03 — OPERATION
The Eichmann Trial
The 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem transformed the historical memory of the Holocaust and established a legal precedent for prosecuting architects of genocide. The trial's proceedings are public record and serve as a primary source for historians and the encyclopedia alike.
Evidence Assessment
The trial, its proceedings, the verdict and the execution.
Accounts of what Eichmann said in Israel and to whom draw on testimony and reporting.
Key Facts
- Date:
- 1961–1962
- Location:
- Jerusalem, Israel
- Result:
- Conviction; death sentence; executed 1962
- Evidence:
- Documented
Captured to be tried
The purpose of bringing Eichmann to Israel was publicly framed as legal accountability. The capture, while controversial on sovereignty grounds, made a trial possible.
The proceedings
The trial heard extensive testimony from Holocaust survivors and relied on documentary evidence. It was a media event of global scale and became a defining reference for how the genocide is discussed in public.
Evidence assessment
Documented: the trial, the testimony, the conviction and the 1962 execution. The trial record is a primary source, subject to the same archival checks as any official record.