Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 6, 7 and 8 -- Hausner's opening statement
Creator(s)
- Milton Fruchtman (Producer)
- Emil Knebel (Camera Operator)
- F. Csaznik (Camera Operator)
- Leo Hurwitz (Director)
- Capital Cities Broadcasting Corporation (Producer)
- J. Kalach (Camera Operator)
- Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive
- J. Jonilowicz (Camera Operator)
- Rolf M. Kneller (Camera Operator)
Biographical History
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.
Scope and Content
Sessions 6, 7 and 8. Footage of an empty courtroom. It is before session 8; the camera focuses on the audience members as they take their seats. Attorney General Gideon Hausner sits at his desk readying himself for the next session. The Judges enter the courtroom and open the trial. Hausner continues his opening statement with Section 7 - "The Extermination in Northern, Western, and Southern Europe." He details the anti-Jewish campaign in Western Europe, instigated by Eichmann's department: "...anti-Jewish legislation, depriving the Jews of human and civil rights; identification of Jews by compelling them to wear the badge of shame; theft of Jewish property; and finally-deportation of the Jews for extermination." Hausner discusses European acts of defiance such as Dutch citizens wearing yellow Stars of David to show support and solidarity for the Jews. The prosecution notes the Nazi confusion of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish communities in Holland; were the Spanish and Portuguese real Jews? Eichmann's department deemed them full Jews, and therefore "subject to extermination with the rest of their brethren." Specifics are provided about the extermination campaign in Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and France. Hausner states: "Of the 800 Norwegian Jews deported, 21 survived." Hausner claims the prosecution will prove Eichmann's direct responsibility for the extermination of thousands of Belgium Jews. The tape skips at 00:54:18 when the prosecution continues with a description of deportations in Yugoslavia, Croatia, and Slovakia.
Note(s)
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 http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/e/eichmann-adolf/transcripts/Sessions/. The dialogue is in three languages: German, Hebrew, and English. Adolf Eichmann and Defense Counsel Robert Servatius speak in German, which is translated into Hebrew. The Judges and Attorney General Gideon Hausner speak Hebrew. An English translation of the proceedings is dubbed over all of the dialogue by translators. The presiding Judges are Moshe Landau, Benjamin Halevi, and Yitzchak Raveh. Also present are Assistant State Attorneys Gabriel Bach and Ya'akov Bar-Or. There are periodic breaks in the footage.
Subjects
- TRIALS
- COURTS/COURTROOMS
- EICHMANN TRIAL
- HAUSNER, GIDEON
- PROSECUTORS
- EICHMANN, ADOLF
Places
- Jerusalem, Israel
Genre
- Unedited.
- Film