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Adolf
Hitler on attacking and not defending
[PHOTO
SOURCE: http://izquotes.com/quote/85907]
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SOURCE: http://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/40-09-04.htm
Adolf Hitler
- speech at the Berlin Sportpalast
on the
opening of the Kriegswinterhilfswerk
September 4,
1940
The first year of the war ended in these last days. The second began and
with it the new Kriegswinterhilfswerk. The successes of the first year, my
Volksgenossen, are unique-so unique in fact that not only our enemies had not
envisioned the course of history in this manner, but many in the German Volk
were hardly able to comprehend the greatness of the occurrences and the
rapidity of events.
We cannot
compare the first year of the war to the World War: for in it, despite the
greatest of valor, despite the unheard-of, greatest of sacrifices, only partial
results were obtained and no one, final solution. This time we need only look
at the enormous triangle which is protected by the Wehrmacht today: in the East
the Bug; in the North the North Cape, Kirkenes, and Narvik; in the South the
border of Spain. A number of our adversaries have been eliminated. And the
English owe it only to their fortuitous geographic position and to the enormous
rapidity of their escape that they were spared a similar fate until now.
For matters are
not standing as several British politicians attempt to portray the situation:
that the British Army, tearing at its reins like a wild horse, is aflame with
the desire to finally be unleashed, to hurl itself at the German enemy. It was
surely close enough to us to satisfy this “desire” without much ado. It
withdrew from our vicinity, and thus it is its lot to portray these pitiful
retreats as great victories. And this is what all its “successes” look like!
Besides the vast area already controlled by German troops at this time, our
ally Italy has for its part taken the offensive in East Africa, strengthened
its position there, and has beaten England back. Naturally, this is opposed by
English “successes.” These are successes which defy comprehension by the
normal, healthy human brain. We see time and time again how the English
propaganda falls from one extreme to the next, from highs to lows, only to
return to even greater highs a few days later.
Thus, one day,
we read: “The die has been cast in this war. If the Germans fail to reach
Paris-and in this they cannot succeed-then they will have lost the war. Should
they still reach Paris, then England will still win the war.” England surely
has fought through to many a success of this kind since that September 3. The
most glorious of these victories was-although a disgraceful fiasco in our
eyes-the flight from Dunkirk. Any port in a storm.
We need only
read a British war bulletin to know what all these “successes” amount to. For
instance, it says: “We were told that . . .” or “one gains the following
information from well-informed circles . . .” or “one hears from knowledgeable
officials . . .” or “from expert statements one can infer . .
.” One bulletin
even read: “We believe we have cause to be permitted to believe that . . .” In
this way any defeat can be transformed into a success! We were just moving into
Poland when English propagandists declared that “well-informed circles” had
related that the Germans had already suffered a number of grave setbacks: the
Poles were victoriously advancing upon Berlin.
Only a few days
later, these “well-informed circles” assured us that the tide had turned in the
East for good.
Then came
equally “well-informed experts” who remarked that, even if Germany should have
gained a victory, which was not the case, then this victory was actually a
defeat-as seen, naturally, from the viewpoint of higher strategic
considerations. When we finally stood before Warsaw, they promptly changed
their minds: “ . . . it would be correct to assume that the Allied attack in
the West has achieved its first great victory, a breakthrough.” And thus
matters went on until there was no more Poland.
And they said:
“A great burden has been lifted from our shoulders. This Poland in the East was
always a weak point for us. Now we can finally concentrate our efforts on a
theater of war where we are superior to the Germans, as they will shortly
realize.” Then there was calm for some time. This calm by itself naturally
already constituted a consistent success of the British Armed Forces and an
equally persistent failure for Germany. While the English worked throughout
these months, we apparently slept through them! In this time, the English
politicians saw it all, realized it all, and, above all, they grasped
everything just in time. In the meanwhile, we missed out on everything.
