The Eichmann Trial

By

Max Havlin

 

Introduction

This research blog explores the ins and outs of the Eichmann Trial in 1961 and how the world and a couple specific philosophers perceived the Trial. The Trial itself was held in Israel and was for Adolf Eichmann, previously a Nazi SS officer in charge of the transportation of Jews, Gypsies, and other Eastern European people from Ghettos and encampments to Nazi killing concentration camps like Auschwitz.

The blog itself is divided into three parts: background information on the Final Solution, the trial proceedings, and reactions from the public and writers Hannah Arendt and Gideon Hausner. Each section is followed by an annotated bibliography that specifically helped with its corresponding section. At the very end of the page is a full annotated bibliography alphabetically organized along with further readings that have not be researched yet.

In terms on what my argument will be for my final paper, it is yet to be determined. Most likely it will revolve around Arendt, Hausner, and public reaction (leaning towards United States).

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The Final Solution

The Setting

Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941, Adolf Hitler gave Heinrich Himmler, the SS Chief, permission to begin preparing the Final Solution. Himmler designated several top SS (Nazi Protection Squadron) officers jobs to begin the process of essentially eliminating all the Jews in Nazi occupied lands. One of these officers, Adolf Eichmann, was in charge of the transportation system that would pick up and deliver Jews to concentration camps where by the end of World War II, millions of Jews and other “enemies of the Third Reich” perished.

After WWII, many of the SS officers alluded capture or committed suicide so not to face their crimes. Because of this, neither Himmler nor Eichmann were charged with many other high ranking officials during the Nuremberg Trials from 1945-1946. While Himmler died before capture, Eichmann escaped to Argentina seeking refuge with his family. Ultimately he was captured and brought to Israel to face trial in 1961.

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Those Involved

Heinrich Himmler:

Born in 1900, Himmler grew up enthralled with the German military. Hoping to join the military during World War I, he completed his training just when the Versailles Peace Treaty restricted his entrance. Disappointed, he eventually became involved with the Nazi Party in 1923 where he stood alongside Hitler as gained power and was rewarded with the chief position of the SS party in 1929. His power amounted when he was appointed Chief of German Police in 1936. Infused with Anti-Semitism and orders from Hitler, he commanded the overall operations of the Final Solution. His atrocities towards the Jewish people, Gypsies, and the disabled were never brought on trial because he committed suicide on May 23rd, 1945.

 

Adolf Eichmann:

Born six years after Himmler, Eichmann would travel a very different path. Eichmann bounced around Austria working at several different jobs over the course of around ten years when finally he joined the SS in 1933 and began a career in facilitating emigration. Six years later, he was heading Gestapo operations in transporting over 1.5 million Jews to concentration camps. After receiving orders from his Superiors, he began designing and implementing a vast transportation network to fulfill the desired results of the Final Solution. When WWII ended, he fled to Argentina where he remained hidden with his family for fourteen years. Then in 1960, he was captured by the Israeli Secret Service and brought to Israel to face trial for his involvement with the Final Solution. In 1961, he was found guilty and hung June 1st, 1962.

 

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Those Affected By The Final Solution

Jews

The Jewish people were the main recipient of the the Final Solution. No matter what age, sex, economic power, and regional background, every person connected with Judaism was sought out and sent to their death by means of gas chambers, starvation, or shootings. In numbers, by 1945 approximately six million European Jews had been killed with many more dying after WWII from ailments and starvation before being helped by Allied Nations. The repercussions of such a tragedy resulted in near depletion of Jewish population in Eastern Europe. Western Europe and Palestine saw a rise of Jewish population during and following the war as Jewish families and people escaped the Nazi Regime. The rise of Jews in Palestine in particular helped in creating the Jewish State of Israel in 1948, three years following the war’s end.

 

Gypsies and the Disabled

Along with the Jews, Gypsies and disabled people were rounded up and were sent to their deaths during the Final Solution. Around 25% of the Gypsy population in Europe was killed and thousands upon thousands of the disabled were euthanized. Although their numbers do not reach the numbers of Jews that died, it is important to note that the lasting legacy of the Final Solution does not just reside over the Jewish people but also other smaller groups that the Nazi Regime thought as vermin.

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Annotated Bibliography for the Final Solution

As a secondary source, the USHMM website is a valuable collection of facts and figures of the Final Solution. It is a great tool for framing together the big picture while reading and researching the topic at hand.

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Another great database of information of the Holocaust with a great bio of Adolf Eichmann.

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  • Manvell, Roger, and Heinrich Fraenkel. Himmler. New York: Putnam, 1965. Print.

Manvell and Fraenkel’s Himmler is their third and final biography on Hitler’s main officers of the Third Reich. It is a comprehensive biography of the rise of Himmler beginning with his early education to his eventual end. The chapter named Final Solution proved to very useful in connecting his relationship with Eichmann.

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  • Padfield, Peter. Himmler. New York: MJF, 1997. Print.

Padfield’s biography of Himmler is a lengthy 612 pages that goes into great detail of Himmler’s involvement in the Nazi party and his relationships with his superiors and his subordinates. The chapters on the Final Solution paints a picture of Himmler where not all of the Final Solution actions were under his control. It provides a great background reference to the behind the scenes action of the Final Solution for the Trial of Eichmann.

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  • Pringle, Heather Anne. The Master Plan: Himmler’s Scholars and the Holocaust. New York: Hyperion, 2006. Print.

Pringle explores the politics and science behind the actions of Himmler and his superiors. It touches on another side of the Final Solution where Nazi scientists attempted to discover the physical reason why Jews were inferior through researching and studying the skulls and skeletons of Jewish people. This book provides another angle that could possibly be of some use for the Eichmann Trial.

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The Court Proceedings

The Capture and Interrogation

May 11th, 1960

“Then I heard him suddenly say with a clear voice in perfect German: ‘I have already accepted my fate!’ That was highly reassuring. First of all it meant that he was still alive, that he was OK under the circumstances and that he could hear me. furthermore, he was German and obviously knew what this was all about. He had ‘accepted his fate’. That pointed to the context of our operation. We had obviously got the right man.” – Wilhelm Dietl (Operation Eichmann, p138-139)

Like many other Nazi officers, Eichmann fled Germany once the Allied Forces came out victorious and invaded Germany. Leaving behind little hints on where he went, Israeli Secret Service searched for him and other war criminals. Eventually the Secret Service, led by Wilhelm Dietl and Zvi Aharoni, located and captured Eichmann by his new home in Argentina on May 11th, 1960.

May 23rd, 1960 – April 11th, 1961

The capture of Eichmann was officially announced by Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion on May 23rd, 1960. Despite controversy over the legality of the arrest in a foreign country, the Israeli government proceeded to begin interrogations. Led by Avner Less, Eichmann was interrogated weekly in a small jail complex surrounded by high security. After nearly a year, the prosecution and defense were prepared for the trial. The trial began April 11th, 1961.

Less’ Interrogation of Eichmann

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The Court

Judges

There were three judges for the case, all of which were born and raised in Germany. The fact that they were German and they were holding the trial in Israel spoke of a potential issue that they may be unfairly biased in their judgement however led by Judge Moshe Landau, they proved to be very honest and fair in the proceedings according to the eyes of almost everyone who followed the trial.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/eichmann-trial-judge-and-former-supreme-court-president-dies-at-99-1.359180

Judges Benjamin Halevi, Moshe Landau, and Yitzhak Raveh

 

Prosecution

The Prosecution team, representing the Israeli government, was led by Gideon Hausner. It was evident that Eichmann would be found guilty of his crimes with little effort on the Prosecution side so Gideon Hausner took the opportunity to truly capture the injustice and tragedies done to the Jewish people. His flair and use of witnesses not only had Eichmann on trial but had the Holocaust entirely on trial.

Giddeon Hausner leading the Prosecution

Defense

The defense was led by the prestigious lawyer Dr. Rovert Servatius who lead the defense team at the Nuremberg Trials from 1945-1946. Taking the unpopular and un-wanted job as defender of Eichmann, he did little to help Eichmann’s case who from the beginning had zero chance of  getting off clean.

Robert Servatius leading the Defense

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The Proceedings

Charges

Eichmann faced fifteen charges that all resulted in the death penalty. They ranged from crimes against humanity to being a leading member of the Nazi Party. A full list of charges can be seen here.

Witnesses

The prosecution team used many witnesses that were directly and indirectly attached to Eichmann and his crimes. Whether they were concentration camp survivors or war heroes, Hausner used these witnesses and their stories for the world to bear witness to the atrocities done to the Jewish people during the Final Solution. As Mulisch puts it in his work, Criminal Case 40/61, the Trial of Adolf Eichmann: An Eyewitness Account, “Their stories re-created the world they had endured two decades earlier.” (p xix)

Youtube Video (in English): Witnesses for the Eichmann Trial: The Spielberg Jewish Film Archive

Judgement

In December, 1961, Eichmann was found guilty and on June 1st, 1962 he was hung for his crimes.

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Annotated Bibliography for Court Proceedings

  • Aharoni, Zvi, and Wilhelm Dietl. Operation Eichmann: The Truth about the Pursuit, Capture and Trial. New York: J. Wiley, 1997. Print.

