Fritz Bauer Institut · Cinematography of the Holocaust


Eichmann Trial // Session 066.01 - 06-Jun-1961 // Session 066.03 - 06-Jun-1961 // Session 067.02 - 06-Jun-1961 // Session 068.01 - 07-Jun-1961 (VT EI149) [ET]. D: Hurwitz [US, 1961]

ID

FBW003074      Documentary, footage

Country / Year

USA, 1961

Original Title

Eichmann Trial // Session 066.01 - 06-Jun-1961 // Session 066.03 - 06-Jun-1961 // Session 067.02 - 06-Jun-1961 // Session 068.01 - 07-Jun-1961 (VT EI149) [ET]

Other Title(s)

Eichmann-Prozess // Sitzung 066.01 - 06.06.1961 // Sitzung 066.03 - 06.06.1961 // Sitzung 067.02 - 06.06.1961 // Sitzung 068.01 - 07.07.1961 (VT EI149) [άT] (German)
The Trial of Adolf Eichmann [ET]

Directed by

Leo Hurwitz (Bildregie)

Produced by

Capital Cities Broadcasting Corporation, New York, NY

Staff

Producer: Milton Fruchtman; Production assistance: Alan Rosenthal; Camera: Rolf Michael Kneller, Fred Csasznik, Jakub Jonilowicz, Jacob Kalach, Emil Knebel; Camera supervision: Leo Hurwitz

Appearance

Shimon Srebrnik (Zeuge); Gideon Hausner (Generalstaatsanwalt); Moshe Landau (Richter, Vorsitzender des israelischen Obersten Gerichtshofs); Benjamin Halevi (Richter); Yitzhak Raveh (Richter); Adolf Eichmann (Angeklagter); Robert Servatius (Eichmanns Verteidiger); Avraham Lindwasser (Zeuge); David Wdowinski (Zeuge); Yaacov Baror (Staatsanwalt); Yehiel De-Nur (Zeuge); Alfred Oppenheimer (Zeuge)

Length

35'57''

Format

2'' Tape/sw

Dates

- 06 Jun 1961: Shooting period
- 07 Jun 1961: Shooting period

Remarks

1. Zeugenvernehmung Shimon Srebrnik idenlisch enthalten sowohl auf Eichmann Trial // Session 066.01 / 066.02 / 067.01 - 06-Jun-1961 (VT EI311) [ET] als auch Eichmann Trial // Session 066.01 / 066.03 / 067.02 / 068.01 - 06-Jun-1961 / 07-Jun-1961 (VT EI149) [ET].

Abstract

Session No. 066.01 - 06-JUN-1961: Testimony of Shimon Srebrnik (Witness). Session No. 066.03 - 06-JUN-1961: Testimony of Avraham Lindwasser (Witness). Session No. 067.02 - 06-JUN-1961: Testimony of David Wdowinski (Witness). Session No. 068.01 - 07-JUN-1961: Decision regarding films (Decision No. 72) and entrance of Yehiel De-Nur (Witness). Alfred Oppenheimer (Witness).

Subject Terms

Auschwitz (Entire camp complex); Liberation of Auschwitz; Eichmann trial; Gas chambers; Treblinka

Holdings

- Israel State Archive, Jerusalem: 35'00''; DigiBeta
- Israel State Archive, Jerusalem: 35'00''; 2'' Tape
- Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive, Jerusalem: 35'00''; DigiBeta
- USHMM, Washington, DC: 35'00''; DigiBeta

