Numbers

While reading Ordinary Men this week, the true horror of the killing and the way it was such a systematic process stuck out. Reading the account of the Vienna Transport is difficult, with the descriptions of horrible conditions and panic (p. 27) Then realizing that this happened on over one thousand other trains is even more horrifying. While reading, the number of Jewish people packed onto these trains was an image that stuck out to me as well. So many people being shoved onto trains and then locked in with no idea of their future is a hard concept to grasp until you read an account of exactly how it was done.

Systematic is a way I have always heard the killings during the Holocaust described as, and this book continued that idea in my mind. Orders were given on exactly how, when, and where the killings would take place, and Soldiers went in and "did as they were told". The fact that it is so systematic is obviously one reason why who is to blame for the Holocaust can become blurry at times. Yes, these men were receiving orders and following them, but there was clearly some guilt in the back of their minds, as we can see from the talks of men who did not feel up to the task "stepping out" (p. 2) and the way the Nazi soldiers would get drunk before a killing. Nobody can be sure if this was for more "enjoyment" or to numb their pain, but either way it was not something easy to do with a clear head.