Ordinary Men Analysis
Christopher R. Browning is a well-known author of the book Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland which is a collection of his research about the Order Police in Germany and how they were brainwashed into taking part in the mass murders of the Jewish population under Hitler’s ruling. The Holocaust could not have happened before the 20th century due to the downfall of the German government during that time, the industrial revolution increasing supplies and means of transportation, and the decision that all German’s had to make: obedience and country vs morality.
The Holocaust was an atrocious event that means different things to different people. Further research will show any average person that there was
…show more content…
At the end of the book Browning brings to light two psychological experiments that are important in understanding a bit of why ordinary men would commit these actions. The first experiment that Browning discusses is Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment. Zimbardo wanted to test whether the brutality of prison guards occurred due to environment of the prison or the personalities of the guards. In order to test this he set up a mock prison in the bottom of Stanford University giving half of the volunteers the role of a prisoner and the other half the role of a guard. The Simply Psychology website on this experiment stated that Zimbardo’s volunteer guards, most of which admitted to enjoying the role of authority, harassed, beat, and taunted the prisoners. The conclusion of the experiment is that people will conform to their social roles without even acknowledging the conformity or second guessing the morality of the role. One can compare Zimbardo’s experiment to the ordinary men in the Battalion 101 because the men were given power from the authority. Browning states that “Even if the consequences of disobedience would not have been so dire, the men who complied could not have known that at the time. They sincerely thought that they had had no choice when faced with orders to kill. “(170) Not only did the authorities place power into the hands of these men, but the police knew that if they had refused to do what the leaders had said that they would be coined traitors and sent right to a camp. The second experiment that Browning discusses in relation to the Battalion 101 is Stanley Milgrim’s shock study. Milgrim wanted to see if volunteers could watch another human being get shocked by their own doing. He placed an
Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101, By Christopher Browning
611 Words | 3 PagesChristopher Browning’s book, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 explains the story of the most infamous mass killing in modern history and the ordinary men who participated in this genocide. In this book Browning provides insight into who these ordinary men really are and their horrendous acts. The Police Battalion 101 became a mass-execution squad in Poland in 1942-43. Surprisingly every single one of these men were able to make the decision to avoid partaking in the killings with no repercussions, some left, while some stated that they were given no such choice and that they didn’t hear that part. When given the orders to take out these innocent Jews, some of the men pleaded that the reason they were hesitant to kill was the fact that they were simply just too weak.
Brief Summary Of Ordinary Men By Christopher R. Browning
1635 Words | 7 PagesOrdinary Men Summary When most people think and learn about the holocaust they are only taught from the Jewish peoples point of view. They learn about the mass murder committed by Hitler and the Nazis. A group that is usually overlooked is the German people that were forced to take part of Hitler’s “ethnic cleansing.” The book Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning goes into detail about the men that were forced into killing innocent people and coerced Jewish people into concentration camps. In this insightful book Browning reveals the background, emotions, and thoughts of a group of men called the Reserve Police Battalion 101.
Summary Of Ordinary Men By Christopher R. Browning
1183 Words | 5 PagesNever before had I encountered the issue of choice so dramatically framed by the course of events and so openly discussed by at least some of the perpetrators. Never before had I seen the monstrous deeds of the Holocaust so starkly juxtaposed with the human face of the killers (Browning, XVI) Browning then goes on to present different challenges he faced when doing his research and writing the book. He also presents different historians and their onions, as well as other individuals who helped in doing his research. The first chapter describes Major Wilhelm Trapp, the commander of the RPB-101 briefing his men on the assignment that they have been giving: round up the Jews n the village of Józefów separate the ones who are able and of working age and shoot the rest. After describing the assignment and reassuring all of the men that it was okay to kill these innocent people, Trapp offers the men an out “if any of the older men among them did not feel up to the task that lay before him, he could step out” (Browning, 2).
The Police Army In Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men
886 Words | 4 PagesChristopher Browning documents everyday experiences and tribulations of Germany men, who were involved in the tragic events of the Holocaust. Browning tries illustrate the reasoning of all the massacres caused by the Reserve Police Battalion 101, so that people could get a clear understanding of what really was going on with these men, physically and mentally. Looking past all the opposing claims of German men, Browning explains how these men were just regular “middle aged family men” who were taking basic orders from higher authorities (1). Throughout the book Ordinary Men, Christopher Browning explains his reasoning of calling these murders ordinary men, the reasoning behind all the massacres, and how these men later on became killers.
The Holocaust In Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men
752 Words | 4 PagesThe Holocaust is still a heavily reviewed subject and is debatably one of the worst if not the worst atrocity that has happened on this Planet up to date. To think that the Nazi’s were able to kill millions of people it has made us question what kind of people they were and if they were anything similar to us. It is hard to think of a perpetrator to be a normal human being. The Holocaust has made us question if the Nazi’s had any sense of moral sensibility when killing innocent and defenseless Jewish men and women. In the book Ordinary Men, Author Christopher Browning argues that these Nazi’s especially referring to the Reserve Police Battalion 101 were normal people who had instructions given by Hitler and their government to follow through with by devaluing all Jewish life.
What Rationale Does The Author Give For Conducting The Study
424 Words | 2 PagesObedience is tested by how long the subject will continue to “shock the victim”. The point of this study is to determine if Americans are obedient even if they know the act is wrong. 2. What is/are the research questions and/or hypothesis/hypotheses? How obedient would subjects be to researchers when it comes to shocking a victim?
