Edward B. Westermann

The core of this book is an examination of the institutional process by how Weimar Germany's uniformed police, which were paramilitary to one degree or another, were transformed into full-fledged party soldiers of the Nationalist Socialist regime, and placed on the cutting edge of Hitler's race war. The emphasis is on how an institutional culture was created where the elimination of the regime's enemies could be seen as being hard, but necessary duty, followed by a survey of how the police battalions conducted themselves in Poland and the Soviet Union. This is the next book to read if you've read Chris Browning's "Ordinary Men" and want more analytic background.… (mer)