This was until
Norway. When operations began, English war reporters rejoiced at the “colossal
mistake” we Germans had supposedly committed.
“Finally the
Germans have made a mistake, and now they will have to pay for it,” so they
wrote. And they were happy in England that finally they had been afforded the
chance to measure themselves with the Germans.
They could have
measured themselves with us at any hour, since in the West we lay but a few
hundred meters apart. Still they pretended they could not possibly have seen
us. And then, for the first time, good fortune afforded them the opportunity,
thanks to our foolishness and in particular my own, to oppose us in armed
conflict. And the conflict indeed came. It was truly an irony of fate that
England owes perhaps the heaviest blow which it was dealt at the time to its
very own propaganda.
Namely, as we
had beaten the Norwegians back beyond Hamar and Lillehammer, a simple-minded
British brigade marched unsuspectingly along the same road to Hamar. They had
no connection with the rear, for this rear had been destroyed by our Stukas and
fighters. They listened exclusively to British radio. And from the British
radio, the commander of the brigade heard that we were far off still, far in
front of Lillehammer, or rather, from his point of view, far behind
Lillehammer. And that we had suffered a severe defeat.
And thus the
British brigade commander marched into Lillehammer at the head of his brigade.
There he laid his head to rest, with a chest at his side, filled with documents
which read: “Top secret” and “Do not allow to fall into enemy hands.” And that
very night, our troops rounded him up, along with his precious Ark of the
Covenant. That’s what you get when you rely on Mr. Churchill the war reporter.
And the story
was the same all over: they lied and they lied again. They were thrown back
into the sea, and this was a “complete and great victory.” When they succeeded
in salvaging a bit of rubble from Andalsnes or Namsos, they declared this,
before the world, the most mighty success in the modern British history of war.
We cannot measure ourselves with something like that, naturally! Still all this
is opposed by hard facts: a few weeks later, there was no more Norway and the
British Armed Forces were forced to withdraw from this country also.
Then came the
hour of the confrontation in the West. And here, too, we did not come too late.
For in particular in this campaign, the Allied coalition suffered nothing other
than defeat.
The facts-the
historic facts-bear witness to this. In spite of this, the campaign also ended
in the obligatory great British victory, namely, the magnificent, the glorious
feat of arms at Dunkirk. The traces of this glorious military achievement I
have seen with my very eyes-it looked rather confused.
Now France has
fallen, too. And what rationale has been contrived this time? When Norway had
finally been cleansed of the Allies, they had declared: “This was precisely
what we wanted. We only wanted to lure the Germans up here. This was a victory,
an unequaled victory for us.” After France had been knocked to the ground for
good, they had declared: “Now England, for the first time, can concentrate its
forces. We are no longer forced to squander our troops and to dissipate our
energies. We have now reached the strategic position we have always longed for
and hoped for. We are now rid of the burden of France.
It only cost us
precious British blood. And now we are in a position to confront the Germans
quite differently.” Right at the beginning of the war, they had concerned
themselves with certain prophecies regarding the length of the war. They had
said: “The war will last three years; Britain will prepare itself for three
years.” And rightly so, for these folk, who are immensely rich owners of war
production shares, are clever enough to know that their new acquisitions cannot
bear interest or be amortized within half a year, or even a year.
Therefore
things had to take a bit longer. But I was equally careful and immediately said
to the Reichsmarschall at the time: Goring, let us prepare everything for five
years! Not because I believe that the war will last five years, but, come what
may, England will break down! In one way or another! And I do not know of any
deadline other than this one! Of course I will prepare everything in a prudent,
cautious, and careful manner. You will understand that.
And when people
in England today nosily inquire: “Well, why isn’t he coming?” Calm yourselves:
he is coming! Curiosity killed the cat.
