September 2nd 1945. The war is over. 50 million dead
including six million murdered Jews.
As leading Nazis are captured
one name slowly rises to the top of the most wanted list -
Adolf Eichmann
the SS officer accused of planning the Final Solution
to the Jewish Question.
It will take the Israeli secret service 15 years
to track him down to his hiding place in Argentina.
On 11th May 1960, a man living under the name Ricardo Klement
is kidnapped and taken to a safe house in Buenos Aires
to be interrogated.
What is your name? Your name. What is your SS number?
Your name. - ARCHIVE V/O: Eichmann.
Say it. - ARCHIVE V/O: Eichmann. Eichmann.
My name is Adolf Eichmann.
HEBREW, MENTIONS ADOLF EICHMANN
In capturing the man - in capturing the man responsible - responsible for the...
...execution of the Final Solution of the Jewish problem
you have done something truly extraordinary.
Eichmann will be judged in Israel.
Tell the world - no, show the world, to show the world what the Nazis did
to show the world what the Nazis did to the Jewish people.
Let's use television to do this. Let's use television to do this.
Only television can do this.
In... in granting permission for Capital Cities
to film the trial of Eichmann on Israeli soil
you will become a part of the most important television event in history
past, present and... yeah, why not? Future.
The Prime Minister will see you now.
Prime Minister.
TELEPHONE RINGS
Mr Hurwitz? - Speaking.
I'm Milton Fruchtman. I'd like to talk to you about a job.
You do know no one's hiring me right now? - Yes, but I'd like to change that.
Adolf Eichmann, it's going to be the trial of the century.
How would you like to film it?
The papers call him a monster.
Sure. Because monsters sell more papers.
This says you're officially off the blacklist.
Yeah, well... it's the unofficial ones you need to worry about.
You work on the trial? - Yes.
We should have put a bullet in his head in Buenos Aires and left him there.
Welcome to Israel. - Thank you.
Leo Hurwitz?
Well, you're holding a sign that says 'Leo Hurwitz,' so I guess so.
Pleasure to meet you, Mr Hurwitz. - Leo.
I'm Perry, as in Como. - It's a pleasure to meet you, Perry.
How was the flight?
I managed to get some work done. - Lucky you.
Coming over was my first time on a plane.
Puked so much they locked me in a toilet till we touched down.
That's great, Perry.
Without cameras we can't film. We have to find a way.
Of course I'm going to tell him.
We're working around the clock to make sure that the -
He's arrived.
Yeah, I'm literally about to offer him my hand to shake.
We'll talk later. Leo.
Milton.
Leo Hurwitz, I cannot tell you how relieved I am to finally have you here!
You have cases? - In the car.
Drop them off at the hotel, would you, Perry? - Sure.
I say 'hotel', it's not really a hotel as we would know it
but it's clean, they have rooms, serve food.
Meet Judy, my secretary. - Hi.
And Alan, my production assistant.
You join us from a kibbutz, right, where you've been working on...
A small documentary. And, if I'm being completely honest
a particularly beautiful girl.
But yeah, mainly the documentary.
It's a pleasure to meet you, Alan.
Alan, have the team meet us in the courtroom in ten minutes.
Right.
How's that looking?
That's excellent. We should talk about that. Come and meet David.
Leo, I'd like you to meet our lawyer, David Arad. David, we finally have our director.
Mr Hurwitz. - Leo, please.
It's wonderful to meet you at last.
You got a problem, David'll fix it. In five different ways.
One of which may or may not involve the use of a gun.
Most issues can generally be resolved by understanding the position of the other.
The issue with the judges, however...
There's an issue?
Milton, there's an issue with the judges?
As you know, we have a contract with the Israeli government to film this trial.
But there is a condition.
The three trial judges must give their permission.
And we don't have permission?
Yesterday they came to inspect the cameras.
And?
And they found them too loud and too visible.
I flew five and a half thousand miles and you don't have permission to film?
Yet. - 'Yet.' I find that so reassuring.
Look, I know this is a shock, but right now we need to press on.
Come.
Leo, this is Ron and Roy, our terrific Marconi engineers from England.
Terrific's perhaps overstating the point, but...
We're well-trained and at your disposal, Mr Hurwitz.
Leo, please.
We're having a bit of trouble with the contrast.
Well, that's not really going to be an issue unless we find invisible cameras.
Come on, I'll show you the courtroom. Thank you, gentlemen, carry on.
Thanks.
The court will be connected to the control room by cables
running between the two roofs.
So in addition to the trial being relayed live to Israelis in the streets
there is also going to be live coverage every day on the radio.
What about television, Milton?
We don't even know if we're going to be able to film.
What alternative do we have?
Well, I'm glad you're so positive. - What else would I be?
The press room. Phones, telex, typewriters
a direct feed to the courtroom allowing hundreds of people
from reporters to philosophers, to scrutinise, decipher
and judge every inch of your footage as it unfolds.
lf there is any footage.
There has to be footage, and there will be. C'mon, let's meet your cameramen.
My cameramen? - Here we go.
Milton, I pick my own team. Jesus, it's a theatre.
Ah.
Mr Hurwitz is here, so I'll bring him over.
Leo.
I'd like to introduce you to your camera operators.
This is Rolf, Yaakov, Millek and Fred.
On behalf of my colleagues I'd like to welcome you to our country.
It's a great honour for us to work with the distinguished director of such documentaries
as Native Land and the antifascist masterpiece Strange Victory.
