over the German race. To the Germans, it was not very hard to murder the Jews since the .
Nazis had turned most of Germany against them and made them believe they were .
exterminating vermin. Usually the people that joined the SS were between the ages of thirty .
and forty years old, married, came from a lower-middle-class family, and probably came .
from one of Germany's larger cities, most likely Munich or Berlin, many did not have a .
religion. As a group, the Germans in the camps were unremarkable. Some soldiers were .
very determined in what they did and some considered themselves professionals doing an .
unrewarding task as best they could. Although a few showed some compassion, many more .
were monsters disguised as human beings. .
The jobs that they were appointed might have been strange at first, but after a while .
of doing what they did their feelings were neutral. Some of the SS took satisfaction in what .
they did, but the SS not only took pride in how they did their job, but also in the job itself. .
Thoroughly steeped in anti-semitism, they thought they were eliminating Europe of a disease .
and making it safe for future generations of Germans. The SS officers seemed to take .
a vicious delight in assigning people tasks that they had no talent in. Illiterate laborers were .
given office work while intellectuals were used as porters. The most disgusting work, .
cleaning bathrooms, was given to professors and rabbis. In some uncommon occasions, .
workers would try to warn victims, whispering about what to tell the selection officers. .
While many members of the SS were unquestionably cruel, a few went out of their .
way to be kind. SS Sergeant Herman Lambert, who headed a group of inmate builders in .
Treblinka, was horrified by the large amount of executions. Sometimes he would bring some .
prisoners food on the side from the German kitchen. Sergeant Karl Ludwig not only brought .
prisoners in Treblinka spare food, but also helped some escape.