The Stanford Prison Experiment: A Psychological Study
347 Words | 2 PagesSecond, The Stanford Prison Experiment was a psychological study that was too inhumane to continue because of the behavior of the prison guards when handed with superiority and the mental breakdowns of the prisoners. E: “Now, you 'll all be given sunglasses and uniforms to give the prisoners a sense of a unified, singular authority… And from this point forward you should never refer to this as a study or experiment again,’’ (Dr. Phil Zimbardo).
Oskar Schindler Essay
664 Words | 3 PagesThe Holocaust was a destruction of many people. There were some people who were resistant against the holocaust. Such as Oskar Schindler who may have just been one person but made a huge difference by saving a thousand people. These heroic people saved many lives and made a great change. Oskar Schindler was born April 28, 1908, in the city of Svitavy, in the Sudetenland now know as Czech Republic.
Milgram Experiment Explain Nazi Compliance
188 Words | 1 PagesThe Holocaust occurred because the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, saw Jews as an inferior race and a threat to Germany (History.com staff, 2009). Between 1933 and 1945, concentration camps to hold Jews captive had become a factor in the lives of Germans. Nazi Germany and its allies had established more than 40,000 camps and other incarceration camps where forced labor, mass murder
Guilt In Robert Browning's Ordinary Men
332 Words | 2 PagesThroughout the length of the book Ordinary Men, Browning outlines the guilt that falls upon the Ordinary Men for their crimes. He often makes a point of expressing the cold heartedness with which the killings were done and the lack of resistance towards these same killings. In fact, within the first chapter a major told his men if they “…did not feel up to the task that lay before him, he could step out” (Browning 2). It is not revealed that any of the men accept this offer. This is one of the clearest demonstrations that the men know what they are doing is a crime of the highest degree, yet they still continue to do it.
Holocaust Reflection: Hierarchy In Concentration Camps
568 Words | 3 PagesHolocaust Reflection: Hierarchy in Concentration Camps When I think of the Holocaust, I think of constant fear, horrible genocide of innocent people, and terrible living conditions. For twelve years, people were imprisoned for their faith, political views, or where their love lied. When learning about the terrible tragedy in middle school, I was under the impression that every person held prisoner in the concentration camps was treated the same, inhumane way. However, that assumption is completely false. While exploring the provided websites, I read things that I had already learned about the Holocaust in middle school.
History Of Historiography Of The Holocaust Essay
894 Words | 4 PagesHistoriography of the Holocaust Historiography essentially is “the history of history”. It looks into what historians have said about a given historically relevant event or topic, how their interpretations have changed over time and where, what and why are the disagreements between the historians. This paper tries to look into these aspects for the topic the Holocaust and explain how knowledge of the historiography of any given event is important in understanding the event itself. The Intentionalist historians like Lucy Dawidowicz see Hitler as a strong leader believe that the Holocaust was something that Hitler had planned for years Structuralist perspective Keywords Holocaust; Hitler; Jews; Intentionalism; Structuralism; Revisionism; Holocaust Denial THE HOLOCAUST
Why Is Milgram's Research Important?
950 Words | 4 PagesWhile arguably one of the defining psychological studies of the 20th Century, the research was not without flaws. Almost immediately the study became a subject for debate amongst psychologists who argued that the research was both ethically flawed and its lack of diversity meant it could not be generalized. Ethically, a significant critique of the experiment is that the participants actually believed they were administering serious harm to a real person, completely unaware that the learner was in fact acting. Although Milgram argued that the illusion was a necessary part of the experiment to study the participants’ reaction, they were exposed to a highly stressful situation. Many were visibly distraught throughout the duration of the test
Essay On Stanford Prison Experiment
599 Words | 3 PagesOn day six Zimbardo and Milgram decided to conclude the experiment. Zimbardo originally intended to explore how prisoners adapt to powerlessness, but he has contended that the experiment demonstrates how swiftly arbitrary assignment of power can lead to abuse. (Maher, The anatomy of obedience. P. 408) Once the experiment was completed Zimbardo and Milgram concluded that generally people will conform to the roles they are told to play.
Blind Obedience In Zimbardo Speaks
1292 Words | 6 PagesThis experiment, in my personal opinion turned out to have some very impressive results. The results were that 90% of people would actually kill someone if told by an authority figure. 90% of people would actually shock someone with voltage that was said to be able to kill a human being. I
More about Ordinary Men Analysis
Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101, By Christopher Browning
611 Words | 3 PagesBrief Summary Of Ordinary Men By Christopher R. Browning
1635 Words | 7 PagesSummary Of Ordinary Men By Christopher R. Browning
1183 Words | 5 PagesThe Police Army In Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men
886 Words | 4 PagesThe Holocaust In Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men
752 Words | 4 PagesWhat Rationale Does The Author Give For Conducting The Study
424 Words | 2 PagesThe Stanford Prison Experiment: A Psychological Study
347 Words | 2 PagesOskar Schindler Essay
664 Words | 3 PagesMilgram Experiment Explain Nazi Compliance
188 Words | 1 PagesGuilt In Robert Browning's Ordinary Men
332 Words | 2 PagesHolocaust Reflection: Hierarchy In Concentration Camps
568 Words | 3 PagesHistory Of Historiography Of The Holocaust Essay
894 Words | 4 PagesWhy Is Milgram's Research Important?
950 Words | 4 PagesEssay On Stanford Prison Experiment
599 Words | 3 PagesBlind Obedience In Zimbardo Speaks
1292 Words | 6 Pages