It's a pleasure to meet you gentlemen...
It's shameful that an artist of your stature and humanity
should be blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee
It's frightening what these guys know.
They even knew that I worked with Rita Hayworth.
These gentlemen are the crème de la crème of the Israeli film industry
Yeah, well they're going to need to be.
Milton, your taxi's here. - Thank you. Excuse me.
It's a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen.
You'll like the Israeli press attaché. He's like the sphinx, only Jewish.
Thanks, Judy.
We don't have time for PR, Milton. - This isn't PR.
We have a contract with the Israeli government.
They're concerned the judges won't ever give us permission to film.
And what if they don't?
lf they don't, Capital Cities lose the half million dollars they've spent on the production
the thirty-seven countries we promised the footage to
will never see the Eichmann trial
and, well, our names become the punchline
to an industry joke told for decades to come.
Why are we meeting the Israeli press secretary at an Arab cafe?
Because the coffee is out of this world.
The newspapers describe this as the trial of the century
but my superiors see it as something far more important.
They see this trial as an opportunity for a Jewish Nuremberg.
Survivors of the genocide very often held in low regard here in Israel
as if they were complicit in the crimes that they endured.
Israel and the world needs to hear what happened to them
from the mouths of the survivors.
So we will broadcast it live on Israeli radio
but it is essential that the world must also see it in their homes on their television screens.
You said you could film this trial.
So the judges must give us their approval.
Your superiors couldn't quietly insist the judges give it?
Unlike Nazi Germany, Israel does not undermine
or compromise the independence of its judiciary.
We've done all we can to address the judges' concerns.
Clearly not. - Well, we're working on it.
In the meantime you leave us in a very difficult position.
The decision to televise was a very great gamble.
Now it must pay off. Many necks are on the line.
Are you talking to other companies about taking over the production?
We would be unwise not to have a fall-back, would we not?
However you do it, the trial must be filmed. You have three days.
Three?
You told me five. - Three days, gentlemen.
You should try the honey cake, it is the best in Jerusalem.
In the control room, you said... what - what did you say?
Milton, I'm so tired I can't remember what I said twenty seconds ago let alone an hour ago.
No, you said something about a... invisible camera...
Leo, that's it.
That is it. We - we hide the cameras from view.
We make them part of the fabric of the courtroom.
Put them in the wall?
Yeah, then put a window in the wall so they can see through.
Alright. - You know, this could work.
So the cameras need to be able to move. - Okay, fine.
Jesus, we're going to need every carpenter and plasterer in Jerusalem for this.
And we've got three days to do it in. - Just here on the left, please.
Leo. Get some sleep.
I may feel well enough to get the first plane back to New York.
See you tomorrow.
Yes? - Hurwitz.
Ah yes, Mr Horowitz.
'Hurwitz'.
As I said.
You are tired, yes? - Very.
You are Jewish? All Jews sleep well in Jerusalem, Mr Horowitz.
'Hurwitz'.
Gentlemen, as you know, the judges will be returning in two days
and when they do, we need to be working as a team.
Because if we fail to get permission, well, we'll all be going home.
I believe that in my absence
you've been familiarised with the technical aspects of our television cameras.
Those cameras must now become extensions of your own eyes
so that you can become extensions of mine.
Right, right, right. Okay, stop. Stop.
And we have three days to become a team.
To act, to act, to act as one.
Alright gentleman, let's give this a shot shall we?
As you film, I will edit directly onto a master tape.
I'm going to need 100 per cent of your concentration.
Ready, camera two.
This is going to be mentally and physically challenging.
And most likely the most interesting thing you ever do.
Got it.
Take two.
Our objective is to use images to reveal the events of that courtroom.
Ready on the auditorium. Thank you. Take two. Take three. Good.
The camera bridges distance.
Better. Keep the rhythm.
It will show detail. - Take four.
Eichmann's face. His hands. - Take one.
The expressions of the judges, the counsel.
Camera one on the judges' bench.
Thank you, nice and smooth. Take two. Take two.
Take two! Okay, stop. Stop. Stop. I need you to switch immediately.
I want shots of Eichmann as he speaks and reacts to things said and done in the court.
Let's go again, gentlemen. Until we get this running smooth like water.
Feelings that he may try and mask emotionally may manifest themselves
in a way that he cannot physically suppress.
You want us to climb into the glass box with Eichmann and ask:
'what kind of man are you?' - Exactly.
Gentlemen, I don't believe in monsters
but I do believe that men are responsible for monstrous deeds.
What transformed this ordinary man into someone who was capable of
sending hundreds and thousands of children to their death
while going home every evening and kissing his own children goodnight?
A human being like any one of us. - He is not like us.
I am not Eichmann, Mr Hurwitz.
Under the right circumstances, anyone is capable of fascist behaviour.
Not I.
Yaakov, anyone is capable. - Not I.
TELEPHONE RINGS
Fruchtman. - Mr Fruchtman, listen carefully.
You will close production down and leave Israel immediately.
Who is this?
The trial of Obersturmbannführer Eichmann will not be allowed to take place.
lf you don't leave, Mr Fruchtman, your wife, your children, I will kill them all.
TELEPHONE RINGS
Hello?
Honey... I won't make it home for supper tonight.
I have some things to run through here. - Okay.
How are the kids? - The kids? Fine.
How are things there? How is Leo getting on?
He's putting them through their paces.
How are you? - Fine. We're good.
The kids? - Yeah, the kids are good.
