Dehumanization: The Road to Atrocity

[Music] do it was just before 2 am when the members of reserve police battalion 101 were aroused from their beds this was made all the more irritating considering that they were all in a strange and unfamiliar place not more than three weeks ago police battalion 101 had been sent from their home station in hamburg to the polish town of biguroy being deemed too old for standard military service these men had been drafted into the order police created by the nazi high command in 1939 as a militarized domestic police force but they were a long way from home on this warm summer morning and as they loaded onto the trucks they were given extra ammunition this act alone was indicative of their task for the day they were about to commence their first action though none of them could have guessed what that action was a few hours later the convoy of military trucks pulled up to a small town in the countryside the village was silent as the soldiers hopped down from their trucks and formed up in front of their commander major wilhelm trap papa trap as his soldiers called him was a very much respected commander though he was a veteran of world war one and an alta camphor a member of the nazi pa ap as his soldiers called him was a very much respected commander though he was a veteran of world war one and an alta camphor a member of the nazi party since before hitler seized power he was most certainly not a fanatical nazi but this morning something was wrong papa trap was in the most upright state visibly shaking and weeping uncontrollably as the men formed up around him the exact details of what happened next have been lost to time but survivor testimony recalls that major trap began to explain their gruesome task never one to mince words he clearly and plainly explained that they had been given the task of killing all of the jews within this village every man woman and child was to be rounded up assembled in the town square loaded onto the trucks and taken to the forest outside of town and shot then something unusual happened in a moment that has become the study of historians and psychologists ever since major trap gave his men a choice he stated that if anyone did not feel up to the task all they had to do was step out of the formation and they would be given other duties immediately one man did so only to be immediately verbally assaulted by his officer but trapp inter the formation and they would be given other duties immediately one man did so only to be immediately verbally assaulted by his officer but trapp intervened and said that the man was not to be harmed or mistreated in any way and that he would simply be given another duty at this point several more men stepped out of the formation in total between 10 and 12 men out of a battalion of approximately 500 stepped out and refused to kill jews at this time throughout the day as more and more jews were rounded up and shot more and more soldiers came forward and requested to be assigned another duty this was made worse by the intimate nature of the executions each soldier was paired up with a victim one-on-one who marched them to the killing site this made the killing very personal in fact many policemen remember talking to their victims before they killed them with many policemen recalling decades later exactly what city or town their first victim was from many policemen discovered that their victims were actually german jewish refugees that had fled germany in the months prior survivor testimony indicates that throughout the day several soldiers requested another assignment some a very smal d fled germany in the months prior survivor testimony indicates that throughout the day several soldiers requested another assignment some a very small minority never fired their weapons that day others only murdered a few people before they requested a change of assignment this occurred most often after a botched execution the policemen not being seasoned combat veterans or experienced in how to most efficiently kill a person frequently botched the job on this day some missed their point-blank target others would miss the mark and their victim wouldn't die instantly and others would make a complete mess of the job for many policemen this day their accuracies suffered after a few rounds of executions their physical bodies not letting them continue the massacre many policemen had to be replaced by others because of this they simply could not continue on no matter how hard they tried in a final demographic on this day were the malingers those soldiers who did not outright refuse to kill but somehow found a way to avoid the murders since everyone in the unit was spread over a wide area it was easy for some soldiers to get lost loitering around the trucks and making themselves look bus everyone in the unit was spread over a wide area it was easy for some soldiers to get lost loitering around the trucks and making themselves look busy or pretending to have just come back from shooting to take a break or taking their time and searching the village so they wouldn't have to be available to be called upon to kill all of these were common tactics on this horrific day but by the end of the day the members of police battalion 101 had killed every single jew in the village at around 9 00 pm as a killing spree came to a close the members of police battalion 101 climbed back onto their trucks and drove the couple of hours back to their barracks no one recalled anyone speaking to each other on that return trip but as they climbed back into their vehicles major trap turned to his driver with a solitary sentence if this jewish business is ever avenged on earth then have mercy on us germans but orders are orders when the story of police battalion 101 was first told