Dr. Joseph Goebbels - Nature and Form of National Socialism

 

Source: https://redpillaction.subvert.pw/?page_id=1926

 

Originally Published by

Junker and Dünnhaupt / Berlin, 1935

 

Translated into English from the Third Reich

original by Nathan R. Lawrence.

 

It is impossible to give an all-encompassing interpretation of the nature of National Socialism in a temporary outline, since it is a question of a movement and idea that broke into German public life with dynamic force and fundamentally changed all relationships and relationships between people from the ground up. In addition, National Socialism today does not represent something that has become, but something that is becoming, that it is subject to continuous changes and transformations and therefore cannot be defined in its entirety.

 

We do not want to view National Socialism as an overall phenomenon, but rather to clarify the basic concepts of National Socialist thought and to outline the conceptual pillars on which our ideological structure rests and to read from these basic concepts not only the possibility, but the necessity of National Socialist reality.

 

Like every great Weltanschauung, National Socialism is based on a few basic concepts that have a deep inner meaning.

 

The simple explanation of all the fundamental errors in the past 14 years of German policy lies in the fact that we Germans never argue about our questions of fate, neither as individuals nor as an organization or party.

 

Terms were discussed; but it was impossible from the outset to come to an agreement on the basic principles of our political thought, for each individual took the right to see something different under these terms. What one understood by „democracy“, the other regarded as „monarchy“; one said „black- white-red“, the other „black-red-gold“, what one understood as an „authoritarian state“, the other saw as a „parliamentary system“.

 

We discussed and talked about these terms. If one had made the effort 14 years ago at the beginning of the political debate to clarify these terms of politics and to determine what the individual actually meant by „democracy“ or „monarchy“, by „system“ or „authoritarian state“, it would have made in clear that we Germans agreed on the basic principles, but that we gave them different names.

 

National Socialism has now simplified the thinking of the German people for us and has not reduced it to any primitive archetypes. He brought the complex processes of political and economic life back to their simplest formula. This came about out of the natural consideration of bringing the broad masses of the people back to political life. In order to find understanding among the popular masses, we deliberately carried out popular propaganda. So we carried facts that were otherwise only accessible to a few experts into the street and hammered them into the little man’s brain; all things were set forth so simply that even the most primitive mind could perceive them. We refused to operate on vague, watered-down and unclear terms, but gave everything a clear meaning.

 

Here was the secret of our success.

 

The bourgeois parties, in their lack of understanding, felt that they were above our „primitive cult“, they sat in judgment over us with an elegant intellectual arrogance and came to the misjudgment that they were statesmen and we were the drummers. At best they viewed us as agitators and champions of the bourgeois Weltanschauung. But we had set ourselves other tasks than conquering wavering thrones, and then generously leaving them to the others after the decision.

 

Since we had the ability to clearly see and present the basic principles of the German situation and German community life, we also had the strength to move the broad masses of our people to adopt these new principles and original formulas of political life. This purely agitational process was not without decisive consequences on the level of power politics.

 

I see this success as the prerequisite for a political understanding between the Germans and their whole people with the partly democratic, fascist or Bolshevik states. If we do not use the same disambiguation procedure everywhere, agreement is impossible. The first necessity of any political debate is based on this definition of terms and principles, and it is important that one can easily anticipate political practice from the section „Definition“.

 

Anyone who once clearly recognizes the basic concepts will be amazed to see that political practice emerges from them almost organically, and naturally. It becomes clear to him where the political development had to lead and thus the process that has taken place in Germany since the beginning of the National Socialist revolution cannot be considered complete, but must be continued, so that it can only come to an end when the National Socialist way of thinking has fundamentally renewed all public and private life in Germany and filled it with its content.

 

Today in Germany it is said: „We made a revolution.“ But very few people know what this revolution means in detail, what it represents dynamically, historically and in terms of development.

 

There are even Volksgenossen who do not want it to be true that a revolution has actually taken place in Germany.

 

What is this: „A Revolution“? Before the outbreak of the National Socialist upheaval, the term revolution was generally associated with features that actually only had something to do with the original meaning of the revolutionary. Under „revolution“ one imagined a political pretext that takes place on the barricades with the help of any means of power and is directed against the existing laws. One only knew about the visible process, namely a violent depossession of a ruling class and the takeover of power by a new power group who proceeded with violence. But the invisible implementation of a revolution means something completely different. The term barricade does not necessarily belong to it, nor does it always have to be the characteristic of a genuine revolution. A revolution can take place bloodlessly and lawfully, and it is possible that a power group goes to the barricades with no revolution in mind. Revolution is an inherently dynamic process with its own legality, which aims to transfer its dynamism and legality, as the previous prerogative of the opposition, to state legality. It is completely irrelevant by which means this happens. In characterizing a revolution, the means of violence or legality play no role. The German revolution provides the classic proof of this, because it was carried out legally in painstaking compliance with the existing laws and nevertheless brought about the greatest intellectual, cultural, economic and social upheaval that has ever occurred in world history. This is due to a special characteristic, namely that the German revolution was made from below and not from above.

 

There are revolutions from above and revolutions from below; they differ less in the area of power they conquer than in the permanence with which they can maintain this area of power. A revolution from above is inorganic and usually becomes of little historical significance. A revolution from below, on the other hand, is organic and lasts for centuries. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to impose a new legality on a people from above without spiritual preparation; therefore revolutions from above usually only have a short life span.

 

It is the other way around with the revolutions from below, their legality is not invented and enforced by a small group of men upstairs at the green desk, but already experienced by the people below and brought to growth upwards. If a people are not prepared for a revolution, a revolutionary group may conquer power and have the best goal in mind, but it will not hold power for long. Revolutions from above usually happen very quickly. A handful of generals or statesmen band together, overthrow the regime and take power. Revolutions from below, on the other hand, grow from below; They develop from the smallest primordial cells of the people, ten revolutionaries become one hundred, one thousand become one hundred thousand and at the moment when the dynamic force of the revolutionary opposition is stronger than the gradually orphaned state apparatus, the revolution has already been spiritually won. With the seizure of power and the marriage to the state apparatus, what we have experienced in Germany since January 30, 1933, takes place. It is not the „revolution“ per se, but the last part of a revolutionary act. The legality, the way of thinking and the dynamics of the revolution - which have grown up over decades from the deepest roots of popular power - are visibly transferred to the state.

 

We have experienced the miracle in Germany: without bloodshed, without barricades and machine guns, a revolution took place within our 60 million people, the momentum of which did not stop anywhere, which occupied all territories with sovereign self-evidence and whose law ruled all things. Over the past few months, the men of the revolution have set the pace of the upheaval. The result is a new state!

 

In fact, nothing else took place than the transposition of revolutionary legality onto the state. From then on, National Socialist authorities were regarded as the authorities of the state, the laws of the revolution became state laws and the National Socialist way of thinking passed over to the nation. There was nothing in Germany that could have evaded the legal progress of this historical process.

 

The revolution would never have prevailed if it had only been carried by the usurpatory intention of a group of men whose conquest of power had taken place without the inner meaning of an idea. In the National Socialist Revolution, a Weltanschauung made a breakthrough!

