Ordinary Men : Reserve Police Regiment 101 And The Final Solution

Using such specific examples will help clearly highlight the difference in opinion of the two authors and the way in which Goldhagen tries to show the members of the Police Battalion as “Ordinary Germans” who were “Willing Executioners”, while Browning presents them as “Ordinary Men” reacting to a certain set of specific circumstances.

Throughout Hitler’s reign over Germany there was an agenda that existed which led to murders of a great number of innocent people. The agenda was the extermination of Jews from Germany so that Germany could become a pure country in terms of ethnicity. It was Hitler’s idea but he only gave the orders while the SS and the Order Police carried out the orders. One group of people that helped carry out this idea of judenfrei or Jew free Germany was the Reserve Police Battalion 101. The men who made up this group were regular men that had come from a variety of careers. Most the men volunteered because the immunity that they would receive from “conscription into the army” once the volunteers had become part of

Starting In 1829, Sir Robert Peel began developing his theory of policing. These nine principles are as relevant today as they were in the 1800's. Peel established the Metropolitan Police when he served as Home Secretary of England. Since Sir Robert Peel introduced his principles of policing in the early 1800's, our country has continued to follow his ideas of effective policing. Community policing is based on Peel's concept of prevention.

The book written by Christopher R. Browning titled Ordinary Men is an interesting, engaging, anomaly in the genre of non-fiction books pertaining to the topic of World War Two and the Holocaust. Browning’s analysis of what possessed ordinary German men, who’s ideas where non pertinent in relation to Nazism is one worthy of academic study and discourse. Browning is delving into the intricacies of what specifically pushed “ordinary” men in the Reserve Police Battalions 101 of Nazi Germany to perpetrate the action of moving thousands of Polish Jewry into box cars, and sequentially taking part in perhaps the worst enormity in human history. Browning’s argument is an ever unsettling one, an argument that reveals to the reader what “normal” people

The massacre in Jozefow was first to introduce the men of Battalion 101 to mass murder. The orders were that males of working age were to be sent Lublin to serve as work Jews, while the women, children and the elderly were to be exterminated by gunshot immediately. Major Wilhelm Trapp, the battle commander, found these orders repulsive and one of his officers having learned about the upcoming massacre asked to be reassigned to avoid the impending violence; his request was

When it comes to the topic of police reform, many agree that our country is long overdue for it, however, the questions are how exactly do we, as a nation, go about changing one of the most powerful structures to exist in the country. While some believe that reform must come from within the individually flawed police departments, others argue that the entire criminal justice system needs an overhaul. In this Response essay about Ta-Nehisti Coastes’ essay “The Myth of Police Reform,” Coates is saying, that the criminal-justice system is not working as well as it should. They are putting people, especially African Americans in jail or killing them. Some people have a mental or physical disability or a have a drug or alcohol problem that

The arguments that Christopher Browning emphasizes in Ordinary Men are based on his beliefs about the Holocaust. His argument touches base on the idea that regular citizens of Germany could commit such horrible acts without being coerced into doing so. He examines the side of the Reserve Police Battalion 101 and tries to figure out just why these gentlemen participated in the mass shootings and deportations of the Holocaust. In fact should these "gentlemen" even be called gentlemen enlight of the acts they committed upon other men?

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 Jews. Browning highlights this important part of the discussion with the former soldiers as indicating that their sole motivation was not just hatred

Each year citizens die in encounters with law enforcement officers. It is reported that “Americans are eight times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist” (Rucke, 2013). Although there is no official data base tracking these occurrences it is estimated that between 500 and a 1,000 people are killed by police officers each year. To put this in greater perspective this number equals approximately 5,000 since the 9/11 terror attack which is roughly the same number as U.S. soldiers who have been killed in the line of duty in Iraq (Rucke, 2013). This statistic is justifiably concerning. The cause of police related killings are multifold and cannot be attributed to only one factor. Many deaths may be unavoidable and perhaps, dependent on the situation, necessary. I contend, however, that many of these deaths may very well be preventable.

Christopher R. Browning’s “Ordinary Men” chronicles the rise and fall of the Reserve Police Battalion 101. The battalion was one of several units that took part in the Final Solution to the Jewish Question while in Poland. The men of Reserve Police Battalion 101, and other units were comprised of ordinary men, from ordinary backgrounds living under the Third Reich. Browning’s premise for the book is very unique, instead of focusing on number of victims, it examines the mindset of how ordinary men, became cold-hearted killers under Nazi Germany during World War II. Christopher Browning’s “Ordinary Men” presents a very strong case that the men who made up the Reserve Police Battalion 101 were indeed ordinary men from ordinary background, and

In Christopher Browning’s book, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland tells the story of Battalion 101, a group of 500 policemen in their 30’s and 40’s who were sent into Poland to participate in a ‘special action’ without being told exactly what they are doing. Overtime they realized their mission is to Kill Jews and racially purify Europe. Most of the killing during this period of mass murder took place in Poland. Battalion 101 together with other Order Police battalions contributed to the manpower needed to carry out this enormous task. Browning comments that these men all went through their developmental period before the Nazis came into power. These were men who had known political standards and moral norms other than those of the Nazis. Most men came from Hamburg; one of the least ‘nazified’ cities in Germany and the majority came from a social class that had been anti-Nazi in its political culture. In seems this would not seem to have been a very promising group from which to recruit mass murderers on behalf on the Nazi vision of a racial utopia free of Jews. However, their actions helps us understand not only what they did to make the Holocaust happen, but also how they were transformed psychologically from the ordinary men into active participants in the most horrific offence in human history. In doing so, it aims on the human capacity for extreme evil and leaves this subject matter with the shock of knowledge and the

The main sources for this book consist of archival documents and court records of the Holocaust. The specific testimony, court records, investigation records, and prosecution documents of members of the Reserve Police Battalion 101 members are used as sources. In this book, Christopher Browning shows in minute detail the sequence of events and individual reactions that turn ordinary men into killers. His arguments make sense. He makes no unwarranted assumptions. The cause and effect statements made and arguments presented are logical and well developed. Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning accounts for the actions of the German Order Police (more specifically the actions of Reserve Police Battalion 101 in Poland) and the role they played in the Second World War during the Jewish Holocaust. Police Battalion 101 was composed of veterans from World War One and men too old to be

But it was his lead they were following so if anyone could end this, it would be him. But just like the rest of the men, he was just following orders from men higher on the totem pole. We can see how distraught he is during the first massacre but how does the climate of the war change him? Even in the very same chapter, we see him change when he turns away from the Jews who tried to kiss his hands for saving them. But it's in chapter 11 we truly see how the climate of war has made him adapt. When faced with a killing quota when stationed in Talcyn, Trapp decides to kill the Jewish population instead of the Poles. Seemingly, this is because they're more expendable. But to me, it seems as if he's gotten used to killing Jews. Poles can still be looked at as people for him. He hasn't distanced himself from them like he has been forced to with Jews. The very obvious rules of the German side of this war is that Jews aren't necessary. So when faced with the decision to kill Poles or Jews, Trapp created his own rule that Jews are more expendable then Poles. The man who once weeped for the Jews "no longer had any inhibitions about shooting more then enough Jews to meet his quota" (Browning, chapter 11, pg. 102).

The arguments of Christopher Browning and Daniel John Goldhagen contrast greatly based on the underlining meaning of the Holocaust to ordinary Germans. Why did ordinary citizens participate in the process of mass murder? Christopher Browning examines the history of a battalion of the Order Police who participated in mass shootings and deportations. He debunks the idea that these ordinary men were simply coerced to kill but stops short of Goldhagen's simplistic thesis. Browning uncovers the fact that Major Trapp offered at one time to excuse anyone from the task of killing who was "not up to it." Despite this offer, most of the

The United States Army has many jobs in which civilians can choose to enter that will allow them to specialize in a field of their choice. Many people have joined to serve their country, others have joined to make a living and some enjoy the sense of adventure. One of the many jobs available to a man or woman is a military policeman. As a military police, one is in charge of all the doings on the facility they are stationed at, as well as the little things that take place on base, such as traffic control, domestic issues, and other problems that occur. Before a civilian becomes a Military Police they must got through 3 stages of training, basic training, advanced individual training, and weapons training which takes place within . The life of a military police then forms into Basic and Advanced Training, active duty, and eventually, retirement.