SESSION XIX
ABOUT THIS SESSION
SESSION 19 of the trial of Adolf Eichmann took place in the afternoon of Thursday, April 27, 1961. After Presiding Judge Moshe Landau scolds assistant prosecutor Ya’akov Bar-Or for his extensive quotations from evidence and repetition among the testimony of the prosecution’s witnesses, the session begins with the submission of further documents into evidence, continuing from SESSION 18. A trio of witnesses are then called to testify: Dr. David Paul Meretz, a former leader of the Jewish community of Prague, talks about the Immigration Center there; Walli Malka Zimet, a former typist in the Prague immigration office, recalls operations; and Max Burger, a volunteer in the Moravska Ostrava Jewish community, testifies about the deportation of that region’s Jews to Nisko. Their testimony is followed by a discussion on the admission of affidavits taken from witnesses abroad.
About an hour of footage remains from SESSION 19. One segment of Max Burger’s testimony, beginning at 15:23, survives only via a 1961 news broadcast. This portion of the trial was re-edited by the broadcaster and does not appear exactly as it did in the trial. Beginning at 32:55 through the end of the surviving footage, the visual material is degraded to the point of being unwatchable. The audio, however, survives intact.
NOTABLE MOMENTS
00:00 - Court not in session
01:09 - Servatius enters
01:18 - Judges enter
01:44 - Session 19 begins
01:55 - Presiding Judge scolds Bar-Or for lengthy submission of evidence
06:35 - Testimony of Dr. David Paul Meretz
09:01 - Testimony of Walli Malka Zimet
15:23 - Testimony of Max Burger
33:10 - Burger identifies Eichmann in the courtroom
33:58 - Discussion on taking of affidavits abroad
TRANSCRIPT
Material highlighted green survives in video form.
Material highlighted pink has been lost.​​
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Material highlighted blue survives via third-party material.