Yes, it appears to happen in all cases of genocide. The aggressor feels a moral duty to continue the genocide until the victim is extinguished.

Yes, it appears to happen in all cases of genocide. The aggressor feels a moral duty to continue the genocide until the victim is extinguished. — Punshhh

The point you haven't addressed is OP's claim that he feels the concentration camps were unlike the many other historical gulags (prisoner work camps) but instead literally just erected to perform torture for torture's sake.

A rebuttal to that would be, no, minus the technological advancement that, if any other historical prisoner work camp was in a period of time that had the same technology and progress of science, would have done the same as well, if not worse (including the medical experiments, experimenting on prisoners can be traced back to the BC period).

I'm not intimately familiar with non-Christian ideology but it seems to be a common "Abrahamic" theme that "everything happens for a reason", which might work out to "if you're in a concentration camp, that's because I (God) want(s) you to be there." Which means, unlike non-religious folk who would either sabotage their equipment, kill the guard (or themselves) at the first opportunity, religious folk will work and toil as if it was any other job. What I am intimately familiar with is how the atheist mind works, and in this particular case, it works by seeing the theist as a delusional albeit "useful idiot" in the simplest of terms for the reasons I've just explained. This could explain why they valued their labor and sought to transport them (a lengthy, resource intensive process) as opposed to killing them with a bullet to the head (fast and cheap). That would logically eliminate the idea of not wanting them to tell their tale to the Allies since the latter option would have been preferred. Or perhaps, they didn't want "the world" to see the bodies. Dead soldiers are one thing. Dead civilians are another. So, transporting them (and not killing them) does not in and of itself justify an argument for "sadism."

Based on these facts, it (OP's claim) is not immediately conclusive that the perpetrators "derived sadistic pleasure" that "became a need for them", at least, not in a unique historical context contrasted to the dozens, if not hundreds, of historic cases where groups of people were enslaved and/or genocided by other groups. It's just more shocking since in the modern age we have photographs and the evidence was freshly uncovered not wiped away or degraded beyond recognition by the sands of time, not to mention the advancement of science and technology (and resulting medical experiments).

From this, it can be concluded that most Germans derived sadistic pleasure from carrying out the Holocaust, and this sadism became a need for them. — Linkey

First point— this has nothing to do with psychoanalysis.

Second point— the only thing that can be concluded from what you’ve written is that the Holocaust was a very bad thing and that the Germans are responsible for what they did.

I don’t want to argue about who is the most despicable. But in terms of genocide, the holocaust wasn’t that unusual, albeit on a grand and industrial scale. The pertinent point is the process of dehumanisation and insatiable need for more and more horrific treatment and killing. The perpetrators become radicalised and themselves inhuman.

From this, it can be concluded that most Germans derived sadistic pleasure from carrying out the Holocaust, and this sadism became a need for them. — Linkey

i wouldn't say this about the general population, as they were just swayed by sentiment and strong leadership: but this is probably an accurate statement when it comes to people who served the third reich directly (such as the SS and other branches of their military).

I'm only questioning this because some germans later on were disgusted with seeing the result of the rhetoric. The Nazis are a great example of why authority in general should be watched and questioned, not just specific "bad" authority figures.

From this, it can be concluded that most Germans derived sadistic pleasure from carrying out the Holocaust, and this sadism became a need for them. — Linkey

No. No it can't. Most Germans were just trying to stay alive and were so fatigued by the war so far they just didn't care. The idea that 'most germans' derived sadistic pleasure is utterly insane.

I've come to the conclusion that about 20% of Russians get sadistic pleasure from inflicting suffering on Ukrainians. It can be said, that there are three peoples in Russia: an apolitical majority, a pro-war minority, and an anti-war minority. And the pro-war minority ("vatniks") impose Putin's current policies and persecute the democrats in power. Putin wouldn't have started the war if the “vatniks” didn’t persecute people like old liberal Medvedev, A.Chubays, I. Nabiullina; and his war is turning them into sadists.
I can explain why Putin has to torment Ukrainians, causing them as much suffering as possible. For the past 20 years, there has been a clash of two ideologies: the Russian imperial ideology (Ivan the Terrible, Stalin, etc.) and the Ukrainian pro-democratic Maidan. The Maidan gave Ukrainians a lot (in particular, a fight against corruption), and if Putin hadn't bombed them, they would now be happier than Russians. And in this case, the Russians would also want to inspire a revolution (Maidan) in Moscow. This is precisely why Putin is artificially making Ukrainians unhappy. The "vatniks" have their favorite meme: "The ukrs had jumped on the Maidan", meaning that as long as Ukrainians live worse than Russians, the “vatniks” believe that a revolution against a government is a bad idea.
I constantly read news about how the Russian army bombed a Ukrainian hospital, a medicine warehouse, and so on—at least unconsciously, all of this is aimed precisely at causing suffering to Ukrainians. It can be said that Putin no longer has a choice: if he will loose the power, he will lose his life.

