Berlin, July 19, 1940
Deputies, Men of the German Reichstag!
In the midst of the mighty struggle for the freedom and
future of the German nation, I have called on you to gather for this session
today. The grounds for it are: to give our Volk insight into the historic
uniqueness of the events we have lived through; to express our thanks to the
deserving soldiers; and to direct, once again and for the last time, an appeal
to general reason.
Whoever
contrasts the factors which triggered this historic conflict with the extent,
the greatness, and consequence of the military occurrences, must realize that
the events and sacrifices of this struggle stand in no relation to the alleged
causes, unless these causes themselves were but pretexts for intentions yet
concealed.
The
program of the National Socialist Revolution, insofar as it concerned the
future development of the Reich’s relations with the surrounding world, was an
attempt to obtain a revision of the Treaty of Versailles under all
circumstances-and as far as this was possible-by peaceful means.
This
revision was by nature a necessity. The untenability of the provisions of
Versailles lay not only in the humiliating discrimination, the disarmament of
the German Volk secured with the result that they lost their rights, but above
all in the resultant material destruction of the present and the intended
destruction of the future of one of the greatest civilized peoples in the
world, in the completely senseless accumulation of vast terrains under the
mastery of a few states, in the depriving of the losers of irreplaceable
foundations for life and indispensable vital goods.
The
fact that insightful men on the side of the adversary, even while this Diktat
was being composed, warned against the conclusive realization of the terms of
this work of lunacy, is proof of the persuasion prevalent even in these ranks
that it would be impossible to maintain this Diktat in the future. Their
misgivings and their protests were silenced by the assurance that the statutes
of the newly created League of Nations secured
the possibility of a revision of these provisions, indeed that it was
authorized for such a revision. At no time was hope for a revision regarded as
something improper, but always as something quite natural. Regrettably,
contrary to the will of the men responsible for the Versailles Diktat, the
institution in Geneva never regarded itself as
an agency for procuring sensible revisions, but rather, from the beginning, as
the custodian of the ruthless implementation and maintenance of the provisions
of Versailles.
All endeavors of democratic Germany
failed to obtain, by means of revision, an equality of rights for the German
Volk.
It
lies in the interest of the victor to portray as universally sanctified those
conditions that benefit him, while the essence of the instinct of
selfpreservation compels the vanquished to strive for a restoration of his
general human rights. For him this Diktat penned by an arrogant enemy has even
less force of law insofar as the victory of this enemy was a dishonest one. It
was a rare misfortune that the German Reich was led exceedingly badly in the
years 1914–18. To this, and to the not otherwise instructed trust and faith of
the German Volk in the word of democratic statesmen, must our fall be ascribed.
It
was thus that the joint British-French endeavor to portray the Versailles
Treaty as some type of international or higher justice must have appeared to
every honest German as nothing other than an insolent usurpation. The
supposition that British or French statesmen of all people were custodians of
justice itself, or even of human culture, was a stupid effrontery. It was an
affront which is sufficiently elucidated by their own inferior performances in
these fields. For rarely has this world been governed with a greater deficit of
cleverness, morality, and culture than in that part of it which is presently at
the mercy of the fury of certain democratic statesmen.
The
National Socialist Movement has, besides its delivery from the Jewishcapitalist
shackles imposed by a plutocratic-democratic, dwindling class of exploiters at
home, pronounced its resolve to free the Reich from the shackles of the Diktat
of Versailles abroad. The German demands for a revision were an absolute
necessity, a matter of course for the existence and the honor of any great
people. Posterity will some day come to regard them as exceedingly modest.
All
these demands had to be carried through, in practice against the will of the
British-French potentates. Now more than ever we all see it as a success of the
leadership of the Third Reich that the realization of these revisions was
possible for years without resort to war. This was not the case-as the British
and French demagogues would have it-because we were not then in a position to
wage war. When it finally appeared as though, thanks to a gradually awakening
common sense, a peaceful resolution of the remaining problems could be reached
through international cooperation, the agreement concluded in this spirit on
September 29, 1938, at Munich by the four great states predominantly involved,
was not welcomed by public opinion in London and Paris, but was condemned as a
despicable sign of weakness. The Jewishcapitalist warmongers, their hands
covered with blood, saw in the possible success of such a peaceful revision the
vanishing of plausible grounds for the realization of their insane plans.
Once
again that conspiracy of pitiful, corrupt political creatures and greedy
financial magnates made its appearance, for whom war is a welcome means to
bolster business. The international Jewish poison of the peoples began to
agitate against and to corrode healthy minds. Men of letters set out to portray
decent men who desired peace as weaklings and traitors, to denounce opposition
parties as a “fifth column,” in order to eliminate internal resistance to their
criminal policy of war. Jews and Freemasons, armament industrialists and war
profiteers, international traders and stockjobbers, found political
blackguards: desperados and glory seekers who represented war as something to
be yearned for and hence wished for.
It
is to be ascribed to these criminal elements that the Polish State
was incited to assume a posture which stood in no relation to the German
demands and even less to the consequences that resulted.
The
German Reich, in particular with regard to Poland, has shown restraint ever
since the National Socialist rise to power. One of the basest and stupidest
provisions of the Versailles Diktat, namely the tearing away of an old German
province from the Reich, already cried for a revision in and of itself.
But
what was it that I demanded at the time? I must in this context refer to my own
person. No other statesman could have afforded to propose a solution to the
German nation in the way I did. It comprised merely the return of Danzig-that is to say of an ancient, purely German
city-to the Reich as well as the creation of a connection of the Reich to its severed
province. And this only pursuant to plebiscites conducted, in turn, under the
auspices of an international forum. If Mr. Churchill or any other warmongers
had but a fraction of the sense of responsibility I felt toward Europe, they could not have played so perfidious a game.
For it need be ascribed solely to these vested interests in war, both within
Europe and beyond, that Poland rejected the proposals which neither compromised
its existence nor its honor, and instead resorted to terror and arms. And it
was truly superhuman restraint, without precedent, which for months led us, in
spite of persistent assassination attempts on ethnic Germans-yes, indeed, in
spite of the slaughter of tens of thousands of German Volksgenossen, to
continue to search for a path toward peaceful understanding. For what was the
situation like? One of the creations of the Diktat of Versailles, the most
divorced from reality, a bogy inflated militarily and politically, insulted a
state for many months, threatening to beat it, to fight battles before Berlin, to smash the German Army to pieces, to transfer
the border to the Oder or the Elbe; it went on
and on. And this other state, Germany,
watches the goingson patiently for months, although one sweeping gesture would
have sufficed to wipe this bubble inflated by stupidity and arrogance off the
face of the earth.
On
September 2, this struggle could yet have been avoided. Mussolini made a
proposal to put an immediate end to the hostilities and to negotiate
peacefully. Though Germany
saw its armies advancing victoriously, I accepted this nonetheless. But
the Anglo-French warmongers needed war, not peace.
