The Perpetrators Of The Nazi-Led Genocide Of European Jewry

Perpetrators and the Genocide of European Jewry The Nazi-led genocide of European Jewries is an event in history that could never be forgotten. The goal of the Nazis regime to eliminate the Jewish population was accomplished with the help of perpetrators. Perpetrators involved a variety of people that included ordinary Germans, Police Battalion 101, Jews in concentration camps, etc. That being said, their motives as to why they decided to be a part of such a horrible event are complex. Their reasons ranged from pressure, a violent environment, anti-semitic feelings, and survival. Hence, it can be argued that the perpetrators of the Nazi-led genocide of European Jewry carried out their actions because they became influenced due to

Christopher R. Browning in his book “Ordinary Men,” argues the influence that violence and pressure had on these men to carry out a such attack. For instance, he mentions that some of the men who agreed “sincerely thought that they had no choice when faced with orders to kill,” emphasizing the nature of their actions (Browning, pg. 170). If they didn’t follow orders, what would happen to them? Even though some were given the choice to not be a part of this, it is predictable that there was a sense of hesitance to disobey orders. In addition, he states “many policemen admitted responding to the pressures of conformity,” by making such a statement one can infer that some felt forced to act as they did because they did not want to be judged by their peers (Browning, pg.174). Some preferred to agree to murder rather than to face cowardness from their peers. For some, it was not about obeying authority, but rather an act of strength and not

His book chapter, “The Gray Zone” allows us to see the dominant power that the Nazi regime had by creating labor and concentration camps with the intention to murder Jews and to make them involved in such things. In order for the victims of the camps to live longer, they needed to be accomplices of camp authorities. For instance, Levi states “They were generally poor devils like us [...], but who for an extra half-liter of soup would take on these and other service functions,” one can infer that if they were willing to turn on their own people for an extra amount of soup it meant that they were not eating as much as they should be to remain healthy (Levi, pg.2436). We can’t judge them for turning on their own people if we’ve never been in their position, however it is evident that it is a natural instinct for a human to seek survival. Some testimonials reach the same conclusions as they state, “Of course, I could have killed myself or let myself be killed, but I wanted to live,” emphasizing their desire to live (Levi, pg. 2443). Of course, they did not want to turn against their own people, but they didn’t want to die either. That being said, if turning against their own people gave them the chance to live longer or have hope for survival they were willing to take the