Ordinary Men In The Holocaust

There are two sides to every story, and, sometimes, while both sides are not right, both sides have situational factors that allow both sides to come to the conclusion that they acted appropriately. In Poland, Germans forced and were forced to commit genocide on the Jewish population, but with help from Poles at certain times; therefore, is it possible to defend a man who pulls the trigger, but is placed in the situation through potentially no fault of his own? Throughout the Holocaust and systemic killing of the Jewish population in Poland, the victims were the Jewish population as well specific sects of the Polish and German population; however, not counting their commanders and sadistic individuals, the circumstances that made ordinary Germans …show more content…
I am not arguing that all the men in the police battalion were victims; I am arguing that some of these Germans could be victims, too. Most of these men would not have been murderers if not put in this horrible situation, but Browning disputes this by saying that “Evil that arises out of ordinary thinking and is committed by ordinary people is the norm not the exception.” However, I believe that most “ordinary” men will not think evil thoughts and do evil deeds if not put into situations where atrocities can be committed without punishment and where there is peer pressure to do evil. Today there are a multitude of studies in psychology that attempt to explain some behavior previously thought unexplainable, such as how someone seemingly “ordinary” can become a violent killer, such as studies by Stanley Milgram who specifically tests conformity and how peer pressure can influence a decision. With the extremely authoritative Nazi government, it then becomes more difficult to distinguish what could happen to someone who disobeys orders—not only by the reaction of the commander but also by the reaction of his peers. While about one fifth of Germans avoided, were dismissed, or somehow removed themselves from being the firing squads in Jozefow, they highlight that these Germans were an unfortunate example of victimization due to a …show more content…
Before the Holocaust expanded, Polish lands were invaded and divided by the Soviet Union and Germany. At the risk of generalizing, I will specifically focus on the Polish population in Jedwabane and on non-Jewish Poles. After first being manipulated by the Soviets when Soviets took control of Jedwabane and its assets, then Poles were under the rule of the Nazis—neither occupier was known for being gracious to residents of the lands occupied. The Wyrzykowski family, for example, who sheltered the seven Jewish survivors of the massacre at Jedwabane, was a victim of their surroundings. The Poles went from depending on the Soviets for survival to being persecuted and facing punishments from the Nazis for previously cooperating with the Soviets during Soviet occupation, as illustrataed by Jan T Gross, who writes, “When reflecting on this epoch, we must not assign collective responsibility.” This is true about the non-Jewish Polish people—even learning what some sadistic people are capable of during the Holocaust, we cannot forget that the perpetrators were also the victims who, for a variety of reasons, helped with the