torturers

has anyone ever read up on the people who did the actual torturing in WW2?? how would they be 'selected' to be one? did they ''volunteer''?...

 

I thought of buying this book one day but have not done so yet.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Good-Old-Days-Perpetrators/dp/1568521332

I have read the autobiography of Rudolf Höss ( Auschwitz commandant ) but like usual these men often consider it an order nothing else.

 

much thanks again...just requested that one also....that sounds like a good one....[ I'm not a nut/crazy ]

 

I have read several books on why these men did this and I think trying to "understand" is a very different thing to being a neonazi or racist.

Even after holocaust there have been massacres around the world, Idi Amin, the Red Khmers, Former Yugoslavia etc...

 

I'm glad you mentioned Amin...I haven't read/researched that area....from what I've seen, he sounds like a real 'nutcase'...I'll have to check that area, sometime...yes, I once saw a lady that researched serial killers, and she was thought of as interesting, where as a male doing that would be thought of as '''?crazy""..did Amin's people torture?

 

It's an interesting question and a believe it is wide ranging. Take Police Battalion 101 for example. They were not ardent National Socialists, they had no real political agenda (I believe most members originated from Hamburg which was very anti-Nazi). They were blue collar workers, craftsmen and laborers and seemed to have no ideological influences. The only real influence they had was making a living serving their country. I do believe many were more than happy to join the cause and were vicious Nazi's and believed fully in the Final Solution, but I think some believed it was a career builder. Numerous 101 members saw themselves as career security officers and police officers after the war. Does this take away from their part in these murders, absolutely not, but it may have been the reason they were conscripted in the first place.

 

sounds like maybe, war brings out the 'bad'?

 

The Browning book is good as it shows that even though later said differently, many German soldiers refused to kill, and there was no death penalty for those who did not do it. The troops were as follows: 1/3 did not kill, 1/3 killed once or twice and stopped,and 1/3 kept on killing in Poland. And int the end of 10 soldiers 3 did not want to be part of this action at all, 3-4 did their duty, and 3 became killing monsters and turned into sadists.

 

I'd say that sounds like logical numbers..I would think peer pressure [ silent and not ] would cause some to kill...

 

Personally I say the book says it all and unfortunately the figures could be compared to people all around the world.... Some refuse and and some enjoy to kill.... Saw the tv program on one of the Red Khmers and he was truly sorry about the kills. However the number of kills was so big that it was like saying the victims pressed the trigger again and again....He was a victim as well. Really????

 

probably trying to cover himself

 

That's usually people such as those try to cover that up. They try to act like they are sorry. Now there are cases where they are genuinely sorry, but with other cases you have to question how sincerely they are sorry.

 

most people think they are never in the wrong, no matter what they do..they rationalize it...what's the term? begins with a 'P'??

 

"Plead" or "prove their case" maybe? :unsure:

 

no, maybe I'm mistaken--the term means people justify their actions/ideas/ideals/malice/etc subconsciously..maybe it doesn't start with P

 

I've watched & read "The Caine Mutiny" too many times...Paranoid.

I believe that the Narcissist may also share that trait.

 

that's been on a lot recently

 

DVD.

But my old copy of the book has fallen apart, so I have to find another copy.

 

what finally happened??I thought they were justified in taking over command? I never saw the whole thing