Title: Eichmann and the Holocaust
Genre: Political
Year: 1963
Pages: 130
Origin: from a second-hand bookshop in Cornwall
Nod Rating: 4 nods out of 5
‘It was sheer thoughtlessness that predisposed him to become on the greatest criminals of the period.’And so states the subheading on the cover of Hannah Arendt’s influential analysis of the trail of the infamous Adolf Eichmann some fifty years ago. In many ways, it is in the running for the much used tag “trial of the century”, such is the colour of its background and meaning for the post-war world.
Eichmann had been hiding in South America since the end of Nazi Germany’s defeat, before being captured by Israeli agents and taken home to face trial in an Israeli court for crimes against humanity. Eichmann was found guilty and subsequently hung in 1962. Clearly, Eichmann is not the most well-known of Adolfs – Herr Hitler wins hands down on this score – however, he is in the public conscious in relation to the Nazi top brass. Arendt’s book reveals that this is perhaps not the case, but Eichmann’s big, trumpeted trial in the early 1960s has etched out a place in history otherwise not deserved.
For Arendt – a Jew who fled Hitler’s Germany – it could be seen as a time for reckoning. However, throughout her engaging flow of words is an attempt to dig deeper and go beyond the meaning and reactions of the surface feeling. Eichmann is not portrayed as the stereotypical Nazi: hatred for all and a quench to conquer; but rather as a simple man attempting to impress his superiors by following orders. She paints a picture of Eichmann as a man who bears no guilt or responsibility, as he was ‘doing his job’. As this slim volume’s book highlights, it such ‘thoughtlessness’ of the effect of these actions that led to the slaughter of millions.
The meme born from this study is harrowing when pondered: the ‘banality of evil.’ It is clear that evil is related to such consuming terms as passion and damnable hatred; but it opens up links to the humdrum, the ordinary and dull. It means that corruption of the soul – as occurred under Nazi rule – can happen at any time, any place and in any one, and that what has come in the past can easily come to pass again. As Arendt writes: ‘The reflection that you yourself might have done wrong under the same circumstances may kindle a spirit of forgiveness.’
Focus is given to those many – thousands – who opposed Hitler’s regime. They include two peasant boys who were drafted into the SS at the end of the way but who refused to sign; they were sentenced to death and on the day of their execution they wrote a final letter to their families: ‘We two would rather die than burden our conscience with such terrible things. We know what the SS must carry out.’ Such actions are those who heroes, and as such, should always be remembered. However, the life and career of Eichmann is all the more compelling for its lack of heroics and its dedication to doing a good job; such obedience can bring forth wickedness and evil. It is a theme returned to again and again in the post-war period, most notably in the Milgram experiment. There is a real fear that such “little Eichmanns” can be found around us, leading to the downfall of civilizations.
This engaging book contains selections from a five-part article of Arendt’s used in The New Yorker during the early months of 1963 and then converted in a larger book (titled Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil). Penguin put the book together as part of a larger series of ‘Great Ideas’, stating that: ‘Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves – and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives – and destroyed them.’ Arendt’s analysis is sandwiched in-between the likes of heavyweights Confucius, Plato, Voltaire and Francis Bacon. It is to the author’s credit that her work stands toe-to-toe with these other captivating reads. Furthermore, the series has given the Worm a particular mission when scouting the second-hand bookshops of the land: a collection to find, behold and devour.
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