Ordinary Men：Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland

EditorialReviewsAmazon.comReviewShockingasitis,thisbook--acrucialsourceoforiginalresearchusedforthebestsellerHitler'sWillingExecutioners--givesevidencetosuggesttheoppositeconclusion:thatthesad-sackGermandrafteeswhoperpetratedmuchoftheHolocaustwerenotexpressingsomeuniquelyGermanicevil,butthattheywereaveragemencomparabletotherunofhumanity,twistedbyhistoricalforcesintoinhumanshapes.Browning,athoroughhistorianwholetsnooneoffthemoralhooknorfailstoweighanycontributingfactor--cowardice,ideologicalindoctrination,loyaltytothebattalion,andreluctancetoforcetheotherstobearmorethantheirshareofwhateachviewedasanexcruciatingduty--interviewedhundredsofthekillers,whosimplycouldnotexplainhowtheyhadsunkenintosavageryunderHitler.AgoodbooktoreadalongwithRonRosenbaum'scomparablyexcellentstudyExplainingHitler.--TimAppelo--ThistextreferstothePaperbackedition.FromPublishersWeeklyOnJune13,1942,thecommandingofficerofReservePoliceBattalion101receivedorderstorounduptheJewsinthePolishtownofJosefowandshootallbuttheable-bodiedmales.MajorWilhelmTrapp,whoweptovertheorder,gavehistroopstheextraordinaryoptionof"excusingthemselves"fromthetask.Ofthe500intheunitonlyadozendidso,andtherestslaughtered1500women,childrenandoldpeople.ThusbeganthecareerofoneofNaziGermany'smostefficientexterminationunits.DrawingonpostwarinterrogationsofformerBattalionmembers,Browningreconstructsthe16-monthperiodfromtheJozefowmassacretotheBattalion'sparticipationinthebrutal"FallHarvestJewHunt"inNovember1943,duringwhichtheseordinarymen,mostlymiddle-agedworking-classpeoplefromHamburg,shottodeathsome38,000PolishJewsandsent45,000otherstotheTreblinkagaschambers.InthevastHolocaustliterature,thisshortworkstandsoutwithbreathtakingimpact,foritrevealshowaverageGermansbecamemassmurderers."IfthemenofReservePoliceBattalion101couldbecomekillersundersuchcircumstances,"askstheauthor,"whatgroupofmencannot?"BrowningisahistoryprofessoratPacificLutheranUniversityinTacoma,Wash.Photos.Copyright1992ReedBusinessInformation,Inc.