Ordinary Men written by Christopher R. Browning is a book about Reserve Police Battalion 101 and their role in the Holocaust. It details how a group of middle aged, average men went from barely being able to pull the trigger to having no remorse when exterminating the Jewish population in Poland. Battalion 101’s story starts at the Jozefow massacre where many men were unable to kill the Jewish population. The book then details the rest of Battalion 101’s duties during the Second World War. The book leads up to the Harvest Festival where the Battalion had become hardened and could easily kill Jews. It is important to understand “Ordinary Men” because it shows that when men started working for Nazi Germany they were not murderous men who wanted
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These men were regular people who were able to commit genocide. When we think of ordinary men we have an idea of men who work labor or office jobs. They are kind men who care about the world they live in. We picture ordinary men as good citizens and good people; we do not picture them at murders. The controversial thing is that an ordinary man that we picture is very similar to the “ordinary men” in Reserve Police Battalion 101. Those men had a regular careers before joining the police. Which is also a normal thing to do. They were men who wanted what was best for their country, and most of them to begin with were good people. The only difference between our picture of ordinary men and the “ordinary men” in Reserve Police Battalion 101 is the situation they were put in. These men were completely normal and sound men. The idea that they could become killers frightens us. We don’t want to believe what a regular person could become a murderer. It is easier for the people on the winning side of WWII to believe that all the men involved in the Holocaust were cold-blooded killer to begin with. That these men wanted to kill the Jews. This is simply not true. 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. The situation these men were put in was terrible, they were faced with killing people, which was an extreme mental struggle. All the circumstances these men faced made them hardened executioners. “If Reserve Police Battalion 101 could become killers under such circumstances, what group of men cannot?” (189) This question is the root of the controversy. The idea that any group of people could become murderous is difficult to grasp. When we
These men were regular people who were able to commit genocide. When we think of ordinary men we have an idea of men who work labor or office jobs. They are kind men who care about the world they live in. We picture ordinary men as good citizens and good people; we do not picture them at murders. The controversial thing is that an ordinary man that we picture is very similar to the “ordinary men” in Reserve Police Battalion 101. Those men had a regular careers before joining the police. Which is also a normal thing to do. They were men who wanted what was best for their country, and most of them to begin with were good people. The only difference between our picture of ordinary men and the “ordinary men” in Reserve Police Battalion 101 is the situation they were put in. These men were completely normal and sound men. The idea that they could become killers frightens us. We don’t want to believe what a regular person could become a murderer. It is easier for the people on the winning side of WWII to believe that all the men involved in the Holocaust were cold-blooded killer to begin with. That these men wanted to kill the Jews. This is simply not true. 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. The situation these men were put in was terrible, they were faced with killing people, which was an extreme mental struggle. All the circumstances these men faced made them hardened executioners. “If Reserve Police Battalion 101 could become killers under such circumstances, what group of men cannot?” (189) This question is the root of the controversy. The idea that any group of people could become murderous is difficult to grasp. When we