For the Eichmann trial's 50th anniversary, Emory Holocaust studies professor
Lipstadt (History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving) trains her
gaze on this watershed event in Jewish history. Israeli attorney general
Gideon Hausner, a commercial lawyer, lacked criminal or courtroom expertise,
but Lipstadt contends that despite a couple of courtroom blunders, Hausner
presented overwhelming incriminating evidence to prove that Eichmann's claim
that he was just a low-level bureaucrat was a lie. Moreover, Hausner's
decision to place victims' testimony center stage gave survivors an iconic
authority. Lipstadt discounts critics who say Hausner failed to elicit an
admission of guilt from Eichmann, believing it didn't matter because
a confession from a brazen liar is worthless. In Eichmann's memoirs, contrary
to claims made by Hannah Arendt, Lipstadt finds that he expresses himself as
an inveterate Nazi and anti-Semite fully committed to his leaders' goals.
Lipstadt also finds Arendt's famous New Yorker reportage on the trial
disturbing because Arendt failed to reveal that she was absent for much of
the trial, writing from transcripts that cannot convey subtleties of demeanor
witnessed in court. This is a penetrating and authoritative dissection of
a landmark case and its after effects.

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