
Good Signs
Freedom Came in May
Hues Books (Publisher)
Published on 25. June 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
51 pages
978-1-909275-34-8 (ISBN)
Description
Iakovos Kambanellis wrote 'Freedom came in May' as a result of time spent in Mauthausen Concentration camp in Upper Austria, and the title refers to his unexpected release by American forces in May 1945. His personal memoir is of being arrested with no recourse in law, and of freight journeys between different camps. At the same time ordinary people completely ignored those heading for the camps as they led their normal lives. It was proof of Hannah Arendt's "banality of evil". The lack of human language for detainees, with people controlled as units or numbers made the inmates non-human, with no family, occupation or personality, so they could be disposed of at will.
Why does such evil occur, and why are there no monsters involved, only ordinary people? Hannah Arendt also spoke of the lack of language among the perpetrators of such evil; if one is unable to apply words of all-pervasive custom to one's actions, such as "no murder', one cannot form the pervasive custom in one's brain.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Southam
United Kingdom
Illustrations
2 black and white photos
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 148 mm
Thickness: 4 mm
Weight
82 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-909275-34-8 (9781909275348)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Iakovos Kambanellis wrote 'Freedom Came in May' as a memoir of his time in Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria. It was edited by Christian Angerer, who selected excerpts to be used in an educational setting. These were translated from the original Greek into German by Elena Strubakis for publication by Franz Richard Reiter of Efelant Verlag, then later at his request from German to English by Patricia Hughes for Hues Books.
Translation