Ordinary Men essays

Ordinary Men essays Book Review - Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning In Ordinary Men, Christopher Browning attempts to answer two questions about the Holocaust in Poland; how the Nazis organized and carried out the destruction of Poland's Jewish population, and where they found the manpower necessary to carry out their evil. Browning bases his book on the testimonies of the men of Reserve Police Battalion 101, which was a unit of the German Order Police. These testimonies come from the German government's investigation of Nazi war crimes, and were given in the 1960's. Ordinary Men provides a graphic portrayal of Police Battalion 101's involvement in the Holocaust. The major focus of the book is upon reconstruction of the events this group of men participated in. Browning utilizes first-hand testimonies to paint a picture of the brutality these men inflicted upon the Polish Jews. He reconstructs and summarizes their activities in Poland during the war, from shooting innocent men, women, and children to clearing out the ghettos of all Jews and ensuring they board trains to concentration camps. Browning attempts to figure out how a group of "Ordinary Men" could become mass murderers. To gain insight into this question, Browning investigated the background of these men. Were they specially selected or trained? Were they of superior intellect? What Browning discovers is that these men were in fact ordinary. They were mostly middle aged, working class men with little or no advanced schooling. Most were old enough to have grown up before the rise of Fascism, and knew perfectly well the moral norms of German society before the Nazis. Almost none of these men received any type of special training. Browning ultimately concludes that if a member of this group refused to kill he was refusing his share of an unpleasant collective obligation. Those who didn't kill risked isolation, rejection, and ostracism. This was a highly unfavorable pros...