''The Eichmann Show'' is a 2015 British

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

produced by Laurence Bowen and Ken Marshall and directed by

Paul Andrew Williams Paul Andrew Williams (born 1973 in Portsmouth, England) is a British film writer and director. He won the New Director's Award for his film '' London to Brighton'' in the 2006 Edinburgh International Film Festival. Career Williams began his caree ...

. It is based on the true story of how American TV producer Milton Fruchtman and blacklisted TV director

Leo Hurwitz Leo Hurwitz (June 23, 1909 – January 18, 1991) was an American documentary filmmaker. Among the films he directed were '' Native Land'' (1942) and ''Verdict for Tomorrow'' (1961), the Emmy Award- and Peabody Award-winning film of the Eichman ...

came to broadcast the

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...

of one of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

's most notorious

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

, Adolf Eichmann, in 1961.

Plot

In 1961, former Nazi Adolf Eichmann is captured by Israeli agents and put on trial. American television producer Milton Fruchtman fervently believes that the trial, with its witness accounts of Nazi atrocities, should be televised to show the world the evils of

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, and to combat any resurgence of Nazism, and joins forces with black-listed director Leo Hurwitz. Despite death threats, reluctance to cooperate from several networks, and even resistance from the

Israeli prime minister The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exe ...

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...

, who fears a ' show trial', the pair persist and move their cameras into the courtroom. Edited daily and shown in some three dozen countries, the 'Eichmann Show' becomes the first ever global

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

Cast

Postscript

The film postscript reads: "After adjourning on the 14th August, the judges declared Eichmann responsible for the terrible conditions on board the trains to Auschwitz, and for obtaining

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

to fill those trains. Eichmann was also found guilty of crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes against

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovene as their na ...

and

Gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

. Adolf Eichmann was hanged on the 31 May 1962. His ashes were cast into the sea. The daily films produced and directed by Milton Fruchtman and Leo Hurwitz constitute the world's first ever global television documentary series. It was the first time the horror of the

Nazi death camps Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

had been heard on television, from the mouths of 112 eye witnesses and survivors. Following his work on the Eichmann trial, Milton Fruchtman won a Peabody Award and went on to have a successful career in American television. Leo Hurwitz continued to make documentary films. He went on to become Professor of Film and Chairman of the Graduate Institute of Film and Television at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

References

External links

* * * 2015 television films 2015 films Films about the capture of Adolf Eichmann Films about journalism World War II war crimes trials films Drama films based on actual events Films about Nazi Germany BBC Film films 2015 drama films Films set in Israel Films shot in Lithuania Films shot in Malta Cultural depictions of Adolf Eichmann 2010s English-language films 2010s British films British drama television films {{tv-drama-film-stub