Berlin,
January 30, 1940
German Volksgenossen!
Seven years are a short time indeed. They are only a
fraction of a normal human life-only a second in the life of a people. And yet
the seven years lying behind us today seem longer than many decades of the
past. Within them we feel the concentrated force of historic evolution: the
resurrection of a great nation in danger of extinction. This was an eventful,
tumultuous period indeed. We were fortunate not only to witness it, but to
fashion it in part. At times we nearly lost sight of it.
Today
there is much talk about democratic ideals in the outside world. But not in Germany!
For here in Germany
we had more than enough time-fifteen years-to acquaint ourselves with these
democratic ideals. And we ourselves had to pick up the legacy left behind by
this democracy.
Now
we are being credited with many a truly astounding war aim, especially by the
English. After all, England
is quite experienced in issuing proclamations of objectives in warfare as it
has waged the greatest number of wars the world over.
Truly
astounding are the war aims announced to us today. A new Europe
will arise. This Europe will be characterized
by justice. This justice will render armament obsolete. This will lead to
disarmament at last. This disarmament in turn will bring about an economic
blossoming. Change and trade will spring up-much trade-free trade. And with the
sponsorship of this trade, culture shall once more blossom, and not only
culture will benefit, but religion will also prosper.
In
other words: we are heading towards a golden age!68
Well, we have heard of this golden age before. Many times precisely the
same people attempted to illustrate its virtues to us who are now flooding us
with descriptions of its benefits. The records are old ones, played once too
often. We can only pity these gentlemen who cannot even come up with a new idea
to trap a great people. For all this they had already promised us in 1918.
Then,
too, England’s objectives in
the war were the creation of this “new Europe,”
the establishment of a “new justice,” of which the “right to selfdetermination
of the peoples” was to form an integral part. Back then already they promised
us justice to render obsolete-for all time-the bearing of any sort of weaponry.
Back
then already they submitted to us a program for disarmament-one for global
disarmament. To make this disarmament more evident, it was to be crowned by the
establishment of an association of nations bearing no arms.
These
were to settle their differences in the future-for even back then there was no
doubt that differences would still arise-by talking them to death in discussion
and debate, just as is the custom in democratic states. There would be no more
shooting under any circumstances! In 1918, they declared a blessed and pious
age to come! What came to pass in its stead we all lived to see: the old states
were destroyed without even as much as asking their citizenry. Historic,
ancient structures were severed, not only state bodies but grown economic
structures as well, without anything better to take their place. In total
disregard of the principle of the right to self-determination of the peoples,
the European peoples were hacked to pieces, torn apart. Great states were
dissolved.
Nations
were robbed of their rights, first rendered utterly defenseless and then
subjected to a division which left only victors and vanquished in this world.
And
then there was no more talk of disarmament. To the contrary, armament went on.
Nor did any efforts materialize to settle conflicts peacefully. The armed
states waged wars just as before. Yet those who had been disarmed were no
longer in a position to ward off the aggressions of those well armed.
Naturally,
this did not herald economic prosperity but, to the contrary, produced a
network of lunatic reparations payments which led to increasing destitution for
not only the vanquished, but also the so-called victors themselves. The
consequences of this economic destitution were felt most acutely by the German
Volk.
And
culture meanwhile received no support. Instead, it was abandoned to the
arbitrary reign of crazed ideas and distortions. Religion, too, had to take a
back seat. In these fifteen years, not one Englishman recalled the Christian
ideals of charity or of love for one’s fellow man. The gentlemen went for walks
not with the bible under their arms, but with the Treaty of Versailles in hand
as their bible. It contained those 440 articles, all of which represented a
burden, an obligation, an indictment, and an extortion of Germany. The League of Nations
guaranteed this Versailles.
It was not an association of free and equal nations. It was not even a League of Nations; its founding father refused it
recognition from the start. It was a so-called League of
Nations with the sole intent of guaranteeing this most vile of all
Diktats. Its mission was to force us to fulfill this Diktat.
This
was the age of democratic Germany!
Now that foreign statesmen repeatedly act as though they could not possibly
trust present-day Germany,
one should remark that this cannot possibly be applied to the Germany back then. This former Germany
was their own creation, their own work. They should have been able to place
trust in it. Yet, instead, just how badly did they treat it! Let us recall the
true story of those years: the despondency of the collapse of 1918; the tragedy
of the year 1919; all those years of economic decline domestically; the
continuation of the enslavement; the misery of our Volk; and, above all, the
utter hopelessness of those years! Even today the memory of these years
profoundly shakes us. Those were the days when a great nation slowly lost not
only its belief in itself, but all hope for justice in this world. During this
entire period, democratic Germany
hoped in vain, pleaded in vain, and protested in vain.
International
finance remained brutal and squeezed our Volk ruthlessly.
The
statesmen of the allied nations closed their hearts to it. In cold blood, they
declared that we were twenty million Germans too many.69
In those days when all hope was for naught, all pleas were in vain, and
all protests bore no fruits, in those days the National Socialist Movement came
forth from the realization that, in this world, one must never stoop to hoping,
pleading, or protesting. Instead, in this world, it is imperative first and
foremost to help oneself.
Belief
in our German Volk and the mobilization of its values took the place of hope.
We had few real means at our disposal back then. What we regarded as building
blocks for our new Reich, besides our willpower, was first our Volk’s ability
to work, second its intelligence, and third what our soil, our Lebensraum,
afforded us.
And
thus we began our work and began Germany’s inner uplifting. It did
not threaten the world. It was a work of purely inner, domestic reform. And
nevertheless, it immediately elicited the hatred of others. These got wind of
the renewed rise of the German Volk. And it was because we knew of this that we
undertook to mobilize Germany’s
strength.
You
know it well: in the year 1933, the year we assumed power, I was forced to
declare our withdrawal from the League of Nations
and from the Disarmament Conference. This forum was incapable of according us
justice.
In
1934, Germany’s
rearmament began on a large scale. In 1935, I introduced general conscription.
In 1936, I had the Rhineland occupied
militarily. In 1937, the Four-Year Plan was launched. In 1938, the Ostmark and
the Sudetenland were integrated into the
Reich. In 1939, we began to establish protection for the Reich against those
enemies who had meanwhile cast aside their masks.
The
steps taken in 1939 served the defense of the Reich. Everything could have
developed quite differently had the outside world had as much as an ounce of
understanding for the vital concerns of Germany. Often it is said we should
have waited for a negotiated settlement. Remember, my Volksgenossen: did I not
repeatedly place the colonial question, for instance, before the world to
obtain a negotiated settlement?! Did we ever receive a response? None other
than brusque replies and ever new hateful reactions.
The
moment the Reich began to re-emerge, the leading classes of England and France determined to take up the
battle once again. They wanted it thus.
For
over 300 years, England has
sought to prevent a real consolidation of Europe, just as France sought to prevent a consolidation of Germany for
many a century. Today Mr. Chamberlain stands up to preach his pious war aims to
the outside world. To this, all I can say is: English history has already
betrayed your intent, Mr. Chamberlain! For 300 years, your statesmen have
spoken just as you do today, Mr.
Chamberlain,
at the onset of war. They always fought for “the Lord and religion.” They never
had “a material goal.” And just because they never fought for such “a material
goal,” the Lord so richly rewarded them in material terms! That England
always declared itself “a fighter for truth and justice” and “a protagonist of
all virtues,” this Dear Lord has not forgotten. Generously He has bestowed His
blessings on the English. In those nearly 300 years, they have subjugated forty
million square kilometers of soil on this earth. Naturally, they did this not
from egotistical motives or because they lusted for mastery, riches, or
enjoyment. To the contrary, they were merely fulfilling a mission in the name
of the Lord and religion.
Of
course, England
did not wish to be the sole crusader for the Lord’s cause, and thus invited
others to partake in this noble exploit. It did not even seek to claim the
battle’s greatest burdens for itself. For ventures so pleasing to the Lord one
can always find others. And England
still does this today. And all this is richly rewarding for England: Forty million square
kilometers obtained through conquest: a succession of rape, extortion,
tyrannical abuse, oppression, pillaging. Events mark English history
inconceivable for any other state or for any other people. The English waged
war for any old reason. They waged war to expand trade; they waged war to force
others to smoke opium; they waged war for gold mines and for mastery over
diamond mines. Their goals were always material in nature, though hidden
beneath a cloak of noble ideals.
And
this last war was led in the service of noble purposes, too. To have pocketed
German colonies in the process was the Lord’s will; to have taken our fleet
from us; to have pocketed German accounts abroad. All these exploits were mere
side effects of the “noble struggle for a holy religion.” When I see Mr.
Chamberlain
go about, bible in hand, preaching his noble war aims, I cannot help having the
impression of watching the devil, bible clasped under his arm, creeping up to a
poor soul.
