SESSION XXVII
ABOUT THIS SESSION
SESSION 27 of the trial of Adolf Eichmann took place in the morning of Thursday, May 4, 1961. After the submission of additional documents into evidence by the prosecution, Frieda Masia testifies about the ostracization, ghettoization and deportation of the Jews of Sosnowiec, Poland. Meir Mark Dworzecki then testifies about the deportation of the Jews of Vilna. In an emotional exchange, he recounts having heard of a man who had to choose whether to save his wife or mother from deportation. Pressed by Attorney General Gideon Hausner, Dworzecki admits that he himself was this man. The session closes with the testimony of Abba Kovner, already a well-known figure in Israel due to his acts of armed resistance during the Holocaust. He discusses life in the Vilna Ghetto and the resistance there. In an apparent response to questions asked by Hausner to witnesses in previous sessions, he addresses the lack of resistance on the part of many Jews. In a lengthy and emotional monologue, he recalls the fate of Vilna resistance commander Itzik Wittenberg, who was handed over to the Gestapo.
More than an hour of footage from SESSION 27 survives. Two short portions of Masia’s testimony survive only via an audio recording.
NOTABLE MOMENTS
0:00:00 - Testimony of Frieda Masia
0:05:17 - Testimony of Meir Dworzecki
0:06:50 - Dworzecki recalls choosing to save his mother or his wife
0:10:28 - Dworzecki identifies different types of certificates
0:14:23 - Dworzecki discusses the concept of the ‘Muselmann’
0:23:25 - Testimony of Abba Kovner (audio only)
0:24:34 - Kovner tells a harrowing story of the murder of a baby
0:26:58 - Testimony of Abba Kovner (video)
0:27:45 - Kovner reads a resistance manifesto originally published in Vilna
0:31:00 - Kovner addresses the reason the Jews did not revolt
0:35:38 - Presiding Judge scolds Hausner for the length of his examination
0:37:48 - Kovner recalls a Nazi officer mentioning Eichmann’s name
0:54:44 - Kovner discusses the fate of resistance commander Itzik Wittenberg
1:12:46 - Presiding Judge scolds Hausner for irrelevant testimony
1:14:51 - Court adjourns
1:15:23 - Kovner speaks with a group of men
TRANSCRIPT
Material highlighted green survives in video form.
Material highlighted pink has been lost.
Material highlighted orange is available only in audio form.