Bibliography

- Kihss, Peter: "Eichmann Trial to Be Seen in TV", in: The New York Times, 14.11.1960
- Shepard, Richard F.: "U.S. TV Networks Irked at Coverage of Eichmann Trial", in: The New York Times, 25.02.1961
- "Eichmann on TV", in: Newsweek (New York, NY), Vol. 57, Nr. 9, 27.02.1961
- "Court Approves Filming of Trial", in: The New York Times, 11.03.1961
- Adams, Val: "News of TV and Radio - Eichmann", in: The New York Times, 09.04.1961
- Gould, Jack: "TV: The Eichmann Trial", in: The New York Times, 10.04.1961
- "TV Trial Films Delayed", in: The New York Times, 12.04.1961
- "Eichmann, Gagarin: 'Instant TV'", in: Variety, 19.04.1961
- Thompson, Howard: "Screen: Stalking A Nazi", in: The New York Times, 04.05.1961
- Dimitman, E.Z.: "How Television Is Watching the Eichmann Trial", in: TV Guide, Vol. 9, Nr. 18, 06.05.1961
- Fellows, Lawrence: "TV Makes It's Israeli Debut with a Tragedy", in: The New York Times, 02.07.1961
- The Holocaust in Books and Films: A Selected, Annotated List, Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (Ed.), 3rd Edition, New York, NY: Hippocrene, 1986
- Watson, Mary Ann: The Expanding Vista: American Television in the Kennedy Years. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1990
- N.N.: The Trial of Adolf Eichmann. Record of Proceedings in the District Court of Jerusalem. Vol. 3, Jerusalem: State of Israel, Ministry of Justice / Israel State Archive / Yad Vashem, 1993
- Thaler, Paul: The Watchful Eye: American Justice in the Age of the Television Trial. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994
- Shandler, Jeffrey: While America Watches: Television and the Holocaust in the United States, from 1945 to the Present. New York, NY: Columbia University (Dissertation), 1995
- Shandler, Jeffrey: While America Watches. Televising the Holocaust. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1999
- Rosenthal, Alan: Jerusalem, Take One! Memoirs of a Jewish Filmmaker. Carbondale / Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000

Contents (detailed)

