Delegates!
Men of the
German Reichstag!
Amidst the
mighty struggle for the freedom and for the future of the German nation, I have
had you summoned to this session. The reasons for this lie in the necessity to
provide our own German folk with insight into the historical uniqueness of the
events that we experienced, but to thank the serving soldiers, as well as the
intention to direct still another, this time the last, appeal to common sense.
Whoever
brings the triggering moments of this historical conflict into comparison with
the magnitude, the size and the breadth of the military events, must gain the
realization that the events and sacrifices of this struggle stand in no
relation to the claimed causes, unless these causes themselves were mere
pretexts for intentions lying hidden.
The
program of the National Socialist movement, insofar as it related to the future
shaping of the Reich’s relationship with the surrounding world, was an attempt
to bring about a revision of the Versailles treaty under all circumstances -
but, insofar as possible, along a peaceful path.
This
revision was a naturally necessary one. The indefensibility of the Versailles
decrees laid not only in the humiliating discrimination, the disenfranchisement
corresponding to the ensured disarmament of the German folk, rather, above all,
in the thereby resulting material destruction of the present and the intended
destruction of the future of one of the world’s greatest cultured folks, in the
totally senseless amassing of huge amounts of lands under the rule of a few
states, in the robbing of the vanquished of their irreplaceable life
foundations and most essential life goods. The fact that, already during the
composition of this treaty, insightful men on the side of our opponents as well
warned against the final realization of the decrees of this work of insanity,
is evidence for the conviction prevailing even in those ranks of the
impossibility of being able to uphold this dictate in the future. Their
reservations and their protests, however, were brought to silence with the
assurance that the newly formed League of Nations secured in its statutes the
possibility of a revision of these decrees. The hope for a revision was accordingly
at no time viewed as something unwarranted, rather as something natural.
Unfortunately, corresponding to the will of the responsible men of the
Versailles treaty, the Geneva institution did not view itself as an institution
for the bringing about of reasonable revisions, rather from the beginning on
only as the guarantor of the ruthless execution and upholding of the Versailles
decrees.
All
attempts by democratic Germany to achieve the German folk’s equality along the
path of revision remained unsuccessful.
It
lies now in the interest of a victor to present the decrees useful for him as
sacred for all, but in the nature of the self-preservation drive of the
defeated to again regain for himself general human rights. For him, the dictate
of the arrogant opponent has all the less legal force, since the opponent back
then was not an honest victor. A rare misfortune had it that the German Reich
was very badly led in the years 1914-1918. Our collapse is to be attributed to
this and to the, not yet otherwise taught, faith and trust of the German folk
in the words of democratic statesmen.
Hence
the British-French claim to pass off the Versailles dictate as a kind of
international or even higher legislation was for any honest German nothing else
than an arrogant presumption, the premise, however, that precisely the English
or French statesmen were the guardians of right in itself or even of human
culture, a stupid insolence. An insolence that is sufficiently illuminated
through their own highly inferior accomplishments in these areas. For the world
has rarely been governed with a greater minimum in cleverness, morality and
culture than in that portion which, in a time of chaos, is surrendered to
certain democratic statesmen.
The
National Socialist movement has proclaimed in its program, aside from the
internal release from the Jewish-capitalist chains of a pluto-democratic, thin
exploiter stratum, externally the decision for the Reich’s liberation from the
chains of the Versailles dictate.
The
German demands for this revision were naturally necessary, for the existence
and honor of any great folk self-evident ones. They will probably be
characterized by posterity one day as infinitely moderate.
But
in practice, all these demands had to be put through against the will of the
British-French rulers. We all viewed it as a real success of the Third Reich’s
leadership that the realization of this revision was achieved for years without
war. Not because we - as the British and French demagogues claimed - were not
in a position for war. But when it finally seemed that, thanks to certain
awakening reason, the remaining problems could also be brought to a peaceful
solution through an international cooperation, then the agreement reached by
the four mainly involved large states on September 29, 1933 in Munich was not
only not welcomed in the media in London and Paris, rather damned as
contemptible sign of weakness.
The
blood-stained Jewish-capitalist war agitators saw in the possibility of the
success of such a peaceful revision the disappearance of tangible excuses for
the realization of their crazy plans. That manifestation of pitiful corruptible
political creatures and money-greedy finance magnets put in an appearance, for
whom war is a welcomed means to make their businesses better prosper. The
international Jewish poison of folks began to have an ever more decaying effect
on any healthy reason, the men of letters managed to portray the decent men who
wanted peace as weaklings, yes, as traitors, to denounce the opposition parties
as fifth column, in order to eliminate any internal resistance against their
criminal war policy. Jews and Freemasons, armament manufacturers and war
profiteers, international traders, stock-exchange jobbers found political
subjects, desperados and Herostratus natures who presented war as desirable and
hence to be wished for.
It
is to be ascribed to these criminal elements that the Polish state was
encouraged to take a stance that stood in no relation to the German demands and
even much less to the thereby produced consequences.
For
precisely toward Poland, the German Reich has practiced true self-control since
the National Socialist assumption of leadership. One of the vilest and dumbest
measures of the Versailles treaty, namely, the separation of an old German
province from the Reich, in itself already screamed for a revision! And what
did I demand back then?
I
may intervene with my person here, because no other statesman would have been
able to dare to suggest to the German nation a solution such as I did. It was
only Danzig’s return - thus of an ancient, purely German city - to the Reich as
well as the creation of a link from the Reich to its torn off province, and
even that only under the acceptance of a plebiscite, which itself was again
supposed to be monitored by an international forum. If Mr. Churchill and the
other warmongers had felt within themselves just a fraction of that responsibility
that I felt toward Europe, they would not have been able to undertake their
vile game.
For
it is to be ascribed only to these and all other European and non-European war
interested parties that Poland rejected proposals touching somehow neither its
honor nor its existence and instead turned to terror and arms. And here it was
a truly superhuman restraint probably without example that let us for months
still seek the peaceful path of an agreement despite the continuous murders or
ethnic Germans, yes, finally, despite the slaughter of tens of thousands of
folk comrades.
For
what was the situation?
One
of the most unrealistic creations of the Versailles dictate, politically and
militarily only a blown up scarecrow, insults for months a state and threatens
to thrash it, to wage battles in front of Berlin, to chop up the German armies,
to move the border to the Oder or the Elbe and so forth. And this state,
Germany, patiently watches this activity for months, even though it would have
required only a sweep of its arm in order to smash this bubble blown up by
stupidity and arrogance.
Still
on September 2nd, this fight could have been avoided. Mussolini made a proposal
for an immediate cessation of all hostilities and for peaceful negotiations.
