shot of the courtroom defense counsel Robert Servatius can be seen entering the courtroom (00:03:25). The camera then cu...

  5. Eichmann Trial -- Session 100 -- Cross-examination of the Accused

    Footage begins early in the Session 100. Attorney General Gideon Hausner asks the accused whether he read Friedel's report on the Bialystok matter and notes that Friedel stated that the order to liquidate the ghettos came directly from department IVB4 (00:00:45). Eichmann testifies that Bialystok was part of the incorporated Eastern Territories and his section merely had to carry out the deportations ordered by Heinrich Himmler (00:00:58). Hausner asks Eichmann to indicate on a map (hung on the wall to the left of the accused's booth) the territories incorporated into the Reich (00:02:21). ...

  6. Eichmann Trial -- Session 100 -- Cross-examination of the Accused

    Footage begins in the middle of the Session 100. Judge Landau warns the Attorney General that the matter concerning the liquidation of the ghettos is being dealt with a second time. Hausner continues with the cross examination of the accused. Eichmann is asked if he is familiar with "Operation Reinhardt" (00:01:42) and replies in the affirmative that he read that the operation involved the liquidation of Polish Jewry and the confiscation of their property. When asked if he was familiar with the operation in 1942 and 1943, Eichmann testifies that he did not concern himself with the matter be...

  7. Eichmann Trial -- Session 100 -- Cross-examination of the Accused

    The camera fades in onto Eichmann seated in the booth during recess. There is a shot of the prosecution desk with Hausner, Bach, and Assistant to the Attorney General Ya'akov Robinson seated (00:00:48) followed by various shots of the accused, the prosecution, and the courtroom. Assistant State Attorney Bar-Or enters and walks to the prosecution table (00:02:14). Servatius is shown arranging documents on his table (00:05:15). All rise as the judges enter the courtroom (00:06:45) and the attorneys bow to the judges (00:06:52). Attorney General Gideon Hausner resumes cross examination of Eich...

  8. Eichmann Trial -- Session 101 -- Cross-examination of the Accused: Lidice children & Sonderbehandlung

    Session 101. Attorney General Hausner changes topics, asking about the Lidice children and a phone call associated with it. When Eichmann says that he cannot remember any such conversation, the Attorney General attacks him, saying that such a thing was not a normal occurrence and could not escape his memory. He says that when it concerns the children, he does not remember, though he remembers the assassination of Heydrich. Why Eichmann was contacted about any of this becomes the primary question, considering his claims that he was not competent to make any of these decisions. This becomes q...

  9. Eichmann Trial -- Session 101 -- Cross-examination of the Accused: Liechtenstein, concentration camp authority, Eichmann's autonomy

    Session 101. Eichmann answers questions about the Bondi case involving Jews whom Eichmann refused to grant passage to Sweden. Attorney General Hausner, along with the Judges, question Eichmann. The freedoms for Jews in Liechtenstein is discussed. When asked how this applies to him, he says that his office was in charge of all things dealing with property. 00:12:42 Hausner asks why Eichmann was the one choosing who was in command of a certain concentration camp. He says that he does not know, considering that it was 20 years ago. He says that the SD was inexperienced in his region, and so he...

  10. Eichmann Trial -- Session 101 -- Cross-examination of the Accused: Sonderbehandlung, Germanization, and skeletons

    Session 101. Attorney General Hausner asks Eichmann if he took the initiative to make his own decisions, which Eichmann emphatically denies. He says that he never gave any orders and never acted without orders. 00:01:44 Hausner changes topics, asking about the Lidice children and a phone call associated with it (duplicate footage from Tape 2173). When Eichmann says that he cannot remember any such conversation, the Attorney General attacks him, saying that such a thing was not a normal occurrence and could not escape his memory. He says that when it concerns the children, he does not rememb...

  11. Eichmann Trial -- Session 102 -- Cross-examination of the Accused re: Sassen Document

    Session 102. Eichmann reads a document of the Sassen memoirs. The tape resumes just a few minutes prior to the end of Tape 2176. Eichmann reads his answer to Sassen concerning his role in the concentration camps, saying that the Gestapo was in charge of all of it. He explains, using as many hypothetical terms as possible, what would happen with the camp, especially with insubordination and problems with the Jews. He also describes the transfer of control from the Archives department to the Gestapo. When asked if these were the words of Eichmann, he says he cannot remember, but it was partia...

  12. Eichmann Trial -- Session 102 -- Cross-examination of the Accused: corrections to the Sassen document

    Session 102. Attorney General Hausner asks Eichmann to read the corrections he made to the Sassen memoirs. Questions concerning the German Minister of the Interior and his connection to Eichmann are addressed. He then decries the entire document, saying that it is completely muddled, and that he cannot answer any further questions on it. The President of Court says that he will answer questions until he is relieved; Eichmann cooperates, but says that he feels he is being "roasted" until they get the answer they want from him. 00:10:48 Following Eichmann's comments about feeling "roasted", t...

