A Commandant's View

After having read the article A Commandant's View by Gitta Sereny, I believe it is appropriate to refer to people who held powerful positions within the Nazi death camps, as inhumane, but not as evil. The Google dictionary definition of inhumane is: without compassion for misery or suffering; cruel. Whereas their definition of evil is: profoundly immoral and malevolent. In the specific case of Stangl, he did not express any sympathy to the people executed during the genocide. However, he did not perform executions with the pure intention of killing and causing pain; he did it merely because it was his job. I assume that the only way Nazis could sit by an execution and remain calm, would be to convince themselves of the same concept. They did it solely because they had to. Stangl's responses do not alter my previous views of Nazi soldiers because previous teachers have given us multiple perspectives to analyze the motivation of the Nazi soldiers.

Franz Stangl was able to detach himself from what he does at the death camps by reminding himself that his occupation is the top priority. He looked at the innocent people being executed, not as individuals, or human beings, but simply as a large overpowering mass. The final tactic that he used was to ignore his problems by consuming large amounts of alcohol. I personally do not believe this was a good tactic in distancing himself from the executions because he is putting himself at risk of liver disease by drinking so heavily, meanwhile, completely disregarding the value of innocent lives by ignoring the issue. On the opposing side, Stangl's tactic is a good one in the sense that it is successful in keeping his mind off of the harm he was causing to others, essentially fulfilling its purpose.

Based on the responses Stangl had, I believe he does regret his previous actions. Everyone has a conscience, and the way Stangl's interviewer portrayed him, it was made very evident that Stangl was experiencing a strong sense of guilt. There is one moment in the article in which I felt the impact of Stangl's actions; Stangl is speaking and commences to describe the victims of the death camp, "'Those big eyes... which looked at me... not knowing that in no time at all they'd all be dead.' He paused. His face was drawn. At this moment he looked old and worn and real." The way that Gitta depicted Franz by saying he looked real, even I as reader of the article was able to sense the realization of remorse and rightful blame within Franz.