When we think of Genocide what do we think of? Vicious and remorseless killers, A brutal Sadist, armies wiping out anyone in their path, or an average citizen just following orders? It is this final option that Browning chooses to focus on for this book and the choices made by these Ordinary men.
The book begins by giving the reader statistics of the Nazi Holocaust in Poland, then going on to describe how the genocide began in the city of Bialystok and other close towns as they escalated from humiliations and beatings to murdering large groups in the woods and leaving them in mass graves. The chapter ends with a report which describes the affair told from the point of view of an officer that objected to the mass murder. As well as the shootings, the Order Police were also responsible for the deportations of the Jews to the Concentration Camps. Recounting the events where the Order Police were tasked with transporting Jews from Vienna to Sobibór. After being told of the Order Police, and their role in the events, we are finally introduced to Reserve Police Battalion 101, summarizing the activities of the battalion in the events taking …show more content…
It is here that we are shown some insight into the minds of these men. Showing us that they did have at least some level of choice on if they were going to participate in the killings, Even trying to justify their actions. Browning the proceeds to analyze the cases of the small number of those who did not take part in the killings. In the later chapters of the book tell us of the battalion's’ participation in the following actions, which included clearing the ghetto, the mass deportations, and of course other mass shootings in Poland. Even the group's involvement in the “Jew hunts,” where the Jews that had evaded deportation were hunted down, then discussing the group's importance in the Final
The book begins by giving the reader statistics of the Nazi Holocaust in Poland, then going on to describe how the genocide began in the city of Bialystok and other close towns as they escalated from humiliations and beatings to murdering large groups in the woods and leaving them in mass graves. The chapter ends with a report which describes the affair told from the point of view of an officer that objected to the mass murder. As well as the shootings, the Order Police were also responsible for the deportations of the Jews to the Concentration Camps. Recounting the events where the Order Police were tasked with transporting Jews from Vienna to Sobibór. After being told of the Order Police, and their role in the events, we are finally introduced to Reserve Police Battalion 101, summarizing the activities of the battalion in the events taking …show more content…
It is here that we are shown some insight into the minds of these men. Showing us that they did have at least some level of choice on if they were going to participate in the killings, Even trying to justify their actions. Browning the proceeds to analyze the cases of the small number of those who did not take part in the killings. In the later chapters of the book tell us of the battalion's’ participation in the following actions, which included clearing the ghetto, the mass deportations, and of course other mass shootings in Poland. Even the group's involvement in the “Jew hunts,” where the Jews that had evaded deportation were hunted down, then discussing the group's importance in the Final