Who Should Have Tried Eichmann?

Extract

B: To what extent do you think that Eichmann and the trial that is going to deal with his actions are of concern to us and affects all of us?

J: It seems to me that the great commotion we see today in the world has various motives. The most simple motive is the satisfaction that at least one of the main persons responsible for the ‘final solution of the Jewish question’ will get his punishment. In addition, there is no doubt that people in Israel are content that the Israeli state has the power to conduct such a trial and that it has mustered the energy and skill necessary for bringing this man before a court. This is an effort that no other state was able or willing to undertake. Germans, or at least some of them, react differently for they fear that a shadow could be cast over Germany in world public opinion if the enormity of the crimes that were committed is again exposed and made visible. I feel that to have such a preoccupation is undignified for us Germans because we must neither forget nor expect mankind to forget what Hitler's Germany once did. Besides, I notice that some people seem particularly to relish bringing forward the legal difficulties undoubtedly inherent in this trial.