How's the apartment? - The apartment? In what sense?
Generally.
I think the apartment's fine, Milton. You want me to go and ask it?
You have got these calls before? - I received a few in New York
when it was announced that I was to produce this show.
A couple of crank letters to Capital Cities' office.
Nazi bullshit. Should I warn my people?
It would alarm them unnecessarily.
I will add to the security presence in your building.
And my family?
I will take care of it. - How?
By taking care of it.
I want to talk to you about your cameraman, Millek.
Okay, gentlemen - and lady - sssh - thank you.
As some of you may know
this afternoon we learned that the Israeli authorities have revoked their permission
for Millek to operate in the courtroom.
Why?
I am a member of the Israeli Communist Party who may, in their mind, wish to attack Eichmann.
Who in their right mind wouldn't want to attack the bastard? Doesn't mean they will.
I might jump from my box with a knife between my teeth.
Alright, thank you, thank you, thank you.
I have tried to explain at great length that Millek has no desire to attack Eichmann
and every desire to see him stand trial for his crimes.
But to no avail.
So tomorrow morning I start looking for a replacement cameraman
and hope to find someone by lunchtime tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Millek will work alongside Leo in the control room. Excuse me.
Did he say 'control room'?
Leo?
You can't just accept this stupid decision about Millek.
Their paranoia is through the roof, as we know
so you and me, we bite several bullets and get on with what we're here to do.
Want me to tell you what it was like being blacklisted for ten years under McCarthy, Milton?
Oh, be my guest.
Then I can tell you how difficult it was to hire you when everyone said don't
precisely because you'd been blacklisted. Jesus, you kidding me?
Look, I know there were easier names you could have gone to.
Good names. - Mhmm. But not the best name.
We'll talk to them about Millek
but right now our focus has to be on the judges coming, first thing.
Without them we're screwed anyway.
I'm going to go back in.
Milton. When the judges come tomorrow, bring them straight to the courtroom.
Don't mention the cameras. We will sell this.
CAR HORN BEEPS
It's the judges. They'll be here in two minutes.
They're on their way. Ready? - As ready as we'll ever be.
Right, gentlemen, as you know, the scale of this operation is unprecedented.
But as I said to the Prime Minister, this trial is a unique global event.
Work has clearly taken place. We are here to re-examine the cameras.
But you do not appear to have prepared for us.
The cameras are not present.
Gentlemen, would you follow me?
Alan, could you run the VT please? - Of course.
MILTON, VT: Gentlemen, as some of you may know...
...we will be sending nightly video packages to over thirty countries.
The scale of this operation is...
You were filming us? From where? I don't understand.
We've taken the cameras out of the court and hidden them.
But how they will see in?
We've rebuilt the walls of the courtroom to create space to hide our cameras.
We've built slits into the walls which the cameras can track along
giving a range of positions from which to film.
The slits are covered with chicken wire to reflect the courtroom lights.
This enables the camera to see through the wire into the court
while still being masked from sight.
We hope that this has addressed all of your concerns.
lf the judges say no cameras a second time?
There won't be a third.
Well, even to get this far -
No, there's no consolation prize, Eva.
I'll be the guy who dropped the Eichmann show.
They'll hang me out to dry.
I'll have to send you out to work on the streets to support us.
KNOCKS
Get dressed. Wait with the children.
What? - Just do it.
KNOCKS
Who is it?
KNOCKS - Milton, what's happening?
Who's there? - David Landor.
I hope I'm not disturbing you.
Please...
KNOCKS Leo? lf you're asleep - wake up. Leo!
What's happening? - Read.
'Where there is no publicity, there is no justice.'
'It keeps the judge himself while trying under trial.'
'The security of security is publicity.'
We did it. We're going to film the trial of Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann
Nazi Party number 889895. SS number 45326.
Christ, Leo, this is really happening.
It's great.
I left Eva in the bath.
Right.
See you later. - Bye.
I'm standing in front of the building where
in only a few hours' time
what has been described as the trial of the century will begin.
And the eyes of the world will fall upon Adolf Eichmann
the Nazi responsible for organising the mass murder of six million European Jews.
It isn't only Eichmann who will be on trial over the next few days and weeks
the state of Israel will also be under intense scrutiny
as it attempts to mount a fair trial of the man tasked with destroying the Jewish people.
This city, this country, the entire world, is under a state of heightened anticipation.
The stakes could not be higher.
In televising this trial
the state of Israel hopes to show many of its own people across the world
the full horror of what befell those of their faith who lived in Europe through the Nazi era.
Israel hopes to impart to a new generation
an understanding of the cunning cruelty employed by the Nazis
to lure their people to their deaths
through the lie they were being sent to work camps.
And it is also seeking to impress on the consciousness of humanity
that these crimes, which have no precedent in the entire history of man on earth
were committed in an enlightened age - on Jews this time -
but could be committed against others in the future.
To show the world that in the end this is a crime that affects every one of us.
Alright, gentlemen. This is it. Moment of truth.
What are you thinking at this precise moment?
Of everything that could go wrong.
Alright, gentlemen, rehearsal is over.
Camera three, ready. Take three. Camera four, ready.
Stay on the bench with the judges.
Camera four, ready. On Eichmann. Take four.
Adolf Eichmann, rise.
You are accused before this court
according to the indictment which includes 15 counts...
LEO: Wide on the auditorium.
...Adolf, son of Adolf Karl Eichmann is accused here by the first count.
