Ordinary Men
April 9th, 2012
Clayton Ross Tapp
"If the men of Reserve Police Battalion 101 could become killers under such
circumstances, what group of men cannot?" (pg. 189) This very strong statement
comes from the last line of the book and it’s basically arguing about the fact that
the men of Reserve Police Battalion 101 were not natural born killers, but that
they were business men, husbands, and fathers just like the men we are
surrounded by every day. These men who were the normal, everyday men across
small neighborhoods of Germany accounted for the deaths of thousands of
Jewish men, women, and children during the Nazi reign of Germany. What was it
that transformed these common men into vicious murderers?
After World War I, a revolution began in Germany and many of Germany’s
Military leaders who were fearful that the revolutionary forces would diminish
them put together units known as the Freikorps. The revolution settled in 1919
and these men began to merge with regular police and began to create a larger
police force that would be stationed and on hand for combat or any other needs.
This was the creation of the Order Police. In the late 1930’s the threat of another
World War caused the Order Police to begin recruiting and expand very rapidly.
When World War II came to the scene this Police Force became crucial for the
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safety of Germany and several police battalions were formed of about 500 men in
each battalion. During this time is when Police Battalion 101 is formed.
The radical ideas of Hitler and the Nazi party have long since been in effect
before Police Battalion 101 was formed. Hitler wanted all of Europe to be free of
Jews, but with a war going on with other countries it was going to be difficult to
rid Europe of all the Jews. His solution was to use the Order Police to exterminate
the Jews from the General Government. Police Battalion 101 would take part in
their first step of this “solution” in July, 1942. Orders had been sent to the
battalion calling for a “special action” in Poland. The details of this action were
not described to the men but they went to Poland without any objections. The
men would eventually make their way to a Jozefow, where their lives would
forever be changed.
When the men got to Jozefow their task was to round up over 1800 Jews.
“The women, children, and elderly were simply to be shot on the spot.” (pg. 55)
The author states that Major Trapp assembled the men before the assignment
was to take place and explained to them the details. It was said that he even
offered some of the men a chance to step out if they did not feel up to the task.
A handful of men shamelessly stepped forward and refused to partake in the
assignment. It is often argued that Trapp did not present this offer but with so
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many witnesses and the extent of this assignment I feel that Trapp did extend the
offer to his troops. I believe Trapp did not want to be a part of this solution at this
time at all. Witnesses say that during this round up Trapp even said, “If this Jewish
business is ever avenged on earth, then have mercy on us Germans.”(pg. 58)
According to the author Captain Hoffmann was much more hardened of a man
than Trapp. One policeman recalls that after the clearing operation his unit was
told by Hoffman “We had not proceeded energetically enough.” After the round
up firing squads were said to be randomly selected and were instructed on how to
kill the remaining Jews with one shot. The Jews were to lie face down and be shot
in the back of the neck. This task soon became too gruesome for some of the men
who were first time killers but for others it took killing numerous Jews before they
became sick of it. After this massacre the battalion was served alcohol to help
ease their minds. None of the men were said to have spoken a word of the
massacre to one another the night after it happened. During this time in Germany
these Jewish round ups were nothing new. To this Police Battalion it was new but
with all this going on around them in Europe I feel that surely some of the men
knew what might have been coming for them. I think that is the reason that some
of the men were able to murder so many Jewish people before they got sick.
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Reserve Police Battalion 101 was soon ordered to action in several other
roundups shortly after Jozefow. As time progressed the killings got easier for the
members of the battalion. Even though they had other groups such as the Hiwis
that were known to be gruesome killers, the killing for the German Police
Battalions still seemed to get easier. The Battalion would also go to towns and
round up the Jews and pack them tightly into freight cars on a train and if the sick
or elderly could not make it they were to be shot on scene. I feel that since there
was such a repeating pattern to what the Police did every day even though at first
so many hated what they were doing that it almost became everyday life to them.
Many members of the battalion resorted to drinking large amounts of alcohol
before these actions. This definitely made it feel easier for them to kill because it
did not seem to have as much mental effect on them when they were drunk. The
author even states that sometimes the Jews would be beaten before they were
murdered. Eventually Jews that had escaped and found refuge in the woods were
basically hunted like animals and shot on the spot. These policemen had
performed these murderous tasks time and time again that they were basically
brainwashed and it became everyday life to them. It did not happen often but on
a few occasions a Jew would be set free by a German. Why someone that had
killed so many Jews before would simply just let one go free is hard to
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understand, but I think that sometimes the policemen would almost snap back
into reality and realize that what they were doing was wrong.
After World War II when Police Battalion 101 was questioned they seldom
mentioned anything about the brutality of their actions. They would sometimes
mention how some of their leaders were brutal but hardly any about themselves
or fellow policemen. It was like they forced themselves to forget what they had
done. Several of these men were prosecuted in court and sentenced to jail or
death, but many of these men would go back to the normal lives they had before
it had been drastically changed on a summer day in Jozefow.
Ordinary Men has greatly affected the way I feel about the Holocaust. It
made me realize that the people killing all the Jews were not just horrible cruel
people from the beginning but that they were normal and their lives were just
greatly changed. The graphic nature really helped me realize that it was not just
Jews being forced into a gas chamber, but that it was families being separated
and shot in front of each other. This really hit home and made me thankful that
my country fought in World War II and helped end the Jewish massacre.
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