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Sergeant Ernst Hergert
Sergeant Toni Bentheim (an alias) is part of Lieutenant Gnade’s Second Company of Reserve Police Battalion 101. He takes part in both the Józefów and Łomazy massacres. Like most battalion leaders, Bentheim has no qualms about allowing men who don’t want to shoot to distance themselves from the violence, but the most striking part of Bentheim’s interrogation file is his description of the unimaginable bloodshed that occurred at both massacres—men covered in brain matter and skull fragments because they’d shot their victims a little too high on the head and men standing in knee-high puddles of blood and mud. In other words, Bentheim provides an image of what these massacres looked like to illustrate just how horrific they were. Bentheim’s descriptions also help explain why so many men who initially believed they could spend the day on the firing squads ultimately changed their minds and asked to be excused.
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Sergeant Anton “Toni” Bentheim Character Timeline in Ordinary Men
The timeline below shows where the character Sergeant Anton “Toni” Bentheim appears in Ordinary Men. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 16: Aftermath
...three and a half), Steinmetz (not included in the verdict due to failing health), and Bentheim (six years). While these sentences might seem inadequate, it must be remembered that this was...
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Chapter 17: Germans, Poles, and Jews
...prisoner (and beating them) until the Germans arrived to collect them. On the other hand, Bentheim remembers offering a Polish policeman the opportunity to shoot some Jews but the policeman adamantly...
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