Severed Voices: Radio and the Mediation of Trauma in the Eichmann Trial

This essay considers the role of the radio in the mediation of trauma during the 1961 Eichmann trial. It is argued that radio broadcasts from the courtroom occasioned a transformation in the status of Holocaust survivors in Israel, who had been previously seen as deeply traumatized, unable or unwilling to speak about their experiences. Taking to the airwaves facilitated a shift in the conditions by which survivors' testimonies could find public articulation. As such, the Eichmann trial provides a compelling case of the significance of media in transforming private traumas into a collective or cultural trauma.