A Rorschach was administered to Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem in 1961 at the time of his trial for war crimes. The recent publication of this protocol offers an opportunity to compare his personal world against opinions formed about him by observers at his trial. Various professionals certified Eichmann as a banal, ordinary man, and a societal theory was proposed about Nazism based in part on impressions of Eichmann as an uncomplicated man. This commentary examines Eichmann's protocol and provides an opinion that in several important respects his record includes features uncharacteristic of an ordinary, banal mind.
Beth Benoit University System of New Hampshire
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To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <tips@acsun.frostburg.edu>
Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 2:38 AM
Subject: Re: Murray's profile of Hitler (Goering & Eichmann)
On 3 Apr 2005 at 22:26, Bill Scott wrote:
Back in the olden days when I was a graduate student, there were copies of Hermann Goering and Adolph Eichmann's responses to the Rorschach test (at Nuremburg) circulating around (in mimeograms -- are you old enough to remember that process?).
If the Rorschach dates from Nuremburg, I wonder whether it could be a hoax. My
knowledge of Eichmann is limited, but googling tells me that he was never tried at
Nuremburg. He was briefly in American hands at the end of the war (the sources
suggest unrecognized under a false identity), but escaped until brought back from
Argentina in 1960 by Israeli agents. So it seems unlikely that a Nuremburg
Rorschach exists, although perhaps the test was given before his trial in Israel in
1961.
In any case, even if it's real, it would be worthless for psychological insight, and of
interest only for its historical value.
As for Goering, it seems possible that a Rorschach exists. I found this abstract on
the web:
Political Psychology Volume 22 Issue 2 Page 233 - June 2001 doi:10.1111/0162-895X.00237
"Oh Those Crazy Cards Again": A History of the Debate on the Nazi Rorschachs,
1946-2001
Jos¨ Brunner
This essay provides a critical history of the debate on the Rorschach Inkblot Tests
administered to 22 leading figures of the Third Reich who were imprisoned in
Nuremberg in 1945-1946. This debate occurred in two stages. The question at the
heart of the first stage was whether the Nazi leaders were sane or psychopaths.
Despite a strong disagreement concerning the use of these diagnostic labels, there
was a surprisingly broad agreement on the actual substance of the discrepant
diagnoses. Divisions of opinion, however, arose from political dissension in two
areas: the nature of liberal democracies and authoritarian regimes, and the
possibility of trust in any political leadership. The second stage was marked by an
ideology of convergence aimed at establishing a consensual "scientific truth" on the
Nazi Rorschachs. Thus, the politics of the second phase were motivated by
interests and ambitions internal to the field of Rorschach expertise, rather than by
extraneous political anxieties.
Stephen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax:(819) 822-9661 Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada
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