Although Germany saw its armies victoriously charging forward, I nonetheless
accepted it. Solely the English-French war agitators needed war and not peace.
And they needed a long war, as Mr. Churchill expressed back then, at least
three years long, for they had, after all, meanwhile invested their capital in
armament stocks, acquired machinery and now needed the time prerequisite for
the blossoming of their businesses and for the amortization of their
investments. And furthermore: What value do Poles, Czechs or similar folks have
for these cosmopolitans?
A
German soldier found a peculiar document at the La Charite train station on
June 19, 1940 during the search of the cars there. He immediately delivered
this document - since it bore a special notation - to his superiors. From
there, this paper passed to more offices, which now became clear that they were
on the track of an important enlightenment. The train station was subjected to
another thorough search. So came into the hands of the high command of the
Wehrmacht a collection of documents of unique historical significance. Found
were the secret files of the Allied Supreme War Council, including the
protocols of all sessions of this illustrious association. And this time, it
will not be possible for Mr. Churchill to simply contest or deny the truth of
the documents, like he had tried to do back then with the files from Warsaw.
For
the documents all bear the handwritten border notations of the gentlemen
Gamelin, Daladier, Weygand etc., so they can be confirmed by them at any time,
but not disputed. And these documents now provide information about the
activity of the gentlemen war interested parties and war spreaders. They will
show, above all, how, for these ice-cold politicians and military men, the
small folks are only means to an end, how they tried to utilize Finland for
their interests, how they decided to make Norway and Sweden war theaters, how
they intended to put the Balkans to the torch in order get to a hundred
divisions from there as help, how they made preparations for the bombardment of
Batum and Baku, under an equally cunning and unscrupulous interpretation of
Turkish neutrality not averse to them, how they drew the Netherlands and
Belgium ever deeper into their trap and finally entangled them in binding
general staff agreements and so much more.
But
the documents also provide a picture of the whole amateurish method with which
these politics practicing war agitators sought to control the fire set by them,
of their military democracy, which is coresponsible for the horrible fate that
they have inflicted upon hundreds of thousands and millions of soldiers of
their own lands, of their barbaric ruthlessness, with which they quite coldly
intentionally drove their folks to mass evacuations, whose general human
consequences, however, were shockingly horrible.
The
same criminals, however, are simultaneously the responsible people for the
incitement of the Poles into war.
18
days later, this campaign was practically finished.
On
October 6, 1939, 1 spoke from this spot for the second time in the war to the
German folk. I could report to it the militarily radiant subjugation of the
Polish state. Back then, I simultaneously directed an appeal to the responsible
men in the hostile states and to the folks themselves. I warned against a
continuation of the war, whose consequences could only be devastating. I warned
especially the French against waging a fight that invariably eats its way from
the border and, regardless of how its end would be, would be terrible in its
consequences. I also directed this appeal to the rest of the world back then,
but - as I expressed it - with the fear of not only not being heard, rather of
thereby probably really arousing the rage of the interested war agitators. It
then turned out exactly that way. The responsible elements in England and
French scented in my appeal a dangerous attack against their war business. They
hence immediately went about declaring that any thought of an agreement would
be futile, yes, would be judged a crime, that the war had to be continued in
the name of culture, of humanity, of happiness, of progress, of civilization
and - help what can help - also in the name of sacred religion, and that, for
this purpose, Negroes and bushmen had to be mobilized, and that then victory
would invariably come all by itself, that one actually just needed to reach for
it, and that 1 knew this exactly, and that, for this reason alone, I would
present my appeal for peace to the world. For if I were in the position to
believe in victory, then I would not, after all, have proposed to England and
France an agreement without any demand! In a few days, these gentlemen managed
to portray me to the rest of the world as a downright coward.
Because
of my peace proposal, I was cursed, personally insulted, Mr. Chamberlain
literally spit at me before the world media and refused, corresponding to the
directives of the agitators and instigators standing behind him, Churchill,
Duff Cooper, Eden, Hore Belisha etc., to even just talk about a peace, let
alone to act for one.
So
this big capitalist interest clique screamed for the continuation of the war.
This continuation has now taken its start.
I
had once already assured, and all of you, my folk comrades, know it, that - if
for a prolonged period I do not speak and if nothing else happens - this does
not mean that hence I am also not doing anything. Among us, it is not
necessary, like in the democracies, to multiply by five or by twelve every airplane
that is built and then to shout it out into the world. It is not very clever
for hens to announce every egg lain with a loud voice. But it is even dumber,
if statements brag to the contemporary world about projects that they are only
planning in order to inform them in advance. We owe to the excited chatter of
two of these big democratic directors of the state constant knowledge of our
opponents’ war expansion plans, and especially of their concentration on Norway
and Sweden.
While
this British-French war clique hence kept a lookout in order to find new war
expansion possibilities and to catch new victims, I have endeavored to complete
the organizational structure of the German Wehrmacht, to create new formations,
to get the war production of material underway as well as to arrange the final
schooling of the whole Wehrmacht for its new tasks. Furthermore, the bad
weather of late autumn and winter forced a postponement of military operations.
Over the course of the month of March, however, we gained knowledge of
British-French intentions to intervene into the Russian-Finnish conflict,
probably less in order to help Finland than to harm Russia, in which one saw a
power working with Germany. From this intention then developed the decision, if
at all possible, to intervene in Finland ourselves in order to thereby receive
a basis for the carrying of the war into the Baltic Sea. But simultaneously,
proposals by the Allied Supreme War Council popped up ever more strongly either
to put the Balkans and Asia Minor to the torch in order to thereby cut off from
the Reich Russian and Romanian oil imports or to get Swedish iron ore into
their hands. For this purpose, a landing in Norway was undertaken with the
goal, above all, to occupy the ore railway from Narvik across Sweden to the
harbor of Lulea.
At
the last minute, the Russian-Finnish peace accord made the already eyed action
in the Nordic states recede again. Only already just a few days later, these
intentions congealed anew and now found their expression in a clear decision.
England and France had agreed to suddenly undertake the occupation of a number
of the most important points in Norway under the pretext of thereby preventing
the further war support of Germany through Swedish ore. In order to then
totally secure Swedish ore, it was intended to march into Sweden itself and, if
possible, on friendly terms, if necessary, by force, push aside the weak forces
(which Sweden was in the position to mobilize).
That
the threat was imminent, we learned through the untamable talkativeness of the
First Lord of the British Admiralty personally. We further received
confirmation for it through a reference which French Minister-President Reynaud
made to a foreign diplomat. But that this schedule, already before April 8th,
had been postponed twice and that the occupation was supposed to take place on
April 8th, that hence the 8th was the third and thereby final date, we have
known for only a shorter time, yes, finally confirmed only since the discovery
of the protocols of the Supreme Allied War Council.
I
have now, as soon as the threat of Norway’s being drawn into the war became
clear, arranged the necessary measures for the German Wehrmacht as well.
The
“Altmark” incident already showed that the Norwegian government was not ready
to maintain its neutrality. Beyond that, agent reports revealed that, at least
between the leading heads of the Norwegian government and the Allies, total
agreement already existed. Finally, Norway’s reaction to the penetration by
British minelayers into Norwegian sovereign territory banished even the last
doubt. The German operation prepared down to the smallest detail was hence
triggered.
Actually,
the situation was now a bit different than it portrayed itself to us on April
9th. While we believed back then that we had anticipated the English occupation
by a few hours, we know today that the landing of the English troops had been
planned already for the 8th, that the boarding by British formations had
already begun on the 5th and 6th, but that, at the same moment the first news
arrived at the British admiralty about the German measures, i.e. the departure
of the German fleet, under the impression of this fact, Mr. Churchill decided
to again have the already boarded formations disembark in order to first have
the German ships sought out and attacked by the British fleet. This attempt
failed. Only a single British destroyer came into contact with the German naval
forces and was sent to the bottom. This boat no longer managed to pass along
any news to the British admiralty or to the English naval forces. So the
landing by German advance units took place on the 9th in a region that
stretched from Oslo northward to Narvik. When news of this arrived in London,
the First Lord of the Admiralty, Mister Churchill, had already been waiting
impatiently for many hours for the successes of his fleet.
This
blow, my delegates, was the boldest enterprise in Ger-man military history. Its
successful execution was possible only thanks to the leadership and bearing of
all involved German soldiers. What our three arms of service: army, navy and
Luftwaffe performed in this fight for Norway, ensures them the rank of highest
soldiery.
The navy
executed
its operations and later transports against an enemy who overall possesses a nearly
tenfold superiority. All units of our young Reich navy covered themselves with
immortal glory in the process. Only after the war will it be permitted to talk
about the difficulties that occurred precisely in this campaign due to numerous
unforeseeable setbacks, losses and accidents.
But
to have nonetheless overcome everything in the end is the credit of the bearing
of leadership and troop.
The Luftwaffe
in
this hugely vast region, often the sole transportation and communication
possibility, overdid itself in everything. Daring attacks against the
opponents, against ships and landing troops hardly stood above the tenacious
heroism of those transport pilots who, despite unimaginably bad weather, again
and again flew up into the land of the midnight sun in order to deliver
soldiers or cargo often in snow storm.
Norway’s
fjords have become the cemetery for numerous British warships. The British
fleet finally had to retreat from the unbroken wild attack by German bombers
and stukas and abandon those regions, of which just a few weeks earlier an
English newspaper had tastefully claimed “that it will be a pleasure for
England to accept in them the German challenge to combat.”
The army.
Already
the crossing put the greatest demands on the soldiers of the army. Glider
troops had at many places enabled the first foothold. Now division after
division flooded in and began the fight in a region, which in its natural state
possesses an extraordinary defensive strength and - insofar as it is about
Norwegian formations - was also defended very valiantly. But it can only be said
of the English landed in Norway that the solely notable thing in their
existence was the unscrupulousness with which one put such badly trained,
inadequately equipped and miserably led soldiers into the land as expeditionary
corps. They were certainly inferior from the beginning on; but, conversely,
what the German infantry, the military engineers, what our artillerists, our
communications and construction troops accomplished in Norway, can only be
characterized as proud heroism in struggle and work.
The
word Narvik will forever be a glorious testament in history to the spirit of
the Wehrmacht of the National Socialist Greater German Reich.
The
gentlemen Churchill, Chamberlain, Daladier etc. were up until recently very
badly informed about the nature of the Greater German unification. I announced
back then that the future will probably teach them better. And I may probably
presume that precisely the action of the Austrian mountain troops on this
northernmost front of our struggle for freedom will have provided them with the
necessary enlightenment about the Greater German Reich and its sons.
It
is a shame that the grenadiers of Mr. Chamberlain did not devote the sufficient
and, above all, lasting attention to this conflict, rather preferred to leave
it be after the first tests of the inner stance of our folk’s tribes newly
coming to the Reich.
General
von Falkenhorst directed these operations in Nor-way.
Lieutenant
Dietl was the hero of Narvik.
The
operations at sea were conducted under the direction of General-Admiral
Saalwächter and the Admiral Carls and Böhm and Vice-Admiral Liitjens.
The
operations of the Luftwaffe stood under the direction of Senior General Milch
and
Lieutenant-General
Geissler.
The
high command of the Wehrmacht, Senior General Keitel, as chief of the high
command, and General Jodi, as chief of the Wehrmacht leadership staff, were
responsible for the execution of my instructions for the whole action.
Even
before the campaign in Norway had found its end, the news about the west became
ever more ominous. While it had been prepared before the beginning of the war,
in the event of a necessary conflict with France or England, to break through
the Maginot Line, an enterprise for which the German troops were schooled and
for which they were equipped with the necessary weapons, the necessity arose
already over the course of the first war months to also cast an eye at a
possible action against Belgium and Holland. While Germany initially positioned
practically no formations facing Holland and Belgium, aside from necessary
security troops, but had otherwise begun to expand its fortification systems, a
visible massing of French formations took place on the French-Belgian border.
Especially the concentration of almost all tank and motorized divisions in this
sector revealed that the intention, but in any case the possibility existed, to
rapidly hurl themselves through Belgium to the German border. But the following
perception was now decisive: While, in the event of a loyal interpretation of Belgian-Dutch
neutrality, both lands would have been compelled, precisely in view of the
concentration of strongest French-English forces on their border, to themselves
likewise direct their gaze toward the west, they began to dismantle there more
and more to the same degree in order to occupy the border facing Germany. The
news about the ongoing general staff conferences as well produced a unique
illumination of Belgian-Dutch neutrality. I do not need to stress that these
conferences, if they had really been neutral, would have had to take place with
both sides. Furthermore, an intensification of indications for the advance of
French-English troops through Holland and Belgium against the German sphere of
interest occurred, so that, on our side as well, this threat had to be eyed as
most serious danger. Hence the German Wehrmacht was made familiar with this
possibility of development by me and provided with the necessary detailed
instructions. In numerous conferences in the high command of the Wehrmacht with
the supreme commanders of the three arms of service, the leaders of the army
groups and of the armies down to the leaders of individual important
enterprises, the tasks were set and talked through, and in the troop naturally
made the basis of a special training.
The
whole German deployment hence experienced the corresponding necessary changes.
