The efficiency of the entire German killing machine improved by leaps and bounds. To the huge relief of the soldiery, slaughtering the Jews personally soon became a thing of the past. Instead most of the victims could be crammed into trains and sent off to Treblinka, the main regional extermination camp. Herding Jewish civilians into trains and sending them off to a certain death seemed easy, compared with having to kill them one by one. To help the policemen relax in the evenings, their spirit rations were increased and singers and actors were sent from Berlin to entertain them. Also, prisoners of war from the Eastern Front could now be detailed to deal with the more repulsive aspects of their task.
The battalion’s past experience had led them to adopt much more effective ways of killing Jews, which were also less emotionally disturbing. The men realised that there was no point in making the victims lie down before shooting them and instead herded them along to line up on the edge of a waiting pit. The double advantage was that they could be shot from a greater distance, and that the dead fell straight into their grave.
However, this method meant that many were only wounded as they fell, and it became the task of the East European POWs to go down into the grave and shoot anyone who moved or moaned. The prisoners were given very large vodka rations, and were out of their minds with alcohol before descending into the pits, where they had to wade through a knee-high mixture of blood and ground water They shot wildly, bullets criss-crossing the bunker dangerously as they aimed at the floating bodies.
Most of the policemen became accustomed to the slaughter as an everyday occurrence and grew hardened to the task. They had learned to cope.
Browning describes some of the men and their lives: There is the normally ‘strict and unapproachable’ SS officer who becomes bed-ridden with diarrhoea and stomach cramps every time another ‘Jewish action’ is announced. We learn of how he attempts to hide his weakness from his superiors.
There is the talented, self-assured officer who enjoys driving his car standing up, like a general. He brings his young bride on a honeymoon trip to Poland and invites her along to a ghetto operation, but his men strongly object to a woman being allowed to watch what they do.
There is the group of entertainers from Berlin, whose members beg to be allowed to join a Jewish action and do some of the killing. The battalion officers permit this.
There is the stench, carried in the wind blowing in over the town of Lublin as thousands of Jewish bodies are burnt on the outskirts.
There is the care taken by some of the soldiers when they receive orders to kill their own ‘kitchen-Jews’. They avoid raising any suspicion and go to quite a lot of trouble to shoot their servants suddenly from behind and at close range, so they won’t suffer or experience the dread that other Jews were exposed to.
Responsibility towards colleagues
Before the publication of Browning’s book, obedience to authority was regarded as the primary mechanism that allowed ordinary Germans to turn into mass murderers, a conclusion based partly on the experimental results of Stanley Milgram and others.
Browning’s account changes this view. His research indicates that by far the stronger influence is a sense of responsibility to comrades, which made the men carry on regardless. More than anything, the members of the ‘Jewish action’ battalion wanted to avoid being regarded as weaklings. Also, the killings were widely detested, which meant that backing out marked you out as selfish, someone who lacked team spirit – after all, you were handing your share of the killings over to your colleagues.
‘Eager killers’
As time went on, some of the men became so intensely engaged in the killing sessions that they ‘overreacted’ to new orders. They would beat up their victims for no reason at all, or amuse themselves after a drunken evening by driving into a town to shoot at live, moving targets. In the phrase used within this area of research, they developed into ‘eager killers’, Browning’s term for ‘excessive perpetrators’.
One example is the 48-year-old officer who, in the early stages, would always see to it that his men got out of harm’s way when another Jew-killing excursion was due. Later his behaviour changed dramatically. During the ‘Jewish actions’ he often drank as heavily as the Eastern POWs did before they were sent down into the mass graves. He became even more brutal than the battalion’s two young SS captains and forced his men to carry out acts of degrading cruelty, such as commanding old Jews from a town ghetto to undress and crawl naked across the forest floor, or telling his men to beat their elderly victims with sticks cut from the trees.
Internationally there is still insufficient data to state with any certainty what proportion of perpetrators is prone to excess. But Browning’s calculations do coincide with the results of a social-psychology experiment known as the Stanford Prison Experiment. Also, confirmation of the cited figures will be part of the argument in a forthcoming book by the Danish researcher and DCGI user Torben jørgensen:
10–20% of perpetrators try to obtain transfer to other duties;
50–80% do as they are told;
10–30% develop into eager killers and run riot, intoxicated
by torture, rape and murder.
The future
The research into the nature and behaviour of the perpetrators of genocide is still hampered by too little hard information. There is little statistical justification for extrapolating conclusions based on data from twenty-two senior party members and one battalion of reservists to the analysis of mechanisms driving millions of human beings.
The Holocaust is, undoubtedly, the genocide that has been most thoroughly investigated. Even so, the gaps in our understanding are huge and the unexplored archival material is vast. Many of the 7,500 guards at Auschwitz were interrogated, but the records have not yet been examined.
Recent research has continued along the lines suggested by Christopher Browning. One approach is that of regional studies, i.e. a precise analysis of a selected region. This opens up opportunities to investigate interactions between the Nazi Party and local police, military, local administration and business.
