Eseuri decente

Hannah Arendt, “Eichmann la Ierusalim. Raport asupra banalitatii raului.”

“In Romania, chiar si SS-istii erau luati prin surprindere si uneori ingroziti de ororile pogromurilor la scara larga, demodate si in acelasi timp spontane. Deseori interveneau sa-i salveze pe evrei de la macel, astfel incat omorul sa fie facut in- ceea ce ei numeau- mod civilizat.

Nu este o exagerare sa spuneam ca Romania era cea mai antisemita tara a Europei antebelice. Inca din secolul al XIX-lea, antisemitismul romanesc era un fapt bine stabilit. In 1878, marile puteri incercasera sa intervina, prin tratatul de la Berlin si sa determine guvernul roman s-i recunoasca pe locuitorii evrei drept cetateni romani- chiar daca ar fi ramas cetateni de rang secund. Nu au reusit, iar la sfarsitul Primului Razboi Mondial toti evreii romani- cu exceptia catorva sute de familii sefarde si a catorva evrei de origine germana- erau inca straini rezidenti pe teritoriul romanesc.[...]

Doi ani mai tarziu, in august 1940 (sic!), cu cateva luni inaintea intrarii Romaniei in razboi, maresalul Ion Antonescu, seful noii dictaturi a Garzii de Fier, i-a declarat apatrizi pe toti evreii romani, cu exceptia celor cateva sute de familii de evrei ce fusesera cetateni romani inaintea tratatelor de pace. In aceeasi luna, el a instituit o legislatia antievreiasca care era cea mai severa din Europa (luand in considerare si Germania). Categoriile privilegiate, veteranii de razboi si evreii care fusesera cetateni romani inainte de 1918, nu reprezentau mai mult de 10 000 de oameni, deci cel mult 1% din intregul grup etnic. Hitler insusi eea constient de faptul ca Germania risca sa fie depasita de Romania, si i-a atras atentia lui Goebbels, in august 1941, la cateva saptamani dupa ce daduse ordinul pentru Solutia Finala, ca “un om ca Antonescu procedeaza in aceasta chestiune intr-un mod mult mai radical decat am facut-o noi pana la ora actuala.”

Romania a intrat in razboi in iunie 1941, iar Legiunea Romana a devenit o forta militara demna de luat in seama, avandu-se in vedere apropiata invazie a Rusiei. Numai la Odessa, soldatii romani au fost raspunzatori de masacrul a 60 000 de oameni. Spre deosebire de guvernele altori tari balcanice, guvernul roman detinea informatii foarte exacte despre inceputul masacrarii evreilor din Est, iar soldatii romani, chiar dupa ce Garda de Fier a fost indepartata de la guvernare, s-au lansat, in vara anului 1941, intr-un program de masacrare si deportari care au “umbrit pana si rebeliunea de la Bucuresti a Garzii de Fier din luna ianuarie a aceluiasi an- un program de neegalat, din punctul de vedere al ororilor, in tot ansamblul de atrocitati semnalate (Hilberg). Stilul deportarilor romanesti consta in inghesuirea a 5000 de oameni in vagoane de marfa, lasandu-i sa moara acolo asfixiati, in timp ce trenul traversa tara zile de-a randul, fara vreun plan sau scop stabilit. O urmare preferata a acestor operatiuni de exterminare era expunerea cadavrelor in macelarii evreiesti. De asemenea, ororile din lagarele de concentrare romanesti- care fusesera infiintate si erau conduse chiar de catre romani, caci deportarea din Est nu era posibila, erau mai elaborate si mai atroce decat tot ce stim ca a avut loc in Germania. Atunci cand Eichmann si-a trimis la Bucuresti obisnuitul consilier in probleme evreiesti, pe Hauptsturmfuhrerul Gustav Richter, acesta a raportat ca Antonescu dorea acum sa trimita 110 000 de evrei in “doua paduri, de cealalta parte a raului Bug”, adica in teritoriul rusesc controlat de germani, pentru a-i lichida. Germanii au fost oripilati si toata lumea a intervenit.[...]

In consecinta, la jumatatea lunii august- moment pana in care romanii ucisesera aproape 300 000 dintre evreii lor, in general fara ajutor german-, Ministerul de Externe a incheiat o intelegere cu Antonescu, ce prevedea ca evacuarile evreilor din Romania sa fie realizata de catre unitatile germane.”[...] Acum insa, cand totul era gata, iar aceste marete concesii fusesera facute, romanii si-au schimbat brusc opinia.[...] acum, maresalul dorea sa scape de evrei intr-un “mod comod”. In paralel cu aceste masacre, se nascuse o afacere infloritoare cu vanzarile de excluderi de la deportare, in care se angajase cu placere fiecare ramura a birocratiei, nationale sau municipale.[...] Acum, se descoperise ca evreii puteau fi vanduti peste hotare pe valuta forte, asa incat romanii devenisera cei mai ferventi sustinatori ai emigrarii evreilor- o mie trei sute de dolari pe cap de evreu.[...] Pe masura ce Armata Rosie se apropia, Antonescu devenea tot mai “moderat”; acum dorea sa-i lase pe evrei sa plece chiar fara a mai plati vreo compensatie baneasca.

Aproximativ o jumatate din cei 850 000 de evrei din Romania au supravietuit, dintre care o mare parte- cateva sute de de mii- au luat drumul Israelului. Nimeni nu mai stie cati evrei au mai ramas astazi in tara.”

Candva in temporalitate o neregularitate a campului a trecut, la momentul ei, neobservata. Mai tarziu, omul a devenit amnezic si un altul i-a luat locul. Amara a fost trezirea. Desigur, era vorba de acelasi om. Intunericul se va dispersa intr-o zi.

The Great Dictator, 1940.

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an Emperor – that’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone, if possible — Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another; human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there’s room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone.

The way of life can be free and beautiful.

But we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me I say, “Do not despair.” The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass and dictators die; and the power they took from the people will return to the people and so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

Soldiers, don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel; who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate; only the unloved hate, the unloved and the unnatural.

Soldiers, don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written, “the kingdom of God is within man” — not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men, in you, you the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Then, in the name of democracy, let us use that power! Let us all unite!! Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie! They do not fulfill their promise; they never will. Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people!! Now, let us fight to fulfill that promise!! Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.[...]

Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!!!

Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up, Hannah. The clouds are lifting. The sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world, a kindlier world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed and brutality.

Look up, Hannah. The soul of man has been given wings, and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow — into the light of hope, into the future, the glorious future that belongs to you, to me, and to all of us. Look up, Hannah. Look up.