=== Einstellungsprotokoll (- min/sek):
- 00'31’’ ARCHIV-VORSPANN
=== Sitzung 66.01 - 06.06.1961:
=== [Teil von Verhandlung der Sitzung nicht auf Band]
- 01'07'' Shimon Srebrnik (Zeuge) vor Mikrofon
- 01'13'' Gideon Hausner stehend (Generalstaatsanwalt)
- 01'16'' Srebrnik im Zeugenstand
- 01'19'' Srebrnik (nah)
- 02'03'' Hausner (nah)
- 02'08'' Srebrnik (nah)
- 02'42'' Hausner (nah)
- 02'47'' Srebrnik lδuft zu Moshe Landau (Vorsitzender Richter), Benjamin Halevi (Richter) u. Yizhak Raveh (Richter), Schwenk zu Richtern. Srebrnik lδuft zurόck zu Zeugenstand u. setzt sich
- 03'42'' Hausner
- 03'45'' Srebrnik im Zeugenstand, im Hintergrund Foto von Modell Treblinka
- 04'06'' Adolf Eichman (mit Anzug) mit Kopfhφrern, Hδnde gefaltet im Schoί
- 04'16'' Srebrnik, Hausner unscharf
- 04'30'' Landau
- 04'37'' Srebrnik, Hausner unscharf
- 04'57'' Eichmann (nah)
- 05'01'' Srebrnik
- 05'13'' Eichmann (nah)
- 05'20'' Landau
- 05'24'' Srebrnik (nah)
- 05'37'' Landau
- 05'42'' Gerichtssaal mit Zeugenstand (total), Schwenk zu Srebrnik
- 05'51'' Eichmann (nah)
- 06'00'' Srebrnik (nah), Hausner unscharf
- 06'17'' Hausner
- 06'25'' Srebrnik im Zeugenstand
- 06'33'' Srebrnik (nah), Hausner unscharf. Srebrnik wischt sich mit Taschentuch Trδnen aus Augen. Servatius erhebt sich kurz, unscharf
- 07'23'' Schwarzfilm
=== [Teil von Verhandlung der Sitzung nicht auf Band]
===
=== Sitzung 66.03 - 06.06.1961:
=== [Teil von Verhandlung der Sitzung nicht auf Band]
- 07'23'' Abraham Lindwasser (Zeuge) (nah)
- 07'28'' Gerichtssaal mit Zeugenstand (total)
- 07'32'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 07'44'' Eichmann zurόckgelehnt, Hδnde gefaltet
- 07'47'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 08'13'' Gerichtssaal mit Zeugenstand (total)
- 08'19'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 08'35'' Eichmann (nah)
- 08'39'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 08'54'' Gerichtssaal mit Zeugenstand (total)
- 08'57'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 09'03'' Eichmann (nah)
- 09'11'' Gerichtssaal mit Zeugenstand (total)
- 09'17'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 09'37'' Hausner
- 09'44'' Lindwasser, den Trδnen nahe (nah)
- 11'02'' Landau (nah)
- 11'05'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 11'25'' Landau (nah)
- 11'32'' Gerichtssaal mit Zeugenstand (total)
- 11'35'' Eichmann (nah)
- 11'40'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 11'44'' Gerichtssaal mit Zeugenstand (total)
- 11'48'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 11'55'' Eichmann
- 12'01'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 12'17'' Hausner, Servatius schreibend unscharf
- 12'23'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 12'29'' Landau
- 12'34'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 13'02'' Landau
- 13'06'' Lindwasser (nah)
- 13'12'' Hausner
- 13'14'' Schwarzfilm
=== [Teil von Verhandlung der Sitzung nicht auf Band]
===
=== Sitzung 67.02 - 06.06.1961:
=== [Beginn u. vorangegangene Verhandlung der Sitzung auf Band EICHMANN TRIAL // SESSION 066.01 / 066.02 / 067.01 - 06-JUN-1961 (VT EI311) [ET], 32'18''-61'55'']
- 13'15'' Eichmann
- 13'34'' David Wdowinski (Zeuge)
- 13'41'' Wdowinski (nah)
- 14'29'' Wdowinski im Zeugenstand
- 14'41'' Hausner
- 14'46'' Wdowinski (nah)
- 15'02'' Wdowinski im Zeugenstand
- 15'10'' Hausner (nah)
- 15'13'' Wdowinski (nah)
- 15'25'' Landau
- 15'43'' Hausner setzt sich
- 15'52'' Wdowinski im Zeugenstand
- 15'55'' Servatius setzt sich
- 15'58'' Wdowinski (nah)
- 16'08'' Gerichtssaal mit Zeugenstand (total)
- 16'11'' Landau
- 16'20'' Halevi, Landau u. Raveh
- 16'25'' Wdowinski nimmt seine Tasche u. verlδsst Zeugenstand
- 16'27'' Gerichtssaal mit Zeugenstand (total)
- 16'37'' Servatius
- 16'40'' Landau schreibend
- 16'44'' Eichmann steht auf
- 16'55'' Schwarzfilm
===
- 17'00'' Filmklappe "TRIAL OF ADOLF EICHMANN / DATE: JUNE 7.1961 / SESSION: A.M.I. / Produced by / MILTON FRUCHTMAN / Directed by / LEO HURWITZ / CAPITAL CITIES BROADCASTING CORPORATION"
=== Sitzung 68.01 - 07.06.1961:
- 17'22'' Servatius sitztend, Aufzieher zu Gerichtssaal (total), Schwenk zu Glaskasten
- 18'47'' Glaskasten, Tόr φffnet sich u. Eichmann (mit Anzug) kommt, mit Akten unterm Arm herein, setzt sich u. setzt Kopfhφrer auf
- 19'04'' Servatius mit Kopfhφrern
- 19'12'' Eichmann (nah)
- 19'22'' Servatius
- 19'33'' Eichmann (nah)
- 19'44'' Servatius nickend
- 19'50'' Eichmann, setzt Kopfhφrer ab u. ordnet Unterlagen
- 20'08'' Eichmann im Glaskasten, schaut Unterlagen durch
- 20'20'' Servatius schaut in Unterlagen
- 20'29'' Eichmann schaut in Unterlagen
- 20'36'' Eichmann im Glaskasten, schaut Unterlagen durch, Schwenk zu Gericht, alle erheben sich u. Richter treten ein, Schwenk zu Gerichtssaal
