Ordinary Men: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Only about a dozen out of 500 men immediately take advantage of Trapp’s offer to excuse themselves from the mass murder. One of the reasons so few men choose to step out right away is that they have very little time to truly comprehend what killing another person entails. Another major factor is the pressure on the individual to conform and not separate from the rest of the group. The battalion is fairly new and their bond is still forming, but the men still don’t want to step out on their comrades—doing so would be an admission of weakness. Indeed, some men cite fear of being called a coward in their decision to shoot. One man, on the other hand, says his choice to shoot that day was actually cowardly.

According to Browning, most of the interrogated policemen struggle to explain why they chose to shoot when Trapp offered them the chance to opt out in the beginning. Some try to rationalize that stepping out wouldn’t have changed the Jews’ fates and one man even claims that killing the children was an act of mercy that saved them from life without their parents. What’s clearest to Browning is that the men were more concerned for their standing within the battalion than with any sense of shared humanity with their victims. The Jews were simply beyond their obligation, which is a common element of the “us” and “them” mentality of war.

According to Browning, even if the men in the battalion aren’t actively anti-Semitic, they accept the idea that the Jews are the enemy. Trapp appeals to this when he urges the men to think of how “the enemy” is killing German women and children while they carry out a mass execution of Jewish women and children. Between the dozen men who step out before the shooting begins and the number of men who either evade or request to be excused after it commences, Browning estimates that between 10 and 20 percent of the battalion opt out of the firing squads at some point. This is a significant number, but it still means that 80 percent of the men who initially choose to shoot keep going until all 1,500 Jews are dead.

Although the men who admit to shooting and then stepping out at some point cite physical disgust as their reason for opting out, Browning argues that, given their general lack of education, one can’t expect an eloquent explanation of abstract principles like ethics or politics. However, just because they don’t know how to talk about these things doesn’t mean their disgust doesn’t have roots in a more humane instinct. Some even do express political or ethical opposition to violence against the Jews, but it’s rare. A couple of men, including Buchmann, claim their lack of interest in a lifelong career or promotion makes it easier to step out.

After the massacre, everyone in the battalion resents that they were asked to kill people, including the men who chose to shoot the whole time. Still, only a few actively try to get themselves out of being put in such a position again, including Buchmann, who asks Trapp to get him a transfer back to Hamburg. Trapp and his superiors do not worry about the few people with ethical opposition to violence; their concern is the widespread demoralization resulting from the killing process. To alleviate this psychological burden after Józefów, most of the battalion’s duties include clearing ghettos rather than committing mass executions, and auxiliary units help with the worst violence. This makes it easier for the battalion to continue their participation in the Final Solution.