Eichmann Trial -- Session 107 -- Eichmann talks about arrests, Jews, and the Wannsee Conference

Session 107. The Attorney General Hausner is seated alone - the rest of the court, including the Judges, the Defense, and Eichmann, are out. They slowly return to their spots. 00:04:58 The Judges return and they open Session 107. Eichmann is reminded he is under oath. Eichmann is asked about the testimony of a previous witness, asking if he gave a speech to the imprisoned Jews telling them that the water was unfit to drink. He answers that he never gave any such speech, but contaminated water was a normal occurrence at the camps. He then talks, at length, about the arrest of priest Dean Grueber and his being sent to a concentration camp. 00:24:44 Questions about the "literature children" lead to a discussion about Bradfisch, who was at the time the head of the State Police. Eichmann is asked about a comment of his in the Sassen memoirs concerning that he watched the Jews being loaded onto the trains. Eichmann pauses, then says he can't remember ever seeing that. Eichmann is asked if he sensationalized pieces of those memoirs, and he says that he did. 00:36:30 Eichmann is asked about his comments concerning the Wannsee Conference and the decisions concerning the exterminations of the Jews. Eichmann says that it was only semi-official, with plenty of drinks and speaking out of turn, though it was not an atmosphere of drunkards. Eichmann says that the discussion on how to exterminate the Jews was not included in the records of the Conference, and it was discussed that they should work to not give anxiety to the general public. Tape ends abruptly long into this discussion. This tape probably includes the parts missing from Tape 2195, which has a jump in footage. 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.