1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,280 They aren't ideologically-motivated, 4 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,240 willing executioners. 5 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:46,840 They're not trained killers. 6 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:51,440 They're people with civilian jobs, like taxi drivers or plumbers. 7 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,960 In every respect they were completely ordinary men. 8 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:12,120 They ranged from bakers and craftsmen 9 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:17,720 to carpenters and tradesmen with office jobs. 10 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,000 That police battalion basically reflected 11 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:25,960 {\an8}the average working population of Hamburg. 12 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:05,160 They were given a fairly abstract description of their mission, 13 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:09,040 which consisted of securing the German-occupied areas. 14 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:54,600 {\an8}Major Trapp, who delivers the order, is an older man 15 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,920 {\an8}who is very popular with his men 16 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:04,560 {\an8}because he's not the typical authoritarian commander. 17 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:06,760 The men call him "Papa" Trapp. 18 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,280 That indicates what kind of relationship they have. 19 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:16,080 Major Trapp stands in front of the battalion and says, 20 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:20,320 "I have a terrible order to give you today." 21 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:13,440 Telling people to step out if they don't want to participate 22 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,640 requires them to take action. 23 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,960 But when we are faced with a decision 24 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,840 and we don't know exactly what the right thing is to do, 25 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:25,520 we usually do nothing. 26 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:14,480 Attention! Dismiss! 27 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:21,440 From a historical perspective, it's an incredibly interesting situation 28 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:25,240 because the orders are documented 29 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:31,360 and it's clear from the way they were issued that the men did not have to kill. 30 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:34,600 Part of the post-war narrative was that you had to take part, 31 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,920 otherwise you would have been shot yourself. 32 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:42,520 Here we can clearly show that no, that was not the case. 33 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:43,840 They could decide. 34 00:08:42,159 --> 00:08:47,040 160,000 men applied to volunteer for the police, 35 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:50,280 {\an8}and only 26,000 to 30,000 could be accepted. 36 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:53,400 {\an8}They were then trained for six months 37 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,360 and, most crucially, received ideological training 38 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:01,200 which made it fairly clear to them what would be expected of them. 39 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:06,640 They were told that, as the master race, 40 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:08,840 they should ensure that National Socialist policies 41 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,920 were established and executed in the occupied territories. 42 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:52,800 As early as October or November 1939, 43 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:55,960 those units began shooting civilians: 44 00:09:55,960 --> 00:10:01,040 Polish resistance fighters, clergy, intellectuals, even Jews, 45 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,880 driving people out, deporting them. 46 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:09,920 All in all, you could say that those units 47 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:14,480 put the National Socialist extermination policy into practice. 48 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:07,360 They don't fit with Hollywood's image of a Nazi perpetrator. 49 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:12,760 {\an8}That image is a henchman who is not particularly intelligent 50 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:17,120 {\an8}and who only cares about killing as many people as possible. 51 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:21,480 But the historical reality is that they were nothing like that. 52 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:27,080 Some of the Einsatzgruppen leaders had double doctorate degrees. 53 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:33,520 They're mostly middle-class, educated, really sophisticated people 54 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:39,080 who could definitely hold a conversation about Mozart or Beethoven. 55 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,960 They were taken to a forest. 56 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:11,080 Then the policemen led them into the forest one by one, 57 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,240 some of them women, some of them children. 58 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,400 The victims feared for their lives 59 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,760 and knew death was moments away. 60 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,480 And the policemen were experiencing an emotional crisis 61 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,440 because they knew they were about to have to kill someone at point-blank range. 62 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:36,280 Otto Ohlendorf said, 63 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,880 "My men suffered more than the victims." 64 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:46,080 Looking at that from today's perspective, 65 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:50,040 that's an absurd reinterpretation. 