Christopher R. Browning attempts to explain how some working and middle class men from Hamburg became killers in Ordinary Men. In Chapter 8 he begins to explain how this change began for these men. He states that these men began to become killers because of the orders from authority, conforming to the group they were now a part of, rationalizing what they were doing, and by intoxicating themselves with alcohol to forget and not think about what they were doing.
Browning begins to explain that these men felt compelled to their job because they were ordered by someone in authority. When they first were given orders of what to do they were given an opportunity to opt out. When they did opt out they were given alternative roles that still led them to be involved with the killing of the Jewish people. Once these men were a part of Reserve Police Battalion 101 with matching uniforms they felt they were part of a group of men and had to conform to the regulations and roles given to them. Many didn’t want to be that one person that wanted to not do their job and be singled out as a coward. Browning does explain that these men did not want to kill all those people and felt shame and disgust for what they were doing. They felt compelled to follow orders. They became submerged in a subculture of murder. The men were given unlimited amounts of alcohol to drink away their sorrows and regrets and to try to forget or pay mind to what they were doing. Many of the men began to kill the Jewish while they were drunk. Alcohol was to serve the purpose of psychologically alleviating the men, along with shifting their roles to loading up the trains headed to the concentration camps.
The men began to feel alleviated a bit when the killing became depersonalized and they could shoot groups of Jewish people instead of the face to face shooting they had to previously do. They began to rationalize what they were doing. The men who loaded up the trains made themselves pay no mind to that the Jewish people they were loading the trains with would be killed. Another example of self-rationalization these men made is the one man that said he would only shoot children because he felt the child would die without his/her mother. These men also continued to drink away their shame, regret, and disgust.
I am not convinced that these reasons are enough to make ordinary men “hardened killers.” Hopefully Browning will continue to further explain what led these men to murder so many people, maybe through a psychological lens. What do you think led these men to kill thousands of people?
I do believe that the circumstances of these men led them to do horrible things, not just authority alone. We would hope and expect people to be able to act of their own accord or own set of ethics or moral standards, but I am quite appalled by the Milgram experiment that is is not completely so.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention, there is the Stanford Prison Experiment that offers a different side to conformity, a side that incites group aggression/violence under the pretense of anonymity. Wearing a uniform does have some effect on the wearer, and as a group, that idea is multiplied.
I cannot fathom the psychological damage and trauma these men faced. After one shooting and regurgitation of feelings/compassion/mercy and having already been guilty, I can see how the transition from killing once to killing many times can be facilitated. After that mental scarring, I don't know how anyone's psyche could measure up to any more stress. Under that tense, I suppose hardened killers can be formed --- defense mechanisms can be taken: repression, projection, isolation, reaction formation, etc. (I'm learning a lot of relevant info in Intro to Psych) to quell overpowering feelings.
I have just finished Ch. 7, so I guess I'm wary about this transformation from ordinary to hardened murderer. I just wonder and wished why more people could have stepped out of lines. Browning kept reinforcing the testimony of people on the firing squad that suggested that people could find a way out. It seemed easy and there seemed to be enough of them to at least start a break in the conformity. But perhaps this gives more emphasis to the role of cultural and societal pressure on these men's actions to simply follow orders.
I think something that is understood but not necessarily regarded in your post is the societal pressure that causes one to join the military or police in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIt is understood that the popular opinion in Germany is one that is very nationalistic. We have seen what happens to people who go against the nazi agenda, and that is something the members of 101 were definitely aware of.
Following orders is something you are fully aware of when you join the police or the military. Both are different from normal jobs because they are placed on the life and death level. If you do not follow orders, you are a coward, you're displaced and someone is brought in to replace you. If enough people resist then they become the enemy. Fear is such a powerful weapon because it is often such a hard thing to overcome.
Whether it's the social pressures of Germany, or the orders and the need to be a part of the batallion, fear cannot be overlooked.