Looking for advice on books about the Holocaust

[DD Brock]

I don't know if I would have the werewithall to visit those places, though I should. I cannot imagine the horror those people lived and died through, and I cannot imagine the mindset of those that did it to them.

[smartcooky]

I don't know if I would have the werewithall to visit those places, though I should. I cannot imagine the horror those people lived and died through, and I cannot imagine the mindset of those that did it to them.

I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau back in the Late 1990s; the place made my skin crawl

If you cannot imagine the horror of what happened to them, visiting there might go some way towards explaining it to you,. It will not, however contribute to your understanding of the mentality behind those who perpetrated this unspeakable outrage. If anything, it will leave you even more aghast.

Auschwitz-Birkenau is one of two places I have visited in my time that gave me an overwhelming sense of profound sadness; the other was the Arizona Memorial when I was in Hawaii in 1987. I must have stood staring at that list of names on the wall for 15 minutes before my partner got my attention. Its one thing to hear or read that over 1100 were killed there... it quite another to see all their names. 

[ka9q]

Along the same lines, try Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel.

[Sus_pilot]

I'm first-generation American (USA) of German parents.  For my entire life, I've never been able to reconcile how an entire nation could go so murderously insane, based on the relatives I've met (to the best of my knowledge, none of them was directly involved, although I don't absolve that generation of what happened).

There was a famous study, probably cited somewhere here, where people would continue to seemingly administer stronger and stronger electrical shocks to someone that provided wrong answers, no matter how much they screamed.  The real subject of the test was the person administering the bogus shocks.  The reasoning they gave for continuing was because they were supposed to, which sounds a lot like the excuse of "I was just following orders" given by many complicit in the Holocaust. 

[Ishkabibble]

I'm first-generation American (USA) of German parents.  For my entire life, I've never been able to reconcile how an entire nation could go so murderously insane, based on the relatives I've met (to the best of my knowledge, none of them was directly involved, although I don't absolve that generation of what happened).

There was a famous study, probably cited somewhere here, where people would continue to seemingly administer stronger and stronger electrical shocks to someone that provided wrong answers, no matter how much they screamed.  The real subject of the test was the person administering the bogus shocks.  The reasoning they gave for continuing was because they were supposed to, which sounds a lot like the excuse of "I was just following orders" given by many complicit in the Holocaust. 

That would be the famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) Milgram Obedience Study, conducted by Stanley Milgram back in the early 1960s at Yale, I think. It is a very good example of regular people, people without agenda, guile, or evil intentions, who can be manipulated by the perception of authority. An even better understanding of how and why this can and does happen is the Stanford Prison Experiment that I cited a few posts farther up.

In fact, it can still happen today. Having the lens of history is no guarantee that the population of a nation can't find themselves in the middle of a similar situation, and be too far gone to know what happened to get them there.

[Andromeda]

https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_on_our_buggy_moral_code?language=en

[Cat Not Included]

In fact, it can still happen today. Having the lens of history is no guarantee that the population of a nation can't find themselves in the middle of a similar situation, and be too far gone to know what happened to get them there.

I'm really scared about how much we seem to be going that direction in the US at the moment.

[bknight]

...  The reasoning they gave for continuing was because they were supposed to, which sounds a lot like the excuse of "I was just following orders" given by many complicit in the Holocaust.

William Calley tried the same in his trial.  However I graduated from the same company that Calley did, 5 years after.  An officer can not obey orders that are against morale laws.  Even IF he was ordered, to execute civilians, who may or may not be VC recruits in a ditch is utterly beyond reasonableness.  The German officers really had the same morale to follow, although maybe not in the same vein as Americans. 

[ka9q]

I'm really scared about how much we seem to be going that direction in the US at the moment.

Same here. The thought of a President Trump is beyond scary.

[smartcooky]

...  The reasoning they gave for continuing was because they were supposed to, which sounds a lot like the excuse of "I was just following orders" given by many complicit in the Holocaust.

William Calley tried the same in his trial.  However I graduated from the same company that Calley did, 5 years after.  An officer can not obey orders that are against morale laws.  Even IF he was ordered, to execute civilians, who may or may not be VC recruits in a ditch is utterly beyond reasonableness.  The German officers really had the same morale to follow, although maybe not in the same vein as Americans. 

I think its called "unlawful orders" and is addressed by Article 33 of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The Article, titled "Superior orders and prescription of law" reads;

"1. The fact that a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court has been committed by a person pursuant to an order of a Government or of a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that person of criminal responsibility unless:

        (a) The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the Government or the superior in question;
        (b) The person did not know that the order was unlawful; and
        (c) The order was not manifestly unlawful.

2. For the purposes of this article, orders to commit genocide or crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful.

[bknight]

...  The reasoning they gave for continuing was because they were supposed to, which sounds a lot like the excuse of "I was just following orders" given by many complicit in the Holocaust.

William Calley tried the same in his trial.  However I graduated from the same company that Calley did, 5 years after.  An officer can not obey orders that are against morale laws.  Even IF he was ordered, to execute civilians, who may or may not be VC recruits in a ditch is utterly beyond reasonableness.  The German officers really had the same morale to follow, although maybe not in the same vein as Americans. 

I think its called "unlawful orders" and is addressed by Article 33 of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The Article, titled "Superior orders and prescription of law" reads;

"1. The fact that a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court has been committed by a person pursuant to an order of a Government or of a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that person of criminal responsibility unless:

        (a) The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the Government or the superior in question;
        (b) The person did not know that the order was unlawful; and
        (c) The order was not manifestly unlawful.

2. For the purposes of this article, orders to commit genocide or crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful.

Remember this was 1967, we called them immoral orders, and in any case they would be unlawful.  The only aspect that would have saved Calley is IF he was attacked by people inside buildings, shooting to kill would have then been justified, whether they were civilians or not, however lining them up in a ditch and executing them is/was not acceptable.

EDIT:
IMO Technically any order from a superior is lawful because that person is granted the authority by the position.  Whether or not that order is in conduct of a mission.  We had classes that defined what/how to give orders as we would be 2nd Lts. soon.  I believe that following all orders was the defense position during the trial. The line officers, many of whom had tours in Viet Nam, did not buy into that line as they had been in similar situations, without executing civilians. 
We were expressly forbidden to talk to the media during the trial, or after it.  We were kept busy with training and to my knowledge none of us were even approached by the media.

[ka9q]

So how come none of the members of the US military or civilian employees of the DoD have been prosecuted for following clearly unlawful orders to torture detainees? Isn't everyone taught that the US is signatory to the Conventions on Torture, which outlaws it under any circumstance whatsoever?

A few low-level guards at Abu Ghraib were prosecuted, but that seems to be only because they didn't do it under orders. Others did, and apparently much worse.

[gillianren]

The idea that any order could be lawful is a bewildering one to me.  There are some things no one has the right to tell you to do, no matter what their authority over you is.

[raven]

For most of history, an order was law, and in most cases, it still is.  It was glorified.
 The samurai serving well under a bad master was a hero, for example.

[bknight]

So how come none of the members of the US military or civilian employees of the DoD have been prosecuted for following clearly unlawful orders to torture detainees? Isn't everyone taught that the US is signatory to the Conventions on Torture, which outlaws it under any circumstance whatsoever?

A few low-level guards at Abu Ghraib were prosecuted, but that seems to be only because they didn't do it under orders. Others did, and apparently much worse.

Counter point, were any of those people tried and convicted for refusing to obey those orders?

EDIT:
I'm not justifying actions taken or not taken in reference to torture.  It seems like there were executive interpretations on the use of torture, whether following the general rules.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding