SESSION LV
ABOUT THIS SESSION
SESSION 55 of the trial of Adolf Eichmann took place in the morning of Monday, May 29, 1961. The session consists entirely of the testimony of Professor Gustave M. Gilbert, an American psychologist who had been assigned to assess the defendants at the Nuremberg trial to corroborate or refute any claims of guilt by insanity. A statement by Auschwitz Commandant Rudolf Hoess, written for Gilbert personally, is read into evidence. In response to a skeptical statement by Hermann Goering about the feasibility of exterminating 2.5 million people in 3 years, Hoess gives a detailed description of the extermination operation at Auschwitz, including the use of gas chambers and crematoria. Hausner then asks Gilbert to assess Eichmann’s psychology and that of other SS officers, and to weigh in on whether such a person might be predisposed toward murder. This leads to a lengthy discussion on the admissibility of such evidence. Eichmann’s defense counsel, Dr. Robert Servatius, objects to hearing this testimony, and his objection is largely upheld by the judges. Gilbert’s testimony will continue in SESSIONS 56 and 57.
The vast majority of SESSION 55 survives, with the two-and-a-half hours of surviving footage presented here. The first several seconds of the session feature a simultaneous English translation superimposed on the actual trial audio by mistake. One short section of the session (at 2:23:44) survives only via a contemporaneous news broadcast, and is included here with minor edits made by the broadcaster.
NOTABLE MOMENTS
0:00:00 - Court not in session
0:02:52 - Eichmann enters
0:03:10 - Eichmann confers with Servatius
0:04:56 - Judges enter
0:05:18 - Session 55 begins
0:07:07 - Testimony of Professor Gustave M. Gilbert
0:13:19 - Gilbert says none of the Nazis at Nuremberg could tell he was Jewish
0:46:47 - Gilbert quotes Goering’s statement that Hitler ordered the extermination of the Jews
0:47:17 - GIlbert quotes Goering as citing Eichmann’s responsibility for the extermination
0:51:27 - Gilbert recalls a Nuremberg witness’s testimony about the cremation of live children in Auschwitz
0:57:39 - Gilbert recalls Eichmann’s name coming up in discussions with SS officials
1:03:46 - Gilbert recalls discussing Eichmann with Rudolf Hoess
1:25:20 - Gilbert recalls Goering’s insistence that mass extermination was impossible
1:30:11 - Hoess’s detailed description of the Auschwitz extermination operation is read
1:30:33 - Hoess cites Eichmann’s knowledge of transports to extermination camps
1:33:31 - Hoess describes the operation of gas chambers
1:37:25 - Hoess describes the operation of the crematoria
1:42:09 - Hoess estimates the murder of 3,000 people per day at Auschwitz
1:43:40 - Hoess expresses skepticism regarding Eichmann’s estimate of 2.5 million victims at Auschwitz
1:45:03 - Hoess estimates the death toll at Auschwitz at 1.5 million
1:53:58 - Discussion on the admissibility of evidence in regard to Hoess’s reliability
2:06:15 - Gilbert says Hoess called Eichmann the ‘chief of the extermination program’
2:10:10 - Discussion on the admissibility of Gilbert’s assessment of Eichmann’s personality
2:16:00 - Servatius objects to admitting testimony on Eichmann’s personality
2:22:54 - Judges’ decision forbidding evidence in regard to Eichmann’s personality
2:23:44 - Cross-Examination of Gustave M. Gilbert
2:30:38 - Gilbert cites Nuremberg defendants; claims that Hitler gave the extermination order
TRANSCRIPT
Material highlighted green survives in video form.
Material highlighted pink has been lost.
Material highlighted blue survives via third-party material.