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.6 The Germans working 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. Sergeant Herman Lambert was horrified by the large amount of executions. .
He headed a group of inmate builders in Treblinka. 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.