by dr christopher browning in his book ordinary men reserved police battalion 101 in the final solution in poland it took the academic community by storm both in the post-war criminal trials of former nazis and amon ce battalion 101 in the final solution in poland it took the academic community by storm both in the post-war criminal trials of former nazis and among the historical community great effort has been undertaken to explain the reasoning behind the holocaust reasoning that for the most part falls into a few different categories some historians argue that the just following orders explanation is the most correct one seeing as that is the excuse that most germans used following the war to explain their actions others say that it was cultural and that the rampant racism of the 1930s in germany created a culture in which it was easy to brainwash a population other researchers say that it was a combination of other factors or so complex that we cannot possibly comprehend the situation from the perspective of a modern world so when dr browning's research was published the academic community was confused and here's why reserve police battalion 101 was just that a reserve battalion none of its members were hardened killers and almost none of them had ever seen combat before most of the policemen were too old to be the target of himmler's propaganda efforts which tended to target younger ss ag m had ever seen combat before most of the policemen were too old to be the target of himmler's propaganda efforts which tended to target younger ss aged men but they were not old enough to have served in world war one and therefore prone to the old school nationalistic propaganda of that era as well in fact looking back at some of the propaganda at the time there is scarcely mentioned of the order police in the official nazi propaganda publications except for an occasional insult in the form of an article that encouraged the policemen that even though their work wasn't glamorous or significant their efforts were still useful for germany also when it came to the ss most of the policemen were not members which at this point in the war was actually quite surprising even the commander major trapp was not offered membership in the ss despite being a long-standing nazi party member it may not seem like a big deal today but during the time this is not an insignificant note economics and social status also played a huge role for this battalion most of the men were from the working class of the city of hamburg which meant that most of the men did not look especially favorably upon the ideal n most of the men were from the working class of the city of hamburg which meant that most of the men did not look especially favorably upon the ideals of national socialism in the post-war years german philosopher teodor adorno created a physiological test that was meant to measure how likely a person was to fall into fascist behavior the f scale as it soon became known was one of the very few quasi-scientific ways that psychology was used to explain this behavior after the war in the years since its creation the f-scale has been heavily criticized for being biased but at the time when the memory of atrocity was still fresh in the minds of the policemen this f scale indicated that there was nothing particularly noteworthy about the policeman's personalities in other words there were no psychological indicators that suggested that the members of this unit were pathological killers prone to authoritarianism these policemen were about as statistically normal as one could possibly be in short dr browning and many others since he first broached this theory have concluded that if there was a demographic of people that were least likely out of all german citizens to commit genocide it wo oached this theory have concluded that if there was a demographic of people that were least likely out of all german citizens to commit genocide it would have been the members of reserve police battalion 101. so how did the group of people who were in almost every single way the least likely people to kill able to kill as many people with the efficiency of some of the more elite ss units how did a unit of only 500 men men who had no prior combat experience able to kill over 83 000 people when something is atrocious as the holocaust happens in human history every interest group tries to explain it psychologists historians doctors economists religious leaders politicians everyone has a vested interest in explaining how so few people ended up killing so many as a result this vested interest is a delicate issue mostly because of what it means for the world for instance if scientists and historians were able to pinpoint a single reason for why the nazis killed people well that would have serious impacts in the world today wouldn't it world governments political groups and citizens alike would take action to make sure that that thing whatever it is is banned regulated monitored or in som governments political groups and citizens alike would take action to make sure that that thing whatever it is is banned regulated monitored or in some way controlled for instance if we take the common excuse that the nazis killed because they were forced to well if we take that argument and assume that it is the reason for the holocaust well that would have very harsh impacts on the role of governance wouldn't it checks and balances would be required radical political ideology would be prevented from rising up and the entire political and military leadership system of a nation would have to be reworked from the ground up and this is exactly what happened in germany after the war well what happens when you have an example come out that negates all of this remember the men of police battalion 101 