History Trials: Can Law Decide History?

This article examines the relationship between law and historiography. Law played a central role in the creation of the nation-state. Historiography also narrates the victories and sacrifices of the nation and constructs its “imagined community.” Recently, court hearings are increasingly used for history authentication. Developing Hannah Arendt's argument in Eichmann in Jerusalem, the article argues that legal proceedings are not suitable for clarifying the historical record.