These are the words spoken by a news commentator after justice had been served on Nazi SS Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) Adolf Eichmann in 1962. The political commentator at the time, Hannah Arendt spoke about the “banality of evil,” as she witnessed the trail of the man who had been involved in the Final Solution.
Yet these words, spoken by a news commentator are still relevant today and apply to those who seek to hate others by virtue of the God that they worship and by the religious activities that they undertake.
“And each of us who has allowed the shape of another person’s nose or the colour of their skin or the manner in which they worship their God to poison our feeling towards them, have known the loss of reason that led (Adolf) Eichmann to this madness.”
The ‘madness’ that was being referred to was the genocide of Jews, Roma/Sinti and many other groups during the implementation of the Final Solution. These words are still relevant today and demonstrate why we must remain strong and vigilant against those who dehumanise others on the basis of their features, their skin colour or the manner in which they worship God.