Original subtitles

Translated from French subtitles by jcdr, 28.09.2013

But how can you defend him, Hannah?

I don't defend him.

Do not forget

it's because of you I am friend with your husband.

I don't give up on my friends like that.

Even if Jim were to die in a plane crash,

I would not come back with Bowden.

Of course not.

Bowden knows he can't stop you from loving another man.

He is not stupid.

So why does he want to prevent our divorce?

In such circumstances it is natural

to think, or at least hope,

that you have at least some power.

Hans Jonas is on the line.

Not now, later. I'll call him back.

Mary, they are beautiful. Thank you.

How can you believe him now?

You trusted him during your 15 years long marriage.

I never trusted him.

Prof. Miller of Connecticut, it's urgent.

This is about your seminar.

Arrange a phone appointment.

And cut off the phone!

Mary, take the men as they are

or live alone.

- You're not gonna change Jim. - Why? Jim is perfect.

Perfect? Yes well...

The men in your novels are imperfect.

Real ones should be better?

- It was Heinrich. - Oh no!

- I wanted to speak to him! - He didn't want to disturb,

your dear Mary being there.

- When does he come back? - He sleeps there.

He must meet a student very early tomorrow.

Thank you, Lotte.

No student takes an appointment so early.

Don't start.

I would be far too jealous for your beautiful Heinrich.

This is perfect.

We can't all be wild Berliners.

Wild? Because we don't marry all our lovers?

I did not marry them.

But almost.

ISRAEL ARRESTED A NAZI OFFICER

I have not slept the whole night.

Should we talk about it now?

You haven't read the newspaper?

Each page, Madam Professor.

They want to bring him to justice in Jerusalem?

Why would the Mossad have kidnapped him otherwise?

You think it is right?

It would have been better that they shot him

in front of everybody in Buenos Aires.

- Yes, but... - You forgot to say hello.

According to the investigators, Adolf Eichmann has escaped from Germany

with a passport of the Red Cross

obtained with the help of the Vatican.

The Pope would never help a Nazi to escape!

No, he helped him because he was a good Catholic.

God did not let him escape.

God no... But the Germans, yes.

You'll see, they're not going to request his extradition.

The former SS officer

borrowed the road known by secret services

under the name of "Ratline".

Eichmann obtained his false identity and passport in Genoa

and took an Italian cargo ship to Buenos Aires.

"You understand why I want to attend the trial of Eichmann."

"I left Germany in 1933 and I missed the Nuremberg trials."

"I've never seen a Nazi..."

No, wait...

"I've never seen these people in real life"?

"These people in real life".

- I think it's better. - It's better, in fact.

Incredible, ain't it?

The famous Hannah Arendt suggests a paper.

Yes, it would be a privilege

to have such a famous German Jewish immigrant

as a reporter.

Who does she think she is?

She is the one who should implore us to publish in the New Yorker.

She wrote "The Origins of Totalitarianism."

What a title!

This is one of the most important books of the 20th century.

Read it!

Is she part of those European philosophers?

She was the first one to write on the Third Reich

on the point of view of the Western civilization.

Brilliant, but abstract.

I understand why she wants to attend.

Philosophers laugh about deadlines.

Come on, do it.

Do you really want to inflict this to you?

You remember how you were shocked

to hear these terrible news from Europe...

And how horrified you were?

I could never forgive myself to miss such an opportunity.

You said how intelligent and courageous

I have been to flee Gurs.

You have been, sweet heart.

Many women stayed in the fear

that their husbands would not find them

if they left the camp.

I would have found you anywhere.

Maybe not.

In the heat of this summer,

there was still hope...

it would be over soon.

And then...

The wait...

More and more women would let go,

would not complain anymore...

and would not clean themselves more.

They would lie on their straw mats.

I tried to encourage them...

I was sometimes harsh, sometimes nice.

But one night...

It had rained all day, the straw mats were fraying.

I lost all courage.

I felt so tired.

So tired...

I wanted to leave...

this world...

I loved so much.

And at this moment, I...

I imagined you in front of me.

Looking for me...

And not finding me.

Do you understand why I don't want to let you go?

Congratulations.

Hannah, great! Did you ask them?

And they just said "yes"?

They agreed. Simply.

For a genius, everything is simple.

Come on, that's enough!

I hope you will keep on teaching.

You'll know everything when everybody is there.

You know,

I kind of fear this trip.

I wish I could go with you.

Hans, that would be nice. I would feel better.

Thank you.

Nixon, this bulldog, usually so stubborn, is pusillanimous

and fearfully seeks recognition.

He even seeks Kennedy's approval.

Nixon is a liar.

This is strategic, he minds his career only.

- This is why he will win. - No, Nixon is a calculator.

But Kennedy is young, beautiful, spirited.

This is what counts when things go worst.

When things go "worse", Hannah.

Not "worst".

This must be Hans and Lore.

If you want: "worse".

For us, English is a violin.

Hannah's Stradivarius is German.

- She wants me to correct her. - Impossible!

- Sorry... - Are we talking about the same person?

- Our train was late. - Sure.

We know that excuse.

Put yourself at ease. Everyone is there.

It's nice you could come.

Our new member:

Prof. Miller, these are Hans and Lore Jonas.

We meet at last!

Prof. Miller, it is an honor!

Hannah's oldest and dearest friends.

The oldest, but the dearest?

- Heinrich is older than me. - And more beautiful.

You met in Germany?

In Europe, "old friends"

means that you've known for more than 10 minutes.

In the 20s, they all studied with Heidegger.

Do not mention my name in the same breath as this Nazi.

Hans!

So, you are all students of this confusing Heidegger?

I'm not even a graduate.

Aren't you a professor at Bard College?

The original thinkers did not need diplomas, Prof. Miller.

To Hannah and her journey to Jerusalem!

Thank you, Hans.

It is not a pleasure trip.

Lotte, champagne!

I have heard so much about you.

I am honored that my University colleague

becomes an eyewitness to history.

- We will miss you. - Thank you.

This is beautiful, Hannah,

that one of us, you,

attend this great trial.

This is not a great trial, this is illegal.

This is an illegal abduction committed by these Mossad morons.

Israel has the sacred right to trial a Nazi

for his crimes against the Jewish people.

Sacred right? Hans, you're crazy.

Most survivors live there.

Exactly.

And they want to see him, confront him.

Confront him!

We will drag them all to court!

They will be witnesses.

- The trial will last forever! - This trial...

- What a smoke! - Do you understand something?

You speak German, right?

I read it perfectly, but they talk too fast.

Israel did not exist as a State at the time of the Nazi crimes.

Alas!

Otherwise they would have declared war

to Hitler as England and France did.

But we were there anyway!

We did our duty,

we fought the Nazis in the British army.

In 1944, in the Jewish Brigade,

I and others brave men of Israel.

We know.

Heinrich does not know what it means to take up arms

to defend his convictions.

Convictions that lead him to emigrate.

Like many. He has no merit.

Nobody wants to take away your merit, Hans.

Hannah always reminds us how much she admires the soldier you were.

Not just the soldier.

Lotte!

Nuremberg accused Eichmann and he managed to escape arrest.

What do they say?

Maybe you'd prefer Hannah to tell you.

He must be judged by an international tribunal.

- There are none! - Exactly!

If the trial goes as you predict...

This is just a passionate ex-communist Berliner.

Jew?

No, but he followed Rosa Luxemburg to the end.

This is worth more than a doctorate.

You cannot judge the whole history.

You just can judge a man.

Indeed. A man is judged. To murder.

Odd couple.

Yes . For murder.

They are fantastic, the happiest couple.

And you have to prove...

Whatever you say, I agree with you all.

Let all speak English, please.

Will you excuse us, Mary.

See you soon.

- Thank you, my dear. - See you soon.

We were harsh with Hans. Tell him I'm sorry.

- You always say that. - I know.

See you on the campus.

It's good you came, Thomas.

Goodbye.

- Goodbye... - Be careful with this storm.

Really.

Yes... I have a perverse pleasure...

to tease this dear Hans a little.

Especially when he is happy to send you to hell.

Oh... sacred you.

Here:

"He thanked the F�hrer when taking office."

MEMBER OF THE PARTY HEIDEGGER...

Then they sang the Horst-Wessel-Lied.

Hi, Scoundrel!

Hi, Rascal!

Hannah! My dear Hannah!

Jerusalem...

your love.

Yes.

How is my dear Heinrich?

- Is he nice to you? - Yes.

Even too sweet.

I would like him to slap me on the wrist:

I am confused in this maze of events.

This is my wrist he slapped.

He is afraid that all this plunges me back

in these dark hours.

This trial is very important for us.

You're strong...

Hannah you've always been.

And brave.

Very brave.

You'd rather tell me how you are.

How's your heart?

Not very well.

It never got used to accept

the reality of our world.

Israel has aged faster than you, my little Hannah.

I always thought you'd have tons of kids someday.

Oh, Jenny. We were too poor then.

When we could afford it,

we were too old.

Many are poor here. But they have children.

Children are important. It is a young country.

It was about time that you could visit us.

- She is not visiting. - You see?

He already wants to get rid of me.

Pity the reason of your visit is a predator.

This is why he is shown in a cage.

- A cage? - Glass cage.

To protect ourselves from him.

The Court!

As I stand here before you, judges of Israel,

to lead the charge

against Adolf Eichmann,

I am not alone.

With me at this time

are six million accusers.

But they can't get up

to point an accusing finger towards the glass cage

and cry to the one inside:

"I accuse!"

For their ashes are scattered on the hills of Auschwitz

and the fields of Treblinka,

and are engulfed in the rivers of Poland.

Their graves are scattered throughout Europe.

On all its area.

Their blood cries.

But we can't hear their calls.

And Hausner is strutting

as if he competed with Eichmann for a role in a play!

His dramatic opening speech was predictable.

Ben Gurion asked for this?

He is the one who pulls the strings, no?

Israel must ensure that it doesn't become a show trial.

This is all you, Hannah! Wait a minute.

And try to understand Ben Gurion.

Our young people refuse

to confront themselves to these dark hours, as you call them.

Or they are ashamed of their parents who haven't defended themselves

or they blame them for their disgraceful conduct.

They think that only the criminals or the whores were able to survive.

And you think Hausner can bring them understanding

to the suffering of their parents?

Do show a little patience with us.

I read that 15 people died

during transportation.

I can only say that these figures

could not be registered by the GB4 Department.

They come from local authorities.

This is the result of the instructions.

It is stated here that the order was given by the Reichsf�hrer.

Tell me,

why did you have to relay this order?

Why Eichmann?

Doesn't the Reichsf�hrer have

other ways than Eichmann to contact the officer?

The report in question shows that

the local police or neighborhoods

sent their request to authority 4.

This is how I was put in charge of this case

I treated as an intermediate task,

as I was ordered. I had to obey orders.

But in the instructions, you fixed

the number of people to park in the train cars, is that correct?

I was given the order.

Whether or not they were killed,

this order was to be executed.

It was executed in an administrative manner.

I was in charge of only a small part.

The other necessary parts, such as the transportation,

were executed by other parties.

Mr. President,

I feel like a steak you want to cook

for a fact

riddled with inaccuracies, as we can clearly prove it here.

You finally heard the predator.

You don't feel well?

Yes, I'm fine.

Good.

Okay.

So what?

He is very different from what I had imagined.

This is one of the most dangerous people among the SS.

Not at all, precisely.

This is the point.

He is sitting in his glass cage.

Like a ghost...

Besides, he has a cold.

He doesn't scare at all.

He is insignificant.

He speaks in this horrible administrative jargon.

He suddenly says phrases like:

"I feel like a steak you want to cook."

Incredible!

Waiter! No steak, isn't it?

Want to cheer me up?

"The intention is perceptible and we are upset."

"The intention can be felt and we are shocked."

" Is allowed what pleases."

This is also Tasso.

"Is allowed what is right."

"If you would learn precisely what is proper,

"then do no more than ask of noble women."

My father was a tailor in Berlin.

He was always quoting "Faust" when shaving.

Mephisto, preferably.

"Blood is a peculiar juice..."

Eichmann.

Eichmann is not Mephisto.

My father was 58 years old, my mother was 43.

My brother 22.

I was 21.

My sister was 19.

My brother was 16.

My other brother was 14.

My sister was 8 and my younger brother, 5.

We were trying to stay together in the street,

as these valiant SS had recommended us.

And who in your family survived?

Only me.

Later when we were transported elsewhere...

200 or 210 of us stayed,

on the 1,200 that had been brought.

The next ones were all gassed.

Those who arrived just after us

were all gassed

It was...

Forgive me...

Please, try...

Start again.

...It was a force,

a supernatural force

that kept me alive.

So I have...

...after that time spent in Auschwitz,

after those two years in Auschwitz,

when I was a starving prisoner,

I could not resist...

One moment please, Sir...

Please listen to us, Hausner and I.

Please calm down.

Remain seated! Everyone stay seated.

Stay put.

I suspend the hearing, unless the witness recovers his mind.

Mr. Hausner, don't count on that.

I think the witness can hardly recover.

Madame, you are online with America.

Thank you.

If you could see how people try to testify calmly...

Most of the stories have nothing to do with Eichmann

as an individual.

But we both knew from the beginning that this trial

would deal more with a historical fact than with the acts of a single man.

But still it's awful.

My poor little girl, away from home.

Three minutes.

Already three minutes.

It costs a fortune, we need to hang up.

Yes.

See you soon.

They wanted a central organization

supposed to represent the Hungarian Jews.

No matter the date of the meeting.

But did they say how many members

such a committee in charge of the Germans

should count?

They told us

that this representative body should be made up

of four to five people.

They didn't call it "Judenrat."

And that reassured us,

because we already knew

what was the purpose of a "Judenrat."

How did you inform the municipalities in the provinces

of the situation of the deportees?

We did not have the means.

Because from the moment I received this information

and when we clearly knew what Auschwitz was,

East and Northeast Hungarians,

making about

300,000 people,

were informed by us and knew their fate,

but what could have we done?

Take him out quickly. Out! You interfere here!

You're a dirty coward! Bastard!

Sit down, sit down, if you want to stay!

An officer takes oath of allegiance to the flag.

If he breaks this oath...

this man is a pest.

This is my opinion.

I have sworn to tell the truth here.

This was my view at that time:

an oath is an oath.

Do you think a person taking an oath

is released from her oath

after Hitler's death?

After Hitler's death,

every man is indeed freed from this oath.

At the questioning, you said

that if the F�hrer had told you that your father was a traitor,

you would have shot him with your own hands.

If he had been a traitor, certainly.

No, if the F�hrer had told you so.

Would you have killed your own father?

Provided he proved it to me.

If he had, my oath would have forced me to.

Were you proved that the Jews should be exterminated?

I have not exterminated them.

Have you ever felt a conflict

between your job and your conscience?

I'd rather say a duality

- Duality? - Yes...

A conscious duality...

where we sail from one extreme to the other and vice versa.

We had to give up our conscience.

Sorry?

We had to give up our individual consciousness.

It could be said like that.

If there had been more civic courage,

things would have been different.

- Am I right? Answer... - Civic courage...

If there had been a hierarchical structure, yes, certainly.

It was not a fate

that was supposed to happen.

It is a matter of human behavior.

It was a matter of human behavior.

It was so

It was war, it was agitated...

Everyone was saying: it is useless to resist...

- Yes. - A drop in the ocean,

useless, no success or...

or failure or something...

I guess...

this is due to the time.

At the time, for the education of children,

ideologies that were applied,

military training, this stuff.

Eichmann is not anti-Semitic? What a humbug!

You heard him. He just obeyed the law.

He would obey any law.

All those who joined the party, especially as SS,

were convinced and evil anti-semites.

He swears he personally never hurt a Jew.

Let him make twists with it!

But isn't it interesting

that a man

who has done everything a murderous system demanded of him,

who even hastens

to disclose any details about his work,

that this man insists

on the fact that he has nothing against Jews.

- He's lying! - This is false. He's not lying.

You're falling into the trap!

He says he didn't know where the trains were going.

Do you believe that too?

This information did not matter to him.

He transported people.

To death. But he didn't feel responsible.

Once the trains were gone, his work was done.

And he thinks he is in no way responsible

for the fate of the people he had transported?

Yes. It is his vision. He is a bureaucrat.

Your quest for truth honors you, but you're mislead!

But Kurt, you can't deny the huge difference

between the unimaginable cruelty of a man

and his mediocrity.

Don't worry, Rachel.

This is the way we argue, Hannah and I.

I'm just afraid she irritates many other people.

This is her nature.

But every time we got K.O...

we always reconciled.

Hey. Kurt, no!

Think of your heart.

I know. I'm not getting any younger.

If only your feet were made of lead,

you could not constantly escape anymore!

I don't run away from you.

Never.

What's inside?

Copies of the minutes.

Six tapes of Eichmann's questioning.

I could have sent them to you in New York by cargo ship.

I have to start reading them right now.

Come with Heinrich, next time.

You are here!

And your classes?

Canceled! It was an emergency.

Thank you, Freddy.

How good it is to be back!

Four pounds...

Can you see it?

I starved myself for you.

Look at the homework waiting for me.

You take a few days off.

Rascal, I have 2,000 pages to read before the semester begins.

Calm down, Ms. Professor.

On behalf of Mary.

No.

From my part.

Rascal! This is the wrong stack.

Miller asked me to take care of another course.

Someone is sick or divorcing or a typical American thing.

I can't cope with it already!

You have to learn to say no. Only to others, of course.

Hannah...

Yes?

Hello, Mr. Shawn.

She is not there yet.

She shouldn't be long.

Of course, I'll pass her your message.

So?

This polite Mr. Shawn did not say much,

he is certainly very curious to know

when you will hand over your articles.

There is not even any verdict yet!

Yes...

And how dare he call you this Mr. Shawn?

I think he can't imagine

that a writer as famous as yourself

is struggling with a stack of papers and not write a word.

But this gentleman here, would have written this article long ago.

There is no doubt.

- Thank you. - Professor.

You can use my office.

You just have to get the pipe holder out.

Your doctor will be happy!

This is the pot calling...

You're leaving without a kiss or a slap?

One can't interfere with great philosophers in their thinking.

But how can they think without a hug?

Put it here.

Thank you, Freddy.

It's from Israel.

At least 500 new pages from court.

I'll sort them out later.

Lotte, what would I do without you?

I would have never been so close with my own daughter.

My father says that God has given us a family,

but that thanks to him we can choose our friends.

Yes...

Interesting theory.

You think I would have chosen Charlotte?

Oh, I forgot: she called.

She wanted Heinrich's new number at Bard.

You gave it to him?

I couldn't find it.

Attention, Lotte.

This psychoanalyst probably practices telepathy.

I take them back?

Yes, please.

Thank you.

They slept like the dead.

Someone came in and shouted:

Hurry up, the SS are coming.

I had two friends with me...

I've pushed them too.

Once a week, the infamous Dr. Mengele proceeded to a selection.

The rumor about the arrival of Dr. Mengele was enough

to sow terror throughout the camp.

Admittedly guilty...

Politicians...

If there had been more

of what I call civic courage,

things would have turned out differently.

FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY DR M. HEIDEGGER

Miss Arendt.

You say you want to learn to think with me.

Thinking

is a solitary occupation.

When I write erotic scenes,

you are my guilty conscience.

Like you pulled me by the arm.

I have no problems with sex.

I'm afraid you take me for an exhibitionist.

You are one.

But this is your first book, having nothing autobiographical.

Pure fiction, isn't it?

This is a rather awkward compliment or just a critic?

I find your sentences very nicely turned

and some parts very funny.

Oh, so positive? Have you hated my other books?

You don't know how to accept compliments.

Hannah!

You are my hero! Thank you!

The faculty of German philology thanks you!

We thank you all.

Ask for a salary increase.

You see,

the Western tradition

suffers from the prejudice that

the worst that a man can do

comes from its self-centeredness.

But in this century which is ours, evil has revealed

more radical than was anticipated.

We now know that the greatest evil,

radical evil

has nothing to do with patterns

humanly understandable and immoral such as egocentricity.

Instead, it is mainly related to the following phenomenon:

it is the fact of making people redundant.

The whole system in the concentration camps was

convincing prisoners that they were unnecessary...

before they were killed.

In the camps people would learn

that the punishment was not related to a crime,

that the operation did not benefit anyone,

and that work

did not need to be profitable.

The camp is a place

where each fact and gesture

is by definition devoid of meaning.