And
they needed a long war, as Mr. Chamberlain put the matter at the time. It was
to last for at least three years, since they had in the meantime invested their
capital in the armament industry, bought the necessary machinery, and now
needed the precondition of time for the thriving of their business and for the
amortization of their investments. And besides: what are Poles, Czechs, or
other such nationalities to these citizens of the world? A German soldier found
a curious document while rummaging through train wagons at the La Charite
station on June 19, 1940. He immediately handed over the document-which bore a
particular remark-to his superiors at departmental headquarters. From there the
paper passed to agencies. It became clear that what had been discovered
constituted evidence in a most important investigation. The train station was
once more thoroughly searched. And it was thus that the High Command of the
Wehrmacht came into possession of a collection of documents of unique
historical significance.
What
was found were the secret files of the Allied High War Council, including the
protocols of all sessions of this illustrious association. And this time it
shall not be possible for Mr. Churchill to simply deny or lie about the
authenticity of these documents, as he had attempted to do at the time in the
case of documents found in Warsaw.
For these documents feature handwritten notes in the margins penned by Gamelin,
Daladier, Weygand, and so on. Hence these gentlemen are free either to admit to
these or to disown them at any time. And these documents enlighten us as to the
dealings of these gentlemen who have an interest in the war and in its
expansion. They will above all demonstrate how these cold-blooded politicians
and military men have used all these small peoples as a means to an end; how
they tried to subject Finland to their interests; how they determined to make
Norway and Sweden the theater of war; how they planned to set fire to the
Balkans to procure the assistance of 100 divisions from there; how they
prepared to bomb Batum and Baku under the cover of a shrewd as well as
unscrupulous reading of the Turkish neutrality in favor of their own interests;
how they spun their web around the Netherlands and Belgium, pulling its strings
constantly tighter, and finally engaging them in general staff agreements; as
well as many other things.
The
documents afford us, moreover, a good picture of the entire amateurish method
which these policy-making warmongers employed in an attempt to contain the fire
they had kindled. These speak of their military pseudo-democracy which is
jointly responsible for the gruesome fate which they have inflicted on hundreds
of thousands and millions of soldiers of their own countries; of their barbaric
lack of conscience which led them to drive their own peoples from their homes
in cold blood and deliberately, in a mass evacuation whose military consequences
were not necessarily favorable to them, while the general human results were
shockingly gruesome. The same criminals are at the same time responsible for
whipping up the Poles and inciting them to war. Eighteen days later
this campaign ended-for all practical purposes.
For
a second time in the war, I spoke to the German Volk from this stand on October
6, 1939. I was then able to report to it the glorious military defeat of the Polish State.
I then also directed an appeal to reason to the men responsible in the enemy
states and to their peoples. I warned against further pursuit of the war, the
consequences of which could only be devastating. I warned the French especially
not to start a war which, by necessity, would eat its way inward from the
frontier and which, irrespective of its outcome, would have dire consequences.
At
this time, I directed an appeal to the rest of the world as well. However, as I
said then, I did so with the apprehension that not only might I not be heard,
but that thereby I might only elicit the wrath of the warmongers interested.
And this is precisely what came to pass.
The
responsible elements in England
and France
smelt a rat, seeing my appeal as a dangerous assault on their lucrative
profiteering in the war.
Thus
they hurriedly and eagerly declared that any thought of an understanding was a
waste of time-yes, that this would even have to be regarded as a crime. The war
had to be pursued in the name of culture, humanity, good fortune, progress,
civilization, and-Good God!-even in the name of sacred religion, and in
subservience to this end Negroes and Bushmen (Buschmenschen) had to be
mobilized. And then, of course, victory would come about of its own accord, so
to speak. It would then be within grasp; one need only reach out for it. And,
naturally, so they said, I was very well aware of all this myself, and indeed
had known it for a long time, and it was only because of this that I had laid
before the world my appeal for peace. For, if I were in a position to believe
in victory, I would not have approached England
and France
with an understanding without any conditions attached. In a few days these
agitators succeeded in portraying me as a coward before the eyes of the world.
I
was scolded for my peace proposal, even personally insulted. Mr. Chamberlain
virtually spat in my face before the world public and declined to even talk of
peace, according to the directives of the warmongers and agitators backing him:
Churchill, Duff Cooper, Eden, Hore-Belisha, and so on. Not to mention negotiating a peace.
And
it was thus that the big capitalist clique of war profiteers cried for a
continuation of the war. And this continuation has now begun.
I
have already asserted, and all of you, my Volksgenossen, know this: if I do not
speak for some time, or nothing much happens, then this does not mean that I am
not doing anything. With us it is not necessary to multiply by a factor of five
or twelve every airplane built, and then to proclaim it loudly to the world.
Besides,
hens would be ill-advised to cry out to the world every egg just laid. It would
be all the more ill-considered of statesmen to announce projects barely beyond
the planning stage, in nervous chatter, to the surrounding world, so as to
inform it in a timely manner. To the excited garrulousness of two of these
great democratic state leaders we owe ever-current information on the plans for
an expansion of the war by our adversaries, and especially on the concentration
of the war effort in Norway
and Sweden.
While
the Anglo-French clique of warmongers was on the lookout for new opportunities
to expand the war, and trying to trap new victims, I have labored to bring to a
conclusion the organizational buildup of the Wehrmacht, to set up new units, to
start up production for the war, to get material to flow, as well as to order
training of the entire Wehrmacht for its new missions.
Beyond
this, however, the bad weather of the late autumn and winter forced a
postponement of military operations.
In
the course of the month of March, we gained knowledge of British- French
ambitions to intervene in the Russo-Finnish conflict; which was less to help
the Finns and more to damage Russia,
the latter being seen as a power cooperating with Germany. This ambition grew into
the determination to intervene actively in Finland
itself and, if possible, to gain a base for carrying the war to the Baltic Sea. And, at this time also, suggestions of the
Allied High War Council appeared with ever greater insistence either to set
afire the Balkans or Asia Minor in an effort to bar the Reich from its Russian
and Romanian oil imports, or to gain possession of Swedish iron ore. Landings
in Norway were to serve this
end with the goal of occupying all ore railroads leading from Narvik across Sweden to the port of Lulea.
The
Russo-Finnish peace accords prevented, at the last minute, the carrying out of
the already envisioned action in the Nordic States. Yet, merely a few days
later, similar ambitions surfaced anew and precipitated a clear decision.
England
and France had agreed to
move, in one sudden strike, to occupy numerous important locations in Norway
under the pretext of preventing further support for the German war effort with
Swedish ore.
To
secure access completely to the Swedish ore, they intended to march into Sweden themselves and to push aside the few
forces Sweden
could muster, either, if possible, in a friendly manner or, if necessary, by
force.
Of
the imminence of this danger we were informed personally by the untameable
garrulousness of the First Lord of the British Admiralty. Moreover,
we received confirmation through a hint made by the French Premier Reynaud in a
talk with a foreign diplomat. That the date had been postponed twice before the
eighth of April, and that the occupation was scheduled for the eighth, that the
eighth, therefore, was the third and final day-of this we gained knowledge only
recently. It was conclusively established only with the discovery of the
protocols of the High Allied War Council.