The
careful observations that were arranged everywhere gradually produced the
compelling realization that an English-French advance could be reckoned with
from about the beginning of May on at any moment. In the days from May 6th to
7th, the fears intensified, especially also on the basis of intensified
telephone calls, which had taken place between London and Paris, that now, at
any moment, the advance of the so-called Allies into Holland and Belgium had to
be expected. On the next day - May 8th -, I hence gave the order for the
immediate attack on May 10th at 05:35 in the morning.
The
basic idea of the operations was, with renunciation of small secondary successes,
to so employ the whole Wehrmacht - above all, the army and Luftwaffe - that,
given consequent execution of envisioned operations, the total annihilation of
the French-English combat force would have to be achieved. In contrast to the
Schlieffen Plan of the year 1914, I had the main weight of the operation put on
the left wing of the breakthrough front, just with apparent preservation of the
reverse version. This deception succeeded. The design of the overall operation,
however, was simplified for me through the measure of the opponent himself. For
the concentration of the whole English-French motorized combat power across
from Belgium make it seem certain that, in the high command of the allied
Allies, the decision existed to swiftly enter this region.
In
trust in the steadfastness of all employed German infantry divisions, a thrust
into the right flank of the French-English motorized army group hence had to
lead to total disintegration and dissolution, yes, probably to an encirclement.
As
second operation, I had envisioned the winning of the Seine up to Le Havre as
well as the securing of a launch point on the Somme and Aisne for the third
attack, which was supposed to break forth with the strongest forces across the
high plateau of Langres to the Swiss border. The reaching of the coast up to
south of Bordeaux was envisioned as conclusion of the operations.
The
operations also took place in this framework and in this sequence.
The
success of this mightiest series of battles in world history is owed foremost
to the German soldier himself. He has proven himself again to the highest
degree in all places where we was put. And all German tribes had the same share
in this glory.
The
soldiers of the new Reich provinces annexed only since 1938 have also fought
exemplary and paid through blood tribute. Through this heroic action of all
Germans, the National Socialist Greater German Reich emerging from this war
will live not only today, rather also for always be sacred and dear to all
following generations.
If
I begin with the honoring of the forces to whose working this most glorious
victory is owed, then the first praise is due to the leadership, which
precisely in this campaign did justice to the highest demands.
The
army. It has solved in truly glorious manner the tasks assigned to it under the
leadership of Senior General von Brauchitsch and his general staff chief
Halder.
If
already the leadership apparatus of the German army of once was considered the
best in the world, then it today de-serves at least the same admiration. Yes,
since success is decisive for the final evaluation, the leadership of the new
German army must be addressed as even better.
The
western army was divided into three army groups under
Senior Generals
Ritter von Leeb, von Rundstedt and von Bock.
The
army group of General Ritter von Leeb initially had the task, beginning at the
Swiss border up to the Mosel, to defensively hold the left flank of the German
western front in highest defensive force. Only for the later course of
operations was it envisioned to have this front as well’ with 2 armies under
the leadership of Senior General Witzleben and General Dollmann’ to actively
intervene into the battle of annihilation.
On
May 10th, 05:35 in the morning, both army groups of Senior General von
Rundstedt and von Bock had assembled for the attack. Their task was to thrust
through the enemy border positions on the whole front from the Mosel to the
North Sea, to occupy Holland, advance toward Antwerpen and at the Dyle
Position, to take Lüttich, above all, however, to reach the Maas with the
massed attack forces of the left flank, to force the crossing between Namur and
Carigan with the main weight of the panzer and motorized divisions at Sedan,
and in the further course of the operations, with concentration of all
available panzer and motorized divisions, leaning against the canal and river
system of the Aisne and Somme, to advance to the sea. To the southern army
group Rundstedt fell furthermore the important task to systematically secure
the envisioned defense of the left flank over the course of the breakthrough in
order to prevent in advance a repetition of the Marne Miracle of 1914.
This
mighty operation, already deciding the further course of the war, which, as
planned, led to the annihilation of the main mass of the French army as well as
of the whole British expeditionary corps, already makes German leadership shine
in bright radiance.
Aside
from both army group commanders and their general staff chiefs
Lieutenant-General
von Sodenstern an Lieutenant-General von Salmuth,
the
following army commanders earned the highest merit:
Senior
General von Kluge as commander of the 4th army, Senior General List as
commander of the 12th army, Senior General von Reichenau as commander of the
6th army, General von Küchler as commander of the 18lh army, General Busch as
commander of the 16th army,
and
the generals von Kleist, Guderian, Hoth and Hoeppner as commanders of panzer
and motorized troops.
The
large number of additional generals and officers who distinguished themselves
in these operations are known to you, my delegates, through the bestowing of
the highest decorations.
The
continuation of the operation in the general direction to Aisne and Seine did
not have the purpose to, above all, conquer Paris, rather to create or secure
the launch point for the breakthrough to the Swiss border. This mighty attack
action as well went according to plan thanks to the towering leadership of all
grades.
The
change in the high command of the French army that had meanwhile taken place
was supposed to enliven anew its resistance and give the turn desired by the
Allied to the struggle begun unluckily.
Actually,
only after overcoming the strongest resistance was it possible to get the
German armies’ new attack actions into motion. Not only the courage, rather
also the training of the German soldier had an opportunity here to prove itself
to the highest degree. Enthused by the example of countless officers and
non-commissioned officers as well as valiant individual men, the infantry again
and again pulled forward even in the most difficult situations. Paris fell! The
breaking of the enemy resistance on the Aisne opened the way for the breakthrough
to the Swiss border. In a mighty encirclement, the armies charged behind the
back of the Maginot Line, which, for its part, was itself attacked by the army
group Leeb stepping out from the reserve at two points west of Saarbrücken and
Neubreisach and broken through under the command of the generals von Witzleben
and Dollmann.
So
it was possible to not only totally encircle the mighty front of the French
resistance as a whole, rather also to fracture it into individual components
and force it to the known surrenders.
These
operations were crowned by the now generally setting in advance of all German
armies, at the point again the army’s incomparable panzer and motorized
divisions, with the goal, with the advance thrust of a left flank down the
Rhone in the direction of Marseille and of a right flank across the Loire in
the direction of Bordeaux and the Spanish border, to destroy the disintegrated
remnants of the French army and to occupy French territory.
I
want to report elsewhere in particular about our ally’s entry into the war,
which had meanwhile taken place.
When
Marshal Petain offered France’s laying down of arms, he did not put down a
weapon still remaining to him, rather ended a situation completely untenable
for the eye of any soldier. Only the bloody amateurism of a Mr. Churchill was
able to either not grasp this or to deny it contrary to better knowledge.
In
this second, third and final phase of this war, in union with the already
mentioned generals, these generals likewise distinguished themselves as army
commanders
Senior General
von Witzleben and the generals von Weichs, Dollmann, Strauss.
