| Hitler believed, it is clear (see Chapter X), that “blood sacrifice preserves the nation.” Nationalism, he claimed, meant to be “ready to die for the community.” In the First World War, Hitler said, the “most precious blood sacrificed itself joyfully.” Goebbels presented this idea precisely: “Only willingness to sacrifice one’s life transforms a collection of individuals into a people and, in a higher sense, a nation.”
The ideas of Hitler and Goebbels on the relationship between nationalism and blood sacrifice are identical to those of Carolyn Marvin, who theorizes that “blood sacrifice preserves the nation.” At the “behest of the group,” she says, “the lifeblood of community members must be shed.”
So, there it is: our understanding of the First World War, the Holocaust and the Second World War begins with this bedrock of knowledge: the belief or understanding of Hitler and Goebbels that blood sacrifice preserves nations. Hitler and Goebbels enacted their understanding.
How does the Holocaust fit into this picture?
In Hitler’s mind (his imagination, or fantasy) not everyone was willing to commit to blood sacrifice (what was required to preserve the nation). Certain people, Hitler believed, were unwilling to commit to the idea of blood sacrifice—to do what was necessary to preserve the nation.
It was into the Jew that Hitler projected this idea: unwillingness to sacrifice. Jews were conceived or experienced by Hitler as a “force of disintegration.” Their unwillingness to sacrifice would spell the death of the nation. The Holocaust, therefore, meant that Jews would not be exempt. They too would be obligated to make a blood sacrifice. Like the German soldier, they would be compelled to submit to Germany—to become obedient unto death. They too would be compelled to sacrifice their lives—feeding the hungry nation state with their blood to keep it alive. |