I remember reading something by Art Spiegelman, whose father was a Holocaust survivor, about how his life felt unimportant because nothing could compare to what his father went through.
But then, he rhetorically asked, if surviving the concentration camp was success, did that mean the vast majority who didn't were losers?
And I think his father said something to the effect, that it was random, there was no "survival of the fittest", so no, matter of factly, the dead were not ones who failed.