All
this is no longer original. It is all in exceedingly bad taste. Nobody believes
him anymore. Sometimes I fear he is coming to doubt himself.
Besides,
every Volk burns its fingers only once. Only once were the children of Hamelin
herded off by the Pied Piper; only once was the German Volk herded off by that
apostle of the international brotherhood of man.70
In this context, I must praise Mr. Churchill. He frankly states what old
Mr. Chamberlain only thinks quietly to himself and hopes for secretly. He says,
our goal is the dissolution, the destruction of Germany. Our goal is the
extermination, if possible, of the German Volk. Believe me, I welcome this
openness.
And
the French generals also freely discuss what is actually at stake. I believe we
can understand each other more easily in this manner. Why always fight with
lies and empty phrases? Why not be open about things? We should greatly prefer
this. We know the objective they are pursuing whether or not Mr. Chamberlain
walks about with the bible in hand or not; whether he is acting piously or not;
whether he speaks the truth or not. We know their goal: it is the Germany of 1648 which they envision, a Germany
disintegrated and torn to pieces. They
know only too well that over eighty million Germans sit in this Central Europe. These human beings have a right to
live-they have a right to a piece of the pie-and for three hundred years they
were cheated out of it.
They
could only be cheated since their disintegration led to the weight of their
numbers being proportionally undervalued. And thus today we have 140 men living
on one square kilometer. And when such numbers unite, they have power. When
they are divided, they are defenseless and impotent. There is a moral imperative
lying within their unity also. What does it matter when thirty, fifty or 200
small states rise to protest or to claim their vital rights? Who takes note?
When eighty million men rise up-that is a completely different story! Hence the
disinclination against the state-forming activities in Italy, the unity of Germany. They would much prefer to
see these states dissolve into their former elements once more.
A
few days ago, an Englishman wrote: “So it is, indeed. The hasty foundation of
the German Empire-that was not right.” Indeed, it was not right. It was not
right that eighty million men came together to jointly realize their vital
rights.72 Instead, they would much prefer to see us under 200 or
400 different little flags or, if possible, in some 200 or 300 dynasties. Every
dynasty would rule some 100,000 odd men and these would be silenced, never to
be heard of by the rest of the world. Then we as a Volk could try to survive as
a people of poets and philosophers. Besides this, poets and philosophers also
need less food than hard laborers do.
This
is the problem up for discussion today. Here are great nations which in the
course of the centuries were cheated out of their right to life in this world
due to their divisions. These nations have now overcome their inner divisions.
Today
they have entered, as young peoples, the circle of all others and are staking
their claim. They are opposed by the so-called owners. These latter peoples who
today possess and block large sections of the world without sense or purpose;
these who pillaged Germany only a few years ago; these now place themselves in
the same position as the so-called possessing classes within a society do.
On
the world stage, the same thing is repeated which we have already witnessed
inside the life of a people. Here, too, there were economic analysis and
political opinion to the effect that he who has something, has something; he
who has nothing, has nothing. It was to please the Lord that the one should
possess while the other should not. And it was to remain so for eternity. New
forces have come to oppose this. The one simply cries out: “We want only to
destroy! What we cannot possess we will destroy!” This nihilistic force has
raged in Germany
for a decade and a half.73 Constructive
National Socialism has overcome this force. It has refused to acknowledge the
existing state of affairs and undertaken its modification. It changed the
method of eradicating the state of affairs by saying: “We want to change this
state of affairs by gradually permitting the non-possessing classes to partake
in the national wealth and by educating them to partake in it.” Under no
circumstances can the man who possesses everything presume himself to possess
all-encompassing rights while the other man has no rights. It is no different
in the world either. It is not acceptable for forty-six million Englishmen to
simply block forty million square kilometers on this earth and to declare: “The
Good Lord gave us this. Twenty years ago we got a little more yet from you. Now
this is in our possession, and we shall not give back any of it.” And France?
With its truly none-too-fertile people, numbering hardly eighty men per square
kilometer, it has set out to conquer over nine million square kilometers of
soil. Germany
with its eighty million men possesses barely 600,000 square kilometers. This is
the problem which must be solved, and it will be solved just as other social
questions will be solved.
And
what we witness today is a larger replay of the same drama we already observed
on a smaller stage in the interior when National Socialism launched its
struggle for a truly tolerable order and a true community of man for the
benefit of the broad masses of the Volk. At the time, liberal and democratic
circles-i.e. the possessing classes, and their parties-attempted to destroy
National Socialism. “Dissolve the Party! The Party must be outlawed!” This was
their eternal battle cry. They saw the Movement’s dissolution or prohibition as
the only means of destroying this force which they feared might well prove
capable of bringing about a change in the existing state of affairs.
