most of Nazi Germany would’ve balked

That's not how people are under the "crystallising public opinion" terror psyops works.

Tribalism kicks in and it’s off to the escalation races.

That's how the totalitarianised psyche works. Where every atrocity is seen as a necessary virtue, like

By the time they get to the tear gas stage they’re practically congratulating each other that they haven’t shot anyone else today.