Where in other words, it creates absurdity.

I summarize:

if it is true that

at the final stage of totalitarianism

an absolute evil appears,

absolute because it is not to be attributed to human reasons,

then it is also true

that without it,

without totalitarianism,

we would never know

the radical nature of evil.

What time is it?

The second hour began. You know what that means.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Can I ask you a personal question?

Please.

Have you been in a concentration camp?

I had the occasion

to spend some time in the Gurs camp, in France.

The French were not on your side?

At the beginning, yes. They welcomed us.

But Germans invaded France on 10 May 1940,

our French friends suddenly packed us in an internment camp.

We became a new kind of breed

placed by its enemies in concentration camps

and by its friends in internment camps.

How did you manage to escape?

My husband and I obtained a visa to America.

A visa. Not a passport. We've been stateless for 18 years.

What was your first impression of America?

Paradise.

Do you understand?

Hannah!

One moment, please.

How did you...

- Who called? - Charlotte.

My students are waiting for me.

I got it.

No, Mary, it's...

an advanced German course.

They will be delighted to speak English. Go, go.

My dear...

Don't cry.

I talked to the doctor.

You have 50 percent chance to get on with it.

You forget the remaining 50 percent.

What were you talking about with your students?

About us.

I understand.

Thanks for the message.

Yes.

Hannah?

Yes.

They will hang Eichmann.

- This is good. - Well...

But it is not fair.

The sentence is too weak?

The sentence is justice only in appearance.

There is no real sentence for such acts.

It would be more courageous to leave him alive!

The verdict was given:

You don't need to avoid your friends from the New Yorker anymore.

No. First start by recovering.

You didn't write anything since my small accident.

Wrong. I took notes.

And a brain aneurysm is not a small accident.

You could have died.

But Eichmann is a monster.

When I say monster, I don't speak of the devil.

No need to be smart or strong

to behave like a monster.

You oversimplify.

What is new in the Eichmann phenomenon,

is that his likes are many.

This is an horribly normal individual.

Not all normal individuals ran the section IV B4

installed in the Reich Security Office

and in charge of the extermination of the European Jews.

You're right. But he considered himself...

as a servant, serving Germany and obeying the F�hrer.

"My loyalty is my honor."

The order of the F�hrer was the law.

And he pleaded not guilty to the charge:

He was acting according to the law.

The documents show that Eichmann led the "final solution"

well after Himmler forbade him.

And why? He wanted to finish his work.

You don't see that each law,

each order was completely reversed?

It was more "Thou shalt not kill",

but "Thou shalt kill."

To accomplish his task, he had to resist temptation

- to be good. - Great.

So nobody is responsible or guilty.

Any sane man knows that it is wrong to kill.

Most Europeans, including our friends,

- have suddenly got ill. - Heidegger was your friend.

Hans!

He is not the only one to have disappointed us.

Hannah, you can't write this for the New Yorker.

- No way. - Hans, the glass door!

This is too abstract. This is ambiguous.

They don't want a philosophical treatise.

They want to know what the Nazi Eichmann did.

Hemingway was nothing else than a paramedic, Thomas!

As a writer, he was a premature ejaculator of the 20th century.

All this because he wrote as a real man.

- You want to forgive him? - What twaddle!

I'm glad he will be hanged.

Let's drink to Heinrich recovery!

- To Heinrich! - To your recovery!

- Very good idea. - Hey, Hans. To Heinrich.

Scoundrel, cheers.

No more kisses. Except for me.

Why was Hans so furious against me?

Because he loves you. Just like when he was a student.

Bullshit!

He hates Heidegger

more for conquering you than to have joined the party.

So he should hate you more.

This may be the case.

My recovery party

exhausted me.

I'm going to bed.

Thinking

does not lead to any knowledge

compared to science.

Thinking

brings no

practical wisdom.

Thinking

does not solve any of the great enigmas of the world.

Thinking gives

no immediate strength

to act.

We live

because we are living beings.

And we think

because we are thinking beings.

We are so accustomed to consider

reason and passion as antagonists

that the image of a passionate thought

where the idea and the fact of being alive would be one

almost scares me.

- Excuse me. - No. Hannah!

Tolstoy took less time to write "War and Peace".

Ms. Arendt!

This is Bill Shawn.

Can we talk? Are you busy?

Yes, why?

- Can I help you? - How?

If you've completed the first article,

I could take a look.

I don't deliver with a dropper.

Course.

I realize the magnitude of the task,

I just wanted to say we are looking forward to read the result.

So, I'll go back to work,

instead of chatting.

Or do you want to put pressure on me?

No!

Of course not. Take the time you need.

Thank you.

Goodbye.

What are you doing?

- You fell in love with her? - My God, no!

You say you were not a normal executioner.

That you were not responsible for your actions.

Isn't that what you said?

- No, I never thought of it. - You never thought of it?

- Sorry? - You did not think of it?

You were an idiot.

- You did not think? - Think?

- Yes. - Think? Of course I did.

You were not an idiot?

You're sure you can go?

You've alarmed them so much

they want me with a wheelchair.

Charming women will fight

to push you.

Nobody can push me as well as you.

Lotte...

Take good care of her.

Thank you.

Listen.

I changed the beginning.