I
then ordered the Wehrmacht, as soon as the danger of dragging the North into
the war was becoming apparent, to take the appropriate measures.
The
case of the Altmark already demonstrated that the Norwegian Government
was not willing to uphold its neutrality. Beyond this, reports of secret agents
also revealed that, at least insofar as the leading heads of the Norwegian
Government and the Allies were concerned, there was already full agreement. Finally,
Norway’s
reaction to the violation of its territory by British minelayers dispelled all
remaining doubts.
The
German operation, prepared down to the last detail, was launched.
In
fact the situation was a bit different from what we perceived it to be on April
9. While we then believed we had anticipated the British occupation by a few
hours, we know today that the landing of the English troops had been scheduled
for the eighth. The embarkation of the British contingents had already begun on
the fifth and sixth. However, the moment the first news reached the British
Admiralty of the German steps, i.e. that a German fleet had put to sea, this
development so impressed Mr. Churchill that he decided to have the contingents
already embarked disembark once again, so that the British fleet would first be
able to search for and attack German ships. This attempt ended in failure. Only
a single English destroyer came into contact with the German naval forces and
was shot out of the water. This vessel could not relay any sort of message to
the British Admiralty or to the fleet of the English naval combat contingents.
And thus, on the ninth, the landing of German forward units was carried out
along a coastal front stretching from Oslo
north to Narvik. When news of this reached London, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr.
Churchill, had already been on the lookout for many hours-eagerly awaiting
first reports of the successes of his fleet.
And
this strike, my Deputies, was the most daring undertaking in the history of
German warfare. Its successful implementation was possible only thanks to the
leadership and the behavior of all German soldiers involved.
What
our three arms, the Army, the Navy, and the Luftwaffe, have accomplished in the
struggle for Norway
assures them mention in the records of the highest soldiership.
The
Navy conducted its operations, and later handled the troop transports, faced by
an enemy who, all in all, possessed an almost tenfold superiority. All units of
our young Reich War Navy have covered themselves with eternal glory in this
venture. Only after the war will it be appropriate to discuss the difficulties
faced especially in this campaign: the numerous unexpected setbacks, losses,
and accidents suffered. To have overcome all this in the end goes to the credit
of the behavior, the leadership, and the troops.
The
Luftwaffe, which often was the only means of transport and communications in so
gigantically vast a terrain, outdid itself in all respects.
Death-defying
attacks on the enemy, on his ships and landing troops, are hardly more
impressive than the tenacious heroics of the transport plane pilots, who in
spite of unimaginably adverse weather started time and time again on their way
to the land of the midnight sun, only to unload soldiers or freight in the
midst of a snow storm.
Norway’s
fjords have become the graveyard of many a British warship.
Because
of the uninterrupted wild attacks of German bombers and Stukas, the British
fleet was forced to retreat from and to evacuate the very arena of which a few
weeks earlier an English newspaper had so tastefully stated “that it would be a
pleasure for England
to oblige the German invitation to do battle there.” The Army. The crossing
already constituted a great challenge for the soldiers of the Army. In a few
cases, airborne troops had opened up the area where they first set foot. Then
division after division flooded the land which, due to its natural
characteristics, already possessed considerable defenses, and which-as far as
the Norwegian units were concerned-was very valiantly defended. Of the
Englishmen who had landed in Norway,
one can say that the only remarkable thing was the unscrupulousness with which
such badly trained, insufficiently equipped, and miserably led soldiers had
been put ashore as an expeditionary corps. From the beginning, they were
certain to lose. By contrast, what our German infantry, the pioneers, what our
artillery, our communications and construction units, have achieved in Norway
can only be termed the proud heroism of struggle and labor.
The
word Narvik will enter our history as glorious evidence of the spirit of the
Wehrmacht of the National Socialist Greater German Reich.
The
gentlemen Churchill, Chamberlain, Daladier, and so on, have, until recently,
been exceedingly ill-informed as to the essence of the Greater German
unification process. At the time, I announced that the future would probably
teach them better. And I may well assume that in particular the deployment of
mountain troops from the Ostmark at this front furthest north in our battle for
freedom has enlightened them sufficiently as far as the Greater German Reich
and its sons are concerned.
It
is lamentable that the grenadiers of Mr. Chamberlain did not pay sufficient
and, above all, persistent attention to this conflict, and instead preferred to
be satisfied with the first test of the inner disposition of the tribes of our
Volk which have newly come to the Reich.
General
von Falkenhorst led operations in Norway. Lieutenant General Dietl
was the hero of Narvik.
Operations
at sea were conducted under the leadership of Admiral General Saalwachter and
the Admirals Carls and Boehm, and Vice Admiral Lutjens. Operations of the Luftwaffe
were under the leadership of Colonel General Milch and Lieutenant General
Geissler. The High Command of the Wehrmacht, Colonel General Keitel, as the
Chief of the High Command, and General Jodl, as the Chief of the Wehrmacht
leadership staff, were responsible for implementing my directives for the
entire undertaking.
Even
before the conclusion of the campaign in Norway, news in the West took on an
ever more threatening character.
While,
in fact, preparations had been made before the war to break through the Maginot
Line in the event of a necessary conflict with France or England, an
undertaking for which the German troops had been trained and had been equipped
with the weaponry required, the course of events in the first months of the war
compelled us to contemplate the possibility of moving against Holland and
Belgium. While Germany had
positioned hardly any units against Belgium
or the Netherlands,
other than those necessary for security reasons, as well as beginning to expand
upon its fortification system, a visible mass of French units began to array
itself along the French-Belgian border. In particular, the concentration of
tanks and motorized divisions in this sector revealed that it was intended-at
any rate it was possible-for these to be hurled at lighting speed through Belgium at the
German border.
Decisive
in this context was the following observation: While, in the case of a loyal
reading of the Belgian-Dutch neutrality, these two countries would have been
forced, by the concentration of strong Anglo- French forces at their border, to
focus their attention on the West, both began to reduce their troop strengths
along this border to the same degree they began to build up the units stationed
along the border with Germany. News of ongoing talks at the general staff level
also shed a peculiar light on [this interpretation of] Belgian-Dutch
neutrality. I need not emphasize that these talks, had they been conducted in
the spirit of true neutrality, would have had to be held with both sides. Besides
this, such an intensification of signs indicating that a move of the
Anglo-French troops across Holland and Belgium
against the German industrial area was taking place required that we should
regard this threat as a serious danger.
Hence
I took the German Wehrmacht into my confidence, informing it of the possibility
of such a development and entrusting it with the appropriate, detailed
directives. In numerous conferences at the High Command of the Wehrmacht with
the Commanders in Chief of the three branches of the Wehrmacht, the leaders of
the Army groups and of the armies, down to the leaders of important, individual
undertakings, the tasks facing us were enumerated and thoroughly discussed.
Among the troops these were taken up with great understanding, as the basis for
a special type of training.
Correspondingly,
the entire German deployment underwent the necessary adjustments.
The
thorough observations which had been conducted everywhere gradually led to the
compelling recognition that, from the beginning of May on, an Anglo-French
advance had to be expected at any moment.
In
the days of May 6 and 7, telephone conversations between London
and Paris took place, of which we gained
intelligence and which reinforced suspicions that an invasion of the Netherlands and Belgium by the so-called Allies had
to be expected at any moment. Thus on the following day, May 8, I ordered an
immediate attack for May 10, 5:35 in the morning.
The
basic thought behind this operation was to deploy, without worrying about peripheral
successes, the entire Wehrmacht-especially the Army and the Luftwaffe-in so
decisive a manner that the envisioned operations had to attain the complete
annihilation of the Anglo-French forces. In contrast to the Schlieffen Plan of
the year 1914, I ordered the main thrust of the operation along the left flank
of the breakthrough front, while, however, keeping up appearances of a reversed
version. This deception was successful. Conduct of the entire operation was
made easy for me by measures our adversaries themselves took. For the
concentration of the entire Anglo-French motorized combat forces against Belgium
revealed as certain that the High Command of the Allied armies had arrived at
the decision to advance most speedily into this area.
We
relied on the steadfastness of all German infantry divisions deployed in the
thrust against the right flank of the Anglo-French motorized Army Group.
Such
a drive had to lead to its complete shattering and dissolution-yes, perhaps
even to its encirclement.
As
a second operation, I had planned the taking of the Seine up to Le Havre, as
well as securing bases at the Somme and Aisne for a third assault. This was
intended to break through, with strong forces across the plateau at Langres, to
the Swiss border. Reaching the coast south of Bordeaux was to conclude operations. Within
this framework and in this sequence, operations were in fact carried out.
The
success of this mightiest sequence of battles in world history we owe first and
foremost to the German soldier himself. He held his own at all places he was
deployed to the highest degree. The German tribes all share equally in this
glory.
The
soldiers of the young, new Reichsgaus, added only since 1938, also fought in an
exemplary fashion and took a heavy toll of lives. The heroic risk of life by
all Germans in this war will make the emerging National Socialist Greater
German Reich eternally sacred and dear not only to the present generation, but
to all that follow.
When
I undertake to honor all those forces to whose activities we owe this most
glorious of victories, then first mention is due to a leadership which, in
particular in this campaign, has met the highest of requirements.
The
Army. It has performed the tasks imposed upon it, under the leadership of Colonel
General von Brauchitsch and his Chief of Staff Halder, in a truly glorious
fashion.
If
the leadership of the German Army of long ago was regarded as the best in the
world, then it is deserving today of at least equal admiration. Yes, since
success is decisive for passing judgment, the leadership of the new German Army
must be considered even better.
Subdivided
into three Army Groups, the Army in the West was placed under the orders of
Colonel Generals Ritter von Leeb, von Rundstedt, and von Bock.
The
Army Group of General Ritter von Leeb had the initial mission to maintain the
left flank of the German front in the West, stretching from the Swiss border up
to the Moselle, in a state of highest
defensive readiness. It was anticipated that, in the later course of the
operation, this front would also actively intervene in the battle of
destruction with two armies under the leadership of Colonel General von
Witzleben and General Dollmann.
At
5:35 in the morning of May 10, the two Army Groups under Colonel Generals von
Rundstedt and von Bock launched the attack. It was their mission, along the
entire front from the river Moselle to the North Sea, to break through the
enemy lines along the frontier; to occupy the Netherlands; to move against
Antwerp and the troops stationed at Dyle; to take Liege; and, above all, to
reach the left flank along the river Meuse with massive forces for the attack,
to force a crossing between Namur and Carignan with a main thrust of the tank
and motorized divisions at Sedan and, in the further course of operations, to
assemble all available tank and motorized divisions to push onward, along the
system of canals and rivers between the Aisne and the Somme, to the sea.
To
Rundstedt’s southern Army Group fell also the important task of preventing a
repetition of the Miracle of the Marne of
1914. He was to accomplish this task by securing, according to plan, the cover
of the left flank in the course of the breakthrough.
This
massive operation, which already decided the further course of the war, led, as
planned, to the annihilation of the main mass of the French Army as well as of
the entire British Expeditionary Force, and already added luster to the German
leadership.
Besides
the two leaders of the Army Groups and their Chiefs of Staff, Lieutenant
General von Sodenstern and Lieutenant General von Salmuth, the following
leaders of the Army are deserving of the highest of distinctions: Colonel
General von Kluge as leader of the Fourth Army; Colonel General List as leader
of the Twelfth Army; Colonel General von Reichenau as leader of the Sixth Army;
General von Kuchler as leader of the Eighteenth Army; General Busch as leader
of the Sixteenth Army; and the Generals von Kleist, Guderian, Hoth, and
Hoeppner as leaders of the tank and motorized troops.
Large
additional numbers of generals and officers who distinguished themselves in
these operations are known to you already, my Deputies, because of the high
distinctions granted them.
The
further conduct of the operation in the general direction of the Aisne and the
Seine was not intended to conquer Paris
primarily, but rather to create, or better secure, a basis for a breakthrough
to the Swiss border. This massive offensive action, thanks to the outstanding
leadership of all grades, also went according to plan.
A
change of personnel in the High Command of the French Army, which had meanwhile
taken place, was to revive its resistance and to bring about a change, much
desired by the Allies, in the fortunes of the battle so unhappily begun.
Indeed
it was possible to get the German armies and their offensive actions going, at
several locations, only after overcoming the strongest of resistance.
Here,
not only the courage, but also the training of the German soldier had the
opportunity to hold its own to a high degree. Inspired by the zeal of countless
officers and non-commissioned officers, as well as of individual men of valor,
the infantry itself, time and time again, was compelled onward even in the most
difficult of situations.
Paris
fell! The breaking of the enemy’s resistance at the Aisne
opened the way to a breakthrough to the Swiss border. In one gigantic
envelopment the armies stormed to the back of the Maginot Line. Now abandoning
its reserve, the Army Group Leeb went on the offensive in two locations west of
Saarbrucken and
Neubreisach. Under orders from Generals von Witzleben and Dollmann, they
achieved the breakthrough. And thus it was possible not only to surround the
gigantic front of the French resistance, but to dissolve it into little
particles and to force it to the well-known capitulation.
These
operations were crowned by the now generally beginning advance of the German
armies. At their head moved the incomparable Panzer and motor divisions of the
Army with the goal of driving a left flank down the Rhone in the direction of Marseilles, and a right flank across the Loire in the
direction of Bordeaux
and the Spanish border. This was to destroy the dissolving remains of the
French Army, or rather to occupy French territory.
I
will report in detail at a later point on the intervention of our allies in
this war. When Marshal Petain offered France’s laying down of arms, he was not
laying down a weapon he still held. Rather he merely put an end to a situation
completely untenable in the eyes of every soldier. Only the bloody dilettantism
of a Mr. Churchill either fails to comprehend as much or lies about it in spite
of better knowledge.
In
the second, third, and last phase of this war, the following Army leaders
distinguished themselves as did the earlier mentioned generals: Colonel General
von Witzleben; the Generals von Weichs, Dollmann, Strauss. The valiant
divisions and standards of the Waffen SS also fought within the framework of
these armies.
