Last February, “The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes,” a three-part documentary series, began airing on Prime Video. What made this series different from others on Adolph Eichmann was its use of newly available audio of Eichmann recorded in the late 1950s. Now, in partnership with the Jewish Film Festival, the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum will be screening a condensed 110-minute film version.
The screening is set for Sunday, March 3, at 2:30 p.m. at the museum.
Attendees will also be given an early, sneak preview copy of the Jewish Film Festival brochure, which will feature the full line-up and descriptions of all 16 films being shown at the festival from April 7 – 18.
‘The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes’
The documentary revisits Adolf Eichmann’s 1961 trial in Jerusalem, where he portrayed himself as a mere bureaucrat obeying orders. But it’s the discovery of the tapes and hearing Eichmann’s voice that are chilling. The film not only presents the recordings but sheds light on the reasons they were concealed for more than 70 years.
The tapes were made before Eichmann’s capture in Argentina by the Mossad. Dutch Nazi journalist Willem Sassen recorded Eichmann during various gatherings resembling a Nazi expatriate salon. Eichmann appears to foresee his forthcoming defense and vehemently rejects it.
In one recording Eichmann can be heard saying, “I didn’t even care about the Jews that I deported to Auschwitz. I didn’t care if they were alive or already dead.”
After the Mossad operation, Sassen sold the transcripts of his recordings to LIFE Magazine, which published excerpts from the tapes but did not produce the actual tapes. The Israeli Supreme Court did not approve of the transcripts as evidence, requiring the prosecution to rely instead on other forms of documentation to convict Eichmann, and the content of the rest of the tapes remained a mystery for decades.
Secured in the German Federal Archives, they were untouched until 2020, when Yariv Mozer and Kobi Sitt, the filmmakers behind “The Devil’s Confession,” were granted access in order to begin production for the film.
“This is proof against Holocaust deniers and a way to see the true face of Eichmann,” Mozer told the New York Times in July 2023. “With all modesty, through the series, the young generations will get to know the trial and the ideology behind the Final Solution.”
The Movie: The Devil’s Confession
What: 110-minute film screening in partnership with the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival
When: Sunday, March 3 at 2:30 p.m.
Where: St. Louis Holocaust Museum, 36 Millstone Campus Dr.
Tickets: Register for this Program
