Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Eichmann was one of the organizers of the Holocaust. The Eichmann trial at Jerusalem in 1961 was supposed to be a moment of justice. However, Adolf Eichmann refused to plead guilty, stating that repentance was not for him.
Moshe Landau
The presiding judge at the trial. Arendt continuously praises his focus on concrete legal matters.
Robert Servatius
Robert Servatius was a German lawyer and a member of a defense team.
David Ben-Gurion
The Prime Minister of Israel from 1955-1963.
Adolf Hitler
The leader of the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933-1945.
Gideon Hausner
Israel's Attorney General and the lead prosecutor for the trial. Arendt repeatedly criticizes him for the narrowness of his legal conceptions, as well as for what she perceives to be his grandstanding.
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler led the S.S., a paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. The S.S. was tasked with enforcing the Nazi's racial laws throughout Europe, and more specifically with the murder of the Jews.
Reinhard Heydrich
Eichmann's direct superior in the S.S. Heydrich was the main architect of the Holocaust, and also headed the S.D., the organization tasked with keeping tabs on Nazi officials.
Sendel Grynszpan
The father of Herschel Grynzspan, who assassinated the German secretary vom Rath in Paris, resulting in the Kristallnacht pogrom.
Anton Schmidt
A German sergeant described by one of the witnesses at the trial, who forged papers for Jews to help them escape Poland, until he was executed.
