[Eichmanntrial (incl. Hannah Arendt)]

The file contains two issues of German scientific journals (“Hessische Blätter für Volksbildung” and “Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte”) with articles written on behalf of the intellectual debate that evolved around the publication of Hannah Arendt’s report on the Eichmann Trial published in “The New Yorker” in 1963 and as a book entitled “Eichmann in Jerusalem – A Report on the Banality of Evil” in the same year. The first document is a special reprint (“Sonderdruck”) of the article “Hannah Arendt stellt die Frage: War Eichmann ein Dämon? Die banale Antwort – eine ‚Affäre‘“ written by Paul Arnsberg and published in the journal “Hessische Blätter für Volksbildung” in 1964. He generally agrees with Arendt’s approach and also provides a critical overview on the reactions to Arendt’s book published within the German-Jewish intellectual networks in Israel and the United States. The second document is an issue of the journal “Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte” including the articles “War Eichmann ein Dämon?” by Paul Arnsberg (this article is identical with his text published in the “Hessische Blätter für Volksbildung”) and “Hannah Arendt und der Mensch im totalitären Staat“ by Wolfgang Scheffler. Scheffler who takes a more critical stance by demanding further research on some of the book’s claims, mainly regarding the role of the so-called “Jewish Councils” (“Judenräte”). Furthermore, the issue of “Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte” also includes Hannah Arendt’s introduction to the German edition of her book published under the title „Eichmann in Jerusalem – Bericht von der Banalität des Bösen” by the Piper publishing house in Munich.