The Eichmann Trial

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Adolf Eichmann in the glass booth at his trial, 18.4.1961

The Eichmann Trial

The trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Otto Eichmann (1906 – 1962) was held in the Jerusalem District Court between April and December of 1961. Eichmann served as head of operations for the SS and was in charge of organizing the deportation of Jewish communities from Central Europe to the extermination camps in the East. These actions were committed simultaneously with the formation of the German task forces (Einsatzgruppen) for the extermination of Soviet Jewry. His position was instrumental in the execution of the Nazi plan for the liquidation of European Jewry. In early 1942, following the Wannsee Conference which he commissioned and in which the "Final solution" was agreed upon, Eichmann was given further authority to manage the transfer of Jews to the death camps.

Eichmann was abducted by the Mossad in May 1960 from his residence in Argentina, where he lived under the false identity of Ricardo Klement. Argentina filed an official complaint to the Security Council of the United Nations and condemned the abduction, though it formally acknowledged the need to bring Eichmann to trial.

Prime Minister David Ben Gurion announced his capture to the Knesset on May 23^rd: "I must inform the Knesset that sometime ago, Israeli security forces tracked down one of the greater Nazi criminals, Adolf Eichmann, who was in charge, together with the Nazi leadership, of what they referred to as 'The Final Solution to the Jewish problem,' meaning – the extermination of six million members of the Jewish community of Europe. Adolf Eichmann is already held in custody in Israel and will soon be brought to trial in accordance with the Nazis and Nazi Collaborators (Punishment) Law, 5710 - 1950."

Eichmann was indicted with charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, war crimes, and membership of an outlawed organization. The justices presiding over his trial were Moshe Landoy, Dr. Benjamin Halevi and Yitzhak Raveh. The chief prosecutor was Gideon Hausner, who gave a dramatic opening speech. Over 100 testimonies and 1,600 documents were brought before the court. Eichmann claimed he was simply “following orders,” but in an interview he gave in 1957 he said: “If we were successful in killing them all… I would have been happy.” He was found guilty and sentenced to death. This was the first and only death penalty sentenced in the State of Israel. His appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected in May 1962.

The trial and sentencing of a prominent Nazi figure in an Israeli court was considered a highly significant event, as well as the mass exposure of the Israeli public to the events of the war and the testimonies given during the trial by holocaust survivors.