A Small Town Near Auschwitz By Mary Fulbrook - 943 Words

The Holocaust is considered one of the darkest times in history. The Nazis killed over six million people in one of the largest coordinated mass genocides in history. When reflecting on this time in history, it is assumed that the deaths of many came at the hands of the few or, in this case the Nazis. That, simply, is not the case. Although Hitler, the SS and the rest of the Nazi party were the principal players, this book makes it abundantly clear that the Nazis delegated some of the racial tasks to the common people in Germany. In the book, A Small Town Near Auschwitz, by Mary Fulbrook, she examines the life and actions of Udo Klausa. Klausa is a civilian administrator in the Nazi regime, in the town of Bedzin. Bedzin is a small town near the famous concentration camp of Auschwitz. Fulbrook discusses the actions that Klausa must take and the laws he must enforce in order to live with the Nazis. Klausa was charged with enforcing the racial laws put into effect by the Nazis. He was a civil servant, the Chief Executive of the county. This paper will examine how the Holocaust Process almost destroys the town of Bedzin, as well as, Klausa’s struggles to distance himself from being involved in the violence of the war In 1939, the town of Bedzin was a flourishing town of industry with nearly half of its population being of the Jewish faith. When the German troops first arrived, they were described by a survivor as pleasant. The men seemed ordinary, much like the rest of the