Studies of Hitler's holocaust show: the cumbersome machinery of the state is the last protector of the vulnerable.

Hitler, and likewise other totalitarian rulers, established parallel structures to work their will, bypassing rule-bound state structures that were less ready to follow shocking orders. These included the SS and the Red Guards, and perhaps now the Oath Keepers.

Another similar case: the US destroyed the Iraqi state structure, and this led to a bloody civil war, followed by PISSI.