Eichmann Trial -- Selections from sessions 93 and 94 -- Cross-examination of the Accused

The footage begins in the middle of Session 93. Judges Landau, Halevi, and Raveh are seated at the bench. Assistant State Attorneys Bach and Bar-Or are seated at the prosecution table. Robert Servatius is seated at the defense table. Cross-examination of Adolf Eichmann by Attorney General Gideon Hausner continues. Eichmann is asked if the testimonies from Rudolf Hoess, Karl Heinz Hoffmann, Dieter Wisliceny, Rudolf Mildner, and Alfred Six submitted in his defense were truthful or whether these men gave false testimony. A small portion of the session is missing and footage resumes with Hausner questioning the accused about instructions for deportations given after the Wannsee Conference and whether or not these instructions were part of the Final Solution. Eichmann states that they were and Hausner proceeds to tell the accused that the Final Solution depended upon two factors 1) the number of places available in the East for absorption of the Jews into camps and 2) the number of trains available to carry out the deportations. This is duplicate footage also found on Tape 2138 (at 01:00:07) and 2139 (at 00:00:35). The footage on Tape 2140 is less complete. A large section of the session is missing and footage resumes with Eichmann being questioned about his application to the Foreign Ministry for the prevention of emigration of Romanian Jews. Hausner presents the case of Karl Heinz Klinger (00:14:21). When Klinger escaped to Budapest, Eichmann contacted the Foreign Ministry and asked for the man to be extradited. The footage from 00:10:06 to 00:18:24 is duplicate footage also found on Tape 2139 (at 00:30:02). The footage on Tape 2139 is more complete. Another large section is missing and the footage continues with Hausner asking Eichmann a series of questions about how often he visited Auschwitz, if he spoke with the camp commandant Hoess, and whether Hoess visited him in Budapest. Hausner also asks what they discussed in their meetings, particularly whether the two discussed the absorption of deportees (00:19:24). Hausner continues to question Eichmann about the deportations and presents documents which imply that deported Jews were being exterminated. Hausner yells his questions to Eichmann as he becomes more and more agitated by Eichmann's evasive answers. A large section of the session is missing and resumes with Eichmann recounting when he learned about the murders being carried out by the Einsatzgruppen units. Hausner questions the accused about whether the Final Solution applied to all Jews or only the Jews in Germany (00:27:06). The Attorney General accuses Eichmann of deceiving the Jews by telling them that they were being resettled when he knew that they were to be exterminated (00:28:10). This is duplicate footage also found on Tape 2144 (at 00:37:06 to 00:42:15). The footage on Tape 2144 is more complete. The footage resumes in the middle of Session 94. Eichmann is questioned about the early evacuation and liquidation of all ghettos with the exception of the Budapest ghetto. This is duplicate footage also found on Tape 2142 (at 00:40:23). The footage on Tape 2142 is more complete than on this Tape 2140. Some of the session is missing and footage continues with further cross-examination of the accused. This entire section is duplicate footage also found on Tape 2142 beginning at 00:58:02. Hausner, continuing with the subject of deportations, asks Eichmann if his section was aware of the number of people being deported and that people were dying en route. Judge Halevi asks if there was any way Eichmann could have prevented the people from dying in the transports. Eichmann testifies that there was nothing he could have done but Hausner notes that he was in charge of determining the number of people in each car. Hausner reads a quote from the Sassen document describing the accused's indifference to the deaths. The Sassen document consisted of a set of tapes and their transcripts from interview sessions between Dutch journalist Willem Sassen and Adolf Eichmann over a four-month period in 1957. Sassen, a former SS man, had been attached to an Einsatzgruppe unit during the war. Following the war he was sentenced to death in his own country. Sassen fled to South America where he met and interviewed Eichmann. The tapes and transcripts were referred to throughout the trial. A portion of the session is missing. The remaining footage consists of Hausner reading segments from the Sassen document which indicate the accused's satisfaction with his work in the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA). Eichmann denies that he made the statements and testifies that he was under the influence of alcohol. The Attorney General dismisses Eichmann's answer by stating that the document does not give that impression.