"If destructive and dehumanizing movements take on a life of their own and become bigger than, more powerful than any of the human beings involved, does it really solve that much to put some humans on trial for crimes against humanity? Or might it be more helpful to have their *ideas* and *motivations* put on trial as well?"

That sounds like a slippery slope right there. Yes, Nazism and ideologies of all sorts should be scrutinized and picked apart intellectually. And yes, the mass movements that go along with them exist and how they work on a psychological level should also be scrutinized. But in the end the best response of civilization to such things is to highlight once again the need for and value of individuality and integrity. That's what individual accountability is about.

The preceding is a very strong theme that runs through post-Holocaust Jewish philosophy. Emil Fackenheim, not without controversy, wrote: "In Germany the Jew was not the ominous 'other'; in Germany the Jew was the proverbial 'girl next door,' the family acquaintance, the classmate, the colleague. [...] To face this truth requires a maturity that would surpass every temptation at self-justification."