Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland

I’d dare say that more is here to be learned for the average reader than any other book than I can figure out just now. I mean about human nature, the soul and the mind, the abstract aspects of human life, in contrast to its material aspects that are dealt appropriately enough with science and its body of knowledge. About the soul -which admittedly constitutes half of what we can ascertain as existing out there-, this is the richest source of available evidence open to scrutiny and debate. Yes, because while moral issues have been discussed and vivisected time and again for centuries, we lack as yet a sound, convincing conceptual framework to model it, to explore, to provide its foundations. So, considering that ethics is today essentially still an open problem, the most useful sources are those that confront us with the most radical, paradoxical, unsurmountable problems. And the problem of evil, as exemplified in the Holocaust is one of them, if not ‘the one’. In summary, the book provides a meticulously documented account of the works and crimes of a group of German reserve police officers, reccruited around the start of WWII in the area of Hamburg. They were essentially normal middle-to-low class workers who nobody would expect they could turn into cold-blooded mass murderers. The action is centered in 1941-1943 in the Lublin district of occupied Poland and their Bataillon was assigned to ‘routine’ tasks in the context of the Final Solution: The extermination of all jewish human beings in the newly occupied territories. Why did the Holocaust occur ? Can it happen again ? Under what conditions can it or can not ? What kind of responsibility are the perpetrators subject to ? Are we not -at least in part- responsible for them ? What responsibility, if any, confronts us as members of the society in which it happened? Until these questions are not adequately solved, we as human beings cannot even call ourselves masters of the world, and should continue to behave as we always did: as incidental bystanders, perplexed flesh and bones at the mercy of no-one knows what, or who, or where. The author discusses several theories and puts forward a tentative explanation in a long (35 pages) articulate and informative Afterword. The discussion is interesting, but IMHO still falls short of explicative power. Of course, he is an historian, and the strong point of the book is in his accurate, meticulous, balanced and heart-breaking account of the facts in this miniature laboratory of (in)human barbaric, devilish behavior. (If the devil exists, this is it). The fact that the perpetrators were modern ‘normal’ human beings, like you and me, is the crucial asset, which forces you to rule out easily most customary explanations. By the way, the author does not take advantage of this fact, and he argues that the most significant determinant of the criminal conduct was a combination ‘authority’ and ‘peer’ conformity, or the inability resist to both ! Of course this, being true factors, cannot provide the desired explicatory key mechanisms, since this is what we all do all the time to a large extent: accept authority and conform with the group. It would be tantamount to accepting that the Holocaust can happen again any time, anywhere. This might be true, but it remains unproven and, in the meanwhile, should be held back as a terrible, discouraging conclusion. Let me set it straight (and this is just my opinion): Most authors set out from the assumption that they could (never!) behave in such a way, and they then try to find out what was wrong with the people that committed the horrendous crimes. The root is in their brains, in their psychological constitution, as it were. Others, starting from the same assumption try to locate the seed of the evil in the social-economic environment to which these people were exposed at some previous time in their life, and they propose their theories. (BTW most of them them quite amusing and adequately dealt with in the book). The result are several frivolous discordant proposals, that invariably reflect the cultural/ideological standpoint but fall short of consistency with the data. How can it be that 80% of (willing executioner-) normal guys in a normal middle class society, with no background trauma nor obvious shortcomings could perform the actions ? Lets accept it: we do not know. But we need to. And the reason why we need to is simple: Unless we have a better grasp of what happened to these guys, the odds are that you, and me, and anybody else (Germans and Non-Germans!), somewhere, sometime, could be the perpetrators of these or even worse crimes.

This book has become a reference for understanding the dark side of human nature. While it does not offer the answer, it provides the insight to ponder what makes men do evil things? How can men who come from a society shaped by Western and Christian views of morality do horrific things? These are important questions to consider if we are to prevent similar horrors from occurring in the future. The men killing these Jews believed they would be absolved of personal accountability. They believed the killing was part of their duty. Their buddies in the unit were doing it and they didn't want to let them down. Over time, the Jews they were killing diminished in their "humanness." An excellent and disturbing read. A must read for anyone who is entrusted with the use of force within a society.