were given a choice none of them were forced at gunpoint to kill others the most crucial aspect of this unit's operations was that everyone was given a choice to not kill right from the very start throughout every other action during the war not just the first one that choice was also given granted after a while a routine settled in in which the policemen were not expressly and verbally giv ot just the first one that choice was also given granted after a while a routine settled in in which the policemen were not expressly and verbally given the opportunity to not kill but survivor testimony confirms that all of the policemen throughout all of their actions were of the mindset that they could always stop or switch duties whenever they wanted and most of them did at some point or another some policemen revolted at the idea of shooting women and children in cold blood but had no problem whatsoever in forcing jews onto cattle cars destined for extermination camps even though the policemen knew exactly what would happen to them forcing people into trains was slightly less psychologically damaging than shooting a person themselves for the policeman in some cases out of sight was truly out of mind also for many of the battalion's actions the troops were given frequent smoke breaks and given alcohol before during and after the murders leadership understood that this was murder right from the very start and as such they knew that it would be very difficult on the men so one aspect that helped the killers cope with their atrocious acts was to constantly rotate them in and out o it would be very difficult on the men so one aspect that helped the killers cope with their atrocious acts was to constantly rotate them in and out once a policeman had murdered two or three jews he would be pulled off the line for a while and sent to go guard the perimeter or help unload the trucks or something other than actually pulling the trigger this minor respite seemed to work quite well at conditioning the policeman and the variety that this afforded was soon instituted for most of the battalion's massacres in other words most of the time there wouldn't be static groups of people like shooters guards searchers unloaders and escorts they would all be switched around quite frequently this did two things for one it provided a bit of relief for the shooters it was a lot easier for the shooters to kill two or three people than take a break and repeat this cycle than it was to just stand there in one place and murder people all day long also this process intentionally confused operations so that if a soldier wanted to not participate in shooting but didn't want to be looked upon as being weak or a coward all he had to do was make himself busy somewhere else when the killing par ate in shooting but didn't want to be looked upon as being weak or a coward all he had to do was make himself busy somewhere else when the killing parties were being formed up so even though the policemen were given a choice there was a cultural element of machismo within the unit as there was with every military unit even today policemen who were not up to the task of killing were looked upon by their peers as being weak the post-war testimony of the policemen confirms that this was a motivating factor for those who started off not killing jews but as time went on became ruthless killers this is important to note as most of the policemen stated that they did not kill because their commander told them to or because they were scared of what might happen to them through their chain of command they killed because they didn't want to let their brothers in arms down no policeman ever testified that they were scared of what might happen to them as a result of refusing to kill in fact throughout all of the research throughout all of the history and testimony and millions of records of actions throughout the war not just within this police unit but the entire nazi empire to this day there ory and testimony and millions of records of actions throughout the war not just within this police unit but the entire nazi empire to this day there has not been a single record of a single case where a soldier was executed for refusing to kill jews not a single soldier was punished for refusing to kill jews during the war except for minor administrative punishment like extra cleaning duty in some rare cases so case studies like the story of reserve police battalion 101 severely negate the just following orders debate other ideas that frequently get brought in to explain this historical example are the case studies of the milgram experiment and the stanford prison experiment these two studies arguably the most well-known and controversial psychological studies of all time have been used to explain nazi behavior by thousands of researchers and academics and the reasons are pretty clear the milgram experiment which was the study in which volunteers were told to give increasingly painful shocks to other volunteers who were actually actors simply because an authority figure told them to has often been used to justify the just following orders argument that most germans were all too ha rs simply because an authority figure told them to has often been used to justify the just following orders argument that most germans were all too happy to provide as an excuse for their behavior during the war this case is much the same with the stanford prison experiment which was the research study in which volunteers were assigned the role of prisoner or guard in a mock-up of a prison but by the end of the experiment the guards had turned into vicious monsters torturing and abusing the volunteers this study has again been used to explain nazi cruelty during the war if an authority figure dictates violence humans will