The Holocaust Exposed In Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men

The reason many individuals become fascinated with the topic of the Holocaust is due to the question, how could a well-educated nation allow the mass extermination of innocent civilians. Christopher Browning is one of many historians who has tried to understand how the Holocaust could occur. In the book Ordinary Men, Browning focuses on Reserve Police Battalion 101, who were question about their role in the 1940s. After analyzing the information found in the investigation, Browning comes to the conclusion that individuals without any military background such as, Reserve Police Battalion 101, could kill innocent civilians because of their duty to follow orders not for blood lust. Reserve Police Battalion 101 consisted of men who came from different classes of within Nazi Germany. Battalion 101 went through four transitions of different men through 1940-1941. In each transition the men who filled Battalion 101, where less qualified because the men who were …show more content…
Goldhagen was a bestseller primarily because his argument made the general public feel safe about themselves because only Germans could possibly kill systematically. Meanwhile Browning’s argument makes his audience feel like anyone could kill innocent civilians because of the need to follow orders. Germans prefer Goldhagen’s argument because it coincides with the German exceptionalism, even though the Holocaust was a dark period in German history, it is still purely German. Browning’s book creates the image that the men operating in Reserve Police Battalion 101, were human and knew deep down what they were doing was immoral. In chapter, Browning makes a point of showing how the men were unable to execute the Jews properly because they knew they were killing innocent civilians. Thus, readers of Browning are required to feel a empathy towards Reserve Police Battalion