The Eichmann Trial

SESSION 53 of the trial of Adolf Eichmann took place in the afternoon of Thursday, May 25, 1961. It consists entirely of witness testimony, with five different witnesses testifying in regard to the Nazi invasion of Hungary and deportation of Hungarian Jews. The session begins with the resumption of Dr. Alexander Brody’s testimony, which began in SESSION 52. Elisheva Szenes then testifies about her escape from Slovakia to Hungary and her experience during the Nazi occupation there. Margit Reich testifies, presenting a postcard she received from a deportee who threw it from a moving train. Martin Foeldi testifies in regard to the Nazis’ entry into Hungary and his deportation to Auschwitz. In a widely-disseminated portion of his testimony, he recalls his arrival in Auschwitz and his separation from his wife and children, as he watched his daughter’s red coat disappear into the crowd. This image has been said to have inspired the image of a young girl in a red coat in the film 'Schindler’s List'. Finally, Carpatho-Russia-born Ze’ev Sapir testifies about his country’s annexation to Hungary, the ghettoization of Jews there and a visit by Eichmann to the Munkacs ghetto. He describes his eventual arrival in Auschwitz and the selection process there, his time in the Jaworzno and Gleiwitz camps and his eventual escape.

Much of SESSION 53 has been lost. The roughly forty-five minutes of surviving footage are presented here. No footage survives from the testimony of Elisheva Szenes.