Pushed to their psychological limits Summary and Analysis

Chapter 3, "'Pushed to their psychological limits'—members of the Einsatzgruppen on the stresses and strains of killing" presents three documents considering the mental-health impacts to servicemen charged with performing mass murder over prolonged time periods. According to the first series of documents, "'If the victims didn't do as they were told...'—problems during mass shootings", one of the most distressing aspects of performing mass murder was the occasional and varied resistance of the victims who unsurprisingly often did not desire to comply. One affidavit and two statements, all from different individuals, describe events in which victims engaged in resistance—in these cases all futile. The usual recourse for the murderers was of course violence, involving beatings or extemporaneous shootings. As these events often transpired away from semi-isolated execution locales...