Browning is best known for his 1992 book ordinary men. Members of the battalion crossed into poland at the border town of oppeln and then moved through czestochowa to kielce, where they roundedup polish soldiers and military equipment and guarded a pow camp. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland from the worlds largest community of readers. German police battalions and regiments axis history forum. Yet in time most would become willing participants. Eleven months later, 75 to 80 percent were deadthe result, browning says, of a short, intense wave of mass murder, centered in poland. Its an account of the reserve police battalion 101s brutality in poland in 194243 when it 500 men shot 38,000 jews and sent 45,000 by train to treblinka.
Reserve police battalion 101 facing history and ourselves. Apr 04, 2015 initially, the police battalion 101 german. Browning argues that most of the men of rpb 101 were not fanatical nazis but, rather, ordinary middleaged, workingclass. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland, historian christopher browning shows that while the men were expected to follow orders when it came to killing civilians, they could have refused to do so. The second event was the exhibition of the hamburg institute of social research, war of. Police battalion 101 battalion formed from hamburg formed pol. What kind of person kills civilians, including old people and even babies, all day long. Major wilhelm trapp, a wwi veteran and career police officer headed the battalion. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland explores the activities of a battalion of german police officers who are, in various ways, involved in the murder of vast numbers of jews in occupied poland during world war ii. Polizeibataillon 101 guarded polish prisoners of war behind german lines, and carried out expulsion of poles, called resettlement actions, in the. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland, new york.
For this reason, the unit was mostly comprised of men in their forties and those unfit for combat duty. Leader of reserve police battalion 101 53yearold career police officer who rose through the ranksheaded the battalion although he became a nazi in 1932, he was not a member of the ss, although his two captains were. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland, a study of german ordnungspolizei order police reserve unit 101, which committed massacres and roundups of jews for deportations to nazi death camps in germanoccupied poland in 1942. They were police reservists, not trained in combat, some of whom worked with and had been friendly with jews before the war. This battalion consisted of roughly five hundred men and was composed mostly of working class men from hamburg. Nov 05, 2019 police battalion 101 was formed in hamburg, and was one of many reserve police battalions formed to maintain control over the civilian populations of the occupied territories germany annexed leading up to the second world war. Trapp then made an extraordinary offer to his battalion. In the early hours of july, 1942, the men of reserve police battalion 101, a unit of the german order police, entered the polish village of jozefow. Ordinary men is the true story of reserve police battalion 101 of the german order police, which was responsible for mass shootings as well as roundups of jewish people for deportation to nazi death camps in poland in 1942.
This group of 500 policemen, most of them from hamburg, was made up of truly ordinary men. However, i think the preface is really good, so please dont skip that. A few days later they arrived at the town of bilgoraj, south of lublin. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland 1992 see other formats. Apr 12, 1992 battalion 101 of the order police together with other order police battalions contributed to the manpower needed to carry out this immense task. The real story of reserve police battalion 101 doesnt actually start until chapter 5 page 38. Police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland, christopher r. Reserve police battalion 101, in contrast to many of the killing units operating in. During 16 months, reserve police battalion 101, a unit of just over 450 men from hamburg, was responsible in poland for the shooting of 39,000 jews and the deportation to treblinka of 44,000 more. However, this was unacceptable to the reserve police battalion 101. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland tells the story of normal people who are commissioned to carry out horrific deeds in the most notorious mass killing in modern history, and offers an important insight into who the perpetrators of genocide really are.
In his book on one group of reserve policemen from the german city hamburg, ordinary men. Ordinary men reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland book. Ordinary men reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland. The men of battalion 101 committed mass murder because they were caught up in brutal, polarizing war, they were told time and time. Battalion 101 of the order police together with other order police. Here for the first time they were told the purpose of their mission. Their main responsibilities were the ghetto clearing of poland and the deportation of jews. Please let me know how you would want me to get you access to this book.
