Chamberlain joined the Nazi Party and contributed to its publications. Its primary journal, the "Völkischer Beobachter", dedicated five columns to praising him on his 70th birthday, describing "The Foundations" as the "gospel of the National Socialist movement". In January 1924, Chamberlain published an essay praising Hitler as one of the "rare beautiful beings... a man of genuine simplicity with a fascinating gaze" whose words "always come directly from the heart". Chamberlain praised Hitler for embarking upon a ""Vernichtungskrieg"" ("war of destruction") against all of Germany's enemies. Chamberlain further wrote about Hitler—whom he viewed as the greatest of all his heroes—that: