The Eichmann Show (2015)

The Eichmann Show is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered in 2015. It is the story of how the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem was recorded for television and how the daily recordings were distributed to 37 countries around the world over the course of four months. Here is some basic information about it:

** Director: Paul Andrew Williams

** Writer: Simon Block

** Narrator: Samuel West

** Available on DVD and Amazon Prime Video

** Run time: 96 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Martin Freeman as Milton Fruchtman (born 1926) – producer

** Anthony LaPaglia as Leo Hurwitz (1909-1991) – director

** Rebecca Front as Mrs Landau – owner of Pension Landau

** Andy Nyman as David Landor (1915-2001) – Israeli press secretary

** Solomon Mousley as Perry Roded – production runner

** Caroline Bartleet as Judy Gold – Fruchtman’s secretary

** Ben Lloyd-Hughes as Alan Rosenthal – assistant producer

** Justin Salinger as David Arad – a lawyer

** Ben Addis as Ron Huntsman – technician # 1

** Dylan Edwards as Roy Sharp – technician # 2

** Justas Vanagas as Rolf Kneller – cameraman # 1

** Nicholas Woodeson as Yaakov Jonilowicz – cameraman # 2

** Ed Birch as Millek Knebel – cameraman # 3

** Zora Bishop as Eva Fruchtman – Milton’s wife

** Anna-Louise Plowman as Jane Hurwitz – Leo’s wife

** Nathaniel Gleed as Tommy Hurwitz – Leo’s son

** Yitzchak Averbuch as Judge Moshe Landau (1912-2011)

** Vaidotas Nartinaitis as Adolf Eichmann (1906-1962)

In this drama we see how the trial of Eichmann was recorded for television. We follow the technical discussions (how can we do this?). And we follow the political discussions (what does this trial mean to Israel and to the world?).

Black-and-white clips from the original trial appear from time to time. Witnesses gave statements in several languages (German, French, Hebrew, etc.). All statements were translated into English for the benefit of the international community.

Most of this drama shows us what happened behind the scene while the trial was being recorded, so it could be shown on television around the world. In Israel itself, the trial was broadcast on the radio. In 1961 there was no television in Israel. The history of television in Israel did not begin until 1966. This event took place before the age of satellites and long before the age of the internet and digital media.

At first, there was a huge international interest in the trial. Many foreign journalists and academic scholars travelled to Jerusalem to witness and report on the trial. After a while, interest began to taper off. The trial of Eichmann had to compete with other global events, such as Gagarin, the first man in space, and the Bay of Pigs, the failed invasion of Cuba.

What do reviewers say about this historical drama? On IMDb it has a rating of 66 per cent, which corresponds to ca three stars on Amazon. The Telegraph offers four out of five stars, i.e. a rating of 80 per cent. If you ask me, these ratings are too low. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS # 1. In the brief introduction, the narrator says: “September the second, 1945, the war is over.” I wonder why this date was chosen. The war in Europe ended in May. And the war in Asia ended in August. So why pick the date 2 September? This is odd.

A moment later, the narrator mentions the name Adolf Eichmann. Then he says: “It will take the Israeli secret service fifteen years to track him down to his hiding place in Argentina.”

This statement is quite misleading. The Israeli secret service (Mossad) did not spend fifteen years trying to track down Eichmann. For many years they did nothing. When information was handed to them, they were still reluctant to take action.

Eichmann was identified in 1954 by Lothar Hermann, whose daughter dated Eichmann’s oldest son Klaus for a while. Hermann was a refugee from Germany, who had come to Argentina in 1938. His daughter Sylvia was born in 1942. Hermann informed the Jewish community in Buenos Aires, but there was no reponse.

In 1957 Hermann informed Fritz Bauer – a public prosecutor in West Germany – that Eichmann was living in Buenos Aires. Bauer informed the Mossad, but they did not act at once. Only three years later, in 1960, did the Israeli secret service decide to investigate and to take action.

I regard the odd date and the misleading statement in the introduction as minor flaws.

PS # 2. One of the numerous journalists and academic scholars who travelled to Jerusalem in 1961 was the well-known and controversial philosopher Hannah Arendt, who covered the trial for The New Yorker. Her articles were later turned into a book with the title Eichmann in Jerusalem (1963).

Hannah Arendt is not mentioned in this drama. I regard this omission as a minor flaw. Eichmann’s trial plays an important role in the historical and biographical drama Hannah Arendt, which premiered in 2012.

PS # 3. There is a lot of smoking in this drama. People smoke not only when they are outside, but also when they are inside. It is horrible to watch, but we have to remember that this story is set in 1961, so perhaps it is realistic.

PS # 4. The following movies focus on how Eichmann was captured in Argentina and transported to Israel in 1960:

** The House on Garibaldi Street (1979)

** The Man Who Captured Eichmann (1996)

** Operation Finale (2018)

PS # 5. The movie Eichmann, which premiered in 2007, focuses on the interrogation of Eichmann in Jerusalem in 1960, before the public trial of 1961.

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