Leadership and Atrocity

This chapter explores the moral dilemmas faced by leaders during wartime, focusing on Captain Hoffman, who feigns illness to avoid executions. It details the disturbing actions of Reserve Police Battalion 101, their logistical execution methods, and the psychological distancing that enabled such brutality. The discussion highlights the complex interplay between authority and the atrocities committed, revealing that ordinary individuals, rather than inherently vicious ones, were often complicit in the horrors of the Holocaust.