SESSION CXIV
ABOUT THIS SESSION
ABOUT THIS SESSION
SESSION 114 of the trial of Adolf Eichmann took place in the morning of Monday, August 14, 1961. In this session, Defense Attorney Dr. Robert Servatius delivers his closing statement. Working his way (roughly backwards) through the fifteen counts of the indictment, he alternates between highlighting the at-times tenuous evidence showing Eichmann’s involvement in the crimes of which he is being accused, and legal or jurisdictional arguments intended to negate the charges against him. Following the completion of his speech, court is adjourned for nearly four months for the judges to deliberate and write their verdict, which will be delivered in SESSIONS 115-119.
The majority of the footage from SESSION 114 survives, with several gaps of varying lengths. The nearly four-and-a-half hours of surviving footage are presented here, making this one of the longest sessions in the trial in terms of the length of the surviving material. Three sections, beginning at 2:39:18, survive only via contemporaneous news broadcasts and may contain edits made by the broadcaster that were not in the original recording.
NOTABLE MOMENTS
0:00:00 - Court not in session
0:02:52 - Eichmann enters
0:03:16 - Eichmann chats with Assistant Defense Counsel Dieter Wechtenbruch
0:04:35 - Eichmann has a lighthearted discussion with one of his guards
0:09:26 - Judges enter
0:10:05 - Session 114 begins
0:11:38 - Discussion on submission of written closing statement
0:14:51 - Defense’s closing statement begins
0:18:07 - Servatius on Counts 13-15 of the indictment (membership in criminal organizations)
0:18:26, 1:25:34, 2:02:41 & 2:30:08 - Unusual angle showing stenographers’ balcony
0:25:09 - Servatius: Israel has no jurisdiction, as it did not exist during WWII
0:28:50 - Servatius on Count 9 of the indictment (deportations from Poland)
0:29:52 - Servatius makes an oblique reference to Israel’s resettlement of Palestinians
0:33:54 - Servatius on Count 10 of the indictment (deportations from Yugoslavia)
0:35:46 - Servatius on Count 11 of the indictment (deportations of gypsies)
0:36:51 - Servatius on Count 12 of the indictment (children of Lidice)
0:44:44 - Servatius on Count 8 of the indictment (war crimes)
0:48:47 - Servatius on Count 7 of the indictment (plunder of property)
1:08:24 - Servatius on Count 6 of the indictment (persecution)
1:10:35 - Servatius says the Defense has received ‘innumerable’ anti-Semitic letters
1:16:38 - Servatius on Count 5 of the indictment (murder/enslavement/extermination)
1:18:26 - Servatius says no ‘crimes against the Jewish people’ were committed, as they are not a State
1:23:40 - Servatius on Count 4 of the indictment (abortions & sterilizations)
1:30:30 - Servatius on the accusation that Eichmann ordered abortions
1:32:33 - Servatius on Count 3 of the indictment (caused grave harm)
1:40:02 - Servatius on Count 2 of the indictment (living conditions)
1:41:26 - Servatius on Count 1 of the indictment (physical extermination)
1:43:56 - Servatius on Count 1B of the indictment (head of Dept. IVB4)
1:44:26 - Servatius on Count 1C of the indictment (issued instructions)
1:52:33 - Servatius on Count 1D of the indictment (responsibility for Jewish Affairs)
1:54:51 - Servatius on Count 1E of the indictment (used foreign representatives)
1:57:25 - First recess
1:57:49 - Servatius has a cordial conversation with Attorney General Gideon Hausner
2:02:45 - Eichmann re-enters
2:06:10 - Judges re-enter
2:06:38 - Session 114 resumes
2:06:38 - Servatius on Count 1F of the indictment (concentrations camps)
2:16:27 - Servatius on Count 1G of the indictment (shootings by Operations Units)
2:17:37 - Servatius on Count 1H of the indictment (Operations Units in Baltic Countries & USSR)
2:20:26 - Servatius on Count 1I of the indictment (deportations to ghettos)
2:22:12 - Servatius on Count 1J of the indictment (forced labor camps)
2:22:42 - Servatius on Count 1K of the indictment (mass deportations & concentration)
2:26:05 - Servatius on Count 1L of the indictment (deportations from Hungary)
2:27:47 - Servatius on the evidence presented by the Prosecution and Defense
2:34:49 - Servatius attacks the veracity of witnesses’ testimonies
2:36:32 - Servatius on why he did not cross-examine most witnesses
2:42:05 - Servatius lambasts press coverage of Eichmann, saying it should be held in contempt
2:47:35 - Servatius bolsters the veracity of Eichmann’s own testimony
2:54:01 - Servatius on the Sassen transcripts
2:57:56 - Second recess
2:58:12 - Hausner re-enters
2:58:56 - Servatius re-enters
2:59:09 - Eichmann re-enters
3:02:50 - Judges re-enter
3:03:12 - Servatius emphasizes the limits of Eichmann’s wartime rank and duties
3:16:38 - Servatius says that Eichmann cannot be guilty for following orders
3:42:07 - Servatius on Eichmann’s ability to disobey orders or resign his position
3:50:07 - Presiding Judge pushes back on Servatius’s claim that Eichmann opposed extermination
4:08:54 - Servatius offers his concluding thoughts
4:14:28 - Logistical discussion on Attorney General’s comments on Defense closing statement
4:19:50 - Decision allowing Attorney General to file comments on Defense closing statement
4:21:49 - Court is adjourned for deliberations
4:22:36 - Eichmann exits
TRANSCRIPT
Material highlighted green survives in video form.
Material highlighted pink has been lost.
Material highlighted blue survives via third-party material.