This well-researched, in-depth account of one reserve police battalion deployed in Poland in the early 1940s is a chilling, must-read account for anyone who's ever wondered how the Holocaust happened and whether it could happen again, and especially for those who just know that they would never do any such thing. The book is very well organized. Following a brief preface which lays out the author's intent and the pros and cons of the methodology, the book opens with a brief, tantalizing, nauseating account of the opening minutes of the massacre at Josefow. This chapter ends with Major Trapp's astounding offer to allow anyone not feeling up to the task of eliminating Jews to step out. Contrary to popular belief, the perpetrators of the Holocaust were not merely following unavoidable orders. There was an element of choice involved. Why then did so many policemen make the choice to join it, while so few chose not to? The next few chapters help to set the stage for the events and actions of the Order Police. Browning discusses the demographic make-up of the Order Police, especially the fact that many were older reservists and primarily civilians, while only a small number of the younger men were career policemen. Browning describes the initial use of the Order Police in the "Final Solution" in Russia and their role in the deportations of Jews. While these sections are not directly about Battalion 101, they do give a picture of the kinds of activities of the Order Police prior to the mass executions later in Poland. What is particularly noteworthy about this section is Brown's chilling ability to expand on rather bland reports by examining what isn't mentioned, or mentioned only in passing. For instance, the reports focus on limited rations for the troops and how that affected morale, but little is mentioned of the nearly complete absence of food for the thousands of Jews. In another part the death of nearly 2,000 Jews on a transport train is mentioned only by oblique reference. Already, elements of distancing and dehumanizing can be seen, which pave the way toward mass extinction. Browning next turns his attention to Battalion 101 specifically, tracing their descent into murder and mayhem from the July 1942 massacre at Josefow to the November 1943 "Harvest Festival" massacre - the largest killing operation against Jews in the war. He details the different types of missions the battalion was used for, especially "deportation" operations which involved clearing ghettos, herding Jews onto trains, and escorting trains to extermination camps. Although these operations were not "massacres" per se, and although the policemen didn't have direct experience of the gassing at the camps, they did involve plenty of violence, including the shooting of old and sick Jews and those who resisted. Plus, the police must have known what happened at the camps, since they never escorted Jews from the camps to any other destination. Also described are the "Jew hunts" in between clearing the ghettos, when smaller bands of police would, often on intelligence from local Poles, root out and exterminate small groups of Jews and partisans hiding in the woods. In each of these operations, Browning explores how different men volunteered for, reluctantly accepted, or distanced themselves from serving. Some men, for instance, stayed away from their commanding officer when selections were being made for operations. Others, albeit few, actively resisted or refused to serve. Most, however, either volunteered to serve or served willingly when selected. Once selected, some approached their task with brutal enthusiasm, some shot only when superior officers were around, and others sought different assignments or drifted away once the shooting began. The fact that there were always enough volunteers and willing shooters meant that there were few repercussions for those who didn't participate or those who stopped participating, except for being labeled "weak" by their fellow men. Following a brief chapter on the outcomes for many of the men of the battalion after the war and a chapter exploring the alliances and divisions between and among the Germans, the Poles and the Jews, the final chapter gets down to the meat and potatoes: why did most of these "Ordinary Men" participate in the mass shootings of the Jews? Browning explores issues of selection, racism, conformity, camaraderie, authority and de-humanization. He rejects the idea that Battalion 101 was in any way specially selected for the task of implementing the "Final Solution". Just the opposite in fact - based on their demographics, it might be expected that they would be the least likely to kill innocent Jews. Browning also rejects each of the other factors as a total explanation, but some combination thereof seems key. Embedded, societal disdain and contempt for the Jews primed the men to view them as less human, certainly less so than the "superior" Germans. Faced with orders to exterminate the Jews, obeying authority, conforming with the group, and supporting one's fellow troops seemed the better choice than appearing "weak" or being too sympathetic to the Jews. One factor that Browning doesn't really consider, however, is the effect of the experience of killing itself. He describes how the men were initially shocked at Josefow and went into action without the time (or desire) to consider the implications of their actions. Many were sickened and traumatized and had to stop shooting. But once they had shot, however, it seems their fate might have been sealed. They would have had to display extreme moral awareness and moral courage at that point to recognize the wrongness of their actions and to reverse course. Psychologically speaking, once a person has committed a violent act, it's far easier to rationalize that act than to repent of it. But it's hard to justify the murder of innocent people, so the only way is to retroactively buy into the prevailing prejudices about such people in order to override the idea of their innocence. Regardless of one's prior feelings about the Jews, once one has killed Jews, the only rationalization possible is to accept that Jews are indeed "filthy vermin" in need of extermination. Otherwise, one has committed a morally heinous crime that would be, literally, unconscionable. This updated edition of the book concludes with an extensive Afterword in which Browning responds to Daniel Jonah Goldberg's criticisms. Goldberg reviewed the same documents as Browning, yet came to a different conclusion, which he presented in "Hitler's Willing Executioners": that the Germans' historical anti-Semitism primed the pump in a way that made them quite willing, if not eager, to kill the Jews. No pressure or coercion was necessary; orders merely served as a convenient pretext to do what they wanted to do anyway. I haven't read Goldberg's work, but I found the discussion quite interesting. From what I read, I'd say Browning has the better argument, but not having read any rebuttal from Goldberg, I won't award either the final point. I recommend this book for every thinking adult (and even high school students). Certainly this book is fascinating for history buffs and those interested in World War II and the Holocaust. But it goes beyond the Holocaust. If the perpetrators of the Holocaust were just a large collection of fringe madmen, then we can rest easy now that the Holocaust is over. But Browning seems to be saying that we all have a bit of potential fringe madman in us, and the right combination of authority, conformity and stoked-up prejudices could bring out the worst in even the best of us. I think history and current events suggest Browning might be right. 4.5 stars.