- 21'03'' ARCHIV-VORSPANN
- 21'09'' Eichmann im Glaskasten, schaut Unterlagen durch, Schwenk zu Gericht, alle erheben sich u. Richter treten ein, Schwenk zu Gerichtssaal
- 21'25'' ARCHIV-VORSPANN
- 21'32'' Eichmann im Glaskasten, schaut Unterlagen durch, Schwenk zu Gericht, alle erheben sich u. Richter treten ein, Schwenk zu Gerichtssaal (total)
- 21'55'' Landau wendet sich zu Halevi u. zeigt ihm Unterlagen, Halevi macht Notiz, Landau wendet sich zu Raveh, Raveh macht Notiz
- 22'22'' Landau
- 22'38'' Gerichtssaal
- 22'44'' Servatius, Hausner, Bar'Or
- 22'57'' Landau
- 23'00'' Hausner steht auf
- 23'06'' Hausner
- 23'14'' Yehiel De-nur (Zeuge) geht zum Zeugenstand
- 23'16'' De-nur im Zeugenstand
- 23'17'' Schwarzfilm
=== [Teil von Verhandlung der Sitzung nicht auf Band]
- 23'18'' Alfred Oppenheimer (Zeuge) im Zeugenstand (nah)
- 23'28'' Eichmann (nah) kratzt seine Backe
- 23'36'' Oppenheimer, Hausner unscharf
- 23'55'' Servatius (nah), Stirn in Falten gelegt
- 24'00'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 24'10'' Oppenheimer (nah)
- 24'32'' Hausner stehend
- 24'36'' Oppenheimer (nah)
- 25'38'' Hausner
- 25'40'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 26'04'' Oppenheimer (nah), nimmt Brille ab u. fδhrt mit Hand durchs Gesicht
- 26'26'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand, fδhrt mit Hand durchs Gesicht u. hδlt kurz inne
- 26'29'' Oppenheimer (nah)
- 27'08'' Hausner (nah)
- 27'13'' Oppeneheimer (nah)
- 27'25'' Landau schreibend
- 27'30'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 27'38'' Eichmann
- 27'49'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 28'00'' Weinende Zuschauerin (nah)
- 28'04'' Oppenheimer trinkt Schluck Wasser
- 28'14'' Zwei Zuschauer (nah)
- 28'25'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 28'31'' Zwei Zuschauer (nah)
- 28'38'' Eichmann
- 28'40'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 28'50'' Ein Zuschauer schneuzt sich (nah)
- 28'57'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 29'21'' Ein Zuschauer (nah)
- 29'29'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 29'44'' Servatius, Stirn in Falten
- 29'50'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 29'58'' Zwei Zuschauer (nah)
- 30'12'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 30'27'' Zwei Zuschauer (nah)
- 30'38'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 30'57'' Eichmann
- 31'04'' Oppenheimer (nah), setzt Brille auf, Hausner unscharf
- 31'22'' Hausner schaut in Unterlagen
- 31'33'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 31'40'' Oppenheimer (nah)
- 32'11'' Halevi, Landau u. Raveh
- 32'15'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 32'42'' Hausner
- 32'50'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 33'00'' Hausner
- 33'13'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 33'21'' Hausner
- 33'27'' Oppenheimer im Zeugenstand
- 33'31'' Oppenheimer (nah)
- 33'34'' Halevi, Landau u. Raveh
- 33'51'' Oppenheimer (nah)
- 34'05'' Servatius
- 34'10'' Oppenheimer (nah)
- 34'33'' Eichmann
- 34'40'' Oppenheimer (nah)
- 34'51'' Eichmann όberprόft Kopfhφrer
- 34'55'' Oppenheimer (nah)
- 35'33'' Servatius
=== [Teil von Verhandlung der Sitzung nicht auf Band]
- 35'44'' ARCHIV-VORSPANN
- 35'57'' Ende
===
=== Tonprotokoll Engl. άbersetzung (- min/sek):
=== Sitzung 66.01 - 06.06.1961:
=== [Teil von Verhandlung der Sitzung nicht auf Band]
- 01’07’’ Hausner: What happened to the others?
- 01’09’’ Srebrnik: The rest of us we worked. There were twenty artisans who worked for them, there were twenty-seven members of the Hauskommando, of the Waldkommando and Hauskommando together. We dismantled the camp, all the huts, we cleaned everything, and in the winter this was in January 1945 they opened the door. Meister Lenz said: "Five people out!" I always used to run I was the youngest, so I ran. I did not even put on my trousers I went in underpants and vest only. I went outside, together with another young man from Czechoslovaki. He was a doctor. He immediately went into a state of shock he began to sing and dance. Then Meister Lenz asked Hans Bothmann where they should be made to lie down. Bothmann replied: "A little further away." He then told us to lie down. I lay down. The first five of us lay down. We lay there with our backs upwards, I heard the first shot, and then I began moving my head. There was a second shot and suddenly, with the third, I was hit by a bullet
- 02’42’’ Hausner: Where did the bullet strike you?
- 02’44’’ Srebrnik: Here
- 02’50’’ Hausner: Show it to the Court