  13. Eichmann Trial -- Session 102 -- Cross-examination of the Accused: sterilization, Einsatzgruppen, Sassen

    Session 102. Eichmann talks about his office's role in the taking of property of the displaced, and the scope of the duties of Section IVB4. 00:02:42 Eichmann is asked by Hausner about sterilization, he continuously cuts off Eichmann, insisting on yes or no answers. Eichmann is asked about a meeting called by Heydrich where he was included as an expert, and he claims that he had no real part of the meeting, which Hausner argues. 00:12:28 Hausner begins asking about Eichmann's contact with the Einsatzgruppen. Eichmann claims that the document pertaining to them was not created by his office,...

  14. Eichmann Trial -- Session 103 -- Cross-examination of the Accused

    This tape begins in the middle of Session 103 and the first few minutes are a duplication of the last part of the footage on Tape 2179 in which Eichmann gives a lengthy description of his duties in Hungary, followed by questions and explanations as to how often he met with Lazi Endre, the chief of the Hungarian gendarmerie. Endre is identified as the organizer of the deportations from the Hungarian side. Attorney General Gideon Hausner questions Eichmann about a meeting on 25 May 1944 with Baky (whom Eichmann describes as a Hungarian secretary of state) and the discussion and organization o...

  15. Eichmann Trial -- Session 103 -- Cross-examination of the Accused

    A slate indicates the date and the session time. The opening shots show the courtroom before the trial starts, focusing on people in the courtroom. Attorney General Gideon Hausner with his assistants at the prosecution table appear in the opening shot. The defense lawyer, Robert Servatius, enters the courtroom and sits at the desk closest to Eichmann's booth. Adolf Eichmann, carrying a stack of documents, is escorted by two security officers into the bulletproof booth. The people in the courtroom rise as the judges enter (00:05:29) and announce the opening of the 103rd session. Cross-examin...

  16. Eichmann Trial -- Session 104 -- Cross examination of the Accused concluded

    This tape begins near the end of the morning proceedings of Session 104. The footage begins with cross-examination by Gideon Hausner concerning a meeting in March 1944 in which he promised the Jews that nothing would happen to them after deportation. Hausner accuses Eichmann of knowing that they were being sent to Auschwitz. This duplicates footage on Tape 2183 at 13:31:12. Cross-examination by Hausner turns to Eichmann's intent to write and publish a book with Wilhelm Sassen in 1957, in which Eichmann intended to describe what happened to the Jews as being "one of the greatest crimes ever ...

  17. Eichmann Trial -- Session 104 -- Cross-examination of the Accused

    The footage begins near the middle of Session 104, with Eichmann reading portions of statements from the Wilhelm Sassen document about congratulations Eichmann received for the foot march [death march] which occurred in November of 1944. Some 70,000 men, women, and children were forced to march from Budapest to Vienna. Some of this footage is duplicated on Tape 2181 (at 00:40:35). Eichmann is then asked to describe his role in the implementation of the foot march, which he insists was technical (00:12:55). The camera switches between Eichmann and the civilians sitting in the courtroom. The ...

  18. Eichmann Trial -- Session 104 -- Cross-examination of the Accused re: Hungary

    This tape begins in the middle of the proceedings of Session 104. Attorney General Gideon Hausner questions Eichmann about comments Eichmann made to Wilhelm Sassen regarding his inability to keep up with the pace of deportations in Hungary. Hausner cites quotes in which Eichmann compared the deportation in Hungary with the ease of those in Denmark and Holland, referring to the Jews of Hungary as being offered to them like "sour beer." This section duplicates footage found on Tape 2181. The footage is edited at 00:03:30, skipping a lengthy section in which Eichmann is cross-examined about hi...

  19. Eichmann Trial -- Session 104 -- Cross-examination of the Accused re: Hungary

    The footage begins in the middle of Session 104. Eichmann is shown examining a document. Cross-examination by Attorney General Gideon Hausner begins with questions about the deportation of Jews from Budapest, including the number of people deported and the deportation of Jewish children. Hausner asks about proposals made by Blaschke to Kaltenbrunner for the redirection of trains from Auschwitz to Austria.This is a reference to the "Blood for Goods" transaction, which was the attempt by members of the Hungarian Jewish Relief and Rescue Committee to negotiate with the SS for the exchange of o...

  20. Eichmann Trial -- Session 105 -- Examination by Judge Raveh

    Session 105. This is duplicate footage from Tape 2187. Dr. Servatius begins by stating in the Sassen Document, he says things that are both anti-Semitic and the opposite. Eichmann says that he is not anti-Semitic, and was a part of the Nazi Party before it had such policies. He says that he never had a bad personal experience with Jews. 00:07:50 Dr. Servatius is finished with the re-examination of Eichmann. He will now face questions from the Judges. 00:08:22 Eichmann is being asked about when he could not live up to the Categorical Imperative of Emmanuel Kant, in which he believes. With th...