Ordinary organizations : why normal men carried out the Holocaust / Stefan Kühl ; translated by Jessica Spengler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kühl, Stefan, author.

Contributor:

Spengler, Jessica, translator.

Standardized Title:

Ganz normale Organisationen. English

Language:

English

German

Subjects (All):

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Sociological aspects.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945).

Torture--Sociological aspects.

Torture.

Social psychology.

Germans--Psychology--History--20th century.

Germans.

History.

Psychological aspects.

Germans--Psychology.

Germany--History--1933-1945--Psychological aspects.

Germany.

Physical Description:

vi, 322 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; Malden, MA : Polity Press, [2016]

Summary:

During the Holocaust, 99 percent of all Jewish killings were carried out by members of state organizations. In this groundbreaking book, Stefan Kühl offers a new analysis of the integral role that membership in organizations played in facilitating the annihilation of European Jews under the Nazis. Drawing on the well-researched case of the mass killings of Jews by a Hamburg reserve police battalion, Kühl shows how ordinary men from ordinary professions were induced to carry out massacres. It may have been that coercion, money, identification with the end goal, the enjoyment of brutality, or the expectations of their comrades impelled the members of the police battalion to join the police units and participate in ghetto liquidations, deportations, and mass shootings. But ultimately, argues Kühl, the question of immediate motives, or indeed whether members carried out tasks with enthusiasm or reluctance, is of secondary importance. The crucial factor in explaining what they did was the integration of individuals into an organizational framework that prompted them to perform their roles. This book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the Holocaust by demonstrating the fundamental role played by organizations in persuading ordinary Germans to participate in the annihilation of the Jews. It will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of organizations, violence, and modern German history, as well as for anyone interested in genocide and the Holocaust. Book jacket.

Contents:

Beyond "ordinary men" and "ordinary Germans"

Identification with the goal

Coercion

Comradeship

Money

The attractiveness of activities

The generalization of motives

From killers to perpetrators

The normality and abnormality of organizations.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Kühl, Stefan, author. Ordinary organizations

ISBN:

9781509502899

1509502890

9781509502905

1509502904

OCLC:

948668849

Online:

Inhaltsverzeichnis