The power of authority likely contributed greatly to why many of these men participated in mass killings. As Christopher Browning and Stanley Milgram both explore in their research, the presence of an authority figure has a large effect on the actions of those following their orders. In Milgram’s experiments, “teachers” who were in a room with the instructor were more likely to go to maximum voltage that those who were in a different room. Based on the common excuse of “just following orders” it is likely that these men felt a feeling of protection following orders from an authority figure over committing these atrocities of their own accord, as they may have felt it lessened their responsibility for the crimes. Those who carried through with the orders to kill hundreds of innocent people likely used this reasoning, along with engrained antisemitism, to justify their actions. However, the number of men who opted out, either before the group left or while the murder took place, was sizable. As Browning describes, many were extremely emotionally disturbed by their own actions, and the gravity of taking someone’s life. As is outlined countless times, there were really no repercussions for those who chose not to participate. None were punished, and were often quickly reassigned to a different task. I find it difficult to understand why more didn’t, especially after seeing others stop and not receive punishment. Maybe given the usually harsh treatment of those who didn’t follow orders they feared there were secret repercussions. Maybe they truly believed that what they were doing was right. Either way, they were likely influenced by the rhetoric and policy of those in charge. I think Major Tripp’s actions are very problematic. He was in a relative position of power, and obviously had strong convictions against carrying out these mass murders, yet placed that weight onto those below him and distance himself from it. His disagreements mean nothing without action to go with them. While he did the unusual thing of letting the soldiers who also disagreed remove themselves without consequence, that did nothing to change or lessen the destruction caused. Especially given that his mental barrier to committing mass murder was the lives of those chosen to be killed, it was incredibly selfish to give himself space to reckon with that and not actually help those affected. As Major Tripp demonstrates, as well as the excessive drinking of the soldiers following the murder, these Einsatzgruppen were unsustainable for the Nazi’s because of the large mental toll on the soldiers. This was something which came up in my targeted populations project as well. Initially, Einsatzgruppen had been used to carry out mass murderers of the disabled, especially in newly occupied territory, but gas vans were soon created in response to the complaints of soldiers and their commanders at the difficulty they had with killing people for hours at a time. Einsatzgruppen, being made up of “ordinary” people, come with the mental and physical needs and limits of individuals. While people are incredibly susceptible to authority and power, as historical events and research shows, their humanity prevented these groups from being as cooperative as the Nazis may have wished.
I don’t think that the susceptibility of these men to power makes them any less responsible for the horrible nature of their crimes, nor does it lessen the severity of the murder itself. They still carried out these crimes repeatedly. If anything, it increases the responsibility of those above them, like Major Tripp, as they were not only responsible for giving the orders, but also in part for influencing those below to carry them out. This has major implications for our world today as well, especially with the rising influence of social media in politics, combined with increased rightwing extremism and the confirmation bias which arises from so many social media algorithms. It is very easy for people to become so subject to a constant rhetoric which scapes goats certain groups and then carry out crimes under the excuse of listening to leaders. In many trials of people who stormed the capital, they used the excuse that they were following the orders of then-President Trump. The influence of prominent political leaders, like former-president Trump, makes their rhetoric even more dangerous because their position of power lends it credibility. That is not to say that authority figures are the only problem here. Perpetrators are just as responsible for thinking for themselves and not using the power of others as an excuse for their own individual actions. It is increasingly important that we pay attention to the information we consume and trust, as well as combat information vacuums we notice in our lives. The power of authority is immense, and we, as individuals, have a responsibility to ourselves and others to challenge that.