To date, very little work has been carried out on the collaboration between the Nazis and the populations of often strongly anti-Semitic East European countries under German occupation. Now that the archives of the former Soviet Union are available to researchers, many new investigations are under way.
It may seem odd to prioritise work on the behaviour of individual Germans in the context of exterminations carried out sixty years ago, when other genocides, for instance in the Soviet Union and in China, have cost more lives yet remain virtually unexamined. However, there is no other genocide in known history that is as thoroughly recorded, with archival material that is both extensive and accessible. The expectation is that continued research will provide insight well beyond Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, and can be applied to other, less documented genocides.
Above all, such heightened understanding could and should be used to prevent similar catastrophes in the future, events that mankind has been enduring for too long and would prefer to forget.
This article is based on several sources. The most important are:
Becoming Evil. How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing by James Waller (Oxford University Press, 2002)
Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning (HarperCollins, 1992)
A second and final article on the subject ‘The Psychology of Evil’ will appear in the next issue of Genocide News. It will present a selection of investigations by social psychologists into the minds of genocide perpetrators.
30
‘I didn’t want to burden you with this before. It’s my job to do the worrying, after all.’
Paul looks serious. He stands in front of the low bookshelf with back issues of Genocide News, his arms crossed over his chest, his feet solidly planted well apart – the posture of a commanding officer demonstrating the serious nature of his spee
ch to the troops. He has asked Anne-Lise to join the others in the Winter Garden.
‘I need to bring you up to speed. The lawyers in the Ministry of Finance have started work on a new bill that’s going to make our Centre part of the Danish Institute for Human Rights.’
He pauses deliberately.
Anne-Lise has no idea how the others will react, but secretly she feels that the news of a merger with DIHR is like divine intervention on her behalf. The move could be her prize for holding out in this inferno. She could keep the vital aspects of her job and be in daily contact with a whole new set of colleagues who might turn out to be as congenial as her former ones at Lyngby Central Library.
But she knows she mustn’t show any signs of relief.
Paul’s forehead is wrinkled with concern. ‘It explains why I’ve been to so many meetings recently.’ He sighs and his face momentarily takes on a guilty expression. ‘You’ve surely wondered what’s been keeping me away so often. But then, you must know that I won’t let them ruin our Centre. I’ll fight them with everything I’ve got.’
Malene is there, her first day back since being ill. She’s applied an excessive amount of make-up, at least too much for daytime. ‘Paul! It’s such dreadful news!’ she whines.
Iben and Camilla follow her lead.
‘What can we do to keep the Centre as it is?’
‘How long have you known this?’
Ever since Anne-Lise found out how badly Camilla was traumatised by bullying at school, she has kept an eye on her colleague to see if she can somehow divine the truth. But Camilla is motionless and her face reveals nothing. It never does.
‘I must admit I thought something was up. You’ve been away so often.’
‘Well, we’ve met other challenges head-on before. But this time it’s different: it’s one of our own who is undermining our fight for survival.’
Anne-Lise stiffens. Has Paul somehow guessed her feelings? She hasn’t let on. Perhaps he has discovered something about one of the others? Anne-Lise glances round the small circle. Camilla, Iben, Malene – all look shocked. Or is it guilty? She looks at Paul.
He seems unaware of the effect of his words, and carries on regardless. ‘Frederik Thorsteinsson has accepted the post as DIHR Research Coordinator. In other words, he will become one of Morten Kjærum’s immediate subordinates, starting five months from now. But Frederik isn’t the one who told me. I was informed by a friend, who sits on the board of the Institute –someone totally reliable.’
Paul takes a breath. ‘Frederik’s new position means that it is in his interest to have our Centre controlled from within DIHR. Never mind that he’s a member of our board. He’s been completely duplicitous.’
Malene asks several questions that demonstrate that she, like Paul, is aware of who the decision-makers are, who’s who in the ministries and among the NGO administrators.
‘To protect our Centre we need to get Frederik off our board,’ Paul continues. ‘He has not declared that he is compromised when it comes to dealing with this challenge to our independence, so I have no option but to make Ole aware of Frederik’s deception. But, neither Ole nor I can sack a board member. Only someone from the Ministry can do that.’
Anne-Lise is excluded from this world of high-level politics, but it obviously fascinates Iben and Malene. They readily agree with everything Paul says, but it occurs to Anne-Lise that Malene is closer to Frederik than anyone else at the Centre. If by next year they are part of DIHR, then at a stroke Malene will have become the boss’s favourite, displacing Iben and her strong links with Paul. Anne-Lise feels that she has hit on something worth thinking about, but at the moment cannot figure out what it means.
‘You might as well know that I have already found a good replacement for Frederik. There’s one clear candidate and I have total confidence in him. I don’t know if any of you know of him … Maybe you’re too young. He used to be all over the media and even a couple of years ago he was still writing brilliant articles for Information. I’m talking about the journalist and Africa expert Gunnar Hartvig Nielsen.’
Malene looks up with a pleased expression. ‘Oh, yes! I know of Gunnar! Of course.’
Iben says nothing, but her expression has changed. Again, something is happening but Anne-Lise can’t quite tell what it is.
‘Gunnar is highly respected for his outstanding writing on South Africa, Rwanda, Uganda and many other places. With him on board, our profile would be greatly enhanced. People take him seriously. I can’t think why he isn’t already on dozens of committees, but he isn’t. Gunnar doesn’t sell himself the way Frederik does. Anyway, I’ve asked him to come and meet us here, so that we can show him what we do.’
Anne-Lise watches Iben as Paul speaks. She is picking at one of the springs on her desk lamp. The spring suddenly works itself free and hits the metal arm of the lamp with a loud ‘Ping!’ Iben jumps. The lamp is too heavy for just one spring and slumps slowly down towards the desktop.
Anne-Lise has seen Gunnar in the flesh once before. A few years ago she and Nicola went to the Danish National Gallery and he was there. At the time, he was a regular guest on TV News as the expert on links between tribal culture and corruption in Africa. Both of them had recognised him even though he looked quite different in real life.
They had walked slowly by as he explained to the lovely, much younger woman at his side what he felt and thought about Abildgaard’s painting The Wounded Philoctetes. Nicola hadn’t read a line of Gunnar’s writings about Africa or anything else, but she too had thought he was special. They discreetly passed close behind him several times while he shared his experiences of other paintings with his companion.
The next day Anne-Lise stole a little time off work and got out a volume of Gunnar’s articles. She actually took the book home with her and read it in bed.
Paul interrupts her reverie. ‘You know, I’m positive he’ll be interested. His career has gone off course for some reason. The DCGI board will be just the thing to put him back on track. I had this vision of him cracking open a bottle after I phoned him last night.’
That evening, after listening to Anne-Lise talking about the new developments, Henrik responds.
‘Your boss can’t simply fire a member of his board. I realise he usually gets what he wants, but that’s …’
‘What can Paul do to get rid of Frederik?’
‘He’d have to rig up some kind of trap or invent a mistake that Frederik has made. That might do the trick.’
‘Like what?’
Henrik laughs. ‘How about the deputy chairman sending threatening emails to Paul’s staff?’
Anne-Lise is so relieved that the Centre might come under DIHR that she laughs too. Later that evening, as soon as the children are asleep, Henrik pulls her along to the black sofa. She lies down on her back, resting her head on his lap.
‘I’ve done something I shouldn’t have,’ he says.
She detects a hint of a smile and realises there is nothing to be worried about.
‘It’s quite inappropriate and I could be fired, but if you can assume a false identity and pretend you’re a singer in a choir and I don’t … The thing is, I printed out a copy of Camilla’s account statement. I can’t see anything out of the ordinary, but maybe you can. I’ve brought it home with me.’
They exchange a grin. Henrik has more to confess.
‘As it happens, Malene and Iben also have accounts with us. I have printouts of their statements as well.’
Anne-Lise sits up and gives him a big kiss. Henrik produces the documents, and they study them together, starting with Camilla’s.
Predictably, there are withdrawals to cover credit cards, child-care fees, mobile-phone bills and purchases of food at a low-price supermarket chain, clothes at H&M and toys at Toys-R-Us. There are also small payments to B & Bs and cheap restaurants in Sweden, membership fees to the Danish Camping Union and to the Copenhagen Postal Office Choir.
They take their time and examine every
entry. After a while they spot something surprising. Camilla gives money to the middle-of-the-road Centrum Democrats. During the last few years she must have taken an interest in the party’s publications and meetings. She might even have gone to the meetings straight from work. If she did, she has kept it to herself, undoubtedly because she felt that her political views would not go down well with Iben and Malene – which would have been true, of course.
In itself, there is nothing suspicious about contributing to the Centrum Democrats, but it proves that Camilla thinks seriously about things other than cheap fridges and trips to adventure playgrounds with the kids. If nothing else, Anne-Lise now knows that Camilla can keep a secret.
Once Henrik and Anne-Lise have finished looking through Camilla’s account, they go to the kitchen to make a pitcher of hot elderberry cordial. They got into the habit of drinking cordials in the evening when Anne-Lise still took the time to make her own juice, extracting the liquid from berries from the garden. Now they continue the custom with store-bought juice.
Anne-Lise is feeling content. Her thoughts constantly return to how much better things are going to be once she has new colleagues.
They return to the sofa and pick up Iben’s statement. The most obvious thing about it is that she is well in the black, to the tune of 183,000 kroner. There was a credit of 120,000 three months ago. They guess it was compensation from the organisation she worked for in Kenya. The rest seems to be the result of saving steadily over several months.
Even though Henrik has already spent some time that afternoon skimming the statements, he is too much of a career banker not to become irritated once more at Iben’s financial adviser. ‘This is stupid! Someone should tell her to pay off her student loans. And if she doesn’t want to do that, she should invest her cash in Premium Bonds or a savings account.’
This evening, Anne-Lise is in a good enough mood to find her husband’s banking instincts funny. She doesn’t think Iben’s fiscal choices are that significant. ‘Won’t Iben be taxed on the Kenya compensation? Maybe she keeps the cash accessible because she doesn’t know how much she’ll have to pay.’
The Exception Page 29