Hitler's philosophy revolved around the idea of the goodness of sacrificial death for the sake of the nation. The Aryan, he said, is “not greatest in his mental qualities as such," but in the extent of his willingness to "put all his abilities in the service of culture.”

The “mightiest counterpart” to the Aryan, Hitler said, is “represented by the Jew.” Hitler stated that in “hardly any people in the world is the instinct of self-preservation developed more strongly than in the so-called ‘chosen people’.”

Nazism grew out of this contrast between those willing to sacrifice their lives for the community, the Aryan, and those imagined to be unwilling to sacrifice their lives the nation, the Jew.

Aryan and Jew were symbolic terms, referring to “willingness to sacrifice,” on the one hand (Aryan), and “unwillingness to sacrifice,” on the other (Jew). It was that simple.

The idea of ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE, totally loyalty, was projected into the idea of the Nazi or good German. The idea of TOTALLY UNCOMMITTED TO THE COMMUNITY--selfish, self-interested, individualistic and unconcerned with the community--was projected into the Jew.

For the “voluntary war hero,” Hitler said, it was "not necessary to have the death penalty in the military code.” This code was necessary, however, for “cowardly egoists who value their own lives more than the existence of the community in the hour of national need.” The “hero” was one who willingly gave his life over to the community.

The “cowardly egoist,” on the other hand was condemned for “valuing his own life more than the existence of the community.” This was the basic “sin” from Hitler’s perspective: the desire to value one’s own life, which was seen as detracting from the desire to value the community.

The death penalty for deserters was necessary, Hitler believed, in order to compel them to die for Germany--just as the heroic German soldier was required give his life for the community. This was the core idea generating the Final Solution: If German soldiers had to die in war, why should others be allowed to live? 

The Jew was imagined as a human being who refused to devote his life to a national community and to risk death in the name of this community. Thus, the Holocaust was undertaken in order to "balance the scales of death."

The question posed by Hitler was: Why do the best have to die and the worst survive? Hitler does not pose the question, “Why do the best have to die?” This would amount to an antiwar statement--subverting Hitler's belief that willingness to sacrifice constituted the essence of human culture.

Hitler observed in Mein Kampf that while for four-and-a-half years our “best human materials was being thinned to an exceptional degree on the battlefields, our worst people wonderfully succeeding in saving themselves.” WHY DO THE BEST DIE WHILE THE WORST LIVE?

For “each hero who made the supreme sacrifice,” Hitler says, there was a “shirker who cunningly dodged death on the pretense of being engaged in business that was more or less useful at home.”

Once one understands that war is sacrificial, an institution existing to permit the leader and the nation to send soldiers to die, then what Hitler said and did makes sense. He was saying: If I can send my soldiers to die, then I can send the enemies of the German people to die.

Some find the Holocaust incomprehensible because they refuse to understand the sacrificial meaning of warfare. The logic of the Holocaust followed from the logic of warfare: if the best have to die, so the "worst" must die as well.
___________________________________________________________________

GOEBBELS TOWARD THE END OF SECOND WORLD WAR ON THE OBLIGATION  OF GERMANS TO DIE FOR GERMANY 

"Millions of German soldiers today have to be ready to die on the battlefield for their people. We would not deserve to lead this nation if we tolerated to any degree whatsoever any threat to the homeland. The bloom of our youth is in battle. They must bring the hardest sacrifice of blood, just as those do those who live in the areas suffering from bombing attacks.

"Soldiers show this attitude. They are in the fourth year of difficult conditions, or in almost their third year in the barbaric East, fulfilling their hard duty, risking their lives a thousand times when the situation demands.

"They have given up vacations, a normal life, comfort and the quiet of home to defend the life and freedom of the nation. Workers and farmers too display attitude. They do not think of escaping the hard duties of the war.

"Millions of women and mothers display it. They protect and care for their families and free their men for the Front by standing by the machine or behind the plow. They do not complain, even give birth to children in the midst of it all to guarantee the life of their nation. That all demands more than mood, which is changeable. It is one thing today, something different tomorrow.

"What can I say to praise the hard-tested population in the areas affected by the air war! They resist the effects of criminal enemy bombing terror with unprecedented heroism. Overnight families lose all that they have, sometimes the father, sometimes the mother, sometimes their growing children.

"They stand before the smoking ruins of their house or apartment for which they have worked and saved their entire lives.    How can they be consoled by the thought that their heavy sacrifice is necessary if their people and nation is to live, that however bitter their fate may be, it must be endured. Only an attitude that withstands all the bitterness of their sorrow gives them the strength to go on.

"Every attempt by the enemy to seduce the German people fails to overcome this National Socialist attitude. Our dead have left obligations for us, and we the living under obligation to do their will. Anyone who doubts victory has no right to be part of our community. (Stormy applause from the crowd testifies that thousands agree that Dr. Goebbels has expressed what we all think.) Whoever pays attention to what the enemy says is a traitor to our cause. (Growing applause.)

"Who harms our war efforts by passing on enemy rumors sins against our people, for which hundreds of thousands of soldiers have died heroic deaths. We must take immediate action against these talkative chaps. (Lively agreement and shouts of "Right!")

"There may only be a few of them, but the enemy thinks he can use them. We want to live in a clean war atmosphere. Our people demand that mentally ill world apostles, even if they act unintentionally and are a laughable minority, go to jail.

"We cannot be defeated, unless we defeat ourselves. But the German people are far from such suicidal behavior today."