From: Baird, J. W. (1992). To Die for Germany: Heroes in the Nazi Pantheon. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Heinrich Himmler stated that sacrifice for the German people was not to be feared. “Death holds no sting for us--because individuals die while the Volk lives on.” The men of the Germanic SS were more concerned about the future of the Volk than about their individual destinies and therefore would “willingly and bravely seek death, wherever that is necessary.”

In his last letter to his mother written before his death on the western front in 1940, Hitler Youth officer Ernst Nielsen prepared her for the loss of her son. When the news arrived, she was not to grieve. rather was to affirm the nobility of the cause:

"If I die, mother, you must bear it,
and your pride will conquer your pain,
because you have the privilege of offering a sacrifice
that is what we mean, when we say Germany."