This is a good and necessary reminder of the nature of evil - that it lurks in all of us, sorry to say. Hannah Arendt unleashed a firestorm of criticism when she published "Eichmann in Jerusalem," a book she wrote about the trial of this notorious Nazi who had been kidnapped by the Mossad and brought to trial in Israel.

Arendt attended the trial and after watching the proceedings, came to the conclusion that Eichmann was not intrinsically evil but had been made evil by circumstances. Her conclusion that we are all potential perpetrators won her many enemies, particularly among Holocaust victims, many of whom were friends of hers.

I live in Germany and remember vividly a documentary on Rudolf Hess, who lived in solitary confinement for decades, the sole occupant of Spandau prison outside Berlin, until his deat. The words he spoke at his Nuremberg trial still ring in my ears: "Ich bereue nichts!" Translation: "I regret nothing!"

We must all be aware of the potential evil and call it by its name in its early stages. There were a few Germans who tried this during the Nazis early years - tragically, too few.