"[ Crickets Chirping ]" "[ Man Screaming ]" "[ Woman ] But, Hannah, how can you defend him?" "[ German Accent ] But I'm not defending him." "You can hardly forget that your husband is my friend because of you." "And I don't throw my friends away so quickly." "No matter what happens, even if Jim were killed in an airplane crash," "I would never, ever go back to Bowden." "That's clear." "And poor Bowden knows absolutely that he cannot prevent you from loving another man." "He is not stupid." "[ Phone Ringing ]" "Then why is he trying to prevent our divorce?" "Because, under such circumstances, it's only natural... that people imagine- or at least hope- to have some possibility of power." "[ In German ] Hans Jonas is on the phone." "[ In German ] Not now, later." "I'll call him back." "Oh, Mary, they are beautiful." "Thank you." "[ Sighs ]" "[ Phone Rings ] I don't know how you can believe anything he says these days." "Well, you trusted him enough to be married with him for 15 years." "I never trusted him." "It's Professor Miller calling from Connecticut." "He said it's urgent." "He has some questions about your syllabus." "Phone appointment- tomorrow, please." "And unplug that phone." "Look, Mary, either you are willing to take men as they are, or you must live alone." " You won't change Jim either." " I don't want to change Jim." "He's perfect." "Perfect?" "[ German ]" "The men in your novels are not perfect." "Why do you expect the real ones to be any better?" "That was Heinrich." "[ Gasps ] Oh, no." "That's the one phone call I would have taken." "He said not to disturb you when your darling Mary is here." " When will he be home?" " He's spending the night up there." "He has to meet a student early in the morning." "[ Sighs ]" "[ In German ] Thanks, Lotte." "No student meets early in the morning." "Mary, don't start." "I would be far too jealous for your charming Heinrich." "It's fine." "Well, I suppose we can't all be wild Berliners like you." "[ Laughs ] [ Phone Rings ]" "Wild because we don't marry all our lovers?" "Oh, I didn't marry all of them." " But almost." " [ Mary Chuckles ]" "[ Hannah Chuckles ]" "[ Dog Barking ]" "[ Siren Wailing In Distance ]" "[ Door Opens ]" "[ In German ] I couldn't sleep at all last night." "We don't have to talk about it right away." "Haven't you read the newspaper?" "From beginning to end, Frau Professor." "They want his trial to be in Jerusalem!" "Why else would the Mossad have kidnapped him?" "You think that's right?" "They should have shot him on the spot in Buenos Aires." "But then of course..." "[ In English ] You forgot to say hello." "Hello." "The investigation has revealed... that Adolf Eichmann's escape from Germany to South America... was made possible with a Red Cross passport that the Vatican helped him obtain." "No!" "The pope would never help a Nazi escape. [ Chuckles ]" "No, he helped him because he was such a good Catholic." "But God didn't let him get away." "God didn't." "But the Germans did." "You'll see." "They won't try to extradite him." "The former SS officer... followed what was secretly known in espionage circles as the ratline." "Eichmann received his forged identification and passport in Genoa, and then he boarded an Italian ship to Buenos Aires." ""You will perhaps understand why I want to attend Eichmann's trial." "I left Germany in 1933, and I missed Nuremberg." "I never saw a Nazi"" "Um-Oh, wait." ""I never saw 'these people' in the flesh"?" ""People in the flesh."" "[ In German ] I think that's better." "Better, yes." "Isn't it incredible that the Hannah Arendt is offering to report for us?" "It would be a privilege to have a German-Jewish émigré of such high standing cover the trial." "There's no doubt about that." "Who is she to be offering?" "She should be begging to write for the New Yorker, like everyone else." "Frances, she wrote The Origins of Totalitarianism." "Catchy title." "One of the most important books of the 20th century." "Read it." "Uh-oh." "She's not one of those European philosophers, is she?" "She was the first person to write about the Third Reich in the context of Western civilization." "It was brilliant, but abstract." "I understand why she wants to go." "Philosophers don't make deadlines." "Call now." "Do it." "[ In German ] Do you really have to do this?" "You remember how shocked we were when we heard the awful news from Europe..." "How destroyed you were?" "[ Knife Clinks ]" "I'd never forgive myself if I didn't take this opportunity." "You told everyone how smart and brave I was to escape from Gurs." "And so you were, my love." "Many women stayed for fear their husbands wouldn't find them if they left the camp." "I'd have found you anywhere." "Maybe not." "While it was still summer and warm... we hoped it would soon be over." "But then..." "The waiting..." "More and more women let themselves go, stopped combing their hair..." "Stopped washing themselves." "Just lay there on their straw sacks." "I tried to encourage them." "Sometimes I was strict, sometimes friendly." "But then, one evening... it had rained all day and the straw sacks were falling apart." "I suddenly lost my courage." "I was so tired." "So tired... that I wanted to leave" "the world that I so loved." "And in that instant..." "I saw you in front of me." "How you'd look for me, and... not find me." "Now do you understand why I don't want you to go?" "Summis cum gratulationibus." "[ In German ] Hannah... great!" "You asked them?" "And they just said yes?" "Yes." "Simple as that." "Everything's simple for a genius." "Don't exaggerate." "[ In English ] I hope you're still teaching next term." "You will hear all about that when the tribe comes over." "[ In German ] You know," "I almost dread this trip." "I wish I could accompany you." "Oh Hans, that would be so nice." "[ Chattering ]" "Need a light, Mrs. Arendt?" "Oh." "Thank you." "You're very welcome." "[ Chattering ]" "[ Siren Wailing In Distance ]" "[ Chattering ]" "Nixon's usually an unrepentant bulldog, but he's lost his nerve." "He's like a frightened schoolboy wanting to be liked." "He's even trying to get Kennedy's approval." "Nixon is a liar." "It's a strategy." "He only cares about his career." " That's why he's going to win." " No." "Nixon calculates." "But Kennedy is young and handsome and inspiring, and that is what matters when the ships are down." ""Chips." Hannah, "chips," not "ships."" "[ Doorbell Rings ] Oh, that must be Hans and Lore." "[ In German ] All right then:" ""chips." [ Mary Chuckles ]" "English can only be a second-rate fiddle for us." "If you want to hear Hannah play her Stradivarius, you should learn German." "She asked me to correct her." "[Hannah] Ah, at last!" "Impossible." "Must have been someone else." "[ In German ] Our train was late." "Of course." "We know that excuse." "Coats off." "Everyone's here." "Great that you made it." "Meet