- Gideon Hausner
MKs
Date of birth =26 September 1915
Place of birth =Lemberg ,Austria-Hungary
Year of Aliyah = 1927
Date of death =15 November 1990
Place of death =
Knesset(s) = 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th
Party = Independent Liberals
Former parties =
Gov't roles =Minister without Portfolio Gideon Hausner ( _he. גדעון האוזנר,
26 September 1915 –15 November 1990 ) was anIsrael i jurist and politician. Between 1960 and 1963 he served as Attorney General, and was later elected to the Knesset and served in the cabinet.Hausner is most widely known for being the main
prosecutor at thewar crimes trial ofAdolf Eichmann inJerusalem in 1961. Hausner is generally credited with exposing theHolocaust to the world in bold cross-examinations of Eichmann. His judicial skill also set the precedent that the defense "I was only following orders" is not valid if such orders are wholly criminal and illegal. The prosecution succeeded in proving Eichmann's guilt, and Eichmann was found guilty on all charges, including crimes against humanity and crimes against the Jewish people. He was sentenced to death.Biography
Born in
Lemberg , capital of theKingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria , a province ofAustria-Hungary , Hausner immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1927. He attended high school inTel Aviv before studying philosophy at theHebrew University of Jerusalem and then law at theJerusalem Law School .A member of the
Hagana , during the1948 Arab-Israeli War he served in theJerusalem Brigade . After the conflict he worked as a military prosecutor, and then as president of the military court.In 1960 he was appointed Attorney General, but resigned from the post in 1963 and pursued a career in politics. He was elected to the Knesset in 1965 as a member of the Independent Liberals, having previously been active in the Progressive Party (the Independent Liberals were a breakaway group of mostly Progressive Party members following the party's merger into
Gahal ). He was re-elected in 1969 and 1973, and resigned from the Knesset upon being appointed aMinister without Portfolio in 1974. Re-elected in 1977 as the only member of the party, he lost his seat in the 1981 elections when the party failed to cross the electoral threshold.He was also the chairman of the council of
Yad Vashem .Bibliography
*cite book|title=Justice in Jerusalem|year=1966|publisher=Harper & Row|location=New York
*cite book|title=Holocaust on Trial|year=1988|publisher=`Am `oved|location=Tel Aviv|id=ISBN 965-13-0478-2|language=HebrewExternal links
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