The Foreign Ministry here announced today that the United States Government has officially applied for facilities for a special representative who will attend the proceedings of the Eichmann trial, which will open April 11.
The West German Government, the announcement revealed, will send a special mission of nine persons from Bonn to cover the trial. Four members of this mission are listed as “high officials.” The Israel Government has assured Bonn that the mission will have access to specially leased cable facilities for prompt reporting on the trial’s proceedings. The governments of Austria and Yugoslavia have similarly applied to Israel for facilities for special representatives they intend to have at the trial.
Security was tightened today in the section of Jerusalem leading to the building where the Eichmann court is to sit. The street fronting the Beit Haam–where the trial will take place–was barred to all traffic. Eichmann, now closely guarded in a jail cell in northern Israel, is to be moved to a special cell in a building near the Beit Haam. Israeli police and security officials have thrown a veil of secrecy around the details of when Eichmann is to be moved to his new place of confinement. There was some speculation to the effect that he has already been placed in his new cell near the court room.
Meanwhile, a Haifa District Court today rejected a petition for an early hearing on a civilian claim against Nazi Adolf Eichmann for recovery of 1,501 Israeli pounds worth of property which belonged to the family of Joseph Mandel in Hungary during the Nazi era, it was disclosed today.
During the hearing, a written statement from Eichmann was presented to the court in which the Nazi disclaimed any knowledge of looting of Jewish property in Hungary and its transfer to Germany. Mandel, who is now a Swiss citizen who came to Israel to file his claim, was represented by Shmuel Tamir, who argued that Eichmann might be condemned and executed before a hearing on the civilian claim for property recovery could be held.
A representative for Attorney General Gideon Hausner, who will be chief prosecutor in the Eichmann trial, argued against the Mandel motion. He said it was more important to hear first the charges against Eichmann of responsibility for the murders of millions of European Jews. The court rejected Mandel’s request with an announcement it would give a formal statement later of its reasons.
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