Hilfswillige are called Hiwis for short. They were Ukrainian, Latvian, and Lithuanian prisoners of war who volunteered to train to become fighters for the Germans. The Hiwis were screened to make sure they had anti-Communist sentiments, which almost invariably indicated anti-Semitic sentiments, as well. The Hiwis volunteered to escape starvation in the POW camps and were promised that they wouldn’t have to fight the Soviets. In Poland, the Hiwis often did the dirty work of executing Jews instead of the Order Police, but they started working side by side during the executions, most notably during the massacre at Łomazy.
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Hilfswillige (Hiwis) Term Timeline in Ordinary Men
The timeline below shows where the term Hilfswillige (Hiwis) appears in Ordinary Men. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6: Arrival in Poland
...to recruit Ukrainian, Latvian, and Lithuanian prisoners of war to help. These units are called Hilfswillige, or Hiwis for short. This is the second largest pool of manpower Globocnik can use.
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Chapter 9: Łomazy: The Descent of Second Company
...village of Łomazy. Gnade leads the battalion’s first joint killing action with a unit of Hiwis from Trawniki against the Jews in Łomazy. On August 16, the day before the mass...
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...taken into the woods to dig a mass grave. After hours of waiting, about 50 Hiwis come into the town, apparently already drunk and determined to get drunker. When the grave...
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The Jews are forced to run into the mass grave in groups and the Hiwis excitedly shoot them, then they force the next group to scramble over a pile of...
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Gnade’s men continue shooting until the Hiwis wake up enough to resume their task. Once the execution is over, the work Jews...
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...massacre is easier for the men of Gnade’s company to deal with psychologically because the Hiwis do most of the shooting. Even the men who do eventually shoot seem to find...
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Chapter 10: The August Deportations to Treblinka
...round them up for deportation with the help of First Company and a unit of Hiwis. In Trapp’s speech before the action, he “‘indirectly’ but without ambiguity” tells the men that...
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The roundups and deportations are largely uneventful. Some men even feel that the Hiwis are unnecessary during the second roundup. They all know where the Jews are going and...
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...out on outer guard duty but most are sent into the ghetto to help the Hiwis clear it with the usual order to shoot the old and sick. The Hiwis (who...
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After several hours, the roundup is finished. The policemen and Hiwis march the Jews toward the train station, shooting all those who are too tired to...
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...ghetto clearing at Międzyrzec is so violent is that there are hundreds more policemen and Hiwis than usual. Furthermore, there are more than twice as many Jews to round up, which,...
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Chapter 11: Late-September Shootings
...to bring them to some nearby gravel pits to be shot. Without the help of Hiwis, the policemen carry out the shooting the way they did in Józefów, matching up individual...
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Chapter 12: The Deportations Resume
...place over eight actions and three months, and most were done without the help of Hiwis. Between the beginning of October and early November, however, the action speeds up—events blur together,...
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...the clearing of Międzyrzec, Gnade’s Second Company and Drucker’s Second Platoon join up with some Hiwis to drive the Jews into the main square before heading to the train station. Gnade’s...
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...however, carry out deportations from Łuków with help from Steinmetz’s men and a unit of Hiwis. A total of 7,000 Jews are deported over two days, but the events seem to...
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Chapter 13: The Strange Health of Captain Hoffman
...Company must help make Northern Lublin judenfrei along with First Lieutenant Messmann’s gendarmerie, about 100 Hiwis, and several SS men. In an unusual move, the Hiwis go cordon with the police...
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Chapter 18: Ordinary Men
...helped drive the Jews, at the biggest mass executions the men had help from the Hiwis or other units, which meant that others typically did most of the shooting (as at...
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