Changes

At the conclusion of World War I, Germany was effectively in a state of reconstruction. National morale was at its lowest and hunger and poverty were widespread and in some instances, devastating. The triumph of the National Socialist Party and the ensuing war rejuvenated German national spirit. In the eyes of many civilians, this was to due Adolph Hitler and his minions, thus prompting those in society who benefitted from Hitler's regime to succumb to the preponderance of ideological propaganda. As is posited by Browning, “more Germans voted National Socialist for reasons other than anti-Semitism.”<ref>Browning, 198.</ref> However, after being conscripted and exposed to the ultimate mission of the Party, some of the reservists from Hamburg became something other than Nazi being Hitler supporters. After learning the true nature of the battalion’s mission in Jozefow, Heinz Buchmann stated he “‘would “would in no case participate in such an action, in which defenseless women and children are shot.’””<ref>Browning, 56.</ref> He was in the vast minority of men who did not shoot, whereas some who did kill once were then unable to continue, as is evidenced by the recollection of a policeman who had “‘become “become so sick that I [he] simply couldn’t anymore.’””<ref>Browning, 67.</ref>

In contrast to men that became both physically and mentally ill due to killing another human being, a small percentage of men devolved into sadists. For instance, while rounding up Jews to be killed in Lomazy, Lieutenant Gnade forced the elderly Jewish men to “‘crawl on the ground in the area before the grave’” and forced his non-commissioned officers to retrieve clubs and beat the victims before they were killed.<ref>Browning, 83.</ref> Prior to this, Gnade had been so loathsome at the prospect of having to witness the actions taken against the prisoners he and his men assisted in deporting, he took a midnight train from Minsk back to Hamburg so as to avoid witnessing their execution. This is but one example Browning utilizes to support his thesis that the men of the 101st were not eager to assume the role of unfeeling murderers, but rather they had to become killers.