Ordinary People Research Paper

The events which have become to be known as The Holocaust have caused much debate and dispute among historians. Central to this varied dispute is the intentions and motives of the perpetrators, with a wide range of theories as to why such horrific events took place. The publication of Jonah Goldhagen’s controversial but bestselling book “Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust” in many ways saw the reigniting of the debate and a flurry of scholarly and public interest. Central to Goldhagen’s disputed argument is the presentation of the perpetrators of the Holocaust as ordinary Germans who largely, willingly took part in the atrocities because of deeply held and violently strong anti-Semitic beliefs. This in many

Throughout the latter 1930s and early 1940s, many individuals experienced persecution. As Goldhagen mentioned in his novel, “Social death is a formal status...It is at once a culturally shared concept of the socially dead people and a set of practices towards them” (Goldhagen, 168). In Germany specifically, individuals part of a specific race were deemed to no longer be a human being in the eyes of the “superior race”. The social death of individuals such as Jewish people was obtained through the use of blame for problems faced and then the dehumanization of these individuals. Once the status of social death is reached, it is much easier for people to treat others in a degrading and violent manner. Those facing persecution, such as the Jewish, during World War II, faced immense atrocities. For individuals who were not killed themselves, the vast majority saw their friends and family killed, were stripped away from their homes and identity, were faced with torture, meager living conditions, and immense amounts of labor. On the opposite side, many individuals who took part in performing these atrocities against humanity were cognizant on some level to what they were doing, but were also obstructed

William Andrew Myers, in his essay “Ethical Aliens: The Challenge of Extreme Perpetrators to Humanism” originally published in Colette Balmain and Lois Drawmer’s volume edition of Something Wicked This Way Comes: Essays on Evil and Human Wickedness (2009), examines “extreme perpetrators” and our need to recognize the human in them. Myers supports his idea of “extreme perpetrators” by defining these people through a few expert opinions, categorizing the three central culprits (murderous dictators, serial killers, and ideological killers), and reasons why we distance ourselves from them but should take the time to understand their differences from humane people. The purpose of Myers’ essay is not necessarily to defend dangerous murders’ actions

Synopsis – Hitler’s Willing Executioners is a work that may change our understanding of the Holocaust and of Germany during the Nazi period. Daniel Goldhagen has revisited a question that history has come to treat as settled, and his researches have led him to the inescapable conclusion that none of the established answers holds true. Drawing on materials either unexplored or neglected by previous scholars, Goldhagen presents new evidence to show that many beliefs about the killers are fallacies. They were not primarily SS men or Nazi Party members, but perfectly ordinary Germans from all walks of life, men who brutalized and murdered Jews both willingly and zealously. “They acted as they did because of

“‘Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions’” (Quotes About Holocaust, 1). The Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz was the brutal murder site of millions of innocent Jews and other perceived enemies of Germany. Here, death and suffering was the norm and there was no escape from the wicked acts of the Nazis until the prisoners’ long awaited liberation. However, Auschwitz changed the victims’ lives forever.

Humans covered vast areas of the Earth, some even during the harshness of the ice age, only carrying basic hunting tools.

The Jews in the Holocaust watched their families and loved ones get slaughtered every day, leading the victims to become numb and indifferent to what was going on around them. Elie began to lose hope after seeing so much cruelty and thought, “Indifference deadened the spirit. Here or elsewhere- what difference did it make? To die today or tomorrow, or later? The night was so long and never ending” (93). Elie gave up hope in himself, which is just as lethal as an angry Nazi, for truly believing you are incapable of something is the most belittling and dehumanizing thought of all. Not only did the Jews become numb to the violence, but the belief that it was wrong to act out violently against the Jews never crossed the Nazis’ minds. After routinely murdering numerous Jews who were “un-human” in the minds of the Nazis and Germans, the perpetrators began to believe with every fiber in their beings that what they were doing was for the world’s benefit. One day in the camps,

Imagine a scenario where thoughts of harming your family, leaving your family behind, or even killing them yourself flash through your head, thoughts that if someone had to die you or your family, you would sacrifice your family. If it meant life or death, could someone kill an entire family and think nothing of it, for some people, the answer is yes. At certain points somebody might be able to muster up the willpower to cast their own family aside for survival. When in the Holocaust Elie Wiesel, the author of the memoir Night had to see betrayal all around him because people wanted to endure the entire Holocaust themselves. The people in this traumatic event didn’t care what they had to do to survive; some people would kill their family members just for an extra ration. These people would tear each other limb from limb utterly for a slightly larger chance of survival. When it comes down to it, humans have an innate cruelty within them. When faced with a life or death situation people will do anything to survive. Unfortunately, this cruelty

During the evils that took place in World War II, the Germans impugned the natural rights of the Jewish people living in Europe and ultimately executed millions of innocent people. With a basis of racial superiority and social darwinism, the Germans’ ruthless attempt to remove an entire racial population involved the killing of pure children and defenseless elderly citizens. The fact that the basic universal rights, which should apply to all of humanity, were intruded upon illustrates the absolute evil in man and the lack of response by the rest of society. Ultimately, those who did survive found it their duty and responsibility to share their difficult experiences with the rest of the world to avoid a recurrence of such prejudice and hatred.

On his writing, Browning shows how “ordinary” men can change their beliefs and their common sense because of the influence of others. In this book, soldiers of the WWII were influenced by the government of Hitler. Browning called it "atrocity by policy” because the damage caused by soldiers wasn’t spontaneous but indeed planned methodically by the government, they had calculations and plans. In addition, Browning explains how members of the police battalion (a Nazi paramilitary formation) slowly started enjoying the idea of murder and torture innocent people. “As in combat, the horrors of the initial encounter eventually became routine” (Browning 1992, p. 161).

The Jarrett's' have always believed themselves to be ordinary people, but after a their firstborn son, Jordan "Buck" Jarrett, drowns and their second born son, Conrad, attempts suicide their whole world is turned upside-down. When Conrad comes home from his mental institution he feels that things have changed. Conrad's relationship with his parents has changed. The relationship that Conrad has with his parents change throughout the novel and are shaky all the way to the last page.

Undeniably person's vicinity plays a vital role in moldings him into his success. Accomplished person have great influence on their native region, as many youngsters can relate to him and want to imitate his blueprint of success. This essay will discuss successful person’s influence on his native people.

Throughout their schooling one is taught about the great aristocrats of the past. The ones who discovered planetary motions, gas laws, and calculus. These nobles had the fortune of being wealthy, and didn’t have to burden themselves with the works of the common man. Because of this free time and vast amount of resources, they were able to work out the secrets of the universe and of life, helping build the foundation for science, and philosophy.

As people live their daily lives, they have an effect on others whether that is knowingly or unknowingly. These effects can be positive or negative, but either way they contribute in the making of individuals identities. People that have the advantage of having someone come into their life, and help them form a healthy identity are quite lucky. In Ordinary People, by Judith Guest, Conrad was an adolescent who was severely depressed until he met that person that helped him form a healthy identity. The person who did this was his psychiatrist named Dr. Berger, and he helped Conrad transform his identity from a confused to a confident person. Conrad’s psychiatrist prevented him from self harm, helped reduce his guilt and influenced him to

As with all historical analysis, it’s important to preserve the agency of those who were involved. In Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning, the argument is posed that due to the complexities of choice in the Nazi regime, the men involved in the mass murder of the Jewish population did so due to a perceived inability to liberate oneself. While the circumstances surrounding the men of Reserve Police Battalion 101 were often constrictive, these men actively served the Nazi regime and lead to the murder of thousands of people. Inside of the Nazi administration, there were many deep and pervasive means of making defection and refusal to seem unreachable. Two of the ways most discussed by Christopher Browning was the use comradery and authority to keep men complicit