--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In October 1941, Mahilue became teh first…" description: "\"“In October 1941, Mahilue became teh first substantial city in occupied Soviet Belarus where almost all Jews were killed. A German (Austrian) policeman..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/030/timothy-snyder-882_belarus_in-october-1941-mahilue-became-teh-first_834548.jpg" --- # In October 1941, Mahilue became teh first substantial city… ![“In October 1941, Mahilue became teh first substantial city in occupied Soviet Belarus where almost all Jews were killed. A German (Austrian) policeman wrote to his wife of his feelings and experiences shooting the city's Jews in the first days of the month. 'During the first try, my hand trembled…” quote by Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/030/timothy-snyder-882_belarus_in-october-1941-mahilue-became-teh-first_834548.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/030/timothy-snyder-882_belarus_in-october-1941-mahilue-became-teh-first_834548.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/030/timothy-snyder-882_belarus_in-october-1941-mahilue-became-teh-first_834548.jpg) > ““In October 1941, Mahilue became teh first substantial city in occupied Soviet Belarus where almost all Jews were killed. A German (Austrian) policeman wrote to his wife of his feelings and experiences shooting the city's Jews in the first days of the month. 'During the first try, my hand trembled a bit as I shot, but one gets used to it. By the tenth try I aimed calmly and shot surely at the many women, children, and infants. I kept in mind that I have two infants at home, whom these hordes would treat just the same, if not ten times worse. The death that we gave them was a beautiful quick death, compared to the hellish torments of thousands and thousands in the jails of the GPU. Infants flew in great arcs through the air, and we shot them to pieces in flight, before their bodies fell into the pit and into the water.' pp. 205-206”” [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The excerpt shows a policeman rationalizing mass murder, comparing it to his own infant, revealing deep moral dissonance. **In simple terms:** He justifies killing Jews by comparing them to his own children. Key Takeaway Recognize how dehumanization enables atrocities. Themes war genocide morality Mood disturbing critical Type historical ethical When to use this quote - military training - propaganda - ethical decision making Key Concepts dehumanization psychology of killing Questions to Reflect On - How does personal empathy affect one's capacity for violence? - What mechanisms allow individuals to normalize genocide? A Different Perspective Moral rationalizations can be fragile and self-serving. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belarus/) [First Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-day/) [Holocaust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holocaust/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Judaism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judaism/) [Nazism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nazism/) [Second world war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-world-war/) ## Related quotes > [Whatever we saw in October 1941, cannot be compared to anything that we had seen prior, when our forces retreated from the Dniepr borders.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-bagramyan/whatever-we-saw-in-october-1941-cannot-be-compared-to-anything-that/) Ivan Bagramyan > [“Political calculation and local suffering do not entirely explain the participation in these pogroms. 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Jews were killed because they were Jewish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-valls/journalists-were-killed-because-they-defended-freedom-policemen-were/) [Manuel Valls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-valls/) > [We Gypsies know that where Jews are killed, Gypsies are always murthered too. And then a lot of other people, usually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/we-gypsies-know-that-where-jews-are-killed-gypsies-are-always/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [It's not the Jews that killed Christ. It was a political situation, and it was the Romans who killed Jesus. They put Jesus on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-bellucci/it-s-not-the-jews-that-killed-christ-it-was-a-political-situation-and/) [Monica Bellucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-bellucci/) > [My homeland of Belarus is an unlikely place for an Internet revolution. The country, controlled by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, was once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/my-homeland-of-belarus-is-an-unlikely-place-for-an-internet/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [The history of Germany is a mold for the history of Belarus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lukashenko/the-history-of-germany-is-a-mold-for-the-history-of-belarus/) [Alexander Lukashenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lukashenko/) > [We are ready and open to a dialogue with all sides, all parties and all countries that respect the sovereignty and the territorial integrity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya/we-are-ready-and-open-to-a-dialogue-with-all-sides-all-parties-and/) [Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya/) ## More by Timothy Snyder > [“Nationalism is relativist, since the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/nationalism-is-relativist-since-the-only-truth-is-the-resentment-we/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“The time is out of joint. 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But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/extremism-certainly-sounds-bad-and-governments-often-try-to-make-it/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) [Explore all 339 Timothy Snyder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) ## More Belarus quotes > [We are ready and open to a dialogue with all sides, all parties and all countries that respect the sovereignty and the territorial integrity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya/we-are-ready-and-open-to-a-dialogue-with-all-sides-all-parties-and/) [Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya/) > [The history of Germany is a mold for the history of Belarus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lukashenko/the-history-of-germany-is-a-mold-for-the-history-of-belarus/) [Alexander Lukashenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lukashenko/) > [My homeland of Belarus is an unlikely place for an Internet revolution. 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Look at this flag; Two bears fighting over a pineapple. What kind of message does that send to the world? "Come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bailey/stupid-national-anthem-look-at-this-flag-two-bears-fighting-over-a/) [Bill Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bailey/) > [What you have to remember about Belarus is that it's a small state - it has a population of less than 10m people -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/what-you-have-to-remember-about-belarus-is-that-it-s-a-small-state-it/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [There is no scope for revolutions coming to Belarus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lukashenko/there-is-no-scope-for-revolutions-coming-to-belarus/) [Alexander Lukashenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lukashenko/) > [I lived with my parents in Belarus, and I went to Russian kindergarten, which is where I learned Russian. 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A German (Austrian) policeman wrote to his wife of his feelings and experiences shooting the city's Jews in the first days of the month. 'During the first try, my hand trembled a bit as I shot, but one gets used to it. By the tenth try I aimed calmly and shot surely at the many women, children, and infants. I kept in mind that I have two infants at home, whom these hordes would treat just the same, if not ten times worse. The death that we gave them was a beautiful quick death, compared to the hellish torments of thousands and thousands in the jails of the GPU. 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