the latest member of the tribe." "Professor Miller, Hans and Lore Jonas." "Such a pleasure to finally meet you." "Professor Miller, it's an honor." "Hannah tells me you're her oldest and dearest friend." "The oldest for sure, but not the dearest." "Oh, Heinrich is much older than me." "And much better looking." "[ Miller ] Did you already know each other back in Germany?" "Thomas, I said "old friend." In Europe that means we met more than 10 minutes ago." "They met in the '20s as students of Heidegger, the Hosenmatz philosopher." "[ In German ] Don't say my name in the same breath as that Nazi." "Not here, Hans!" "So, you were all students of the confounding Martin Heidegger." "Oh, I didn't even finish high school." "But aren't you a professor at Bard?" " Original thinkers don't need degrees, Professor Miller." " [ Chuckles ]" "To Hannah, in honor of her trip to Jerusalem." "Oh, thank you, Hans." "[ In German ] It's not a vacation, Hans." "Lotte, champagne." "[ Miller ] So I heard so much about you." "[ Miller ] I am honored that a colleague from my university... has this great opportunity to be an eyewitness to history." "We'll miss you." "Oh, thank you." " [ Man ] Yes, really." " Thank you." "It is just wonderful, Hannah, that you, one of us, will be present for this great trial." "[ In German ] This is not a grand trial." "It's illegal." "The kidnapping by the Israeli secret service was illegal!" "Israel has a sacred right to try a Nazi for crimes against the Jewish people." "Sacred right?" "Hans, you're meshugga." " But most of the survivors live there." " [ Hans ] Precisely." "And they want to see this criminal face to face." "Face to face!" "Excuse me." "They'll all be dragged into court!" "They'll be witnesses." "It'll take years." "This trial..." "So much smoke!" "[ Groans ]" "Do you understand anything?" "I thought you were the German speaker." "Well, I can read it perfectly, but they're speaking so fast." "The State of Israel didn't even exist back then." "Unfortunately." "Or they'd have declared war on Hitler like England and France." "But nevertheless, we were there!" "We did our duty and volunteered for the British Army to fight the Nazis." "We were in the Jewish Brigade in '44." " Me and many brave men from Israel." " They know that." "Heinrich doesn't know what it means to take up arms to defend his convictions." "He had to emigrate because of them!" "So did many others." "Doesn't mean much." "No one doubts your bravery, Hans." "Hannah always says she admired you as a soldier." "Not just as a soldier." "[Mary] Lotte!" "Eichmann should have been tried in Nuremberg, but he escaped." "That makes him an outlaw, a pirate." "Tell us what they're saying." "I'm sure you'd prefer to hear it from Hannah." "[ German Continues]" "So he should be tried by an international court." " [ Heinrich ] No such thing." " Precisely!" "If the case proceeds as you predict..." "He's just one of those passionate ex-communists from Berlin." "Jewish?" "No." "But he followed Rosa Luxemburg to the end." "Oh, so of course that's better than a PhD." "[ Chuckles ]" "You can't put history on trial." "You can only try one man." "[ Hans ] Indeed." "One man on trial." "For murder." "Strange pair." "[Heinrich] Yes." "For murder." "They're fantastic." "The happiest married couple in the world." "[Heinrich] And that has to be proven..." "Whatever you're saying, I agree with all of you." "Everybody, English now." "Please." "[ Heinrich ] Sorry, Mary." "[Mary Chuckling] Good health." "[ In German ] See you soon." " Adieu, Charlotte." " Adieu." "Thank you, dear." "See you soon." "[ Hannah ] We were too hard on Hans." "Tell him I'm sorry." " You say that every time." " I know." " See you on campus." " Oh, it was great having you, Thomas." "Bye." "Bye..." "Take care now in that awful storm." "It's terrible." "[ Laughing ] It's so much fun to light a fire under Hans' sacred little behind." "Especially as he's so happy to send you to hell!" "Oh... you." "[Footsteps Marching]" "[Marching Continues]" "[ Whispers ] Hannah!" "Here:" "In his inaugural speech, he thanked the Führer." "PARTY MEMBER HEIDEGGER..." "Then they sang the Horst-Wessel-Lied." "Hello, "Klaps."" "Hello, "Stups."" "[ In French ] Are you coming with me?" "[ Hebrew ]" "Hannah!" "My Hannah!" "Oh!" "[ In Hebrew ] Jerusalem... your love." "Yes." "[ In German ] And how's my Heinrich?" "Is he good to you?" "Yes." "Sometimes too good." "I miss arguing with him." "I can no longer see my way through the maze of modern life." "He argued with me about this trip." "He's afraid it will send me back to the "dark times."" "This trial is very important for us." "And you're strong, my Hannah." "You always were." "And brave." "Very brave." "Tell me how you are." " How's your heart?" " Not too good." "It's never gotten used to the world we live in." "Israel has aged faster than you, my little Hannah." "I always thought you'd have many children." "Oh, Jenny." "At first we were too poor, and when we had the money, we were too old." "Many people here are poor but they still have children." "Children are important for such a young country." "It was about time you visited us." " She's not visiting." " [ Hannah ] You see?" "He's throwing me out already!" "I'm only sorry that your visit is thanks to this wild predator." "That's why he's being displayed in a cage." "A cage?" "Made of glass." "[ Woman ] To protect him from us." "[ Crowd Murmuring]" "[Man] The high court!" "[ Man, In Hebrew ] When I stand before you here, judges of Israel, to bring charges against Adolf Eichmann," "I am not standing alone." "With me are six million accusers." "But they cannot rise or point towards him in the dock." "They cannot cry, "I accuse him!"" "For their ashes have been scattered over the hills of Auschwitz and in the fields of Treblinka," "and thrown into the rivers of Poland." "Their graves are to be found throughout Europe." "Their blood cries to heaven, but we cannot hear their voices." "And Hausner parades around as if he's competing with Eichmann for the leading role in a play." "His opening speech was bound to be dramatic." "In the spirit of Ben-Gurion?" "He's behind all this, isn't he?" "Israel has to be very careful that this doesn't become a show trial." "That's my Hannah!" "Just wait a bit." "And try to understand Ben-Gurion." "Our young people refuse to confront what you call the "dark times."" "Either they're ashamed of their parents who didn't fight or protect themselves, or they accuse them of having behaved dishonorably." "They think only criminals or whores could have survived the camps." "And you believe Hausner can make them understand what their parents have suffered?" "Be a little patient with us." "[In German] Yes, I read here that during the transport 15people died." "I can only say that these records were not the responsibility of department 4B-4." "They are from