Eichmann Trial -- Sessions 53, 62, 63 and 64 -- Excerpts from diary of Grand Mufti Hajj Amin Al-Husseini and other witnesses

Session 53. Witness Margit Reich is questioned by State Attorney Gavriel Bach. Bach asks about correspondence she received from her husband after he was sent to the Kistarcsa camp in Hungary. She reads from a postcard thrown from a train and a letter written on toilet paper that she received from him. Footage cuts to Session 62 at 00:10:44. Witness testimony from Leslie Gordon. The witness speaks in English, which is translated into Hebrew. He tells of being put to forced labor in Buczacz, Hungary, where the SS and SD forced him to dig ditches. A German truck painted with the words "Deutsche Winterhilfe" was present. More Jews equipped with shovels and tools arrived and are instructed to disrobe. They are then executed and buried in the trenches. Footage cuts to Session 63 at 00:18:12. Submission of documents (camera focuses on one document) from the diary of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, who virulently opposed Jewish settlement in Palestine and became an ally of the Nazis) concerning the "Jews of Italy, France, and Hungary." Hausner submits two photographs, which show Himmler and the Grand Mufti, into evidence. Black screen with the words "Eichmann Trial" interrupts the video at certain points and the testimony of Leslie Gordon is inserted briefly. Some of the footage about the Grand Mufti is repeated. Hausner reads from a cable sent from Himmler to the Mufti. Video freezes from 00:25:54 to 00:26:04. Session 64. Footage resumes with the testimony of witness Ya'akov Friedman. Eichmann is shown taking notes as Friedman testifies. The witness describes his release from Majdanek, where he had been imprisoned as a Polish Christian (00:26:58). Eichmann's defense lawyer, Robert Servatius, asks Friedman when he concluded that he had seen Eichmann in the camp and Friedman replies that he saw Eichmann at a specific roll call. Servatius and Judge Landau question Friedman further about Eichmann's uniform. The footage is cut at 00:33:30 and resumes with testimony from witness Dov Freiberg. Freiberg testifies about the camp band and forced singing in Sobibor. He quotes at length from an anti-Semitic German song that the prisoners were forced to sing. He describes the torture prisoners endured in Sobibor. He is then asked about the day Himmler visited the camp. Footage cuts at 00:47:44 and resumes with testimony from witness Freiberg later in the proceedings. Freiberg describes how the Germans deceived victims until they were sent to the gas chambers. He testifies about a transport of victims from Majdanek who arrived as "human skeletons" He identifies a man in a picture as the first camp commandant Christian Wirth. Freiberg leaves the witness stand. Court adjourns and people stand. Eichmann is escorted out and the camera zooms in to show the empty booth. 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.