Elizabeth D. (LizGH) reviewed Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland on + 132 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
The author addresses the question of how 'ordinary men' turn into killers by looking closely at the well-documented actions of one reserve police battalion in bringing Hitler's Final Solution to the villages of Poland. Interesting interpretation, well-documented, a different and more focused examination of the subject.
John F. reviewed Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
How regular cops and kids become murderers. They weren't monsters, they weren't madmen, they were 'just guys doing a job'. To explain is not to excuse and the understand is not to forgive, as the forward to the book puts it. Chilling.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a very interesting WWII book. The most curious thing comes from the title Ordinary Men. It is common to read in Nazi stories that a soldier "was simply following orders." Yet these men were policemen, and the people they were inflicting were neighbors. If you read this book you will gain a better insight into the mores of the times.