 

A Weltanschauung has - and this is its most essential characteristic - nothing to do with knowledge. A poor, unknown worker with a small supply of knowledge can represent a Weltanschauung, while it need by no means be the case with a highly learned university professor who has mastered all areas of knowledge. Experience has even taught that the greater the knowledge, often the less the courage to stand up for a Weltanschauung.

 

Weltanschauung is - as the word suggests - a certain way of looking at the world. The prerequisite for this is that this kind of view always takes place from the same point of view.

 

As a representative of a Weltanschauung, no other standards are applied to the economy than to politics, while cultural life is organically related to the social and foreign policy is viewed in organic relation to the domestic political situation. Weltanschauung means always looking at people and their relationship to the world, to the state, to the economy, to culture and religion from the same point of view. This process does not require a large program, but can usually be defined in a short sentence. However, it depends on whether this sentence is right or wrong. If it is correct, it can bring healing to a people for several centuries or millennia; if it is falsified, the system that emerged from it must very soon disintegrate. All great revolutions in history have taken place from these omens. At the beginning of a revolution there was never a book or an initialed program, but only a single slogan that overshadowed all public and private life.

 

Thus the great extent of Christian moral teaching and religion was not determined by its master himself. Christ only clarified the basic concept of charity, everything else is the work of the Church Fathers. Charity was so diametrically opposed to the concepts of the ancient world that there was no understanding between these two poles and either the ancient world had to do away with Christian doctrine or Christianity had to do away with ancient times.

 

Revolutionaries do not intend to get stuck in theory, but advance from theory into practice, and see the development so clearly that there is no need for any discussion of the realization of their slogans. In the same way as the teachings of the Christian and French revolutions, the slogans of the National Socialist revolution will be realized.

 

The bourgeois world in Germany used to mock: „The program of National Socialism means lack of a program.“ We National Socialists, on the other hand, did not see ourselves as church fathers, but as agitators and champions of our teaching. It was not our intention to scientifically justify our worldview, but to realize its teachings, and it was to be reserved for later times to leave practice as the object of knowledge of the idea. It should never be the task of lawyers to determine the way of life of a people at the green table. Constitutions made on paper will never give the constitution to a people. Nature ignores science and shapes its own life. This is what happened in the National Socialist Revolution!

 

Shortly before we came to power, science tried to prove that this or that revolutionary process did not conform to the existing laws and they did not shy away from referring state-political disputes to the highest court. At that time we only smiled, because while science maintained that it should not be the way it was, things had long since prevailed. Science only has the right to read out a new legality from the existing conditions, and that is why the state of affairs created by transposing our National Socialist revolutionary legalism onto the state - law.

 

It represents the new normal for the people and evades scientific criticism. The revolution has become a reality and only crazy reactionaries can believe that anything we create can be reversed.

 

National Socialism is now about to slowly stabilize the revolutionary new legal status in Germany. This differs fundamentally from the old legality and also eludes the possibilities of criticism that he himself could apply in the old system. If democracy allowed us in times of opposition to use democratic methods, it had to be done in a democratic system. We National Socialists, however, never claimed that we were representatives of a democratic point of view. Instead, we openly declared that we only used democratic means to gain power and that after we had seized power we would ruthlessly deny our opponents all the means that we had been granted in times of opposition. Nevertheless, we can declare that our government conforms to the laws of a refined democracy.

 

We have been the sovereign masters of criticism and today we can unanimously take the standpoint of the right to criticize. There is only one difference: the right to criticism, if it is supposed to make sense and not represent democratic nonsense, can for the benefit of a people, who must stand above all things of politics - always be granted only to the wiser over the stupid and never vice versa. All that remains to be shown is that we National Socialists were apparently the smarter ones during the opposition.

 

The other side was in possession of the power, the army, the police, the bureaucratic apparatus, the money, the parties and the parliamentary majority. It dominated public opinion, the press, the radio - in short, everything that can be summarized under the general term „power“. If, however, a small group that started with seven men in 14 years succeeds in contesting this right together with power only with the right of criticism of the other side, then it appears undoubtedly who the smarter would be if the other side were It would have been wiser, with such an unequal distribution of the means of success, she should have found ways and means to prevent us from being deposed. That did not happen; on the contrary, it did indeed succeed in holding back the organic development of the revolution for a certain time, but the new legalism prevailed.

 

When the German revolution made its visible appearance on January 30, 1933 and wed the National Socialist movement to power, it seemed as if it had only broken out on that day. In fact, it had started much earlier, perhaps with the outbreak of war and the signing of the Versailles dictate. Over the years it had an impact, soliciting followers, shaping the community life of its followers, creating new authorities, new ways of being, new ways of thinking and a new style which it transferred to the new state on the day of the conquest of power.

 

From a historical perspective, August 1, 1914 is the point of intersection, and even then it had to be obvious to every historically thinking person: „Where we stop today, we cannot start again after the great war.“ Nine million German men went through the most terrible physical and mental torments; they went through all the hells and purgatory of human suffering, human pain, and human renunciation and depression. It was impossible for them to start where they left off four years ago. No - these people brought a new way of thinking with them from the trenches. In the face of terrible hardships and dangers, they had experienced a new kind of community which, if they had been lucky, could never have been given to them. They had become acquainted with the sovereign leveling of death and had experienced that in the end only the values of character remained. Outside of this there was no property, education or a noble name that mattered; no difference guided the bullets in their course. The eternal leveling of the high and low, poor and rich, big and small were mowed down. There was only one difference between people: personal worth. The uniform could never level if one was brave, the other cowardly, when one proved himself to be a man and threw his life into the redoubt while the other tried to hide. It was a matter of course that the valuation from the trenches carried over to the homeland and that the old „statesmen“ who had stayed in the crowd and felt no hint of this new attitude, rebelled against it. But it was only a matter of time that according to the law of strength the younger, the harder and the more courageous had to triumph over the older and the more discouraged.

 

The nine million German soldiers at the front knew about the fragility of the regime which they defended at the risk of their lives for the nation’s sake. They had seen the whole world rise against Germany and realized that this threat could only be averted with all efforts. It became apparent that even the poorest Volksgenosse confessed to his nation, although he had never felt it was a possession. He knew nothing about the cultural values of his country, he knew the names Wagner, Beethoven, Mozart, Goethe, Kant and Schopenhauer at best from hearsay. He would have had a right to say. „The mines and ore mines that we want to conquer have nothing to do with me, because it will probably be completely indifferent to me whether I work for a German or a French owner.“ In spite of this, it was seen that these people stood up for an ideal which they did not even know in its broad outline. When the toughest endurance test came later, millions fell away from this ideal out of ignorance and weakness. But we were not a Volksstaat, because such a state grows with its dangers. A people will never abandon their own state.

 

The National Socialist movement went through the opposite development. During the crises, party comrades never fell away from the movement, only supporters and voters. The party comrades, on the other hand, became all the more ruthless and active in order to wipe out the gap again. It would be the same with a people who remain clearly conscious of the value and property of the Volksstaates. Had the people who committed their lives outside had any idea of the size, value, and achievement of a country they were defending, they would never have let that country play into the hands of political impostors and profiteers at decision-making time. They would have resisted it with fanatical zeal and would never have tolerated the terrible sacrifices made outside on the fronts being gambled away and wasted in a single day.

