Understanding perptetrators' use of music

Eyewitness accounts of genocidal killing sometimes mention perpetrators’ use of musical practices, including singing and playing music, either before or during the act of killing. The standard response to explaining this is often to suggest that music makes killers more aggressive or simply drowns out other noise. Neither explanation stands up to closer analysis, however. Just as a number of studies have argued that perpetrators are “ordinary men,” the music used in such contexts is often surprisingly ordinary, and this in fact may be key to understanding its function. Drawing both on Perpetrator Studies and research into the use of music and collective violence, this chapter presents several examples, mostly from the Shoah, and suggests approaching them as strategies to frame and normalize violence and killing. The analysis is supported by reference to the longer history linking music and punishment rituals, as well as emerging theories in the sociology and anthropology of violence.