Despite our ever-increasing interest in Nazi perpetrators, we still lack a precise definition of the term. Indeed, although much literature examines various persons and groups as perpetrators, few scholars have focused on what it is that makes them perpetrators. Instead, it is merely accepted that the subjects of perpetrator research – Täterforschung in German – are such, as scholars look to explain how and why they participate in acts of mass violence (Paul 2002). So in order to answer the question – whether state bureaucrats can be accurately described as perpetrators – we first need look at the dominant images that emerge in perpetrator research to see if they conform to what is there.