Ordinary Men: The "Forgotten Holocaust"

Broadview TV

Documentary History
58 min     7.7     2022     Germany

Overview

The Nuremberg Einsatzgruppen trial of 1947/1948 is considered the largest murder trial in history against members of four death squads from the security police and SD (the security service of the SS). During World War II, six million Jews were murdered. Four million died in the extermination camps, but two million people were killed in systematic mass shootings. The perpetrators came face to face with their victims. They shot at men, women, children - day after day, obediently and assiduously, as if it were normal work. Tens of thousands of Germans belonged to the mobile commandos of the task forces and police battalions. Who were these men, how could they commit such murders? What did the few survivors tell, how were they able to escape the mass extinction and live on with the horrific experience? Based on written traditions, original documents, film footage and photos as well as expert statements, the documentary traces the path of one of these murder battalions.

Reviews

BornKnight wrote:
Interesting and sad documentary about the Einsatzgruppen (firing squads) of Germany's WWII, that was considered as a privileged group as they didn't had to go to the fronts, instead of the Wehrmacht (war forces). Seeing by a group of german psychologists and american lawyers, they didn't know at first what they would had to do in the future, and it wasn't an obligation - but those who recused were ostracized by the companions. An american lawyer, Benjamin Ferencz, was one of the wisest lawyers that I've seen he insisted on the Nuremberg Trials, and proved they albeight of the crime being committed they were common man, many of middle class education and professions that thought this was the best for the country as they were following orders and even the relate of one of the commanders that cried at the orders he had to give. Many soldiers had psychological problems after the first "task". given. Maybe one the phrases that marked me the most was "was them sadistic psychopath, for the crimes?" - "no, many weren't. I must ask the same about the man who dropped the hiroshima and nagasaki atomic bombs he was a sadistic psychopath", he concludes, "no" he was a man who thought he was doing the best for his country at the time. My thought about the matter is when it comes to innocent civilians lives that had no part in any armed conflict, as I for sure couldn't do that even if it costed my life. The documentary closes showing several and equally horrible genocides examples that occurs to modern days. The main problem isn't the man that shot in most of the cases, but the doctrine or politics behind it to teach that is part of the job.

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