In
the framework of these armies also fought the valiant divisions and regiments
of the Waffen-SS.
If
I express to these named generals as army group and army generals my and the
German folk’s gratitude, then this goes simultaneously for all the other
officers whom it is impossible to name individually, and especially for the
nameless workers of the general staff.
In
this struggle, my delegates, the German foot soldier has again proven himself
as what he always was: as the best infantry in the world. All other weapons of
the army competed with him: artillery and military engineers, and, above all,
the young formations of our panzer and motorized troops. The panzer arm has
introduced itself into world history with this war. The men of the Waffen-SS
share in this glory.
Just
the communication formations, the construction troops of the military
engineers, rail troops etc. are also due the highest praise for their merits.
Behind
the armies followed the commandos of the Organization Todt, of the Reich Work
Service and of the NSKK, and likewise helped to again put roads, bridges as
well as traffic in order.
In
the framework of the army, elements of the Luftwaffe’s anti-aircraft artillery
also fought. At the foremost front, they helped to break enemy resistance and
attack strength. Only later can their working be reported in detail.
The
Luftwaffe itself. When the morning of the 10th dawned, thousands of warplanes
and stukas, covered by fighters and destroyers, descended upon enemy airports.
In a few days, total air domination was won. It was no longer relinquished for
one moment. Only where temporarily no German airplanes showed themselves could
enemy fighters or bombers put in an appearance for short moments. Otherwise,
their working was banished to night.
The
action of the Luftwaffe in this fight took place under the command of the
General Field Marshal. Its task was:
first,
to destroy the enemy airforce and to remove it from the heavens,
second,
to support the fighting troop directly and indirectly through uninterrupted
attacks,
third,
to destroy the enemy’s elements of leadership and movement,
fourth,
to wear down and break enemy moral and resistance strength, and
fifth,
to land paratroopers as advance detachments.
The
manner of its operative action overall as well as its adaptation to the
tactical requirements of the moment were excellent. If the successes won could
have never been achieved without the army’s valor, then all the army’s valor
would have nonetheless been futile without the Luftwaffe’s heroic action.
Army
and Luftwaffe are both worth of the highest glory!
The
organization of the Luftwaffe’s action:
The
Luftwaffe’s action in the west took place under the personal command of General
Field Marshal Göring.
His
general staff chief: Major-General Jeschonnek.
Both
air fleets were commanded by
Air
General Sperrle and
Air
General Kesselring.
The
air corps standing under them stood under the command of the Air Generals
Grauert, Keller, Lieutenant-General Loerzer and Lieutenant-General Ritter von
Greim as well as Major-General Freiherr von Richthofen.
Both
anti-aircraft artillery corps stood under the command of General of the Anti-Aircraft
Artillery Weiss and of Major-General Dessloch.
The
9th air division under its Major-General Coeler deserves special distinction.
The
commander of the paratroopers, Air General Student, was himself badly wounded.
The
further conduct of the air war in Norway takes place under Air General Stumpff.
While
then millions of soldiers of the army, the Luftwaffe and the Waffen-SS
participated in this fighting, others could not be removed from the formation
of the replacement formations located in the homeland. Many of the most capable
officers - as bitter as it was for them - had to direct and watch over the
training of those soldiers who, be it as replacement, be it as new formations,
could only later come to the front. Here, too, the higher interests were
decisive despite all understanding for the inner feelings of those feeling
disadvantaged. Party and state, army, navy, Luftwaffe and SS have given any man
who was at all dispensable to the front. Just that without the security of the
replacement army, of the replacement air fleet, of the re-placement SS
formations as well of the party and of the state, the fight at the front as
well could not have been waged. As organizers of the replacement army of the
homeland and of equipment and supply of the Luftwaffe, highest merit has been
earned by:
Air
General Fromm and
Air
General Udet.
I
cannot end the listing of all these deserved generals and admirals without now
especially also remembering all those who are my closest co-workers in the
staff of the High Command of the Wehrmacht:
Senior
General Keitel as chief of the High Command of the Wehrmacht and
Major-General
Jodl as chief of his staff.
They,
along with their offices, have in care-ridden and work rich months the greatest
share in the realization of my plans and thoughts.
The
appreciation of the accomplishments of our navy and its leaders will be
possible in full only at the end of this war.
If
I now conclude the purely military observation of the war, then truth compels
me to the statement of the historical fact that all this would not have been
possible without the behavior of the home front, and here at the top, without
the founding, the working and the activity of the National Socialist party!
In
the period of greatest decline, already in the year 1919, it proclaimed in its
program the resurrection of a German folk army and represented it for decades
with fanatical determination. Without its working, all the prerequisites would
have fallen away for the German Reich’s resurrection and hence for the creation
of a German Wehrmacht. But it also gave the struggle, above all, a worldview
foundation. It thereby confronted the senseless life action of our democratic
opponents for the interests of their plutocrats with the defense of a social
folk community. From its working hence also results the unity between front and
homeland, unfortunately not present in the World War. I hence wish to name from
its ranks the following men, to whom, aside from countless others, is owed
great merit in the achievement of the possibility to be able to celebrate
victories in a new Germany:
Party
comrade Reich Minister Hess, himself an old soldier of the World War, was from
the first period of the founding of the movement a most loyal comrade for the
establishment of this present day state and its Wehrmacht;
Party
comrade SA staff chief Lutze
has organized
the mass of millions of SA men in the sense of highest state preservation and
ensured their pre-military and post-military training;
Party
comrade Himmler
organized the
whole security system of our Reich as well as the formations of the Waffen-SS;
Party
comrade Hierl
is the founder
and leader of the Reich Work Service;
Party
comrade Ley is the guarantor for the bearing of our German workers;
Party
comrade Reich Minister Major-General Todt
is the
organizer of the weapons and munitions production and has earned immortal merit
as the architect of our mighty strategic road network as well as the
fortification front in the west;
Party
comrade Minister Dr. Goebbels
is the head of
a propaganda whose height manifests itself most conspicuously in the comparison
to that of the World War.
Among
the numerous organizations of the home front, the following organizations are
still to be named
The
War Aid Work as well as the
NS
Welfare
under the
direction of party comrade Hilgenfeldt
as
well as the German Red Cross, furthermore, the Reich Air Defense Federation
under the leadership of General of the Anti-Aircraft Artillery v. Schröder.
I
cannot conclude this appreciation without in the process finally thanking the
man who has for years been realizing my foreign affairs guidelines in loyal,
tireless, self-consuming work.
The
name of party comrade von Ribbentrop will for all time be linked to the
political elevation of the German nation as Reich Foreign Minister.
My
delegates!