the local authorities, according to their guidelines." "[Female Translator, In English] It says here that the order was given by the Reichsführer." "But tell me, why do you have the officer-to be the officer transferring this order?" "Why Eichmann?" "[Speaking Hebrew]" "[Female Translator] Does the Reichsführer have no other way of contacting but Eichmann?" "[In German] The document makes it clear that the local police, or headquarters thereof, made the request to Section 4B-4." "Thus I received the matter for its continued processing and dealt with it in an intermediate capacity." "As I was ordered to do." "I had to follow orders." "[Man Speaking Hebrew]" "[Male Translator, In German] But it was you who decided how many people were to be put into each railway car, no?" "[Eichmann] I had orders." "Whether people were killed or not, orders had to be executed." "In line with administrative procedure." "I was only responsible for a small part of this." "The other parts that were necessary until one of these trains rolled out were carried out by another department." "Mr. Chairman, I have the feeling I'm being grilled here until the steak is done." "Because of charges... that are impossible to substantiate." "Now you've finally heard the predator." "Are you all right?" "Yes, I'm fine." "Good." "[ Chattering ]" "Good." "Well..." "He's so different than I imagined." "He was with the SS." "They're scary creatures." "But he's not." "That's precisely it." "He sits in his glass box like a ghost..." "A ghost who happens to have a cold." "He's not spooky at all." "He's a nobody." "He speaks in this awful bureaucratic language." "He suddenly says things like:" ""I feel like a rump steak that's being grilled..."" "Incredible!" "Waiter!" "I assume you don't want a steak now." "Trying to cheer me up?" ""One notices the intention and is displeased."" ""One feels the intention and is displeased."" ""What pleases you is permitted..."" "Also from Tasso." ""What behooves you is permitted..."" ""If you would like to learn what behooves one, you have only to ask a noble lady..."" "My father was a tailor in Berlin." "He always quoted Faust as he shaved." "Mephistopheles was his favorite." ""Blood is a very special juice."" "Eichmann." "Eichmann is no Mephistopheles." "[Man, In English] My father was 58." "My mother-she was 43." "My brother, who was 22." "I was 21." "My sister was 19." "My brother was 16." "My other brother was 14." "Sister was eight." "And the little brother was five." "We trying to keep together and go along on the road, what have been told by this brave SS." "[In Hebrew] And who remains of your family members?" "[In English] Only myself." "[Male Translator Speaking Hebrew]" "[In German] When we were counted later on, 200 or 210 of us remained of the 1200 who'd been transported." "The next ones were all gassed." "Those who arrived just after us, they were all gassed." "It was..." "Excuse me..." "[Man] Please try..." "Please try..." "[Man Speaking Hebrew]" "[Female Translator, In English] And this was power- the unnatural power above nature, which sustained me." "[Hebrew Continues]" "[Female Translator] So that after the period of Auschwitz- two years in Auschwitz- when I was a Muslim, to withstand" " [Speaking Hebrew]" " Mr. De-Nur." "Please." "Please listen to Mr. Hausner." "[ Crowd Gasps, Murmurs]" "Be calm, please." "Please remain where you are." "Everyone remain where they are." "[ Chattering ] [Hebrew Continues On Radio]" "[ Chattering ]" "Madam, your phone call to America has gone through." "Oh, thank you." "[Hannah, In German] If you could see how they try to stay calm while testifying..." "Most of the stories have nothing to do with Eichmann as an individual." "But we both knew from the start that the trial would be more about history than the deeds of one man." "But it's still dreadful." "Oh, my little girl from far away." "[Female Operator] Three minutes are over." "[Hannah Groans] Three minutes already." "This is costing a fortune!" "I've got to go." "Yes." "See you soon." "[Line Clicks]" "[Man] Oh, they wanted a central organization, which would be the spokesman of Hungarian Jewry." "[Man #2] Well, it doesn't matter at what meeting this was, but did they say how many members such a committee should have, which would be responsible to the Germans?" "[Speaking Hebrew] [Male Translator] They told us... that about four or five persons should constitute that representative body." "They didn't call it Judenrat." "And, uh, this also calmed us down, because we knew already... what was the purpose of the Judenrat." "[Female Translator] To what extent... did you report about the situation to the communities and the provinces, those who were deported?" "[Male Translator] There was no such possibility, because by the time I obtained this information, and by the time we realized what Auschwitz was, uh, the eastern part of Hungary... and the northeastern part" "this comprised these 300, 000 people- they had received news from us." "They had known the fate, but what could we have done?" "What could we have done?" "[Man Shouting Angrily]" "[Shouting Continues]" "[Man, In Hebrew] Remove him from the courtroom." "Quickly!" "You are a cowardly dog." "A dog!" "Remain seated if you want to stay here." "[ Chattering ]" "[Eichmann, In German] An officer swears an oath of allegiance." "If he breaks this oath, then he is a rogue." "I still hold this view." "I have taken an oath here to tell the truth." "That was how I viewed things then, too:" "An oath is an oath." "[Man] Do you believe that anyone who swore allegiance would, after Hitler's death, be released from his oath of allegiance?" "After Hitler's death?" "Of course." "Everyone would automatically be released." "[Man] When interrogated by the police you said that if the Führer had told you your father was a traitor, you would have shot him yourself." " If he had been a traitor, yes..." " No, if the Führer had told you so." "[Man Speaking Hebrew]" "Would you have shot your own father?" "Assuming he had proven this." "Had he proven it, I'd have been obliged by my oath." "Was it proven to you that the Jews had to be exterminated?" "I didn't exterminate them." "[Man] Did you never feel any conflict between your duty and your conscience?" "One could call it a state of being split." "Split?" "Yes..." "A conscious split state where one could flee from one side to the other." " One's conscience was to be abandoned?" " Sorry?" "One's personal conscience was to be abandoned?" "[Eichmann] You could say that." "If there had been more civil courage, things could have been different." "Am I right?" "Answer..." "If civil courage... had been hierarchically organized, then yes, absolutely." "[Man] So this was not destiny." "It was not inevitable." "It was a question of human behavior." "A question of human behavior." "And of course it was..." "It was