I adore this book. It was recommended before our trip to Poland, but I think it's important for everyone in the world. The story of how ordinary men who did not volunteer to kill for Hitler ( as many of those who took part in the final solution did), but who were ordinary police officers, some of whom refused to kill Jews at first, finally became killers for the Nazis. The book is not scary. It did not give me nightmares, as some Holocaust stories do. But it does recount, almost scientifically, day by day, action by action, the steps these men took to murder many Jews. It's important for us to see, clinically, how the murders of so many were carried out in a routine manner. This book is significant in the quest for us all to remember, and to honor the concept of "Never Again!"

Definitely one of the best books i've read!

If you struggle, as I do, to understand how ordinary German citizens supported the excesses of the Nazis, such as the Holocaust, this book is extremely helpful. It is well-researched and well-written. Browning's arguments are fact-based logical, persuasive, and mind-blowing at the same time.

The true banality of evil: Review of Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning Hannah Arendt referred to Adolf Eichmann as the paradigm of the banality of evil: an ordinary man led by extraordinary circumstances to exceptional evil. However, given that Eichmann spearheaded some of the key initiatives of the murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, I have argued that he was quite extraordinary: extraordinarily sociopathic and evil. The circumstances of Fascist Germany allowed his true nature to be revealed and his thirst for power through murder to be played out. In Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland (New York: Harper Perennial, 1993) historian Christopher R. Browning reveals the true nature of the banality of evil by recounting the transformation of members of the Order Police, the Police Battalion 101, from regular men to brutal killers. Although initially the Order Police was composed of young men sympathetic to Nazi principles, by the late 1930’s it included older men from all walks of life: policemen, workers, small businessmen. Browning notes that these Order Police units expanded during the war: “Twenty-one police battalions of approximately 500 men each were formed from the various police companies and training units in Germany, thirteen of them were attached to the armies invading Poland” (6). While one can plausibly argue that the SS were chosen for their anti-Semitic outlook and brutality, that’s not the case of the Reserve Police Battalion 101. Yet this unit of five hundred “ordinary men” is responsible for the murder of 38,000 Jews and the deportation of an additional 45,200 in occupied Poland in 1942. Few of the perpetrators were tried for their crimes against humanity after the war. For those who did face a trial, their main defense was similar to Eichmann’s: namely, that they were merely following the orders of their superiors. In their case, unlike in Eichmann’s, this defense sounded plausible. Few of these men were ardent Nazis. Even fewer had violent or sadistic tendencies. Most of them were middle-aged men who were found ineligible for military duty. They were sent to Poland to participate in Operation Reinhard, which included shooting en masse the Jews of entire small towns, such as Jozefow and Lomazy. They did so voluntarily, although initially not eagerly. Most of these men hesitated to kill women and children in the beginning. Browning points out that, contrary to the later excuse they offered that they were merely following orders, those orders didn’t entail any serious negative consequences for those who refused to follow them. The commander of Unit 101 gave his soldiers the option of opting out of conducting mass murders if they did not have the “fortitude” to kill civilians. All they faced, at worst, was peer pressure from some of their more ruthless colleagues. And yet, Browning notes, remarkably, only 12 out of the 500 men in Reserve Police Battalion 101 opted not to shoot innocent people. Seeing themselves as merely doing their duty, they rounded up and shot thousands of helpless civilians. As they got used to their “job”, they became more violent and sadistic. Some even smashed Jewish babies against the wall, or threw them up into the air and shot them. The rest became increasingly used to the mass murders, quickening the pace of slaughter and increasing the brutality as time went on. If any book can show that genocide can happen anywhere and be perpetrated by regular human beings placed in extraordinary circumstances, Browning’s well-researched and persuasive book is it. Claudia Moscovici, Holocaust Memory

Everyone should read. Its a difficult read but necessary not to repeat the past. How could this even happen. The heart of man is truly evil.

As expected.

Very pleased as it is a hard to find book

Interesante y dramático episodio de la espeluznante amplia historia del Holocausto.

Un libro necesario para nuestros tiempos. A veces veo comentarios en redes sociales de gente que etiqueta a otros como monstruos, por algo malo que han hecho, sin entender la multitud de factores que subyacen a un acto malvado. Somos muy rápidos para condenar y para pensar que los otros son los victimarios y nosotros las víctimas. Y creo que este libro ilustra que muchos podemos terminar siendo, con bastante facilidad, los monstruos que tanto decimos repudiar.

Avaliação pertinente tão somente ao livro como objeto. Sem comentários quanto ao conteúdo, pois ainda não o li. À primeira vista, se destaca a fragilidade da capa, feita de um papel de qualidade inferior e que, inclusive, veio rasgada em dois pontos (ver imagens). As páginas também são de um papel fino e frágil, além de serem coladas na capa, não costuradas. Pelo valor esperava pelo menos um acabamento mediano, mas esse se tornou o livro com pior acabamento que possuo. Amanhã levarei a alguma papelaria para plastificá-lo.