 

We Germans used to be no world people and for this reason we did not pursue world politics. When the war broke out, the nation was headed by a philosopher as bad as a statesman. Later one did not learn from the failure of this man, rather the German statesmen did not get younger but older, while the opposite occurred on the opposing side. There were real men at the helm, brutal power people complained of no sentimentality and inconsiderate in the use of state power. They did not let their parliaments deliberate for weeks on whether a revolting sailor should be shot, but had the nerve to shoot the guilty. We Germans won the war brilliantly from a military point of view, but lost it politically across the board. We had no war goal and we did not pursue world politics.

 

For a whirling jumble of hazy war aims, the proletariat would be dead.

 

And so it happened that our front gave way, our people broke up and the concept of the Volksstaates did not stand before the harshness of historical development; after a heroically and courageously waged war, the terrible catastrophe was bound to break out. The straight lines, the best, the German patriots in fact despaired of the future of their people in those gray weeks of November, and many of them perished.

 

Today we see things differently. We recognize the organic connection and expediency of this development and understand Moeller van den Bruck’s prophetic words: „We had to lose the war to win the revolution!“ If we start from the view that the war already represented a part of the revolution, which had an effect not in the circumstances but in the people, then we come to the result: We had to lose the first part of the revolution in order to reflect on ourselves in the second, third and fourth acts and to win anyway!

 

After the end of the war, the opposing side had invented a peace treaty for Germany which, with ingenious refinement, resulted in destroying the nation of Germans and finally removing it from the list of world powers. The parties of the Weimar system never realized that. A few years ago even the bourgeois press in Germany shrank from the word „tribute“ and the view was that the mere mention of the Versailles Treaty of Shame was capable of poisoning the relationship between „nations united in friendship“. We National Socialists have made the complicated facts of the opposing methods of slavery clear to our people over many years. Today every schoolchild in Germany knows the terrible effects of Versailles and there is no longer a German who is not clear about the scope of the tribute treaty. But just 15 years ago the mutinous German Chancellor was able to appear before the nation and, in view of this disgraceful treaty, coined the word: „The German people have triumphed across the board!“ What a change has taken place in these 15 years of struggle. Indeed, one can say: Nations are not always the same, there are all dispositions for good or bad in them and it always depends on their leadership whether nations decide for good or bad! The German people of today cannot be compared with that of 1918, any more than the masses of 1918 can be compared with the nation of 1914. These are fundamentally different mentalities, a different way of thinking, a new sense of community and closer internal cohesion.

 

We have described the methods of conquering power and the roots of our being. There are still some basic terms to clarify, which should give us the ultimate understanding of the National Socialist world of thought.

 

In public you often hear the word: „National Socialism wants the total state!“ There is a great error here, because National Socialism does not strive for the totality of the state, but the totality of the idea. That means a complete implementation of the kind of view that has been fought for in the last decade and which we have led to victory. It applies in the entire public life of the nation and does not stop at the areas of economy, culture or religion. In Germany there can no longer be any relation that does not correspond to the National Socialist point of view.

 

The view is often held that the National Socialist movement is falling into disintegration because it has power and has destroyed all other parties. The argument for this attitude is that we are „all National Socialists“ today. That’s not true! A whole people can think in a soldier-like manner, but nevertheless it does not renounce an army as the actual foster home of a soldierly attitude. It is she who maintains the tradition, the organization and the experiences of soldier life. Only in exceptional cases is the whole people a soldier; as a rule it remains the privilege of a select minority.

 

Another example: a theater director has a great interest in seeing as many people as possible visit his theater. But it is not acceptable that every theatergoer goes on stage to replace the actor. This right cannot be acquired by attending the theater, however diligent, entry into the small hierarchy of artistic designers has to be fought for with hard work.

 

Not everyone can put on their hero’s cloak or - politically speaking - put on the party badge and declare that they are a real National Socialist. If a layman puts on his toga, he is by no means a great tragedy. On the contrary, one recognizes the great tragedy even without a toga, and the dilettante only puts on the toga because he lacks the talent for tragedy. So the party must always remain the hierarchy of the National Socialist leadership. Their minority must always insist on the prerogative of government. She has to keep the way open for the German youth who want to march into her hierarchy. Beyond that, however, their hierarchy has fewer privileges than preliminary obligations! It is responsible for the leadership of the state and it solemnly takes responsibility from the people. It has a duty to run its state for the good and general benefit of the nation.

 

We would be making a mistake with grave consequences if we put the National Socialist movement on the same level as the earlier bourgeois and Marxist parties. From the very beginning, National Socialism had set itself the goal of destroying all other parties and removing the people from their encrusted influences. That is why the essential programmatic prerequisites of the National Socialist movement cannot be changed today. Her view of the future remains clear and clearly in the design of her own programmatic content, she relies on the steadfast and is not dependent on the changing and wavering character of the crowd.

 

In many cases, we National Socialists are secretly requested to change this or that terminology and our program. One speaks:

 

„Why do you call yourselves Socialist? Social is enough! After all, we are all social! Take away the hurtful edge of this word and everything would be in full agreement.“ No - we National Socialists cannot do that, because it is fundamentally different whether I am „Social” or „Socialist”, whether we are „National” or „Nationalistic”. The word „also“ is usually included with the term „National“ - and that is the decisive factor. Here two worlds separate. For the National Socialist, however, what the other emphasizes as a characteristic of his „national“ attitude is completely meaningless.

 

For him it is not the outward appearances that count, but he has dedicated himself to his people with flesh and blood, body and soul. The real Nationalist will never utter the hollow phrase: „It is sweet and honorable to die for the Fatherland.“ He is far too honest for that and he is reluctant to degrade his constant willingness to work on the floor of the philistine audience to a babbling phrase.

 

The same is true of the concept of Socialism. „I am Social!“

 

This is usually what a bank director, syndic, factory owner or civil servant in a high position says. They want to set up hospitals and recovery centers to help the poor; they admit that this cannot continue and that something needs to be changed. The Socialist is above that. His standpoint is that we must all become one people in order for the nation to stand its test.

 

Every sacrifice is right for this nation becoming. I belong to my people in good and bad days and carry joys and sorrows with them. I don’t know any classes, I feel only obliged to the nation!

 

National Socialism does not think in the slightest about leveling the German people and recognizes every achievement that lifts people out of the multitude of contemporaries. But basically we are all equal before death, before danger and before probation, and we want to express this equality when we profess one another and never allow a gap to open up between us; for there will come the times of danger when our people will be dependent on their inner solidarity.

 

The much discussed Jewish question must also be seen from this point of view. In this case too, it does not depend on the individual sacrifice, but solely on the well-being of the nation.

 

When we took over the government, we decided to work out a development period of four years in front of the German people.

 

More than a quarter of this time has passed, and no one can say that it passed uselessly. One can hold against us with much malice and dialectic, how much more is still yet to be done. But we can proudly claim that what was humanly possible has been achieved in our state. We did not prophesy a miracle and therefore no one could expect miracles.