National
Socialism dealt squarely with these other forces; it survived; it inaugurated a
new order in Germany
and has persisted in so doing. And today the possessing part of the world is
crying: “We must dissolve Germany!
We must atomize these eighty million. They should not be allowed to remain
within a contiguous state structure. Thereby we can rob them of the force to
see their demands through!” And these are the objectives England and France are pursuing in this war!
Our answer to them nevertheless remains the very same one with which we replied
to our adversaries internally. My Old Party Comrades! You know well that the
victory of the year 1933 was not a gift. It was the outcome of an unparalleled
struggle which we had to lead for nearly fifteen years; of a nearly hopeless
struggle.
You
will recall that Providence
did not all of a sudden bestow a great movement upon us. A handful of people
founded it. They had to laboriously fight to attain their position back then
and subsequently to expand upon it. This handful of people then became
hundreds; then thousands; then tens and hundreds of thousands; and finally the
first million. Then they grew into a second million, later into a third and
fourth million. And it was thus, in the course of a long struggle against
thousandfold resistance and assaults, pillage and violation of our rights, that
we grew. And we became strong through this struggle: strong internally. And it
was thus we struggled for power in these fifteen years. We received it not as a
gift from the Lord, but as recompense for an unequaled, tough struggle; for
courageous persistence in the struggle for power.
As
I took hold of this power in the year 1933 and took over responsibility, along
with the National Socialist Movement, for the future of Germany, I realized that the
liberty of our Volk must no longer be restricted. I further realized that our
struggle had by no means come to an end, but had only begun to be led on a far
larger scale. For before us we had not only the victory of the National
Socialist Movement, but the delivery of our German Volk! This was our
objective! What I have labored for since is but a means to an end: Party; Labor
Front; SA and SS; all other organizations like the Wehrmacht, the Army, the
Luftwaffe, and the Navy; all these were not ends in themselves, but means to an
end.74 The imperative of securing the liberty of our Volk
reigns above all of these.
Naturally,
at home as well as abroad, I have tried to see through the most urgent,
inalienable demands by means of negotiations and appeals to reason. I have
succeeded in doing so only in a number of cases and instances. In 1938, the
realization forced itself upon us that the old war agitators of the World War
were beginning once more to get the upper hand in the hostile states. It was
then already that I began to issue warnings. For what should we think of these
states when they first sit down at Munich to conclude an agreement, only then
to depart for London to resume agitation, to denounce this agreement as a
disgrace-even to insist such a thing would not be repeated a second time-in
other words, to declare a voluntary understanding precluded and inconceivable
for all times.
It
was then that the outsiders appeared on the stage in the so-called democracies.
I immediately warned of them. For it was perfectly clear: the German Volk harbored
hatred neither against the English nor the French people. The German Volk
desired only to live in peace and friendship with them. The demands we make do
not do injury to these peoples, they rob them of nothing.
Hence
the German Volk has never been educated to harbor hatred for them. Yet at this
point, in England,
certain circles launched an impertinent, intolerable campaign. To me, this
indicated the moment had come to say: we cannot stand by silently any longer.
For one day these agitators in London
might well find themselves in government and realize their plans. And then the
German Volk will not know what precisely hit it. And thus I gave orders to
enlighten the German Volk regarding this campaign. And from this moment on, I
also stood determined to secure the Reich’s defenses in one way or another.
In
1939, the Western Powers finally dropped their masks. Despite all our attempts
and our advances, they sent us their declaration of war. And today they freely
admit: “Indeed, Poland
may well have given way, but we did not want it to.” Today they admit it would
have been possible to arrive at an understanding. But they wanted war.
This
was precisely what my domestic opponents used to tell me. I held my hand out in
friendship to them. But they also refused it. And they also cried: “No
reconciliation. No understanding. Only war!” Well, they got their war! And I
can only say to France and England: you,
too, shall have your war! The first phase in this war consisted of political
action. It freed our rear first of all. For years Germany
collaborated with Italy
in policy formation. This policy has not changed to this day. The two states
are close friends. There is a common denominator to their interests.
In
the past year, I have tried to rob England of the means to allow the
conflict it envisioned to escalate into a general world war. The pious Mr. Chamberlain
who studies, reads, and preaches the bible, labored for months to arrive at an
understanding with the atheist Stalin. He attempted to conclude a pact with
him. In this he failed at the time.
I
understand that England
is raging now that I have done what Mr. Chamberlain in vain sought to do. And I
also comprehend that what was pleasing to the Lord in Mr. Chamberlain’s case
should be far less pleasing to the Lord in my case. But, nevertheless, I do
believe the Lord Almighty to be well pleased that a senseless war on so vast a
terrain was prevented.
Throughout
centuries Germany and Russia have
lived next to each other in peace and friendship. Why should this not be
possible in the future once again? I believe it to be possible since both
peoples so desire! Any attempt on the part of the British and French
plutocracies to raise renewed controversy between us will fail as we realize
their true intentions.
And
thus today Germany
does not have to worry about its rear politically.
The
second task of the year 1939 was to secure this rear militarily as well.
The
strength of our Wehrmacht trampled to the ground the hope of the English
military experts that under no circumstances could the war against Poland be
decided in less than six months or a year. The state to which England had
extended its guarantee was swept from the map within eighteen days.75 Hence the first phase of this war has come to an end,
and the second one begins.
Mr.
Churchill is already dying to start it. He cherishes the hope, as expressed by
intermediaries as well as by his own person, that bombardment should finally,
and as soon as possible, feature in this war. And already they are crying that this
war should not pay heed to women and children. For when has England ever
paid heed to women and children?! After all, this entire blockade warfare is
nothing other than a war against women and children, just as once was the case
in the Boer War. It was then that concentration camps were invented. The
English brain gave birth to this idea. We only read about it in the
encyclopedias and later copied it-with one crucial difference: England locked
up women and children in these camps. Over twenty thousand Boer women died
wretchedly at the time.76 Why
should England
fight differently today? We have anticipated this and we have prepared
ourselves.
May
Mr. Churchill rest assured that we do know what has happened in England within these five months and in France,
too. However, he apparently does not know what has happened in Germany within
these five months! Evidently these gentlemen are of the conviction that we
slept through these past five months. Since the day I stepped onto the
political stage, I have never yet slept through a single day of importance, not
to speak of five months.
I
can assure the German Volk of one thing: in these five months, we have scored
enormous achievements. What was built within Germany in the previous seven years
pales in comparison to the attainments of these five months! Our armament
program was launched according to plan. The plan proved its worth. Our
foresight is just now beginning to bear fruits. These fruits are of so
impressive a nature that our adversaries are beginning to imitate us. Alas-they
are poor imitators. Naturally, the English broadcast services know better.
According to them, the skies above England
are so darkened by British squadrons flying overhead that the sun can no longer
shine there today; the world is one immense arsenal, equipped by England, working for England,
supplying the massive British armies; Germany is standing on the brink of
a total breakdown.
I
just heard today that we possess only three more U-boats. This is truly
disastrous-not for us, however, but for English propaganda, since should these
three items be destroyed-and this could be as early as today or tomorrow-what
will be left to be destroyed? The English will then be forced to sink U-boats
preemptively which we are to build only in the future. And then somehow they
will have to come to terms with a method of resurrecting U-boats. Undoubtedly,
English ships will continue to be sunk and, as we possess no more U-boats, the
U-boats attacking them will have to be U-boats which the English have
previously sunk.
Further
I read that I have succumbed to deep despair and sadness as I had expected us
to build two U-boats every day, while we were turning out only two every week.
To this I can only say: it is not good to have one’s war reports and especially
one’s radio broadcasts authored by members of a people which has not fought for
several thousands of years. For after all, the last documented battle involving
the Maccabees is slowly losing its instructive value for military history.
When
I turn to look at this foreign propaganda, my belief in our victory grows to
the immeasurable! For this propaganda I experienced once before. For nearly
fifteen years, this propaganda was directed against us. My Old Party Comrades,
you remember this propaganda! There are the same words, the same
phrases-yes-when we look more closely we see the same heads speaking the same
dialects.
I
finished off these people as a lonely, unknown man who gathered but a handful
of people about him. Throughout fifteen years I finished off these people. And
today Germany
is the greatest world power.77 It
is not as though age as such results in wisdom. No more are the blind restored
to sight by old age. Whoever was afflicted with blindness before remains so
today. Whoever is afflicted with blindness will be cursed by the gods.
