Israel to commemorate 50 years of Eichmann trial around the world

Apr 10, 2011, 18:14 GMT

Jerusalem - The 50th anniversary of the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was to be commemorated on Monday with three major ceremonies around the world, the Israeli government said.

The trial of Eichmann 'marked a turning point in which the State of Israel and the Jewish People began to mete out justice to their persecutors and said: Enough! No more!' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

Adolf Eichmann had been a lieutenant-colonel in the SS and the man responsible for sending millions of Jews to their deaths during the 'Final Solution' - Adolf Hitler's attempt to wipe out the Jews of Europe during World War II. He later lamented that he hadn't managed to murdered all the Jews.

His trial began in Jerusalem on April 11, 1961, a few months after he was abducted in Argentina.

The court issued its verdict in December and handed him a death sentence, with judges rejecting his claim that he had merely been obeying orders.

'In light of the importance for the awareness of the Holocaust in Israel and around the world' the Israeli cabinet announced Sunday that three ceremonies were to be held on Monday in different cities around the world.

The first was set to take place in Beit Ha'am, Jerusalem, where the trial was held. A second at the Wansee Villa in Germany, where the 'Final Solution' for the annihilation of the Jews was decided upon, and the third in New York, where the largest single Jewish community in the world is concentrated.

We are seeking to commemorate, 'not just the victory over our enemies, we are called upon to prevent persecutions by new enemies - this is our greatest lesson,' Netanyahu said.

The Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, was also to open a special exhibition focussing on the visual aspects of the trial with documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, artifacts and works of art.

Original footage of the trial, part of which has been made available on the YouTube website, was also to go on display.

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