Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland

Describes the organization of the Ordnungspolizei, some of whose units were placed under SS command and carried out mass shootings in the USSR and Poland. In the Lublin area, apart from the "Trawnikis", the Order Police were the chief manpower resource for carrying out the Final Solution. Examines the career of Reserve Police Battalion 101, comprised of middle-aged men from Hamburg, under the command of Major Wilhelm Trapp. They arrived in the Lublin district in June 1942. Between July-September they massacred the Jews of Józefów, Łomazy, Serokomla, Końskwola, and Kock. In October-November they rounded up Jews for deportation from smaller towns and villages to Międzyrzec and Luków, and from there to Treblinka. During 1943 they hunted for Jews hiding in towns and forests. On 4-5 November they manned cordons as the last Jews (more than 30,500) were led to their deaths in Majdanek and Poniatowa in "Operation Erntefest". Describes Trapp's distress at the orders, which he nevertheless carried out; the traumatization of the men at the first massacre and the gradual hardening; the sadism of some officers, especially Lieutenant Hartwig Gnade; and the refusal of 10%-20% of the men to take part in anti-Jewish actions. Gnade was later killed in action; Trapp and one of his men were sentenced to death after the war, in Poland. Fourteen others were tried in 1967-68 in Hamburg; three received prison sentences of 3.5-8 years. In preparation for the trial, 210 members of the battalion were interrogated; this book is based on their testimony. Discusses the psychological mechanisms which caused them to participate in war crimes. Ideology and antisemitism are hardly mentioned in their accounts; suggests that the explanation lies in a sadistic potential in most human beings, a tendency to obey authority, career considerations, and solidarity with comrades.