Today
the German Wehrmacht, the best of its kind, is fencing off these forces. Above
all, the German Volk is fencing off these forces with its insight and its
discipline. For seven years, National Socialist work has educated it in all
areas. That this is not just a fantasy is something you can see today. This
education has overcome differences of classes and ranks. It has eliminated
parties, eradicated different Weltanschauungen, and has placed the
community in its stead. Today the soul of this community is suffused with a
singular, glowing trust and a fanatical will. This time this community will not
make the mistake of 1918.
When
today Monsieur Daladier expresses doubts regarding this community, or when he believes
that parts of this community are lamenting their lot, or when he is quoting my
own homeland-oh, Monsieur Daladier, you shall yet get to know my men of the
Ostmark (Ostmarker)! They shall personally instruct you. You shall get
to know their divisions and regiments just as well as the other German ones.
Perhaps then you shall be cured of a peculiar form of insanity, namely, the
insanity of believing you are faced by the German tribes of old.
Monsieur
Daladier, you are faced by the entire German Volk today! And it is the National
Socialist German Volk! This Volk for which National Socialism has so struggled
and which through laborious works has received its present-day education, is
immune to these international delusions. And this in fact represents a
permanent cure. The National Socialist Party guarantees this.
And
the hopes they entertain to drive a wedge between Volk and Party, or Party and
State, or Party and Wehrmacht, or Party and me, are childishly naive.
Fifteen
years ago my adversaries clung to exactly the same hopes.
As
a National Socialist, I have known nothing other than work, struggle, worries,
labors. I believe Providence
has destined our generation for nothing else. Once, twenty-five years ago, the
German Volk set out to fight a war forced upon it. The Volk was not well armed.
France applied the power of
its people in a fashion quite different from the Germany of the time. Russia was the
mightiest adversary. The whole world was successfully mobilized against this Germany. Thus
the Volk set out to do battle and wrought many a wondrous heroic deed. And Providence was with our
Volk.
The
year 1914 delivered our homeland from the threat of foreign break-ins.
The
year 1915 improved the situation of the Reich further still; 1916, 1917; year
after year; battle after battle. At times, everything seemed on the verge of
collapse when, as though by miracle, the Reich was rescued. Germany then
afforded us with truly astounding proofs of its internal strength. Obviously, Providence had blessed
it. Then the German Volk became ungrateful. Then it began to listen to the
promises of others, instead of looking trustingly to its own strength and hence
to its own future. And finally, in its ungratefulness, the German Volk turned
against its own Reich, its own leadership. And it was then that Providence turned away
from the German Volk.
Since
then, I have come to regard this catastrophe as something not wholly
undeserved. I have never complained that Providence
had somehow wronged us.
On
the contrary, I always supported this thesis: Providence only gave to us what we deserved
in the end. The German nation was ungrateful. Therefore it was deprived of its
recompense! This will not happen a second time in our history.
The
National Socialist Movement has already passed through a trial period.
The
fifteen years of struggle were not only days of glory, of marvelous victories.
They
were a time of many a worry. At times, our enemies were already jubilantly
hailing our destruction. Yet the Movement held its own with a heart filled with
strength and joy. Time and time again, trusting in the necessity of our
struggle, it leapt up once more to face the enemy and to carry the victory in
the end.
This
is the task of the German nation today. Eighty million men are stepping up to
the line now. As many enemies are standing across from them.
These,
our eighty million today, enjoy an excellent internal organization-the best
possible in fact. They have a strong faith. Their leadership is not bad.
Rather,
as I am convinced, it is the best.
Fuhrer
and Volk today realize that no understanding is possible if we do not insist
upon our rights. We do not wish the struggle for these rights to burst forth
anew in two, perhaps three or five years. The rights of eighty million are up
for discussion, not those of a party or a movement. For who am I? I am nothing
other than your speaker, German Volk, the speaker for your rights! The Volk has
vested its trust in me! I will prove myself worthy of this trust.
I
wish to draw attention not to my own person and my surroundings, but rather to
the past and to the future. I wish to stand up in honor before the past and the
future, and with me the German Volk shall honorably hold its own.
The
generation of today-it is the bearer of Germany’s
destiny; of Germany’s future
or Germany’s
fall. Our enemies, they already cry out today: Germany shall fall! Yet Germany can give but one answer: Germany will live, and hence Germany will
win! At the beginning of the eighth year of the National Socialist revolution,
our hearts turn to our German Volk and its future.
We want to serve this future. We
want to fight for it and, if necessary, fall for it. We will never
capitulate-for Germany
must win and it will win.
Heil!
No comments:
Post a Comment