Why did people perpetrate crimes against the Jews?

1. Why did people perpetrate crimes against the Jews?

2. The Case of Karl Kretschmer

3. Kursk 15.10.1942 Beloved wife, dear children,  …things are going more or less smoothly. We have got hold of a nice little house similar to the one in Garden Street only not as nice... If you were with me now it would be wonderful... At 7.00 we have coffee, as much bread as you want, a blob of butter - about 60g - sometimes puree or artificial honey. I always have four slices of bread. Then we work until 12.OO. There is always good food for lunch - a lot of meat, (we have our own livestock, pigs, sheep, calves and cows) … lots of potatoes, so everybody has plenty to eat. We have picked our own tomatoes and cucumbers. Our cook … really knows what he’s doing. Depending on my mood and appetite I can eat up to three helpings. Then back to work again until 18.00. For supper there is either something hot: roast potatoes with scrambled eggs or other dishes, or something cold: bread and salami... We spend the evenings either playing cards, boozing or sitting together with the boss... How I love being with you all. How is the garden?...  I send you lots of love...  I hope the package for Wurzel will get there in time for his birthday. It would make me very happy.  Lots of kisses and greetings for the children For their dear mummy a long deep kiss, you are my everything  Your Papa. DISCUSS: a) What can we tell from the letter about Karl Kretschmer’s life at home? b) What kind of man does he seem to be?

4. Karl Kretschmer’s letter of 15 October 1942 also included the following comments on his ‘work’: I have already told you about the shooting, that I could not say ‘no’ here either But they’ve more or less said they’ve finally found a good chap to run the administrative side of things. The last one was by all accounts a coward. That’s the way people are judged here. But you can trust your Daddy. He thinks about you all the time and is not shooting immoderately … though people do change here. People soon get used to the sight of blood, butBlutwurst (blood sausage) is not very popular round here. In an earlier letter he had written:  The sight of the dead (including women and children) is not very cheering... As the war is in our opinion a Jewish war; the Jews are the first to feel it. Here in Russia wherever a German soldier is no Jew remains. You can imagine that at first I needed some time to get to grips with this. In a later letter he said:  If it weren’t for the stupid thoughts about what we’re doing in this country, the Einsatz here would be wonderful... Since, as I already wrote to you, I consider the last Einsatz to be justified and indeed approve of the consequences it had, the phrase: ‘stupid thoughts’ as not strictly accurate. Rather it is a weakness not to be able to stand the sight of dead people; the best way of overcoming it is to do it more often. Then it becomes a habit. DISCUSS: c) What evidence is there that Kretschner found his work difficult? d) Was he insane? A psychopath? Did he enjoy killing? e) Did he agree with what he was doing? How do you know? f) Was he proud of what he was doing? g) Was he an evil man?

5. The Case of Max Taubner

6. Max Taubner was a 2nd Lieutenant in the SS, … Although he was not a member of the Einsatzgruppen and had not been ordered to participate in the murder of Jews, Taubner and his platoon shot hundreds of Jewish men, women and children and buried them in mass graves. Taubner and his men beat their victims with spades, clubs and whips. Taubner would take breaks during the beatings to play the song, You are Crazy, My Child on an accordion. He also took photographs of the executions and showed them to his wife and friends while on leave. On 24 May 1943 an SS Court found Taubner guilty of a number of crimes: The accused shall not be punished because of the actions against the Jews as such. The Jews have to be exterminated and none of the Jews that were killed is any great loss... Real hatred of the Jews was the driving motivation for the accused. In the process he let himself be drawn into committing cruel actions... which are unworthy of a German man and an SS officer... In so doing the accused gives rise to considerable concern. The accused allowed his men to act with such vicious brutality that they conducted themselves under his command like a savage horde. The accused jeopardised the discipline of the men. It is hard to conceive of anything worse than this. Although the accused may have otherwise taken care of his men, by his conduct he however neglected his supervisory duty … [by] not allowing his men to become psychologically depraved. The accused is therefore to be punished [under the Military Penal Code]... By taking photographs of the incidents … and showing them to his wife and friends, the accused is guilty of disobedience. Such photographs could pose the gravest risks to the security of the Reich if they fell into the wrong hands... For this crime the accused is to be punished… DISCUSS: a) Which of the following explains Taubner’s participation in the murder of Jews? he was anti-semitic (hated Jews) he was following orders he enjoyed killing & causing pain he was evil b) What crimes was Taubner found guilty of?

7. Use the case studies of Karl Kretschmer and Max Taubner and the statements made by other perpetrators in sources A — H to choose six reasons why people participated in the murder of Jews and Gypsies during the Holocaust: • Evil — they were not ‘normal’ human beings: only truly evil people could have committed these crimes • Anti-semitism — they hated Jews and agreed with what they were doing • Peer pressure — they did not want to be seen as cowards by their comrades • Ambition— they did not want to harm their career • Insane — they were sadistic psychopaths who enjoyed killing people • They had no choice — they believed that if they didn’t obey orders they would have been shot or sent to a concentration camp • They knew what they were doing was wrong — but did not have the moral courage to refuse • They obeyed orders unquestioningly — and did not feel personally responsible for the orders they were carrying out • Shooting defenceless people was safer than fighting with front-line troops

8. Rank your six choices as follows: The Single Most Important Reason Very Important Reasons Quite Important Reasons