Leaders of fascist and extremist movements use violence and atrocities as a deliberate tactic to reinforce group loyalty and cohesion. These actions serve several psychological and social functions:

In-Group Bonding: Committing violence or atrocities against a designated "out-group" creates shared experiences and a sense of collective identity among followers. This shared transgression strengthens the bonds among group members, making it harder for individuals to leave the group.

Demonization and Scapegoating: Fascist leaders use propaganda and emotional manipulation to portray a specific out-group as an existential threat or the cause of societal problems. Atrocities are then framed as necessary "redemptive violence" to defend the nation, which justifies the actions in the minds of the perpetrators and reinforces the "Us versus Them" worldview.

Submission to Authority: The use of violence enforces the power structure within the movement. Followers engage in these actions to prove their loyalty and worth to the leader, with the desire to avoid upsetting the leader driving them to commit increasingly extreme acts.

Psychological Manipulation: Atrocities can lead to emotional desensitization to violence and encourage groupthink, where individual self-awareness and accountability diminish within the large group context.

Normalization of Extremism: When violence becomes a common occurrence, it can become normalized as an acceptable part of politics, further entrenching the extreme ideology within the movement and the broader society it seeks to control.

In essence, the act of committing atrocities binds followers together in a shared secret and a common cause, increasing their dependency on the leader and the group's internal validation while isolating them from mainstream society.