Lezersrecensie
Unieke rechtszaak
It was quite an exceptional reading experience to read Hannah Arendt’s report on the trial of Eichmann in Jerusalem which took place in 1961. Hannah Arendt was present at the trial for extensive periods of time. Her report was published in 1963.
I thought I knew quite a lot of details about the Holocaust, but Hannah Arendt informed me in great detail of some quite amazing events which I was not aware of. For example, I found it very revealing to read such extensive descriptions of the factual situations about how the nazi’s dealt with the Jewish population of a newly conquered European nation. I have never realized that there had been such differences in the actual take-over of the separate European countries. The nazi’s approach was based on the political situation in any of these countries. The remarkable result was that this brought about a great deviation in the number of Jewish people captivated in an occupied country who were sent to their death. Especially in Holland this meant a great slaughter of its Jewish population due to the absence of the Queen and government who escaped to England. The nazi’s could just easily move in at any governmental and municipal level. Furthermore, as I knew before, it was in particular the extensive municipal registration that mentioned the religion of its inhabitants. Thus they were so easy to pick up. Very painful to read.
Regarding Eichmann himself, his shortmindedness and, as Arendt so adequately labelled as the banality of Eichmann, is a study of compliance of Eichmann showing a total lack of deliberation of what the consequences of his dedicated work ethic actually resulted in. He was only obsessed with following orders. Eichmann claiming that what he did wasn't illegal at the time he did it, so that it was only a crime in retrospect. He actually felt he had been a patriotic and law-abiding citizen. As Arendt remarked: ‘Eichmann’s crime is unprecedented.’ And: ‘That such remoteness from reality and such thoughtlessness can wreak more havoc than all the evil instincts taken together was, in fact, the lesson one could learn from the Jerusalem trial’.
It is quite noteworthy that Hannah Arendt wrote her report in such an easily understandable mode, thus no dry academic deliberations. Sometimes even with a slight humorous remark. Reading this publication was a rare reading experience for me.
I thought I knew quite a lot of details about the Holocaust, but Hannah Arendt informed me in great detail of some quite amazing events which I was not aware of. For example, I found it very revealing to read such extensive descriptions of the factual situations about how the nazi’s dealt with the Jewish population of a newly conquered European nation. I have never realized that there had been such differences in the actual take-over of the separate European countries. The nazi’s approach was based on the political situation in any of these countries. The remarkable result was that this brought about a great deviation in the number of Jewish people captivated in an occupied country who were sent to their death. Especially in Holland this meant a great slaughter of its Jewish population due to the absence of the Queen and government who escaped to England. The nazi’s could just easily move in at any governmental and municipal level. Furthermore, as I knew before, it was in particular the extensive municipal registration that mentioned the religion of its inhabitants. Thus they were so easy to pick up. Very painful to read.
Regarding Eichmann himself, his shortmindedness and, as Arendt so adequately labelled as the banality of Eichmann, is a study of compliance of Eichmann showing a total lack of deliberation of what the consequences of his dedicated work ethic actually resulted in. He was only obsessed with following orders. Eichmann claiming that what he did wasn't illegal at the time he did it, so that it was only a crime in retrospect. He actually felt he had been a patriotic and law-abiding citizen. As Arendt remarked: ‘Eichmann’s crime is unprecedented.’ And: ‘That such remoteness from reality and such thoughtlessness can wreak more havoc than all the evil instincts taken together was, in fact, the lesson one could learn from the Jerusalem trial’.
It is quite noteworthy that Hannah Arendt wrote her report in such an easily understandable mode, thus no dry academic deliberations. Sometimes even with a slight humorous remark. Reading this publication was a rare reading experience for me.
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