Ordinary Men b Christopher Browning Essay - 1632 Words

In the book Ordinary Men, Christopher Browning tackles the question of why German citizens engaged in nefarious behavior that led to the deaths of millions of Jewish and other minorities throughout Europe. The question of what drove Germans to commit acts of genocide has been investigated by numerous historians, but unfortunately, no overarching answer for the crimes has yet been decided upon. However, certain theories are more popular than others. Daniel Goldhagen in his book, Hitler’s Willing Executioners, has expounded that the nature of the German culture before the Second World War was deeply embedded in anti-Semitic fervor, which in turn, acted as the catalyst for the events that would unfold into the Holocaust. It is at this†¦show more content†¦It is now that Browning goes in-depth on the massacre that occurred in Jozefow. Of the perpetrators, Browning mentions that many were middle-aged policemen who were given a choice of whether or not they wanted to take part in killing the Jewish population in this area. The major who offered a reprieve from being involved in the slaughter was Major Trapp, of the 500 men who would be present, only a mere dozen would accept his offer. Afterwards, the slaughter began with one soldier stating â€Å"I shot the child that belonged to her, because I reasoned with myself that after all without its mother the child could not live any longer; so to speak, soothing to my conscience to release children unable to live without their mothers. (Browning 73)† It is at this point that Browning proceeds to put forth his argument as to why he believes what he postulated in his theory. He uses this scene to catapult himself into an argument of why anti-Semitism was not the main driving force behind the killing. Years later, once the soldiers were interrogated and the soldier recounted this scene to Browning and others, there was a glaring omission, and that was of anti-Semitism as a driving force to kill the Je ws. Browning highlights this important part of the discussion with the former soldiers as indicating that their sole motivation was not just hatredShow MoreRelatedAuthor Christopher Browning867 Words   |  3 PagesABOUT THE AUTHOR: Christopher Browning is a historian on the holocaust and Nazi Germany. He is the Frank Porter Graham distinguished professor of history at the university of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. THE SUMMARY: Ordinary men take place during the summer of 1942 in the polish village of Jozefow. The book tells us the story of normal working family men of the Reserve Police Battalion 101 who were commission into carrying out horrific crimes and mass killings on Polish Jews. The main charactersRead MoreThe Expectations Of Morality And Actions972 Words   |  4 PagesConnor McAdoo HIST-111-B Olin 22 April 2017 Word Count: 918 Ordinary Men Essay As a society, we have certain expectations concerning morality and actions. When an individual’s behavior coincides with our societies’ expectations then they are deemed as ordinary because they are not an outlier. Though when the situation changes for individuals so do their actions and after an amount of time their new actions and behaviors become the norm. Even when the behavior fundamentally conflicts with theirRead MoreHitler s Political And Foreign Policy1263 Words   |  6 Pageshowever, with the propaganda of mass genocide, the German people were scared into accepting the Nazis’ inhumane ideals. In Christopher R. 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