us-005578-irn1001023
type: RecordSet
biographical history: Emil Knebel was a cinematographer known for Andante (2010), Adam (1973), and Wild Is My Love (1963). He was one of the cameramen who recorded daily coverage of the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem (produced by Capital Cities Broadcasting Corp and later held academic positions in Israel and New York teaching filmmaking at universities. Refer to CV in file.
date: 1961 April 14
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had identifier: 2
has or had some members with language: heb
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had some members with language: eng
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn1001023
note: There are approximately eleven blips: 00:06.47 to 00:06.57 00:09.22 to 00:09.31 00:11.00 to 00:11.10 00:12.20 to 00:12.29 00:13.04 to 00:13.08 00:18.11 to 00:18.22 00:21.34 to 00:21.42 00:24.04 to 00:24.11 00:34.03 to 00:34.11 00:35.04 to 00:35.18 - the recording jumps back to the conversation between Judge Landau and Hausner as they discuss extradition treaty in West Germany. 00:36.34 to 00:36.42 See official transcripts, published in"The Trial of Adolf Eichman", Vol. I-V, State of Israel, Ministry of Justice, Jerusalem, 1994. Also available online at the Nizkor Project http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/e/eichmann-adolf/transcripts/Sessions/. The dialogue is in three languages: German, Hebrew, and English. Adolf Eichmann and Defense Counsel Robert Servatius speak in German, which is translated into Hebrew. The Judges and Attorney General Gideon Hausner speak Hebrew. An English translation of the proceedings is dubbed over all of the dialogue by translators. The presiding Judges are Moshe Landau, Benjamin Halevi, and Yitzchak Raveh. Also present are Assistant State Attorneys Gabriel Bach and Ya'akov Bar-Or. There are periodic breaks in the footage.
scope and content: Session 5. Begins while the courtroom is empty. The attorneys enter, and the camera focuses on Attorney General Hausner and Defense Attorney Servatius as they exchange pleasantries. The judges enter the courtroom and Judge Moshe Landau declares Session 5 open. Hausner discusses the Nuremberg Trials and its influence on the establishment of international laws and principles. He then quotes from the International Military Tribunal. The judge questions the relevancy of the documents being presented by the prosecution. To answer Landau's question, Hausner refers to the"Nazi Punishment Law" and explains that the law transfers responsibility from lower members of government to heads of state. The Judge continues to question Hausner's objective in presenting such laws. Hausner believes that Eichmann will plead innocent based on"Acts of State" Section 19 of the Criminal Code Ordinance of 1936;"Acts of Stat" lists that soldiers/government officials are not responsible for their actions as they were following the orders of their superiors. Hausner believes that Eichmann cannot claim innocence based on Section 19 because his role in the Holocaust went beyond following orders. On a less personal level, the prosecutor states that Eichmann cannot plead innocent under Section 19, regardless of his actions during WWII as Section 8 of the"Nazi and Nazi Collaborators Punishment Law" directly invalidates"Acts of State" The Judge disagrees with Hausner, and reminds the prosecution that Eichmann has not yet entered a plea. Hausner relents, and explains he referred to foreign legislation because he wanted to highlight the correlation between Paragraph 8 of Israeli law and International Law. Hausner continues to present international precedents for war criminals. He quotes a Supreme Court decision in West Germany:"an illegal order does not constitute justification for an illegal act" Judge Landau and Hausner discuss the differences between the Israeli and German courts. This conversation …
title: Eichmann Trial -- Session 5 -- Excerpts of Attorney General's reply