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Eichmann Trial -- Session 110 -- Prosecution begins closing statement

Film | Digitized | Accession Number: 1999.A.0087 | RG Number: RG-60.2100.211 | Film ID: 2211

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    Eichmann Trial -- Session 110 -- Prosecution begins closing statement

    Overview

    Description
    Session 110. Waiting for the Judges to enter. 00:04:29 Judges enter and Session 110 begins. 00:05:57 Hausner begins summing up his case. He says that this is the trial of one of the ghoulish personalities which history will forever remember. He reminds everyone of the struggles of the witnesses, of Auschwitz, of religious leaders being degraded, of torturous activities, of murder. He says that man cannot create a nightmare so terrible, and yet it happened, created by Eichmann. He says that after hearing all this, Eichmann got his turn, and 16 years later he does not have one ounce of remorse or regret, and speaks of the suffering of the German people. He does not believe in regret, yet believes that his oath of loyalty justifies his actions.

    00:13:49 Hausner continues, saying that Eichmann denied proven facts as he poured over the documents. He has recanted his own statements and confessions. He has said that documents are forged. He dramatically asks in whose mold have these Nazis been cast? He says that they have been stripped of human compassion, unable to return to normalcy; they are so wrapped in documents and orders. He says that if there is regret, it is because their task was not completed. They could not think morally. They were enthusiastic to carry out the orders they believed in: the Final Solution.

    00:21:00 Hausner, continuing, asks how this happened. He says that a hate-filled dictator can lead his followers wherever he chooses. This created a people who crushed those beneath them and obeyed those above them. These people, in the eyes of their friends and colleagues, remained normal people, even good citizens. He says that Eichmann wanted to hang himself in public as a warning to future generations, which was so different when he wrote of the Final Solution and said that he would jump laughing into the grave at the end of the world, meaning that it was all verbiage. Eichmann admitted to relapsing into his old ways while living in hiding; he would believe in racist murder though there was no leader above him.

    00:27:40 Hausner, continuing, asks that when the time comes to judge Adolf Eichmann, keep in mind the connection of the evidence to the statements and accusations via the proofs that will be admitted. He says that the Holocaust DID happen, that it all did happen, and Eichmann did not dispute a single witness who told only a small fragment of what went on. Eichmann blames everyone else for this though. He references the quote of a child who asked his mother if they could cry yet, and compares the horrors to Dante's Inferno. He says that he will prove that Eichmann aided, abetted, and planned the crime committed by the SS. He was in charge of the practical application of the crimes in all sectors.

    00:34:25 Hausner, continuing, says that this was not planned and committed in one night. It was in three slogans, of removing Jews from Germany, then from Poland into camps, then into the crematorium. This was all began with an open statement by Heydrich, and later Eichmann proclaimed himself the ruler of Jewish light in Austria, and his plan was to eliminate all of them. Many others would copy Eichmann's plans.

    00:47:15 Hausner, continuing, says that Eichmann, by his own words, was enjoying this, felt that he was being constructive, and only after was he remotely apologetic. Tape ends midsentence.
    Film Title
    Eichmann Trial
    Duration
    00:53:44
    Date
    Event:  1961 August 08
    Production:  1961 August 08
    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
    Good
    Time Code
    00:00:42:00 to 00:54:26:00
    Film Format
    • Master
    • Master 2211 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2211 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2211 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
      Master 2211 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - large
    • Preservation
    • Preservation 2211 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2211 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2211 Video: Betacam SP - NTSC - large
      Preservation 2211 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: 2487
    Source Archive Number: VTEI 106
    Record last modified:
    2024-02-21 07:43:51
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn1001891

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