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Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 53, 62, 63 and 64 -- Excerpts from diary of Grand Mufti Hajj Amin Al-Husseini and other witnesses

Film | Digitized | Accession Number: 1999.A.0087 | RG Number: RG-60.2100.066 | Film ID: 2065

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    Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 53, 62, 63 and 64 -- Excerpts from diary of Grand Mufti Hajj Amin Al-Husseini and other witnesses

    Overview

    Description
    Session 53. Witness Margit Reich is questioned by State Attorney Gavriel Bach. Bach asks about correspondence she received from her husband after he was sent to the Kistarcsa camp in Hungary. She reads from a postcard thrown from a train and a letter written on toilet paper that she received from him.

    Footage cuts to Session 62 at 00:10:44. Witness testimony from Leslie Gordon. The witness speaks in English, which is translated into Hebrew. He tells of being put to forced labor in Buczacz, Hungary, where the SS and SD forced him to dig ditches. A German truck painted with the words "Deutsche Winterhilfe" was present. More Jews equipped with shovels and tools arrived and are instructed to disrobe. They are then executed and buried in the trenches.

    Footage cuts to Session 63 at 00:18:12. Submission of documents (camera focuses on one document) from the diary of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, who virulently opposed Jewish settlement in Palestine and became an ally of the Nazis) concerning the "Jews of Italy, France, and Hungary." Hausner submits two photographs, which show Himmler and the Grand Mufti, into evidence. Black screen with the words "Eichmann Trial" interrupts the video at certain points and the testimony of Leslie Gordon is inserted briefly. Some of the footage about the Grand Mufti is repeated. Hausner reads from a cable sent from Himmler to the Mufti. Video freezes from 00:25:54 to 00:26:04.

    Session 64. Footage resumes with the testimony of witness Ya'akov Friedman. Eichmann is shown taking notes as Friedman testifies. The witness describes his release from Majdanek, where he had been imprisoned as a Polish Christian (00:26:58). Eichmann's defense lawyer, Robert Servatius, asks Friedman when he concluded that he had seen Eichmann in the camp and Friedman replies that he saw Eichmann at a specific roll call. Servatius and Judge Landau question Friedman further about Eichmann's uniform. The footage is cut at 00:33:30 and resumes with testimony from witness Dov Freiberg. Freiberg testifies about the camp band and forced singing in Sobibor. He quotes at length from an anti-Semitic German song that the prisoners were forced to sing. He describes the torture prisoners endured in Sobibor. He is then asked about the day Himmler visited the camp. Footage cuts at 00:47:44 and resumes with testimony from witness Freiberg later in the proceedings. Freiberg describes how the Germans deceived victims until they were sent to the gas chambers. He testifies about a transport of victims from Majdanek who arrived as "human skeletons" He identifies a man in a picture as the first camp commandant Christian Wirth. Freiberg leaves the witness stand. Court adjourns and people stand. Eichmann is escorted out and the camera zooms in to show the empty booth.
    Film Title
    Eichmann Trial
    Duration
    00:54:24
    Date
    Event:  May 25-June 5, 1961
    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
    Mixed
    Time Code
    00:00:40:00 to 00:55:04:00
    Film Format
    • Master
    • Master 2065 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2065 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2065 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2065 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
    • Preservation
    • Preservation 2065 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2065 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2065 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2065 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.

    *Testimony of Leslie Gordon repeats. Appears first at 00:11:08, and again at 00:20:41.
    Copied From
    2" Quad
    Film Source
    Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive
    File Number
    Legacy Database File: 2269
    Source Archive Number: VTEI 197
    Record last modified:
    2024-02-21 07:46:29
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn1001682

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