When
I express my gratitude and that of the German Volk to the aforementioned
generals, in their capacity as leaders of the Army and Army Groups, this
applies at the same time to all other officers, all of whom it is not possible
to mention by name, and especially to all the nameless workers of the General
Staff.
In
this battle, my Deputies, the rank and file of Germany has proved itself to be
what it has always been: the best infantry in the world.
And
with it all other branches of the Army compete: artillery and pioneers, and, above
all, the young units of our tanks and motorized troops. The German Panzer
weapon, through this war, has made its entry into world history. The men of the
Waffen SS share in the glory. Yet the communications units, the construction
units of the pioneers, the railroad construction men, etc., are also worthy, in
accordance with their performance, of the highest praise we have to offer. In
the wake of the armies followed the commandos of the Todt Organization, of the
Reich Labor Service, and of the NSKK, and these also helped to repair roads,
bridges, as well as to restore order to traffic.
Within
the framework of the Army, this time there also fought parts of the Flak
artillery of our Luftwaffe. At the foremost front, they helped to break the
enemy’s power of resistance and attack. A detailed account of their
effectiveness can be rendered only at a later date.
The
Luftwaffe itself. At dawn on the morning of May 10, thousands of fighter planes
and dive bombers, under the cover of fighters and destroyers, descended on
enemy airfields. Within a few days uncontested air superiority was assured. And
not for one minute in the further course of the battle was it allowed to slip.
Only
where temporarily no German airplanes were sighted, could enemy fighters and
bombers make short appearances. Besides this, their activities were restricted
to night action. The Field Marshal [Goring] had the Luftwaffe under his orders
during this mission in the war.
Its
tasks were: 1. to destroy the enemy air forces, i.e. to remove these from the
skies; 2. to support directly or indirectly the fighting troops by
uninterrupted attacks; 3. to destroy the enemy’s means of command and movement;
4. to wear down and break the enemy’s morale and will to resist; 5. to land
parachute troops as advance units.
The
manner of their deployment in the operation in general, as well as their
adjustment to the tactical demands of the moment, was exceptional. Without the
valor of the Army, the successes attained should never have been possible.
Equally
true is it that, without the heroic mission of the Luftwaffe, the valor of the
Army should have been for naught. Both Army and Luftwaffe are deserving of the
greatest glory! The deployment of the Luftwaffe in the West took place under
the personal command of Field Marshal Goring. His Chief of Staff: Major General
Jeschonnek.
Both
aerial fleets stood under orders of General der Flieger Sperrle and General der
Flieger Kesselring. The Aviation Corps subordinate to them stood under orders
of Generals der Flieger Grauert and Keller, Lieutenant General Loerzer, and
Lieutenant General Ritter von Greim, as well as of Major General Freiherr von
Richthofen. Both Flak Corps stood under orders of Flak Artillery General Weise
and Major General Dessloch. The Ninth Aerial Division under Major General
Coeler deserves special mention. The Commander of the Parachute Troops, General
der Flieger Student, was severely wounded. The further conduct of the battle in
the air in Norway was orchestrated by General der Flieger Stumpff.
While
millions of German soldiers of the Army, Luftwaffe, and Waffen SS took part in
these battles, others could not be spared at home as they were needed for the
buildup of the local reserve formations. Many of the most capable officers-as
bitter as this was for them-were forced to conduct and oversee the training of
those soldiers who, as reserve units, or perhaps in new formations, were to go
to the front only later. Despite my sympathy for the inner sentiments of those
who felt at a disadvantage, the greater common interest, as a matter of
principle, was decisive. Party and State, Army, Navy, Luftwaffe, and SS sent
every man to the front whom they were able to spare somehow. Yet, without
securing a Replacement Army, a reserve air force, reserve SS formations, as
well as Party and State in general, the war at the front could not have been
waged.
As
the organizers of the Replacement Army at home and of the armament and supplies
for the Luftwaffe, the following have attained special merit: Artillery General
Fromm and General der Flieger Udet.
I
cannot conclude the enumeration of all these meritorious generals and admirals
without paying tribute to those who are my closest co-workers in the Staff of
the High Command of the Wehrmacht: Colonel General Keitel as Chief of the High
Command of the Wehrmacht, and Major General Jodl as his Chief of Staff. They
have made the greatest of contributions to the realization of my plans and
ideas throughout long months of many cares and much work.
An
appreciation of the accomplishments of our Navy and its leaders will only be
possible, to a full extent, at the end of the war. When I now conclude these
purely military reflections on events, truth compels me to state the historic
fact that none of this would have been possible without the disposition of the
home front-or without, at its fore, the foundation, the work, and the
activities of the National Socialist Party.
Already
in 1919, in the age of great decline, it proclaimed its program for the establishment
of a German People’s Army and has stood up for it throughout the decades with a
zealous determination. Without its activities, the conditions necessary for
both the re-emergence of the German Reich and the creation of a German
Wehrmacht would not have existed. Above all, it lent the struggle its
ideological (weltanschaulich) foundation. To the senseless sacrifice of
life of our democratic opponents in the interests of their plutocracies, it
opposes the defense of a Volksgemeinschaft. Its activities have resulted in a
solidarity between front and homeland, which regrettably did not exist in the
World War. From its ranks, therefore, I should like to name the men, who along
with countless others, attained great merit in securing the opportunity to celebrate
victory in a new Germany: Party comrade Reich Minister Hess, himself an old
soldier of the World War, has been one of the most loyal fighters for the
erection of the present state and its Wehrmacht ever since the early days of
the foundation of the Movement.
Party
comrade Chief of Staff of the SA Lutze has organized the mass of millions of SA
men, in the sense of supporting the state to the utmost, and has secured its
pre- and post-military training. Party comrade Himmler has organized the entire
security of our Reich as well as the units of the Waffen SS.
Party
comrade Hierl has been the founder and leader of the Reich Labor Service. Party
comrade Ley is the guarantor of the behavior of the German worker. Party
comrade and Reich Minister Major General Todt is the organizer of the
production of armament and ammunition and has gained eternal merit as a master
builder in the construction of our massive, strategic [!] road network as well
as of the fortified front in the West. Party comrade Minister Goebbels is the
leader of a propaganda apparatus whose refinement is best ascertained in
comparison with that of the World War.
Among
the numerous organizations of the home front, there remain to be mentioned the
organization of the Kriegswinterhilfswerk, and of the NS Volkswohlfahrt under
the leadership of Party comrade Hilgenfeldt, as well as the German Red Cross,
and moreover the Reich Air Defense Association under the leadership of Flak
Artillery General von Schroeder.
I
cannot conclude this tribute without thanking the one man who, for years, has
engaged himself in loyal, untiring, self-devouring work to realize my foreign
policy directives. The name of Party comrade von Ribbentrop as Reich Foreign
Minister shall remain tied for all eternity to the political rise of the German
nation.