The world will
be free! The nonsense that it will be possible for one nation to blockade a
continent arbitrarily must be done away with. It must be made impossible in the
future that such a pirate state, according to disposition and mood, can
undertake from time to time to more or less subject 450 million human beings to
poverty and misery. We as Germans, for all time, are fed up with having England
tell us if we can perhaps do this or that; in the end, if a German is allowed
to drink his coffee or not. If England does not like it, then it simply
blockades coffee imports. Personally, I am not affected. I do not drink
anything. But I am nettled that others should not be able to drink it.
At any rate, I
find it insupportable that a nation of eighty-five million should be at the mercy
of another people at any time-whenever it suits the plutocrats in London. So
often have I extended my hand for an understanding with the English people. You
know it yourselves: it was my foreign policy program. I have recently done so
for the very last time. I now prefer to fight to finally arrive at a clear
decision.
This clear
decision can consist only in the removal of this regime of pitiful and base
warmongers and in a situation being established in which it will be impossible
for one nation to tyrannically run all of Europe in the future.
Here Germany
and Italy will take care that history does not repeat itself a second time. And
here nothing will help England and its allies: no Emperor Haile Sellassie, no
Herr Bene_-nor anyone else: no King Haakon, no Queen Wilhelmina, and no French
General de Gaulle. All these allies will be of no help. And whatever other
designs they may entertain, or whatever else they may envision in the depth of
their hearts-we will be on the lookout, we are ready for anything, determined
in everything, and willing to take action at any time.
Nothing
frightens us. We German National Socialists have graduated from the toughest
school conceivable. First we were soldiers in the Great War, and then we were
fighters in the resurgence of Germany. What we had to suffer in these years
made us hard. Thus we cannot be intimidated by anything and nothing can
surprise us.
When the
English entered the war one year ago, they said: “We have an ally.” We were
curious to see who that might be. They said: “It is a general, this ally, and
his name is General Revolution.” Ha-ha! They have not an inkling of the new
National Socialist German Volksstaat. And now London is waiting for this
general to commence activities. On September 6, on September 7, nothing
happened, and by September 8, there was great disappointment. For, according to
their forecasts, this General Revolution was to rise up within a week’s time.
He was nowhere
to be found.
Then they said:
“We have another allied general; his name is General Hunger.” We had already
anticipated that these great friends of humanity would undertake, as in the
World War, to starve women and children. And we prepared ourselves. And this
general, too, turned out to be a false speculation, a ghost, a jack-o’-lantern
in the brain of Mr. Churchill.
Now they have
traced a third ally. His name is General Winter. We made his acquaintance once
before. And back then he failed, and he will fail and is destined to fail again
this time. The English should not forget, if they insist on resorting to such
obscure, foreign generals, to promote their own most important General to the
rank perhaps of a British Field Marshal: namely, General Bluff. He is their
only ally who actually merits so high a distinction. However, this general
lacks his former bite. With him you might succeed in deluding the British
people, but the German Volk knows England sufficiently well not to be deceived.
The blabbering
of a Mr. Churchill or a Mr. Eden-to speak of the old Chamberlain good taste
forbids-this blabbering leaves the German Volk cold, and, at best, elicits
laughter. In standard German there is no appropriate term for a phenomenon like
Duff Cooper. Here you must resort to dialect, and the Bavarian has coined a
term which fittingly characterizes the man: Krampfhenne (nervous old
hen)! The gentlemen ought to calm down as they cannot win the war with such
weapons. The means for this, thank God, lie in our hands and will remain in our
hands.
For when the
bell tolls, we shall replace the Generals Hunger, Revolution, Winter, or Bluff,
with General Action-and then we shall see who will hold his own better! I have
already expressed the German Volk’s gratitude to its soldiers before the
Reichstag. In these days, we all are moved by gratitude to our Luftwaffe, our
valiant heroes, who fly to England day after day, to give our answer there to
what the ingenious Mr. Churchill so recently invented. I will speak of this
later.