Nature of offence: crime against the Jewish people.
Particulars of the offence:
the accused together with others during the period of 1936...
LEO: Take two. - ...to 1945
caused the killings of millions of Jews
in his capacity as the person responsible for the execution of the Nazi plan
for the physical extermination of the Jews
known as the Final Solution of the Jewish Problem.
Here ends the first count brought against you.
Go close on Eichmann.
Adolf Eichmann, do you plead guilty or not guilty to count one of the indictment?
EICHMANN ANSWERS IN GERMAN
INTERPRETER: In the spirit of the indictment, not guilty.
And now the most important trial of the 20th century begins.
In the spirit of the indictment, I am not guilty.
...crime against humanity.
In the spirit of the indictment, I am not guilty.
Take four. Take two.
Do you plead guilty or not guilty to count 15 of the indictment?
In the spirit of the indictment, not guilty.
At the conclusion of the afternoon's sessions the important job begins
of distributing the tapes of the day's proceedings around the world.
Copies of the tapes are required by broadcasters in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Sydney.
Then to the shipping, not by ship but by air, of course.
It is sent by one of the many airplanes departing daily from Lodz Airport
ninety minutes fast driving from Jerusalem.
Then directly onto the television screens in all our homes
in this exciting new age of mass media.
When I first arrived I had doubts that we'd make the beginning of this day, let alone the end.
But thanks to your hard work we did it.
And I very much appreciate it.
Just how tired and exhausted you feel right now
is an indicator of how big the job in hand is.
We have a tremendous responsibility.
In showing this trial to the world
we invite them to ask not only how Eichmann did it, but why.
Great work today and a toast to good work.
Yeah, to good work. - Good work.
I know a song, it goes like this, do you know it too?
Oh yes I do, yes I do, it goes one, two, three four.
Whenever I see you outside of the control room you're always looking around.
What are you looking for, Leo?
I'm just trying to understand this place.
It's one and a half million people trying to stay alive.
Don't you think it's ironic that if it wasn't for Eichmann and the Nazis
we wouldn't even be having this conversation?
The idea of Israel existed long before Eichmann and his associates.
The idea but not the reality.
I do not write history, Leo.
Before I came here
I went to see a friend in Brooklyn, he edits the Jerusalem Post
and I talked to him about writing a weekly editorial of the Eichmann trial
to try and promote conversation between the Israelis about the nature of fascism.
It's an idea worth being vigilant about, wouldn't you say?
And did your friend take you up on your kind offer?
He was embarrassed by it. - Are you really so surprised?
There's too much to contend with in the present to keep looking back.
But my point is fascism didn't die when Hitler blew his brains out.
Wherever people set up house, fascism can exist.
Israel is a new-born calf, Leo. Still struggling to its feet.
All in good time.
You were in Auschwitz, weren't you?
Yes.
As a survivor, what do you think of Eichmann when you look at him?
I should get back inside. The wind is picking up.
...one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight -
One more for the boss!
I know a song, it goes like this, do you know it too?
Oh yes I do, yes I do, it goes one, two, three, four.
Morning, guys.
Oh, aren't you grumpy?
They know where we live.
Okay. You two, go and play in your room.
Come on, go.
Thank you.
Eva, the police have a security detail outside...
How good are they if it didn't stop this?
What if it had been a bomb? This isn't the first time, Milton.
They're just trying to frighten me into pulling the production.
How can you be sure it's just intended to frighten you
and not to warn against worse to come?
I can't. lf you want me to stop, I'll stop.
And give the bastards the satisfaction?
I'll see you later.
I love you.
Go to work.
On behalf of us all, Attorney General, do not fuck this up.
I'm nervous for him. Does he seem nervous?
Well, he does have the eyes of the world on him.
Start wide on Hausner, take three.
Zoom in as he begins.
When I stand before you... - LEO: Standby four.
...judges of Israel, in this court to accuse Adolf Eichmann...
LEO: Take one.
...I do not stand alone...
Shouldn't you go in tighter on Hausner?
We need to establish him as a main character.
I'm not directing a soap opera, Milton. It's evident that he's a main character.
...Here with me at this moment stand six million prosecutors.
But alas, they cannot rise to level the finger of accusation
in the direction of the glass dock and cry out 'J'accuse,' against the man who sits there.
Because their ashes have been piled up in the mounds of Auschwitz
and the fields of Treblinka
or spilled into the rivers of Poland.
Their graves are scattered throughout the length and breadth of Europe.
Their blood cries to heaven, but their voice cannot be heard.
Thus it falls to me to be their mouthpiece
and to deliver the heinous accusation in their name.
Early this morning, Adolf Eichmann -
TV PRESENTER: Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you do,
remember April 1961 .
The month the Cold War got hot in Cuba
and men finally defied gravity to blast into space.
The solar system got a whole lot nearer
but the chance of peace light years further away.
Contrary to what you believe, we see real and widespread interest.
Thank you, friend, thank you.
How can Eichmann compare with, say, Gagarin?
People bore of spectacles very quickly.
It is ridiculous to compare the two. - Really?
But, isn't your problem that people may choose to watch one over the other?
Why would they? They're entirely unrelated.
You don't think one represents the dark past and the other our glittering future?
My wife is right.
Very little can compete as a spectacle with the first man in space.
Although isn't it inherently ridiculous to try one man for the deaths of six million?
I'd be inclined to agree with that. - Then why else should people watch?
To learn.
Excuse me.
