To the War Winter Aid
Work for the German Red Cross
For seven months, the German soldier has been risking
his life on land, on water and in the sky for the protection of the homeland.
He expects in exchange that, if he is wounded or becomes ill, the homeland will
give him the best care and take care of him. The men and women of the German
Red Cross, equipped with the best experience and technical means, stand at the
disposal for this task day and night. As manifold as the activity of the German
Red Cross is, so great is also the need for means. I have hence ordered for the
coming months the carrying out of the War Winter Aid Work for the German Red
Cross and appeal to the German folk to prove themselves worthy of the soldier’s
sacrifices through donations.
Berlin, April
17, 1940.
Adolf Hitler
On April 20th, the German folk celebrates the Führer’s 51st birthday.
On April 21st. the land link from Oslo via
Kristiansand to Stavanger is established, Gjoevik and Lillehammer are taken.
On April 24th, the British airforce opens the air war
against undefended towns through the bombardment of non-military targets on the
island of Sylt.
On April 30th, German troops establish the land link
Oslo-Drontheim.
On the same day, the Führer directs the following
order of the day to the troops fighting in Norway.
Soldiers of the
Norwegian Theater
Soldiers of
the Norwegian theater!
In irresistible advance, German troops have today
established the land link between Oslo and Drontheim. The intention of the
allies to nonetheless still force us to our knees through a late occupation of
Norwegian soil had thereby been definitively thwarted.
Units
of the army, of the navy and of the Luftwaffe, in exemplary coordination, have
brought about an achievement that in its daring brings the highest honor to our
young German Wehrmacht.
Officers,
non-commissioned officers and enlisted men! You have found in the Norwegian
theater against all the hardships at sea, on land and in the air and against
the resistance of the enemy. You have solved the tremendous task that I had to
put to you in faith in you and your strength.
I
am proud of you. The nation expresses its gratitude to you through me.
As
outward sign of recognition and of this gratitude, I bestow upon the supreme
commander in Norway, General v. Falkenhorst, the Knights Cross to the Iron
Cross.
I
will also decorate the bravest among you upon suggestion by your supreme
commander.
The
highest reward for you all, however, may now already be the conviction that you
have made a decisive contribution in our folk’s most difficult struggle of fate
for existence or nonexistence.
I
know you will also continue to fulfill the task put to you.
Long
live our Greater Germany!
Berlin, April
30, 1940
Adolf Hitler
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