@o.m. There is no direct cite to a journal entry or similar. In the notes section for this page, Beevor mentions some of the following:

On another note, why is my text not italicised? I thought the double underscore italicises?

@Borealis, my comment was focussed on Germany, not Japan. The Nazis had a mode of government which has been characterized as almost feudal, using administrative structures where that is convenient but overall destroying the rule of law. What counted was not who was formally in charge of a field of policy, but who had the latest audience with the Führer. Different regional leaders competed with each other to report genocide numbers. (contd.)

(contd.) And to that comes the "carte blanche" given to troops in the east to loot and kill, encouraged and guided by systematic "top down" propaganda. So characterizing it as either "top down" or "bottom up" does not fit, it was a comprehensive policy with many collaborators.

@o.m. It appears the chat mistakenly pinged you, even though I swear I clicked on Ne Mo's reply. Either way, my above comment was not meant for you; apologies for the confusion. Regarding what you just said, I am aware of the quasi-feudal nature of Nazi leadership, but am not convinced by what you have said. I maintain that Japanese war crimes (and behaviour in general) was more "bottom-up" in comparison to the Nazis, which I would consider more "top-down".

@NeMo Also, since I didn't ping you above, the cites you requested from the book are outlined in my previous reply.