- 03’24’’ Srebrnik: I remained lying down. Each time he passed by, walking with his ear to the ground so that he could hear whether anybody was still moving. When there was some kind of movement, he would pull out his revolver and shoot once again. After several minutes, I regained consciousness, and when I saw him approaching, I held my breath I did not breathe. I lay there. The second group of five came out. They were shot; there was a third group, and they were shot. There was a soldier standing near us to guard the dead; if there was still someone who was alive or who wanted to escape then he would shoot him. Then I escaped. I escaped and entered a stable belonging to some gentile there. I remained there until the liberation. When the Russians arrived, I was sitting there looking outside through a hole in the stable wall. I did not know whether this was a dream or reality; then someone came inside and opened the door I did not have time to look. He opened the door, he had a large moustache, and he said to me: "You can go out the Russians have already arrived." I went out, and then the commander of the Russians who had occupied Dabie brought a doctor. The doctor said I had no chance of survival, I could live another twelve or twenty-four hours "He has no chance of living, since he has received a bullet in his spine." At first sight, they thought that the wound had passed near the spine. Then they said: "He cannot live more than twelve hours." After thirty-six hours had passed and I was still alive, they realized that the bullet had penetrated not far from the spine
- 05’41’’ Hausner: You were also wounded in the nose is that correct?
- 05’45’’ Srebrnik: Yes. My nose was cut open in two places. I asked the doctors how this happened, and they told me that when the shot hit me, I must instinctively have raised my head, and afterwards it dropped downwards, and apparently there was some piece of glass there, and I received these cuts
- 06’15’’ Hausner: What happened to your mother, Mr. Srebrnik?
- 06’22’’ Srebrnik: In one of the sorting operations in which I was engaged I used to sort bags which contained documents, gold and silver I was examining a particular bag, and there I found photographs of my mother
- 06’44’’ Hausner: Does this wound still bother you occasionally?
- 06’51’’ Srebrnik: Yes
- 06’54’’ Hausner: And have you managed to forget what you went through?
- 07’01’’ Srebrnik: No. I don't sleep at night, I cannot sleep at night. I am constantly being haunted
- 07’11’’ Landau: Dr. Servatius, do you have any questions?
- 07’16’’ Servatius: No, I have no questions to the witness
=== [Teil von Verhandlung der Sitzung nicht auf Band]
===
=== Sitzung 66.03 - 06.06.1961:
=== [Teil von Verhandlung der Sitzung nicht auf Band]
- 07’21’’ Raveh: It was Treblinka 2
- 07’27’’ Hausner: What did you think it was?
- 07’30’’ Lindwasser: At the beginning, when I entered the place I was brought in by a German, also one of the SS whose name I subsequently learned was Matthias. He took me inside, and we were immediately ordered to take hold of bodies and drag them towards the graves. At first, I thought that the corpses came from the freight cars, people who had died, who were suffocated in the cars, and I was certain that they were undergoing some kind of disinfection here and then buried
- 08’13’’ Hausner: Towards evening, you again came across the Hauptmann with the glasses?
- 08’20’’ Lindwasser: Correct
- 08’21’’ Hausner: What did he say to you when he saw that you were dragging bodies?
- 08’24’’ Lindwasser: Why was I carrying bodies? After all, I was a dentist
- 08’29’’ Hausner: You were a dentist?
- 08’31’’ Lindwasser: Yes. But that was the first time I heard this word "dentist"
- 08’33’’ Hausner: What did he do to you?
- 08’36’’ Lindwasser: He pulled me by the sleeve, seized me by the hand, by the sleeve, dragged me by force, again with blows I want to stress this, although I have already stressed it and he brought me to a well. Next to the well, there were basins with gold teeth and also pairs of forceps for extracting teeth. He ordered me to take a pair of forceps and to extract the teeth from the bodies by the side of the cabins
- 09’13’’ Hausner: This was adjoining the gas chambers?
- 09’15’’ Lindwasser: Next to the small gas chambers
- 09’24’’ Hausner: Before the men transferred the bodies to the pit?
- 09’27’’ Lindwasser: Before they were taken to the pits
- 09’32’’ Hausner: And you did this?
- 09’34’’ Lindwasser: Yes
- 09’42’’ Hausner: And you were doing this work until the outbreak of the revolt in Treblinka?
- 09’47’’ Lindwasser: Not exactly. I was occupied in this work for approximately one month, a month and a half, perhaps less, perhaps more, until once I recognized my sister's body