Today I would
like to address my thanks to the homeland for the year lying behind us; my
thanks to the entire German Volk for the attitude it displayed during the many,
not so easy events of this year. For perhaps many do not realize precisely what
it means to evacuate, within a few weeks, over 700,000 people. Everything went
according to plan. Then, however, everything was well prepared on our side-in
contrast to the other side. But what the mass took upon itself in certain
instances was often daunting. How it bore up under this truly inspires awe! We
are happy that these people can now return to their homeland.
We must also
thank those who have taken the most crucial precautions in this homeland, those
who were responsible for all of this: the air-raid protection personnel; and,
in particular, the colossal organization of the Red Cross, its doctors, its
medical personnel, and its nurses. They have accomplished incredible things.
Above all, we wish to think of the German woman, of the crowd of millions of
German women, German mothers, and also German girls, who had to replace the men
working in the cities and in the countryside. They took care of the provision
of daily bread and saw to it that the soldier received the necessary weapons
and ammunition.
At their side
stood the millions of German workers in the ammunition factories, who placed
themselves at the disposal of the fighting front, whether young or old, so that
it should not be missing any of those items the lack of which led in the end to
the breakdown of the year 1918.
It is truly
magnificent to see our Volk at war and its total discipline. We realize this
all the more in a time when Mr. Churchill is demonstrating to us the use of his
invention: the nightly air raid. He does not do this because air raids at night
are particularly effective, but because his Air Force cannot penetrate German
airspace during the day. While the German pilots, the German planes, fly over
English land day by day, no Englishman has yet managed to as much as cross the
North Sea by daylight. That is why they come at night and drop their bombs-you
know it well-indiscriminately and without plan on civilian residential centers,
on farmsteads, and villages.
Wherever they
see a light, they drop a bomb.
I did not
answer for three months because I was of the opinion that they would ultimately
stop this nonsense. Mr. Churchill perceived this as a sign of our weakness. You
will surely understand that now we are giving our answers night after night,
and this at an increasing rate.
And should the
Royal Air Force drop two thousand, or three thousand, or four thousand
kilograms of bombs, then we will now drop 150,000; 180,000; 230,000; 300,000;
400,000; yes, one million kilograms in a single night. And should they declare
they will greatly increase their attacks on our cities, then we will erase
their cities! We will put these nighttime pirates out of business, God help us!
The hour will come that one of us will crack, and it will not be National
Socialist Germany! In my life, I have once already waged such a fight unto the
last. And then the enemy cracked who now has his seat in England as the last
available island in Europe. It is precisely in view of this battle that it is
all the more necessary to comprehend how important the fashioning and formation
of our German Volksgemeinschaft is. We could not have achieved a single thing,
if the German soldier had stood at the front, forlorn and on his own, without
any connection to kindred souls at home. What makes the German soldier strong
at the front is the awareness and knowledge that behind him stands an entire
Volk united in iron determination and a fanatical will! And indeed, a Volk in
the pursuit of loftier objectives. And these objectives go far beyond the mere
winning of this war.
We want to
build up a new state! That is why the others hate us so much today. They have
often said as much. They said: “Yes, their social experiment is very dangerous!
If it takes hold, and our own workers come to see this too, then this will be
highly disquieting. It costs billions and does not bring any results. It cannot
be expressed in terms of profit, nor of dividends. What is the point?! We are
not interested in such a development. We welcome everything which serves the
material progress of mankind insofar as this progress translates into economic
profit. But social experiments, all they are doing there, this can only lead to
the awakening of greed in the masses. Then we will have to descend from our
pedestal. They cannot expect this of us.” And we were seen as setting a bad
example. Any institution we conceived was rejected, as it served social
purposes. They already regarded this as a concession on the way to social
legislation and thereby to the type of social development these states loathe.
They are, after all, plutocracies in which a tiny clique of capitalists
dominate the masses, and this, naturally, in close cooperation with
international Jews and Freemasons.