My
Deputies! I have determined, as Fuhrer and Supreme Commander of the German
Wehrmacht, to honor the most meritorious generals before the one forum which in
truth represents the entire German Volk. I must place at their forefront a man
to whom I have difficulty in expressing sufficient gratitude for the services
which tie his name to the Movement, to the State, and, above all, to the German
Luftwaffe.
Since
the days of the foundation of the SA, Party Comrade Goring has been bound up in
the development and rise of the Movement. Since we came to power, his capacity
for work and willingness to take responsibility have accomplished deeds in
numerous fields for the German Volk and the German Reich which cannot be
excluded from the history of our Volk and Reich.
Since
the rebuilding of the German Wehrmacht, he has become the creator of the German
Luftwaffe. It is granted to only a few mortals to create in the course of their
lives a military instrument practically from nothing and to transform it into
the mightiest weapon of its kind in the world. Above all, he has lent it his
spirit.
Field
Marshal Goring as creator of the German Luftwaffe, and as an individual man,
has made the greatest contribution to the rebuilding of the German Wehrmacht.
As the leader of the German Luftwaffe he has, in the course of the war up to
date, created the prerequisites for victory. His merits are unequaled! I name
him Reichsmarschall of the Greater German Reich and award him the Grand
Cross of the Iron Cross.
For
services rendered to the victory of German weaponry in the struggle for the
freedom and future of our Greater German Reich, I hereby promote:
The
Commander in Chief of the Army, Colonel General von Brauchitsch, to the rank of
Field Marshal;
Colonel
General von Rundstedt, Commander in Chief of Army Group A, to the rank of Field
Marshal;
Colonel
General Ritter von Leeb, Commander in Chief of Army Group C, to the rank of
Field Marshal;
Colonel
General von Bock, Commander in Chief of Army Group B, to the rank of Field
Marshal;
Colonel
General List, Commander in Chief of the Twelfth Army, to the rank of Field
Marshal;
Colonel
General von Kluge, Commander in Chief of the Fourth Army, to the rank of Field
Marshal;
Colonel
General von Witzleben, Commander in Chief of the First Army, to the rank of
Field Marshal;
Colonel
General von Reichenau, Commander in Chief of the Sixth Army, to the rank of
Field Marshal.
I
promote:
General
Halder, Chief of the General Staff of the Army, to the rank of Colonel General;
General
Dollmann, Commander in Chief of the Seventh Army, to the rank of Colonel
General;
General
Freiherr von Weichs, Commander in Chief of the Second Army, to the rank of
Colonel General;
General
von Kuchler, Commander in Chief of the Eighteenth Army, to the rank of Colonel
General;
General
Busch, Commander in Chief of the Sixteenth Army, to the rank of Colonel
General;
General
Strauss, Commander in Chief of the Ninth Army, to the rank of Colonel General;
General
von Falkenhorst, Military Commander in Norway, to the rank of Colonel
General;
General
von Kleist, Commanding General of the Twenty-Second Army Corps, to the rank of
Colonel General;
General
Ritter von Schobert, Commanding General of the Seventh Army Corps, to the rank
of Colonel General;
General
Guderian, Commanding General of the Nineteenth Army Corps, to the rank of
Colonel General;
General
Hoth, Commanding General of the Fifteenth Army Corps, to the rank of Colonel
General;
General
Haase, Commanding General of the Third Army Corps, to the rank of Colonel
General;
General
Hoeppner, Commanding General of the Sixteenth Army Corps, to the rank of
Colonel General;
General
Fromm, Chief of Military Armament and Commander in Chief of the Replacement
Army, to the rank of Colonel General.
In
consideration of unequaled services rendered I promote:
Lieutenant
General Dietl, Commanding General of the Mountain Corps in Norway, to the rank
of Infantry General. As the first officer with the German Wehrmacht, I award him
the Oak Leaves of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross.
Pending
a later recognition of all the leaders and officers of the Reich Navy, I
promote:
Admiral
Carls, the Commanding Admiral of the Naval Station Baltic Sea and Commander in
Chief of the Naval Troops East, to the rank of Admiral General.
In
appreciation of the unequaled accomplishments of the German Luftwaffe, I
promote:
Colonel
General Milch to the rank of Field Marshal;
General
der Flieger Sperrle to the rank of Field Marshal;
General
der Flieger Kesselring to the rank of Field Marshal.
I
promote:
General
der Flieger Stumpff to the rank of Colonel General;
General
der Flieger Grauert to the rank of Colonel General;
General
der Flieger Keller to the rank of Colonel General;
General
of the Flak Artillery Weise to the rank of Colonel General;
General
der Flieger Udet to the rank of Colonel General.
Furthermore,
I promote to the rank of General der Flieger:
Lieutenant
General Geissler;
Major General
Jeschonnek;
Lieutenant
General Loerzer;
Lieutenant
General Ritter von Greim;
and Major
General Freiherr von Richthofen.
In
my High Command of the Wehrmacht I promote:
Colonel
General Keitel to the rank of Field Marshal;
Major
General Jodl to the rank of Artillery General.
In
announcing these promotions on the occasion of the most successful campaign in
our history, before this forum and so before the entire nation, I thereby honor
the entire Wehrmacht of the National Socialist Greater German Reich.
I
cannot conclude my reflections on this battle without thinking of our ally
here. Ever since there has been a National Socialist regime, its foreign policy
has embraced two goals: 1. bringing about a true understanding and friendship
with Italy and, 2. bringing
about the same relationship with England.
My
Party Comrades, you know that I was as driven by these conceptions twenty years
ago as I was later. I have dealt with and defended these ideas as a
journalist and in my speeches countless times, as long as I myself was a mere
opposition leader in the democratic republic. I immediately undertook, as soon
as the German Volk entrusted me with its leadership, to realize these oldest
goals of National Socialist foreign policy in practical terms. It still saddens
me today that, in spite of all my endeavors, I have not succeeded in obtaining
this friendship with England which, I believe, should have been a blessing for
both peoples; and especially because I was not able to do so despite my
persistent, sincere efforts.
However,
I am all the more happy that at least the first point in this program of my
foreign policy was in fact realized. This I owe, above all, to the genius who
today stands at the head of the Italian people. For it was possible only owing
to his epoch-making activities for the two intellectually related revolutions
to find each other, to finally seal in jointly-shed blood the alliance which is
destined to procure a new life for Europe. That I myself have the honor to be a
friend of this man gladdens me all the more in view of the unique story of his
life, which bears evidence of as many similarities to my own as our two
revolutions do to each other, and, beyond this, as does the history of the
unification and rise of our two nations.
Ever
since the resurrection of the German Volk, we have heard many voices of
understanding from Italy.
On the foundation of this mutual understanding grew a living community of
interests. And finally this was set down in treaties. And when, last year,
contrary to my expressed will and desire, this war was forced on the German
Reich, a consultation on the further conduct of our two states involved
Mussolini and me. The benefit derived for the Reich from the behavior of Italy was
extraordinary. Not only economically did we profit from the situation and the
stance of Italy,
but also militarily.