"Evil, we learned, is something demonic;

" it embodies Satan.

"With the best will in the world,

" we cannot detect any evil

or demonic depth in Eichmann,

"he was simply unable to think."

- This is excellent. - It is better, right?

Yes...

"In his monotonous life, empty of meaning, devoid of importance,

"the wind blew A. Eichmann in the tumults of History."

This is a fascinating decision: the beginning is so poetic!

A bit exaggerated.

" The time vortex

"dragged at the heart of the military ranks of the Millennium Empire."

Two metaphors about the wind?

This is important:

"It was a pure lack of reflection,

which differs from stupidity,

"that predisposed him

" to become one of the greatest criminals of the 20th century.

"He was simply incapable of thinking."

This is original.

This too is quite original.

Our heads will roll.

"Wherever Jews lived, there were recognized Jewish leaders.

" And these leaders cooperated, almost without exception,

"one way or another and for various reasons

"with the Nazis."

"It's true: had the Jewish people been disorganized and leaderless,

" there would have been chaos and misery.

"But the number of victims would have not set

"between 4.5 and 6 million."

Many leaders testified at the trial.

- I had to mention it. - She blames the victims.

This is incorrect, Frances,

she clearly differentiates between the powerlessness of victims

and the questionable actions of some leaders.

Clearly? Don't exaggerate!

This concerns only 10 pages out of 300.

It's a bit rich.

Ensure that everything is founded,

otherwise we will need bodyguards.

For her and for us.

I don't think she fantasizes.

But regarding grammar...

What you have written is brilliant.

I propose that we publish it in five articles.

Five?

If the text gets so much space,

very few changes will be necessary.

Your editor told me your book would be published immediately after.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

- Shall we start? - Willingly.

This is Greek?

"Einai".

It means "to be" in the meaning of existence.

Our readers have no notions of Greek.

Let them learn.

Here, there is...

only a paragraph

which... somewhat concerns us.

Ah, now you say "we" and not "me"?

You call your army to the rescue, Shawn.

Yes... maybe.

It is about the Jewish leaders.

Their report to the Eichmann section was very important.

- I clearly mentioned it. - Yes, of course,

but you make your own interpretation,

this could make noise.

This is incorrect.

I purposely tried to analyze

or explain their behavior.

"For a Jew...

" the participation of the leaders

"to the extermination of their own people

"is undoubtedly

" the darkest chapter of this whole sinister history"

We could take this as an interpretation.

But it is a fact.

- At last! - I can not wait to read!

How does the article please you?

How?

"How" is an assumption, rather ask "if" I like it.

How dare you! You don't even know what you're speaking about!

"Only ten pages!"

It's 100 calls per page.

So far.

Ignore them... You're driving yourself nuts!

But Shawn's response in the New Yorker is very convincing.

- You want me to send it to you? - What response?

To a nasty article published in the New York Times.

Ah, that one! I don't care!

You'd rather tell me how is Heinrich.

Charlotte is cooking for him every night.

Heinrich can eat meat only twice a week.

Yes.

Hello...

Darling.

- You goddamn piss me off. - Hello, Scoundrel...

Let's not waste our time with that.

Jerusalem General Attorney flew

to come and talk with survivors in New York.

This was the headline of the Daily News:

"The General Attorney reacts to Eichmann bizarre defense

"by Hannah Arendt."

- It made the cover - A storm in a teacup.

This is not a storm. This is a hurricane, Hannah.

You'd rather tell me what you're going to eat tonight.

Spinach,

full bread and water.

It's good you're not in New York.

They all blame you

to defend Eichmann, Hannah.

Scoundrel, these are just a few articles in a magazine.

Darling,

you're really na�ve.

She thinks her sarcasm will protect.

He shows me his vulnerability.

She tries to keep away from this story

and in doing so, it appropriates all the more.

False, totally false.

This is not about her.

But where is she

when she writes about this Nazi and his crimes?

She has the right to feel pain and to show it.

This would be shameless. And it doesn't look like her.

You must be aware that if she repressed this pain,

it will eventually catch her up.

And you too.

Professor Heidegger came to see you.

Thank you.

This is one of the secrets of time:

it comes back and can transform everything.

When I saw you there in your prettiest dress,

I knew that a new and prosperous period began for us.

Stop down for a moment.

I did not know if I should come.

There is no greater invitation than being the first to like:

"Nulla enim is maior

" ad quam praevenire Invitation amorem

"amando." Saint Augustine.

Your last letter saddened me.

How could you believe all these slanders?

I felt a heart throb when I read your rector speech.

I couldn't believe

that my mentor would behave like an idiot.

I know that these years have been tough for you, filled with misery

deprivation and vulnerability.

For me too, they were hard.

Martin, I came because I want to understand.

Hannah...

I'm like a boy who dreamed and doesn't know what he is doing.

On the political level, I'm not talented nor experienced,

but I know it and I hope...

to learn more.

So as not to omit any thinking.

Why don't you make a public statement?

Talks are all about you!

I'm so glad to see you here!

How beautiful they are!

On behalf of Jim. He greets you and is eager to meet you.

When will I finally meet him?

We'll fix that.

- How was the trip? - Perfect, but I'm starving.

You should join the discussion.

You can't do that!

- Respect the rules! - Why? Nobody does.