Shocking as it is, this booka crucial source of original research used for the bestseller hitlers willing executionersgives evidence to suggest the opposite. Reservepolizeibataillon 101 was in nazi germany a paramilitary formation of the uniformed police force known as order police ordnungspolizei, abbreviated as orpo, operating under the leadership of the ss. From the back cover ordinary men is the true story of reserve police battalion 101 of the german order police, which was responsible for mass shootings as well as roundups of jewish people for deportation to nazi death camps in poland in 1942. The men of ss reserve police battalion 101 celebrate. For example, on july 1942, the hamburg reserve police battalion 101 companies stationing in zamosc, bilgoraj, radzyn and later in the lukow area, under the command of major wilhelm trapp executed 1,500 polish jews, men, women and children in the forest near jozefow, bilgoraj county. According to browning, the jozefow massacrethe first time the men of reserve police battalion 101 are ordered to kill jewswas an extremely traumatic event for all the men involved. In his finely focused and stunningly powerful book, ordinary men. Major wilhelm trapp, a 53yearold career police officer who had come up through the ranks, headed the battalion.
Like the national guard in the united states, these german battalions were organized regionally. Formed in hamburg, it was deployed in september 1939 along with the wehrmacht army in the. German police battalion 101 ethics unwrapped the university of. Reserve police battalion 101 was a nazi german paramilitary formation of ordnungspolizei order police, serving under the control of the ss by law. Using detailed interviews carried out by state prosecutors in the 1960s, browning reconstructs how this group of average, middleaged men from hamburg readily. Nov 19, 2010 the book closes with the following statement and question. Ordinary men reserve police battalion 101 and the final. I can purchase it from amazon for kindle if need be. Group portrait of members of police battalion 101 beneath. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland, is a reversal of the band of brothers theme so prevalent in american films on world war ii. When germany invaded poland in september 1939 police battalion 101 based in hamburg was one of the initial battalions attached to a german army group and sent to poland. The first was the publication of my book ordinary men.
No single event changed them, the transformation was multicausal in nature. Reserve police battalion 101 was made up of approximately 500 men most from working and lowermiddleclass neighborhoods in hamburg germany. Reserve police battalion 11 and the final solution in. The first and best documented of the massacres took place on 2930 september 1941, killing approximately 33,771 jews. They had arrived in poland less than three weeks before, most of them recently drafted family men too old for combat service. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland, christopher r.
Legal proceedings were undertaken separately against the police battalions 101, 102, 104, and 305. Many men in the unit had difficulty killing unarmed civilians and the elimination of. Crossing the border from oppeln in silesia, the battalion passed through czestochowa to the polish city of kielce. If the men of reserve police battalion 101 cold become killers under such circumstances, what group of men cannot. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland tells the story of battalion 101, a group of 500 policemen in their 30s and 40s who were sent into poland to participate in a special action without being told exactly what they are doing. They had arrived in poland less than three weeks before, most of them recently drafted family men too old for combat serviceworkers. Initially, the police battalion 101 guarded polish prisoners of war behind german lines, and carried out expulsion of poles, called resettlement actions, in the new warthegau territory around poznan and lodz. Most of the men in battalion 101 came from working and lowermiddleclass neighborhoods in hamburg, germany. Within virtually every social collective, the peer group exerts tremendous pressures on behavior and sets the moral norms. Police battalions 101, 102, 103 and 305 were implemented. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland is a nonfiction account of the genocidal journey of a police battalion conscripted into hitlers final solution, mostly from firsthand accounts of the men themselves from their interrogations when they were put on trial in the 1960s. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland 9780060995065 by browning, christopher r. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland christopher r. Ordinary men is the true story of reserve police battalion 101 of the german order police, which was responsible for mass shootings as well as round.
Reserve police battalion 101 jewish virtual library. Browning classifies the men of police battalion 101 as being ordinary. On june 20, 1942, reserve police battalion 101 from hamburg, consisting of eleven officers, five administrators and 486 men set out by truck for poland. Professor brownings book recounts the events and the participation of the reserve police battalion 101 in the extermination of the polish jewry. Many men in the unit had difficulty killing unarmed civilians and the elimination of the towns jews was only accomplished with great difficulty. He used as his sample set the postwar testimonies given by men of the reserve police battalion 101 out of cover via amazon hamburg and placed them against the back drop of official nazi records of the time. Police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland. Browning tried to understand how entire groups of men like this battalion could repeatedly round up and shoot thousands of unarmed people. Christopher brownings focus is on a reserve police ordnungspolizei battalion, number 101.
This event came to be when in late august, battalion 101 was ordered a unofficial later to be official shooting order in parczew, one of the ghettos in poland. The men who pulled the triggers the new york times. By november 1943, the once reluctant police battalion 101 would conduct, without hesitation or remorse, massacres at majdanek and pontiawa that, in total, took over 30,000 lives. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution. Police more specifically the actions of reserve police battalion 101 in poland and the role they played in the second world war during the jewish holocaust.
They went through their formative period in a pre nazi era, came from hamburg one of the least nazified cities in germany, they. Ordinary men is a microhistory, the detailed study of a single unit in the nazi killing machine. I find the preceding pages of the book to be helpfulinteresting context, but you are welcome to skip those. Throughout this aptly titled book, this account of germanys reserve police battalion 101 supports brownings position that these predominantly workingclass men from hamburg were transformed into killers.
Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland. Formed in hamburg, it was deployed in september 1939 along with the wehrmacht army in the invasion of poland. Police battalion 101 guard duty litzmannstadt ghetto ushmm when nazi germany invaded poland during september 1939, police battalion 101 from hamburg was one of the initial battalions attached to a german army group. Police battalion 101 was composed of veterans from world war one and men too old to be drafted into the regular forces. Einsatzgruppen, ss and reserve olice battalion 101. The book discusses why ordinary men in midlife having grown up in the prenazi germany were willing to commit atrocities. Jewish men, women, and children were murdered near their homes in surrounding fields and forests by german police forces and their local helpers. The reserve police battalion 101 was a group of ordinary men from hamburg, with most men not having any experience in any kind of military service. By nightfall, they had rounded up jozefows 1,800 jews, selected several. Brownings extraordinary but troubling study of the involvement of a unit of parttime policemen in the holocaust. The book helps understand how many ordinary men, nonpolicemen from different backgrounds all participated in various mass murder.
Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland in 1992, quickly followed by daniel goldhagens hitlers willing executioners. An account of the atrocities committed by the men of reserve police battalion 101 of the german order police in poland during ww2. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland new york, 1993. Many were able to escape this fate and ran away into the forest nearby. Browning evaluates a wide range of evidence to seek to explain the actions of the ordinary men who made up reserve police battalion 101, taking advantage of the wide range of resources prepared in the early 1960s for a proposed war crimes trial. Reserve police battalion 101 and the final solution in poland it made me how quick a person can go from being innocent to guilty, which is the case of the book. Ordinary men is the true story of reserve police battalion 101 of the german order. He presents a case of the police battalion 101 that comprised of randomly selected germans handpicked from remote areas of germany and directed to exterminate the. Any book that seeks to go behind the scenes of nazi killing units faces the problem that the men involved invariably lie about their experience. German police battalion 101 holocaust historical society. They had arrived in poland less than three weeks before, most of them recently drafted family men too old for combat serviceworkers, artisans, salesmen, and clerks.
Raised in hamburg, battalion 101 was one of thirteen police formations that were put at the disposal of the german army during its invasion of poland in september 1939. To find answers to such questions, historian christopher browning studied courtroom testimony made in the 1960s and 1970s by 210 men who served in the german reserve police battalion 101. Nov 02, 2018 christopher brownings focus is on a reserve police ordnungspolizei battalion, number 101. Browning argues that most of the men of rpb 101 were not fanatical nazis but ordinary middleaged, workingclass men who committed these atrocities out of a mixture of. Members of the battalion crossed into poland at the border town of oppeln and then moved through czestochowa to kielce, where they roundedup polish soldiers and military. The majority of the details about the battalion come from trials held in germany in the 1960s. Students invariably like to know if they are right, so share with them slide 16 which is one historians recent view, christopher brownings, from his book ordinary men. Its an account of the reserve police battalion 101 s brutality in poland in 194243 when it 500 men shot 38,000 jews and sent 45,000 by train to treblinka.
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