Give me a sec.
Goodnight, Leo. - Goodnight.
Don't stay up too late. See you tomorrow.
You're not letting them get to you, are you? - I just don't need the distraction.
This is bullshit. - Maybe.
What, you think they have a point?
We only have control over how we film the trial
not how the network sells it to the public.
Once the excitement of seeing a real life Nazi on trial goes away
who's to say we won't lose the audience? Mm?
See you in the morning. - Yeah.
Er, scotch, please.
...would not be used on the western front.
And accompanied by Bandi Grosz on Eichmann's orders...
David.
They can't all be watching Gagarin. - No. He isn't and she isn't.
Most called away to cover Gagarin have not returned.
And those that have are following developments in Cuba.
Jesus. My children have a longer attention span.
Journalists. They're like magpies, Mr Fruchtman.
They're quickly drawn to the shiniest object in their field of vision.
You promised the Prime Minister an audience.
Hausner has just spent three days
delivering a dry-as-dust lecture on Israel's right to put Eichmann on trial.
He's boring the shit out of me. Are you surprised that people are going?
Is there nothing we can do to make his oration more compelling?
Yeah, off the top of my head, just one - tell him to stop.
...loaded 1 ,200 Jews into a deportation train and sent it on its way.
Whatever you've got planned for the day, scrap it and think of something better.
Shoot tighter, cut quicker, whatever you do, add more pace.
Milton - - Gagarin and the Bay of Pigs are killing us!
We need to respond. - We are responding, by holding our nerve.
We can die holding that, Leo. No one's fucking watching.
Listen, you hired me because of my experience. That's what I'm trying to give you.
That would be enough in a perfect world. But it's not perfect, Leo.
It's a world with a Russian in space
and counter-revolutionaries running amok on a Cuban beach.
We need to compete with that. - Well, we can't.
Not until the witness testimony starts to come in.
What if we've lost everyone by then?
Milton, I need my producer to be visibly calm.
We all know you're anxious, and none of us needs to see it.
We've got your back, trust us.
When the witness testimony starts, the audience will come back.
And what if they don't?
Then you hired the wrong guy.
In the building where Eichmann is being tried
the Israelis are trying to place before the conscience of the world
the full facts of how the Nazis and Germany
tried literally to exterminate millions of the Jewish people in Europe.
WITNESS SPEAKS IN GERMAN
INTERPRETER: We heard how the people were told to go to the bath house...
LEO: Take one.
...they all passed through the door into a long corridor.
We did not know exactly what was happening.
We were in the basement, in the cellar.
But there were SS men with great sticks
and they beat the people and forced them to board the trucks.
COURT OFFICIAL: But do you know now what these trucks were?
Yes, now I know what they were.
They were trucks where people were locked up inside
and then gas was piped into the trucks.
...gas was piped into the trucks.
Stay in close on Eichmann.
Copy.
What happened to you on the next day?
We, five of us, were taken from the cellar, more people were put into the trucks
We heard the screams from the trucks
and the engine began working and the gas flowed in.
Then the shouts died off.
Take three.
And on the following day you yourself went to work
in the wood and saw what was taking place with your own eyes.
There were 25 people there and they were all digging pits.
Ever seen anything like this? - Never.
You dug graves and then the trucks - a truck arrived, one of those trucks.
When the trucks arrived we still were not permitted to approach them.
We had to wait until the truck had stopped for a few moments
two or three minutes.
And fumes were coming out of the trucks and we had to wait.
And then five or six people opened the doors and...
...take the bodies and place them near the pits, right near the trenches.
Were the people dead?
All were completely dead. No one was alive any more.
And in the third truck some bodies arrived whom you knew?
This was after I had been working there for some time
when all the people of my town came.
And who was amongst them?
My wife and my two children.
And you saw them whilst they were being removed from the truck?
I lay near my wife and two children and I wanted them to shoot me.
Have you ever heard anything like it?
We should eat.
Still bored?
No, it's tremendous that it's having this impact.
It helps that Servatius isn't going to cross examine.
Sorry, no. No. What's that? I don't know what this is...
Idiot.
I don't think I'd have the strength to do it.
Hey, identify yourself.
Hey!
He's just qualified.
ALARM SOUNDS
I'll call you back.
You are spreading lies to the world. - Jesus!
Back inside! Close the door and go under your desk!
You received my letter? - Back inside!
You fucking Jews, you have no right - - You call this protection?
We could have been killed, every single one of us.
You let him come to my door? Jesus Christ. - There will be others after me.
Heil Hitler.
Gentlemen.
Thank you all for staying behind after yet another long day
when bars and restaurants and beds are waiting.
I wanted to have us all here to say two things.
The latest audience research reveals that our films are being watched nightly by...
...huge numbers of people. In the US, South America, Europe, Australia
ordinary people are being moved and shocked
by what they're seeing and hearing because of our work.
What was unknown, either wilfully or by ignorance is becoming known.
What was unspoken is being discussed and questioned.
Which brings me to my second point, which will not surprise any of you.
Personal security. Do not take it lightly.
As we saw today, there are people out there who would love to stop this trial.
Stop us.
Be vigilant. Check under the car, when you're setting out in the morning.
Check you're not being followed.
lf you've any issues, and I mean any, contact our head of security.
Vigilance, please. Alright, sermon over.
Go and enjoy the rest of your evening. Thank you.
Why didn't you tell me you were being threatened?
You had enough on your plate. - We eat from the same plate, Milton.
lf it happens again, let me know. - Sure.
