Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil

Arendt states, “In nearly all countries, anti-Jewish actions started with stateless persons” (138). Why was it important for a person to be “stateless” before enacting measures against them?

What role did resistance play in the deportation of Jews in Denmark, Bulgaria, and Hungary?

Arendt as well as the Jewish court continuously question Eichmann’s conscience and when, or if, it played a part in his actions, especially while implementing the Final Solution. What conclusion(s) can you draw about Eichmann’s conscience throughout the deportations, the Final Solution, and his trial in Jerusalem?

At the close of the Epilogue, Arendt fantasizes about what the judges could have said to have issued a fully satisfactory ruling in her opinion. What effect does Arendt’s fictional judge’s statement have on the book as a whole?

Arendt is a German Jew who fled to France in 1933. How might her background have colored her reporting on the Eichmann trial and the criticism she received following the publication of her book?

Discuss Arendt’s coverage of the Jewish leaders during the war and explain how it created a controversy amongst the Jewish populations in the United States and Europe in the 1960s.

To many, Eichmann harbors a monstrous evil within him due to the fact he was a Nazi and an organizer of the Holocaust, yet Arendt portrays him as without malice and career-driven, claiming the greatest horror Eichmann exhibits is that he is “terrifyingly normal” (276). What is your opinion of Eichmann’s intent and motivation given the court’s evidence and Arendt’s analysis presented in the book?

Both Eichmann and Arendt agree that his success is greatly attributed to his detailed organization and his ability to negotiate with the Jewish leaders. How did these two attributes contribute to Eichmann’s ability to transport, deport, and concentrate millions of Jews?