Attorney General Opens His Case Against Adolf Eichmann AKA Case Against Eichmann Opened (1961)

Unissued / unused material - dates and locations may be unclear / unknown.



Jerusalem, Israel



Various shots as Nazi war criminal and former SS officer Adolf Eichmann and his guard enter bullet-proof box in courtroom. Eichmann sits down and arranges his papers, hands a note to his guard to pass to counsel. MS Side view, Eichmann nods at his counsel. CU Eichmann. MS Side view, Dr. Robert Servatius's assistant smiles and nods back. Eichmann settles himself and sits quite composed as court assembles. MS. Side view, Dr. Robert Servatius writing.



High shots as the court stands, and the judges enter and take their seats. MS Eichmann puts on headphones. MS Mr. Justice Moshe Landau speaking with simultaneous translation. "I open this sixth session of the trial. It is true that the memory of the catastrophe and the Holocaust stirs every Jew, but when this case has been brought before us it is our duty to restrain those feelings when we sit in judgement in this case. And this duty we shall keep. After weighing all arguments brought by the learned Counsel for the Defence, each Judge finds himself fit to sit in judgement. Will you please ask the accused to rise?" The translator's voice is heard over CU Eichmann's hands clasped, MS Eichmann listening and shots of the judges, with Landau speaking. MS Eichmann stands in box. Various shots, Mr. Justice Landau asks Eichmann if he has heard and understood the indictment which has been read to him. CU Eichmann: (in German) "In the spirit of the indictment, Not Guilty".



Various shots as Israel's Attorney General Gideon Hausner opens his case against Eichmann. MS Eichmann looking tense, listening to accusations of his part in the murder of millions of Jews, he makes notes. MS Side view, Attorney General speaking. MS Eichmann listening as the Attorney General tells of children torn from their mother's arms and their heads smashed on the ground. Various shots of the proceedings as Attorney General Hausner reads out facts and figures of murder and torture in the concentration camps. Cut-away shots of Eichmann listening, also Mr. Justice Landau. CUs of a woman listening through headphones, and crying. "On the summaries of deaths in these districts covering a period of eight months during 1941-42 we obtained a terrible total of over 720,000 Jews murdered".



Note: Date on original record: 20/04/1961. All dialogue is sync sound with simultaneous, possibly courtroom, translation. Powerful documentary material.
FILM ID:3042.26

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