wartime, upheaval..." "Everyone thought, "It's useless to resist..."" "Yes." "A drop on a hot stone that evaporates without purpose or success or... or failure or anything." "It was connected to the times, I think." "To the times, how children were raised, with ideological education, rigid discipline, that sort of thing." "Eichmann not an anti-Semite?" "That's nonsense!" "You heard him." "He was obeying the law." "He'd have obeyed any law." "Oh, please!" "Anyone in the Party, let alone the SS, was a committed and vicious anti-Semite." "He swears he never personally harmed a Jew." "So he claims!" "Isn't it interesting that a man who did everything a murderous system asked of him, who even seems eager to give precise details of his fine work, that this man insists he personally has nothing against Jews?" "He's lying!" "False." "He is not." "You're falling for this?" "He claims he didn't know where the trains were going." " You believe that too?" " Knowing that was irrelevant for him." "He transported people to their deaths, but didn't feel responsible for it." "Once the trains were in motion his work was done." "So he can say he's free of guilt despite what happened to the people he transported?" "Yes." "That's how he sees it." "He's a bureaucrat." "Your quest for truth is admirable, but this time you've gone too far!" "But Kurt, you can't deny the huge difference between the unspeakable horror of the deeds and the mediocrity of the man." "Don't worry, Rahel." "Hannah and I always argued like this." "I'm just afraid she'll make a lot of people angry." "That's her nature." "But after finishing our bloody duels..." "We always found a way to make up." "Hey." "Kurt, no!" "Think of your heart." "I know." "I'm not getting any younger." "That's why I wish you wouldn't leave me so quickly." "I'm never very far from you." "Never." "What's in there?" "Transcripts of the trial." "Six tapes of Eichmann's questioning." "I could have them shipped to New York." "I have to start reading at once." "Bring Heinrich along next time." "[ Door Opens ]" "You're home!" "[ Chuckles ] Oh!" "What about your classes?" "Canceled!" "I said it's an emergency." "Thank you, Freddy." "Thank you." "[ Sighs ]" "How good to be home." "Four pounds." "Can't you see it?" "I starved myself for you." "Look at my homework over there." "You're taking a few days off." "Stups, I have 2000 pages to read before the semester starts." "Don't exaggerate, Frau Professor." "From Mary?" "No." "From me." "[ Chuckles ]" "Stups!" "That's the wrong pile." "Miller begged me to take over another class." "Someone's ill or getting a divorce or something typically American like that." "My head's spinning as it is." "You have to learn to say no." "But only to others, of course." "Hannah." "[ Phone Rings ]" "[ In English ] Yes?" "Ah." "Here." "Hello, Mr. Shawn." "[ Gasps ]" "Uh, she's not in right now." "She should be back soon." "Yes, certainly." "I will give her the message." "[ In German ] Well?" "That polite Mr. Shawn didn't say as much, but I guess he's curious to know when you'll deliver the articles." "There's not even a verdict yet." "Yes..." "How dare that Mr. Shawn call you at all?" "[ Laughs ]" "I don't think he can imagine that so celebrated a writer as you is so busy fighting her papers and hasn't written a word." "But Monsieur here would have finished the articles long ago." "Without a doubt." "Thank you." "Frau Professor." "[ Typing ]" "You can also use my office." "[ In French ] You are too kind, sir!" "You just have to move my pipe-stand." "[ In German ] Your doctor will like that." "People in glass houses..." "How can you leave me like that?" "No hug, no kiss?" "Never disturb a great philosopher when they're thinking." "But they can't think without kisses." "You can put it here." "Thank you, Freddy." "You're welcome." "[ In German ] From Israel." "At least 500 new pages from the court." "I'll sort them for you later." "I'm so lucky to have you, Lotte." "I'd never be such good friends with my own daughter." "My father always says God gave us family, but thank God we can choose our friends." "Well..." "[ In English ] Interesting theory." " [ In German ] You think I'd have chosen Charlotte?" " Oh, I forgot." "She called earlier." "She wanted Heinrich's new number at Bard." "Did you give it to her?" "Unfortunately, I couldn't find it." "[ Groans ]" "Careful, Lotte." "She's a psychoanalyst and can probably read your mind..." "Should I take these away again?" "Please." "Thanks." "[Man] They slept as if dead." "Someone came in and called out:" "Quick now, the SS are coming back." "I had two friends beside me." "[Several Voices Overlapping]" "[Man #2] Once a week the infamous Dr. Mengele selection was held." "The rumor that Dr. Mengele had arrived was enough to spread fear and terror throughout the camp." "[Man #3] ...confess his guilt..." "If there had been more of what I term civil courage, then some things would have turned out differently." "PHILOSOPHY FACULTY PROF." "DR. M. HEIDEGGER" "Miss Arendt." "[ Clock Ticking ]" "You say you want me to teach you how to think." "Thinking is a lonely business." "[ Mary ] Every time I even write a sex scene, I have you horribly on my conscience, as if you're tugging at my elbow saying, "Stop."" "I have no problem with sex." "I'm afraid you'll think I'm an exhibitionist or something." "Well, you are." "[ Chuckles ]" "But you've written your first book without a hint of memoir." "It's pure fiction, is it?" "Is that a left-handed compliment or just straight criticism?" "No!" "I think you've written beautifully balanced sentences, and I think at times it's hilariously funny." "You have never been this positive." "Did you hate all my other books?" "Mary!" "Well!" "You can't take a compliment." "No." "Hannah!" "[ In German ] You are my heroine!" "[ In English ] I thank you." "The German Department thanks you." "We all thank you." "Oh, God." "Ask him for a raise." "[ Chuckles ]" "[ Hannah, In German ] You see," "Western tradition mistakenly assumes that the greatest evils of mankind arise from selfishness." "But in our century, evil has proven to be more radical than was previously thought." "And we now know that the truest evil, the radical evil, has nothing to do with selfishness or any such understandable, sinful motives." "Instead, it is based on the following phenomenon:" "making human beings superfluous as human beings." "The entire concentration camp system was designed to convince the prisoners they were unnecessary before they were murdered." "In the concentration camps men were taught that punishment was not connected to a crime," "that exploitation wouldn't profit anyone, and that work produced no results." "The camp is a place where every activity and human impulse is senseless." "Where, in other words, senselessness is daily produced anew." "So, to summarize:" "If it is true that in the final stage