We know these
enemies from our inner struggle, our dear old coalition of the System-Deutschland,
a part of which has saved itself by swimming ashore.
They hate us
because of our social attitude, and everything which we plan and implement
based on this appears threatening. They are of the conviction that this
development must be eradicated.
I am convinced,
however, that the future belongs to this development, and that those states
that do not follow suit will, sooner or later, break apart.
If they do not
find a reasonable solution, the states with unresolved social problems will,
sooner or later, arrive at an insane solution. National Socialism has prevented
this in the German Volk. They are now aware of our objectives. They know how
persistently and decisively we defend and will reach this goal.
Hence the
hatred of all the international plutocrats, the Jewish newspapers, the world
stock markets, and hence the sympathy for these democrats in all the countries
of a like cast of mind. Because we, however, know that what is at stake in this
war is the entire social structure of our Volk, and that this war is being
waged against the substance of our life, we must, time and time again in this
war of ideals, avow these ideals. And, in this sense, the Winterhilfswerk, this
greatest social relief fund there is on this earth, is a mighty demonstration
of this spirit.
Any person will
judge me quite capable of having gone about the resolution of the financial
aspect of this problem in a different manner. We could have generated the
income, without much ado, by means of taxation. It would not have been
necessary to build up this gigantic organization. We could have accomplished
the same through the good offices of civil servants. But while the result might
well have been as financially rewarding-perhaps even greater still-in terms of
ideals, nothing comparable to what we possess could have been attained.
Thus, the value
of this voluntary association of the German Volksgemeinschaft lies in its
practical application: for one, the education of the one who gives, but also
the education of the other who now voluntarily does the work. For there are two
making sacrifices. The one makes a sacrifice in donating, the other in
administering this donation and in doing so voluntarily. They all experience
the practical education of the Volksgemeinschaft: every small girl who collects
on the streets; and all those professionals who take turns lending their
support, all the way up to the representatives of the state, of the economy, of
the arts, and so on. And this is what is decisive, my Volksgenossen.
For all of us,
in one way or another, are burdened with the heritage of the past, our descent,
our social standing, our profession, and so on. We have the choice of making do
without millions of men, who are irreplaceable in their national work and
economic activities, because they are not yet mature enough for membership in
such a community. From the start, National Socialism has maintained that man’s
behavior is merely a product of education, habit, and heritage; it can thus be
relearned. For the child who is reared by our Volk is not born with any
prejudices of standing or class; these are instilled in him. Only in the course
of his life is this differentiation artificially forced upon him. And to remove
this is our mission if we are not willing to renounce the building of a truly
organic, sustainable, human community. And this mission we have taken upon
ourselves and are beginning to implement in all spheres of life. At the age at
which a child formerly was judged old enough to be taught the differences in
human existence, we begin with his education towards the community and we do
not let go again.
And when this
man or another comes to inquire about results-well, my dear friend, we began
only a few years ago. First we did so with the Party as the community and then,
for nearly eight years now, with the German Volk.
This was but a
short time, but the results are already overwhelming when you consider how many
centuries before sought the opposite. For this, the colossal demonstrations of
our community speak. Only twenty years ago this would have been impossible;
thirty years ago inconceivable; and forty years ago no one would have wanted
this; but today it is a virtual reality. We educate man to a single conception
of life, to a single, balanced conception of duty. And we are convinced that,
after a certain period of such an education, men will emerge as products of
this education who then will, to the same extent, represent the new ideas as
today they still embody, in part, the old ones.
It was a
laborious process of polishing and educating. But in the Winterhilfswerk
already we can see: it is making progress. When the first Winterhilfswerk was
called to life, many still went about Germany-you know what I mean, according
to Ludwig Schmitz497-and said: “Who is coming along there? A man with a
collection tin! About face right or left, march!” Or some other stupid comment.
That the
situation has improved is evident already in the growing amount of donations.