 

We tried ruthlessly and step by step to stop the damage caused by time and its development. We National Socialists solved problems in Germany that were considered unsolvable: the problem of imperial reform (Reichsreform), the reorganization of the estates (Stände-Neuordnung), party disunity and the creation of popular unity in political, spiritual and ideological terms. Our government has launched a successful fight against unemployment in a way that never happened in the old system. She attacked the winter hardship with unheard of courage and she will continue to fight obsessively against the terrible time sickness of unemployment in the future.

 

In the past year, the German people received an object lesson on National Socialism that could not be better wished for. Those who used to face us with enmity and skepticism have now become convinced that we have successfully approached the solution of the most difficult problems with honest will. Much remains to be done! We are stepping into the future with youthful vigor, and despite sorrow and misery, the German people have no reason to despair, because they are already standing on the ground of their own strength.

 

„Germany will not go under if we have the courage to be stronger than the hardship that has thrown us all down to the ground!“

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony No.25 in G minor

Conductor: Karl Böhm

Performance: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Live recording: 1940

 

I. Allegro con brio [00:00]

II. Andante [07:50]

III. Menuetto [12:09]

IV. Allegro [16:33]

 

Die Deutsche Wochenschau (UFA-Tonwoche) - Newsreel No. 473 - 27 September 1939

 

1. Propaganda story about strategic food reserves.

 

– The mouse nibbles grain.

 

– Woman with shopping bags at the store.

 

– Warehouse with the products.

 

2. Poland.

 

German airfield commander gets the job, pilots run the machines, take off.

 

– Flying Squadron, the bombing of the bridge, fires, explosions on the ground.

 

– Burning houses in the city.

 

German soldiers are among the ruins of houses.

 

– Riding horse artillery, machine moving on a pontoon bridge across the river.

 

– Trucks with soldiers.

 

– Motorized column moving on the road.

 

– Fallen trees, mud.

 

– Tanks are on hilly terrain.

 

– The soldiers are moving in shallow water.

 

– Columns of soldiers marching down the road.

 

– Gunners slumbered in the carts.

 

– Rest on the way, the soldiers are sleeping on the ground.

 

– Tank crews are cleaning the tank parts.

 

– Soldiers shave, wash.

 

– Two soldiers are carrying geese, plucking them, preparing the pig for roasting, eating it.

 

– A line of soldiers with kettles.

 

– Soldiers sing and dance to musical instruments.

 

Field mail, there is sorting of letters, parcels.

 

– Sorting out the mailbags.

 

– Soldiers disassemble the bags and go to their units.

 

– A soldier hands out a front-line newspaper to the troops passing along the road.

 

– Broken Polish trains on the railroad, broken armored train, weapons of the Polish army, gas masks.

 

– Broken machines, implements, wagons, guns at the river.

 

Polish city, Polish Volksdeutsche go to Germany.

 

– Women and children in cars.

 

General Brauchitsch bypasses the formation of soldiers, shaking hands with them.

 

The city of Brest-Litovsk, meeting with representatives of the Soviet army.

 

– Soviet officer reads German leaflet in Russian.

 

– German and Soviet officers shake hands.

 

– Meeting room at the table with a representative of the Soviet administration.

 

– Out of the building Soviet officers, leaving the vehicle.

 

German troops enter the city, a parade of troops.

 

– Soviet soldiers are watching.

 

– German tanks on the road.

 

– Soviet officers salute.

 

– The Soviet tanks are coming.

 

– General Brauchitsch takes parade.

 

German artillery smashes Polish ships.

 

City of Danzig (Gdansk) is decorated to meet the German troops.

 

– Adolf Hitler in an open car rides through the streets of Danzig, people welcome the Fuhrer.

Adolf Hitler - Proclamation for the War Winter Aid Work 1941-42 - 12.09.1941

 

For the ninth time, I appeal to the German folk to make its voluntary sacrifice for the Winter Aid Work. Our Wehrmacht fights these days in a gigantic struggle for the existence or nonexistence of the German nation, yes, beyond that, for the preservation of that Europe, which for millennia has been a donor of culture and civilization to mankind and should again be in the future.

 

Like once in the interior, Jewish capitalism and Bolshevism have united in the world hostile to us today in the effort to destroy the National Socialist German Reich as a strong bulwark of this new Europe and, above all, to exterminate our folk. For two years, the German soldier therefore risks his blood and his life for the protection of our dear homeland and of our folk. At the moment, he fights in unison with our allies from Europe’s northernmost part to the shores of the Black Sea against an enemy who is not human, rather consists of beasts. The successes of his sacrifices in blood and sweat, in cares and deprivations, however, are also world-historically unprecedented.

 

May the German homeland, through its bearing and its own sense of sacrifice, prove itself worthy of the heroic deeds of these sons!

 

Their action should confirm the essence of our National Socialist folk community in the interior as well, and thereby strengthen the front in the awareness that the whole German folk stands behind it and that its struggle is hence not a futile one, rather helps to achieve the great National Socialist community ideal.

 

The world, however, may see from this that front and homeland in the German Reich are a union sworn together in loyalty and hence invincible!

The story of Marcel

 

(from the Langemarck Division of the Waffen-SS)

 

Source: “Voices of the Waffen SS” by Gerry Villani

 

“I worked in Ludwigsburg together with another boy from Tienen (Belgium) in a factory that made small components for engines. We were both from the same mindset, that was nationalists, and I have to tell you that there was enough propaganda in Germany made by the National Socialist Party to join the Waffen SS. The propaganda was so convincing that we couldn’t resist the temptation. The propaganda posters and placards said “Auch du!” – “You too”, join the Waffen SS or join the German Armed Forces to fight communism!

 

It was at the end of August 1943 that we finally enlisted in the Waffen SS, more particularly in the Flemish Legion. We left for Frankfurt for our medical examination and other testing and we were both found suitable for service. When I was accepted in the Waffen SS I requested to be put into a Panzer unit. Funny enough my request was granted and I was sent to Sennheim (SS-Ausbildungslager) for 14 days. There we had to swear the oath to Hitler and after that, we were taken by train to Breslau. In Breslau, we received our infantry training. From Breslau, we went to Milovic where we were trained to become truck drivers. From Milovic we went to Debica where we finally received our Panzer training (Sturmgeschütze). The Panzer training lasted about two months and on Christmas night of 1943, we were celebrating the end of our training. We were all happy and joyful and everybody was singing. We had some very good food, one can say maybe the best food I’ve ever had. While enjoying our dinner and singing our songs the joyful atmosphere got interrupted by a courier that came in with a telegram for our commander. Our commander dropped his cutlery and stood up to accept the telegram. He read the message in silence. Everybody had become so quiet that the silence was almost frightening. Then came the words: “Men, prepare yourselves to go to the Eastern Front!”