of totalitarianism, an absolute evil emerges," "absolute as it no longer relates to human motives, then it is equally true that without it, without totalitarianism, we would never have known the truly radical nature of evil." "What time is it?" "Ah." "The second hour has begun." "You know what that means." "Thank you." " Thank you." " May I ask you a personal question?" "You can try." "Were you in a camp?" "I had the opportunity to spend some time in a French detention camp called Gurs." "[ In English ] But weren't the French on your side?" "[ In German ] In the beginning." "They took us in." "But when the Germans invaded France on May 10, 1940, our French friends put us into detention camps." "We became a new kind of human being, put into concentration camps by our enemies and into detention camps by our friends." "How did you escape?" "[ In English ] My husband and I were lucky to receive a visa to America." "[ In German ] A visa." "Not a passport." "We were stateless for 18 years." "And what was your first impression of America?" "[ In English ] Paradise." "[ Gasps, Groans ]" "[ Breathing Heavily ]" "[ Hannah, In German ] Do you understand?" "Hannah!" "[ In English ] Just a moment, please." "How did you find" "Who found" "Charlotte." "My class." "They are waiting." "I'll take over." "No, but, Mary, it's" "It's advanced German class." "They will be delighted to speak English again." "Go." "Go." "Go." "[ Sobs ]" "Dearest." "Don't cry." "I spoke to the doctor." "He said you only have a fifty percent chance." "Don't forget the other fifty percent." " [ Knocks ] - [ Door Opens ]" "[ Door Closes ]" "What were you speaking to your students about?" "About us." "[ In English ] I understand." "Thank you for the message." "Yes." "Hannah?" "Yes." "[ Sink Water Running ]" "They're hanging Eichmann." "And so they should." "They should?" "But that's not justice." "The punishment's not enough?" "The punishment can only give an appearance of justice." "There are no real punishments for his deeds." "That's why it'd be braver to let him live." "Now the verdict's in, you can stop avoiding your New Yorker friends." "Not until you've recovered." "You haven't written a line since my slight collapse." "Wrong." "I've made some notes." "A brain aneurysm isn't a "slight collapse" either." "You could have died." "But Eichmann is a monster." "And when I say monster, I don't mean Satan." "You don't need to be smart or powerful to behave like a monster." "You're being too simplistic." "What's new about the Eichmann phenomenon is that there are so many just like him." "He's a terrifyingly normal human being." "Not all normal people were head of department 4B-4 at the Reich Security Office charged with the extermination of Europe's Jews." "You're right there." "But he considered himself an obedient servant of Germany who had to obey the Führer's orders." ""My loyalty is my honor."" "The Führer's orders became the law." "He didn't feel guilty in the sense of the indictment." "He behaved according to the law." "It's been proven that Eichmann pursued the Final Solution even after Himmler had long since forbidden it." "And why?" "He wanted to finish his work." "Don't you see that every law, every commandment was turned upside down." "It was not "Thou shalt not kill,"" "but "Thou must kill."" "To do your duty, goodness was a temptation you had to resist." "[ Hans ] Great." "So no one is responsible or guilty." "Every sane person knows murder is wrong." "[ Laughs ] Then most Europeans, including many of our friends, went insane overnight." "Heidegger was your friend." " Hans!" " He wasn't our only disappointment." "You can't write like this for the New Yorker." " You cannot!" " Hans, the glass door!" "It's all too abstract." "And confusing." "They don't want a philosophy lesson." "They have to know what the Nazi Eichmann did." "Oh, Hemingway was just an ambulance driver, Thomas." "As a writer, he was nothing more than the premature ejaculator of the 20th century." "Oh, you just hate him because he wrote like a real man." "Do you want to forgive him?" "That's absurd." "I'm glad he'll be hanged." "So, here's to Heinrich's recovery." "[ In English ] Well, come on." "Yeah." "To Heinrich." "Come over, please." "To his health." "We drink to his health." "[ Mary ] A very good idea. [ Hannah, In German ] Here, Hans." "To Heinrich." "[ Chattering ]" "Cheers." "Stups, here's to you." "No more kissing." "Except for me." "Why was Hans so furious with me?" "He's in love with you." "Has been ever since he was a student. [ Scoffs ]" "Nonsense." "He hates Heidegger more for stealing your heart than for joining the Party." "[ Chuckles ]" "Then he should hate you even more." "[ Chuckles ]" "Maybe he does." "Celebrating my health is exhausting." "I'm off to bed." "[ Exhales Deeply ]" "[ Door Closes ] [ Sighs ]" "[Heidegger] Thinking does not bring knowledge, as do the sciences." "Thinking does not produce usable, practical wisdom." "Thinking... does not solve the riddles of the universe." "Thinking does not endow us with the power to act." "We live because we are alive." "And we think... because we are thinking beings." "[ Hannah ] We are so used to considering reason and passion as opposites, that the idea of passionate thinking, where thinking and being alive are one and the same," "is terrifying for me." "[ Clock Ticking ]" "Excuse me." "No." "Hannah!" "[ Footsteps Approaching ]" "Tolstoy wrote War and Peace in less time." "[ Phone Ringing ]" "[ Ringing Continues ]" " Hello?" " Mrs. Arendt." "Bill Shawn here." "Is this a good time to talk?" "I mean, are you busy?" "Yes." "Why?" "Can I be of any help?" "How?" "Perhaps if you've finished the first article, I could have a look." "Mr. Shawn, I don't deliver in pieces." "O-Of course." "I do realize what an enormous task this is... and wanted to let you know how much we're looking forward to the results." "Well, then perhaps I should get back to it instead of chatting on the phone." "Or did you want to pressure me with a deadline?" "No, of course not." "Take as long as you need." "Thank you." "Bye." "What's the matter with you?" "Have you fallen in love with her, or what?" "Oh, God, no." "[Man, In German] You claim you weren't a normal recipient of orders." "You thought about what you were doing." "Didn't you say that?" "[Eichmann] I don't believe so, no." "You didn't think about it?" "[Eichmann] Sorry?" "You didn't think about it?" "You were an imbecile?" "You didn't think at all?" "Think?" "Yes." "Of course I thought about what I was doing." "You were not an imbecile?" "[ Chattering In German ]" "Are you sure you can go?" "You've got everyone so worried, they'll have a wheelchair waiting." "[ Chuckles ] I'm sure some lovely women will be very eager to push you around." "No one can push me around like you." "Lotte..." "Take good care of her." "Thanks." "Listen to this." "I've changed