Tag: nazi germany

History Religion-Philosophy Society

Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil

By Scott J. Pearson | by Scott J. Pearson

Banal means lacking in originality or boring. It is a fitting description of the Nazis’ imaginations behind the Holocaust. This crime against humanity was so hideous that international laws were created to try those culpable. Adolf Eichmann was among the planners of the “Final Solution” and fled to Argentina. The new state of Israel had to kidnap him in order to bring him to justice in Israeli courts. He never denied the charges against him…

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Religion-Philosophy Science

Einstein & the Poet: In Search of the Cosmic Man

By Scott J. Pearson | by Scott J. Pearson

Albert Einstein is one of my favorite characters in history. I fell in love with his work while a graduate student in Princeton. His ethos still pervades the town. Of course, he upended Newtonian physics with his theory of relativity. He also contributed notably to other subfields of physics. As a Jew, he stood as a counterpoint to Nazi Germany’s false contention that as non-Aryans, Jews have not contributed to modern civilization after the Bible.…

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Fiction-Stories History

The Girls in the Attic

By Scott J. Pearson | by Scott J. Pearson

This tale, set in the fall of Germany in World War II, unpacks themes of love, loss, the Third Reich, the Holocaust, and the meaning of life. One of the main characters Max returns home after being injured fighting for the Nazis only to find his mother housing two Jewish girls in the attic. All the girls’ relatives have been murdered. Max’s values – formed by the Hitler Youth in rebellion against his Christian parents…

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History Society

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

By Scott J. Pearson | by Scott J. Pearson

“You should read this.” Those simple words ran across my mind as I finished page 126 of this wonderful book. I am no political scientist though I follow current events tightly. This book, written in 2017 in the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump, reminds us how fragile history can be. By looking at the challenges of the present, it looks at how democracy was subverted by tyranny in the twentieth century. Snyder provides…

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