On
this date, Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany following the death of
President Paul von Hindenburg. I will post information about the Hitler oath
from Wikipedia.
The ceremonial
swearing-in of the Reichswehr to the new Reich President Adolf
Hitler! Aug. 1934. The teams with mourning ribbons swear oaths to the new
Reich President Adolf Hitler.
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The
term Hitler oath refers to the oaths of allegiance, or Reichswehreid,
sworn by the officers and soldiers of the German Armed
Forces as well as civil servants of Nazi
Germany between the years 1934 and 1945. The oath pledged personal loyalty
to Adolf
Hitler in place of loyalty to the constitution of the country.
Background
On
the day before President Paul von Hindenburg's death
on August 2, 1934, Hitler's cabinet had enacted a law combining the offices of Chancellor (the head of government) and
President (the head of state); Adolf Hitler would henceforth be known as Führer
und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor) and was both head of state and
commander in chief of the armed forces. The day of the Hindenburg's death, the
cabinet ordered a plebiscite for August 19 for the German
people to approve the combination of the two offices.
Although
the popular view is that Hitler drafted the oath himself and imposed it on the
military, the oath was the initiative of Defence Minister General Werner von Blomberg and General Walther von Reichenau, the chief of the
Ministerial Office. Indeed, Hitler was surprised by the oath. Before Hitler
took office, the military swore the Reichswehreid
to the German constitution and president. The intention of Blomberg and
Reichenau in having the military swear an oath to Hitler was to create a
personal special bond between him and the military, which was intended to tie
Hitler more tightly towards the military and away from the NSDAP. Years later,
Blomberg admitted that he did not think through the full implications of the
oath at the time.
Germany's
voters went to the polls and 89.9% voted their approval for Hitler to assume
complete power over Germany. The following day, August 20, 1934, the cabinet
decreed the "Law On The Allegiance of Civil Servants and Soldiers of the
Armed Forces", which superseded the original oaths. Prior to the decree,
both members of the armed forces and civil servants had sworn loyalty to
"the People and the Fatherland" (Volk und Vaterland); civil
servants had additionally sworn to uphold the constitution and laws of Germany.
The new law decreed that instead, both members of the armed forces and civil
servants would swear an oath to Hitler personally.
Text
of the oaths
Wehrmacht
oath
Die Vereidigung der
Wehrmacht auf Adolf Hitler, 2.8.1934
"Ich
schwöre bei Gott diesen heiligen Eid, daß ich dem Führer des Deutschen Reiches
und Volkes Adolf Hitler, dem Oberbefehlshaber der Wehrmacht, unbedingten
Gehorsam leisten und als tapferer Soldat bereit sein will, jederzeit für diesen
Eid mein Leben einzusetzen."
The Wehrmacht Oath of
Loyalty to Adolf Hitler, 2 August 1934
"I
swear to God this sacred oath that to the Leader of the German empire and
people, Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces, I shall render
unconditional obedience and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be
prepared to give my life for this oath."
Civil
servant oath
Diensteid der
öffentlichen Beamten
Ich
schwöre: Ich werde dem Führer des Deutschen Reiches und Volkes Adolf Hitler
treu und gehorsam sein, die Gesetze beachten, und meine Amtspflichten
gewissenhaft erfüllen, so wahr mir Gott helfe.
Service oath for public
servants
I
swear: I will be faithful and obedient to the leader of the German empire and
people, Adolf Hitler, to observe the law, and to conscientiously fulfil my
official duties, so help me God!
Public
figures who refused to take the oath
In
alphabetic sequence:
- Karl Barth (Swiss theologian); Consequences: loss of professorship
- Martin Gauger (probationary judge as a state prosecutor in Wuppertal); Consequences: forced retirement of his position as a state prosecutor
- Franz Jägerstätter (Austrian conscientious objector); Consequences: execution in 1943; beatified in 2007
- Josef Mayr-Nusser (from Bozen), after call-up for duty in the Waffen-SS; Consequences: Death penalty, died on the way to the Dachau concentration camp
- Joseph Ruf (de) („Brother Maurus“ of the Christkönigsgesellschaft (rel.)), Consequences: Death penalty followed by execution
- Franz Reinisch (Pallottines padre from Austria), after call-up for duty in the German Wehrmacht; Consequences: execution by beheading in 1942
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