#859

Mentioned in 26 episodes

Ordinary Men

Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland

Book • 1992

Christopher R. Browning

This book by Christopher R. Browning examines the actions of Reserve Police Battalion 101, a unit of the German Order Police, during World War II. The battalion was responsible for mass shootings and round-ups of Jewish people for deportation to Nazi death camps in Poland in 1942.

Browning argues that the men of this unit were not fanatical Nazis but ordinary middle-aged, working-class men who committed these atrocities due to group dynamics of conformity, deference to authority, role adaptation, and the altering of moral norms.

The book is based on postwar interrogations of former members of the battalion and provides a detailed and chilling glimpse into how ordinary men were transformed into active participants in the Holocaust.

Mentioned by

Jordan B Peterson

Alistair Campbell

Michael Shermer

Robert Breedlove

MICHAEL SHERMER

Mentioned in 26 episodes

Mentioned by Jordan Peterson as a terrifying book about the initiation of a police battalion from Germany who participated in atrocities in Poland.

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Mentioned by Jordan B. Peterson as detailing the descent of ordinary German policemen into atrocities.

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Mentioned by

Jordan B Peterson

when discussing the psychology of religion and the interpretation of religious texts.

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Mentioned by Jordan Peterson as a book about German policemen in early stages of World War II, illustrating the gradual descent into brutality.

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Mentioned by Jordan Peterson as a book detailing the transformation of ordinary German policemen into perpetrators of atrocities during World War II.

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Mentioned by

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to illustrate how ordinary people can commit atrocities.

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MICHAEL SHERMER

to understand the behavior of ordinary men in the Holocaust.

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Mentioned by

Michael Malice

when discussing following orders, in relation to atrocities during WWII.

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Mentioned by

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as a book that sticks out for him about German Reserve police officers who became executioners.

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Mentioned by

Michael Shermer

as an example of how ordinary men can be influenced to commit atrocities.

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Mentioned by

Robert Breedlove

as a book that details Nazi soldiers initially being normal people who gradually committed worse acts.

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Mentioned by

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when discussing books that explore the horrors of historical events.

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Mentioned by

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when discussing Jordan Peterson's views on the shadow self.

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Mentioned by

Matt Bracken

as an influential book about a reserve police battalion in Germany during the extermination of Jews in Poland.

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Mentioned by

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as a film based on the book, highlighting the actions of ordinary individuals in extraordinary circumstances.

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Mentioned by

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as a book about the actions of a Nazi police battalion.

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8/17/25 Ordinary People

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