I
have decided, as leader and supreme commander of the German Wehrmacht, to
undertake the honoring of the more deserving generals before that forum that is
in truth the representation of the whole German folk. I must now place at the
top that man, for whom it is difficult for me to find sufficient gratitude for
the merits that link his name with the movement, the state and, above all, with
the German Luftwaffe.
Since
the SA foundation period, party comrade Göring has been tied to the development
and the rise of the movement. Since the assumption of power, his work energy
and pleasure in responsibility have produced accomplishments in numerous areas
for the German folk and the German Reich that cannot be dismissed from the
history of our folk and Reich.
Since
the reconstruction of the German Wehrmacht, he became the creator of the German
Luftwaffe. It is given to few mortals, over the course of a life, to create a
military instrument out of nothing and to develop it into the strongest weapon
of its kind in the world. He has given it, above all, his spirit.
General
Field Marshal Göring has already, as creator of the German Luftwaffe, as a
single man made the highest contribution to the new construction of the German
Wehrmacht.
He
has as leader of the German Luftwaffe over the previous course of the war
helped create the prerequisite for victory.
His
merits are unique!
I
hence name him Reich Marshal of the Greater German Reich and bestow upon him
the Great Cross of the Iron Cross.
For
contributions to the victory of German arms in the fight for the freedom and
future of our Greater German Reich, I now promote:
the
supreme commander of the army, Senior General von Brauchitsch, to General Field
Marshal;
Senior
General von Rundstedt, commander of army group A, to General Field Marshal;
Senior
General Ritter von Leeb, commander of army group C, to General Field Marshal;
Senior
General von Bock, commander of army group B, to General Field Marshal;
Senior
General List, commander of the 12lh army, to General Field Marshal;
Senior
General Kluge, commander of the 4lh army, to General Field Marshal;
Senior
General von Witzleben, commander of the 1st army, to General Field Marshal, and
Senior
General von Reichenau, commander of the 6th army, to General Field Marshal.
I
promote:
General
Halder, chef of the general staff of the army, to Senior General;
General
Dollmann, commander of the 7th army, to Senior General;
General
Freiherr von Weichs, commander of the 2nd army, to Senior General;
General
von Küchler, commander of the 18th army, to Senior General;
General
Busch, commander of the 16th army, to Senior General;
General
Strauss, commander of the 9th army, to Senior General;
General
von Falkenhorst, military commander in Norway, to Senior General;
General
von Kleist, commanding general of the XII. AK., to Senior General;
General
Ritter von Schobert, commanding general of the VII. AK., to Senior General;
General
Guderian, commanding general of the XIV. AK., to Senior General;
General
Hoth, commanding general of the XV. AK., to Senior General;
General
Hoeppner, commanding general of the XVI. AK., to Senior General;
General
Haase, commanding general of the III. AK., to Senior General;
General
Fromm, chief of army armament and commander of the replacement army, to Senior
General.
In
consideration of previous services, I promote
Lieutenant-General
Dietl, commanding general of the mountain corps in Norway, to General of the
Infantry and bestow upon him as first officer of the German Wehrmacht the Oak
Leaves to the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross.
With
the proviso for a later overall appreciation of the leaders and officers of the
Reich navy, I promote:
Admiral
Carls, the commanding admiral of the naval station Baltic Sea, simultaneously
Naval Troop Commander East, to General Admiral.
In
recognition of the unique accomplishments of the German Luftwaffe, I promote
Senior
General Milch to General Field Marshal;
Air
General Sperrle to General Field Marshal;
Air
General Kesselring to General Field Marshal.
I
promote:
Air
General Stumpff to Senior General;
Air
General Grauert to Senior General;
Air
General Keller to Senior General;
General
of the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Weise to Senior General;
Air
General Udet to Senior General.
I
further promote to Air Generals:
Lieutenant-General
Geissler, Major-General Jeschonnek, Lieutenant-General Loerzer,
Lieutenant-General Ritter von Greim and Major-General Freiherr von Richthofen.
In
my High Command Wehrmacht, I promote
Senior
General Keitel to General Field Marshal;
Major-General
Jodl to General of the Artillery.
In
that I pronounce these promotions on the occasion of the most successful
campaigns in our history before this forum and hence before the whole German
nation, I thereby honor the whole Wehrmacht of the National Socialist Greater
German Reich.
I
cannot end the examination of this struggle without remembering right here our
ally.
Since
National Socialist regime has existed, two goals stood in its foreign affairs
program:
First,
the establishment of a genuine agreement and friendship with Italy and
second,
the establishment of the same relationship with England.
You
know, my party comrades, that these views moved me 20 years ago just like they
did later. I have treated and defended these thoughts in print and in speeches
countless times, as long as I was just an opposition figure in the democratic
republic. I have - since the German folk entrusted me with its leadership -
immediately tried to practically achieve this oldest goal of National Socialist
foreign policy. I am still sad today that, despite all my efforts, with
England, I have not managed to come to that friendship, which - as I believe -
would have been a blessing for both folks. And indeed, that I have not
succeeded in this despite steadfast sincere efforts.
But
I am all the happier that at least the first program point of my foreign
affairs goal could be achieved. I owe this, above all, to the genius who today
stands at the head of the Italian folk. For only thanks to his secular working
did it become possible to bring together both regimes, spiritually so closely
related, in order to now, at the end, through the jointly shed blood, seal a
bond that is determined to cultivate a new life for Europe. That I personally
have the honor to be able to be the friend of this man, makes me happy in view
of the uniqueness of the life fate that displays just as much in common with mine
as both our revolutions, yes, beyond that, even the history of the unification
and rise of both our folks.
Since
the resurrection of the German folk, we have been able to perceive human voices
of understanding solely from Italy. From this answered mutual reciprocal
understanding grew a living community of interest. It was finally set down in
treaties.
When
this war, contrary to my wish and will, was forced upon the German Reich last
year, a discussion of the further action by both our states took place between
Mussolini and myself. The benefit that arose for us from Italy’s bearing was an
extraordinary one. Not only economically did Italy’s situation and bearing
benefit us, rather also militarily. From the start, Italy tied down strong
forces of our enemies and, above all, their freedom of strategic disposition.
But when II Duce judged the moment had come to take a stand, with weapon in
hand, against the ongoing unbearable rapes, which were inflicted upon him,
especially by French and British interventions, and the King carried out the
declaration of war, it happened in the full freedom of his decision.
All
the greater must be the feeling of our gratitude.
Italy’s
entry into the fight has helped in France to hasten the realization of the
total hopelessness of continued resistance.