From
the beginning, Italy
tied down strong forces of our enemies and curtailed above all their freedom of
strategic disposition. And when the Duce determined that the time had come to
take a stand with the weapon in his fist against the unbearable and persistent
violation of Italy,
damage done in particular by French and British transgression, and the King
issued the declaration of war, then this was done with complete freedom of decision.
All the greater must our gratitude be.
The
intercession of Italy has
sped up and assisted in opening France’s
eyes to the utter hopelessness of continued resistance.
And
ever since, our ally has fought on the peaks and ridges of the Alps and now on the vast plains encompassed in his sphere
of interest. Especially his present air attacks and battles at sea are being
led with the spirit peculiar to the Fascist Revolution. Here they elicit the
spirit which binds National Socialism to Fascist Italy. Italy’s pain is Germany’s pain, as we have
experienced in recent days in view of the death of Balbo. Its
joy is our joy.
And
our cooperation in the political and military fields is a complete one.
It
will erase the injustice done the German and Italian peoples throughout the
centuries. For, at the end of everything, stands the shared victory! And when I
now turn to speak of the future, my Deputies, I do so not to boast or brag.
This I can well leave up to others who are in greater need of it, as for
example Mr. Churchill. What I want to do is to paint a picture of the present
situation, bare of exaggeration, as it is and as I see it.
1.
The course of events in the ten months of war now lying behind us has proved my
assessments correct and those of our adversaries incorrect.
When
the British so-called statesmen assure us that their country emerges
strengthened from every defeat and failure, then it surely is no arrogance when
I inform them that we emerge at least equally strengthened from our successes.
On
September 1 of the year now past, I already explained to you that, come what
may, neither the force of weapons nor time shall force Germany to the
ground. The Reich today stands stronger militarily than ever before.
You
have seen the losses, individually surely heavy, though as a total relatively
low, which the German Wehrmacht has suffered in battle within the past three
months. When you consider that, within this time, we erected a front which reaches
from the North Cape to the Spanish border,
then our losses are extraordinarily low, especially when compared with those of
the World War. The cause lies-besides with the, on an average, excellent
leadership-with the outstanding tactical training of the individual soldier and
of the units, as well as with the cooperation among the branches of the
service.
Another
cause is to be found with the quality and efficiency of the new weaponry. A
third cause lies with the conscious refusal to pursue what is called prestige.
I myself have, on principle, labored to avoid any attack or operation which was
not necessary in the context of the actual annihilation of the adversary, but
was instead to be carried out for the sake of what was regarded as prestige.
In
spite of all of this, naturally, we had anticipated far higher losses in many
instances. The manpower saved will benefit us in the further pursuit of the
struggle for freedom forced upon us. At present, many of our divisions in France are
being withdrawn and reassigned to their bases at home. Many men are able to
take leaves of absence. Weaponry and equipment are being either repaired or
replaced by new material. All in all, the Wehrmacht today is stronger than ever
before.
2.
Weaponry. The loss of weaponry in Norway,
especially in the campaigns against Holland, Belgium, and France, is void of any
significance. It stands in no relation to production. Army and Luftwaffe
possess at this moment-as I am speaking to you-equipment more complete and
stronger than before we intervened in the West.
3.
Ammunition. Provisions for ammunition were so well executed, the stocks are so
vast, that in many areas production must now be curtailed or rerouted since the
existing depots and warehouses, even given the greatest of efforts, in part are
no longer capable of absorbing further deliveries. As in Poland, the
consumption of ammunition was unexpectedly low. It stands in no relation to the
stockpiles. The total reserves of the Army and the Luftwaffe are higher at
present, for all categories of weapons, than before the attack in the West.
4.
Raw materials essential to the war effort. Thanks to the Four-Year Plan, Germany was
prepared for the greatest of strains in an exemplary fashion. No armed forces
in the world, other than Germany’s
Wehrmacht, have so benefited from a shift away from imported raw materials
essential to the war effort to such as can be found within the country.
Thanks
to the work of the Reichsmarschall, this transformation of the German economy
into a war economy characterized by self-sufficiency was already achieved in
peacetime. [!] We possess reserves of the two most important raw materials,
coal and iron, in what I may well term an unlimited quantity. Fuel supplies are
more than enough for consumption. The capacities of our production are
increasing and, within a short time, they will suffice- even should imports
cease-to satisfy demand completely.
Our
advance metal collections have so increased our metal reserves that we can face
a war of no matter what duration. We shall reign supreme no matter what
happens. Added to this are the enormous possibilities that come from a yet
immeasurable loot and including the development of the territories we have
occupied. Germany and Italy possess, within the confines of the area they
regulate and control, an economic potential of about 200 million men, of whom
only 130 million are soldiers, with seventy million free to be employed
exclusively in different economic activities.
I
informed you on September 1, my Deputies, that for the further conduct of the
war I had ordered the initial implementation of a new Five-Year Plan. I
can now assure you that all measures to this end have been taken. Come what
may, I now no longer regard time as a threatening factor, not even in a general
sense. This time, the measures taken in a timely fashion have also secured
foodstuffs for a war of no matter how long a duration.
5.
The attitude of the German Volk. Thanks to National Socialist education, the
German Volk has not approached this war with the superficiality of a “hurrah”
patriotism, but with the zealous determination of a race which knows the fate
awaiting it should it suffer defeat. The endeavors to subvert this unity,
launched by the propaganda of our enemies, are as stupid as they are
ineffective. Ten months of war have rendered this zealousness all the more
profound. And, in general, it is a great misfortune that the world’s opinion is
not formed by men who see things as they are, but by men who see them as they
want them to be.
In
the last days, I have seen through and studied countless documents from the
Allied Headquarters’ “Ark of the Covenant.” Among other things, these contain
reports on the atmosphere in Germany,
or memoranda on the disposition and inner attitude of the German Volk. The
authors of these reports were, in part, also diplomats. Reading through these
reports, one cannot help wondering whether their authors were blind, stupid, or
simply vile scoundrels. I will admit without further ado that, naturally, here in
Germany also there have been, and perhaps still are today, certain individuals
who have watched the Third Reich’s conquests with a feeling akin to regret.
Incorrigible reactionaries or blind nihilists may well be saddened in their
hearts that things came out not as they had willed them. But their numbers are
ridiculously small and their significance is smaller yet.
Regrettably,
this scum of the nation appears to have been chosen by the outside world as a
measuring stick by which to assess the German Volk. And from this, the sick
minds of failed statesmen derive the last points of orientation to cling to for
new hope. As needed, the British warlords designate a “General Hunger” or an
“imminent revolution” as their new allies. There is no nonsense that these
people would not dish up for their own nation in order to cling to their
positions for yet a few more weeks.
The
German Volk has proved, above all, its inner attitude through its sons who are
fighting on the battlefield. Within weeks they have beaten Germany’s
strongest military adversary and have destroyed him. Their spirit was and
remains the spirit of the German homeland.
6.
The surrounding world. In the eyes of English politicians, their last hopes,
besides those resting with the loyal and allied nations, lie with a series of
propped-up heads of state without thrones; statesmen without subjects; and
generals without armies; as well as on renewed complications they believe they
can conjure up thanks to their well-proven deftness in such matters. A true
Ahasuerus amongst these hopes is the belief in a possible new estrangement to
separate Germany and Russia.
