The ABC News producers of “The Trial of Adolf Eichmann” suggest the following titles:
About the Eichmann Trial
Arendt, Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. New York: The Viking Press, 1963. Originally published in New Yorker magazine, Arendt’s narrative stirred much controversy because it charged Jewish leaders with complicity in the destruction of their own communities. Despite historical inaccuracies, the book articulates an important side of the debate that the trial engendered.
Hausner, Gideon. Justice in Jerusalem. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1966. An account of the Eichmann trial written by the Attorney General who prosecuted Eichmann.
Pearlman, Moshe. The Capture and Trial of Adolf Eichmann. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1963. While more recent literature supersedes the chapters on Eichmann’s capture, Pearlman’s book is considered the definitive account of the trial.
Robinson, Jacob. And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight: The Eichmann Trial, the Jewish Catastrophe, and Hannah Arendt’s Narrative. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1965. A point-by-point refutation of the historical and philosophical assertions of Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem, written by Attorney General Gideon Hausner’s advisor on international law during the Eichmann trial.
Segev, Tom. The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust. New York: Hill and Wang, 1993. A controversial history of the Holocaust’s impact on Israeli politics and ideology, including three chapters that posit the Eichmann trial as a formative moment in the nation’s struggle with its past.
Wells, Leon Weliczker. Shattered Faith: A Holocaust Legacy. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1995. Wells, a witness at the Eichmann trial, describes how the Holocaust made him lose faith in God. The story is told over several Yom Kippurs, from pre-war Poland to labor camp incarceration to liberation to today.
Holocaust Related Books
Atkinson, Linda. In Kindling Flame. New York: Beech Tree Books, 1985. High school and adult readers.
Dwork, Debórah and Robert Jan Van Pelt. Auschwitz: 1270 to the Present. New York: W. W.Norton & Company, 1996. The infamous death camp Auschwitz is explored through this history of the area and Poland. Adult readers.
Richter, Hans Peter. Friedrich. New York: Puffin Books, 1987. Junior high school readers.
Serraillier, Ian. Escape from Warsaw. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1991. Younger readers.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986. Art Spiegelman’s explores his father’s survival in this book and the famous “Maus” comic series. All readers.
Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam Books, 1960. An important book of survival written by the Noble Prize winning author and survivor. High school and adult readers.
Educational Resources
Facing History and Ourselves, a non-profit foundation which assists teachers and administrators in educating students about 20th century genocide, racism, human rights, and related issues of human behavior, publish the following titles:
Facing History and Ourselves Resource Book
$24.00 published by Facing History and Ourselves
I Promised I Would Tell
Sonia Schreiber Weitz
$8.95 published by Facing History and Ourselves
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