Since
then, our ally fought first on the ridges and peaks of the Alps and now in the
broad spaces of his sphere of interest. Precisely his present-day air attacks
and the fighting at sea are being carried out in the spirit that is inherent to
the Fascist revolution, and pursued by us in the spirit that National Socialism
feels for Fascist Italy. Every pain of Italy, such as we experience it today in
view of Balboa’s death, is also Germany’s pain. Every joy ours as well.
Our
cooperation in the political and military area is a total one. It will
extinguish the injustice that has been inflicted on the German and Italian folk
for centuries. For: In the end stands, above, the shared victory!
My
delegates, men of the German Reichstag, if I now speak about the future, then
it does not happen in order to boast or to swagger. I can comfortably leave
that to others, who probably need it more, such as, for example, Mr. Churchill.
I hence wish to now present a picture of the situation without any exuberance
such as it is and as I see it.
First.
The course of the ten months of this war lying behind us has proven my view
right and the views of our opponents wrong.
If
so-called neutral English statesmen assure that their land emerges stronger
from any defeat and any failure, then it is at least not arrogance, if I inform
hereby inform you that we have likewise emerged stronger from the successes.
I
already declared to you on September 1st of the previous year that, quite
regardless of what may come, neither force of arms nor time will bring Germany
down. The Reich is today militarily stronger than ever before. You have seen
the, individually certainly heavy, but overall nonetheless so light, losses,
which the German Wehrmacht has suffered in the combat of the last three months.
If you consider that, in this period, we established a front that now stretches
from the North Cape to the Spanish border, then these loses, especially
measured against the losses of the World War, are extraordinarily small ones.
The reason for this - aside from the on average splendid leadership - lies in
the excellent tactical training of the individual soldier, of the formations as
well as the coordination of arms of service. The further reason lies in the
quality and purposefulness of the new weapons and the third in the intentional
renunciation of any so-called prestige success. I have myself endeavored to
fundamentally avoid any attack and any operation that is not necessary in the
sense of a real annihilation of the opponent, rather was supposed to be done
solely for a perceived prestige.
Nonetheless,
we have naturally made preparations for losses many times greater. The men of
our folk thereby spared will benefit the continuation of the struggle for
freedom forced upon us. At the moment, many of our divisions are again being
withdrawn from France ad transferred to their home bases. Many men can go on
leave. Weapons and equipment are again being repaired or supplemented with
newer, better material. Overall, the Wehrmacht is today stronger than ever
before!
Second.
The weapons. The loss of weapons in the Norwegian, and especially in the
campaign against Holland, Belgium and France, has been a totally insignificant
one. It stands in no relationship to production.
Army
and Luftwaffe are at this moment - as I speak to you - in their equipment as
well more perfect and stronger than they were before the assembly in the west.
Third.
Munitions. Munitions were prepared in a magnitude, the established stores are
so great, that, in many areas, a limitation of production or a shift of
production must now be undertaken, since the existing depots and rooms, even
given maximum expansion, would, in part, no longer be in the position to store
up increased additions. Munitions consumption, similar as in Poland, was a
small one beyond all expectation. It stands in no relationship at all to the
inventories. The overall reserve supplies among army and Luftwaffe for all
weapons is at the time significantly greater than before the attack in the
west.
Fourth.
War essential raw materials. Thanks to the Four-Year Plan, Germany was equipped
in a magnificent manner for even the most severe burden. In no other armed
force in the world has a conversion from war essential materials, which must be
imported, to those that are inside the land taken place even approaching the
degree as in Germany. Thanks to the working of the Reich Marshal, the
conversion of the German economy to an autocratic war economy took place
already in peacetime. We possess, above all, both the most important raw
materials: coal and iron, to an - I may say today - unlimited extent. The
supply with fuel is in the inventories a rich one and the capacity of our
production such an increasing one that in a short time - even given the
stoppage of any import - our need will be sufficiently covered.
Through
our metal collection, the basic inventory of our metal reserves has so
increased that we are up to any war duration and are subject to no event. In
addition to this come the mighty possibilities that lie in the utilization of
an immense booty as well as in the development of the regions occupied by us.
Germany and Italy possess in the economic region regulated and controlled by
them around 200 million people, of whom only 130 million provide soldiers,
while over 70 million can be active exclusively economically.
I
informed you, my delegates, on September 1st, that I initially had a new
Five-Year Plan drafted for the conduct of this war. I can assure you today that
in this sense all measures have been taken, but that - regardless of what may
come - I no longer see in this period any factor somehow threatening us.
Nourishment as well, thanks to the measures taken in time this time, is ensured
for any duration.
Fifth.
The bearing of the German folk. The German folk, thanks to the National
Socialist education, has entered this war not with the superficiality of a
hurrah-patriotism, rather with the fanatical earnest of a race that knows the
fate that faces it in the event it should be defeated. The attempts by our
opponents’ propaganda to dissolve this solidarity were hence just as stupid as
ineffective. Ten months of war have deepened this fanaticism. Indeed, it is a
misfortune that the world’s opinion is not shaped by people who want to see
things as they are, rather only by those you see them like they want. I have in
the last days studied through countless documents from the Ark of the Covenant
of the Allied headquarters, which, among other things, also contain morale
reports from Germany and memorandums about the constitution and inner bearing
of the German folk. These are reports, which also stem from diplomats. There
results from the study of these reports really only the question, whether their
authors are blind, stupid or base scoundrels. I readily admit that, even in
Germany, there have naturally existed, and probably still exist today,
individual subjects who experience the Third Reich’s triumphant march almost
with regret. Incurable reactionaries or blind nihilists may indeed be sad
inside that everything turned out differently than they had hoped. Just their
number is a ridiculous one and their significance is even smaller.
Unfortunately,
however, apparently this scum of the nation was chosen as yardstick for the
outward evaluation of the German folk. From this then results in the sick
fantasy of failed statesmen the last strongholds for new hope. Accordingly, it
is “General Hunger”, which the British commanders chose as ally, or the
“looming revolution”. There is no nonsense so crazy that these people would not
present it to their own folks in order to thereby help themselves along again
for at least a few weeks. The German folk has proven its inner bearing, above
all, through its sons, who fight on the battlefields and who have in a few
weeks defeated and annihilated the, after Germany, militarily strongest
opponent. Their spirit was and is today also the spirit of the German homeland!
Sixth.
The surrounding world. The last hopes in the eyes of the English politicians
appear to rest, aside from the allied nations, represented by a series of kept
heads of state without throne, statesmen without folks and generals without
armies, on new complications, which they believe they can produce thanks to
their proven skill in this. A real Ahasuerus among these hopes is the belief in
a positive new alienation between Germany and Russia.
