Legacy: Father, Son and Nation: Reflections on the Adolf Eichmann Trial

Amos_Hausner

We were treated to a fascinating talk by Amos Hausner (right). His father was the Attorney General of Israel and was tasked with prosecuting Eichmann in 1961 following his abduction from Argentina. During his opening address he said:

“I am not standing alone. With me are six million accusers, but they cannot rise to their feet and point an accusing finger. Their ashes ane piled upon the hills of Auschwitz and in the fields of Treblinka and are strewn in the forests of Poland…”

Amos recalled that Eichmann’s defences fell into four categories:

  1. Acts of state: that Eichmann war merely a civil servant enacting his country’s laws.

  2. Territorial jurisdiction: That if there had been any crime, it was committed in Europe and the Israeli authorities had no legal power to prosecute him.

  3. Impartiality:  The crime was against the Jews, so Jewish judges cannot impartially carry out their duty.

  4. Retrospectivity: The laws under which Israel was prosecuting him were enacted in 1950, several years after the purported crimes were committed.

Gideon Hausman successfully argued that this defence was inapplicable since Germany had not enacted any laws mandating the extermination of Jews as they did not wish to turn world opinion against the regime.

The latter three defences were rejected based on ideas contained in the concept of Universal Jurisdiction.

Amos, a distinguished lawyer in his own right, commented on the weaknesses of international law in relation to Crimes against Humanity: Such cases took far too long, often decades, before the crimes were brought to trial and that there were no preventive laws. By preventative laws he gave examples such as laws that prohibited inciting or conspiring to commit crimes against humanity.

The trial also resulted in some heart-warming moments: A doctor presented himself at the court claiming that he had relevant testimony. Confronted by a policeman, he explained that he had treated a youth who had been sentenced to 80 lashes. The doctor had treated the boy as best he could but he was transferred to another facility and had no idea whether the boy had survived. The policeman said that he could put the doctor’s mind at rest at once as he was that youth. When the doctor eventually gave his testimony in court, he was amazingly able to point out the policeman to the judges.

Many thanks to:

  • NZFOI volunteers Joanne Moss, Arthur and Sue Comery and Lynnette Gautier;

  • Olga Macagon, The Holocaust Centre of New Zealand;

  • Alison Dyson, The Jewish Federation of New Zealand;

  • Professor Karen Hudson, The Canterbury University Law School

  • The Victoria University of Wellington School of Government;

  • Professor Ros Noonan, The Auckland University Centre for Human Rights Law, Policy and Practice; and

  • Perry Trotter, The Shadows of Shoah Trust

For making his talks in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland possible.

His talk may be viewed on the Victoria University site.

 

 

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