the paragraph." ""Evil is supposed to be something demonic." "Its incarnation is Satan." "But in the case of Eichmann, one could find no such trace of satanic 'greatness.'" "He was simply unable to think."" "That's great." "It's better, right?" "Yes..." "Voilà, monsieur." ""From a humdrum life without significance and consequence, the wind had blown Adolf Eichmann into history."" "Fascinating choice." "It begins so poetically." "A bit over the top." ""A leaf in the whirlwind of time, he was blown into the marching columns of the 1,000-year Reich."" "Twice in a row with a wind metaphor?" "But listen to this." ""It was sheer thoughtlessness." "Something by no means identical with stupidity... that predisposed him to become... one of the greatest criminals of the 20th century." "He was simply unable to think."" "That's original." "This here is also quite original." "They'll have our heads for this:" ""Wherever Jews lived, there were recognized Jewish leaders, and this leadership, almost without exception, cooperated in one way or another, for one reason or another, with the Nazis." "The whole truth is... that if the Jewish people had really been unorganized and leaderless, there would have been chaos and plenty of misery, but the total number of victims would hardly have been... between four and a half and six million people."" "Jewish leaders testified at the trial." "It had to be mentioned." "She's blaming the victims." "That's not true, Fran." "She clearly makes a distinction between the powerlessness of the victims... and the dubious choices of some of their leaders." ""Clearly"?" "Don't exaggerate." "The whole section is only 10 pages out of almost 300." "Them's fighting words, Bill." "You better make sure she's got her facts straight, or we'll be needing bodyguards- for her and for us." "She doesn't strike me as someone who's off on the facts." "But as for the grammar" "What you have written is simply brilliant." "I suggest that it be broken up into five articles." "Five?" "If I give it that much space, it will entail very few changes." "I spoke with your editor, and he told me the book will come out directly afterwards." "Congratulations." "Thank you." "Shall we?" "Sure." "This is Greek, right?" ""Einai." It means "to be," in the sense of existence." "But, of course, you realize that most of our readers don't understand Greek." "They should learn." "[ Laughs ]" "[ Exhales Deeply ]" "There is really only one section... that, um, worries us a bit." "Oh, today you say "us," and not "me"?" "Invoking your army, Mr. Shawn?" "Yes." "Maybe I am." "It's this description of the Jewish leaders." "Their relationship with Eichmann's office was very important." "I think I made that quite clear." "Yes, of course, but you do offer a kind of interpretation of your own... that might be-that might disturb just a bit." "That is incorrect." "I purposely did not attempt to analyze... or to explain their behavior." ""To a Jew, this role of the Jewish leaders in the destruction of their own people... is undoubtedly the darkest chapter of the whole dark story."" "Now that could count as a kind of interpretation." "But it's a fact." "[ Chattering ]" "Finally." "I can't wait to read it." "How do you like it?" ""How"?" ""How" is an assumption." "You should ask me if I like it." "[ Phone Rings ]" "[Man] You have no right to bring these issues out in public." "You don't know what you're talking about." "I will cancel" ""Only 10 pages."" "That makes a hundred phone calls per page." "So far." "[ Rings ]" "[ Woman] ...is crap!" "[ In German ] Just ignore them..." "[ In English ] You'll drive yourself crazy." "[ In German ] But Shawn's response in the New Yorker is very convincing." " Should I send it to you?" " What response?" "To that vicious article in The New York Times." "Oh, you mean that!" "[ In English ] Forget it." "[In German] Tell me how Heinrich is doing." "Charlotte cooks for him every evening." "Please tell her that Heinrich can only eat meat twice a week." "Yes." "Hello..." "My darling." "You're all the rage around here." "Hello, Stups." "Let's not waste time on that." "The Israeli prosecutor is flying here to speak to survivors in New York." "Listen to the Daily News headline:" "[ In English ] "Prosecutor Answers..." "Hannah Arendt's Bizarre Defense of Eichmann."" "[In German] On the frontpage!" "All just a tempest in a tea cup." "This is no tempest." "It's a hurricane, Hannah." "[Hannah] Tell me what's for dinner." "Spinach, whole wheat bread and water." "It's good you're not here in New York." "They are all accusing you of having defended Eichmann, Hannah." "Stups, it's just a few articles in a magazine." "My dear, you are really naive." "She thinks her sarcasm will protect her." "It only shows me her vulnerability." "She tries to detach herself from the story but ends up bringing it closer to her." "Wrong, completely wrong." "It's not about her." "But where is she... when she writes about this Nazi and his crimes?" "She has the right to feel pain, and to show it." "That would be shameless." "And quite out of character." "You have to be aware that if she represses so much pain, it will eventually overwhelm her." "And you too." "[ Birds Chirping ]" "♪ [Piano:" "Jazz]" "♪ [ Continues ]" "Professor Heidegger is here for you." "Thanks." "Time is mysterious:" "it can return and transform everything." "As I saw you again and you stood there in your beautiful dress" "I knew that this would be the beginning of something new for us." "Please stop a moment." "I wasn't sure if I should come." "There is no greater invitation to love than to love first:" ""Nulla est enim maior ad amorem invitatio quam prevenire amando."" "St. Augustine." "Your last letter grieved me." "How could you believe all that slander?" "After I read your first rector's speech I was sick to my stomach." "I couldn't believe it." "The man who'd taught me to think was behaving like a fool." "I know they were bitter years for you, full of misery, hardship and helplessness." "But they weren't easy for me either." "Martin, I came here because I want to understand." "Hannah..." "I'm like the lad who dreams and knows not what he does." "I have no talent nor experience with politics, but now I have learned and in the future" "I want to learn even more." "Then why not bring this to an end and explain yourself in public?" "[ Car Approaching ]" "[ Horn Honks ]" "You're the toast of the town." "[ Chuckles ] Mary." "Hello." "Oh, my goodness, it's good to see you." "Here." "Oh." "Beautiful." "They're from Jim." "He sends his love." "He can't wait to meet you." "Well, when will I finally meet him?" "Well, we'll sort something out." "How was the trip?" "Oh, my goodness." "It was great, but I'm starving." "♪ [Speakers:" "Jazz]" "[ Chattering ]" "You should come to the talk." "Oh-You can't do that." " You have to follow the rules." " Oh, why?" "Nobody else does." "[ Inhales, Exhales Deeply ]" "But what do you want me to discuss?" "There has not been one single critique of what I actually wrote." "Did you really have no idea there would be such a furious reaction?" "Oh, Hannah." "Not even a little?" "You did take a certain tone, not the usual one." "Untrue." "The tone is quite normal for me." "Well, for you, yes, but no one's ever dared to be the least bit ironic about the situation." "You are trying to distract me." "Never." " [ Mary ] Oh." " See?" "[ Chuckles ] I'm telling you, it is useless." "I'm sure half of them haven't even read the book." "Exactly." "And that is why you should speak publicly about it." "No." "Yes." "Expose their hypocrisy." "Force them to a real discussion." "I refuse to explain myself to these dimwits." "[ Sighs ]" "[ In German ] In the silent dialogue with myself..." "[ In English ] I am alone." "You have a very good memory." "Ja." "Terrible accent." "[ Chuckles ]" "If I win, do you promise to answer me a terribly personal question?" "You won't win- Mm-hmm." "If I can promise you anything." "So" "Was he the greatest love of your life?" "Who?" "You know." "[ With German Accent ] Your secret king of thinking." "No." "He was not." "That is Heinrich." "All right then." "Uh, fill in the blank." ""Heidegger was the greatest- in my entire life."" "Oh, come on." "I won't tell anybody." "There are some things... that are stronger than a single human being." "[ Man ] And did you read the book?" "You read it?" "I can't believe it." "I bet she doesn't even show up." "The worst mistake was to criticize the Jews... while the mass murderer was sitting there in the dock." "Yeah, and to describe this murderer as a clown." "A foolish little servant of Hitler who didn't have a mind of his own." "And yet she says he's normal." "That's Hannah Arendt." "All cleverness and no feeling." "[ Miller ] I love that line in your article, Norman." "I trust you've all read Norman's incisive rebuttal." "What's it called?" ""The Perversity of Brilliance."" ""The Perversity of Brilliance." You were more fair than she had any right to expect." "Now, of course, she's shocked." "Oh, nonsense." "She lives for such intellectual sensations." "And she's far too smart not to realize the scandal she would provoke... by attacking the Jewish leaders." " [ Miller ] Exactly." " Last time we met, you were begging her to teach at your department." "Well, won't make that mistake again." "You're all treating Hannah Arendt like a suspect in a police court... instead of a respected political thinker." "Please, Bill, no one has attacked Hannah Eichmann's character." "Your review of Hannah's work proves that you're too hysterical... to write a single coherent sentence." "And that charming little slip of the tongue proves that Lionel has lost his power of speech as well." "You're so smitten with Arendt's European pretensions." "She could defend Himmler himself, and you'd go along." "Oh, down, Norman." "Down." "Your fangs are showing." "Almost no one here has even read the articles." "Some of us tried, but couldn't bear to go on." "Well, of course you couldn't." "Hannah doesn't write soap operas." "[ Norman ] And, of course, it would be too much to expect Ms. Arendt... to report on Eichmann's actual trial." "She had to come up with something more interesting than that." "Who does she think she is?" "Aristotle?" "Unlike all of you, Hannah was actually forced into exile." "She was held in a brutal detention camp." "Isn't it admirable that she is the only one... who can discuss this subject without beating her breast?" "And why do you think that is?" "Because she's smarter than people with feelings?" "Well, in your case, Norman, being smarter is easy." "She's more courageous than you are." "[ Man ] Ladies and gentlemen, there will be plenty of time for discussion after our speakers have presented." "Settle down so we can begin." "[ Vehicle Approaching]" "[ Gasps ]" "Ms. Arendt?" "Siegfried!" "You remember me?" "[ In German ] Of course." "You were in Kurt Blumenfeld's Zionist group in Berlin." "[ In English ] It's hard to believe that you were once a Zionist." "The Israeli secret service didn't send you to discuss my youthful folly." "I'm here to request that you stop the publication of your book about Adolf Eichmann." "The State of Israel bought four plane tickets to tell me that?" "You must have money to burn to waste it like that." "[ In German ] It's incomprehensible that you, a Jew, could tell such lies about your people." "You describe a book I never wrote." "A book that will never be allowed in Israel." "And won't appear anywhere else either if you have any decency left." "You ban books, and lecture me about decency!" "I'm warning you." "Wrong." "You're threatening me." "We wanted to ask Kurt Blumenfeld to reason with you, but his doctor said he's dying." "And we didn't want to be that cruel." "I thought you knew." "[ In German ] Rivka, why didn't you let me know sooner?" "Kurt didn't want that." "Kurt." "What are you doing to me, my dear!" "This time you've gone too far." "Let's not argue today." "The cruelty... and ruthlessness you show." "You won't think that when you've read it." "I tried to." "Since when did you listen to others about me?" "You have no love for Israel?" "No love for your own people?" "I can't laugh with you anymore." "But Kurt, you know me." "I've never loved any people." "Why should I love the Jews?" "I only love my friends." "That's the only love I'm capable of." "Kurt..." "I love you." "[ Lotte ] These think your articles are terrific." "These think you're absolutely wrong and should never have written a word." "Anyone I know?" "Yes." "A few friends." "And these want you dead." "Some of them are quite colorful." "[ Doorbell Rings ]" "I'll get it." "[ Door Opens ]" "Oh, Lotte..." "Come in." "Am I too late?" "No." "Good." "Oh, Hannah, I didn't know..." "Lore, how nice to see you." "I came to help Lotte." "No, no, first come and sit with me." "Here." "You were here yesterday?" "I didn't want to leave Lotte here alone." "Thanks." "It goes without saying." " How's Hans?" " He..." "Why didn't he come?" "He doesn't feel well." "[ Lotte ] Oh, God!" "[ Lore ] What does it say?" "Oh, nothing." "Come here, Lotte." "Read it to us." "[ In English ] "Your picture is of a face hard as rock... and cold as ice in the North Pole." "Contempt hovers on the lips, and an iron brutality is seen in the eyes." "I felt that that page on which your picture is on... contaminated the whole of the review." "I put on a glove." "I felt it revolting to put my bare hand on that page." "Ripped it out from the review, and not wanting to give it the... dignity of burning it," "I threw it in the garbage can." "I do not carry hatred in my heart, nor do I take delight in vengeance, but this I know:" "that the souls of our six million martyrs, whom you desecrated, will