 

 A few minutes after we got the news we were already preparing to take off to the East. We started loading all our equipment on trains: trucks, tanks, ammunition, etc. There were also some soldiers from a FLAK unit (Anti-aircraft unit) with Vierling FLAK and 22 mm canons boarding the train. Once everything was ready, we left for the Eastern Front, to Russia, with destination unknown. I remember it was a very long trip with many ups and downs. Sometimes the train had to come to a full stop because of aerial attacks. Finally, we arrived in a train station in the Zhitomir area. What we didn’t know was that the Russians were still occupying the train station and surrounding areas. So, at our arrival, we got caught in our first real fight. I remember that our infantry was already fighting the Russians and we received the news that the 1st Infantry Company was missing in action. The 2nd Infantry Company was tasked to go out and set up a search and rescue mission. Unfortunately, the 2nd Infantry Company was ambushed and after heavy fighting, they were taken as POWs (Prisoner of War) by the Russians. Later I heard that these poor guys had to march, stripped from their clothes and shoes, with no food or water, to a POW camp in Tambov which was approximately 400 Km from Moscow. For us, the Panzer unit, things turned out differently. We stayed out of the hands of the Russians as we were constantly fighting and retreating until we reached Jampol. There we, the Flemish Legion, were surrounded by the Russians. It was a nightmare as our troops were decimated there. However, I was lucky as I was located at the outskirts of the city with my unit. We had to get out of this hell hole so we looked for a way out. Nearby we saw a bridge that was still intact. We as well as the Russians wanted to keep the bridge intact. We needed it to get out of the city and the Russians needed it to get into the city. Our commander knew that the Russians were coming and that they used the technique of carpet bombing for certain locations to annihilate the ground armies. We only had 3 or 4 tanks left in our unit, nothing more. So, our unit received the order that all Sturmgeschütze had to cross the bridge at full speed. That’s what they did and once our comrades crossed the bridge they’d spread out and destroyed whatever they could find on their paths. Surprisingly enough they broke through the Russian lines with such a magnitude that all the Russian soldiers were in a panic. Then all of a sudden all Panzer had dissappeared. After a couple of minutes we saw the Panzers turning back towards the bridge! Now they were attacking the Russians in the back. Our unit survived this battle however the poor guys that were sitting in the back of the trucks, one of them I was driving, and who fell out were lost forever. We were not able to turn back and pick them up as it was too dangerous. Lucky for us it froze the day before and all fields were covered with ice. That was our only luck... Can you imagine if that were mud? It would’ve been a hopeless situation.

 

While crossing the fields we were attacked by Russian artillery. I was a truck driver then and I had 10-12 wounded soldiers on my truck. When I say wounded I mean severely wounded! One poor guy had both legs and one arm blown off. I was surprised he was still alive. Another one was hit in the abdomen by a bullet and you could see his intestines, that’s how big that hole was. While driving my truck to the fires of hell of the Russian artillery my truck got hit by a piece of shrapnel. That piece of shrapnel went through the passenger door cutting my passenger in two! Then it ripped apart my seat as it passed me in the back and then it exited through my door. I was very lucky not to get hit by that projectile however my comrade who was sitting in the passenger seat died instantly. After a long drive, we arrived in Stara Konstantinov which was still in German hands. There we were able to rest a little bit but soon we had to hit the road again. Before we hit the road again we had to modify a part of our uniform. You have to know that when I joined the Waffen SS I had the “Trifos” or swastika with three arms on my collar tabs. This was the symbol of the Flemish Legion of the Waffen SS. Our commander Konrad Schellong ordered us, in Stara Konstantinov, to remove the trifos from our uniform and to replace it with the SS runes. Some of the men of my company were not happy with this order to replace the trifos with the SS runes as they felt they belonged to the Flemish Legion in the first place and not to the Waffen SS. The protest didn’t change the situation at all and the SS runes were put on our uniforms. There was absolutely nothing we could do about this situation. After this little incident, we were relieved by another unit and we were put back on a train heading west this time. We went through the Carpathians – Romania, Hungary, and a piece of Czechoslovakia, to finally arrive at our temporary destination in Poland: Jaslo (Jassel in German). We had to stay there for a couple of days because there wasn’t enough room to station our unit at our final destination: Ersatzlager Debica. After spending a few days in Jaslo we finally left for our final destination. In Debica we had four camps and it was there when reinforcements arrived.

 

In Debica we were assigned a Panzer or tank however the funny fact was that the Germans units always had priority in choosing a Panzer. It was a normal thing that the Germans had priority in choosing the equipment and sometimes all Panzer was gone...nothing was left for us. Maybe this was out luck so we didn’t have to go to the front all the time. However, this time we got a Hetzer Panzer or a Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer (Baiter or Troublemaker), Sd.Kfz.138/2, but it was also known simply as Panzerjäger 38(t). It was armed with 75mm Pak 39 L/48 gun. An interesting feature was the remotely controlled MG34/42 mounted on the roof, with 360 degrees rotation for local defense. The machine gun had a 50-round drum magazine and could be aimed and fired from inside the vehicle. The Hetzer was able to knock out a T34 Russian Tank from a distance of 700m if it would hit the frontal armor of the T34. But the Hetzer was a very light Panzer and was very vulnerable during battle.

 

From Debica we had to move to Czechoslovakia to a place that was located at approximately 60 Km from Prague. We arrived in an abandoned town where only the mayor and a few other people were left behind to keep an eye on things. The reason this village – and some other villages in the area – was abandoned was because the year before Reinhard Heydrich was murdered in Prague. I really don’t know what happened to the inhabitants of these villages. We were not allowed to touch anything although we were allowed to sleep in the houses. During the day we were practicing drill and doing military exercises. Actually, we had a really good life there. From there we had to regroup or reform a Panzer unit which was very expensive and time-consuming. Once we were regrouped, we were sent to the Lüneburger Heide which was 40 Km south of Hamburg. The Germans believed that the Allies would drop paratroopers at that location so we had to go there immediately. We were used as security forces for that location. So, we arrived there at the end of October 1944 and we stayed there on some local farms. I remember that we were staying on a farm with seven soldiers, five Flemings, and two Germans. We, the Flemings were always singing Flemish songs of course, and we were doing this is the massive living room of the house. At a certain moment, we heard some noise coming from behind the entrance door. We opened the door and there stood the farmer, his wife, and some servants. All were listening to our songs and music that we made. They asked us where we were from and proudly, we told them: “From Flanders!” Then came the time to leave again and we were back on the road, this time to Bad Saarow, 30 Km east of Berlin. In Bad Saarow there were living lots of German movie stars.

 

There we were stationed in a brand-new military camp. While staying there we had to do some military exercises again, but this time we had to practice with hand grenades. Our exercise grenades, or dummy grenades, had a yellow head so we knew they were not real. However, one day one of our NCOs held a grenade in his hand, he pulled the pin, and that thing just exploded in his hands. Was it a mistake from his part or was in an act of sabotage? Who knows? The NCO died instantly and after the incident there followed an investigation to make sure that sabotage could be excluded. When the investigation was over, we received our new Panzers. My birthday was on February 28 and on March 1 – 1945 we had to go back to the front. The front line was now located at the River Oder – at the border with Poland. The Russians were now very close to the heart of the Reich. On our first night at the front, we stood ready with approximately 120-140 tanks. Of course, these were not all from the same caliber. They were just the leftovers that they found: Panzer IV, Hetzer, Tiger, etc. We were there together with a division of the Wehrmacht. When I think back about that division, I have to say that they were just a bunch of untrained soldiers of the Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Kriegsmarine (Navy). I felt really bad for them as they had no clue what they were doing and what was going to happen in the next few hours. They had no front experience at all so when the battle started hundreds of them died instantly. During one of the last fights, I became isolated with my tank, which was a Hetzer. Our tank commander had committed Fahnenflucht or desertion. Because of that, I became the commander of our tank. Actually, I had no choice as I was the highest in rank. Usually, our tank would carry 4 to 5 infantry soldiers, as protection against enemy infantry. I never understood the benefit of putting men on a tank. They were just living targets for enemy fire, not protected against artillery fire like we were inside our tank. With an infantry assault they were able to take cover behind the tank and advance in all safety but otherwise, there was no protection at all for them.

