Ordinary Men - 2572 Words

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? The men that Browning writes on were simply ordinary men from various places in Germany. They were mainly middle to lower class men which made of most of the population therefore proving that this was not†¦show more content†¦To think of themselves like this made the men feel just a little better about doing these things. When the commanders noticed the men were being affected by the shootings some changes were made. First, the 101st Battalion was assigned to clearing the ghettos and loading people on trains destined for the Treblinka death camp. The SS-trained soldiers were then given the hard work which helped remove the police mentally from the deaths, and made their work much more efficient. Their jobs were clearing the people off of the trains and checking the towns. By mid-November 1942, following the massacres at Jozefow, Lomzay, Serokomla, Konskowola, and elsewhere, and the liquidation of the ghettos in Miedzyrzec, Lukà ³w, Parczew, Radzyn, and Kock, the men of Reserve Battalion 101 had participated in the outright execution of at least 6,500 Polish Jews and the deportation of at least 42,000 more to the gas chambers of Treblinka. (121) After that the police battalion would move through the town checking the houses. They would sweep through the houses many times to make sure no one was hid ing in corners. Everything the police did was done many times. They would even stand in line for hours checking the camps to make sure everyone was there. This started the massive hunts for the Jews and the men of the police battalion were forced toShow MoreRelatedOrdinary Men1347 Words   |  6 PagesIf one were to take anything from Christopher Browning’s Ordinary Men it is that even the most ordinary, normal men have the capacity to kill. The 101st Reserve Police Battalion executed at least 6,500 Jews at the Polish cities and villages of Jozefow, Lomazy, Serokomla, Lukow, Konskowola, Parczew, Radzyn, Kock, and Miedzyrzec and participated in the deportation of at least 42,000 Jews to the gas chambers in Treblinka (Browning, chapter 14, page 121). There were most likely even more killings thatRead MoreOrdinary Men Essay935 Words   |  4 Pages Browning’s â€Å"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-heartedRead MoreEssay on Ordinary Men1126 Words   |  5 PagesThere are no extraordinary men... just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are faced to deal with (William Halsey). The same can be said about volatile men. This is the quote Christopher R. Browning thought of when he named this book. The men of the 101st battalion were rarely faced with decisions. Even if it had been proposed by Trapp the morning of Jozefow that any of the older men who did not feel up to the task that lay before them could step out (Browning, chapter 7, pg. 57), heRead MoreThe Ordinary Men of the Holo caust1075 Words   |  5 Pagesatrocities of the Holocaust came from all over Europe and a wide variety of backgrounds. Art Spiegelman’s Maus: a Survivor’s Tale, Christopher Browning’s Ordinary Men: Reserve Battalion 101 and the Final Solution, and Jan Gross’s Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedbwabne, Poland, all provides a different perspective on how ordinary people felt about their experiences in the Holocaust both perpetrators and victims. Art Spiegelman’s Maus: a Survivor’s Tale is particularly uniqueRead More Ordinary Men by Browning Essay1630 Words   |  7 PagesOrdinary Men by Browning The men of Reserve Police Battalion 101 were just ordinary men, 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 battalionRead MoreOrdinary Men By Christopher Browning965 Words   |  4 PagesIn the novel Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning there contains a thesis in which the novel is centered around. This thesis is the theory that these ordinary people could commit these atrocities in the Holocaust because of the pressure from their peers and country that were participating in these appalling acts of violence and massacres of innocent people. The basis of this novel relies on the need to show that these men were not necessarily physically forced to commit these heinous acts, but thatRead MoreOrdinary Men by Christopher Browning806 Words   |  3 Pagesevil, they are dehumanized. This is dangerous, as it doesn’t allow us to obtain wisdom, perspective, and empathy for those involved. Ordinary Men allows an opportunity to see these events from the eyes of the perpetrators and their journey that led to what seems to people today as ruthless, unscrupulous murder. When in fact these people were literally ordinary men who were introduced to unordinary circumstances which caused them to abandon their humanity. If we discredit these people as inhuman weRead MoreBrownings Ordinary Men Essay1066 Words   |  5 PagesThere are no extraordinary men... just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are faced to deal with (William Halsey). The same can be said about volatile men. This is the quote Christopher R. Browning th ought of when he named this book. The men of the 101st battalion were rarely faced with decisions. Even if it had been proposed by Trapp the morning of Jozefow that any of the older men who did not feel up to the task that lay before them could step out (Browning, chapter 7, pg. 57), heRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Ordinary Men Essay1815 Words   |  8 PagesAnalysis of â€Å"Ordinary Men† What do you see when you think about the Holocaust? What are things you associate with it? Personally I think about the absolute evil of the Nazis and the horrible things that the Jews had to endure. I think about how gut wrenchingly terrible of a life style every one of those people had to live through and what it would be like to have been in their place. What I don’t think about and had never even considered before reading the book Ordinary Men is what it was like toRead MoreChristopher Browning s Ordinary Men1241 Words   |  5 Pages(1978), and Nazi Policy, Jewish Workers, German Killers (2000). Browning is best known for his publication of his book, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. Ordinary Men admired all around the world by many individuals and gives a detailed story about the reserve police battalion during the 1940s. 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