Archive/File: people/e/eichmann.adolf/transcripts/Sessions/Session-054-02
Last-Modified: 1999/06/04

Q. And where did you see him?

A. I saw him for the first time when he was sitting on the
balcony and drinking, sipping drinks. I saw him a second
time during a bombing, an air raid. On that occasion he was
walking around, strolling in his garden, and we were
carrying on with our work on the trenches. He started
shouting at us to get into the trenches. And Slawik came
after him.

Q. Did he himself also get into a trench?

A. No, he did not get into a trench.

Q. What did Slawik do?

A. Slawik stood next to him.

Q. How many times, in all, did you see Eichmann?

A. I the next time I saw him was when I was working in one
of the trenches and I suddenly heard shouts. I saw
Eichmann's chauffeur, who was a young man.

Q. What was his name?

A. I remember his name as Teitel.

I saw and heard this soldier approaching one of the Jewish
boys working with us. I knew him by the name of Salomon.

Q. Was that his surname or his first name?

A. I don't know. We knew him by that name.

Q. When you say "boy" - how old was he?

A. He was our age, 16 years old, 17 at most.

Q. Tell us in your own words what happened.

A. I saw how this soldier, Teitel, went up to this boy and
shouted at him. I saw how Slawik also appeared suddenly,
clad in his short trousers, as I remember it, and half-
naked.

Q. What do you mean by "half-naked"?

A. Without a shirt or vest.

Q. That means that the upper half of his body was completely
exposed?

A. Yes.

Q. And so, what were they shouting?

A. They were shouting something like: "You have stolen
cherries from the tree!" (as if it were so in fact).
Eichmann was standing on the upper floor balcony. Apparently
some conversation between then had taken place.

Presiding Judge: Between whom?

Witness Gordon:   Between Slawik and Eichmann above.

State Attorney Bach:  Before you refer to that conversation
- where was this Salomon boy working at that time?

Witness Gordon:   I was working on the trench in the centre,
and it seems to me that he was working on the trench to my
right - a distance of 10-15 metres from me.

Q. were there trees there, cherry trees?

A. I don't remember whether there were cherry trees in that
garden. But close to this villa there was an orchard of
fruit trees, and this orchard also formerly belonged to the
owner of the villa, Aschner.

Q. Tell me further: When Slawik and Teitel shouted at
Salomon, how did the boy react?

A. He began shouting: "I didn't do it, I am innocent." After
that I saw how Slawik and Teitel were leading the boy,
holding him...

Q. Before you come to that - you said there was a
conversation between them and Eichmann who was standing on
the balcony. Did you hear what they were saying?

A. I heard Teitel say that the boy had stolen fruit,
cherries - had stolen them from the trees. Apparently he
asked what should be done with him. This I could no longer
follow. That apparently is my conclusion.

Q. Did you hear the reply?

A. I did not hear the reply.

Q. What was the next thing you saw?

A. I saw how the boy was taken by Slawik and Teitel towards
the tool shed, the shed from which we used to take out work
tools for our work. I saw how they shut the lad in, pushed
him. They were leading him on against his will. They forced
him into the shed and locked him in there. After that I saw
that the chauffeur went away. I did not notice where he was
after that. I noticed Slawik returning, going round the
building, suddenly he disappeared from my view. Afterwards I
saw that he returned with Eichmann, and the two of them
entered the toolshed.

Q. Now please explain something to me: You said that he
returned with Eichmann; from what direction did they come -
Eichmann and Slawik?

A. They came round the building.

Q. Was it not possible to reach the toolshed from inside the
house? Did they have to leave the building?

A. This toolshed, which I have referred to, was to the rear
of the building, and there was only one entrance - from the
road. In order to get to the shed, they had to go right
round the house.

Q. Mr. Gordon, would you kindly make a sketch of the
building, showing where the front was, and where was the
rear, where was the balcony you mentioned, where was the
toolshed, and where were you standing when you saw all those
things happen. I think this will make it clearer to the
Court. It doesn't have to be exactly to scale - we require
to see the various directions so that we may understand your
story.

Your Honour, the exhibit, which was previously submitted by
me, has already been marked T/37(7).

Witness Gordon:   [Shows the sketch he has drawn].

State Attorney Bach:  Perhaps you would explain what you
were doing, and whenever you come to a particular place,
mark it with a letter, so that the Court may know what you
are referring to.

Witness Gordon:   [Pointing to the sketch he has made] The
entrance to this building was on Apostol Street - that was
the name of the street where Eichmann lived. I don't
remember the exact number, but I think it was No. 13. Here
is the entrance to the front garden - the building begins
here - this is the front of the house, the main entrance. In
order to reach the place where we were working, we had to
pass on this side and to go in through the back entrance.
This is the entrance to a small cellar - it was not really a
cellar. We had to go down a few steps. On the right hand
side there was a door, and that is where the toolshed was.
This is the garden of the villa. This lay in the direction
of the Danube. It was a very large garden. I don't think
that there are gardens of this kind in Israel. Our task was
to prepare some rows of trenches. I have not sketched in all
the trenches. Here, roughly, is the set of trenches, the
place I am speaking of is this entrance here. One had to go
down two or three steps. The corridor is narrow and the
entrance on this side - that is the place I am talking
about. Here is the toolshed.

Q. Would you please mark this with the letter "A"?

A. I have marked the place with the letter "M."

Q. Where is the corridor you are talking about?

A. This part here.

Presiding Judge: And what is that on the side?

