Eichmann Trial -- Session 94 -- Cross-examination of the Accused

The footage begins in the middle of Session 94 during cross-examination of Adolf Eichmann by Attorney General Gideon Hausner. Hausner questions the accused about how he reacted when he saw the corpses of Germans killed by Allied bombing beginning in 1943. Eichmann recounts the first time he saw dead bodies of Jews (00:01:37). The accused, when questioned about his claim that he asked to be relieved of his duties, states that he had asked Heinrich Mueller for his release (00:04:56). Mueller was head of Section IV (Gestapo) of the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA) and deputy commander of the Security Police and the SD subordinate to Heydrich, and after Heydrich's assassination, to Ernst Kaltenbrunner. Hausner reads a long passage in German from the Sassen document. The Sassen document consisted of transcripts from a series of interviews between Adolf Eichmann and Dutch journalist Willem Sasssen conducted over a four-month period in 1957. Sassen, a former member of the SS, 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. The footage resumes after a break without missing any of the session. Hausner continues to read from the Sassen document. This section duplicates footage found on Tape 2140 (at 00:45:54). A small section of the English translation of the Sassen document is missing and the footage resumes with Hausner asking Eichmann to comment on the passage (00:17:31). After Eichmann reads the document he denies having made the statements attributed to him (00:19:16). This section is duplicate footage also found on Tape 2140 (at 00:55:36). Hausner reads another excerpt from the Sassen document (00:27:05). Part of this segment is hard to see due to visual interference but the audio is intact. There is some visual interference at the beginning of this section although the audio is fine. A small piece of footage is repeated. Hausner asks Eichmann whether he had previously stated that all matters concerning Jews were passed on to department IVB4 (00:32:38) and whether there was a separate file and registry archive in IVB4. Hausner suggests that regardless of whether a document was signed by Heydrich, Mueller, or Kaltenbrunner it was placed in a separate archive if it made a reference to IVB4 (00:35:54). Judge Landau asks Hausner to restate the question for clarity (00:38:51). Hausner asks Eichmann about the number of files housed in the archive and whether his department was a channel for passing information on to Mueller (00:44:39). Eichmann is cross-examined about Mueller's authority and whether or not Helmut Knochen was aware of the difference between Eichmann's and Mueller's areas of responsibility (00:47:23). Knochen was an SS and SD officer in Paris whose duties included concentrating and deporting French Jews to concentration and extermination camps. As part of section VIE (investigation) department of the RSHA he had contact with Eichmann. Eichmann examines a document as he explains the department's filing system. There is a problem with the visual beginning at 00:55:36 to 00:55:58 but the audio is intact. A small portion of the footage is repeated and continues with the discussion of Mueller's and Eichmann's positions of authority and the presentation of documents by the Attorney General. The footage continues without missing any of the session. Cross-examination regarding Mueller's and Eichmann's areas of authority continues.