Ganz normale Männer – Der ‘vergessene Holocaust’ (2022)

• Year: 2022
• Released: 25 Jan 2022
• Country: Germany
• Adwords: N/A
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17424334/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ganz_normale_manner_der_vergessene_holocaust
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: German, English
• MPA Rating: N/A
• Genre: Documentary, History, War
• Runtime: 58 min
• Writer: Manfred Oldenburg
• Director: Manfred Oldenburg, Oliver Halmburger
• Cast: Brian Cox, Benjamin Ferencz, Christopher Browning
• Keywords: mass murder, holocaust (shoah), world war ii, mass shooting, death squads, jews,

7.2/10

Ganz normale Männer – Der ‘vergessene Holocaust’ Photos

Ganz normale Männer – Der ‘vergessene Holocaust’ Torrents Download

Ganz normale Männer – Der ‘vergessene Holocaust’ Subtitles Download

Ganz normale Männer – Der ‘vergessene Holocaust’ Movie Reviews

Food for thought

I’ve watched a lot of documentaries about the holocaust and the WW2, and I can say this one is of the good ones, especially since it tries to answer the question ‘how could so called normal people do such despicable and cruel acts’. Even though it’s a subjective approach, it does being you closer to understand the thought process of those people involved.

Another aspect I really enjoyed was getting to know better the last surviving persecutor of the Nurnberg Trials, Benjamin Ferencz (unfortunately passed away recently), who is such an inspiration and a highly intelligent but kind person. The contrast between his stature and the courage that he had to confront some of the biggest nazis, adds even more charm to his on screen presence. I definitely recommend giving this a watch if you’re into WW2 history and would like to get more insight!

Harrowing

I had to read the book Ordinary Men in college, and it is definitely something that sticks with you. And even though this is a shorter documentary, it sticks with you. It is hard to imagine how anyone could be so evil and detached to execute innocent men, women, and even children just because they are of a different class. However, this documentary shows how that can happen when people don’t stand up to the established system. There are lots of Holocaust documentaries out there, but I like that this one examines the psychology of the men who carried out the attacks. It was also interesting to learn about the trials that took place after the war. My only complaint was it was rather short in comparison to the book. However, it is still very well done and left me with chills just thinking about how bad the Holocaust was.

Men into mass murderers

In the summer of 1942, a police battalion from Hamburg (mostly men too old or unfit for the regular Wehrmacht) were recruited into the army and sent to conquered Poland. These men were ordinary German citizens; tradesmen, manual workers, some educated with office jobs. Not all of them were Nazi fanatics.

Once in Poland, they were informed that their assignment was to round up, murder and bury Jews, men, women and children. Contrary to the Nazi standard postwar excuse (I was following orders) they were allowed to opt out of the killing with no other consequence than the disapproval of their comrades and a possible blot in their dossiers. Very, very few took the option; of the rest, some had qualms at the beginning but all became seasoned murderers, some even suggesting improvements to the killing process. Other similar battalions were sent to the USSR after the invasion n in 1941.

After the end of the war, thousands of death squad members were investigated and tried but the rate of conviction was ridiculously small; most walked away as free men. Those convicted served few years, if that much.

This documentary consists of photos of the time and centers in some particular commanders of the death squads. Historians and lawyers try to elucidate the unanswered question: how an ordinary man, no different than you or me could evolve almost naturally into a mass murderer. Highly recommended.