 

So, our last month and a half at the front we were on our own. I have to tell you, and this is the truth, that we were very lucky that we were always able to find ammunition and fuel for our tank. While we were in smaller towns or villages, we were always able to find plenty of food, which was sometimes hidden in barns under a stack of hay. Animals were just running around so we shot pigs and cows to eat. The only thing is that we had to butcher them but when you’re hungry the butchering part is not a problem at all! Sometimes we would find an abandoned truck full of fuel so we were always able to refuel our Panzer. Then in other trucks, we would find ammunition and funny enough it was always the ammunition that we needed for our guns. While roving on our own, detached from our unit, the only contact we had was with our unit commander by phone, and that is if there was a phone line available. My unit commander was a Fleming as well and when we communicated, we talked to each other in Dutch. That way the Russians wouldn’t be able to understand us! He asked me where I was and I told him we were in Stettin. Immediately he told me to pull back. He said that we were in a pocket of 30 Km, behind enemy lines! In Stettin we drove through the city, looking for a way out. All buildings were on fire and most of them were at the point of collapsing. At the end of the street, we saw a bridge and I asked my driver what he thought about it, looking at the fact of crossing the bridge with our Panzer. He replied that the bridge wasn’t wide enough however he would try to cross it at about 50 Km/h. That way, if the bridge would collapse the Panzer would already be on the other side of the river. The river was about 8 to 10m wide so before the bridge would collapse, we would’ve been safe on the other side. We crossed the bridge that day! Almost every day we were engaged in heavy fighting and during one of the last fights, we were able to regroup. We were back in business with 4 tanks.

 

One day we were driving out of the woods and we saw a nice big farm on top of a hill. The far was brand new and it was very beautiful to look at. Miraculously it was still untouched by bullets or artillery fire. We decided to stay in this beautiful farm. One of our Unterscharführer was named Richard Wagner like the famous composer. He was actually related to him and he had the same name! When we entered the farm, we saw a nice big piano standing in a corner of the living room. Wagner instantly started playing on the piano but then, after a minute or so, he suddenly stopped playing. He looked at me and said: “The Russians won’t get this piano!” Then he did something that completely took me by surprise. He took a grenade, placed it inside the piano. Gently he pulled the pin and closed the piano. Of course, we left the house in a hurry and there it was... The grenade went off with a huge blast destroying this nice piece of artwork. After this short break at the farm, we got isolated again. It was just our tank crew and four infantrymen. We drove through the woods again and to find another farm on top of a hill. This farm wasn’t as beautiful as the last one however there was something that triggered or senses. Around the barn of the complex, we noticed a pile of empty shells lying on the ground. Luftwaffe anti-aircraft! We approached the barn and there we found some ground personnel of the Luftwaffe however they were not capable to fight. We looked at the surrounding area to see if there were enemy units approaching and suddenly at the end of a field, hiding under a tree, we observed a tank! Was it the enemy waiting for us? No, it was one of ours! We went to take a closer look and we noticed that it was out of service. The crew was gone so we decided to take its ammunition. While we were getting out of our tank to get the ammo my gunner said that he was going to load a round in the tank’s gun. He said that he wanted to be prepared in case the enemy would show up. At this point in the war, you never knew what was or could be coming to you. Not even a minute later someone yelled “Panzer von links!”, and we ran back to our tank. Thanks to the loaded gun of our tank we were able to knock out the approaching enemy tank. However more enemy tanks started to approach our position so we had to load, aim, and fire! We had to repeat this process until our gun suddenly jammed. Actually, the barrel wouldn’t move forward anymore so I told my driver to back up and drive away in a safe direction as fast as he could. That day we drove for our life until we drove over a hill straight into a valley where we were safe. There we leveled our tank and we drove against a huge pine tree, barrel first of course. In first gear, we were pushing against the tree but because of the built-up pressure of the barrel, the tank would slide back. At a certain point, we thought that the barrel could explode at any time however the barrel worked again as the pressure was relieved. After that, we proceeded to a nearby village. There we aimed for the church; we pointed at the church to set the sights back for our gun. Once that was done, we were back in business!

 

This is a part of my story which I don’t really like to tell. We had to retreat because the Russians were with so many that we wouldn’t survive for ten seconds. Lots of my friends were killed in action and one day we had no choice to retreat. While retreating we observed a Stalin Panzer on top of a hill. We were absolutely unable to fight such a beast with a small gun. The Stalin had front armor of about 30 cm, which was a lot thicker than the armor of our Hetzer. The only weak part on the Stalin was the turret. It was mounted on a light ring to make it able to turn around. I told my gunner to aim for the turret. He fired a shot and it was a direct hit. We disabled the Stalin as it wasn’t able to turn its turret anymore. The danger was gone now. We also destroyed one of its tracks so we also immobilized it. While driving away I observed two officers of the Luftwaffe committing Fahnenflucht or desertion. I shot at them and ordered them to come back. Both came back and of course, they thought I was going to execute them. Instead, I told them to take a wounded Luftwaffe officer with them – whom we were transporting in our tank – so that they wouldn’t come over as cowards. At least they had a legitimate reason to run away from the front line. The thing was that that desertion was severely punished...by hanging. Deserters were executed wherever it was possible to do so. During our retreat we drove through the country and at a certain moment we arrived at a bridge over a wide river. Without hesitating, we crossed the bridge and the moment we just got off the bridge it blew up in one hundred thousand pieces! We continued our way and we arrived at a railroad track. The track was on a slight elevation which of course could cause a problem for our tank. Our Hetzer was a light tank with a light engine so we were not sure if that thing would make it over that steep little hill. We decided to give it a try apart from our driver – of course – we all went to sit in the back of the tank to put some weight on the tracks. Our driver went full throttle and slowly the tank started to climb. Then the moment of truth: would we slide back or would it tip over so we could continue our way? I was so relieved when it tipped over!

 

Once on top of the tracks an infantryman tapped on my shoulder and asked me to look back, to the horizon. He handed me his binoculars and when I looked through them, I saw several Russian tanks approaching at about 2 Km of distance. We had to act quickly because we knew that the Russian tanks were a lot stronger than our little Hetzer. We turned around on the train track, backed up a little bit, to finally hide our tank behind the little hill. Only our barrel was sticking out, the rest of the tank was protected by a natural barrier. Systematically we started to fire at the oncoming tanks. First to the left, then to the right, and then in the middle; this way the Russians had no clue that it was only one tank firing at them! If they only knew that only one tank was firing at them, they would’ve regrouped and concentrated their attack on one tank only. Luckily, we survived this battle and we managed to get away.

