Reserve Police Battalion 101 Analysis

Kitty Hart-Moxon recalls, “Arrival in Auschwitz is a defining moment in your life. The doors open, you are thrown out, greeted by barking dogs, screaming figures with whips, a stench of burning flesh and a glow of fire” (Harding). Hart-Moxon’s vivid memories of violence stayed with her a lifetime. If a person was fortunate to survive the agony of the Holocaust, one was left battered, broken, and in most cases asking why. Although the Jews, political dissidents, homosexuals, and other groups targeted by the Nazis will never get their lives back, they can gain some solace from identifying the perpetrators of the Holocaust and using that knowledge to ensure it never happens again. Many people share the burden of the crimes committed during the Holocaust, yet the three groups that can be allotted the most blame are top SS officers who planned the mass exterminations, the citizens of Germany who voted for and supported Hitler, and minor SS officers who carried out day-to-day duties.

Christopher Browning is a professor of history at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. He is considered an expert on the Holocaust and has written several acclaimed books covering this subject (Christopher R. Browning). To write this his book Ordinary Men, he relies on a collection of indictments and judgements that took place from 1962 to 1972 (Browning xvii). These cases that Browning studied are full of testimonies from Battalion 101 members. He writes Ordinary Men completely based on these testimonies and the conclusions that can be drawn from them.

In Christopher Browning’s book, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, he explains to us all about his study of German Order Police Reserve Unit 101 and their experiences during the Holocaust. During the time of the Holocaust, Reserve Unit 101 committed many massacres and round-ups of the Jewish population for deportation to the Nazi concentration camps occupied by Germany in Poland. These men of Unit 101 were normal middle-aged men, who were drafted to be Nazi soldiers, but found ineligible for regular military duty. Upon their return to Poland in 1942, they were ordered to terrorize the Jewish population in Poland and

The inconceivable events that unfolded between the years of 1941 and 1945 have left a deep and permanent scar on the world. The systematic murder and attempted genocide that resulted in the death of six million European Jews has unquestionably been the greatest human tragedy to strike modern civilization. This act of savagery and brutality by the notorious National Socialist Party stands as a representation of man’s ability for evil. Crime of this enormity attracts exhaustive debate regarding how such wrongdoing

Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” does a marvelous job of highlighting the violent nature of mankind. The underlying cause of this violent nature can be analyzed from three perspectives, the first being where the occurrence of violence takes place, the second man’s need to be led and the way their leader leads them, and lastly whether violence is truly an innate and inherent characteristic in man.

We dug holes for hours with tools that were as useful as the clogs we were given (“The Holocaust Explained: How were camps run?”). It was a dusty job. Harsh winds blew small pebbles and pelted them at our legs. I have gotten many scuffs from these pebbles… I like to call them “battle scars.” Ever so often, on the windiest days, we would inhale too much dust, making it difficult to breathe. A few feet away from our worksite, were the 6 foot walls that separated us and freedom. It was there everyday, as a constant reminder of what we once had (“The Holocaust Just Got More Shocking”). I dozed off, dreaming of what it could be like, to see my family again… to go off to school… how proud they would be. A sharp pain suddenly struck across my back. I snapped back to reality, only to realize there was a figure standing right before me. They had shiny, tough black shoes paired with an olive green uniform. It was the German officer. He barked insults and threats at me left and right, ordering me to get back to work. I reached for my back trying to contain my pain. The blood dripped down and began to collect itself on the dirt. I stared at the blood on my hands, unfrightened by what just happened.

The most prevalent perpetrators in public memory of the Holocaust are the SS guards and Hitler. Though, this essay showcases “the larger number of desk-based perpetrators” (Pearce, p. 234, 2011). The acknowledgment of these administrative perpetrators are not common in the public spectrum because they have not directly harmed prisoners in concentration camps. This photoessay is trying to combat this common public memory of Hitler and SS guards being the only/primary perpetrators by showcasing the administrative perpetrators and other perpetrators in the concentration camps (i.e. doctors, nurses, businesses,

In a dramatic propaganda hoax, the International Red Cross was permitted to inspect the Theresienstadt ghetto, the exercise disguised the vile treatment of the Jews. The ghetto underwent a beautification project. A film was produced to prove the benevolent treatment of the Jews. Soon after, the “cast/prisoners” were sent to the death camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

