Advanced Search

Learn About The Holocaust

Special Collections

My Saved Research

Login

Register

Help

Skip to main content

Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 50 and 51 -- Lidice; Witness B. Steiner; Hungary documents

Film | Digitized | Accession Number: 1999.A.0087 | RG Number: RG-60.2100.062 | Film ID: 2061

Search this record's additional resources, such as finding aids, documents, or transcripts.

No results match this search term.
Check spelling and try again.

results are loading

0 results found for “keyward

    Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 50 and 51 -- Lidice; Witness B. Steiner; Hungary documents

    Overview

    Description
    Footage begins early in the proceedings of Session 50 with State Attorney Gavriel Bach requesting the court to allow him to submit evidence of the murder of the children of Lidice. The inhabitants of Lidice were murdered in 1942 in retaliation for the assasination of Reinhard Heydrich.

    Footage resumes with testimony from witness Bedrich Steiner who gives approxmate statistics of the number of Jews deported from Slovakia in 1942, how many of them were children, the numbers that went to various camps, and the number killed by the Einstazgruppen. There are various shots of the judges and the translators but the camera mostly stays on Steiner. Steiner estimates that the total number of Slovakian Jews killed was about 71,000 or 80% of the population (00:15:27). He states the approximate total value of Jewish property plundered in Slovakia.

    Shot of Eichmann taking notes. Testimony from Dr. Steiner continues although a portion of the proceedings are missing. Steiner discusses the documentation album he edited, which contains information about the Holocaust in Slovakia. The album is admitted into evidence. Many photographs from this album are shown, including: the deportation of the Jews of Slovakia (00:20:40); Wisliceny and Ludin (00:21:23); a vandalized synagogue (00:22:45); desecrated Jewish gravestones (00:23:41); a diagram showing where certain transports came from and where they went (00:24:55); Abba Kovner (00:30:33); the list of names of people buried in a mass grave (00:32:22) The witness is questioned about certain photos of Auschwitz (they are not shown) and he tells how he acquired these pictures.

    Session 51. Shot of Eichmann sitting in the booth. The proceedings begin near the middle of Session 51, with Bach asking the court to look at the case of Hungary. The next section covers the submission of several documents pertaining to pre-March 1944 Hungary (00:35:46)

    Footage skips the remainder of the document submissions and resumes with witness Pinhas Freudiger walking up to the stand. Freudiger states that he is a native of Budapest and worked in a textile factory founded by his grandfather.

    A large part of Freudiger's testimony is missing and the proceedings resume with questions about when Freudiger first learned of the negotiations with Wisliceny, which consisted of an attempt by the Jewish community to stop the deportations. He states that he was aware of who Eichmann was in 1942 (00:45:03). Freudiger then gives an account of the events of March 19, 1944 (the day the Germans entered Hungary) and the days immediately following. He discusses his meetings with Wisliceny to determine how they were going to deal with Hungarian Jewry (00:49:00) and the formation of a Jewish central committee in which he participated (00:56:14). Freudiger then gives an account of the first arrests made by the Germans, noting that they were not limited to Jews but also included Social Democrats, anti-Nazis, and selected journalists (00:57:16). Footage ends with Freudiger describing his first direct conversations with Wisliceny (01:00:28)
    Film Title
    Eichmann Trial
    Duration
    01:01:50
    Date
    Event:  1961 May 24
    Production:  1961 May 24
    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: Milton Fruchtman
    Camera Operator: Rolf M. Kneller
    Camera Operator: F. Csaznik
    Camera Operator: J. Jonilowicz
    Camera Operator: J. Kalach
    Camera Operator: Emil Knebel
    Producer: Capital Cities Broadcasting Corporation
    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.

    Physical Details

    Language
    English German Hebrew
    Genre/Form
    Unedited.
    B&W / Color
    Black & White
    Image Quality
    Poor
    Time Code
    00:01:09:00 to 01:02:59:00
    Film Format
    • Master
    • Master 2061 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2061 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2061 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2061 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
    • Preservation
    • Preservation 2061 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2061 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2061 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2061 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. Also available online at the Nizkor Project.
    Copied From
    2" Quad
    Film Source
    Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive
    File Number
    Legacy Database File: 2164
    Source Archive Number: VTEI 303
    Record last modified:
    2024-02-21 07:46:37
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn1001584

    Download & Licensing

    In-Person Research

    Contact Us