 

Then came the day that the German Armed Forces had to surrender to the Allies. I remember that it was on May 8 – 1945 that I heard Karl Dönitz on the radio stating that Hitler was dead and that he was in command now. He also stated that Germany had signed the unconditional surrender. This was it... the end or almost the end. We drove back to our unit, to the location where we all took off earlier in 1945. There we found numerous vehicles that were still intact. Of course, they were all abandoned but they were almost brand new. There we parked our Hetzer and I ordered to put explosive in the barrel and in the engine compartment. I let up the fuse and I destroyed our tank. From there we continued our journey on foot and I have to tell you that the first day was a living hell. As you know we were a few kilometers from the Russians however we wanted to get to the Canadians. The only problem was that they were 80 Km away from us. We marched day and night and when we finally reached the Canadian lines, we were surprised that they were so friendly to us. They drove by us with their vehicles...waving at us. Then a rumor was spread that the Americans would rearm us so that we could fight together against the Russians. Of course, this never happened. After a while, I took off my uniform and I put on civilian clothes. However, I kept my uniform until I was back in Belgium where I traded it for a pound of tobacco. I “sold” it to a Belgian officer. One pound of tobacco was worth a lot of money at that time! But back to the Canadian line now where we saw all sorts of people there. Soldiers, laborers, and... a few SS men where there. It was not a pretty sight as the SS men were being lynched. We were still with our group of seven soldiers. All Waffen SS! We had to undergo a medical examination and at the infirmary, we saw a placard saying “Delousing tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll get rid of these animals.” I knew exactly what was going on and what they meant by it. They were looking for SS soldiers! When you delouse a person, they have to lift their arms... and under the arm, they would find the blood type tattoo if they were dealing with SS soldiers.

 

We all had an ID card – without pictures – so this worked in our advantage to escape the delousing process. I took a couple of cards from other people that were already checked. Then I showed them to a couple of soldiers who were checking prisoners. I was able to speak a little bit of English and I told them I was a Belgian. Without hesitation, they told me to join the other Belgians in the camp. I didn’t have to think a minute about this and I called my Flemish friends to come over. First, they hesitated a little bit but then they joined me. To my surprise, I realized that in the Belgian camp the majority of the people were veterans from the Eastern Front! In the Belgian camp, we were finally fed and we even got tents to sleep in. A couple of days later we were put on trucks to get back to Belgium. After 60 to 80 Km driving, we stopped in another camp where we got checked again under our arms. Don’t ask me how but we were able to escape this “check” again and we continued our journey back to Belgium. After spending the night in a camp, we were put back on trucks. I was about to take a seat in the back of the truck when I saw a man who was from my hometown. I think he recognized me but he kept his mouth shut. Good thing that he kept his mouth shut otherwise I would’ve been imprisoned for sure. Then the trucks drove off and I never saw this man again. We drove for days until we arrived at the Lüneburger Heide. There I saw the farm again where we stayed a couple of months ago during the war. Outside was the farmer’s wife doing the laundry and I really hoped, and prayed, that she wouldn’t recognize me.

 

At our next stop an English soldier approached me and said that tomorrow we would arrive in Solingen. There would be a huge checkpoint for former members of the Waffen SS. I knew our time had come and we had to act quickly. I told my friend Bob that we had to take action and that we had to get off the truck as soon as possible and run away. On the other side of the street, I saw a bakery. It was close enough to our truck so I asked the English soldier if we could go to the bakery to get some bread. Of course, he said yes and off we went. Inside the bakery, we asked if we could use the outhouse. When we were in the back yard we jumped over the fence into the back alley. From there we started running. We stopped at a bar where we knew the owner from before. He told us to stay in the house for the night as the Polish were still in town and they were a bunch of pigs! So, as we were told, we stayed overnight in the house. The next day the Polish left and we could get back into the town. We stayed in the town for a while and we worked on a farm where we used to stay during the war. At a certain moment, an English company arrived in the town and the peace and quiet were over again. My friend took off but I decided to stay in town. I had nowhere else to go. One day I received a love letter from one of the girls in town. So, at night, when I was in the bar, I started reading the letter out loud. The girl who wrote the letter was there as well and she was utterly offended because I was reading it out loud. She was so offended that the next day she went to the English to tell them that there was a Waffen SS soldier hiding in that house. I was working in the field that day when I saw a jeep approaching. The farmer who was with me in the field told me not to worry. He was so calm and self-confident as if he almost knew that nothing would happen to me. I was taken in custody and searched. My room in the house was searched as well but they couldn’t find a thing. Luckily, they never looked behind the door because there were five honor daggers hanging there (SS, SA, Army, Navy, and Luftwaffe).

 

I was transported to Camp Hasefeld. There I was told that if I would be cleared, I could go back to the farm where I was working. The camp didn’t even have any barbed wire and things seemed to be really easy going there. The next day after my arrival I was again subjected to a medical examination. The medic who assessed me was attached to the Air Force. He didn’t seem to care too much and he let me go without a problem. When I exited the medic’s office and English soldier asked me if I already passed the Politische Prüfung. I was a little bit confused and instead of answering yes I answered no. I was taken into a room where a man was sitting behind a desk. He had a red hat on his head and I’m sure he was an officer. He started asking me questions: “What’s your name? When and where were you born? Were you a member of the Hitlerjugend or NSDAP...?” Then he asked me to take my shirt off. I complied and there I stood in front of him half naked. I knew where he was going. Then he said: “Raise your arm.” I raised my right arm but I knew he meant my left arm. I knew exactly what he was looking for the “mark” under my left arm. Before I was able to hide the mark with some ointment but this time there was no escape. I raised my left arm and he said: “You are SS!” I said: “No I’m not” when he replied: “Yes you are.” This went on for a couple of minutes until I got annoyed by this game. I stood in front of him in perfect attention and I said: “Jawohl, Waffen SS!” He opened the top drawer of his desk and he took a handgun out. He carefully placed it on his desk. I can assure you that I started laughing at him and with him. I told him that he’d probably never seen any action on the battlefield and that he’d never had any bullets flying around his head. I said: “Your little toy gun is not scaring me at all.” He put the gun back into the drawer and he called two soldiers into the room. He ordered them to take me to a cell, which they did immediately. After a while, I started feeling hungry so I knocked on the door of my cell. An English “Feldwebel” answered and I told him I was hungry. He brought me a big bowl of oats, bread, and cheese. I finished the bowl of oats in no time and I asked for a second one. The guard asked me why I wanted a second one and I told him that I would keep the bread and cheese in case I would go hungry later on the day.

