Diary of a Gestapo Executioner
How did a generation of Germany's best and brightest become mass murderers? How did Gestapo executioners process their atrocities and justify them to themselves? In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss Hans-Joachim Heuer's chapter Brutalization and Decivilization: On State Police Killing. A diary entry written by a Gestapo officer about his first execution puts us in the shoes of the perpetrator as Heuer helps us understand how normal people become accustomed to extreme violence. Call for Articles: Close Encounters in Irregular and Asymmetrical Warfare http://closeencountersinwar.com/index.php/call-for-papers News from H-net: Emre Sencer's review of Attaturk in the Nazi Imagination, Michael Schneider's review of Work in National Socialism, and an obituary for Yisrael Kristal.