Bückeberg near Hamelin, October 3, 1937
Hence there is no such thing as freedom for the
individual, just as there is no freedom for a class. What does that mean, my dear
peasants, freedom for the individual? You yourselves know how very strongly you
are forced by Nature and by the requirements of your profession to perform
certain tasks, whether you want to or not. In good weather or bad! Nature
continually compels man to perform tasks he does not relish and work he does
not always find pleasant.
Yet perhaps life would not be
good at all if everything went the way the individual happens to want it to at
the moment. On the contrary: overcoming obstacles is the supreme triumph of
life.
[…]
Where would even the smallest
farm end up if no one wanted to bear the responsibility? The community of the
Volk is no different from a family: one person must have an overall
perspective, one person is responsible not only for the organization of
production, but for coordinating consumption, too!
If we say today that our
Lebensraum is too small and that, therefore, it is essential for us to
supplement it by way of colonies, some wiseacre will appear from somewhere in
the world and say, “Why do you need colonies? Colonies would do you no good at
all! You have purchasing power!” Frankly, we ourselves are smart enough to buy
what we can when we have money. But one should not have cleaned us out for
fifteen years first-then we could buy things today! There are rich people who
say, “Wealth is a very heavy burden to bear! Let no one wish that he, too,
might be encumbered by this burden!” Now one might think that, if wealth is
such a heavy burden, they would be glad to give some of it away. That, however,
is something they do not want to do, either. And there are foreign statesmen
who say, “Colonies are a heavy burden.” Yet they do not want to give away any
part of this burden! They say, “Colonies have no value at all!” Yet under no
circumstances are they willing to restore this “worthless” possession to its
rightful owner! And when I talk about “rightful owners,” it is in a time and in
a world pervaded by the ideals of morality and modesty laid down by the League
of Nations. And it was in accordance with these ideals that we Germans once
acquired our colonies, but in accordance with different principles-such as,
from the moral perspective of the League of Nations, would deserve to be
utterly condemned-that we lost them.
There is a reason why, at
every Erntedcankfest, I have the Wehrmacht perform exercises for you.
You shall all he reminded that we would not be standing here if sword and
shield were not standing guard over us. Yes indeed, we have peace only because
the new German weapon is being held over it. That gives us peace, that gives us
security, and that gives us the prerequisites for doing our job.
[…]
The prerequisite for
every success, however, is that the will of he who represents the will is also
respected. As long as every rank of the German nation remains subject to one
will, any problem can be solved! We have solved them in the past, have we not?
But I was only able to solve them because the German Volk was standing behind
me! Only because you were marching after me was I able to march ahead! When I
gave the order to occupy the Rhineland last year, the important thing was not
that the soldiers were marching, but that the German Volk went along, that the
entire nation was backing me. To it you owe the success!
It is so easy to promise
people something, but so infinitely difficult to keep one’s word. I might well
say of myself that I have never promised the German Volk anything I was not
able to really deliver. I even think I have delivered more in these five years
than I once promised! But if so, only because I succeeded in teaching the
German Volk to be reasonable and go along with me!
If we adhere to this path,
decent, industrious, and honest, if we do our duty so bravely and loyally, it
is my belief that the Lord will help us again and again in the future as well.
He does not abandon decent people for any length of time! While He may
sometimes put them to the test or send them trials, in the long run He will
always allow His sun to shine upon them and ultimately give them His blessing.
[…]
If we all stick together in
the city and the country, if each and every person decently does his duty in
the place he occupies and thinks not only of himself but of his fellow humans
as well, then you can trust that there is nothing which could break us asunder.
We shall prevail! In the year to come, and in the decades to come! We have a
magnificent sun today. A year ago, we had pouring rain. What next year will
bring is something I do not know. But that we will be standing here over and
over again, that is something I do know, no matter what the weather! When we
meet here again after a year has passed, we will once more be able to pledge
anew: the year is over, and once again everything has gone well.
Everything has become even
more splendid. And we are fortunate to be allowed to live in Germany.
To Our German Reich and our
German Volk-Sieg Heil!
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