Hannah Arendt (1906 – 1975), German
American Jewish political theorist.
Arendt published in 1963; Eichmann
in Jerusalem: A Report on the
Banality of Evil
a book on the 1961 trial of SS-Hauptscharfuehrer Adolf Eichmann in Israel
a book on the 1961 trial of SS-Hauptscharfuehrer Adolf Eichmann in Israel
Show Trial
Arendt wrote in the opening
chapter:
Whoever planned this auditorium in the newly built Beth Ha'am, the House of the People (now surrounded by high fences, guarded from roof to cellar by heavily armed police, and with a row of wooden barracks in the front courtyard, in which all comers are expertly frisked), had a theater in mind, complete with orchestra and gallery, with proscenium and stage, and with side doors for the actors' entrance. Clearly, this courtroom is not a bad place for the show trial David Ben-Burion, Prime Minister of Israel, had in mind when he decided to have Eichmann kidnapped in Argentina and brought to the District Court of Jerusalem to stand trial for his role in the "final solution of the Jewish question." And Ben-Gurion, rightly called the "architect of the state," remains the invisible stage manger of the proceedings. Not once does he attend a session; in the courtroom he speaks with the voice of Gideon Hausner, the Attorney General, who, representing the government, does his best, his very best, to obey his master.
click image to enlarge
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report
on the Banality of Evil (2006
edition).
By Hannah Arendt. Penguin Books,
London. Pages 4 and 5
