Police Battalion 101 Analysis

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Members of the Police Battalion 101 were able to commit such atrocious acts because of the external pressure of their esteemed authority. Christopher Browning explains that most of the ordinary men performed immoral acts for the sake of following the command of a legitimate official, and because they felt inferior. Browning references Stanly Milgram’s experiment to explain how normal people can be influenced to committing acts of violence because of the natural tendency to comply. Although the members of the Battalion were not forced to be obedient, they were reluctant to confront the authority because of the pressure to conform to a rigid culture, the time pressure of the situation, and their desensitized emotions. At the end of the day, we are left with memorials around the world reminding us of the inhumane acts of everyday people.
The harsh officials convinced the
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Although the New England Holocaust Memorial was created as a symbol of justice and hope, it is still possible for ordinary humans to act unjustly. The memorial consists of six luminous glass towers that symbolize the acts that were committed during WWII, and offer a sense of hope to those affected. The number six represents the names of the six different concentration camps, the number of millions of Jews that were killed in the Holocaust, and the number of years during which these atrocities took place. While I would like to be optimistic in thinking such killings could not possibly occur again in history, in reality, people commit cruel acts all of the time because they become desensitized. However, the memorials around the world remind us to find light in dark times, and encourage people to stay true to their values. It is my hope that this memorial will prevent others into falling into Browning’s interpretation of how ordinary people can commit murderous