66 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:55,520 It's the perpetrators looking for psychological mechanisms 67 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,640 that they can use to cast themselves as victims 68 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,840 because of the fact they had to do things that made them suffer. 69 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:09,960 The order to liquidate 70 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,400 came from the Führer of the Reich. 71 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:19,600 So, in that sense, it's a policy determined by the Führer. 72 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:30,960 {\an8}They lined us up at the edge of the pit, squeezed together. 73 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:33,280 {\an8}Then they started shooting. 74 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,480 {\an8}I closed my eyes, clenched my fists, 75 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:42,280 {\an8}tensed all my muscles and jumped. 76 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,520 The fall seemed to take forever. 77 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,160 Finally, I landed on the bodies. 78 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:48,720 I hadn't been hit. 79 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,560 After a while, the shooting stopped. 80 00:25:55,360 --> 00:26:01,080 I heard the Germans coming down into the pit... 81 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,240 to finish off those who were still moaning. 82 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:12,840 Some were still twitching and convulsing in their death throes. 83 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,880 They shot everyone who was still alive. 84 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:23,200 I played dead, scared of being discovered. 85 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,280 I can still see the image in my mind. 86 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:51,240 I remember thinking back then 87 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:54,840 that we didn't have enough earth to cover so many bodies. 88 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:02,760 I was angry that we had become animals, murderers. 89 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,480 We didn't see Jews as human beings. 90 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:07,400 He was a popular, respected superior, and he said, 91 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:11,040 "If I had a choice, I wouldn't give you the order. But..." 92 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:16,480 He was calling on them for solidarity, to support him with this task, 93 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:20,040 which didn't come from him, 94 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:23,680 and asking them not to abandon him. 95 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:32,720 It was a combination of coercion and free will. 96 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:37,680 They were told that they could refuse to do it, 97 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:44,200 but that they would have to accept their comrades having to do it instead. 98 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,120 That combination of, 99 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:51,880 "It has to be done, the police battalion has to do the job" 100 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:56,800 and, "If you're weak, you can refuse, but it's at the expense of your comrades." 101 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,000 That combination creates the pressure 102 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:03,440 which led to most of them taking part in the shootings. 103 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:43,240 No! We were already hoping it was over. 104 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:45,440 More potatoes? 105 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,760 Objectively speaking, 106 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,320 nothing bad happened to the objectors. 107 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:58,000 They were assigned work cleaning latrines and that kind of thing. 108 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:04,400 They were called names: bastard, dirty rat, sissy and so on. 109 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:08,040 Those men were not at home, 110 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:11,960 they didn't go back to their families at the end of the day. 111 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:17,160 Instead, they were in a group of men for an unforeseeable amount of time, 112 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:21,600 always with the same people, who could torment them, 113 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:24,840 insult them and exclude them. 114 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:31,640 You need to be very self-assured to be able to endure that. 115 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:38,360 It might be only a social punishment and not a physical one, 116 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:42,720 but for human beings, a social punishment is one of the hardest things to bear. 117 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:46,760 The first step towards mass murder 118 00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:51,840 is a categorical distinction between "us" and "them." 119 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:56,000 Everyone noticed people losing their jobs, 120 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:58,760 being forced to leave their homes, 121 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:04,560 having their belongings auctioned off, businesses being "Aryanized." 122 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:07,400 All of that was a public process. 123 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:09,320 It wasn't a secret. 124 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:13,920 And that process reinforces the division. 125 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,880 They are "them," while "we" are the others. 126 00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:33,280 If I define someone as different in theory 127 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:37,040 and also treat them differently in practice, 128 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:41,480 the willingness to use violence against that person 129 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:45,400 will naturally grow. 130 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:24,760 {\an8}Our leader told our group of 12 men about our future tasks. 