"The decision, therefore, lies here in the East; here must the Russian enemy, this people numbering two hundred million Russians, be destroyed on the battle field and person by person, and made to bleed to death "
- Heinrich Himmler
About this Quote
This quote by Heinrich Himmler is a call to arms for the German forces in the East during World War II. He is emphasizing the importance of the Eastern Front and the requirement to defeat the Russian enemy. Himmler is stressing the sheer size of the Russian population, which he approximates to be 2 hundred million individuals. He is requiring a callous and unrelenting project versus the Russians, suggesting that they must be damaged on the battleground and person by person. This quote reflects the Nazi ideology of total war and the belief that the only way to win the war was to completely obliterate the enemy. Himmler's words are a cooling tip of the brutality of the war and the lengths to which the Nazis were willing to go to attain triumph.