 

After a couple of days, they brought in a German. He was tall and carrying a big bag. The only thing he could do was to complain about everything and nothing. I asked him from which unit he was and he answered me: “Leibstandarte.” He said he had surrendered himself to the Allies and my reply to him was: “Sie sind ein Feigling! – You are a coward!” I stood up and slapped him in his face as hard as I could. He started knocking on the door like crazy calling for the guard. The guard arrived and asked what was going on. The German told him what I did to him. The guard looked at me and asked me if this was true. I told him: “Yes I slapped him in his face because he’s a coward. I tried to escape custody and he just surrendered to you so he’s a coward! Not far from me they kept Skorzeny. Yes, the Otto Skorzeny! One day I was put on an escort with Skorzeny and the other German soldier to another camp and I can assure you that I looked like a royal escort. When I arrived at the other camp, in Fallingbostel, there I was reunited with some NCOs from my old unit. Again, as a new arrival in a camp, I had to undergo another medical exam. Now I have to tell you that in my wallet I had a picture of my parents, sister, and neighbors, all were taken in my hometown. When I had to go for my medical there were 6 soldiers sitting in the room and one of them also had a red hat on. They asked me about the pictures in my wallet and I showed them. On some of the pictures, there was the writing Dendermonde and Merchtem. These were the locations where they were taken. The officer – with the red hat – opened his wallet and he had a picture in there with the writing “Merchtem” on it. He said he recognized the background on my pictures as he was stationed in Merchtem before. So, because if this I was cleared as not being a German but being a Belgian. I told the officer that I was a Fleming but because of that I received a good beating and I was told that I was a Belgian.

 

When I was identified as a Belgian, I was repatriated to Belgium with the Piron Brigade. We were put on a train from Fallingbostel to Belgium and I have to tell you that these men from the Piron Brigade – who were also on the train - stole all our belongings. An English soldier saw this happening and he yelled at them to stop their activities immediately. He told them: “Stop doing this, these men are also soldiers!” After this incident, we left for Belgium and we arrived in Schaarbeek. There we were transferred to a prisoner’s camp. After a while, I had to appear in front of a military tribunal and my lawyer told me to be humble, friendly, and repentant. I told him I couldn’t play this game and when I appeared before the courts, I showed no remorse for what I’ve done. I was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment and I was stripped of all my civilian and military rights. After my sentencing, I was transferred to a POW in Beverloo. There I had to reappear before the courts and my sentence was reduced to 20 years, then 10 years, and finally to 5 years. I spent some time in Beverloo until the day I got the word that I was free. I was so happy that I was finally free that I was already drunk before I got home. My entire family was waiting for me and this was the end of my misery. When I was back in my hometown people never took offense about the fact that I was a former member of the Waffen SS. When my father received a notification that I was still alive he immediately sent for my mother who was visiting her mother in another town. He sent my sister to her. When my mother received the news that I was still alive she walked back home with a rosary in her hand, praying for me until she got back home. I was a soldier and I’ve done my duty as a soldier. I don’t have to be ashamed of my actions at all!”

The Private Film Archive of Eva Braun-Hitler - Reel 5

Source: US National Archives - https://catalog.archives.gov/id/43461

 

Reel 5

 

00:06 – „Ausflug zum Kehlstein” – drive to Kehlsteinhaus - actors visit the Kehlsteinhaus (B/W).

 

02:08 – village festival (film set?) - actors (?) in trachten costumes shop and have lunch, then clown around on stage, Braun women visit, actors at a lake (the film was „Der laufende Berg“ (1941), and the actors seen here probably include some of the following: Hansi Knoteck, Paul Richter, Maria Andergast, Fritz Kampers, Gustl Gstettenbaur, Beppo Brem, and Martin Schmidhofer) (B/W).

 

04:29 – EB and others at car, landscape, trees in spring, EB in dirndl, actors at a picnic (color).

 

05:55 – Kehlsteinhaus actors group from start of reel, at a cafe (B/W).

 

06:43 – Hermann Fegelein marries Gretl Braun in Salzburg, 3 June 1944 – then the main Kehlsteinhaus wedding reception film, also scenes filmed in Martin Bormann’s house (see Reel 3A). The following can be seen: Fegelein and Gretl, EB, Bormann and his wife Gerda (Fegelein shakes hands with Gerda Bormann), Herta Schneider with her daughters Uschi (dressed as an angel) and Gitta (Uschi recites), Fanny, Fritz, and Ilse Braun, Georg Alexander, Heini Handschuhmacher, cooks in the Kehlsteinhaus, reception in the Kehlsteinhaus great room and Scharitzkehl room, the couple pose with Hitler in the Berghof great room (Hitler did not attend the Kehlsteinhaus reception) (B/W).

 

12:55 – Hitler eats with children in Berghof (Haus Wachenfeld), children and Berghof staff with Christmas tree (see end of Reel 3A - the staff seen include Herbert Döhring), AH with children (Goebbels ?) in Mooslahnerkopf Teehaus (?) (B/W).

 

16:02 – AH in Berghof with Otto Dietrich (?), Walter Hewel, Karl Bodenschatz (?), Nicolaus von Below (?), Julius Schaub, Martin Bormann, Rudolf Schmundt (?), others, Berghof ladies (includes Anni Brandt, Margarete Speer, Gretl Braun) (B/W).

 

17:00 – Mooslahnerkopf Teehaus (Hitler with Schaub - cuts to shot of Hitler in the Berghof Wintergarten), Teehaus walk in snow, EB and Gretl Braun, Berghof front steps (Berghof 1938 extension and Hotel zum Türken seen in background), Hitler at the Mooslahnerkopf overlook, Hanni Morell in a sleigh, skiing (B/W).

 

19:05 – woman talks on phone, she and man practice „cut finger” trick (the woman may be the actress Maria Andergast), guests and EB play with male German shepherd, Gretl Braun, Ilse Braun (?), Fanny and Fritz Braun and guests clown with food and drink, Brauns and Morells as guests (B/W).

 

20:56 – man clowns around with piano, Braun family, EB, Gretl and others party, EB does a cabaret, others dressed up (Fasching? – some still photos also of this, also color portrait photos of EB taken on this occasion) (B/W).

 

24:50 – Brauns outside the Munich (?) house, close-up of Gretl Braun and maid, same guests as before, playing with dogs (male German shepherd – Basko?, dachshund, Scottish terriers Negus and/or Stasi) (color).

 

27:27 – Fritz Braun smokes cigar, same guests socialize and clown around (color).

 

30:02 – sunbathing at beach – Braun family and guests – facial close-ups – dogs play in water (color).

 

32:07 – shot of the Reiteralpe mountains from the Berghof (32:11) – guests clown at roadside (color).

 

32:47 – „Der Führer besucht seine Heimat am 12.VI.39” – „Das Grab der Eltern in Leonding” – Hitler visits his Austrian home on 12 June 1939 – at the grave of Hitler’s parents in Leonding/Linz (color).

 

33:03 – „Gut Hafeld” – driving by the Rauchergut in Hafeld (a Hitler childhood home in Austria) (color).

 

33:25 – movie filming set (The film was „Der laufende Berg,“ produced for German cinema in 1941, starring Hansi Knoteck, Paul Richter, Maria Andergast, Fritz Kampers, Gustl Gstettenbaur, Beppo Brem, Martin Schmidhofer, and others (color).

 

33:59 – „Pause Mittagessen” – lunch break on the film set – EB, Gretl Braun, Herta Schneider, actors in trachten costumes (color).

 

34:36 – „Erneuerung der Schminke” – touching up make-up on the film set, Gretl Braun and actors laugh, actors pose with Herta Schneider, Gretl, and EB (color).

 

35:33 – „ ‘Siegfrieds’ Kraftprobe” – ‘Siegfried’s’ test of strength - film set (color).

 

35:46 – „Aussen-Aufnahmen” – outdoor film set in the mountains, actors, landslide (part of the film) (color).