131 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:31,000 We would have to gather up and shoot the Jewish population. 132 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:37,600 The convoy stopped about 70 to 90 meters from the pit. 133 00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:50,320 The Gruppenführer divided up his men as follows: 134 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:00,720 Six men to guard and six men to shoot. 135 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:08,560 I was tasked with shooting. 136 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:14,640 The shooting then proceeded as follows: 137 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:23,800 About 45 to 50 people were separated and led to the pit. 138 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,200 They had to line up facing us. 139 00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:33,840 And that's how they were shot. 140 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:29,520 Each of the perpetrators developed their own way 141 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:34,160 of justifying what they were doing. 142 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:36,800 "Someone has to do the dirty work." 143 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:42,520 Or maybe, "We have a historical duty to fulfill." 144 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:48,280 Another factor might have been, "I'm better at this than other people." 145 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:51,000 They all had justifications 146 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:56,480 that allowed them to find meaning in the murders. 147 00:39:56,480 --> 00:40:01,400 Ultimately, this shows that mass murder 148 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:07,760 is committed by thinking people who do not execute orders like a machine, 149 00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:13,560 but who think and comprehend what they are doing. 150 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:39,160 I tried, and was able, to shoot only children. 151 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:44,240 The man next to me would shoot the mother, and I would shoot her child. 152 00:40:44,240 --> 00:40:46,520 I told myself that the child, after all, 153 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:49,480 would not be able to live without its mother. 154 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:57,760 He translates his truly appalling act 155 00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:03,120 into something morally good in a sense of "redemption." 156 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:07,800 That's the key to understand why the men did this. 157 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:09,560 It is not blind obedience. 158 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:15,120 Instead, they interpret the commands in a way that is acceptable for them 159 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:19,200 and allows them to see themselves as morally righteous. 160 00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:31,960 Only afterwards did it occur to me that it wasn't right. 161 00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:35,800 You started to flounder, 162 00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:39,080 the clear ideas you used to have were gone. 163 00:42:39,680 --> 00:42:41,240 Stop arguing! 164 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:47,800 - Stop it! - He started after all! 165 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:49,120 For God's sake! 166 00:42:49,120 --> 00:42:51,400 - What do you want? - I want to go home! 167 00:44:11,840 --> 00:44:16,000 {\an8}They always found ways to do it 168 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:18,560 {\an8}that would keep the machine running. 169 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:25,200 {\an8}Someone would say they were indisposed or they felt too weak that day. 170 00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:28,040 But it wasn't an act of resistance, 171 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:31,200 it was just an attempt to extract the individual 172 00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:36,480 without questioning the legitimacy of the police battalion as a whole. 173 00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:40,240 We will not let life make us bitter 174 00:44:40,240 --> 00:44:43,760 Don't be afraid Don't be afraid, Rosemary! 175 00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:47,640 Not even when the whole earth shakes 176 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:50,720 And the world is lifted off its hinges 177 00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:12,080 The terrifying and central issue 178 00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:14,560 in the case of Police Battalion 101 179 00:45:14,560 --> 00:45:18,640 is that you don't need to act out of conviction, 180 00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:20,840 to be motivated by ideology, 181 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:22,920 to carry out a mass killing. 182 00:49:20,520 --> 00:49:23,240 The prosecution was a disaster. 183 00:49:23,240 --> 00:49:26,880 {\an8}Lots of material and documents had been collected, 184 00:49:26,880 --> 00:49:29,560 {\an8}there was really good evidence, 185 00:49:29,560 --> 00:49:35,240 {\an8}but there was a lack of will to punish those who had been involved in the crimes. 186 00:51:31,200 --> 00:51:36,560 {\an8}There have been several genocides since the Holocaust. 187 00:51:37,160 --> 00:51:41,120 {\an8}There have been massacres and mass murders. 188 00:51:41,120 --> 00:51:44,120 There are other contexts 189 00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:47,960 where we find those mechanisms 190 00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:54,440 that lead people to kill others without any personal 191 00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:57,680 or psychological motives. 192 00:51:57,680 --> 00:51:59,360 Wherever people can say to themselves, 193 00:51:59,360 --> 00:52:04,920 "I am only a cog in the wheel, I am not responsible." 194 00:52:05,480 --> 00:52:08,920 With that attitude, almost anything is possible. 195 00:56:12,360 --> 00:56:15,120 Come on, attention. For home. 196 00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:17,320 Yeah, a little cuddling. 197 00:56:19,640 --> 00:56:20,920 Good.