The Quiet Dissenters

The extent to which Ordinary Men discusses the numerous and brutal "Jew Hunts" that Reserve Battalion 101 participated in while the military attempted to make much of Poland "judenfrei" is very effective in allowing the reader to understand the mentality of those in the battalion. Browning minces very few words in describing the horrific acts, and yet his narrative seems necessarily removed from the action on many occasions. Rather than spending an endless amount of time trying to unpack why so many soldiers participated in mass murder that they may or may not have personally approved of, he turns to those who, tacitly or not, disapproved of or avoided the Jew Hunts.

Soldiers and officers such as Buchmann, Hoffmann, and Bittner, all of whom would fall into that category, were not the norm around Reserve Police Battalion 101. Browning explicitly says that "it was quite easy for the officers and NCOs to for a 'Jew Hunt' patrol or firing squad simply by asking for volunteers" (128). And in such and environment, several men would later say, you would be looked down upon and seen as derelict in your duty if you avoided action. These three men were proof of such a statement. Hoffmann in particular, as an officer, was all but dismissed from the army because he seemingly avoided all the brutal actions by falling ill. Did these men follow a moral code that others lacked? Did they simply care more? Did they have a physical reaction to the violence that others hid or were able to suppress? Whatever their reasons, they can still be considered guilty of allowing it to continue, and making no lasting attempt to end the brutality.