While we presumed that nothing like the Holocaust would happen again after the German’s atrocity, Elkin showed how—immediately after the world’s knowledge of the Auschwitz—the same atrocity and racism had been applied by an European country (namely Britain) to another people. In particular, Elkin talked in detail about the concentration camp to detain suspected members participating in the Mau Mau uprising. Although the detainees in the Nazi and British concentration camps are of different natures, many methods used in the two camps are strikingly similar. For example, after introducing the way that the British officials created the inner-conflicts among the detainees by offering privileged positions to a number of them, Elkin quoted the comments of Primo Levi on his experience in Auschwitz: “if one offers a position of privilege to a few individuals in a state of slavery exacting in exchange the betrayal of a natural solidarity with their comrades, there will certainly be someone who will accept.” (qdt.

Vengeance rushed through my blood upon hearing the daily chants of “Heil Hitler!” the name that had put me into miserable suffering. The repeated rhythmic phrase has been the source of my remembrance of the agonizing nine-month in prison I endured. I recall the day the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) members, including myself, were arrested by the Stormtroopers due to the injustice accusation of who caused the Reichstag building fire. The quick arrest led by Ernst Rohm destabilized the KPD severely, and they had placed us in what they call “educational camps” (Moeller, 70). In Dachau, one of these so-called temporary camps where I was placed, disciplinary and continuous jarring acts to force everyone to convert to Nazism is instilled into

an example of the security of person that is getting violated is, “We have arrived at the receptions center for Auschwitz… Behind me an old man fell. Near him was a SS man, putting his revolver back in his holster” (Wiesel, p26-p27), another way the security of a person is being infringed is, “And soon a terrible word was circulating- selection. We knew what that meant. An SS man would examine us. Whenever he found a weak one, a musulman as we called them, he would write his number down: good for the crematory.” (Wiesel, p66). Last but not least the head of the block said, "Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you." For the first time, his voice quivered. "In a few moments, selection will take place. You will have to undress completely. Then you will go, one by one, before the SS doctors. I hope you will all pass. But you must try to increase your chances. Before you go into the next room, try to move your limbs, give yourself some color. Don’t walk slowly, run! Run as if you had the devil at your heels! Don’t look at the SS. Run, straight in front of you!" (Wiesel, p67).

Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning focuses on the true nature of the Nazi police officers during World War II and how they became infamous for their actions against the Jewish population. This piece adequately address the social context in which normal every day Germans could turn into killing machines with a sole purpose of wiping out an entire demographic of people. Browning outlines his research in his thesis which explains that “the insidious effects of constant propaganda indoctrination...made it all easier for the majority of the policemen to conform to the norms of their immediate community.” In this novel, Browning lays his arguments in a clear and concise manor that make his audience a broader reach for all those interested in a history of the Holocaust.

Alexander Betancourt Feb, 24 2017 Period 3 Night Essay I am Adelchi Schmidt a Nazi solder. I was placed in charge of getting all the Jew’s on to the cattle cars to be taken to Auschwitz. It will be a long and painful journey of them and most of them will not last the trip. They will all be unloaded at the camp and then placed to stay for a short time until we kill them. The sight of all the Jews being loaded on the train is truly a sad disturbing. I must fallow the orders of my officers. As I was loading Jews on the train one of them tried to fight it. We told him to stop or he would be killed. But he didn’t stop screaming for his wife and daughters. I had to shoot him in the head and continue the proses of getting everyone in to the camps.

and a field of confrontational tension/fear; and that this is true even where atrocities are

The Nuremberg Trials includes tesfiies of former prisoners of concentration camps as well as SS officials, and witness’ testimony in Volume 6 gives insight to the claim of random violence in concentration camps. A concentration camp witness named Mme. Vaillant-Couturier stated, “For roll call we were lined up in rows of five; and we waited until daybreak, until the Aufseherinnen, the German women guards in uniform, came to count us. They had cudgels and they beat us more or less at random.” This quote is a primary account of the seemingly random selection of beatings that Mme. Vaillant-Couturier witnessed during her time as a prisoner of a concentration camp. Her experience suggests that Jewish prisoners in concentration camps were subject to random beatings by guards and officials. This experience validates the portrayal of guards like Amon Göth beating, executing, or inflicting violence on prisoners in concentration camps by arbitrary selection. Additionally, the Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals includes Göth’s official trial, which explicates some of his actions