Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive

Eichmann Trial

Adolf Eichmann Trial Collection

05/25/1961

Jerusalem, Israel

Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive & Israel State Archives

00:42:43

Session 52. Footage begins in the middle of the session with testimony from Pinhas Freudiger (spelled Pinchas on the Nizkor site's version of the transcripts) identifying Eichmann and relating the circumstances under which he first met Eichmann in Budapest. He notes that he had wanted to speak to Krumey and Eichmann's deputy Dieter Wisliceny about stopping the deportations. Eichmann takes notes. There is some confusion about the translation of a German phrase (00:05:15). Various shots of Eichmann, the judge's bench and both the prosecution and defense lawyers.

A portion of the proceedings is missing and footage resumes with Freudiger testifying about his second meeting with Eichmann about the proposed ghettoization of the Hungarian Jews. Medium shots of Eichmann taking notes.

A portion of the proceedings is missing and resumes with Freudiger giving an account of the beginning of mass deportations from the provincial towns.

Cut to later in Freudiger's testimony. Freudiger describes how Eichmann and Wisliceny celebrated the Hungarian Government's agreement to the deportations and discuss how to implement the deportations.

Footage resumes without missing any of the proceedings. State Attorney Gavriel Bach asks Freudiger when he realized that the deportees were being sent to Auschwitz (00:17:25) and when he realized what that meant for the prisoners (00:21:32). Freudiger, his voice choking, speaks about the report about Auschwitz written by two Slovaks who had escaped the camp (00:23:09).

The proceedings continue with Freudiger describing a postcard he received from friends who had been deported. Someone from the audience screams in Hungarian (00:26:08) and is removed from the court. Judge Landau asks for quiet in the courtroom. Another person in the courtroom starts to scream in Yiddish (00:27:22) and is escorted out. Landau stops the session and the judges leave for a recess. Various shots of the courtroom and the lawyer's tables. Hausner and Bach confer with the rest of the prosecution. Defense attorney Dr. Robert Servatius stands by his desk. Views of the audience standing and talking.

Session 53: The remainder of Freudiger's testimony and the rest of the session is missing. Footage begins again with witness Dr. Martin Foeldi in session 53 describing his arrival in Auschwitz with his family.

The remainder of Foeldi's testimony is missing. The footage picks up later in the session with witness Ze'ev Sapir. Sapir describes the march to the camp at Gleiwitz and the murder of most of his contingent by the SS. He then gives an account of how he escaped and shows the court the tattooed number he received in Auschwitz.

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.

*Dropout from severe scratches and slight hum on master.

English
German
Hebrew

Unedited

No

Fair

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.

AUSCHWITZ
BACH, GAVRIEL
COURTS/COURTROOMS
DOCTOR
EICHMANN TRIAL
EICHMANN, ADOLF
FOELDI, MARTIN
FREUDIGER, PINHAS
HALEVI, BENJAMIN
HUNGARY
JUDGE
LANDAU, MOSHE
SAPIR, ZE'EV
SERVATIUS, ROBERT
TATTOOS
TRIALS
WAR CRIMINALS/WAR CRIMES TRIALS
WITNESSES

Leo Hurwitz

Capital Cities Broadcasting

05/25/1961

Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive (SSJFA), VTEI 304

2" Quad

DigiBeta; Betacam SP; VHS

00:00:39 - 00:43:22