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Lauren Davis, Erin Spadaccini, Abigail Strusowski

History Day Process Essay
For this years National History Day theme of Rights and Responsibilities, we researched
the trial of former Nazi criminal, Adolf Eichmann. Our interest in a Holocaust-related topic led
us to the story of Adolf Eichmann. Our objective was to prove that Israel had the right to kidnap
Eichmann from Argentina and it was their responsibility as a Jewish country to try him, although
his crimes were committed in Europe.
Our first step in creating our National History Day website was collecting reliable
sources from which we could begin studying. After conducting preliminary research from the
school library, we visited the library at the University of Delaware. We were excited to discover
numerous sources dedicated to the Eichmann Trial, including the trial transcripts. We checked
out multiple reliable books, including The State of Israel v Adolf Eichmann by Hanna Yablonka,
professor of Holocaust studies at Israels Ben-Gurion University. Our teacher also suggested
consulting The Eichmann Trial by foremost Holocaust survivor, Deborah Lipstadt. Analyzing
these sources gave us a deeper understanding of how the trial fits into the history of the
Holocaust and the post-war period. For primary sources, our best sources were the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum website, which included video of the Eichmann trial and the New
York Times database which had articles on the Eichmann trial published in the 1960s.
We began constructing the website using a stark, minimalist theme. We purposely
focused on small details in constructing the website, such as writing Lieutenant in German on
our tabs, bolding our thesis on the homepage, and adding video clips of the trial to our website.
We divided our website into three main sections: Eichmanns involvement in the Holocaust, the
trial of Adolf Eichmann, and the lasting effects. By dividing our website into sections, the
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information is organized and easy to follow.
At the state competition, the judges suggested that we explore how Israelis viewed the
Eichmann trial. We contacted Rami Goren, an Israeli resident at the time of the trial whose
testimony was invaluable. We also enhanced our research by adding more primary sources and
continuing to focus on the trial from different countries perspectives. By using various reliable
resources and emphasizing details of our website, we believe to have we accurately proven that
Israel had the right to kidnap Eichmann and they had responsibility as a Jewish country to try
him in the country of Israel.
We came away from this project confident that our project fits the theme and also
inspired by what we learned. This can be summed up in one of Mr. Gorens notes to us: Sadly,
inhumane treatment of entire class of people and of individuals is not just a Jewish issue, as you
all know so well. Our hope as humanity is first and foremost in educating young people to have
both realistic understanding and compassion. Having met you girls, I get the sense that we have
both. The future is indeed bright!