us-005578-irn1004900
type: RecordSet
date: 1987 June 02
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had identifier: 2
has or had some members with language: fra
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn1004900
note: Abbreviated transcript with real time code idents available in departmental files.
scope and content: 13:47 President Cerdini calls the session to order; asks that the accused present himself; Barbie refuses to appear; Cerdini calls on the bailiff to compel the accused to appear 13:47 The bailiff reads the names of the witnesses scheduled to give testimony in the session 13:49 Cerdini suspends the session while the bailiff goes to Barbie to compel him to appear 14:12 Cerdini calls the session to order; the bailiff reads Barbie's statement that he refuses to appear 14:15 Prosecutor Bermann asks to add two names to the list of civil parties set to testify on the day of June 5 14:16 Cerdini calls witness Elie Wiesel to the stand; the witness presents himself to the court and is sworn in 14:19 The witness comments on his path to understanding his own experience of the Holocaust, and why he has not written and spoken more on the subject; he explains that he knows, on some level, that someone who has not lived through what he has will never truly understand; he says that, 'it is because of our faith in Man that we for so long were not able to see the signs and receive the signals of danger'; he describes the challenge of trying to decide where to begin to explain his ordeal; he describes his childhood teachers, his friends, and his grandmother; he explains that he will not speak about his mother or siblings for fear of crying in public, saying 'this is why I write, and why I write others than myself'; he explains that it is the duty of the witness to keep the memory alive, which is why he finds himself testifying as a witness for the first time; he touches on his inability to recount much of what he saw, explaining, 'How do I describe to you the woman who was stopped on the street with her two children, watched them both shot by German officers, held them close to her chest, and then danced? I don't know.'; he discusses the high level of education and appreciation of culture in Germany before 1939, asking, 'How can a college-educated man kill children and then go home and…
title: Barbie Trial -- Day 15 -- Elie Wiesel testifies