about Goldhagen’s view, is based on his assertion that ‘Ordinary Germans’ were zealously anti-Semites but then why would the Poles be so willing to help, for they were not Germans, so thus cannot necessarily contain the same German hatred and anti-Semitism that Goldhagen deems so obvious and prevalent.Goldhagen clearly believes that the men of the Reserve Battalion 101 had every chance to leave or refuse to act. According to Browning yes, that choice was there but how many would openly speak of this is another factor. Browning believes that under the great amount of pressure it is unlikely that many men who would have wanted to speak out would, though some did. Goldhagen spends a considerable amount of time addressing the photographs taken of the Reserve Battalion 101. In the many photos it is clearly obvious that the men are smiling or having an enjoyable time and this, “openness about their genocidal slaughtering-making it available to the view of so many other German men and women who happened to be stationed in Poland…. These Germans’ willingness to make an extensive photographic record of their deeds, including their killing operations, in which they appear with cheerful and proud demeanors as men entirely comfortable with their environment.” Goldhagen’s argument has a very clear point considering the content of these photographs but what Browning questions is the extent to which these men really knew what they were doing. Did they know the how many Jews were being killed? Goldhagen also delves into the extent that these men talked of their activities. Some men say that they were ordered not to speak of what they had done while others do not recall any such claim and thus did speak of it. Goldhagen sees the men who were so openly speaking of such horrid events as truly believing in the killings of the Jews. One of Goldhagen’s most “significant and revealing action...
