The Nazis defended their policies, and the country did not rebel; it accepted
the Nazi argument. Selfish individuals may be unhappy, the Nazis said, but
what we have established in Germany is the ideal system, socialism. In its
Nazi usage this term is not restricted to a theory of economics; it is to be
understood in a fundamental sense. “Socialism” for the Nazis denotes the
principle of collectivism as such and its corollary, statism—in every field of
human action, including but not limited to economics.
“To be a socialist,” says Goebbels, “is to submit the I to the thou; socialism
is sacrificing the individual to the whole.”
By this definition, the Nazis practiced what they preached. They practiced it
at home and then abroad. No one can claim that they did not sacrifice enough
individuals.