1/ Kennt Ihr „Bruder Eichmann“? Das ist ein Stück von Heinar Kippert, das 1983 nach seinem Tod in München uraufgeführt wurde. #Eichmann hat den #Holocaust organisiert. Hannah Arendt hat über den Prozess gegen ihn geschrieben in „Die Banalität des Bösen“. Zitate aus diesem Buch werden im Stück verwendet.

Es wird auch heute noch manchmal gespielt. Beim #Theater #Oberhausen kann man einen kleinen Trailer sehen:

https://theater-oberhausen.de/production/bruder-eichmann-geschwister-eichmann/

On how Ben-Gurion helped Germany rebrand (the political history of the term “Nazi Germany”)

The 1930s have never been more relevant when considering the rise of #fascism in the United States under #Trump. While “Nazi Germany” serves as convenient shorthand, this terminology is misleading. #Hitler’s government was popular with most Germans, collaboration was widespread [the #Gestapo (today’s #ICE if you will) relying on voluntary informants since it had only one officer per 10,000 citizens], and meaningful resistance was virtually absent. After 1945, two-thirds of those hired to work in Adenauer’s Chancellery had previously belonged to the Nazi party, and #denazification officially ended in 1951 with former #Nazis returning to positions of influence.

The term “Nazi Germany” itself became a political tool. Originally popularized by German exiles in the 1930s, it was not used within #Germany and was only brought back after World War II . During the 1961 #Eichmann trial, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion strategically weaponized this linguistic distinction. Fearing the trial would “ignite a wave of hatred of Germany among the Israeli public” and become “an obstacle to receiving economic aid from Germany,” Ben-Gurion insisted that accusations focus on “Nazi Germany, and not on the entire German nation or the Germany of 1961” .

In a March 28, 1961 letter to prosecutor Gideon Hausner, Ben-Gurion explicitly demanded the use of “Nazi Germany” rather than “Germany” alone “in order to distinguish between Germany in the past and that of the present”. This semantic sleight of hand served both Israeli economic interests and West Germany’s rehabilitation, allowing Adenauer’s government, filled with former Nazis, to claim a clean break from the past.

See:

Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to Gideon Hausner, Attorney-General and Prosecutor in the Eichmann Trial, Jerusalem, 28 March 1961, Document No. 71. In Special Publication: Behind the Scenes at the Eichmann Trial, Israel State Archives. https://catalog.archives.gov.il/site/en/chapter/behind-scenes-eichmann-trial/ and https://catalog.archives.gov.il/site/en/chapter/list-documents/ (might block users for certain geographies)

Herman, Ora. הכבשן והכור : מאחורי הקלעים של משפט אייכמן [The Furnace and the Reactor: Behind the Scenes at the Eichmann Trial]. Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad-Sifriat Poalim, 2017. (Hebrew)

“Nazism.” Wikipedia. Last modified January 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazism
“German Resistance to Hitler.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-resistance-to-hitler

“German collaboration and complicity.” The Holocaust Explained: Designed for schools. https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/resistance-responses-collaboration/german-collaboration-and-complicity/

“German resistance to Nazism.” Wikipedia. Last modified January 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_resistance_to_Nazism

“‘Rehabilitated’ postwar West Germany’s government was riddled with Nazis, study reveals.” The Times of Israel, December 13, 2025. https://www.timesofisrael.com/study-reveals-how-rehabilitated-postwar-west-germanys-government-was-riddled-with-nazis/

“Denazification.” Wikipedia. Last modified January 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denazification

“Denazification in Germany.” World History Edu, January 29, 2025. https://worldhistoryedu.com/denazification-in-germany/​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

#fascism #trump #hitler #gestapo #ice #denazification #nazis #germany #eichmann #zionism #Nazism #poltiticalhistory #histodons

How Do You Say Genocide in Hebrew?

What value is there in historically researching the concept of cultural genocide if one doesn’t resist it in real time?

Bilsky’s book, published in May 2024, makes no mention of #Gaza—despite the fact that by then, the #IDF had systematically destroyed universities, archives, libraries, mosques, and churches across the Strip. For a book devoted entirely to theorizing cultural genocide, the silence is not merely an oversight but a refusal to confront what the author’s own framework describes.

Bilsky’s subject is cultural genocide - destroying a people’s language, culture, and collective memory, not just their bodies. She analyzes how the #Eichmann trial suppressed this understanding, despite four key figures who recognized it: Raphael Lemkin (who coined “genocide”), Yiddish poet Abraham Sutzkever, historian Salo Baron, and testimony-collection pioneer Rachel Auerbach.

בילסקי, ליאורה. 2024. איך אומרים ג’נוסייד בעברית? שלוש קריאות במשפט אייכמן. קו אדום כהה. בני ברק: הוצאת הקיבוץ המאוחד. 170 עמ’. ISBN: 978-965-02-1358-9.

English (transliteration):

Bilsky, Leora. 2024. Eikh Omrim Genocide Be’Ivrit? Shalosh Kri’ot Be’Mishpat Eichmann [How Do You Say Genocide in Hebrew? Three Readings of the Eichmann Trial]. Dark Red Line Series. Bnei Brak: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing. 170 pp. ISBN: 978-965-02-1358-9.

Source (Hebrew): https://zoha.org.il/142536/

#books #hebrew #genocidestudies #gazagenocide #ethnocide #culturalgenocide

Dass ein Schwager von Axel #Springer und #Bild - Reporter 1961 Unterlagen zum #Eichmann - Prozesses in Jerusalem geklaut hat, um ggf. westdeutsche #Nazis zu schützen, hatte ich auch noch nicht gehört.

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/kalter-krieg-beim-eichmann-prozess-aktenklau-fuer-die-adenauer-republik-a-715292.html