In February 1985, a mock trial was conducted in Jerusalem against SS officer Dr. Josef Mengele. Despite the defendant's absence, the event resembled a regular criminal trial: seven judges presided, thirty survivors testified, and a verdict was delivered at the end. The paper examines the goals of such a trial and argues that while the proceedings were focused on the defendant and his crimes, the testimonies and personal stories of the surviving witnesses took center stage. The trial thus aimed to achieve justice for the victims more than to serve justice on the defendant himself. Nonetheless, the fading of this trial from public memory highlights the differences between criminal and other types of proceedings in documenting, commemorating, and shaping collective memory of the Holocaust.

In her new article, Yehudit Dori-Deston sheds light on how this trial reflects broader issues of justice and memory in Holocaust commemoration.
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