What do you want me to discuss?

There is not a single critics devoted to what I wrote.

You really did not imagine

that reactions would be that violent?

Oh Hannah, not even a bit?

You have opted for a particular tone.

Ah, I have a perfectly normal tone.

For you, yes, but no one has ever dared being ironic about this topic.

- You try to distract me. - Not in the least!

You see?

I tell you, it's useless.

The half of them did not even read my book.

This is why you should talk publicly.

Reveal their hypocrisy, force them to really discuss!

I refuse to defend myself against these idiots.

"I'm alone facing the muted dialogue I feed myself with."

- You have a very good memory. - Yes.

And a horrible accent.

Will you answer a personal question if I win?

You will not win.

So I can promise you anything.

It was him, the love of your life?

- Who? - You know.

Your "secret king of thinking."

No, it was not him.

This is Heinrich.

Okay, then complete the sentence:

"Heidegger was the greatest...

"... in my life"

Come on, I will not tell anyone.

There are things that are stronger than a single individual.

Have you read the book?

How can she criticize the Jews

while the author of the massacre is in the dock!

To represent this murderer as a clown,

a servile animal for Hitler,

- with no own opinion! - And she says he's "normal".

This is Hannah Arendt:

intelligence devoid of feelings.

I love this sentence in your article, Norman.

Have you all read it?

What was the title?

- "The genius of evil." - Right, you were fairest

than what she could expect, but she is shocked.

Bullshit, she lives for such intellectual sensations.

And she's too smart

for not having predicted the scandal which would follow her attacks.

You wanted her as a teacher in your section.

A past mistake.

You all treat Hannah Arendt

as a suspect.

And not as a respected political thinker.

Bill, nobody has attacked

the character Hannah Eichmann.

Your criticism shows

you're too hysterical to write a single coherent sentence.

And this slip shows that Lionel is not able to speak either.

Arendt's European pretention already contaminated you.

She could defend Himmler and you would follow.

Norman, you ride on your pins.

No one here has read the articles.

We tried. This is unbearable.

Hannah does not write soap operas.

It would have been too much to ask Ms. Arendt to cover the trial.

She needed something more interesting.

Who does she think she is? Aristotle?

Unlike you, Hannah was forced into exile.

She was brutally imprisoned.

Isn't it remarkable that she is the only one

to discuss this topic without complaining?

How do you explain that?

Is she smarter than people filled with feelings?

It's easy to be smarter than you.

She is also more courageous.

Ladies and gentlemen, we'll have time

to discuss after the stakeholders presentations.

Sit down so that we can begin.

Mrs. Arendt?

Siegfried!

- Do you remember me? - Sure.

You were in the Kurt Blumenfeld zionist group in Berlin.

I cannot believe

you were zionist.

Your secret services have sent you

to talk about my youthful indiscretions?

I demand that you give up the publication

of your book on Eichmann.

The State of Israel has bought four plane tickets to tell me that?

You must be rolling in money

for wasting so much!

We can't understand that you, Jewish,

spread such lies on your people.

This is a book that I have never written.

A book that will never be published in Israel.

And that should not be published anywhere, if you have any decency.

You forbid books,

and you speak of decency!

- I'm warning you. - No, you threaten me!

We wanted Kurt Blumenfeld to take you back to reason,

but he is dying.

We didn't want to be so cruel.

You did not know?

Rivka, why didn't you let me know earlier?

Kurt didn't want it.

What are you doing, my dear!

You went too far this time.

No argument today.

This cruelty...

and lack of respect from you.

You'll think differently when you'll read.

I tried.

Since when do you listen to others when it comes to me?

Do you feel no love for Israel?

Don't you love your people?

I can't laugh anymore with you.

Kurt, you know me though. I have never loved a people.

Why should I love the Jews?

I only love my friends.

This is the only love I am capable of.

Kurt...

I love you.

Those ones think your articles are excellent.

Those ones think you're completely wrong

and shouldn't have written anything.

Anybody I know?

Yes. Some friends.

Those wish you death.

Some do not lack imagination.

I have to go.

Oh, Lotte!

I'm late?

Good.

Oh, Hannah, I didn't know...

Lore, I'm glad to see you.

I came to help Lotte.

No, just sit down first.

Here.

You were there yesterday?

I didn't want to leave Lotte alone.

- Thank you. - It goes without saying.

How is Hans?

He...

Why didn't he come?

He doesn't feel good.

Oh, my God!

What do they write?

Oh, nothing.

Come on, Lotte.

Read it to us.

"Your photo shows a face as hard as stone and as cold

"as the ice of the North Pole.

"Contempt hovers on your lips,

your eyes contain iron brutality.

"The page

" with your photo

"in my opinion, has spread throughout the magazine.

" I put on gloves, I couldn't grab the page with bare hands.

"I tore it, and as I refused

" that it burns with dignity,

"I threw it in the trash.

" My heart is not filled with hate,

"the idea of revenge doesn't delight me.

" However, I know

"our six million martyrs you desecrated

"will hover around you day and night

"and will leave you no respite.

" It cannot be otherwise."

This is nice of you

to have stayed tonight.

You've had such a rough day.

When I was a child, my father was very ill.

He died when I was seven.

After a long struggle.

I've always known him sick.

