Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive

Eichmann Trial

Adolf Eichmann Trial Collection

04/17/1961

Jerusalem, Israel

Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive & Israel State Archives

00:42:16

Sessions 6, 7 and 8. Attorney General Gideon Hausner continues Section 4 of his opening statement: "IV - The Final Solution of the Jewish Question." At one point during his recitation of Section 4, the Judges interrupt Hausner to ask if they may adjourn; Hausner requests a few more minutes. At 00:40:21, there is a cut from Hausner's speech to Eichmann being led out of the courtroom. The court is adjourned, and the camera focuses on the emptying courtroom as the tape ends.

There is a discrepancy between the trial recording and p. 81 in the official transcripts. In column two, paragraphs two and three are reversed; on camera, Hausner recites paragraph three, followed by paragraph two.

See official transcripts, published in "The Trial of Adolph 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.

English
German
Hebrew

Unedited

No

Good

1999.A.0087 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.

COURTS/COURTROOMS
EICHMANN TRIAL
EICHMANN, ADOLF
HAUSNER, GIDEON
TRIALS

Leo Hurwitz

Capital Cities Broadcasting

April 17, 1961

Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive (SSJFA), VTEI 199

2" Quad

DigiBeta; Betacam SP; VHS

00:00:37 - 00:42:54