SESSION XLV
ABOUT THIS SESSION
SESSION 45 of the trial of Adolf Eichmann took place in the afternoon of Thursday, May 18, 1961. The proceedings in this session are largely centered around the Theresiestadt concentration camp. The session begins with a decision by the judges to admit the record of a 1947 court proceeding against Theresienstadt commandant Karl Rahm. After the Rahm documents are read into evidence, the judges decide to admit excerpts from a report of the International Red Cross on their inspection of the Theresienstadt ghetto. Theresienstadt survivors Viteslav Diamant and Adolf Engelstein then testify as to their time in the camp. Engelstein, an engineer, testifies about having been forced to build a gallows and a gas chamber.
The vast majority of SESSION 45 has been lost. The roughly 30 minutes of surviving footage is presented here.
NOTABLE MOMENTS
00:00 - Submission of a Report by the International Red Cross
03:23 - Eichmann is cited as disapproving of ‘humane methods’ toward the Jews
06:31 - Testimony of Viteslav Diamant
13:21 - Testimony of Adolf Engelstein
13:36 - Engelstein recalls being taken by Eichmann to a place of work
15:46 - Engelstein recalls being asked to design a three-man scaffold
18:52 - Engelstein discusses hunger in the Theresienstadt camp
22:47 - Engelstein recalls being asked to build a gas chamber
TRANSCRIPT
Material highlighted green survives in video form.
Material highlighted pink has been lost.