Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland
Christopher R. Browning (New York: Harper Perennial, 1998)
Christopher R. Browning’s
book, Ordinary Men, is aptly titled.
This account of Germany’s Reserve Police Battalion 101 supports Browning’s
thesis that these predominantly working-class men from Hamburg were transformed
into killers; most reluctant, yet some eager. No single event changed them, the
transformation was multi-causal in nature. As is true with all individuals, one
responds to crisis according to his abilities. The men of the 101st
were no different. Some became avid---even sadistic---in their killing while
most became obedient killers. The ten to twenty percent of the group who did
not kill became courageous. Regardless of the results of the changes in the
men, each individual had to become
something foreign to his fundamental nature. Browning supports this thesis
throughout his work and is convincing in his opinion that the ordinary men of
Reserve Police Battalion 101 became killers as a result of deflection, the
weight of conformity and obedience, and most significantly through
desensitization. For a detailed review, follow the link below.
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