Sacrifice my family or reputation?.
At his essence, the human being senses something sacred about life-both his own and that of others. Yet the human being is also a social being, and as such will quite eagerly cast away his identity upon the pyre of the whole. When placed in front of peers, a person might act differently than when they are alone. People can be easily influenced by their surroundings and, if they do not have strong moral values, it could be troublesome when faced with difficult decisions. .
In Hannah Arendt's book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (1963), when one sees acts that are often done without any thought, that seem so normal, done in a different, frightening context, these acts look grotesque, and we can start to question what we take as normal and natural. Most people are generally horrified when they learn about Nazi Germany. They would like to believe they would never take part in the genocide like the attendees of the Wannsee Conference. However, they might not have a choice. Their decision might have severe consequences, an often overlooked aspect of enforcing unethical rules. Given the ultimatum of either joining the Nazi party and being a part of a mass murder of thousands of people, or standing against the motion only to have your entire family executed for what you believe, what would they do? What would I do? .
The leader of the conference, Eichmann, gave us the orders from Hitler. He was the one to settle the conflict that the rest of us might have about the removal of the Jewish population. Eichmann was a leader who did not just follow orders, he followed the law and he was loyal to lawgivers, just as every government official swears to do and be. And when there was any conflict between orders, he followed the ultimate law: the words of Hitler; he is the exemplary officer. In this era, the people are loyal and trust in their government.
