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One basic principle must be the absolute rule for the S.S. men. We must be honest, decent, loyal, and comradely to members of our own blood and nobody else. What happens to a Russian and a Czech does not interest me in the least. What the nations can offer in the way of good blood of our type we will take, if necessary by kidnapping their children and raising them here with us. Whether nations live in prosperity or starve to death interests me only in so far as we need them as slaves for our culture: otherwise it is of no interest to me. Whether ten thousand Russian females fall down from exhaustion while digging an anti-tank ditch interests me only in so far as the anti-tank ditch for Germany is finished. We shall never be tough and heartless where it is not necessary, that is clear. We, Germans, who are the only people in the world who have a decent attitude towards animals, will also assume a decent attitude towards these human animals. But it is a crime against our blood to worry about them and give them ideals, thus causing our sons and grandsons to have a more difficult time with them. When somebody comes up to me and says: 'I cannot dig the anti-tank ditch with women and children, it is inhuman, for it would kill them,' then I have to say: 'You are the murderer of your own blood, because if the anti-tank ditch is not dug German soldiers will die, and they are the sons of German mothers. They are our own blood....' Our concern, our duty, is our people and our blood. We can be indifferent to everything else. I wish the S.S. to adopt this attitude towards the problem of all foreign, non-Germanic peoples, especially Russians....

Heinrich Himmler#6

HistoryIdeologyLoyaltyRacismEthicsSlavery

About this quote

What does it mean?
Outlines SS rules: honesty and loyalty only to Germans, with others valued only as slaves or sources of blood.
In plain terms
Be decent only to our own race; treat everyone else as tools or ignore them.
What can you take from it?
Ethics apply only to one's own group.

Where it applies

  • ideological doctrines
  • military codes
  • statecraft

Putting it to work

  • analyzing ideology
  • human rights education
  • historical research

Questions to consider

  • Why do groups restrict ethics to insiders?
  • What happens when loyalty replaces morality?

Another view

This explicitly denies the humanity of non-Germans.

More from Heinrich Himmler

  1. In the brief monthly reports of the Security Police, I only want figures on how many Jews have been shipped off and how many are currently left.

    Permalink to quote #5
  2. Most of you know what it means when a hundred corpses are lying side by side, or five hundred, or a thousand. To have stuck it out, and at the same time - apar…

    Permalink to quote #7
  3. My honor is my loyalty.

    Permalink to quote #4

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