The
German-Russian relationship is set down definitively. The reason for this
establishment lies in that, supported by certain small states, England and France
continuously assigned to Germany intentions of conquest in regions which lie
outside all German interests. First it went that Germany wanted to occupy the
Ukraine, then to march into Finland, another time, one claimed Romania as
threatened, yes, finally one even feared for Turkey.
Under
these circumstances, I considered it correct to undertake, above all, with
Russia, a sober establishment of interests in order to clarify for always what
Germany believes it must view for its future as region of interest, and,
conversely, what Russia considers important for its existence. From this clear
delineation of reciprocal spheres of interest resulted the new regulation of
the German-Russian relationship. Any hope that in the execution of this new
German-Russian tension could arise, is childish. Neither did Germany take a
step that would have taken it outside its sphere of influence nor did Russia
take such a step. England’s hope, however, to be able to achieve an easing of
its current situation through the creation of some new European crisis, is a
fallacy, insofar as Germany’s relationship to Russia is concerned. The British
statesmen grasp everything somewhat slower, hence they will also still learn to
grasp this over the course of time.
My
delegates!
In
my speech of October 6th, I already correctly predicted the further development
of this war. I assured you, my delegates, that I could not for a moment doubt
victory. If one does not see precisely in the defeats the traits and guarantees
of final victory, then I believe the development - as said - has previously
proven me right. Although I was convinced of this development, I offered France
and England the hand of reconciliation back then. The reply that I received to
this is still in your memory. All my arguments about the senselessness of a
continuation of this fight, about the certainty, even in the most favorable
case to receive no gain, rather only loss, were either met with mockery and
scorn or at least silenced to death.
I
immediately assured you back then that I feared, due to this my peace proposal,
to even be decried a coward who does not want to fight, because he no longer
can fight. It then happened exactly so. But I now believe that already today
France - naturally less the guilty statesmen than the folk - will think
differently about this October 6th. What nameless misery has come upon this
great land and folk since then! I do not even want to talk about what pain this
war has inflicted upon the soldiers. For above that almost stands the suffering
that arose through the unscrupulousness of those who drove millions of people
from their home without any reason, only with the thought to thereby perhaps be
able to cause difficulties for the German conducting of war. However, an
incomprehensible presumption. This evacuation had the most harmful effect for
the Allied conducting of war, but most terribly for the unfortunate victims
affected by it. The suffering that Mr. Churchill and Reynaud inflicted upon
millions of people through their advice and decrees, they can justify neither
on this side nor on that side.
All
that, as said - did not have to come. For still in October, I demanded neither
from France nor from England anything else than just peace.
But
the armaments profiteers wanted the continuation of this war at any price, and
they have now gotten this war.
I
am myself too much a soldier to not have understanding for the misfortune of
such a development. I now hear from London only a shout - it is not the shout
of the masses, rather of the politicians -, that precisely now the fight must
be continued.
I
do not know whether these politicians possess the correct perception of the
coming development of this fight. But they declare that they will continue to
wage this fight and, if England perishes from it, even from Canada. I hardly
believe that this is to be so understood that the English folk goes to Canada,
rather probably only the war profiteers will withdraw to Canada. The folk, I
believe, will have to stay in England. And it will then certainly see the war
in London with different eyes than its so-called leaders in Canada.
Believe
me, my delegates, I feel an inner revulsion before this sort of parliamentarian
destroyer of folk and state. I am almost sorry, if fate has selected me to knock
down what has been made ripe for collapse by these people; for it was not my
intention to wage war, rather to build a new social state of the highest
culture. Each year of this war robs me of this work. And the causes for this
robbery are ridiculous zeroes, whom one can at most characterize as political
manufactures of nature. insofar as their corruptible wickedness has not stamped
them as something special.
Mr.
Churchill has recently declared again that he wants war. About six weeks ago,
he started with the war in the area where he apparently believed he was
especially strong, namely the air war against the civilian population, however,
under the feigned motto against so-called war important institutions. These
institutions, since Freiburg, are open cities, market spots and peasant
villages, residences, field hospitals, schools, kindergartens and what else all
is hit. I have previously hardly responded to this. But this should not mean
that this is or will remain the sole reply.
It
is clear to me that nameless suffering and misfortune will descend upon people
from our reply coming one day. Naturally, not upon Mr. Churchill, for he, after
all, will safely sit in Canada, where one has, after all, already taken the
fortunes and the children of the most prominent war profiteers. But great
suffering will arise for millions of other people. And Mr. Churchill should
perhaps believe me this time as an exception, if I now pronounce the following
as prophet: A great world empire will be destroyed by it. A world empire, which
to destroy, or even just to harm, was never my intention. Only it is clear to
me that the continuation of the fight will end only with the total smashing of
one of both of those fighting. Mr. Churchill may believe that this is Germany.
I know it will be England.
At
this hour, I feel myself obligated before my conscience to once more direct an
appeal to reason in England as well. I believe I may be able to do this,
because, after all, I do not ask for something as the vanquished, rather speak as
victor for reason. I see no reason that could compel the continuation of this
conflict.
I
regret the sacrifices, which it will demand. I wish to spare them my own folk
as well. I know that millions of German men and youths glow at the idea of
finally being able to deal with the enemy, who, without any reason, has
declared war against us for the second time.
Only
I also know that at home there are many wives and mothers, who despite the
greatest willingness to sacrifice even the ultimate thing, nonetheless still
cling with their hearts to this ultimate thing.
Mr.
Churchill may now dismiss my declaration again with the shout that this is only
the product of my fear or of my doubt in final victory. I have then at least
lightened my conscience regarding coming things.
Delegates!
Men of the German Reichstag!
In
review of the ten months lying behind us, we are probably all overcome by the
mercy of Providence that let us succeed with the great work. It has blessed our
decisions and accompanied us on difficult paths. I myself am moved by the
awareness of the mission assigned to me by it to again give my folk freedom and
honor. The shame that took its start 22 years ago in the forest of Compiegne
has been extinguished forever at this same spot. I have now today named men
before history, who enabled me to complete the great work. They have all
performed their utmost, consecrated their abilities and their industriousness
to the German folk. I want to close now with the mention of those nameless ones
who did their duty no less so, who by the millions risked body and life and
were ready at any hour, as fine German officers and soldiers, to make the
ultimate sacrifice for their folk, which a man has to make. Many of them now
lie bedded at the side of the graves in which their fathers from the great war
already rest. They are witnesses of a silent heroism. They are the symbol for
those hundreds of thousands of musketeers, tank-hunters and panzer crews,
military engineers and artillerists, soldiers of the navy and of the Luftwaffe,
men of the Waffen-SS and all the other fighters, who have assembled in the
struggle of the Wehrmacht for the freedom and future of our folk and for the
eternal greatness of the National-Socialist Greater German Reich.
Germany, Sieg
Heil!
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