Tweet
I thought that was interesting.
(A paper that I must read for my course about Ethics and Public Administration).
====
Frustrated by the inability of many of his men to follow an order, despite their willingness to do so, on August 15, 1941, Himmler asked the commander of Einsatzgruppen B (one of the four original shooting squads), Artur Nebe, to organize for him an execution to observe while he (the SS-Reichsführer) was visitingMinsk. Himmler wanted to see for himself what the problem was. Karl Wolff, his chief of personal staff, later stated that “he knew ‘from his
[Himmler’s] own mouth’ that he had never seen a man killed” (Padfield, 1990, p. 342).
Nebe quickly organized an execution of about a hundred people—two of whom were women. Before the shooting began, Himmler conveyed an air of casual indifference as he asked the Jews some questions. However, when the shooting started, his carefree attitude toward the fate of the victims rapidly evaporated and his lack of experience of face-to-face killing was clearly exposed. Rhodes (2002) records that
both Wolff and Bach-Zelewski remembered that Himmler was shaken by the murders. “Himmler was extremely nervous,” Bach-Zelewski testified. “He couldn’t stand still. His
face was white as cheese, his eyes went wild and with each burst of gunfire he always looked at the ground.” (p. 152)
When the two women lay down to be shot,members of the killing squad lost their nerve, fired badly, and the victims did not die immediately.
At that point, Himmler reportedly “panicked... [and]...jumped up and screamed at the squad commander :‘ Don ’t torture these women ! Fire! Hurry up and kill them!’” (Rhodes, 2002, p. 152).
Straight after this mass execution, Bach-Zelewski told Himmler,
"Reichsführer, those were only a hundred....Look at the eyes of the men in this Kommando, how deeply shaken they are! These men are finished [fertig] for the rest of their lives.What kind of followers are we training here? Either neurotics or savages! (Hilberg, 1961, p. 218, brackets in original).
This event persuaded Himmler that shooting was too perceptually stressful for those who had to carry out the killings. Concerned by their emotional distress, he then asked Nebe to find other “more humane”ways of doing it (Hilberg, 1961, p. 219). But until a solution could be found, the shootings had to continue.
(A paper that I must read for my course about Ethics and Public Administration).
====
Frustrated by the inability of many of his men to follow an order, despite their willingness to do so, on August 15, 1941, Himmler asked the commander of Einsatzgruppen B (one of the four original shooting squads), Artur Nebe, to organize for him an execution to observe while he (the SS-Reichsführer) was visitingMinsk. Himmler wanted to see for himself what the problem was. Karl Wolff, his chief of personal staff, later stated that “he knew ‘from his
[Himmler’s] own mouth’ that he had never seen a man killed” (Padfield, 1990, p. 342).
Nebe quickly organized an execution of about a hundred people—two of whom were women. Before the shooting began, Himmler conveyed an air of casual indifference as he asked the Jews some questions. However, when the shooting started, his carefree attitude toward the fate of the victims rapidly evaporated and his lack of experience of face-to-face killing was clearly exposed. Rhodes (2002) records that
both Wolff and Bach-Zelewski remembered that Himmler was shaken by the murders. “Himmler was extremely nervous,” Bach-Zelewski testified. “He couldn’t stand still. His
face was white as cheese, his eyes went wild and with each burst of gunfire he always looked at the ground.” (p. 152)
When the two women lay down to be shot,members of the killing squad lost their nerve, fired badly, and the victims did not die immediately.
At that point, Himmler reportedly “panicked... [and]...jumped up and screamed at the squad commander :‘ Don ’t torture these women ! Fire! Hurry up and kill them!’” (Rhodes, 2002, p. 152).
Straight after this mass execution, Bach-Zelewski told Himmler,
"Reichsführer, those were only a hundred....Look at the eyes of the men in this Kommando, how deeply shaken they are! These men are finished [fertig] for the rest of their lives.What kind of followers are we training here? Either neurotics or savages! (Hilberg, 1961, p. 218, brackets in original).
This event persuaded Himmler that shooting was too perceptually stressful for those who had to carry out the killings. Concerned by their emotional distress, he then asked Nebe to find other “more humane”ways of doing it (Hilberg, 1961, p. 219). But until a solution could be found, the shootings had to continue.
Comment