I've been a fan of Hannah Arendt ever since I read "On Revolution." Has anyone else read, Eichmann in Jerusalem?
Four points struck home with me:
1) Eichmann is a clown, and it's profoundly disturbing that so many small men like Eichmann could have administered the Holocaust. The man isn't thoughtful or malicious, just a small, petty bureaucrat trying to play getting respect among other small bureaucrats.
2) The depth at which the law required the liquidation of Jews subverted the German citizenry's impulse not to kill. It's as if the Commandment read, "Though shall kill," instead of "Though shall not kill," and the sin of temptation was not to kill.
3) The necessity for the Nazies to gather together a Jewish council in the respective countries to help organize the Jews for deportation. In the countries where these councils didn't form, a much higher percentage of Jews survived.
4) The simple mass refusal of Denmark and Bulgaria to follow through on Hitler's solution, even while those countries were nominally under German rule. The people just rallied together and gave Hitler a polite, "No," and for the most part, it stuck.
[ November 10, 2005, 11:07 PM: Message edited by: Irami Osei-Frimpong ]
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
I read it, but it's been a good seven years, so I'm not exactly fresh. The idea of an abomination's need for bureaucrats for whom the most despicable acts were little more than numbers has stuck with me, though.
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
Recommended (further) reading:
Hitler's Willing Executioners. Makes a convincing case -- to me, anyway -- that the German people didn't tolerate the Holocaust; they embraced it.
Why the Jews? Two Jewish Americans examine why it's the Jews that are targeted so often and severely, and argue that it's because of certain things about Judaism (good things).
Posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong (Member # 2229) on :
Thanks for the reading. I'm curious about the ethos of the populations. I mean, in Romania and Poland, the genocide was easily executed, but then in Denmark and Bulgaria-- and even Italy to an extend-- the people just said "No."
The entire continent didn't embrace the genocide, and I think, if anything, the non-uniformity is what makes this issue more morally compelling.
Posted by Beanny (Member # 7109) on :
IOF,
First of all, in Poland and Bulgaria the reign was much worse than in Denmark from the simple reason that they were considered to be of a lesser race. Therefore it was much more difficult to resist and rebel - in Holland, a person hiding Jews would be humiliated and sent to prison, while in Poland he or she would be murdered, and their children slaughtered as well. By the way, the country in which dwelled most righteous gentiles was actually Poland - quite remarkable, given the conditions in the "General Governeman".
Another point - if we examine Croatia and Slovakia, we can see how deep down the hatred towards the Jews goes. Even in the German protocol of Vanze it was mentioned that no further military actions against the Jews in those countries are neccessary, because the people were killing them off anyway.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
"The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy" - Unknown
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
quote:By the way, the country in which dwelled most righteous gentiles was actually Poland - quite remarkable, given the conditions in the "General Governeman".
Just out of interest, what happens if you divide by the total population of the countries? Poland is just plain bigger than Denmark, after all. Let's see some percentages, please.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I think this is a good warning to us today, of what can happen if we let petty bureaucracies run rampant in our society without any sort of moral review of their actions.
Sometimes faceless dutiful following of the rules turns out to be the worst evil of all.
Posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong (Member # 2229) on :
I disagree about Poland, Beanie, not only is antisemitism still alive to an alarming degree in Poland, the Jedwabne massacre seems to have been an issue of the towns doing their own share of murder. We'd also do well to remember that Hitler was getting ready to rid German of the Poles, also. They were being made to wear "P"s instead of stars.
About Eichmann, though, Arendt's depiction of him is startling because of his apparant thoughtlessness. The terrifying spectacle of his buffoonery is astonishing. He has cliches where moral reasoning should reside, and a profound inability to understand the gravity of the crimes he has committed. There is a scene where Eichmann is lamenting to his prison guard, a German Jew in Israel, about how unlucky Eichmann has been throughout his career. The guy went to death admitting his crimes, yet thoroughly convinced that he was victim.
He insisted that since he had no ill-feelings towards the Jewish people, and even tried to help a few out, he shouldn't be blamed for his superior's hate that ordered the hundreds of thousands of deaths Eichmann had organized.
The central problem of evil in a bureaucracy, as discussed in Arendt's book, is the absence of guilt. At no time did Eichmann knowingly choose evil, he abdicated moral responsiblity to his superiors at every turn--then merely carried out the commands-- and Arendt makes the argument that the problem of Eichmann is one in which the situation makes it almost impossible for ones' conscious to even be alerted to ones improprieties. Eichmann never wrestled with these issues. He was an expert at moving Jews, and used his abilities in good stead, whether it was moving Jews to Palestine or to the death camps.
[ November 14, 2005, 10:32 AM: Message edited by: Irami Osei-Frimpong ]
Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :
Somewhat random thoughts:
Keep in mind that Denmark borders a large, neutral nation. Futhermore, this nation was willing to take in Jews. Thus, the Swedes need a lot of credit too.
The Vichy French were way worse than Musolini.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Sweden is hardly so large that it could have stood against the Wehrmacht. Moreover, it's not a land border; Poland might have ferried a couple of people across the Baltic too, if they'd tried. Not as easily as the Danes did, to be sure, but still.
It's also worth pointing out that Norway likewise borders on Sweden (although, granted, our cities generally face west, not east, and what passed for infrastructure in those days was fairly laughable; the Danes might actually have had an easier time of it), and the Norwegian Jews got rounded up and deported.
Posted by Avatar300 (Member # 5108) on :
quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: "The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy" - Unknown