swarm about you day and night." "They will give you no rest." "It cannot be otherwise."" "It's sweet of you... to stay with me this evening." "You had such a bad day." "When I was a child my father was very sick." "He died when I was seven." "After a long fight." "I only knew him as a sick man." "And in the dream where he appears he is healthy." "He's handsome." "He looks at me and he says:" "I love you." "What are you doing with the letters?" "Answering them." "No, you will not." "If you start, this will never end." "I've hurt these people badly." "I have to take that seriously." "We've been here 20 years and I'm not packing my bags ever again." "They won't kick you out because of a few articles!" "Are you so sure about that?" "The nice, old man on the 10th floor said to give you this right away. [ Elevator Bell Dings ]" "Thank you, Freddy." "DAMN YOU TO HELL, YOU NAZI WHORE" "[ Chattering ]" "[ Knocks ]" "We've discussed it at length and arrived at a unanimous decision." "We respectfully advise you to relinquish your teaching obligations." "Under no circumstances will I give up my classes." "You may not have enough students who are willing to study with you." "Perhaps you have not been in communication with your own students, but I'm entirely oversubscribed at the moment." "And because of the extraordinary support of the students," "I've decided to accept their invitation, and I will speak publicly... about the hysterical reactions to my report." "That's Hannah Arendt, all arrogance and no feeling." "[ Murmuring ]" "Perhaps just for today you will allow me to smoke immediately." "When the New Yorker sent me... to report on the trial of Adolf Eichmann," "I assumed... that a courtroom had only one interest- to fulfill the demands of justice." "This was not a simple task, because the court that tried Eichmann was confronted with a crime... it could not find in the law books... and a criminal whose like was unknown in any court prior to the Nuremberg trials." "But still, the court... had to define Eichmann as a man on trial for his deeds." "There was no system on trial, no history, no ism, not even anti-Semitism, but only a person." "The trouble with a Nazi criminal like Eichmann... was that he insisted on renouncing all personal qualities... as if there was nobody left to be either punished or forgiven." "He protested time and again, contrary to the prosecution's assertions, that he had never done anything out of his own initiative, that he had no intentions whatsoever, good or bad, that he had only obeyed orders." "This... typical Nazi plea... makes it clear that the greatest evil in the world... is the evil committed by nobodies- evil committed by men without motive, without convictions, without wicked hearts or demonic wills." "By human beings who refuse to be persons." "And it is this phenomenon... that I have called the banality of evil." "Ms. Arendt." "You're avoiding the most important part of the controversy." "You claimed that less Jews would have died... if their leaders hadn't cooperated." "This issue came up in the trial." "I reported on it, and I had to clarify the role of those Jewish leaders... who participated directly in Eichmann's activities." "You blame the Jewish people for their own destruction." "I never blamed the Jewish people!" "Resistance was impossible." "But perhaps... there is something in between resistance... and cooperation." "And only in that sense do I say... that maybe some of the Jewish leaders might have behaved differently." "It is profoundly important... to ask these questions, because the role of the Jewish leaders... gives the most striking insight... into the totality of the moral collapse... that the Nazis caused in respectable European society." "And not only in Germany, but in almost all countries." "Not only among the persecutors." "But also among the victims." "Yes?" "The persecution was aimed at the Jews." "Why do you describe Eichmann's offenses as crimes against humanity?" "Because Jews are human, the very status the Nazis tried to deny them." "A crime against them is by definition a crime against humanity." "I am, of course, as you know, a Jew." "And I've been attacked for being a self-hating Jew... who defends Nazis and scorns her own people." "This is not an argument." "That is a character assassination." "I wrote no defense of Eichmann." "But I did try to reconcile... the shocking mediocrity of the man... with his staggering deeds." "Trying to understand is not the same as forgiveness." "I see it as my responsibility to understand." "It is the responsibility of anyone who dares to put pen to paper on the subject." "Since Socrates and Plato, we usually call thinking..." ""to be engaged in that silent dialogue between me and myself."" "In refusing to be a person, Eichmann utterly surrendered... that single most defining human quality:" "that of being able to think." "And consequently, he was no longer capable of making moral judgments." "This inability to think... created the possibility for many ordinary men... to commit evil deeds on a gigantic scale, the like of which one had never seen before." "It is true." "I have considered these questions in a philosophical way." "The manifestation of the wind of thought... is not knowledge, but the ability to tell right from wrong, beautiful from ugly." "And I hope... that thinking gives people the strength... to prevent catastrophes in these rare moments... when the chips are down." "Thank you." "[ Applause ]" "[ Murmuring ]" "Ms. Arendt." "Could we please" "[ In German ] Hans, if I'd known you were here..." "I came... in the insane hope you would listen to reason." "But you will never change." "Hannah, between your arrogance and your ignorance, your hopeless ignorance about Jewish affairs, you turn a court trial into a philosophy lesson." "Hans, not now." "I'm exhausted." "You behave like a superior German intellectual who looks down on us Jews." "And you accuse us of being accomplices to the Shoah." "You never accepted that the Germans shamefully betrayed you." "They kicked you out and would have killed you if they could." "Your friend Eichmann was responsible for the transports from Gurs." "If you hadn't been lucky enough to escape on time... you'd have shared the same fate as the women who stayed." "Stop!" "They were all deported." "All deported to..." "Stop it, Hans." "As of today..." "I am finished with Heidegger's favorite student." "Everyone is trying to prove me wrong." "But no one noticed my one real mistake." "Evil cannot be both banal and radical at once." "Evil is only ever extreme." "It's never radical." "Only good can be profound and radical." "Would you have written about the trial if you'd known what would happen?" "Yes." "I would have written about it." "Maybe I had to find out who my real friends were." "Kurt was your friend." "He still would be." "Kurt was my family."