Relation Between Bystanders And The Holocaust

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 …show more content…
180). Along with the factors of broadcasted anti-Semitic propaganda and offered rewards for the capture or execution of Jewish prisoners or fugitives, those recruited into the Reserve Police Battalion, though initially shocked by the killing of jews, became increasingly efficient and calloused in the process of executing (Christopher R. Browning, “Ordinary Men,” as cited in Niewyck, The