Ordinary Killers. How the System Turns Ordinary People into Monsters

One aspect of the work of the famous German social psychologist H. Welzer is the study of the motivations of mid-level and lower-level Nazi criminals. It is often believed that the killers demanded by the era supposedly had an anthropological predisposition to evil. However, the author of the book primarily addresses social reasons — exploring the combination of historical, political, socio-psychological, and other factors that led to a change in the moral 'background' in Germany and ultimately to the mass approval of the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis.

This socio-psychological study examines the formation of the willingness to kill in people. The author analyzes numerous documentary archival materials in search of an answer to the question of how mass killings can become routine work for previously normal individuals.

The book discusses episodes of genocide during World War II, as well as the bloody events that occurred during military conflicts in Vietnam, Rwanda, and the Balkans.