SESSION LXXI
ABOUT THIS SESSION
SESSION 71 of the trial of Adolf Eichmann took place in the afternoon of Thursday, June 8, 1961. It consists entirely of the testimony of four witnesses. First, Auschwitz survivor Vera Alexander testifies about her experience in that camp. She is shown a series of paintings by fellow survivor Naomi Judkowski (born Zofia Rosensztrauch) depicting life and death in the camp, identifying elements of each. Following Alexander, Nachum Hoch testifies about his time in Auschwitz, and a revolt he planned and executed with other boys in the camp. He describes an incident in which he was brought to the gas chambers for execution, but was saved at the last moment, allowing him to present rare testimony as to the protocol regarding the gas chambers and the final moments of its victims. Gedalia Ben Zvi testifies next, giving an overview of the different camps that made up the Auschwitz-Birkenau installation. He discusses his experience there at length, as well as his time at the Stutthoff camp. With the conclusion of Ben Zvi’s testimony and of all witness testimony on Auschwitz, former British military doctor Mordechai Chen takes the stand briefly to recall his visit to Bergen-Belsen just days after it was liberated. He recalls encountering a BBC photographer there and asking for copies of his photos so that he might one day use them against the perpetrators. He proceeds to do exactly this, going through each photograph and describing their contents.
Unlike most sessions of the trial, the footage from SESSION 71 survives in its entirety.
While many sessions of the Eichmann trial contain disturbing testimony, this session contains extremely graphic images as well, including corpses and mass graves. As a result, the video of this session can only be viewed on YouTube when signed into the account of a user who is at least 18 years old.
The Naomi Judkowski paintings showcased during Alexander’s testimony (close-ups at 34:28, 34:53, 35:49, 36:12, 36:42, 37:23, 37:53, 38:36, 38:59, 39:19, 40:20, 41:01 and 41:16) are now housed in the Ghetto Fighters House, and can be seen online by searching her name here.
Close-ups of the photos showcased during Chen’s testimony can be seen at 2:20:30, 2:20:46, 2:21:48, 2:22:09, 2:22:41, 2:24:34, 2:24:51, 2:26:07, 2:28:04, 2:28:48.
NOTABLE MOMENTS
0:00:00 - Court not in session
0:01:33 - Eichmann enters
0:03:50 - Hausner & Servatius enter
0:05:36 - Judges enter
0:06:07 - Session 71 begins
0:07:58 - Testimony of Vera Alexander
0:10:10 - Alexander recalls her arrival at Auschwitz
0:14:23 - Alexander on her time as a ‘block elder’
0:15:35 - Alexander on how ‘block elders’ could help their fellow prisoners
0:25:37 - Alexander recalls ‘Auschwitz Report’ authors Vrba and Wetzler
0:26:53 - Alexander recalls Josef Mengele’s notorious experiments on twins
0:32:05 - Alexander recalls the murder of a young girl & her mother’s subsequence suicide
0:33:17 - Alexander identifies the contents of a series of paintings of Auschwitz life
0:45:11 - Testimony of Nachum Hoch
0:47:22 - Hoch recalls a beating with lasting effects
0:50:58 - Hoch recalls helping to plan an escape
0:56:42 - Hoch describes narrowly escaping the gas chambers
1:09:00 - Testimony of Gedalia Ben Zvi
1:10:20 - Ben Zvi describes his arrival at Birkenau
1:10:49 - Ben Zvi explains the difference between Auschwitz and Birkenau
1:12:00 - Ben Zvi explains the difference between Auschwitz I, II & III
1:28:14 - Ben Zvi describes mass executions
1:31:54 - Ben Zvi describes the ‘standing cells’ in the punishment block
1:36:19 - Ben Zvi explains the “Kanada” Kommando
1:38:48 - Ben Zvi recalls using Zyklon B gas for disinfecting
1:39:16 - Ben Zvi says the prisoners knew Zyklon B was being used for killing
1:55:08 - Ben Zvi shares a second-hand account of prisoners being cut open to retrieve valuables
2:01:14 - Ben Zvi describes the Stutthof camp
2:06:40 - Ben Zvi recalls a death march from Stutthof in January 1945
2:10:02 - Ben Zvi on his escape from the death march
2:13:38 - Direct Examination of Ben Zvi by the judges
2:17:08 - Testimony of Dr. Mordechai Chen
2:17:53 - Chen describes his visit to Bergen-Belsen days after liberation
2:31:02 - Court adjourns
2:31:11 - Eichmann exits