- 10’10’’ Hausner: She was lying there, dead?
- 10’13’’ Lindwasser: Yes
- 10’27’’ Hausner: What did you do then?
- 10’42’’ Lindwasser: Then, the commander of our group was Dr. Zimmermann; I asked him to take me back to the cabin, I could not continue with this
- 10’59’’ Landau: Who was this Zimmermann?
- 11’03’’ Lindwasser: Dr. Zimmermann was the Kapo of the dentists
- 11’09’’ Landau: A Jewish Kapo?
- 11’12’’ Lindwasser: A Jewish Kapo, yes, but nevertheless one deserving of commendation
- 11’15’’ Landau: What did you request of him?
- 11’17’’ Lindwasser: That he should take me off teeth extraction and put me on to cleaning the teeth in the cabin, inside the building where we were living
- 11’38’’ Landau: And you were transferred there?
- 11’39’’ Lindwasser: Yes
- 11’45’’ Hausner: How much gold from teeth was sent out of Treblinka each week?
- 11’51’’ Lindwasser: Each week two suitcases were sent off, each of them containing about eight to ten kilograms
- 11’59’’ Hausner: Where were they sent to?
- 12’01’’ Lindwasser: They were delivered again to this Matthias, who was the chief of our camp in fact, the chief of our barracks, of the building where we lived and he told us that they were dispatching them to Berlin
- 12’18’’ Hausner: Were they gold teeth only?
- 12’20’’ Lindwasser: Gold teeth and also false teeth, that is to say, they were removed from the artificial frame
- 12’29’’ Landau: They used to remove false teeth as well?
- 12’32’’ Lindwasser: False teeth as well
- 12’34’’ Landau: Made of what material?
- 12’35’’ Lindwasser: The artificial frame itself..
- 12’44’’ Landau: What was the value of this material?
- 12’48’’ Lindwasser: For them, the value was evidently that of the teeth only, for they ordered us to throw the artificial frames into the pits. We used to remove the teeth only, with a flame. We used to heat them, the teeth would come out, and the frames were thrown into the pits
- 13’03’’ Landau: You removed the gold teeth from the frames?
- 13’06’’ Lindwasser: Not only gold porcelain also
- 13’12’’ Hausner: Rings, wedding rings? Did you handle those?
=== [Teil von Verhandlung der Sitzung nicht auf Band]
===
=== Sitzung 67.02 - 06.06.1961:
=== [Beginn u. vorangegangene Verhandlung der Sitzung auf Band EICHMANN TRIAL // SESSION 066.01 / 066.02 / 067.01 - 06-JUN-1961 (VT EI311) [ET], 32'18''-61'55'']
- 13’20’’ David Wdowinski: He added: "This was against the wish and the orders," I don't remember exactly "of a certain senior officer whose name was Adolf Eichmann."
- 13’24’’ Hausner: Is that what Hoffmann said? Two final questions. When you were in Budzyn in 1944, on the eve of the Passover Festival, you baked matzot is that correct?
- 13’40’’ Wdowinski: Correct
- 13’42’’ Hausner: How did you manage to do that?
- 13’44’’ Wdowinski: We baked matzot; as I have mentioned, we had two rabbis in our group. We baked the matzot in an oven where we were working. We carried the matzot over on our persons. Two of us were caught. By now there was a new commandant his name was Leopold, an Obersturmfuehrer. He ordered them to be beaten, and he himself beat them. One of them was Rabbi Stockhammer, who was struck on the naked body. The second one was some doctor. On the other side of the barbed-wire fence, there was a barracks of German soldiers who had returned from the front
- 14’42’’ Hausner: Soldiers of the Wehrmacht?
- 14’44’’ Wdowinski: Yes. When they saw this going on, they called out to Leopold: “You hero with the Jews, you had better go to the front!”. A few days after this, there was an incident where his toe had suffered an injury from his revolver. And then they said: "He should really have gone to the front," and the soldiers said to the other Germans across the fence that he had done this deliberately, in order to avoid military service
- 15’30’’ Landau: We must draw a distinction between matters that would be very convincing to everyone except a jurist
- 15’40’’ Hausner: With all due respect, I think that this provides a certain background. I did not always want to interrupt him
- 15’55’’ Servatius: I have no questions to the witness
- 16’10’' Landau: Dr. Wdowinsky, as I said to a previous witness, my remarks referred to the legal weight of some of the matters you related. I hope that you, too, understood this. With this, you have concluded your testimony. The next Session will be at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning
-16'55'' End
===
=== Sitzung 68.01 - 07.06.1961:
- 22’23’’ Landau: I declare the sixty-eighth Session of the trial open. Decision No. 72. We confirm the request of the Attorney General and will permit the exhibition of films to illustrate the evidence of the Prosecution witnesses, on condition that the films will be sufficiently authenticated. For reasons of security, because of the blacking-out of the hall during the screening, the public, with the exception of journalists, will not be permitted to be in the Courtroom at the time of the screening
- 13’00’’ Hausner: I would ask Mr. Dinur to mount the witness stand
- 23’16’’ Landau: Do you speak Hebrew?
- 23'17'' Schwarzfilm
=== [Teil von Sitzung fehlt auf Band]
- 27’37’’ Oppenheimer: The next morning there was another roll-call and we were told that we would be moving off in half an hour, we should all get ready at the double. But I had a very painful injury of the groin, I could not walk any more, I told the two friends who had supported me throughout the whole long march that they should go on alone, because I really could no longer lift my legs, and by then I no longer cared where I died and I would rather die here than on the road. These two friends said that in that case they would prefer to stay with me rather than going with the transport, and we lay down on beds in another barracks and tried to sleep. The SS marched off, we knew that, with all the prisoners, with almost all of them, there were a few prisoners left, in this or that barracks, in our barracks there were perhaps another ten or fifteen prisoners, who were also incapable of marching with the rest and who had remained behind. Suddenly, it was early in the afternoon and we had slept like the dead, someone rushed in and shouted, "Quick, quick, get a move on, the SS are coming back." I was so worked up and agitated that nothing hurt me any more, we all jumped up and the two friends next to me I took them with me, the latrine was opposite, and we hid ourselves there in the latrine. We watched through the cracks and saw what happened; naturally we were terribly worked up and we saw how shots were fired from above, they fired downwards, and the barracks we could only see a small section through the cracks, but the three barracks which were immediately opposite us were set on fire and the SS men then stationed themselves at machine guns and anything that ran out was shot down. Those who remained inside were burnt alive, of course. We were afraid that the latrine would also catch fire or that the SS would come in and see us, and then we jumped over the board and down into the pit, and that was the stupidest thing that we could have done. Because you very simply sink slowly down and you have no idea how deep it is, how long it will take until you can stand. When I was this deep in the mire I felt solid ground beneath my feet. The smell of the burning wool, of the crackling wood, of those who had been shot and were not yet dead, who had run out of the barracks I believe that that was the worst thing that I went through in the concentration camp. It was even worse than the moment when I was sentenced to death
- 31’25’’ Hausner: Mr. Oppenheimer, how long did you hide there?
- 31’37’’ Oppenheimer: I do not know, I cannot say, there are moments which you cannot measure in terms of time. It felt like ten years it might have been two hours, three or four hours, in any case it was already well into dusk, but the dusk came fairly early, until we heard people saying outside, in front of the barracks, that all the camp gates were open, the SS had left, they were prisoners who were talking, there were still a fair number of prisoners who just like us, by some miracle, had been saved like me, not all the barracks had been set on fire, it was just the barracks opposite the latrine. After that we called for help, several of our fellow prisoners came over and helped to pull us out, we washed ourselves down with snow there was no water as best we could
- 32’45’’ Hausner: And after that the Soviet army came and liberated you?
- 32’50’’ Oppenheimer: Yes, and it took several more days
- 33’10’’ Hausner: Blechhammer was part of the Auschwitz camp?
- 33’16’’ Oppenheimer: Yes
- 33’20’’ Hausner: And what did you weigh when you were liberated?
- 33’25’’ Oppenheimer: Thirty nine kilograms. The Russians weighed me when I was liberated from the concentration camp
- 35’30’’ Landau: Dr. Servatius, do you have any questions?
- 35’34’’ Servatius: I have a question. Witness, you said that on the journey from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, this railway journey
- 35'57'' End
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=== Erfassung lt.: N.N.: The Trial of Adolf Eichmann. Record of Proceedings in the District Court of Jerusalem, Vol. 3, Jerusalem: State of Israel, Ministry of Justice / Israel State Archive / Yad Vashem, 1993, redigiert