Zvi and Dietl relate the story of the pursuit and capture of Eichmann in a gripping and factual fashion. It is great source to get a handle on the magnitude on what the capture of Eichmann really means to the Israeli nation.

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  • Eichmann. Dir. Robert Young. Perf. Thomas Kretschmann and Troy Garity. 2007. DVD.

Young’s movie captures the intense interrogation and relationship between Avner Less (Troy Garity) and Adolf Eichmann (Thomas Kretschmann). Although the movie focuses mainly on Avner Less and how such a job as chief interrogator puts extreme pressure on him and his family, Kretschmann gives a great visual insight on the man that is Eichmann.

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An in depth secondary resource of the court proceedings including valuable information on who the judges and other court members were. A great tool to frame the court proceedings.

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An invaluable primary source database of 100+ film footage capturing all of the Eichmann Trial sessions including the witnesses’ testimonies.

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A website that neatly identifies the nature and particulars of each of the fifteen offenses.

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  • Mulisch, Harry. Criminal Case 40/61, the Trial of Adolf Eichmann: An Eyewitness Account. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2005. Print.

A collection of primary eyewitness accounts by Harry Mulisch as he wrote for a Dutch newspaper during and about the trial. It includes analysis of Eichmann, journal entries while in Jerusalem, and overall account on the proceedings.

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All of the witness testimonies during the trial in one film as distributed by the Spielberg Jewish Film Archive.

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  • Manheim, Ralph, trans. Eichmann Interrogated: Transcripts from the Archives of the Israeli Police. Ed. Jochen Von. Lang    and Claus Sibyll. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1983. Print.

Manheim’s translation of the interrogation transcripts is an invaluable primary source  that includes a forward by Avner Less, the chief interrogator. It really allows the reader to determine their own personal feel of Eichmann while reading his responses to Less’ questions.

 

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Reactions

Issues

The Eichmann Trial was not received as smoothly as the Israeli government had wanted because of several issues, two of the most important being the legality of Eichmann’s arrest and the right to hold the trial in an Israeli court. The arrest and capture of Eichmann in Argentina by the Israeli Secret Service overstepped political boundaries. Argentina and other nations had every right to be upset with Israel for undercutting the Argentinian government and deploying a secret police force to search for Eichmann within Argentinian borders. Furthering the problem was that Eichmann was going to be tried in a Jewish court in Israel instead of an International court like many people believed should have been the case. One side was that Eichmann was being convicted of crimes against humanity, not just against the Jews, so Eichmann should be tried in an international court with international regulations and procedures. However, on the other side, some people believed that Israel had every right to convict Eichmann within Jewish courts because his crimes from the Final Solution directly affected millions of Jews and thus Jews had the right to hold the trial.

The trial proceeded with a cloud of issues hovering over it. Many issues that Hannah Arendt, a Jewish philosopher, Gideon Hausner, the main prosecutor, and the press spoke for or against. Focusing on the legality of the arrest and the right to hold the trial in an Israeli court, here some of their opinions.

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1) Legality of Capture

  • Hannah Arendt
    • She believed it was improbable that Israel could justify their capture of Eichmann because it overstepped international laws. It is true that he may not have been searched for effectively if Israel officially asked Argentina for help and permission to enter the country to search but by not going that route, they created even more legality issues surrounding the case.
  • Gideon Hausner
    • He attempts to ignore this issue and stick to the prosecution in the end but it is evident in the beginning of Chapter 15 in his book, Eichmann, that is was an underlying problem when they were gathering information and preparing the case. One has to make the assumption that it was not important enough to deter him from spending weeks on studying documents and preparing.
  • American Press
    • According to The Eichmann Case in the American Press, papers from across the United States were concerned over the political repercussions of the capture and demanded Israel commits to proper actions of apology.

2) Right to Hold Trial in an Israeli Court

  • Hannah Arendt
    • She goes over briefly both sides of the debate and shows that because the court was held in Israel, Hausner had the luxury of proclaiming that not only he was prosecuting Eichmann but all Jews who died because of Eichmann’s actions. Arendt in her book, Eichmann in Jerusalem, believes it was ultimately unjustifiable for Israel to hold the court just because of Hausner’s determination “to claim competence in the name of universal jurisdiction” (p261) when it is not an international court.
  • Gideon Hausner
    • This was a very important feature because he had to use the Nuremberg Trials as a backbone of developing his case. The fact that he used the records from the trials extensively and then began the trial saying that he and the millions that died were the prosecutors shows that he did not think there was a problem of holding the court in Jerusalem.
  • American Press
    • Many newspapers, especially the New York Times, saw this trial as a international issue because the actions of Eichmann happened in Europe and affected many people, not only Jews. Although many newspapers did not directly attack Israel, they simply proposed that Eichmann, like all other Nazis,  was a worldly problem, not a specific Israel problem.

