Adolf Eichmann In Jerusalem Summary

On April 11th, 1961, the Israeli Government put Adolf Eichmann on trial in Jerusalem for his part in the Holocaust as a Obergruppenführer in the SS. Hannah Arendt, one of the most influential philosophers of the time, was present at this trial. For the entirety of this trial, Arendt observed wrote essays that were published and were later used as collective pieces to what would be her novel Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. This book gives us an insight into what Eichmann was accused of, what his explanation for his actions and responsibility was, and ultimately allows us to choose whether we believe he is guilty of all of his accusations or not. The crimes he was eventually convicted of lead to his hanging, which would

The four counts against the Jewish People with the intent to destroy the people were through Eichmann’s orders that lead to “the killing of millions of Jews” (Count 1) through placing “millions of Jews under conditions which were likely to lead to their physical destruction” (Count 2); by “causing serious bodily and mental harm” to them (Count 3); and by “directing that births be banned and pregnancies be interrupted among Jewish women” (Count 4). He was convicted on all counts “together with others” because he was not the only person responsible for the atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust. Counts 5,6, and 7 also concerned crimes committed against the jews, and count 8 summed up all of said counts as “war crimes”. Counts 9-12 concerned crimes committed against non-Jews, mainly concerning the expulsion and deportation of citizens from their

He instead insisted that he was only “doing his duty” and that his loyalty to Hitler forbade him to violate his order, and therefore his loyalty towards Hitler. His claim however is flawed because, although he didn’t single-handedly or physically kill the large masses of Jews, he played a major role in the attempted extermination of this race. However, his role did not apparently affect or influence his view of the Jews. Eichmann even admitted to meeting some “decent jews” and even attempted to try to save them. Besides this, Eichmann knew fully well the fate that awaited the Jews that he did not help. Even knowing this, Eichmann continued with his orders, blinded by the prospect of political success within the Nazi political hierarchy. This blatant disregard for the lives of the Jews who he didn’t brand as “decent Jews” shows that he still showed less care to Jews rather than normal people. Also, branding an individual as “decent” implies that they are satisfactory by your standards, showing that he viewed the Jews as below him, just as the Nazi’s did as well. Showing that he should still be held responsible for the lives of the Jews whom he branded as not decent enough to live that he sent off to the concentration camps. It is hard to view someone such as this as innocent,