Hitler Quotes

Here are some of the best quotes ever said by Adolf Hitler. Most of them are taken from his speeches and others from his own published writings. But unlike other sites on the Internet that maintain a similar collection of Hitler quotations, this page actually quotes the date when it was said, and the source of where the English translation for that quotation was found.

The reason this is all on a single page, is to make it convenient to do searches (ctrl + f) for some quotes you may have found. Trying to include these quootations with as much context as possible unlike other sites that post Hitler's words without context to match the agenda of that site. Besides, each quote is source and anyone can easily find the speech to which that particular quotation was taken from so you can read all of Hitler's words from that speech.

Just as I myself have now worked for fourteen years, untiringly and without ever wavering, to build this Movement; and just as I have succeeded in turning seven men into a force of twelve million, in the same way I want and we all want to build and work on giving new heart to our German Volk. [...] I do not want to promise them that this resurrection of the German Volk will come of itself. We are willing to work, but the Volk must help us. It should never make the mistake of believing that life, liberty and happiness will fall from heaven. Everything is rooted in one's own will, in one's own work. ... we shall never believe in foreign help, never in help which lies outside our own nation, outside our own Volk. The future of the German Volk lies in itself alone. Only when we have succeeded in leading this German Volk onwards by means of its own work, its own industriousness, its own defiance, and its own perseverance - only then will we rise up, just as our fathers once made Germany great, not with the help of others, but on their own. [...] And this brings us thus to our sixth item, clearly the goal of our struggle: the preservation of this Volk and this soil, the preservation of this Volk for the future, in the realization that this alone can constitute our reason for being. It is not for ideas that we live, not for theories or fantastic party programs; no, we live and fight for the German Volk, for the preservation of its existence, that it may undertake its own struggle for existence. Hitler's first speech as Reich Chancellor on February 10, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

Again, it is the party who called you here and again you have come. But not the 10,000 of those days but an enormous number of German men. The movement's party rally has always been the great military review of its men - of men determined and ready to defend the principles of a community of people not only in theory but in practice. It is a community without regard to origins, to social standing, to profession, to property, to education. A community which feels united in great faith and great determination. Not through position and not through party, not through profession and not through class, but united for our Germany. These flags are not merely an outward sign but represent a living obligation. Hundreds and hundreds have died for you. Tens of thousands were injured. Hundreds of thousands have lost position and profession. But the extreme faith of all has changed this from a flag of opposition to the flag of the Reich. And if, for 14 years the goddess of luck turned from us we know that we ourselves were to blame. We know she will turn her favor towards us again after we have paid our debt. May heaven be our witness. The debt of our people has been paid! The injustices have been avenged! The shame has been removed! The men of November have fallen. Their power is broken! But we do not want to exist merely for our sake but only for the sake of the people. We want to achieve nothing for ourselves but everything for Germany. We are mortal but Germany must live! From a Speech shown in the movie "The Victory of Faith" (1933) at ~55 minutes

National Socialism came to power in Germany in the same year in which Roosevelt was elected president of the United States. It is now important to examine those elements that have to be regarded as the cause of the present development. [...] Roosevelt comes from a family rolling in money. From the start, he belonged to that class of men for whom birth and descent pave the way and secure success in life in the democracies. I myself was the child of a small poor family. With unspeakable effort, I had to make my way through work and diligence. When the World War came, Roosevelt experienced it from where he was in the shadow of Wilson, from the point of view of the profiteer. Therefore, he only knows the pleasant consequences of the confrontation of people and states, reserved for the man who makes deals where others bleed to death. During this time, I lived my own life on the other, completely opposite, side. I did not belong to the men who make history or deals. I belonged to those who followed orders. As a common soldier, I labored to do my duty in front of the enemy during these four years. I returned from the war just as poor as I had left for it in the autumn of 1914. I shared the fate of millions of others. Mr. Roosevelt shared the fate of the so-called upper ten thousand. While, after the war, Mr. Roosevelt tried his hand at financial speculations in order to benefit personally from the inflation, that is, the diligence of others, I was still lying in the military hospital like hundreds of thousands of other men. And while Mr. Roosevelt finally set out to pursue the career of a normal politician, who is experienced in business, has economic backing, and is protected by his birth, I fought as a nameless and unknown man for the resurrection of my Volk, a people which had just suffered the greatest injustice in its history. The course of the two lives! Speech of December 11, 1941. Quoted in Domarus

I do not want anything on my gravestone but my name. All the same, owing to the peculiar circumstances of my life, I am perhaps more capable than anyone else of understanding and realizing the nature and the whole life of the various German castes. Not because I have been able to look down on this life from above but because I have participated in it, because I stood in the midst of this life, because fate in a moment of caprice or perhaps fulfilling the designs of providence, cast me into the great mass of the people, amongst common folk. Because I myself was a laboring man for years in the building trade and had to earn my own bread. And because for a second time I took my place once again as an ordinary soldier amongst the masses and because then life raised me into other strata of our people so that I know these, too, better than countless others who were born in these strata. So fate has perhaps fitted me more than any other to be the broker - I think I may say - the honest broker for both sides alike. Here I am not personally interested; I am not dependent upon the State or on any public office; I am not dependent upon business or industry or any trade union. I am an independent man, and I have set before myself no other goal than to serve, to the best of my power and ability, the German people, and above all to serve the millions who, thanks to their simple trust and ignorance and thanks to the baseness of their former leaders, have perhaps suffered more than any other class. Speech of May 10, 1933. Quoted in My New Order