27% of Russians support hte war.

This seems to be paranoid nonsense to me.

100% of people will believe anything given the right circumstance. Whether this "circumstance" is casual, in the form of simple popular opinion, or extreme, in the form of ingrained upbringing and lifelong psychological manipulation (invocation of fear or danger to one's life, either long-term by mental imagery of an agonizing future or short-term by indirect, implied, or actual violence -- or shame, which shares most of the previous traits) is not relevant to the larger fact.

Generally speaking, people are a frightened and weak species. We mask these truths by violence and oppression of others so as to offer one's mind the illusion of power thus distracting from the reality of our own futility and transience. We cause most of our own problems. Again, mankind must be ruled by a superior force lest it destroy itself.

↪Linkey 27% of Russians support the war. — AmadeusD

In today's Russia it's very difficult to get truthful polls were what you say depends on the people you are saying the things to. As the saying went in Soviet times, a Russian has one opinion at work and another at home in the kitchen, when surrounded by trusted people.

From this, it can be concluded that most Germans derived sadistic pleasure from carrying out the Holocaust, and this sadism became a need for them. — Linkey

I think sadism is generally something that isn't inherent especially to the German people. A more explanatory reason, like always when people think that the World will be better if some people or class of people are killed, is ideology.

People running concentration and extermination camps are one type and likely the sadists will enjoy it. But those still were few people and it went far broader than just the sadists in the population, which in the end are a small part of any population.

Nazi ideology and the ideological racism is crucial in understanding the behaviour of Germans in WW2. Just look at how the German armed forces behaved in Norway and Denmark and compare to their Poland and Russia. The difference is that Norwegians, the Danes (as Finns too) were part of the so-called Nordic race and were not untermenschen. The obvious proof of this is that German soldiers could marry Finns, Norwegians and Danes. Also Denmark and Norway weren't the planned new Lebensraum for the German people in Hitler's plans. In Denmark the German occupiers kindly hinted at the Danish authorities that the Jews in Denmark would be a problem and the Danish government quickly moved the small Jewish population into neutral Sweden. Not so in Poland, in the Baltics or in Russia. Also there is the different treatment of Russian prisoners in war compared the POWs of Western countries. And when it came the Finns to change sides and give the Dolchstoss to it's former ally (that just had saved them from a Russian offensive in the summer of 1944), there were no atrocities towards the few Finns and Sami people that lived in Northern Finland. Not only did the Germans let the civilian population to evacuate to Sweden, in some few cases they even helped with the evacuation. And then the Germans destroyed absolutely everything they could in their withdrawal to the Norwegian border, which was the norm in the fighting in the east-front in WW2 (so talk about German pünktlichkeit). It all goes back to the Nazi ideology and understanding that evil ideology makes then "sense" in differences in actions. These people genuinely thought that they would be making the world a better place, just as the Marxist-Leninists when killing the class enemy in their revolutions.

First point— this has nothing to do with psychoanalysis. — T Clark

:up:

In today's Russia it's very difficult to get truthful polls were what you say depends on the people you are saying the things to. As the saying went in Soviet times, a Russian has one opinion at work and another at home in the kitchen, when surrounded by trusted people. — ssu

The number of people who do not support the war (consciously or maybe unconsciously) can be estimated by the number of famous musicians and writers who are against the war now, and have emigrated Russia. Their number is approximately 1/3. Below I showy some music videos which illustrate how man Russians are against the war:

https://youtu.be/q07dm6lPs2k
https://youtu.be/RMg0AGE11oo
https://youtu.be/l07MYf2iPr4
https://youtu.be/6vHufynMM1g