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At The Movies
`The Specialist'
Documentary drains drama, but not guilt,
from Eichmann trial.
A
Auschwitz into a boring sojourn
through the Third Reich's organiza-
tional chart — as a way of arguing, of
course, that he was just a cog without
doff Eichmann's Jerusalem
true decision-making authority.
trial was, like most court cases
Eichmann stands every time
outside of Law 6-
he gives an answer, attempt-
Order, a dull,
ing to recoup a dignity that is
painstaking proceeding cat-
at odds with the twisted sneer
alyzed by flashes of drama.
that transforms his face the rest of the
But for some perverse reason, The
time as he listens to the trial via trans-
Specialist, a two-hour 1999 documen-
lation on headphones.
tary culled from 500 hours of black-
If one were to take Eichmann at his
and-white video footage of the 1961
dubious word, why did he follow
trial, omits almost all of the good stuff.
orders?
It will be screened at the
"I recognized my power-
Detroit Film Theatre on
lessness with regard to my
Monday, Sept. 11.
own proposals or ideas," he
It's worth remembering
declares, clad in an accoun-
that prosecutor Gideon
tant's dark suit and tie the
Hausner called numerous
uniform of the competent
Holocaust survivors to the
but uninspired functionary
witness stand, not so much to
he'd like us to see him as.
testify directly against
Gideon Hausner finally
Eichmann but to bring the
Adolf Ei chmann loses his patience at one
Holocaust out of Israel's col-
listens to his trial point and all but screams,
lective closet. Though they
via tran station
"Were the Jews sent to the
had been transported to the
on head phones.
death camps? Yes or no?"
camps by Eichmann's design,
"I'm not denying it," Eichmann
these witnesses obviously had no first-
calmly replies. "I've never denied it. I
hand knowledge of his involvement.
had orders to carry out, by virtue of
From its inception, the Jewish state
my duty and my oath of allegiance. I
championed a new Jew, who worked
couldn't shirk my duty and I have
with his hands and defended himself
never tried to."
with tanks and jets — the antithesis,
Then he adds, "But I didn't act will-
in other words, of the intellectual
ingly, as my initial efforts clearly show."
shtetl Jews who supposedly went
In fact, he asserts, "it troubled me
meekly to the gas chambers.
greatly, more than anyone could imag-
The shattering experiences related
ine. I repeatedly went to my superior to
by survivors during the Eichmann trial
request a transfer to other duties."
broke the silence that younger Israelis
Needless to say, this viewer was
had implicitly imposed, and provoked
unconvinced. In fact, I came away
a national reassessment and healing
from the film of the firm opinion
that coincided with Israel's bar mitz- •
that anyone who participated in the
vah, or symbolic passage to adulthood.
genocide — even if they were "fol-
The Specialist, produced and direct-
lowing orders," or merely counting
ed by Eyal Sivan, glosses over this mov-
paper
clips in the offices where
ing testimony, which served the second
deportations and transports were
function of undercutting acres of
scheduled — was a war criminal.
numbing logistical details about trans-
Although The Specialist doesn't note
ports, trains and documents.' Here was
the fact, Eichmann was convicted and
the human cost and emotional conse-
executed and his ashes tossed in the
quences of Eichmann's actions.
Mediterranean in international waters. El
The film does suc eed in giving us
the shadowy Eichmann, who's bureau-
cracy-speak turns a discussion of the
The Specialist screens at the
transporting of French children to
Detroit Film Theatre 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 11.
MICHAEL FOX
Special to the Jewish News
c
Michael Fox is a San Francisco-based
film critic.