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Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 14, 20, 21 and 27 -- Testimonies of Z. Grynszpan, A. Lichtman, Dr. M. Beisky, A. Kovner, Dr. J. Buzminsky

Film | Digitized | Accession Number: 1999.A.0087 | RG Number: RG-60.2100.029 | Film ID: 2028

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    Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 14, 20, 21 and 27 -- Testimonies of Z. Grynszpan, A. Lichtman, Dr. M. Beisky, A. Kovner, Dr. J. Buzminsky

    Overview

    Description
    Sessions 14, 20, 21 and 27. Witness Zyndel Grynszpan describes October 28, 1938; the Nazis came to his house and arrested his entire family. They were taken to the precinct and forced to sign a certificate for deportation. He and his family were deported to Poland: "The misery was great. We had no food, we had not taken any food since Thursday, we had not wanted to eat German bread anymore and we were starving." Assistant State Attorney Ya'Akov Bar-Or questions Grynszpan on the conditions of the Zbaszyn camp.

    There is a blip at 00:16:35 and witness Ada Lichtman describes her father's arrest by the Nazis in Wielicza: "There were all Jews, whom they took, lying dead already... My father was also dead. And all were spread out in rows of five, one after another." Lichtman later escaped to Krakow. She moved to Mielec and was forced to do hard labor. Attorney General Gideon Hausner questions Lichtman on conditions in Mielec including forced payments to avoid deportations. He also asks her about conditions in Dubink: "they broke hands and heads of youths, and later they killed them all... I saw the mutilated bodies of the youths." Hausner requests that Lichtman's testimony be continued in the next session as she has primary accounts of the Sobibor concentration camp.

    During a blip at 00:45:28 to 00:45:39, there is an old movie clip of a couple embracing, and then the tape returns to the trial. Witness Judge Dr. Moshe Beisky discusses an incident in the Plaszow concentration camp: "The boy was hanged and... the rope broke. The boy... began to beg for mercy... and then he was raised a second time to the gallows, and hanged..." Hausner asks Beisky why the 15,000 observers did not charge and overtake the guards rather than just watching the hanging. Beisky replies that Hausner's question is difficult to answer; Beisky recounts his experiences, as well as the general morale among the Jews in 1943: "...After eighteen years I cannot describe this sensation of fear... this thing is ultimately a terror-inspiring fear. People stand facing machine guns, and then... no ability remains to react."

    A blip at 00:54:30 moves the story to witness Abba Kovner on the stand. There is another blip at 00:54:48 and witness Beisky asserts that there is no explanation for the Holocaust. After another blip at 00:55:19, Hausner questions Kovner about a man named Anton Schmid. The Prosecution also asks Kovner about 'Operation Bialystok,' and Kovner's interaction with Schmid. Kovner explains that he met with Schmid to gain knowledge about Nazi leaders, and Schmid stated: "There was one 'dog called Eichmann, and he was organizing all this."

