Psychology of the Holocaust

Paper Summary:

In this article the writer explores Christopher Browning's controversial 1992 text, 'Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland'. The writer both summarizes the text's salient points as well as discusses the opinion of the academic community as to its veracity and merit. Every bit as importantly, this paper examines the methodology employed and looks at why Browning's text, if not a great book, can at least be described as an important one. In the end, by looking at the psychology of the killers as he does, the writer maintains that Browning forces the reader to confront "the banality of evil" which made the Holocaust possible on such an unimaginable scale.

From the Paper:

"The book is, simply put, a vivid portrayal of a horrifying event. It begins with the first mass-killing at Jozefow in the early morning hours of July 13, 1942. On that day, the members of Reserve Force Battalion 101 were roused from their bunks - they were effectively sequestered in a school building in the town of Bilgoraj - and ordered into waiting trucks. After a short time, they stopped at the small, aforementioned town of Jozefow and were ordered into a semi-circle around their 53-year old commander, Major Wilhelm Trapp. At this point, the first bit of horror in Browning's narrative unfolds. As he describes it, a tearful and badly-shaken Trapp tells his troops that the 1800 Jews in the small community were to be rounded up and separated into two groups - males of working age and everybody else."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Breitman, Richard. "Reviews of Books: Ordinary Men: Reserve Battalion 101 and the Final Solution." American Historical Review, 98.5 (1993): 1637-1639.
• Browning, Christopher. Ordinary Men. New York: Harper-Collins, 1992.
• Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah. "The Evil of Banality." New Republic, 207.3/4 (1992): 49-52.
• Hinton, Alex. "Why Did the Nazis Kill?" Anthropology Today, 14.5 (1998): 9-15.
• Stern, Fritz, and Despard, Lucy Edwards. "Ordinary Men: Reserve Battalion 101 and the Final Solution." Foreign Affairs, 71.4 (1992): 209.

More papers on Psychology of the Holocaust:

• Book Review # 101108 : "The Holocaust Experience"
• Essay # 19314 : "Evolution of the Holocaust"
• Comparison Essay # 32662 : "Slavery and the Holocaust."

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