Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 25 and 26 -- Testimony of Z. Lubetkin, Y. Zuckerman, A. Berman, R. Kuper

Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 25 and 26 -- Testimony of Z. Lubetkin, Y. Zuckerman, A. Berman, R. Kuper 

Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 25 and 26 -- Testimony of Z. Lubetkin, Y. Zuckerman, A. Berman, R. Kuper 

Sessions 25 and 26. Eichmann sitting in his booth. The Judges open Session 25 and present Decision 14. This decision notes the appeal of witness interrogation abroad as certain witnesses would be arrested under the Nazi Collaborators Punishment Law of 1950, should they appear in Israel. Presiding Judge, Moshe Landau refers to Decision 11, which states that foreign courts may acquire testimony from restricted witnesses for the purpose of the Eichmann trial. There is a blip at 00:07:08. Hausner questions Zivia Lubetkin Zuckerman, a resistance fighter in the Warsaw Ghetto about the conditions in the ghetto, as well as the activities of the Jewish fighting force. Lubetkin describes a Warsaw ghetto revolt:"The Great German heros withdrew in tremendous panic in the face of handmade Jewish hand-grenades and bombs" Following another blip at 00:20:32, Hausner asks Lubetkin about her assumptions concerning the end of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. There is a blip at 00:21:51. Witness Yitzhak Zuckerman, a resistance fighter in the Warsaw Ghetto and husband to Zivia Lubetkin Zuckerman, recounts the day he learned about the horrible conditions in Vilna:"They were putting to death Jews of Vilna in Ponary which had been a scene of my childhood. I merely wanted... to explain the terrible shock that overtook me" Zuckerman continues to describe his memories of Jewish death and Nazi actions. Court is out of session following a blip at 00:27:04. There is much background noise, and Eichmann is absent from his glass booth. After another blip at 00:30.39, Zuckerman answers questions about a suggested resistance action to set fire to the Warsaw Ghetto and be burned alive within. Blip at 00:30:39. Hausner questions witness Dr. Adolf Avraham Berman, former director of the head office of the Jewish Psychological and Psychotechnical Institution in Poland (CENTOS). Berman states:"We wanted to make the melancholy, and terrible life of tens of thousands of children easier... our watchword was naturally to save our children from hunger and death. We did not save them" Berman describes Nazi actions against Jewish children. He recounts Janusz Korczak, a beloved teacher and orphanage director in the Warsaw ghetto, leading the children in his care to Nazi trucks. Korczak refused to leave the children, and accompanied them in transport. Berman states:"100,000 children of the Warsaw Ghetto were killed by the Nazi murderers. More than 100,000 children met their bitter deaths in the gas chambers" He describes his participation with the Jewish underground movement, as well as his efforts with the Jewish children. Berman presents a pair of children's shoes he took from Treblinka, when he visited the camp after the war. Following a blip at 00:43:48, Judge Halevi asks Berman about possible help received during the Holocaust. Berman acknowledges that several Polish and Catholic institutions provided assistance to Jewish children, and slight support to the Jewish resistance. [Note: Poor film quality] Halevi questions Berman on smuggling efforts within the ghetto. Blip at 00:47:19. Witness Rivka Kuper, an Auschwitz survivor and widow of Dolek Liebeskind (leader of the Hebrew underground in Cracow), describes Jewish efforts in Auschwitz to maintain religious practices despite persecution:"We kindled the candles and began to quietly sing Sabbath songs... we heard the sound of stifling crying... Jewish women... collected together around us... and listened to the singing" (432). Landau asks Kuper about Akiva, a Jewish Zionist youth movement. Following another blip at 00:51:02, Kuper describes the overwhelming anger among Akiva members, and their decision to revolt:"The first thing we did... was to carry out warning operations among all Jews" There is a blip at 00:53:08. Hausner questions Kuper about her arrest, transfer to Auschwitz, and participation in the underground movement at Auschwitz. Kuper recounts learning of her husband's death.