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I. ADOLF EICHMANN: LIFE AND TRIAL
Introduction
Born
in 1906, Adolf Eichmann grew up in Austria and joined the Austrian National
Socialist party in 1932. In 1933, he moved to Germany and enlisted in the Austrian
unit of the S.S., serving at Dachau. In October 1934, he agreed to join the
S.D.Central Office.
He masterminded the logistics of the deportation of Jews, he organized the transports of Jews from all over Europe to the killing centers. As S.S. lieutenant colonel and head of IV-B4, the Jewish department of the Office for Reich Security, Eichmann served as secretary at the Wannsee Conference in 1942.
He was arrested at the end of the war in the American zone of Germany, but escaped to Buenos Aires and disappeared. In 1960, members of the Israeli Secret Service discovered him in Argentina and through a covert action, transported him to Israel for his trial.
In December, 1961, he was sentenced to death and hanged on June 1st, 1962 in Jerusalem.
1. Chronology of Eichmann’s life
Title: Adolf Eichmann biography
Website: http://www.thirdreich.net/Eichmann_Bio.html
Source: Third Reich Roundtable
Title: Eichmann Timeline
Website: http://www.remember.org/eichmann/timeline.htm
Source: ABC News Production
English Summary:
These two websites are chronologies of Eichmann’s life.
The first one is from his early life to his capture and trial. You can also
find an Eichmann analysis and some books referring to the Holocaust.
The second one is more detailed but it doesn’t give us any analysis of
the different parts of his life.
Although both of them are quite simple, they are clear and interesting.
French Summary
Il s’agit ici de deux sites retraçant la vie d’Eichmann.
Le premier retrace sa vie de son enfance à sa capture puis son procès.
L’article présente également une analyse du comportement
d’Eichmann face à ses responsabilités, une liste d’ouvrages
relatifs à l’Holocauste. Le second est plus détaillé
mais n’apporte pas d’analyse quant aux différentes phases
de la vie d’Eichmann. Bien que relativement simples, ces sites sont clairs
et intéressants.
Lexicon:
To Track down: capturer
2. The Confession of Adolf Eichmann
Title: The confession of Adolf Eichmann
Link: http://www.einsatzgruppenarchives.com/trials/profiles/confession.html
Source: Einsatzgruppen archives
English Summary:
“I was only a cog in the machinery", Eichmann said. LIFE magazine published the confession of Adolf Eichmann. In this document, he convicts himself as one of the major Nazi war criminals.
French Summary :
Le magazine LIFE met en ligne les confessions d’Eichmann lorsqu’il
était en Argentine.
Il y présente le rôle qu’il a eu, selon lui, lors de la Solution
Finale.
Lexicon :
Cog: dent d’engrenage, rouage
On
May 11, 1960, three members of the Israeli Security Service captured Adolf Eichmann
near Buenos Aires. His trial in front of an Israeli court in Jerusalem started
on February 11, 1961. He was indicted on 15 criminal charges, including charges
of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, and membership
of an outlawed organization. As part of Israeli criminal procedure, his trial
was presided over by three judges instead of a jury. Gideon Hausner, the Israeli
attorney general, personally acted as chief prosecutor. Eichmann was sentenced
to death and executed; this is the only time that Israel has enacted a death
sentence.
Title: Eichmann trial
Website: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005179
Source: Holocaust encyclopedia
English summary
The article deals with the trial of Eichmann: the charges against him, his responsibilities
and the sentence. You can also found some pictures taken during the trial.
French summary
Cet article aborde les différentes facettes du procès de Eichmann
: les charges retenues contre lui, sa responsabilité mais aussi le jugement.
Le site permet de visualiser certaines photos prises durant le procès.
Lexicon :
To arouse : éveiller
Forefront : au premier rang
Attorney general: procureur géneral
Indictment: accusation
C. Different points of view about the trial
A question that is still asked today is whether Adolf Eichmann was a soulless
bureaucrat, as Hannah Arendt wrote, or whether he was a hate-filled anti-Semite
who murdered out of conviction, as the Israeli prosecutor Gideon Hausner claimed.
Hannah Arendt's thesis of Eichmann's "banality of evil" is discussed
in the film by Eyal Sivan and Rony Braumann, who were both born in Israel.
Eyal Sivan and Rony Braumann’s film: The Specialist
Title: Final Cut on Final Solution?
Website: http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20000508&s=klawans
Source: The Nation
English Summary:
The Specialist is a new documentary on the trial of Eichmann. Filmmakers Eyal
Sivan and Rony Braumann were given access to the 350 hours of footage from Eichmann's
trial in Israel in 1960. Following Hannah Arendt's book, Eichmann in Jerusalem,
the film presents a devastating portrait of the man she called “the banality
of evil”.
The historical significance of Eichmann's trial, which both shaped the national
identity of the young state of Israel and provided a proving ground for critical
tenets of international law, led Sivan to begin work on The Specialist.
French Summary :
Le Spécialiste est un film de Rony Brauman et Eyal Sivan qui met en scène
le procès Eichmann tout en restant fidèle à l’œuvre
d’Arendt. Des 350 heures de l’enregistrement vidéo du procès,
l’ancien dirigeant de Médecins sans frontières et le cinéaste
israélien ont tiré deux heures d’images restaurées
et remises en mouvement. Les auteurs concentrent délibérément
le montage, non sur les victimes, mais sur leur bourreau.
Lexicon :
Footage : métrage, séquence
Pretense : prétention