December 13, 1961
On May 11, 1960, Israeli Security Service members captured Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Nazi Final Solution. He was living under the assumed identity of Ricardo Klement in Argentina. On May 23, 1960, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion announced Eichmann’s capture to the Knesset, stating, “Adolf Eichmann is now under arrest in Israel and will soon trial here in accordance with the Nazi and Nazi Collaborators Law.”
The trial began April 11, 1961, and lasted 14 weeks, with Eichmann famously sitting in a bulletproof glass box throughout. A special panel of three judges was appointed to preside, and Israeli Attorney General Gideon Hausner led the prosecution team.
On Monday, December 11, the Jerusalem District Court delivered the first guilty verdict and over the next two days read the 100,000-word verdict aloud. Eichmann was found guilty on 15 counts of murder, crimes against the Jewish people, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The charges included that he coordinated the deportations of Jews from Germany and elsewhere in western, southern, and northern Europe to Nazi killing centers and that he was responsible for determining how the property of deported Jews would be seized.
On Wednesday, December 13, Hausner addresses the three judges and demands the death penalty for Eichmann, saying, “He does not deserve mercy because he had no mercy in his heart. He wanted all of his victims to die. Look at the pictures of the young boys and girls clad in slacks. Their eyes said fear. One can hear even now cries of ‘Mama, help!’ from the children of the ghettoes.”
After Hausner’s request and remarks from the defense attorney, Eichmann addresses the court. He claims that he was only following orders and that he even requested a transfer from his post. “It was my misfortune to become involved in these horrors. But they were not committed at my will. I never wanted to murder anyone. Only the state leadership is guilty of these mass murders.”
The court hands down the death penalty December 15. Eichmann is hanged May 31, 1962, in the only use of capital punishment by Israel.
The impact of the trial on Israeli society is significant because it creates a new openness toward Holocaust survivors and their experiences.
