Verified Document

Holocaust Stands As Proof That Term Paper

They knew that they had to remove the 'sub-human threat' and they did not hesitate to do everything in their power in order to be successful. Browning described how the individuals in the Reserve Police Battalion 101 were not necessarily indifferent to death, as they felt that it was their job to contribute in some way. If they failed to do so they apparently "risked isolation, rejection, and ostracism -- a very uncomfortable prospect within the framework of a tight-knit unit stationed abroad among a hostile population, so that the individual had virtually nowhere else to turn for support and social contact." (Browning 185) Regardless of whether these people were pressured or not, it is important to look at them from an objective perspective and understand that they were, to a certain degree, similar to their victims. These individuals were caught in a conflict that they did not believe in and they experienced a dehumanizing process that enabled them to get involved in mass-killings without actually feeling any regret as a consequence of their actions.

Both Levi and Browning focus on providing evidence that mass-murders committed during the Holocaust tend to draw the public's attention from other crimes. The Nazi system performed a complex dehumanizing process involving both prisoners and their captors. These people came to be indifferent toward what was happening all around them, as employing such an attitude would guarantee their survival and would enable them to be able to continue their lives without becoming direct victims themselves. Nazi leaders most probably considered that they first needed to destroy people in order for their system to be as effective as it could possibly be.

Although most people would believe that Levi's suffering is not even comparable to what individuals in death units experienced, the reality is that these people also went through horrible events...

Having to kill innocent individuals or simply watching them being killed leaves irreparable damage and trauma. While people in concentration camps were both physically and mentally destroyed, persons in death units were primarily destroyed on a mental level, as they had to return to their families knowing that they took part in the killing of innocent men, women, and children.
Levi's suffering lasted throughout the Holocaust and most certainly took its toll consequent to the event. Individuals in the Reserve Police Battalion 101 went through a similar episode as they tried to recover from what they have seen and experienced as they were completing their missions. Levi's description of his time in the camp perfectly emphasizes the gravity of conditions there. "Every now and again someone in front of us stumbles and falls in the black mud, and one has to be careful to avoid him and keep one's place in the column." (Levi 131) People did not have the time or the resources to express any interest in others during the Holocaust. Individuals in concentration camps and in death groups needed to focus on surviving and they could not feel empathy toward others. Being unwilling to kill innocent as a member of the Reserve Police Battalion 101 meant that one had to bring on reasons other than morality in order to get others to support him.

All things considered, the Nazi system succeeded in destroying many people's minds in spite of the fact that it did not destroy their bodies. Being left alive was not necessarily a privilege during the era, as one would be left with horrible memories and as he would have to relive them throughout his or her life free.

Works cited:

Browning, Christopher R., "Ordinary Men," (HarperCollins, 16.04.2013)

Levi, Primo, "Survival in Auschwitz: The Nazi Assault on Humanity," Collier Books, New York, 1961

Sources used in this document:
Works cited:

Browning, Christopher R., "Ordinary Men," (HarperCollins, 16.04.2013)

Levi, Primo, "Survival in Auschwitz: The Nazi Assault on Humanity," Collier Books, New York, 1961
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Holocaust Really Happened. The Systematic
Words: 2433 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

Those who could work, mostly men, were sent the other way and "processed" into the camp. They were stripped naked, all their belongings confiscated, and shaved from head to toe, given worn-out rags to wear and shoes that did not fit. There were no blankets, mattresses, pillows, or heat in the dormitory "beds" (like wooden boxes) where they slept six to a bed. They were systematically starved and used for

Trial of Eichmann the Trial
Words: 3003 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Paper

[footnoteRef:24] the act required, according to Hausner, detached, painstaking planning and the cooperation of thousands in order to destroy six million Jews and an untold number of others. Over 1,500 Jewish centers and thousands of communities had been erased. Of the 9.8 million Jews that were living in areas of Europe that would later be annexed by the Nazis, over half were dead by the end of the war.[footnoteRef:25] for

Origins and Rise of National
Words: 3207 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

Nevertheless, in the immediate period, due to the increasing prosperity, the Republican left started to benefit from the people's trust and this was proven as well by the elections in 1928. Moreover, the coalition formed by the German's people Party with the three Republican parties was undoubtedly considered a change. However, the situation was not to last long and one year afterwards in Germany the first signs of an economic

Modern-Day Corruption and Graft the Watergate Incident
Words: 2937 Length: 8 Document Type: A-Level Coursework

Modern-Day Corruption and Graft The Watergate incident that occurred in President Nixon's Administration is exemplary of modern day corruption. Here, the government under Nixon's presidency was recognized to have sanctioned a sequence of confidential monitoring operations conducted by highly-trained agents that was financed by illegal campaign contributions. The seriousness of the incident was such that Richard Nixon had to resign his presidency. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois offered differing philosophies,

U.S. Ignorance of Stalin's Crimes
Words: 6893 Length: 20 Document Type: Term Paper

In many ways, Russia is still recovering from it, trying to deal with the fact that only a few decades ago, it inflicted on itself one of the worst holocausts in human memory" (Hochschild, 1993). Therefore, the purges were used on the one hand to discourage the people and the elites in particular from establishing a dissident opposition or a negative pole of power that could have countered the

United States District Court for the Northern
Words: 580 Length: 2 Document Type: Multiple Chapters

United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ruled correctly in awarding partial summary judgment in this case. The summary judgment was granted in accordance with Rule 56(c) (3), Ala. R. Civ. P. Under Rule 56(c)(3), "summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." "If the moving party makes

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now