And in my dream, he is...

he is in good health.

He is beautiful.

He looks at me and says: "I love you."

- What are you doing wit the letters? - I'll answer.

No, you're not gonna do it.

It will never end otherwise.

I terribly hurt these people. I take it seriously.

We've lived here for twenty years. I don't want to pack my bags again.

They will not expel you for some few articles.

Are you so sure?

On behalf of the nice man on the 10th floor.

Thank you, Freddy.

IN HELL, NAZI DIRTY WHORE!

We discussed at length and we are unanimous.

We recommend you politely

to cancel your seminar.

I won't give up under any circumstances.

Perhaps you won't have enough students

wishing to attend your courses.

Maybe you didn't communicate with your own students.

But my course is sold out.

The great support that students give me

led me to accept their invitation.

I will speak publicly of the hysterical reactions

- on my report. - It is quite you:

lots of arrogance and no feeling.

Perhaps exceptionally you will allow me

to smoke immediately.

When the New Yorker sent me

to cover the trial of Adolf Eichmann

I assumed that

the court had only one interest:

seeking justice.

This was not an easy task.

Because the court in charge of judging Eichmann dealt of a crime

which does not exist in the Civil Code

and of a Criminal

previously unknown before the Nuremberg trials.

Yet

the court had to define Eichmann as a man

judged for his actions.

The trial was not about a system.

Neither about history nor any 'ism'.

Not even about antisemitism.

Only about a person.

The problem with a Nazi criminal such as Eichmann,

is that he vehemently rejected

any personal involvement.

As if no one could be punished or forgiven anymore.

He contradicted constantly

the statements of the prosecutors

and claimed never to have undertaken anything on his own initiative.

That he never intended in any way

to do good or evil.

That he had been obeying orders.

This...

typical Nazis excuse

clearly shows that the greatest evil in the world

is evil done by insignificant people.

The evil is done by people who have no reason,

no conviction, are not bad

or have no demonic intentions.

By people who refuse

being Human.

And it is precisely this phenomenon

I called

the "banality of evil".

Mrs. Arendt,

you miss the most important part of the controversy.

You say that without the cooperation of the leaders,

fewer Jews would have died.

This theme appeared during the trial, I covered it

and I had to discuss the role of the leaders

directly involved in Eichmann's activities.

You blame the Jewish people for its own extermination.

I never accused the Jewish people!

It was impossible to resist.

But perhaps

there was something

between resistance

and cooperation.

And it's only in this sense that I say

that maybe some Jewish persons

could have behaved differently.

It is extremely important

to ask oneself this question.

For the role

of the Jewish leaders gives a shocking glimpse

of the extent of the moral collapse

that the Nazis caused in an honorable Europe.

Not only in Germany, but in almost all countries.

Not only

among the persecutors,

but also among the persecuted.

Yes?

The persecution was against the Jews.

Why do you describe

Eichmann's crime as a "crime against humanity"?

Because the Jews are men.

First, the Nazis tried

to deny them.

A crime against them is by definition

a crime against humanity.

I am, of course, as you know, Jewish.

I have been accused of being

a Jewish anti-Semite who defends Nazis

and despises her own people.

This is not an argument.

This is a slander!

I have not defended Eichmann.

But I have tried

to associate the shocking mediocrity of this man

with his terrible acts.

Trying to understand

does not mean forgiving.

I see it as my responsibility to understand.

It is the responsibility of everyone who dares writing about it.

Since Socrates and Plato considered thinking

as the act of carrying a silent dialogue

with oneself.

In refusing to be a human being,

Eichmann completely abandoned

this characteristic human quality

which is the ability to think.

And therefore

he was no longer able to bring moral judgments.

This inability to think

allowed many ordinary men

to accomplish cruel acts of exceptional magnitude.

Acts we had never seen before.

It is true:

I have addressed these issues in a philosophical manner.

The breath of thinking

does not manifest itself in the knowing,

but in the ability to distinguish

right from evil,

beauty from ugliness.

And I hope

that thinking

gives strength to men

to avoid disasters in these rare times

where the situation is bad.

Thank you.

Hans, if I had known you were there.

I came...

with the vain hope that you would understand.

But you are and remain the same.

Hannah... with this arrogance of yours,

and your ignorance, long known,

of Jewish things, you turn a trial

in a philosophical treatise.

Hans, I'm too exhausted.

You're acting like a German intellectual quibbling

who despises Jews.

And you try to make us accomplices of the Holocaust!

You never accepted that the Germans

have shamefully betrayed you.

They have expelled you, and they'd have killed you if they had the chance!

Your friend Eichmann was responsible for Gurs transportation.

If you didn't get the chance to escape in time,

you would have suffered the same fate as the other women!

Stop!

They have all been transported! All deported to...

Stop!

Hans...

From now on,

I give up on Heidegger's preferred student.

The whole world is trying to prove that I'm wrong.

And no one sees my real mistake.

Evil can not be both ordinary and radical.

Evil is always extreme.

Never radical.

Good is always deep and radical.

Would you have covered the trial if you knew what was expecting you?

Yes.

I would have covered it.

Maybe to learn who my real friends are.

Kurt was your friend and would have remained such.

Kurt was my family.

Translated from French subtitles by jcdr, 28.09.2013