Weaver 1

Ashley Weaver

Professor Ionescu

History 365

November 10, 2014

A Necessary Responsibility

“I object to violence because, when it appears to do good, the good is only

temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Violence appearing to do good is how Nazi idealists like Hitler and Himmler convinced

subordinates to pass on and carry out murderous commands. Himmler’s speech at Posen, Poland

took place in 1943, but we can see examples of his ideology in the atrocities that took place

before as well as afterwards. One of the more prevalent and dangerous beliefs that Himmler

pushed was that Germans who committed atrocities did so in the name of the people, and those

brave individuals shouldered a necessary burden.1

In this speech at Posen on October 4th, 1943, Himmler encouraged his SS men to see

themselves as the bearers of a gruesome responsibility, essential for the survival of the German

volk. “It was a matter of course, of tact, for us, thank God, never to speak of it, never to talk of it.

It made everybody shudder; yet everyone was clear in his mind that he would do it again if

ordered to do so, and if it was necessary.”2 In this section, Himmler equates the bloody usurping

of the government (“it”) with killing Jews: both actions are unpleasant yet necessary eliminations

of people who stand in the way of Nazi and German success. In fact, Nazi perpetrators saw

murder as a responsibility before Himmler ever gave this horrifying speech.

Christopher Browning describes in detail the massacre at Józefów in his book Ordinary

People, and also the attitudes of the executioners. “Another man, who complained that he was

Weaver 2

being left behind to guard the barracks was told by his company adjutant, ‘Be happy that you

don’t have to come. You’ll see what happens.’”3 This comment, made by a perpetrator before

the massacre, exemplifies the almost-victim mentality that the murderers sometimes held; they

bore a gory obligation that must be carried out for the good of the people.

The man who was in charge at Jozefow was Major Wilhelm Trapp; Trapp was not

enthusiastic about his orders. Just as the above company adjutant was ‘unhappy’ that he had to

perform the killings, Trapp also did not want to kill those people.4 In fact, he never shows his

face at the forest execution site.5 Even though Trapp was “not considered SS material”6, he

uncomfortably bears the responsibility of giving the death commands, supposedly lamenting it:

“Oh, God, why did I have to be given these orders” and also: “Man, ... such jobs don’t suit me.

But orders are orders”.7 And, by not being present in the forest, he ‘retains’ his morality.

Himmler tells his men at Posen: “Most of you know what it means when 100 bodies lie together,

when 500 lie there, or if 1,000 lie there. To have gone through this, and at the same time, apart

from exceptions caused by human weaknesses, to have remained decent, that has made us

hard.”8 Himmler almost soothes his men - yes you have killed and ordered to kill hundreds of

people, but those of you who were not weak are still decent, and now are hardened warriors.

“Decent” hardened warriors.

This was the Nazi method of preserving morality - those higher ups never had to get their

hands truly dirty if they didn’t want to, and therefore can both shoulder the responsibility of

ordering subordinates to murder and also be the bearer of German blood and mentality,

unadulterated by atrocity.

Weaver 3

Weaver 4

Endnotes

1. Himmler, Heinrich, “Posen Speech” (speech, Posen, Poland, April 10, 1943), Codoh,

http://codoh.com/library/document/891/. Section: “The Evacuation of the Jews.”

2. “Posen Speech.” Section: “The Evacuation of the Jews.” Italics are my emphasis.

3. Browning, Christopher. Ordinary People. New York: Harper Collins, 1992. 56.

4. Ordinary. 45.

5. Ordinary. 58.

6. Ordinary. 45.

7. Ordinary. 58.

8. “Posen Speech.” Section: “The Evacuation of the Jews.”

Bibliography

Browning, Christopher. Ordinary People. New York: Harper Collins, 1992.

Himmler, Heinrich. “Posen Speech.” Speech, Posen, Poland, April 10, 1943. Codoh: Committee

for Open Debate on the Holocaust. http://codoh.com/library/document/891/.