Analysis Of Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101

Improved Essays
In Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 And The Final Solution Christopher Browning systematically searches through historical records to trace the actions of the Nazi police Battalion 101. This battalion consisted of older, middle-aged men who joined the police battalion to avoid conscription and the frontline, by all means these men were normal and respectable however, during the Final Solution they were turned into hardened killers. Browning evaluates the factors that these men experienced and attempts to understand how these men were so easily turned from family men into the war machine that Hitler and Himmler used them for. The first thing Browning talks about is how the battalion was before the dreadful day at Jozefow which is …show more content…
Under the direct order of Major Trapp and Heinrich Himmler these men felt obligated to assume the roles of killers as that is what they were ordered to do. These men used the pretense of the orders to become killers. Some men may have had a natural tendency towards violence, while a majority of the men needed a reason to kill. The justifying reason was the orders all of the men felt like they could not disobey the orders from their superiors or they would have been reprimanded or worse. Just like the guards in Zimbardo’s study the men of police battalion 101 assumed the roles that they were …show more content…
What made this men different then their fellow men? Browning looked through the records of many of the men who were recorded avoiding firing squads or refusing orders to kill Jews, what he found is that these men were older and had no anti-Semitic behaviors. The first point is important as these men were more advanced in life and usually had successful careers and families at this point and, as a result they were not scared of the repercussions of refusing orders since they had a livelihood to fall back on. The younger men had no such career to fall back on and to many of the men the police force seemed like the only way out of a life of mediocrity and they did not want to do anything that could hurt their police record. The second factor however is just as important as these men had experienced and fought in WW1 and predated the Nazi’s, these men had no natural hatred of the Jewish people and harbored no irrational dislike towards them either. Because of this these men had the combined luxury of being able to refuse orders because they had a successful career to fall back upon, this paired with the lack of hatred of the Jews led them to refuse the orders and refrain from becoming

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    This could have been an anomaly that their commanding officer allowed them to choose if they wanted to kill. I still found it interesting that it included that the soldiers were given the choice from the first action . Browning was very original in that he is the first author I have read who attempts to understand why perpetrators in the Holocaust acted as they did. He did not generalize every Nazi into one large group of evil people. He explained that these killers could have been anyone.…

    • 1001 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Holocaust In the middle of World War Two, in German occupied Poland, with the Holocaust starting to form, the majority of the Jewish population were executed by simple civilians as well the “ordinary men” who had been recruited into the numerous police battalions who were ordered to execute Jews on site. To some degree, the Jewish chances of survival depended on the aid of the polish civilians and the gentiles that were at just as much risk for German persecution as they were. As Niewyck assesses, the question between whether bystander reactions were due to pre-existing conditions, such as anti-semitism, or by conditions that bystanders had very little or no control over, with things such as the German rule and availability of hiding places (Niewyck, The Holocaust, as cited in Niewyck, The…

    • 1453 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The literature I will be focusing on in my analysis is Seth Stoughton’s “Law Enforcement’s ‘Warrior’ Problem”, published in the Harvard Law Review journal on 10 April 2015. Stoughton explains how he believes policing is currently done. Which is with a “warrior” mentality that officers are trained to have and how that mentality negativity shapes how the police view, and interact with, civilians by making the officer view everyone as a threat and ensuring the officer requires unchallenged dominance and respect in every interaction. Stoughton says this has created a divide between police and civilians, which is detrimental to the safety of both police officers and civilians. Stoughton explains how he believes policing should be done, with a “guardian”…

    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    State Patrol I have been interested in law enforcement since I was a little kid. I have always admired what they do every day protecting people and catching bad guys. I grew up watching Alaska State Troopers and seeing what they do really got me interested. Another show that I watch is the show cops it really gives me an insight on day to day life of officers. Mr. Meek really got me interested in the state patrol when he had a state patrol recruiter come in and talk to me about joining up.…

    • 1522 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Police Subculture The police subculture is much the same throughout all the law enforcement careers throughout the world. The police subculture is a distinctive set of beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors that are shared amongst the majority of officers working in law enforcement organizations (Malmin, 2012). The subculture is taught to new recruits from the first day they arrive at the academy to the last day. This subculture follows them from that point on throughout their career in law enforcement.…