German-Russian
relations have been established for good. The reason for this was that England and France,
with the support of certain smaller states, incessantly attributed to Germany
ambitions to conquer terrain which lay completely outside the sphere of German
interests. At one time, Germany
was eyeing the occupation of the Ukraine;
then again it sought to invade Finland;
at another time it was claimed that Romania
was threatened; then finally even Turkey was endangered. Given these
circumstances, I held it to be proper to undertake, above all, with Russia, a sober delineation of interests, to
once and for all clarify what Germany
believes it must regard as its sphere of interest in securing its future, and
what in turn Russia
holds to be vital to its existence.
Based
on this clear delineation of mutual spheres of interest, the Russo- German
relationship was revised. It is childish to hope that in the course of this
revision tensions might arise anew between Germany
and Russia.
Germany
has not stepped outside its sphere of interest, and neither has Russia. England is deceived
in its hope of bringing about a new European crisis to reprieve its own
situation, insofar as the relationship of Germany
to Russia
is concerned. Though the British statesmen are chronically slow in their
comprehension of almost everything, they will surely come to understand this in
the course of time. I fancy I correctly forecast the future development of
this war in my speech of October 6. I assure you, my Deputies, that not for a
moment could I doubt victory. And, unless one feels the need to see signs and
guarantees for the final victory exclusively in defeats, then I believe that
the course of events up to this point has proved me right. As I was certain of
this course of events, I offered my hand to France
and England
at the time for an understanding.
You
still recall the answer I received. My arguments against the nonsense of
pursuing this war, on the certainty of gaining nothing, even under the most
favorable of circumstances, and of losing much, were mocked and scoffed at, or
passed over.
I
promptly assured you then that I feared, because of my peace proposal, to be
decried as a cockerel who no longer wants to fight because he is no longer able
to fight. And this is exactly what happened. I now believe that France- less
the guilty statesmen than the people-thinks differently about this October 6
today. What nameless misery has befallen this great country and people since
then. I shall not even mention the toll of suffering the war has placed on the
soldier. For above this stands the suffering caused by the recklessness of
those who drove millions of people from their homes without proper cause, who
were compelled by the thought that this might somehow hamper the German war
effort. This premise defied comprehension: this evacuation was mostly to the
detriment of the Allied war effort and, moreover, it was the most cruel
experience for the unfortunate afflicted. The injury the gentlemen Churchill
and Reynaud have done millions of people, through their advice and
commands-this they can neither justify in this world nor in the next.
All
of this-as I said-need not have happened. For peace was all I asked of France and England in October. But the
gentlemen war profiteers wanted a continuation of this war at all cost. They
have it now.
I
myself am too much a soldier not to comprehend the tragedy of such a
development. Still all I hear from London
are cries-not the cries of the masses, but of the politicians-that this war
must now, all the more, be pursued. I do not know if these politicians have an
inkling of just how this war is in fact to be pursued. They declare that they
will continue this war, and should England
fall, then they will do so from Canada.
I do not believe this means that the English people will all emigrate to Canada, but rather that the gentlemen war
profiteers will all retreat to Canada
by themselves. I fear the people will have to remain behind in England. And,
assuredly, they will see the war with different eyes in London
than their so-called leaders in Canada.
Believe
me, my Deputies, I feel an inner disgust at this type of unscru-pulous
parliamentarian annihilators of peoples and states. It is almost painful to me
to have been chosen by Providence
to give a shove to what these men have brought to the point of falling. It was
not my ambition to wage wars, but to build up a new social state of the highest
culture. And every year of war takes me away from my work. And
the cause of this robbery is those ludicrous zeroes whom one could at best call
nature’s political run of the mill, insofar as their corrupted vileness does not brand
them as something out of the ordinary.
Mr.
Churchill has repeated the declaration that he wants war. About six weeks ago
now, he launched this war in an arena in which he apparently believes he is
quite strong: namely, in the air war against the civilian population, albeit
beneath the deceptive slogan of a so-called war against military objectives.
Ever since Freiburg, these
objectives have turned out to be open cities, markets, villages, residential
housing, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, and whatever else happens to be
hit.
Up
to now I have given little by way of response. This is not intended to signal,
however, that this is the only response possible or that it shall remain this
way.
I
am fully aware that with our response, which one day will come, will also come
the nameless suffering and misfortune of many men. Naturally, this does not
apply to Mr. Churchill himself since by then he will surely be secure in Canada, where
the money and the children of the most distinguished of war profiteers have
already been brought. But there will be great tragedy for millions of other
men. And Mr. Churchill should make an exception and place trust in me when as a
prophet I now proclaim: A great world empire will be destroyed. A world empire
which I never had the ambition to destroy or as much as harm. Alas, I am fully
aware that the continuation of this war will end only in the complete
shattering of one of the two warring parties. Mr. Churchill may believe this to
be Germany.
I know it to be England.
In this hour I feel compelled, standing before my conscience, to direct yet
another appeal to reason in England.
I believe I can do this as I am not asking for something as the vanquished, but
rather, as the victor, I am speaking in the name of reason. I see no compelling
reason which could force the continuation of this war.
I
regret the sacrifices it will demand. I would like to spare my Volk. I know the
hearts of millions of men and boys aglow at the thought of finally being
allowed to wage battle against an enemy who has, without reasonable cause,
declared war on us a second time.
But
I also know of the women and mothers at home whose hearts, despite their
willingness to sacrifice to the last, hang onto this last with all their might.
Mr.
Churchill may well belittle my declaration again, crying that it was nothing
other than a symptom of my fear, or my doubts of the final victory.
Still
I will have an easy conscience in view of things to come. Deputies,
Men of the German Reichstag! In reflecting on the ten months lying behind us,
all of us will surely feel overcome by the grace of Providence which allowed us
to accomplish so great a task. It has blessed our resolves and stood by us on
many a difficult path. I myself am touched in recognition of the calling it
imparted to me to restore freedom and honor to my Volk. The disgrace we
suffered for twenty-two years and which had its beginnings in the Forest of
Compiegne was erased forever at the very same site. Today I have named the men
who, before history, enabled me to accomplish this great task. They have done
their best, dedicating their talents and their industry to the German Volk.
I
now wish to conclude in mentioning all those nameless men who have no less done
their duty. Millions of them have risked life and liberty and, as brave German
officers and soldiers, have been ready at every hour to make the last sacrifice
a man can make. Today many of them rest in the same graves in which their
fathers have rested since the Great War. They bear evidence to silent heroism.
They stand as a symbol for all those hundreds of thousands of musketeers,
anti-tank gunners and tank gunners, pioneers and artillerymen, soldiers of the
Navy and the Luftwaffe, men of the Waffen SS, and all those other fighters who
stood for the German Wehrmacht in the struggle for the freedom and future of
our Volk and for the eternal greatness of the National Socialist Greater German
Reich.
Deutschland-Sieg Heil!
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