Ordinary Men
The men of Reserve Police Battalion 101 were just , from a variety of backgrounds, education, and age. It would appear that they were not selected by any force other than random chance. Their backgrounds and upbringing, however, did little to prepare these men for the horrors they were to witness and participate in.
The group was made up of both citizens and career policemen. Major Wilhelm Trapp, a career policeman and World War I veteran headed the battalion. Trapp joined the Nazi party in 1932, but never became an office in the SS. His two captains, Hoffmann and Wohlauf, were SS trained officers. The reserve lieutenants, all seven of them, were drafted into the Order Police because they ...
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army duty, but just right for police duty. They were old enough to know of political ideology other than that of the Nazi party, even though most were members.
Without a doubt, the men of this battalion greatly contributed to the final solution. The first action the 101st Battalion was order to do took place in Józefów. They went into the town and were ordered to "shoot anyone trying to escape" and "those that were too sick or frail to walk to the marketplace, as well as infants and anyone offering resistance or attempting to hid, were to be shot on the spot". (Browning, 57) They then trucked or marched the Jews they found into the woods just outside the village. "When the first truckload of thirty-five to forty Jews arrived, an equal number of policemen cam forward and, face to face, were paired off with their victims." (Browning, 61) The shear atrocity of this was too much for many of the policemen, so alcohol was provided to calm the ...
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meant. "The full weight of this statement, and the significance of the word choice of the former policeman, cannot be fully appreciated unless one knows that the German word for ‘release’ also means to ‘redeem’ or ‘save’ when used in a religious sense. The one who ‘releases’ is the Erlöser – the Savior or Redeemer!" (Browning, 73)
After the effects on the men of the outright massacre were seen, two changes took place. First, the 101st Battalion was assigned to clearing the ghettos and loading people on trains destined for the Treblinka death camp. Second, the real dirty work was to be carried out by SS-trained soldiers. This helped remove them mentally from the deaths, ...
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Ordinary Men. (2008, July 12). Retrieved November 18, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ordinary-Men/86670
"Ordinary Men." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 12 Jul. 2008. Web. 18 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ordinary-Men/86670>
"Ordinary Men." Essayworld.com. July 12, 2008. Accessed November 18, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ordinary-Men/86670.
"Ordinary Men." Essayworld.com. July 12, 2008. Accessed November 18, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Ordinary-Men/86670.
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