Eichmann Trial -- Session 26 -- Testimony about children and the Polish underground

Prior to WWII, Dr. Adolf Avraham Berman, doctor of psychology was the director of the head office of the Jewish psychological and psychotechnical institutions in Poland (CENTOS). After September 8, 1939, children in Warsaw suffered horrible treatment at the hands of the Nazis. Berman attended to thousands of Jewish children in Warsaw who needed food, housing, and emotional support. He helped establish thirty orphanages and dormitories, approximately twenty day shelters, twenty food kitchens, and thirty children's and youth clubs within the Warsaw Ghetto. Furthermore, Berman helped to maintain an education system despite it being forbidden. However, in 1942 SS actions liquidated and destroyed the majority of these institutions in a matter of weeks. Berman became one of the commanders of the Jewish underground in the Warsaw Ghetto. After the war ended, Berman went to visit Treblinka concentration camp. During his visit, he encountered piles of possessions including thousands of children's shoes. This sight significantly affected him, and he took a pair of shoes, which he still has in his possession. In 1961, Berman lived in Tel Aviv, Israel. 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. Session 26. Witness Adolph Avraham Berman testifies. Dr. Berman talks about the numbers of children in Warsaw. The Judges ask him questions. He says that there was help for Jews from the Polish underground, especially for the children. He says that Jewish children were smuggled into the Aryan section of Warsaw, and then lists the Polish underground organizations, including Janusz Korczak, that helped. He says that they worked to get the news out of what was happening. 00:08:30 Dr. Berman finishes, and the Judges call Dr. Duvdevani. He discusses the search for a cache of items stashed in the Warsaw Ghetto, including a book written during the war. He reads some of the passages from the book, from an historian, discussing the horrors that he had seen in 1943. He describes some of the troubles, and that everyone was willing to lay down their lives for their religion. He says that they know that they were persecuted only because they were Jews, and that the Germans were attempting to exterminate them. 00:21:43 He reads about the persecution against the sons of the Jews. He describes Pharaoh taking the infants, and the Nazis doing the same. "The most cruel tortures are those endured by those little sons and daughters," he reads. 00:24:03 The Judges call upon Ms. Rifka Cooper. She describes the deportation from Krakow towards Lublin. She says that they were robbed on their way and had no way to make a living, but they were still alive. They were then forced to set up the ghetto early in 1941. She describes the efforts of people to save the children from the horrors of the ghetto, but largely it was unsuccessful. Robbery, breaking and entering, attacks on the street, and persecution against religion were normal. She describes, with some difficulty, that they managed to light candles for special days, fasted on Yom Kippur, and ate bread when they could. She describes a book written on toilet paper that managed to survive the war in the ghetto. Se describes some of the key parts of the revolt in the ghetto. 00:40:33 She talks about her jobs at Auschwitz, including the bringing down of houses and draining swamps. She says that she was arrested for the smuggling of information. She was within the prison of the camp. They did the worst labor, worked from 3am till after sundown, with smaller food rations. She was smuggled onto a transport to Breitenbach. She describes the work of the underground, smuggling people into the Aryan district. 00:45:30 Ms. Eisen is called to the witness stand and sworn in. The Attorney General asks her if she was a liaison to the underground in Krakow. She was. She received her orders from the Warsaw ghetto and they worked to smuggle people to a house on the outside. She describes the rescue of a disabled girl to a house with no roof from a hospital, because hospitals were the first to be deported. She said she was caught once with illegal papers, but managed to destroy it. She also smuggled in the dynamite for a campaign in Krakow. 00:56:48 Ms. Eisen is let go, the Attorney General says that he has no further witnesses for the day, and would like to submit documents. People begin leaving the court. The document concerns the OKW's leader, and the friction between the army and the police. It says that the Reich authorities were so angry about this that those responsible would be banned from the party after the war. Tape ends midsentence.