Eichmann : his life and crimes
A study of Adolf Eichmann - the man, his crimes, and his legacy, focusing on the turning points in his life and seeking to understand the social and political dynamics that account for the direction his life took. He was neither a psychopath nor a fanatical antisemite from his youth. His ideological racist antisemitism dates to ca. 1936-38 and his socialization in the SD. While he was responsible for atrocities connected with the deportation of Jews, this activity was not genocidal, nor was Nazi policy, until 1941-42. A turning point in his racism occurred when he was given responsibility for deporting Poles, as well as Jews, from German-occupied areas. Later, when he came to view the Jews as Germany's archenemy, he was ready to assist in their destruction. Asserts that it is not the man, but ideas, society, political systems, and circumstances that make genocidal acts acceptable. Not only totalitarian states, bureaucracies, and modern societies, but also democracies and unmodernized societies in the 20th and 21st centuries have engaged in ethnic cleansing spurred by racism and fanaticism. Ch. 8 (p. 237-323), "Interrogation, Trial and Execution, 1960-62", discusses the Eichmann trial in Israel. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism)
Print Book, English, 2005
Vintage, London, 2005