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Annotated Bibliography of Reactions

  • Arendt, Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. London: Penguin, 2006. Print.

Arendt’s account on the trial looked extensively on the mental state of Eichmann and the Jewish response to Eichmann’s crimes. It produced many positive and negative responses from other observers and philosophers.

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This is a great book of another writer accounting the proceedings and giving an analysis of Eichmann’s personalities. His accounts coincided with many of Arendt’s ideas and gives another point a view in a plethora point of view.

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  • Hausner, Gideon. Justice in Jerusalem. New York: Harper & Row, 1966. Print.

Hausner was a key prosecutor in the Eichmann trial. His book on Eichmann ranges from a brief bio of Eichmann to the procedure of the trial including a detailed account of Eichmann’s crimes from which he was being tried upon.

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  • Institute of Human Relations. The Eichmann Case in the American Press. New York: Institute of Human Relations, 1961. Print.

This collection of newspaper responses is a wonderful source to find out what the feelings and attitudes towards the trial across America. Large name newspapers and little town newspapers are referenced providing a great scope.

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This is an Israeli government source that has many documents of discussion between top ranking officials from many countries like France and Germany. This official documents will be great to look through once a defined argument is formed for my paper.

 

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Full Bibliography List (Alphabetical)

  1. Aharoni, Zvi, and Wilhelm Dietl. Operation Eichmann: The Truth about the Pursuit, Capture and Trial. New York: J. Wiley, 1997. Print.
  2. Arendt, Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. London: Penguin, 2006. Print.
  3. Crespi, Irving. “Public Reaction to the Eichmann Trial.” The Public Opinion Quarterly28.1 (1964): 91-103. JSTOR. Web. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2747330?seq=2>.
  4. Eichmann. Dir. Robert Young. Perf. Thomas Kretschmann and Troy Garity. 2007. DVD.
  5. Hausner, Gideon. Justice in Jerusalem. New York: Harper & Row, 1966. Print.
  6. Institute of Human Relations. The Eichmann Case in the American Press. New York: Institute of Human Relations, 1961. Print.
  7. Manheim, Ralph, trans. Eichmann Interrogated: Transcripts from the Archives of the Israeli Police. Ed. Jochen Von. Lang    and Claus Sibyll. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1983. Print.
  8. Manvell, Roger, and Heinrich Fraenkel. Himmler. New York: Putnam, 1965. Print.
  9. Mulisch, Harry. Criminal Case 40/61, the Trial of Adolf Eichmann: An Eyewitness Account. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2005. Print.
  10. Padfield, Peter. Himmler. New York: MJF, 1997. Print.
  11. Pringle, Heather Anne. The Master Plan: Himmler’s Scholars and the Holocaust. New York: Hyperion, 2006. Print.
  12. The Eichmann Trial – Fifty Years After. Israel State Archives, n.d. Web. <http://www.archives.gov.il/ArchiveGov_Eng/Publications/ElectronicPirsum/EichmanTrial/EichmanTrialIntroduction.htm>.
  13. The Eichmann Trial – Proceedings: The 15 Charges. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.remember.org/eichmann/charges.htm>.
  14. The Eichmann Trial Sessions. Yad Vashem and the Israel State Archives, n.d.Youtube.com. Web. <http://www.youtube.com/user/EichmannTrialEN/>.
  15. “The Final Solution” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007704>.
  16. The Holocaust.” Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, n.d. Web <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/holo.html>.
  17. The Spieldberg Jewish Film Archive- Witnesses of the Eichmann Trial (english). Hebrew University, 28 Mar. 2010. Web. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X098U8_oU1Q>.
  18. Trial of Adolf Eichmann – The Station Master at Treblinka. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/trials/eichmanntrial.html>.

    Sources yet accessed

    • Spiegal, Irving 1963, ‘Hausner Criticizes Book on Eichmann,’ New York Times, 20 May.

    This book will be essential for finding out the debate that Ardent began. Unfortunately it is out of the library at the moment so I have not gotten to go through it yet.

    • Hausner, Gideon. 6.000.000 Accusers: Israel’s Case against Eichmann ; the Opening Speech and Legal Argument of Mr. Gideon Hausner. Jerusalem: Jerusalem Post, 1961. Print.

    Another book by Hausner that will paint a picture of his ideas behind his actions during the trial and will further discussion of Arendt’s take-aways.