There were many reasons behind why these ordinary men dared to kill thousands of Jews. Browning had pointed out many reasons behind the men actions and proved that most belief of what happened during the Holocaust were wrong through credible experiments and evidences in the last chapter of the book. The first main reason behind it was the “sleeper” personality that well hidden inside everyone. The sleeper personality was a “certain personality characteristics of violence-prone individuals that usually remain latent but can be activated under certain conditions” The experiment conducted by a man named Steiner had tested and confirmed this dark personality based on Theodor Adorno about the F-scale personalities, or the “authoritarian personality”.
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During World War II, they killed Jews based on orders in the midst of other nations fighting against German and violence. One of the soldier during an interrogation admitted that he had “a certain aversion” toward the Jews later down in his career as a policemen. Constant death during the war, the destructiveness and the violence that went along with it had roused the men’s sleeper personality to awake, thus making them violence as the war. The Stanford prison experiment, conducted by Philip Zimbardo also supported the idea of the “sleeper” personality could brought forward under circumstances. In his experiment, he randomly selected people to guards group and prisoners in a prison setting environment. Even though violence was forbidden, but after six days in the prison settings, violence broke out and brutality escalated. There were other battalions in other places had experienced the joy of authority against the humiliated Jews, which turned them violent and even did unappropriated actions when the Jews begged for help (11). As time went on, the constant orders to kill became habitual for them and slowly their morality
During World War II, they killed Jews based on orders in the midst of other nations fighting against German and violence. One of the soldier during an interrogation admitted that he had “a certain aversion” toward the Jews later down in his career as a policemen. Constant death during the war, the destructiveness and the violence that went along with it had roused the men’s sleeper personality to awake, thus making them violence as the war. The Stanford prison experiment, conducted by Philip Zimbardo also supported the idea of the “sleeper” personality could brought forward under circumstances. In his experiment, he randomly selected people to guards group and prisoners in a prison setting environment. Even though violence was forbidden, but after six days in the prison settings, violence broke out and brutality escalated. There were other battalions in other places had experienced the joy of authority against the humiliated Jews, which turned them violent and even did unappropriated actions when the Jews begged for help (11). As time went on, the constant orders to kill became habitual for them and slowly their morality