naturally assume it this study has again been used to explain nazi cruelty during the war if an authority figure dictates violence humans will naturally follow along or at least so the study goes as such several researchers and academics have pointed these controversial but very groundbreaking studies out as an explanation for why the policemen of reserve battalion 101 acted with such cruelty despite having the opportunity to quit and also being demographically the least likely to commit such atrocities well the problem with this argument is that there was no auth tunity to quit and also being demographically the least likely to commit such atrocities well the problem with this argument is that there was no authority figure at least not a strong one major trap the unit commander was not a cold calculating man in a lab coat but rather a weeping visibly distraught man who during the unit's killing campaign took every opportunity to distance himself from the actual killing and even protected men who wanted out this is further reinforced by the testimony that none of the policemen were particularly concerned with the higher ups punishing them for not killing it was almost always the relationships that they had with their friends that kept them going there is one slight caveat to this idea however in that some cases where it wasn't clear and plainly obvious that the policemen were given a choice the rate of men that requested other duties was lower in some cases where they were tasked with only killing men or where they themselves didn't have to kill but rather form the security cordon for other groups to come in and kill not that many policemen fell out of the formation this does give a little credence to the just following order's argument in t ups to come in and kill not that many policemen fell out of the formation this does give a little credence to the just following order's argument in that the data shows or at least seems to indicate that the less clear of a choice the men were given the higher chances that they would kill however time and time again in the survivor testimony of these policemen the atmospherics of what was going on at the time was that these men knew that they could have requested another duty at any time during the war but their motivation to do so varied widely based on the task at hand so unlike the stanford prison experiment and the milgram experiment the men of reserve battalion 101 were offered a choice and throughout their campaign of murder none of these men were under the distinct impression they would be harmed for refusing to kill which all but invalidates the bulk of these theories so what really happened here why did the men of reserve police battalion 101 become such ruthless killers during the war despite being given the chance to stop killing at any time many a grad student has attempted to use a case study as a way to explain the holocaust much to no avail at most the academic commu illing at any time many a grad student has attempted to use a case study as a way to explain the holocaust much to no avail at most the academic community might respond with well yeah sure that's an interesting theory and it might be right but since it's a case study and we can't disprove it we can't really use it to recommend policy changes when it comes to real-world applications and preventing this and making sure this never happens again and dr browning's work regarding this police battalion is no exception almost immediately following the release of his book many other academics immediately tried to disprove his theories so much so that in subsequent publishings of his work he responded to other researches by adding in an afterword that is roughly 10 of the total length of his original book so just as with other academic work for every theory that's out there there are 10 other that can counter it but despite all of these shortcomings and unique situations we can certainly cherry-pick information and data from this case study that might be useful for our modern times of course it would be impossible for history to repeat itself with such exact repetition as to when the nazis w t might be useful for our modern times of course it would be impossible for history to repeat itself with such exact repetition as to when the nazis were in power but time and time again humanity has been shown that the holocaust itself is not a case study even during the holocaust the mass murder of soviets by the germans or the murder of germans by the soviets or the murder of soviets by the soviets was going on which most people are all too happy to forget because of the glamour for lack of a better term that goes along with an event such as the holocaust but most certainly in the years since the holocaust we have not lived up to our promise to never forget and this is where we find a unique area within practically all research that is done on genocides the overwhelming majority of holocaust research and the research of other genocides as well is focusing on the excruciating details of the what so much effort and millions of research studies have been dedicated to documenting exactly what happened which unit went to which village on which day where the vehicles were parked where the actual killing took place all of this work which continues to this day and this work is extremely n which day where the vehicles were parked where the actual killing took place all of this work which continues to this day and this work is extremely valuable in order to prevent future genocides we must first understand the the nitty-gritty mechanics of how they actually happen but therein lies the problem most genocide research places remembrance and understanding as a primary tool for preventing genocides this is entirely the wrong approach yes remembrance and documentation is the first step in preventing another genocide but it cannot be the primary tool the primary tool for preventing genocides has to be the results of this research and this is where scientists and academics fall short everyone is all too happy to explain exactly what happened but very few academics are willing to risk their career by giving their opinion on what actions we can take to prevent another genocide we at the s2 underground project are not so concerned with the political implications of what we say so we are free to continue to speak our minds on the issue as such we can use this research to provide recommendations for the future one of the stark realizations of not just the story of police battali issue as such we can use this research to provide recommendations for the future one of the stark realizations of not just the story of police battalion 101 but every genocide throughout history is the concept of dehumanization the first step for every single genocide is dehumanization creating distance between the perpetrators and the victims now of course it would be historically inaccurate to suggest that only these two categories of people exist in fact dr daniel goldhagen the main contradictory author to dr browning's work suggests that we cannot simply lump people into two groups of victims and perpetrators and as such there can be no one reason that explains any one person's actions but as dr goldhagen remarks in his own book on the exact topic the decade of anti-semitic rhetoric and casual racism within 1930s germany was most certainly a factor if not the driving factor and most researchers tend to agree that dehumanization and distancing oneself from political and social enemies may not result in genocide every time but every time a genocide has been committed dehumanization was the first step in fact when being interrogated after the war many members of police battalion 1 time a genocide has been committed dehumanization was the first step in fact when being interrogated after the war many members of police battalion 101 remember hunting down jews that were hiding in the forest in the polish countryside in most cases the interrogator asked the policemen how they were able to tell the jews apart from other polish citizens and most of the policemen answered that the jews were always visibly dirty and unclean looking when pressed for further details the policeman could never remember more than that this is important because one of the very first anti-jewish propaganda efforts by the nazis in 1933 was the production of leaflets publications cartoons and news articles that portrayed the jewish populations as being unclean and this is not an idea that is limited to just the holocaust in the lead up to the rwandan genocide hutu leaflets radio broadcasts and other propaganda efforts referred to the tutsis as in yenzi or cockroaches frequently referring to one's enemy as unclean or associating them with vermin is a common step in the dehumanization process and in the case of reserve police battalion 101 this took an interesting form in the post-war interrog is a common step in the dehumanization process and in the case of reserve police battalion 101 this took an interesting form in the post-war interrogations of the policemen almost all of the policemen referred to their victims as bandits or as polish people almost never referring to the fact that their victims were jewish unless directly asked by the interrogator this of course makes sense nowadays in a postwar judicial sense the policemen were unlikely to incriminate themselves and at the time the interrogations were conducted it would not have bode very well if the policemen were to have admitted to murdering jews in the post-war environment it was more acceptable to admit to murdering bandits or even polish citizens as opposed to murdering jews murdering jews was the holocaust but murdering other civilians was expected in war and somehow in post-war politics the latter was far more acceptable than the former this truth is abhorrent and tragic and it reveals more about the victors of world war ii than of the policemen but it was the reality of the time as far as specific recommendations for the future this unique case study presents a few things to think about moving forward as e reality of the time as far as specific recommendations for the future this unique case study presents a few things to think about moving forward as dehumanization is the first step in committing atrocity do not let the concept of dehumanization and an us versus them mentality take hold in a bicameral political system the us versus them mentality is quite common and just bound to happen as we knew when we set up our government and one most certainly does not have to agree with their political or social opponents but do not let them forget that you are a person and do not engage in dehumanizing behavior of your own right now all political and social groups are trying to dehumanize each other preying on a combination of historical stereotypes and real observed behaviors in order to dehumanize their enemies it's okay to disagree but we cannot allow propaganda to flourish that pushes the narrative that any one group is not human distancing is also key to division as we all know segregation is making a huge comeback not necessarily along racial lines although that is certainly a goal of some groups this segregation is more accurately stratified along cultural and economic lines in our racial lines although that is certainly a goal of some groups this segregation is more accurately stratified along cultural and economic lines in our opinion at least the clashes and conflict that we see in the streets and in everyday life is just as cultural as it is social and ethnic for most groups the culture of their opposition group is totally alien and no groups are taking the effort to understand their adversary's perspective too often in today's society we equate understanding with consent but just because you understand your adversary does not mean that you agree with them and understanding one's adversary is directly counter to the concept of division if a person understands their adversary they are far less likely to commit an atrocity and far more likely to be willing to work out a solution we also make some more physical observations from this example such that the rotation of personnel is crucial for atrocities to occur although it would be very unfair to draw a link from the actions of reserve police battalion 101 to the actions of today's military on u.s soil these actions are nonetheless concerning especially considering the experience that is being gained by troo he actions of today's military on u.s soil these actions are nonetheless concerning especially considering the experience that is being gained by troops today now we know that this idea is going to upset a lot of people so we must say that we think it would be a gross overstatement to imply that the troops sent to washington dc are genocidal maniacs that's just ridiculous and has no basis on the data or the analysis itself almost all of the soldiers that were sent there and are currently deployed at capitals and other areas around the country they're either upset that they have to be there or they didn't really care that they were sent there but were happy to get the paycheck anyway or this small minority that realized the impact of what they were doing and what side they were really on but had to keep it to themselves in order to stay off the fbi's watch list all of this occurred right we feel fairly confident in assessing that out of the 35 000 troops or so in dc proper and the 30 000 ish reserve troops in the area virtually none of them particularly enjoyed that specific mission and as this mission continues to go on into the summer of 2021 six months after the election the disc them particularly enjoyed that specific mission and as this mission continues to go on into the summer of 2021 six months after the election the discontent that's likely to spring up from such a long deployment and a standing mission on kona soil is likely to increase chances that people would not like it however our job is not to record history but to use it to predict the future and when we look at the infrastructure and the decisions that senior leadership has made and continue to make and the role and actions of special forces troops during that operation we see that the road we're already five miles down is not a good one and we need to course correct as the concept of curfews and troops being stationed on street corners becomes even more normalized we must remember that this normalization of troop rotation is crucial for future atrocities to occur since when did it become a normal thing for us troops to be stationed on u.s soil it's just we're just baffled by the fact that that is now a cultural norm in our society or at least that people don't freak out about it i remember growing up and if there was a hockey game that got out of hand and there were thousands of people riot that people don't freak out about it i remember growing up and if there was a hockey game that got out of hand and there were thousands of people rioting and burning cars in the streets if that were to happen the governor would have to get on tv and all he would say was hey don't make me call the national guard and everybody would be dismissed like that's how it would end right but now we're seeing thousands tens of thousands of troops deployed on u.s soil and no one bats an eye anymore because it's now normalized of course this again does not mean that our nation's national guard units or other active duty troops will become murderers like the police battalion 101 but on a very small scale troop deployments of any kind on u.s soil are very concerning especially if these deployments are to support a standing mission such as in washington dc by constantly rotating troops in and out of washington dc soldiers are offered a respite from the mental quandary of their task soldiers who are constantly deployed for this protest or for that protest don't have to think so much about the constitutionality of their actions likewise by normalizing a national guard deployment to a state capital e test don't have to think so much about the constitutionality of their actions likewise by normalizing a national guard deployment to a state capital every time the potential for a protest comes up soldiers are conditioned to view this response as totally normal which it most certainly is not another unique lesson learned from this example is the nature of collaboration with the enemy so to speak like we briefly mentioned one little known aspect of the holocaust and other genocides as well is that there is almost never a clear-cut distinction between perpetrators and victims sometimes perpetrators helped victims and sometimes victims became perpetrators the complex nature of this huge gray area makes it very hard for historians to get accurate data for instance in the cases of some victims who became perpetrators after the war they were all too happy to talk about how they had been a victim but not so quick to confess that they had actually participated in killing or turning in others likewise far too many nazis and perpetrators were all too happy to talk at great lengths about how they were victimized and how the good things they did helped save lives while conveniently leaving out ll too happy to talk at great lengths about how they were victimized and how the good things they did helped save lives while conveniently leaving out how they were complicit or directly involved in the mass murder of millions so for our modern world and the times we live in this is something to consider based on the numbers and data alone the number of people who sided with the nazis overwhelmingly outweighed those who resisted there were a hundred thousand times more adolf eichmann's than there were otto franks for example in other films we have discussed how france a nation that today prides itself greatly on the french resistance during the war in actuality only had about two percent of her population committing acts of resistance during the conflict so we must never forget that if a genocide were to break out in the us today if we were to go down that rabbit hole and play the what if game the data overwhelmingly indicates that the vast majority of people would most likely collaborate with the oppressors or at least not combat them directly rather than actively engaging in resistance but perhaps the most concerning thing about this case study is just how difficult it is to actu m directly rather than actively engaging in resistance but perhaps the most concerning thing about this case study is just how difficult it is to actually use this data to prove or make any point i think it's quite obvious that we ourselves are certainly not qualified to speak that intelligently about this case study but it is shocking just how little one actually learns about the nature of humanity from this case like we can go down a list of questions that a person might ask when first hearing about this case for the first time like were they simply brainwashed well nope they weren't the product of any particular propaganda campaign other than the propaganda that the normal population of germany was exposed to well were they hardened killers desensitized to combat nope none of them but their commander had ever fought in combat before well were they forced to kill or threatened for not acting nope they were explicitly given a choice and all of the policemen testified that the choice to not kill was always there throughout the entirety of the war well were they isolated from the killing somehow so that they didn't get to see their handiwork no not really almost all of their murders y of the war well were they isolated from the killing somehow so that they didn't get to see their handiwork no not really almost all of their murders were with rifles shooting their victims at point-blank range very rarely did they participate in loading jews on the trains and therefore would have some kind of plausible deniability well were they drunk or otherwise inebriated during the killings to numb the psychological impacts of their actions sometimes yes but mostly no alcohol was usually provided after every killing but usually if alcohol was provided before a massacre it wasn't enough to get the policeman drunk in fact most of the policemen remember watching other groups and other units try to murder people but they were so drunk they couldn't function whereas the men of this police battalion were almost always sober during the killings so it's almost like every possible explanation for this behavior goes out the window which is why we think that dr browning's book just sort of ends without really going into great detail as to why humans need rationalization and explanation to cope with atrocity but dr browning's work offers no such comfort in fact the overall lesson that we why humans need rationalization and explanation to cope with atrocity but dr browning's work offers no such comfort in fact the overall lesson that we learned from this study is just how little we actually know about human nature philosophers have been debating for millennia over whether or not people are good-natured or bad-natured but sometimes the world throws you an event that makes all of this logic irrelevant and usually that event is one of the most horrific events that humanity has ever seen sometimes people do really bad things that we cannot explain and sometimes more often than not the perpetrators of such events are normal in every possible way we can look at the worst people throughout history like hitler stalin polpot mal and countless other mass murdering dictators and we can even look at less powerful but still murders people like charles manson and think to ourselves that man has been mentally ill his whole life and we're fascinated by it because we can all imagine what it would be like to interact with such a person and we can even watch the tv interviews he did and just marvel at how indescribably strange this person was the fact that there is a whole genre of do and we can even watch the tv interviews he did and just marvel at how indescribably strange this person was the fact that there is a whole genre of documentaries on serial killers speaks for itself but what is not really discussed at all and is far more scary in our opinion is that your neighbor bob might be more of a mass murderer than charles manson and according to the data it would take a disturbingly little effort to make him so we can all look at a serial killer and say man that dude is insane or that he is the epitome of evil on earth but if the situation in the world today were just ever so slightly different your friendly next-door neighbor not only has the potential to be a mass murderer but statistically the odds are that they would act on this potential even if given a way out so we can look back in awe at these ruthless killers over history and stare and morbid fascination at their murderous achievements but in order to prevent something like the holocaust from ever happening again the journey does not start with a frustrated painter from austria it starts with your neighbor bob [Music] you