Jan H. Issinger (2020):
Options, Constraints and Concealments. Group Culture in an Ordinary German Reserve Police Batallion.

Villa ten Hompel Aktuell 23, Eigenverlag, Münster 2020, 50 Seiten, 5 Euro

Since the beginning of the Second World War, units like the Reserve Police Battalion 61 from Dortmund were involved in persecuting and eliminating Jews and other enemies of the Nazi regime in the conquered regions of Europe. However, violent actions were not always explicitly ordered by the regime but occurred because they were permitted to take place in informal ways. Although this does not deny the role played by unofficial pressures, it gives particular weight to the question of how more or less “ordinary men were able to turn into some kind of Soldateska when dealing with civilians. Analysing the Holocaust is inextricably connected with the understanding of its military actors.
This article uses the SS-Police Battalion 61 as a case study to explore how their network of behavioural opportunities and constraints was formed in a compulsory military organisation. A large part of the answer to the question of how and why men became violent actors in the Holocaust can be found in the group culture of small units that were only under minimal direct threat.

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