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Criminal Case 40/61, the Trial of Adolf Eichmann: An Eyewitness Account, by Harry Mulisch (trans. Robert Naborn, Foreword by Deborah Dwork), (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press 2005) 178 pp.
Throughout the ages governments have relied upon public trials to air accusations against alleged law breakers. There are a number of reasons for this reliance, including a desire to put on display the evidence that allegedly condemns an outlaw, a wish to invite the public to participate (at least vicariously) in the adjudicatory process and an intention to demonstrate the fairness of the process for all to see. If successful, such proceedings can powerfully legitimate the decisions reached and the government reaching them. If not, that government may become the subject of intense criticism. The trials of Jesus, Socrates and Charles I all attest to the potential for trials to become a locus of criticism and dissent. Much turns on what happens at trial and how the watching world reacts to it.
One of the all time most successful trials in terms of the world's view of the rectitude of the judgment reached and its impact upon subsequent political and legal developments was conducted at Nuremberg, Germany at the conclusion of the second World War. At that trial twenty leading members of the Nazi regime were prosecuted for their parts in the gravest crimes committed by Hitler's Germany.1 The Tribunal at Nuremberg was comprised of representatives from the four main Allied powers (Britain, France, USSR, and United States). It heard hundreds of witnesses and reviewed thousands of documents. Despite serious flaws including an imbalance of resources that substantially disadvantaged the defense and the presence of Soviet judges who were not predisposed to yield to the dictates of justice, it produced a nuanced judgment that apportioned guilt with care and created an enduring historical record of the crimes of the Third Reich. Nuremberg set the standard for trials intended to address crimes of international scope. Over the past six decades it has served as a siren song to those contemplating a legal response to misconduct on a massive scale.
One of the most significant of Nuremberg's progeny was the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Israel in 1961. Eichmann was kidnapped from his post-World War Il hiding place...