Nazi-era rescuers and persecutors frequently occupied both roles at once

Evidence

In the real situation, people’s roles and behaviors were often inconsistent and subject to diverse and changing influences. Both supporters and oppo­ nents of the Nazis were motivated by a wide variety of goals and aspirations (see, e.g., Baumeister, 1997; Proctor, 1999); and, as many survivor narratives demonstrate, people who rescued some Jews persecuted others (as well as sometimes abusing the ones they were sheltering), while some of the worst persecutors, including SS concentration camp guards, succored and saved some Jews (e.g., Dippel, 1996; Gushee, 1994; Hilberg, 1992; Holliday, 1995). — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 465

Categorization

• SHARE: A striking corrective worth sharing with anyone doing Holocaust history or moral-psychology work: survivor narratives show rescuers abusing some Jews and SS guards saving others.
• XREF: connects to: Perpetrator and rescuer roles overlap rather than divide into pure good and evil. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 473

Broader Connections

• Perpetrator and rescuer roles overlap rather than divide into pure good and evil. #corroborates (0.96) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 473