The banality of evil

"The banality of evil." When historian Hannah Arendt wrote this she was reflecting on the trial of famous Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichman and how the horrors of the holocaust were not committed by fanatical zealots but rather the genocide perpetrated by the Nazi regime was carried out by everyday people like you and me. They weren't aborations of human existence but rather they serve as reminders to us all to how far everyday people can fall into depravity and evil. Recently a new album has come to light detailing Nazi SS guards on vacation from their daily duties at Auschwitz.

They are seen singing and laughing, playing music and lounging on deck chairs. They look like people on vacation, having fun and relaxing. You can see them running from an unexpected rain shower or lighting a Christmas tree. You can see them take part in a sing-a-long or play with their pet dog or a group of women enjoying some blueberries or men at a dinner party. They don't look like monsters except for their uniforms that have now become symbols of evil and the attrocities that they committed against humanity.

The album was found in Frankfurt German during the war by an American intelligence officer who decided to keep the album for himself. He recently bequeathed it to the Holocaust Museum. While the pictures contained in the album help to hammer home Hannah Arendt's claim, it also helps to shed a light on a great injustice. The album belonged to SS officer Karl Hoecker who worked at Auschwitz as an adjutant to the camp commander. Hoecker was tried for war crimes after the war but was only sentenced to seven years in prison because they could find no witnesses to his crimes. If the authorities had had this album he would have been sentenced to life rather than being allowed to return to his life as a banker who died in 2000 at the age of 88.

The other horrible miscarriage of justice that was perpetrated due to this intelligence officer's desire for a personal memento was that the only known photographs of Josef Mengele are contained within its pages. Mengele, known as the Angel of Death, was never located in Germany after the war. Instead he was able to flee to Argentina and then Brazil where he eventually died of a stroke while playing at the beach. If the authorities had had this album they would have known what Mengele looked like and perhaps could have captured him sooner or later, much like the afore mentioned Eichman.

To see the album click here.

For an article concerning the collection by CBC columnist Heather Mallick click here.