    • 2157 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To begin with, the view that Balko has as to why the force should be wasting a ton of money on rescuing kittens, friendlies neighborhood beats, or anything that is important to society, other than using the money for the military. The police department has changed through the years, and Balko mentions those changes through the years has affected the way we operate today. The police were very difficult through the years, they are now willing to kill “innocent people”. The police is taking out (killing) animals that belong to the criminal, suspect, or even victimized. They are creating chaos in this world, and more and more riots, will be created if it continues.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Browning goes on to explain that the two do disagree on the “motivation behind the participation and voluntarism of these Germans.” In short, Browning feels that many Germans were pressured into it, fearing they would be outcasted or not seen as true men- it was a chance to prove masculinity from a group of people who tended to be working class citizens with little education. It was an opportunity for these men to have power and be like the strong, successful men of the actual German…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction In all that is bad and good in a police service, there is a obvious subculture which associated with the majority of agencies. While academic teachings commonly portray police culture as a negative, saturated in cynicism, loyalty above all else, masochism and a “one for all-all for one”(Fuqua, 2001)mentality, is has many positive traits which are often overlooked. Officers require the subculture in order to survive a emotionally taxing and difficult job that few are brave enough to attempt. Some of the added value of this police subculture are but not limited to; perseverance, teamwork, support, empathy and the ability to cope with PTSD.…

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Through Hans’s experience as a member of the Air Raid Special Unit, the true randomness of fate is clearly exhibited. Adults—young and old—and innocent children are dead due to the immorality of Nazi Germany. Fate does not care what kind of person you are. Those who are immoral can influence fate just as significantly as those who are…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The processes in which the Germans were involved in to overcome the tragedies of World War II were vast and long. There were many complications present when the war ended; Germans found themselves questioned politically and mentally by their own compatriots, as well as outsiders. This essay will argue that the film The Murders Are Among Us depicts the complications involved in the German process of “overcoming the past,” post-World War II, through its characters. In particular, this essay will cover the development and practice of this process by discussing the three main characters of this film, Dr. Mertens, Cpt. Bruckner, and Susanne.…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These men had no want to kill anyone. That is why they joined the police, so they would not be drafted into the military. Propaganda intruded on their lives. Everywhere they saw what it was to me a good German, and this influenced how they thought. The propaganda influenced the way the men wanted to serve their country.…

    • 1876 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Enrich Maria Remarque’s book ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ features Paul Bäumer, a 20-year old German soldier who represents a whole generation of men that history refers to as the ‘Lost Generation.’ Through his character, the author tells a story of men who were destroyed by what is referred to as ‘The Great War.’ For instance, in chapter 2, Paul attempts to describe the difference between his generation and that of the older soldiers and notes that the older soldiers had a life before the war that they felt comfortable and secure (Remarque, 2004). On the contrary, Paul’s Generation did not get a chance to experience that life (Van Kirk, 2011, p. 72). From the start of the story, the life of Paul is dominated by death, horror, suffering, fear, and hopelessness.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He mentions that the Jews were efficiently treated much more terrible than other victims of the Nazis. He traits this distinction less to Hitler's priorities and the Nazi’s government rules, but instead indeed to the lethal antisemitism of the "ordinary " Germans. In the meantime, he mentions that the policemen were savagely expelling or killing on the spot of the entire Jewish community in the district. On the other hand, Browning explains the motivations of the Police Battalion 101 based on psychological perspectives. According to his research, Browning argues that these men have an inclination to follow their seniors command, even when those orders cause misery or death on others.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, there are many more factors that contribute to an accidental or intentional use of excessive and sometimes deadly force. One of them is lack of proper training and adequate control in police departments (Lee & Vaughn, 2010, p.193). For instance, some police departments failed to provide their officers with training where they would acquire communication skills regarding mentally ill or emotionally unstable individuals (p.201). Lastly, Bernasconi (2014, p.146) suggested that the media also play a large role in the exaggeration of facts and overrepresentation of certain individuals that can induce police officers’ emotions of fear and leads them to commit thoughtless split-second decisions. All things considered, there are many social,…

    • 1039 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The SS men were some of the most ruthless people of Hitler’s army. They were highly trained and swore loyalty to Hitler above all. They started as something small but rose to destructive terror with the help of some key individuals. In this paper I will describe to you the rise, duties, and fall of the SS men. I will also tell you of some of the people that were linked to the involvement of the SS.…

    • 1255 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays