This report on the trial of German Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann first appeared as a series of articles in "The New Yorker" in 1963. This edition contains further factual material that came to light after the trial, as well as Arendt's postscript commenting on the controversy that arose over her book.
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About the Author
Hannnah Arendt (1906-1975) was for many years University Professor of Political Philosophy in the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research and a Visiting Fellow of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. She is also the author of Eichmann in Jerusalem, On Revolution, and Between Past and Future (all available from Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics).
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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"Beth Hamishpath"-the House of Justice: these words shouted by the court usher at the top of his voice make us jump to our feet as they announce the arrival of the three judges, who, bareheaded, in black robes, walk into the courtroom from a side entrance to take their seats on the highest tier of the raised platform. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
"Beth Hamishpath"-the House of Justice: these words shouted by the court usher at the top of his voice make us jump to our feet as they announce the arrival of the three judges, who, bareheaded, in black robes, walk into the courtroom from a side entrance to take their seats on the highest tier of the raised platform. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By marty mcfly
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Arendt is at pains to explain that this book was just a trial report and she is further at pains to dispel the idea of controversy that seems to surround it. There are certain points continually broached by the author and they are that 1) the trial was a foregone conclusion and the manner in which it was conducted never addressed the principal charges 2) Eichmann was at no time much more than a glorified clerk (nowhere more evident than in his role at the wanasee conference) 3) Eichmann never killed anyone 4) the trial raised questions of humanity, not just of Eichmann or Germany or the SS or the Holocaust 5) was Israel the apropriate place for this trial?
What seems to have created the controversy was mostly the study of Eichmann that Arendt made (point 2). Eichmann continually stressed that he was not a 'Jew-hater', in fact he reports repeatedly of his contact with and respect for the Zionists. In fact, Eichmann also stresses that he never killed anyone nor was he ever capable of it.
So what is Arendt saying? well, she is actually just making a report, not really a judgement. She never suggests for a moment that Eichmann is not guilty of some definition of crimes against humanity - he shipped hundreds of thousands of Jews to their deaths. But what of the machine of government? Actually, she is not telling us that we might have been Eichmann under the same circumstances and she is not justifying his behaviour thus. There is no contention that his defence of 'i followed orders' is in anyway suitable to explain his crimes. But, Eichmann is no monster and that's not what people want to hear about the so-called 'architect of the Final Solution'.
The wider question of whether or not the court of an individual country can, or should, judge crimes against humanity in general is not one she particularly cares to answer, but i think history has done that for her.
An excellent, disturbing and utterly stimulating read for any student of WWII and/or the Holocaust.
What seems to have created the controversy was mostly the study of Eichmann that Arendt made (point 2). Eichmann continually stressed that he was not a 'Jew-hater', in fact he reports repeatedly of his contact with and respect for the Zionists. In fact, Eichmann also stresses that he never killed anyone nor was he ever capable of it.
So what is Arendt saying? well, she is actually just making a report, not really a judgement. She never suggests for a moment that Eichmann is not guilty of some definition of crimes against humanity - he shipped hundreds of thousands of Jews to their deaths. But what of the machine of government? Actually, she is not telling us that we might have been Eichmann under the same circumstances and she is not justifying his behaviour thus. There is no contention that his defence of 'i followed orders' is in anyway suitable to explain his crimes. But, Eichmann is no monster and that's not what people want to hear about the so-called 'architect of the Final Solution'.
The wider question of whether or not the court of an individual country can, or should, judge crimes against humanity in general is not one she particularly cares to answer, but i think history has done that for her.
An excellent, disturbing and utterly stimulating read for any student of WWII and/or the Holocaust.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
By I, Roflbot
Format:Paperback
'Eichmann in Jerusalem' is the perfect antidote to the all-too-common cartoonish story of the Holocaust being told today, the one in which all the leading Nazi's were demons with glowing eyes, horns and cloven hooves. Arendt makes clear - reinforcing the 'message' of another of her excellent books 'The Origins of Totalitarianism' - that leading Nazis, of whom Eichmann was one, were disturbingly 'normal', and that the potential for totalitarianism can lurk beneath the surface of almost any nation, and that people can participate in the most monstrous evil without it being merely a product of their own individual psychology (a much-needed kick in the teeth for our therapy-obsessed times) or of their personal prejudices and hates.
The overwhelming conclusion I drew from this book was that threats to our liberty (or even our lives) will not necessarily arrive goosestepping in a black shirt mouthing racial propaganda, but will instead insinuate themselves into our system in ways, and from a direction, we won't expect - and most disturbingly of all, that we might initially welcome those threats. I strongly recommend 'The Origins of Totalitarianism' as well; there are profound insights on every page, and I was amazed (given how long ago it was written) how prophetic it was.
The overwhelming conclusion I drew from this book was that threats to our liberty (or even our lives) will not necessarily arrive goosestepping in a black shirt mouthing racial propaganda, but will instead insinuate themselves into our system in ways, and from a direction, we won't expect - and most disturbingly of all, that we might initially welcome those threats. I strongly recommend 'The Origins of Totalitarianism' as well; there are profound insights on every page, and I was amazed (given how long ago it was written) how prophetic it was.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a key contribution to the debate about the nature of evil and a must-read for anyone making a serious study of responses to the holocaust.
Arendt writes fluidly and you can polish the text off at quite a pace. It is not directly a work of philosophy, even in the sense that the rest of Arendt's work is, but a commentary on the key players in Eichmann's trial and the pertinent historical events, and mostly an analysis of the psychology of Eichmann. It is this psychological study which provokes the most important moral questions, as Eichmann is comes across as a rather stupid, ambitious individual who is sometimes comical in his failure but too complex to be a monster - in fact, too normal for comfort. This is the challenge posed by "the banality of evil": given the right environment and social factors, might there be an Eichmann in all of us?
Arendt writes fluidly and you can polish the text off at quite a pace. It is not directly a work of philosophy, even in the sense that the rest of Arendt's work is, but a commentary on the key players in Eichmann's trial and the pertinent historical events, and mostly an analysis of the psychology of Eichmann. It is this psychological study which provokes the most important moral questions, as Eichmann is comes across as a rather stupid, ambitious individual who is sometimes comical in his failure but too complex to be a monster - in fact, too normal for comfort. This is the challenge posed by "the banality of evil": given the right environment and social factors, might there be an Eichmann in all of us?
Be aware that Arendt has her own social and political axes to grind,and this comes through in her commentary on the trial.
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Demands to be Read
This book was a surprise on a number of counts. Where the tendency on the part of post-Holocaust writers and reporters has sometimes been to sensationalise and exaggerate events... Read more
Published 7 days ago by TartanMcTavish
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect item
Perfect item, thououghly matching description. No delays in arriving date. Absolutely nothing to complain about. Satisfied both of article and of service.
Published 3 months ago by Gilda Sancarlo
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Model Bureaucrat
A great description of an autistic personality but misses a star because there are no roots for it. Arendt misses out on the formation of the personality and how someone who was... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Dr. Delvis Memphistopheles
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Perfect!
The book arrived earlier than I expected and in perfect condition. Only the cover was a little bit thumbed but this had appeared in the description of the book. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Paula
4.0 out of 5 stars
Astounding book, bizarre Kindle typos
Arendt's perceptive take on the Adolf Eichmann trial in Jerusalem is not the definitive study of the Holocaust, but it is an essential text for anyone studying or interested in... Read more
Published 11 months ago by oudodou
5.0 out of 5 stars
The dangers of blind obedience.
Hannah Arendt's book is an eye opener. If you think you know all there is to know about the Holocaust and the men who made it happen, read this book. Read more
Published 14 months ago by George
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very important book
This book is part of a centuries-old debate about the nature of Judaism and its painful relationship to the rest of the world since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, a... Read more
Published 18 months ago by scribbler
5.0 out of 5 stars
such a complete work
This book not only picks up major philosophical questions described by other more lerned reviewers but contains well researched facts and information about the second world war,... Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2005 by Paul C.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Shocking story told with an objective voice
What is perhaps most striking about the way that the story of Eichman is told is the insensitivity with which he is treated by Arendt. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2003 by Anders Rasmussen
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Chillingly Believable study
Hannah Arendt's interpretation of the Eichmann trial is a chilling investigation of what she calls 'the banality of evil. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2002 by MR ROBERT P FOOT
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