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- Menschenschreck
- "If the international financiers in and outside Europe should succeed in
- plunging the nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be
- the Bolshevizing of the earth, and thus the victory of Jewry, but the
- annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe."
- - Adolf Hitler- Jan 30, 1939
-
- When the Nazi party came to power in January of 1933, it almost
- immediately began to take hostile measures toward the Jewish people. The
- government passed special legislation that excluded Jews from the protection
- of German law. The property of Jews was then legally seized, and
- concentration camps were set up in which Jews were executed, tortured, or
- condemned to slave labor. The Nazis organized sporadic and local massacres
- which occurred in a nationwide program in 1938. After the outbreak of World
- War II anti-Semitic activity increased dramatically. By the end of the war,
- millions of Jews and others targeted by the Nazis, had been killed in the
- Holocaust. The Jewish dead numbered more than 5 million: about 3 million in
- killing centers and other camps, 1.4 million in shooting operations, and more
- than 600,000 in Polish ghettos. Who were the men that carried out these
- terrible murders? One would think them to be savage killers specially
- selected for their history of brutality and violence. But, in fact, these
- men were typically normal middle-aged business men. How could these
- ordinary men be influenced in such a way to allow them to commit such
- atrocities? The governmental policies, pressures of comrades and individual
- behaviors helped to transform these men into the mass murderers of European
- Jews that they soon became.
- The government and the military were very important to the transformation of
- these men. The men of the battalions were often told how the German race was
- the greatest on earth. Their commanding officers continually reminded them
- that as Germans they had to be strong and ruthless. They were told to
- project an image of superiority and not to show any mercy on the inferior
- Jewish race. Anti-Semitism was practiced throughout the government and
- military. One policy the government continually reinforced was that that the
- Jews were not even humans. The Jews were often referred to as ôwild animalsö
- and given no respect. Some commanders of the Order Police encouraged
- shooting blindly into the ghettos to try to shoot down Jews for sport.
- Company recreation rooms were commonly decorated with racist slogans and
- victory celebrations were often held when large numbers of Jews were killed.
- The military units held weekly ôclassö in which they taught ôideological
- propagandaö that would use literature such as pamphlets entitled ôSS Man and
- The Question of Bloodö and ôThe Politics of Race." These classes furthered
- the idea that the Jews were nothing but a troublesome inferior race. They
- were taught how to kill their victims so that they would die quickly and
- suffer little. The government also issued such laws as the Barbarossa decree
- which gave the order police a varitable ôshooting licenseö against the
- Russians. The Order police were told that they were in a war against the Jews
- and the Bolsheviks and they ôshould proceed ruthlessly against the Jews.ö
- The Order police ôshould be proud to be participating in the defeat of the
- world enemy, Bolshevism. The soldiers were continually reminded of how the
- women and children in Germany were being bombed and how the Jews instigated
- the American boycott which was destroying GermanyÆs economy. If the soldiers
- were searching career advancement in the Police force. If this was the case,
- ôorders are ordersö, and the soldier would comply with the orders of their
- superiors. Through these ideas presented by the institutions of government
- and military the Order Police became a strong killing machine.
- The comrades of an individual soldier had a profound influence on the
- transformation from normal citizen to murderer. Although this influence may
- have been unintentional it was still a major factor. Peer pressureÆs a
- bitch. The pressure to conform to the job at hand was great in these small
- tightly knit battalions. By not shooting, an individual would not be doing
- his part in an already unpleasant task. Stepping out would make the rest of
- the battalion believe that the soldier thought himself to be ôtoo goodö for
- such tasks. The mission had to be accomplished with or without him.
- Policemen who did not shoot were often isolated, rejected and ostracized by
- their comrades. The policemen had nowhere else to turn for mental support
- and societal contact besides his comrades. He would not want to jeopardize
- this over the simple matter of killing mere ôwild animals.ö Another way the
- men in the battalions were able to kill the Jews was that they were supplied
- with rations of alcohol. They were drunk for many of the killings. One of
- the soldiers was quoted as saying ôMost of the other comrades drank so much
- solely because of the many shootings of the Jews, for such a life was quite
- intolerable sober.ö
- The individuals personal justifications helped to change the behavior of the
- soldiers. Many of the soldiers tried to prove to themselves that what they
- were doing was right. They justified their actions with such comments as
- ôThey are destroying Germany.ö It soon became policy for the policemen to
- kill the Jews. It was a daily ritual for the Police to slaughter thousands
- of Jews everyday. They genuinely thought that they were helping the world by
- relieving it of the waste of society, the Jews.
- By the end of the war the soldiers of the Order Police had become mass
- killers of the European Jews. The Order Police had effectively dehumanized
- the Jews and for many of the soldiers murder was daily practice. In fact,
- some of the soldiers came to enjoy it. They would try and come up with any
- excuse to beat or shoot a Jew. Some of the soldiers would set their watches
- ahead so as to beat Jews out after the curfew. They would also rip the Star
- of David off the Jews clothing and then beat the Jew for not wearing it. The
- killing of jews became so routine that it was oftenly refered to as ôOur
- Daily Breadö by some of the more ôeager killers.ö
- The Government and military, comrades and personal justifications placed
- upon the Order Police of World War Two turned them into the largest mass
- murders of all time. In total approximatly six million jews were masacured
- by these so-called ôordinary men.ö
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