“Banality of Evil”:
https://aeon.co/ideas/what-did-hannah-arendt-really-mean-by-the-banality-of-evil
- Eichmann simply joined the Nazi movement,
- Never particularly agreed with their evil doings but helped them along
- So can we really say that he wasn’t evil?
- Worse than bystander but not as bad as actual doer?
- Different levels of evil?
- Intentions of Eichmann did not seem in the wrong place
- Does that matter when millions died because of him?
- If Eichmann truly wasn’t evil he would have gone against it
- “Never react to an evil in such a way as to augment it” – Simone Weil
- However, evil takes many forms
- Not always recognizable at first glance
The Origins of Totalitarianism:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/12/17/how-hannah-arendts-classic-work/
- Understanding totalitarianism
- Hitlerianism in Germany
- Stalinism in the Soviet Union
- End of totalitarianism is concentration camps in the eyes of Arendt
- How does tyranny come to power?
- Through alienation of the others and strong demagogues
- People with no party allegiance were swayed towards anti-system parties
- Wished to be represented in one way or another
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/arendt-matters-revisiting-origins-totalitarianism/
- Mass movements are key to totalitarianism
- Extremely strong loyalty in these
- Gives immense power to their leaders
- I.e. Trump and his statement in Iowa in 2016
- Arendt says “the road to totalitarian domination leads through many intermediate stages for which we can find numerous analogies and precedents.”
- Important always pay attention to the rise of populist demagogues
Adolf Eichmann:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Eichmann
- Born in Germany, lived in Austria and died by hanging in Israel
- He was convicted for his crimes during the Holocaust
- He was a regular salesman before his nazi life, but lost his job during the Great Depression
- He joined in 1932 and rose through the ranks quite quickly
- Was put in charge of getting rid of Jews in Vienna and Prague
- In 1942 he was relocated to Berlin and was put in charge of the final solution to the Jewish problem
- Mass execution
- Named Chief Executioner
- After WWII he fled to the Middle East and then to Buenos Aires, Argentina
- There he was caught by the Israelites and brought to Israel to be judged
- Didn’t consider himself to be an anti-semite
- Said he was just an obedient bureaucrat
- Said he had not violated any laws
- He professed his discomfort regarding the gas chambers, “I was horrified. My nerves aren’t strong enough. I can’t listen to such things—such things, without their affecting me”
- Was he just part of something bigger than himself?
- Or simply a professional liar?
- Either way, his actions cannot be excused
Eichmann at his trial
https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01875/eichmann-620_1875226c.jpg