Fifty years ago, in April 1961, the Jerusalem District Court opened proceedings against Adolf Eichmann, former SS Obersturmbannführer and head of section IV B 4 for “Jewish Affairs.” The trial became a major media event. But it was not only a single perpetrator in the Holocaust who was brought before the public eye. For the first time, descriptions by victims received attention around the world. In Jerusalem the era of contemporary witnesses had dawned. Eichmann’s appearance before the court also triggered discussions about the guilt and responsibility of individuals within the Nazi system. This exhibition, designed around the original film footage from the courtroom, was dedicated to these two aspects of the trial: witness testimony and the perpetrator’s strategy.
