An Examination of the Motivations for German Perpetrators During World War II

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An Examination of the Motivations for German Perpetrators During World War II The Incentive to Kill: An Examination of the Motivations for German Perpetrators During World War II By Agathe Manikowski A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master’s of Arts In the Department of Political Science University of Ottawa May 2011 [Document Subtitle] © Agathe Manikowski, Ottawa, Canada, 2011 Acknowledgments I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my thesis supervisor Professor Dominique Arel, without whom, I would have never been able to produce anything of this scale in both size and content. His guidance and critiques have helped me immensely for this work. I would also like to thank him for giving me incredible opportunities by hiring me at the Chair of Ukrainian Studies and as his teaching assistant. I would also like to thank my fellow grad students, namely Allyson Gillett, Thomas Metcalf and Shayla Brush, who have been there for me and helped me every step of the way in these past two years. I am very grateful for all of their encouragement. Furthermore, I would like to whole-heartedly thank my parents for all of their guidance and support but most importantly for their confidence in me being able to take on this degree. Additionally, I want to thank Adam for all of his encouraging words, for putting up with me through my thesis writing hardships and for always being there for me. Lastly, I want to thank Karen for always being supportive and for being the first person to say she would love to read my thesis. Thank you all so much. i Abstract Why do ordinary individuals participate in mass violence perpetrated against civilians? That is the question I will attempt to answer in the following paper. I consider these men ordinary to the extent that the majority was not socially deviant. Looking at the case of Nazi Germany, two groups stand out as good case studies: the SS Einsatzgruppen and the SS cadres in the Death camps. The following analysis will focus on the motivations of these men to commit mass murder. I argue for a causal sequence of action, beginning with the onset of Nazi ideology, further followed by the dehumanization of the victim and the brutalization of the perpetrator. I will demonstrate how the ideology present during German interwar society influenced these men into participation. Dehumanization and brutalization are complimentary factors that push these men into action. ii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 The General Context of my Research ......................................................................................... 1 The specific context of my research ........................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review .............................................................................................. 5 Social Deviance .................................................................................................................................. 5 Brutalization ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 Coercion ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Authority ............................................................................................................................................. 8 Obedience ........................................................................................................................................................... 8 Bureaucratic Logic .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Conformity ........................................................................................................................................ 10 Cultural Predisposition ................................................................................................................ 11 Chapter 3: Main Argument: Ideology followed by Dehumanization and Brutalization Factors ........................................................................................................... 14 Ideology ............................................................................................................................................. 14 Dehumanization .............................................................................................................................. 19 Brutalization .................................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 4: Case Studies ....................................................................................................... 21 The SS Einsatzgruppen ................................................................................................................. 21 Purpose of the Einsatzgruppen .............................................................................................................. 21 Men of the SS Einsatzgruppen ................................................................................................................ 22 The Training Process .................................................................................................................................. 23 The Undertaking of the Einsatzgruppen ............................................................................................ 24 The Fulfillment of These Tasks .............................................................................................................. 25 Motivations for Action ............................................................................................................................... 28 Post-War Justifications .............................................................................................................................. 30 SS Personnel in Death Camps ..................................................................................................... 33 What Were the Death Camps? ................................................................................................................ 33 The Camps’ Functions ................................................................................................................................ 34 Camp Personnel ............................................................................................................................................ 36 The Euthanasia Program .......................................................................................................................... 37 The Fulfillment of These Tasks .............................................................................................................. 38 Motivations to Participate ........................................................................................................................ 39 Post-War Justifications .............................................................................................................................. 41 Chapter 5: Analysis .............................................................................................................. 44 Ideology ............................................................................................................................................. 44 German Inter-War Society ....................................................................................................................... 44 A Question of Belonging ............................................................................................................................ 46 Party Adherence and Real Nazis ............................................................................................................ 47 Indoctrination ................................................................................................................................................ 49 Orders and Choice ........................................................................................................................................ 51 Dehumanization .............................................................................................................................. 51 Brutalization .................................................................................................................................... 53 iii Mass Killing: A Recurring Occurrence ..................................................................................... 54 Rwanda ............................................................................................................................................................. 54 Former Yugoslavia ....................................................................................................................................... 55 Chapter 6: Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 58 Appendix 1: Timeline of the Holocaust ......................................................................... 60 Appendix 3: Map of Einsatzgruppen Action ................................................................. 62 Appendix 4: Tallied Victims of Einsatzgruppen ........................................................
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