    Following a blip at 00:59:19, witness Dr. Josef Buzminsky describes an incident he observed; Keidash, an SS man murdered a woman pleading for her child's life: "... [He] fired two shots into her stomach, and then he took the child in his hands and tore him apart the way you would tear up a rag."
    Film Title
    Eichmann Trial
    Duration
    01:01:27
    Date
    Event:  1961 April 25
    Production:  1961 April 25-1961 May 04
    Locale
    Jerusalem, Israel
    Credit
    Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of The Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archives of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
    Contributor
    Director: Leo Hurwitz
    Producer: Capital Cities Broadcasting Corporation
    Subject: Eda Lichtman
    Producer: Milton Fruchtman
    Camera Operator: J. Kalach
    Camera Operator: Emil Knebel
    Camera Operator: J. Jonilowicz
    Camera Operator: F. Csaznik
    Camera Operator: Rolf M. Kneller
    Subject: Abba Kovner
    Subject: Zyndel S. Grynszpan
    Biography
    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.
    Born in Sebastopol, Russia, in 1918, he was educated in the Hebrew high school in Vilna and in the school of the arts. At a very young age he became a trainee in the "Hashomer Hatzair" Youth Movement. In 1940-41 when Vilna wast the capital of the Soviet Republic of Lithuania, Kovner was a member of the undergorund organization. After the German occupation in June 1941, Kovner hid with a few friends temporarily in a Dominican convent in the city's suburb. After he returned to the ghetto and became aware of the killing of thousands of Jews, Kovner expressed the idea of revolt and began to build a Jewish force to fight against the Nazis. On the night of December 31, 1941, Kovner read before a meeting of delegates of all Jewsih Youth Movements the following public announcement: "Hitler is plotting to destroy all European Jews. Lithuanian Jews will be the first in line. Let us not be led like sheep to the slaughterhouse. It is right, we are weak and without defense, but the only answer to the enemy is resistance!" It was the first time that Jews were called to defend themselves with arms. On January 21, 1942, the "United Organization of Partisans" was founded in Vilnus. This organization was comprised of memebers of the various youth movements in the Vilna Ghetto. Kovner was a leading member, and after the Chief commander was caught in July 1943, he became the head of the organization. In the days of the last deportation from the Ghetto to the extermination camps, Kovner supervised the escape of the organization fighters to the woods. In Rodniky woods he commanded the Jewish Unit composed of Ghetto fighters and the "Nakam" squadron from the Jewish camp. After the liberation, Kovner remained active in the "Bricha" movement. In 1945 he called on members of the "Eretz Israel Brigade" to support and perform the activities of the "Nakam" (revenge) on the responsible murderers of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. He was arrested and deported to Israel. In 1946 he joined his wife and partner in underground activities, Vitka Kampner, along with other partisans at kibbutz "Ein Hahoresh." He was active during Israel's Independence War in the famous "Givati" brigade. At the end of the war Kovner dedicated most of his time to writing both prose and poetry. Kovner died in 1987.
    Zyndel Shmuel Grynszpan was born in Radomsko, Poland in 1886. He moved to Hanover, Germany with his wife in April 1911; on October 27, 1938, his family was expelled from Germany to Zbaszyn, Poland. His son, Hirsch Feivel Grynszpan lived in Paris at the time. Upon hearing of his family's deportation, Hirsch went to the German Embassy in Paris and shot the Counsellor vom Rath.

    Physical Details

    Language
    English German Hebrew
    Genre/Form
    Unedited.
    B&W / Color
    Black & White
    Image Quality
    Good
    Time Code
    00:00:25:00 to 01:01:52:00
    Film Format
    • Master
    • Master 2028 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2028 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2028 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2028 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
    • Preservation
    • Preservation 2028 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2028 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2028 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2028 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
    Copyright
    Public Domain
    Conditions on Use
    To the best of the Museum's knowledge, this material is in the public domain. You do not require further permission from the Museum to reproduce or use this material.

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Film Provenance
    Capital Cities Broadcasting Corporation recorded the proceedings of the Adolf Eichmann trial in 1961. The original recording was made on two-inch format videotape. One set of videotapes contained selected portions of the trial for distribution to television stations. The "selected portions" version remained in Israel and was later turned over to the Israel State Archives. Capital Cities Broadcasting retained the set of videotapes containing the complete trial proceedings at offices in New York City until 1965, when they gave the videotapes to the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. The Anti-Defamation League, in turn, gave the complete set to the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1972. With a grant from the Revson Foundation, Hebrew University transferred the two-inch videotapes to U-Matic format. During the transfer process, Hebrew University created three duplicate sets. One set was given to the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive, one to the Israel State Archives, and one set to the Jewish Museum in New York City. In 1995, the Israel State Archives transferred the trial footage to digital videoformat with a grant from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. Three subsequent digital videotape copies resulted from this transfer of footage. The Israel State Archives retained one digital copy and a second set was deposited at the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received the third set of digital videotapes in May 1999.
    Note
    See official transcripts, published in "The Trial of Adolf Eichmann", Vol. I-V, State of Israel, Ministry of Justice, Jerusalem, 1994, pp. 207, 208, 324-326, 348, 349, 390, 461, 462. Also available online at the Nizkor Project.
    Copied From
    2" Quad
    Film Source
    Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive
    File Number
    Legacy Database File: 1793
    Source Archive Number: VTEI 202
    Record last modified:
    2024-02-21 07:43:27
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn1001078

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