ABSTRACT
Christopher Browning and Daniel Goldhagen differ in their analysis of Reserve Police Battalion 101. The battalion consisted of around 500 ordinary Germans who killed around 40,000 Jews and deported as many to the death camps. Both Browning and Goldhagen do at times appeal to non-German perpetrators and to non-Jewish victims as evidence for their views about the German killing of Jewish victims. Both Browning and Goldhagen are fascinated by the opportunity provided by Major Trapp for opting out of the killing. Goldhagen's explanation is not monocausal as many of his cruder critics carelessly and unfairly alleged. Goldhagen allows that many factors together led to the Holocaust. The debate over cruelty often involves argument by comparison. Goldhagen argues that the fact that the men of Battalion 101 were proud is evidence against Browning's peer-pressure hypothesis. If Goldhagen is right that the men were indeed proud, it would be significant, for pride is a moral emotion.