Witness Gordon:   This is also a balcony, on the side of the
building, its side facade. There were also balconies on the
front side, but I do not remember them.

State Attorney Bach:  Would you please mark, with an "A,"
the balcony where you saw the Accused?

Witness Gordon:   [Does so].

Q. Were these orchards in the direction of the Danube?

A. Both the building and the orchard led towards the Danube.
It was a slope, a decline in the direction of the Danube.
This is the orchard. The building and the fruit orchard did
not have a common fence. In order to get to the orchard, one
had to pass along a narrow path.

Presiding Judge: Please explain why it was necessary to go
around this shed?

Witness Gordon:   This shed ended against a wall. There was
no entrance at all from the front side. To get to the shed
one had to go right around for there was no entrance from
the back.

Q. From which orchard did they say that this boy stole
fruit? Was it from the orchard to the side or from another
one?

A. We did not believe for a moment that this boy stole the
cherries.

Q. I am saying that they said that he had stolen. From which
orchard?

A. I don't know, I don't remember.

State Attorney Bach:  By the way, were all the fifteen young
men working there all Jewish?

Witness Gordon:   Yes.

Q. Including this Salomon?

A. Yes.

Presiding Judge: I have marked the sketch T/1153.

State Attorney Bach:  Do you know anything at all about this
boy, where he came from?

Witness Gordon:   We knew about him. He didn't tell us, but
it was said that he had escaped from the zone of Carpatho-
Russia, the region of Munkacs. He fled to Budapest and was
accepted for work on the Schwabenberg.

Q. You told us that you saw Eichmann and Slawik coming
together towards the shed. How was the Accused dressed?

A. He wore long trousers and a light-coloured shirt. He was
not in uniform. Perhaps the trousers were part of a uniform,
but I cannot say this with any certainty.

Q. What kind of shirt was it?

A. A light-coloured shirt - that I remember.

Q. Would you kindly tell the Court what happened after that?

A. The boy was locked up in the shed. I saw the two of them
going into the toolshed.

Q. Where, precisely, were you standing when you saw it?

A. On the sketch I have shown a trench opposite the back
entrance. I was working in this trench.

Q. What distance was that trench from the door of the shed?

A. Ten to twelve metres.

Presiding Judge: Would  you, perhaps, show us to what trench
you are referring, and mark it, let us say with the Hebrew
letter "Bet."

Witness Gordon:   I have already marked it, in error, with
the Roman letter "B."

Q. These circles, are they the trenches? What were the
trenches for?

A. At that time we did not know why we were digging these
trenches but, later on, it became clear to us that these
were apparently positions for mortars. I am not absolutely
sure of this, that was the conclusion we reached later.

Q. What was roughly the size of the trench?

A. I think 150 centimetres deep and about 160-180
centimetres wide. At any rate we were able to stretch out
our arms inside the trench.

State Attorney Bach:  Now tell us, in your own words, what
happened afterwards, exactly as you saw and heard it.

Witness Gordon:   I was standing in the trench and I saw
Slawik and Eichmann open the door and go in.

Q. Who was with you in the same trench?

A. There was a Jewish boy, whose name - I am not sure that I
remember this correctly - was Bruck. I think that was his
name.

Presiding Judge: Are you sure, or not sure?

Witness Gordon:   I am not sure of this. We worked there in
all kinds of pairs. Generally I used to work with this boy
and I presume that, on that day as well, I was working with
him.

State Attorney Bach:  Were there other young men together
with you or near you who were also able to see and hear what
was going on there?

Witness Gordon:   Yes, it was nearby, they could hear what
was going on there, and from some of the trenches they could
also see.

Q. But you were together with one other young man in your
trench?

A. Yes. I saw Eichmann and Slawik entering the toolshed. The
door closed. After that I heard terrible screams, beatings,
blows and crying.

Q. Did you identify the screams?

A. Yes - it was the voice of the boy who had been taken, and
whom we knew by the name of Salomon. These screams lasted
about 10-15 minutes - I didn't measure the time, but I
assume that it was so. Suddenly there was silence. And after
I didn't hear the shouting any more, the door opened and
Eichmann came out. I saw him, his clothing was dishevelled,
he looked wild, his shirt was sticking out - I noticed
stains on his shirt and I thought that these were
bloodstains. I didn't only think so, I knew, almost for
certain that these were bloodstains.

Q. Were these stains also on his shirt when he went in?

A. No. He went away quickly, and at the moment he passed by
us he muttered words which I heard quite clearly. He said:
"Uebriges Mistvolk." I have remembered these words for
seventeen years.

Presiding Judge: How would you translate that? You know
Hebrew quite well.

Witness Gordon:   I would translate it "Superfluous dirty
people, superfluous garbage people."

State Attorney Bach:  Do you know German?

Witness Gordon:   I understand some German.

Q. Are you fluent in the German language?

A. No, I can read a little German. I understand it fairly
well.

Presiding Judge: Did you learn German at school?

Witness Gordon:   At the age of 17 I knew German far better
than I do now.

Q. Up to that age, in how many grades had you learned
German?

A. Eight grades - during the whole period of the Gymnasium.
Those were the words which I remember - I didn't want to
change them.

State Attorney Bach:  You said that he looked wild, and you
told us about his shirt. What can you tell us in general,
what did you notice in his external appearance that was
different from his earlier appearance?

Witness Gordon:   I came to the conclusion that he had taken
an active part in beating the boy.

Q. Was that the conclusion you came to?

A. Yes.

Q. On the basis of what facts did you reach these
conclusions?

A. First of all, there could have been only two persons there.

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