Persistence here, too, has led to success. And slowly, even the most
thickheaded representative of the old order has to acknowledge: first, it is of
no use anyway, the collectors come time and time again; and second, it is
better to donate something; and third, everything considered, something is
truly being achieved. And what is happening? The wounds we have healed in
Germany! In how many instances did we help others out! In how many instances
did we give people a leg-up! What gigantic social institutions have we created!
Believe me, many people are against such reforms simply because of apathy or
mental sluggishness! But once they do finally see results, they say: “Well,
naturally one can contribute to this. I did not think, I could not imagine,
either something so colossal coming of it, or it having such consequences.
These are truly deeds of greatness which are being accomplished here.” And when
these men then come to reflect upon themselves as representatives of the old
stubborn opinions, then they are already on the way towards a new Germany.
By contrast, if
thirty years ago we had told someone: “Sir, here take this collection tin. Now
go stand at the street corner and ask people to donate something for their
Volksgenossen”-then that someone would surely have said: “What for? I myself
will give you something. But more you cannot ask of me. I am Mister So and So.
Never would I think of doing anything of the kind. And what’s more: What will
people think of me? What should I do if someone comes up to me and says
something stupid?” Well, this man obviously is not all that much more
intelligent than the person whom he considers to be stupid. You have to educate
people to be considerate to one another. It is good if they see how
ill-considered, how stupid some people are.
And precisely
this great work has shown within a few years’ time how open to influence a
Volkskorper is; how a great idea can lay hold of people in the end. This is
true also of a great work, of a great achievement. And we are in fact laying
hold of them from all sides. Everywhere this education is being conducted.
I do not know
how often, in former times, people remarked on the Napoleonic phrase that every
soldier carries the marshal’s baton in his knapsack. This was not meant
literally, of course. For then it was simply inconceivable that a regular
soldier set out on such a path. All this has changed today, top to bottom.
Whereas once
the highest distinction was accorded only to officers, today a valiant non-commissioned
officer or private may equally well earn it. The walls of a world of prejudice
have been torn down. A world of prejudice is gone and, you may believe me, in
the course of the decades it will become ever the more beautiful to live in
this state. All the greater will be the tasks to be faced. They will draw our
Volk ever closer together, will transform it into a closer community of even
greater depths. And if there should still remain some who are not willing,
under any circumstances, then we will just have to accord them an honorable
funeral. For they are the representatives of a bygone era and, perhaps, of
great interest in this respect. But the future belongs to the young nations who
will solve this question. And we have undertaken its solution and we shall see
to it.
In this
context, the Winterhilfswerk constitutes a colossal demonstration of the
community of the homeland in view of the colossal demonstrations of the
community of our front. As a gigantic organism there fulfills its duty in a
wellorganized manner, so the homeland does here and is prepared to undertake
the same, willing to make any sacrifice this struggle for existence, for our
future, will impose upon us. And when I pay tribute here once more to all those
who have contributed to the first Kriegswinterhilfswerk or who were otherwise
active as helpers, then, at the same time, I ask all of you: Fulfill anew your
mission in this second Kriegswinterhilfswerk. May some of you become voluntary
helpers while the others become voluntary contributors. And take care that this
project should once more demonstrate to the world our indivisible sense of
community, that it should finally recognize all speculations connected to
“General Revolution” to be idiotic. Another general has taken the place of this
general: the general of a common fulfillment of duty! It is the spirit of our
Volksgemeinschaft which allows us to bear all this and which makes our Volk
strong for all confrontations and decisions of the future! With this the
individual contributes to breaking the will of our enemies, to robbing them of
their illusions, and thereby does his part in the dissemination of correct
information about our Volk. The more the other world sees this great Volk to be
a single unit, the more it will recognize the hopelessness of its undertaking.
People who set
forth on paths separate from one another could be broken.
But eighty-five
million men who have one will, one resolve, and who are prepared to act-no
power on earth can break them!
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