Ordinary Men

Ordinary Men

by

Christopher Browning

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Ordinary Men makes teaching easy.

First Lieutenant Hagen Character Analysis

First Lieutenant Hagen is Major Trapp’s adjutant. “Hagen” is actually an alias and very little is known about him other than that he was killed in 1943. Before the executions in Józefów begin, Hagen takes charge of the process of selecting Jews to be sent to work instead of being executed that day. During a judenjagd, Hagen and some others stumble on a camp of escaped Russians and Jews who are armed. Hagen is accidentally killed by one of his own men during the firefight.
Get the entire Ordinary Men LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ordinary Men PDF

First Lieutenant Hagen Character Timeline in Ordinary Men

The timeline below shows where the character First Lieutenant Hagen appears in Ordinary Men. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5: Reserve Police Battalion 101
Normalization of Violence Theme Icon
Nationalism, War, and Ethnic Cleansing Theme Icon
...and acts as Trapp’s deputy battalion commander. Little is known of Trapp’s adjutant, First Lieutenant Hagen, other than that he is killed in 1943. (full context)
Chapter 7: Initiation to Mass Murder: The Józefów Massacre
Freedom of Choice  Theme Icon
Peer Pressure, Conformity, and Acceptance Theme Icon
Normalization of Violence Theme Icon
Nationalism, War, and Ethnic Cleansing Theme Icon
...Platoon will arrive later) and Trapp tells the company commanders what their orders are. Lieutenant Hagen passes this information on to Buchmann, who tells Hagen that he refuses to take part... (full context)
Freedom of Choice  Theme Icon
Peer Pressure, Conformity, and Acceptance Theme Icon
Normalization of Violence Theme Icon
...is given instructions about where to shoot to cause immediate death with minimal mess. Meanwhile, Hagen selects the “work Jews” who will go to the camps. Some unrest occurs as the... (full context)
Chapter 11: Late-September Shootings
Normalization of Violence Theme Icon
Nationalism, War, and Ethnic Cleansing Theme Icon
...to carry out these orders (everyone except Wohlauf, who briefly returns to Germany). Trapp and Hagen are present to lead the men. Working in conjunction with the mayor, Trapp selects only... (full context)
Chapter 14: The “Jew Hunt”
Freedom of Choice  Theme Icon
Normalization of Violence Theme Icon
Nationalism, War, and Ethnic Cleansing Theme Icon
...gunfire and ultimately all 100 to 120 Jews and Russians are killed. In addition, Lieutenant Hagen is accidentally killed by one of his own men. There is also some trouble with... (full context)
Chapter 16: Aftermath
Nationalism, War, and Ethnic Cleansing Theme Icon
...Battalion 101 find themselves engaging more and more with Polish resistance groups and enemy soldiers. Hagen is accidentally killed by police fire during a judenjagd in 1943; in the final year... (full context)