Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil

Ruth Starkman (University of San Francisco)
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German-Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt began her book,

Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil

(1963)

as a journalistic venture for

The New Yorker

in 1963. Little did she suspect her reports of the trial of Adolf Eichmann (1906-1962), the notorious and self-described “architect of the Final Solution”, were quickly to become a highly controversial book, and to remain indeed her most famous, but not her best understood work. The book's title alone produced mountains of literature. Critics took issue with the phrase “the banality of evil”, and demanded clarification whether Arendt meant the Holocaust was banal, or that Eichmann himself lacked depth or whether she simply thought the whole trial was too pedestrian. Also controversial was Arendt's style. Both critics…

1680 words

Citation: Starkman, Ruth. "Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 August 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5427, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5427 Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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