Ordinary Men is a book written by Christopher R. Browning. The book follows the Nazi lives of German soldiers and the killing processes of the Jews in Poland. The Holocaust was a hallmark of World War II. Many groups of people were targeted by the Nazis, but the most famous group were the Jews. The Jews were the main target of Hitler’s agenda of making Europe an Arian continent. When many people think of Nazis, they think of Germans who willingly joined Hitler’s forces and wanted to kill all Jews. What Browning shows in this book is that not all Nazis wanted to kill Jews. In fact, some did not even have a choice. Hitler choose a group to target, and they were the Jews. Many people had a hatred for the Jews. In fact, Hitler had enough …show more content…
Therefore, the battalion was created. Germany needed all the man power it could get. They especially needed a lot of man power in killing all the Jews. This is where the Reserve Police Battalion 101 came into place. Not fit for defending their country, but fit for destroying every Jew in sight. This is what the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, had in mind for how to go about with killing the Jews. Himmler was a ruthless man, in fact, he was one of Hitler’s right-handed men. Himmler was responsible for dividing the whole “police army” into two smaller branches. The Security Police branch oversaw the Secret State Police or notoriously known as the Gestapo. They also oversaw the Criminal Police which, dealt with political enemies. This one branch was all led by Reinhard Heydrich. The second branch of the “police army” was the Order Police. They were led and overseen by Kurt Daluege. Daluege’s responsibilities were to oversee the municipal police, rural police, and then community police. What both branches had in common is that their responsibility was to execute the Jews on order. The major players in the Reserve Police Battalion 101 were Major …show more content…
Most of the material in the book was a review for me considering I have known a lot about World War II since I was in fifth grade. The facts on the Jewish killings was not news to me. In fact, since I am Jewish, I have dwelled deeper into the subject. I did learn about Major Trapp and Gnade. Major Trapp’s story was interesting to me. Gnade’s story was the usual sadistic Jew killer who was always drunk. This to me, was almost every Nazi. The reason Major Trapp stood out to me the most was him giving his men the opportunity to sustain from massacring Jews. To me, this gave me hope in the sense that there were “good Nazis” out there. What made me lost hope quickly in Major Trapp being good was that he still followed his orders. Even though he said his men did not have to participate in the killings, it seemed as if he just pitied his forces. If he was truly good, he would have empathized or at least sympathized with his men. The fact that he said that orders are orders told me that this gesture was not in favor of the Jews. He only did it for his men’s sake, not the Jews. What the author did good in telling Trapp’s story was how he not only described Trapp’s emotions during the massacre, but followed the men who had to carry out the killings. Overall, I would not change the book. It was written clearly. The first seven chapters were a little slow but the story started to pick up there. It switched focus from the Jews
Browning starts off the book by telling the reader what type of men made up Reserve Police Battalion 101, and
I think this time that I read it I had a very different take on the book. It makes me think about why people did this and were treated like this. When I think of how hitler treated the men and women like that i just don't understand and i liked this book and that it gabe details about how he was in the camp in a teen years and how like the man that wanted his tooth like some of those things shock me like yall are are struggling but you still have the audacity to be rude and selfish. When he describes some of the situations they were put through I really thought about what if we as Americans had to go through that and I know that we learn about it and things but just imagine going through it yourself. I want to learn more about the holocaust and hear all the stories.
From the years 1942-1943, the world saw the ordinary men of the Reserve Police Battalion 101 murder roughly 60% of the Jewish population in Europe. The Nazi’s specifically called a Blitzkrieg against the Jewish community in Poland, leaving only a miniscule amount of Jewish people alive, the majority of which were placed in ghettos. Prior to the Nazi’s rounding up the Jews and forcing them into ghettos, the Nazi’s established the General Government. This establishment took place after the invasion of Poland in 1939 and began with Nazi’s stuffing Jews in rail road cars and dumping the Jews in the General Government, telling them to “get lost”.
This black order was established in 1925 and by 1936 dominated Nazi Germany domestically. To gain a true understanding of this nationalistic group, the SS must be analyzed from many different perspectives. The success of the SS cannot be found in one single individual, event or aberration. Its beginnings and growth must be looked at pluralistically. The leadership, ideology and outcome of specific, transitional events surrounding the SS resulted in the establishment of its fundamental elements and dominant position within Nazi Germany by 1936.
Dehumanization The Nazis dehumanized the innocent people. In the novel it showed what life was like during the holocaust. In the novel Night by Elie Wiesal, tells you the way that the Nazis dehumanized the Jewish race. They dehumanized the Jewish race by doing what they would do to animals. They burned them.
When rising to power Hitler sees the Jewish people as the enemy race. As a result, he plans to exterminate every last one of them. Wicked men of his Nazi army captured Jews, then changed them profoundly; they took away
Christopher Browning documents everyday experiences and tribulations of Germany men, who were involved in the tragic events of the Holocaust. Browning tries illustrate the reasoning of all the massacres caused by the Reserve Police Battalion 101, so that people could get a clear understanding of what really was going on with these men, physically and mentally. Looking past all the opposing claims of German men, Browning explains how these men were just regular “middle aged family men” who were taking basic orders from higher authorities (1). Throughout the book Ordinary Men, Christopher Browning explains his reasoning of calling these murders ordinary men, the reasoning behind all the massacres, and how these men later on became killers.
According to Hitler and the Nazi party, the Jewish community weren’t people and they were just objects. Hitler found the Jewish community unpleasant and a disgrace to the world.
To begin with, it is easy to see that Hitler had no regards for the lives of the Jews. He was blinded by their race and
"Never shall I forget that night, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed...... Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself." The air filled with the smell of burning flesh that reminded Jews of the death. The gigantic flames were leaping up from a ditch that had devoured millions of souls.
(Night 100). While the prisoners were tired and famished, a German passer-by took pleasure in seeing them fight for food like animals. Germans viewed Jewish people like “human trash” that didn’t matter anymore because of their beliefs. Everyone was guilty of diverting and making this not their battle to fight for. Their pain was real but was looked upon as made-up and not genuine that lasted for 12
Understanding the psychological motivations of the perpetrators of the Holocaust is a daunting task for historians and one that has been argued over for decades. One of the most important considerations when considering this questions is that of what sources to use and how one should interpret them. While a variety of sources may be available to study the Holocaust, all of them are not appropriate or helpful in attempting to understand perpetrators. For those sources that are used for this purpose, it is important to evaluate them and acknowledge possible moderator variables that might impact interpretation. The diary of Felix Landau is quite a different source from those used for Christopher Browning’s Ordinary Men, and these sources, and
Imagine being involved in the world's largest mass murder, or even taking part in the process. This horrifying tragedy took place between 1939-1945. The books Maus, by Art Spiegelman and Night, by Elie Wiesel show many symbols to create a deeper meaning throughout the books. These sad books also portray a solid image of what it is like to be involved in the Holocaust. Maus and Night have a very similar tone that shows exactly how the Jews felt during this time.
It is a common assumption among numerous people in the world that the Holocaust never existed. In fact, almost fifty percent of the world population never even heard of the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel helped people around the world learn about the Holocaust through his book “Night.” He wanted people to see the bravery, courage, and guilt of the Jews through his book. “Night” shows the horrific and malicious acts in the German concentration camps during the Holocaust.
The horrendous acts committed during World War II still haunt people today. A lot of people did not realize the extent of the brutality that took place in concentration camps across the country until this film was released. The entire film is filled with 195 minutes of pure gut ranching brutal acts committed by Nazi armed men. The entire film is filled with true acts of violence showing the entire process of when a Jewish member of the community