ALARM
MILTON'S MEMORY: There will be others after me.
Hey. Hey, is it bedtime? Sleep well. - Night, Dad.
Goodnight, Daddy. - Sleep well.
Go on up to bed. - Sorry, I fell asleep.
Don't worry.
Okay? - Yeah, are you okay?
I think so.
Come to bed. - Yeah, I'll be...
Mrs Landau?
I want to ask you a question.
My feet are too tired for questions. - Just - just one.
What? - You were a refugee after the war?
From Czechoslovakia. So? - You like it here?
I would prefer to be running the King David.
I - I didn't mean this hotel. I meant Israel.
I fought in the war for independence - against the British and then the Arabs.
Right, the Arabs. But this was their country.
We wanted it more.
So Israel is your home?
The world gave it to us. It is my country now.
What is it about it that you love so much?
Here we breathe a free air. You are a Jew, you must feel this.
All done? - Yeah. Thank you.
Some of the young people tried to run
but they were shot. They were shot right there.
How did you survive through all this?
We... We were driven. We were already undressed.
The clothes were removed, taken away. Our father did not want to undress.
He remained in his underwear. We were driven up to the...
Milton... I need to stop.
Yaakov, are you okay? - I cannot breathe.
Yaakov? Yaakov? Leo, Yaakov's in trouble. I need to go get him out.
Yaakov, stay with the camera. Milton's on his way.
I'm not so good, Leo.
Camera four ready. Let's go close on Eichmann.
No, no, not the witness, Eichmann.
We were already facing the graves. I felt him take the child from my arms.
The child cried out and was shot.
Get close on his eyes.
And then he aimed at me. - LEO: How can you sit there and watch this?
He held onto my hair and turned my head around.
Do something.
Get close on his eyes. Get close on his eyes.
And he aimed the revolver at me. And ordered me to watch
and then turned my head around and shot at me.
Then I fell. I tried to move and felt that I was alive and that I could rise.
I heard the shot
and I was praying for another bullet to put an end to my suffering
But I felt that I was choking, climbing towards the top of the grave above the bodies
I rose, and I felt bodies pulling at me with their hands
biting at my legs, pulling me down. - How can you sit there day after day...
...and listen to this?
With my last strength, I came up on top of the grave.
So many bodies. I wanted to see the end of this stretch of dead bodies
but I could not.
Yaakov?
The, er, the camp I was in provided slave labour for a Messerschmitt factory.
How they expected us to work on the - the rations we got, I - I do not know.
We were skeletons covered with skin and...
with bruises from the beatings we were given for the slightest mistake.
When I washed myself I could not recognise my own body by touch.
My ribs were like the keys of a piano.
I - I don't think it's right to expect him to continue this work.
No, it is, it's important. I want to do it.
But not at the expense of your health.
For the first time people who were there feel they have permission to speak.
We see these witnesses in the place called the witness stand
and for the very first time
they look into the audience and they see people leaning forward
listening to what they have to say. Not turning away.
Yaakov, in the control room we're all...
...deeply affected by what we're hearing and we're removed.
You don't have to do this to yourself.
I'm not going to let you do this to yourself.
I feel I am letting you down. - It is us who'd be letting you down.
Mr Hausner showing the witness a suit of striped clothes.
Is that what you used to wear, wear at Auschwitz?
Yes. This is the garb of those who lived on this planet called Auschwitz.
lf I am able to stand here in this court before you as we tell -
we tell the tale of this planet.
lf I, fall-out of that planet, am able to be here at this time then -
Is he okay? - He's a poet.
- I believe with perfect faith that this is due to the oath I have sworn to them there
the oath I have sworn to them. They gave me this strength.
They gave me the strength.
What's Eichmann doing?
Could I ask Mr Dinur a few questions, with your consent?
Go close on Eichmann.
Please listen to Mr Hausner and hear...
Did we get that? - No, we were on Eichmann.
President of Court, I'll have to stop this session unless the witness recovers.
Mr Hausner, I do not expect this of course to happen and I think we cannot continue...
Did you get it?
We got almost everything, but I think we missed the collapse.
You missed the collapse? Jesus, Leo.
We might have got a couple of seconds of it, but it's impossible to anticipate something like that.
I'd have put money on it. - Fuck you, Alan. Get the fuck out.
Hey.
Gentlemen, would you give us five minutes please?
Thank you.
Shut the door, Millek.
That was a stand-out moment, Leo. Like someone crying out in the auditorium.
Talking points, human drama. - That's a real damaged life in there
not a fucking TV show. - And a fucking TV show. And. And.
I'm sorry if that doesn't sit with your artistic sensibility
but while we're here on Israel's dime that's exactly what it is.
Christ, you're supposed to be filming the trial as a whole.
But you're obsessed with Eichmann. - I can't understand why you're not.
Don't patronise me. Your job, your fucking job
is to film what happens in that courtroom
not to conduct a personal investigation into the nature of evil.
Why can't it be both? - Because one gets in the way of the other.
And that's not going to happen, not on my production.
Well, I beg to differ. - I don't give a fuck what you beg.
I'm paying your wages, Mr Hurwitz. Differ in your own time.
In Paris they were all deported in the second half of August
and the beginning of September, in the space of about two weeks
in convoys consisting of one thousand children and five hundred adults taken from Drancy.
I saw them. They arrived in four transports of one thousand children.
This live cargo would be taken off the trucks rapidly to make room for other buses.
This was done swiftly and the unhappy children, mixed up and scared
came down in groups quietly.
There were small children of two, three or four years of age who did not know their names
and it was impossible to identify them.
We found girls carrying disks with boys' names
and boys with girls' names on their disks.
Let me just ask you this, Mr Wellers.
In 1944 when you came to Auschwitz
did you then see any one of these children alive?
No, I did not. There were four transports arriving every few days
one thousand people in each transport, one thousand children
two hundred adults on each transport, and in all four transports
four thousand children.
There were many who died, some en route...
...I estimate the number of suicides at about one hundred.
Want me to switch away? Stay on Eichmann.
Leo. - Stay on him.
Alan, switch to the witness.
Come on, do something.
Leo.
Leo, there's some people to see you. - I'm not expecting anyone. Tell them I'm busy.
Well, they want to see you. - Just tell them I'm busy.
They said you'd say that. - Leo, would you just go? I got this.
We wanted to surprise you.
Right. Right. How was your journey? - Good.
Did you enjoy flying? - Sure.
What? - You look old.
I am old.
We were working there with those 'Rollenwagen' which we were driving.
You entered the crematorium? - Yes, I entered the crematorium.
We had to go there in order to take the wood which was...
To the witness. Take one. - ...to be used for burning.
We had to take... - Number four, stand by.
...some of the wood to the camps from the crematorium, when there was still time
and when it was very cold.
The kapo of the Sonderkommando took pity on us and said
'Children, it's very cold outside, perhaps you can warm yourselves in the gas chambers.'
The gas chambers were not operating then.
And you would go into the crematorium to warm yourselves?
So sometimes... - Tommy?
...we would go to the... - I'm fine.
...crematorium, or even to the gas chambers where it was much warmer...
Is this all true?
...Sometimes it would happen that when we arrived at the crematorium...
LEO: He was the same age as you.
...they said, 'You can't possibly go in because there are people inside.'
And Eichmann just sits.
LEO: And Eichmann just sits.
Camera two, stand by.
Did you use ashes of human beings to spread it on the roads?
Yes. - What for?
So that people could walk on the road and not slide.
So they do not slip in the camp? - Yes, in the camp.
What I want is that single spotlight directly on Eichmann
as he's watching the camp footage.
The rest of the auditorium is completely dark.
That allows the audience to observe Eichmann
as he reacts to what he's watching. - The audience or you?
Leo -
Bringing him face to face with the visual consequences of his actions
will finally make him crack. It has to. - Leo.
Eichmann attended mass shootings for the SS elite to show
that you could stomach the most brutal bloodshed.
It was a badge of ideological superiority.
How likely is it he's going to show weakness now
before his Jewish captors? - Sitting alone in that chair
watching the worst atrocities known to mankind
it'll be impossible for him to deny his participation.
Leo? Leo! - What?
I'm taking Tommy to Greece.
Why? - I don't want him here.
Don't you think he should see this? - I don't want him watching this 8 hours a day
day in, day out for God knows how much longer.
Which is what he will do, because that's what you're doing.
Am I doing the right thing? You think I'll get him?
Look after him, won't you? - Uh-huh.
I want to be honest with you, Leo.
I'm under instruction from Milton to not talk about Eichmann on this trip.
It's to give you a rest from the trial. - Yeah, I understand.
To give you a rest from Eichmann. - I understand.
What are you thinking? - About Eichmann.
Where do these people come from? - Wherever they want to.
The Bedouin do not perceive borders or governments.
They side with no one, threaten no one. And they're left alone to roam freely.
Where do I sign up?
When you watch him, Millek, what do you think of him?
A dog refusing to betray his master.
Till people see him react the way they do to this testimony
they'll not fully understand that men, not monsters, create fascists.
Why must people see this?
So that they understand that we're all capable of it. And to resist the temptation.
lf the witness testimony does not make Eichmann crack, perhaps he never will.
When the prosecution makes him sit and watch the film -
Auschwitz, Birkenau, Belsen
the actual documentary footage of the atrocities, the shootings, the gassing
the mass murder, it'll just be impossible for him to subvert his subconscious.
This is the unique power of film, is it not? - This is what you believe.
This is what I have learned in my years as a filmmaker.
While he watches, we'll be watching him. Only then will we see the real Eichmann.
Close on Eichmann.
Was that a smile? - I don't think so.
I'm... afraid I'm going to have to leave the room.
lf anyone else has to step outside, there's no permission required.
How can you just sit there?
How can you not turn away, not even flinch. Where are you? Where the fuck are you!
They got a problem with the cable to the press room. What's up?
I'm thinking of leaving.
You go ahead. What are you talking about? - I'm thinking of leaving.
Hausner's just about to start his cross-examination.
It doesn't matter, Hausner won't crack him.
Then film Eichmann not cracking. - You could do that. Or Millek.
This is a Milton Fruchtman production, directed by Leo Hurwitz.
This is a Capital Cities production.
And without me they wouldn't be within a million miles of this trial
and without you they wouldn't have a tenth of the audience that they have.
You don't want to finish what you started? You think you've failed, is that it?
Yes. By my standards, I think I've failed.
Why? Because you couldn't locate the humanity in Adolf Eichmann?
Jesus, Leo, what if it's not there? What if you couldn't find it because he doesn't have it?
I'm sorry, I just can't believe that. - That's too bad.
lf Eichmann wants the world to think that he was a small cog
in a vast machine of death, let him. - Milton -
In trying to prove that, he'll allow Hausner to dissect and expose that machine
and its legacy, and we will have it all on record.
I really thought that we would find him today.
I really thought that if nothing else, we'd see a chink in his armour
we'd see the slightest hint of humanity in the man.
Leo, it doesn't matter.
Because from this point until forever, whenever anyone tries to deny
what happened to the Jews of Europe under the Nazis, they can be sat down
and invited to watch Obersturmbannführer Eichmann
describe in minute detail how it was done.
Now, that is not nothing. In fact that is... quite something.
Think about it. You're staying, Leo. Walk with me.
Where are we going?
They're laying a cable past Eichmann's cell.
They allowed that? - They had to, or no show.
Thank you. - Thank you.
Mr Fruchtman? - Oh, give me a second.
Milton...
I never got the chance to thank for you for going out on a limb and hiring me.
You don't have to do that. - Nevertheless, I'm glad you did.
Me too, Leo. Yeah, me too.
Shall we?
Give me two minutes, Leo.
Move on.
It was good?
Thank you.
We listened all day, on the radio.
When we first arrived, Mr Horowitz - 'Hurwitz.'
we did not speak about what had happened.
But people ask us, 'Who are you, what happened to you?' And so we told.
And they say, 'It cannot be true. You invent this.
Such things are not possible.'
I say, 'lf I could make up such things I would be in Hollywood
not running a cheap hotel in Jerusalem.'
But they do not believe, and so we stop speaking about what happened.
Except to whisper it in our sleep.
Since the trial begins, I see them listen now.
On bus, in shops, in cafeteria, they listen.
I go to market this morning and a young girl asked me about my number.
And they watch, yes? All over the world.
So I'm told.
Because of you.
Oh no, I... - Because of you. Because of you.
Mrs Landau, I can't. Really.
Please. - Thank you.
Good morning. Finally Hausner gets to go toe to toe with him.
Eichmann cross-examined by a Jew in the heart of the Jewish state. It is a great day.
And we need to be at our very best today, gentlemen.
I'm going to read what you said. Listen to this.
Camera three stand by.
"And this is how it was with the Jews -"
Take three, close on Hausner.
- "who were like a new born baby, unprepared.
I received the order to take action against the 'guests'.
I thought about the question and when I saw it was absolutely necessary
I carried out the orders with the fanaticism one expects
from someone who has long been a National Socialist
and also one who has been assigned to do this job." Did you say that?
I said I didn't know. - Did you say that? Yes or no?
I don't know. Maybe I'd been drinking. Maybe I didn't say it.
Maybe it was added afterwards.
Maybe you're full of shit.
Camera one, stand by. Take one.
Yes, because I consider oath-breaking to be the worst possible crime
and offence a person can be guilty of.
A greater crime than the murder of six million people
including one and a half million children?
No, of course not. But I had nothing to do with that.
I did not deal with the extermination.
In your eyes, was someone who was involved with the extermination of the Jews a criminal?
Such a person was an unhappy man.
Stand by on two. - Was he a criminal? Yes or no?
Close on Hausner.
I would not venture to answer this question, as I was never put or placed in such a situation.
You saw Hoess doing this in Auschwitz.
At that time did you consider him to be a criminal? - Take one.
A murderer? - I told him that what he was ordered to do
I could never do.
But that is not my question.
My question is whether at heart you saw him as a murderer?
lf he answers yes, he'll incriminate himself.
I have not answered this before, I have no intention of answering today.
Because what my inner life tells me is something I carry with me.
Whatever else he might be, this is not a stupid man.
Ready camera two. - How did you regard Hoess...
...when you saw him as a murderer of Jews? How did you regard him? As a criminal or not?
Answer. - I pitied him and felt sorry for him.
Did you regard him as a criminal or not?
Yes or no, it's a simple question. - I shall not reveal my innermost feelings.
In other words, Hoess was not a criminal in your eyes.
I did not say you ordered the foot march.
I know the Chief of the Security Police ordered it, but I say you initiated it.
No, that was hardly possible, because when the foot march took place I was in Berlin.
Alright, alright. No is quite good enough.
Now look at page 62 of your statement. Go ahead and read it out loud.
'In order, so to speak, to show my iron fist
to the Allies and also to tell them at the same time
it is not going to change anything even if you destroyed the lines of communication
to the Reich and bombed them to pieces, we will still march.
I have ten thousand Jews from some Eastern provinces or other.
In accordance with my proposal, and since I was no longer able to run a transport by rail from there
I had them march from Budapest to the lower Austrian border in a foot march.
I had the order from the Chief of the Security Police and the Security Service to this effect.
It is true that I could never have issued such an order myself. I did propose this.'
You did propose this, correct?
Hold on Eichmann.
I admit that much, yes.
Hausner's got him. - He's lost. He's lost.
Well done, everybody.
Great job.
In the courtroom at Jerusalem, nearly four months have passed since the jurors retired...
Even if the defendant did act out of blind obedience
a man who took part in crimes of such magnitude for years
should endure the greatest punishment known to law.
This court sentences Adolf Eichmann to death.
We did it.
For each of us who has ever felt that God created us better than any other human being
has stood on the threshold where Eichmann once stood.
And each of us who has allowed the shape of another person's nose
or the colour of their skin, or the manner in which they worship their god
to poison our feelings toward them
has known the loss of reason that led Eichmann to his madness
For this was how it all began, with those who did these things.