I have had three unusual friends in my life. In my youth, poverty accompanied me for many years. When the Great War came to an end it was great sorrow that took hold of me and prescribed my path - sorrow at the collapse of our people. Since January 30 four years ago I have made the acquaintance of anxiety as the third friend - anxiety for the people and Reich which have been confided to my leadership. Since that time it has never left me, and in all probability will accompany me to my end. How could a man shoulder the burden of this anxiety if he had not faith in his mission and the consent of Him who stands above us? Speech of January 30, 1937. Quoted in My New Order

It is mankind's misfortune that its leaders forget all too often that ultimate strength does not lie anchored in divisions and regiments or in cannons and tanks; rather, the greatest strength of any leadership lies in the people themselves, in their unanimity, in their inner unity, and in their idealistic faith. That is the power which, in the end, can move the mountains of resistance! But this requires a philosophy which the Volk understands, a philosophy which it comprehends and which it loves. Speech of May 1, 1935. Quoted in Domarus

The question of the form of government or of the organization of the national community is not a subject for international debate at all. It is a matter of absolute indifference to us in Germany what form of government other nations have. At the most, it is a matter of indifference to us whether National Socialism - which is our copyright, just as fascism is the Italian one - is exported or not. We are not in the least interested in this ourselves! We see no advantage in making shipments of National Socialism as an idea, nor do we feel that we have any occasion to make war on other people because they are democrats. The assertion that National Socialism in Germany will soon attack North or South America, Australia, China, or even The Netherlands, because different systems of government are in control in these places, is on the same plane as the statement that we intend to follow it up with an immediate occupation of the full moon. Speech of January 30, 1939. Quoted in My New Order

He who desires to receive higher respect than others must meet this demand by a higher achievement. Speech of July 13, 1934. Quoted in My New Order

A people which is given noble and honorable leadership will in the long run show its noblest and most honorable virtues. Speech of December 11, 1933. Quoted in My New Order

Power in the last resort is possible only where there is strength, and that strength lies not in the dead weight of numbers but solely in energy. Even the smallest minority can achieve a mighty result if it is inspired by the most fiery, the most passionate will to act. World history has always been made by minorities. Speech of April 12, 1922. Quoted in My New Order

One day we will all be weighed together and judged together; either we will pass this test together, or the future will condemn us all. Speech of December 11, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

The conquest of power is a process which is never, never ended, for here, if anywhere, does the principle hold true, 'What you have won, win it ever anew, if you are to possess it!' There is no people in history that has won liberation as a gift, there is no people that will keep its freedom as a gift! Always and forever must this precious possession be guarded without ceasing. Speech of September 13, 1935. Quoted in My New Order

In the end, blood is stronger than any documents of mere paper. What ink has written will one day be blotted out by blood. Speech of March 1, 1935. Quoted in Domarus

In the end blood is stronger than all paper documents. What ink, wrote will one day be blotted out by blood. Speech of March 1, 1935. Quoted in My New Order

A soldier is normally honored twice in his life: following a victory, and following his death. From a speech honoring Hindenburg on August 7, 1934. Quoted in Domarus

Any weakling can manage victories, but only the strong can manage blows of fortune. Speech of January 30, 1942. Domarus

The genius consistently stands out from the masses in that he unconsciously anticipates truths of which the population as a whole only later becomes conscious! Speech of September 7, 1937. Quoted in Domarus

I am of the opinion that once the question of the Saar - which is German land - has been resolved, there is nothing which can bring Germany and France in conflict with each other. Alsace-Lorraine is not in dispute. But how often do we have to repeat that we neither want to absorb what does not belong to us, nor do we want to be loved by anyone who does not love us! In Europe there is not a single matter of dispute which could justify a war. Everything can be settled by the governments of the nations if they possess a feeling for their honor and responsibility. There is a Poland imbued with patriotic sentiment and a Germany no less devoted to its traditions. There are differences of opinion and matters of friction between them, arising from a bad treaty, but nothing which would make it worth sacrificing precious blood, for it is always the best who are killed in battle. That is why a friendly, neighborly agreement is possible between Germany and Poland. It is an insult to me when people continue to say that I want war. Am I supposed to be insane (wahnwitzig)? War? It would not settle anything, but only make the world situation worse. It would mean the end of our elite races, and in the course of time one would witness how Asia would take root on our continent and how Bolshevism would triumph. How could I want a war when we are still bearing the burdensome consequences of the last war and will continue to be made to feel them for another thirty or forty years to come? In an interview with Fernand de Brinon on November 15, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

I myself have no other aim in the future than the aim I have had for the fifteen years lying behind me. I wish to devote my whole life, unto my dying breath, to one task: making Germany free, healthy and happy once more. Speech of August 17, 1934. Quoted in Domarus

All of us pledge ourselves to the one ancient principle: it is of no importance if we ourselves live—as long as our Volk lives, as long as Germany lives! This is essential. Speech of September 1, 1939. Quoted in Domarus

If I see an opponent bringing a rifle to his shoulder, then I am not going to wait for him to pull the trigger. Instead, I am determined to pull it before he does. Speech of October 3, 1941. Domarus

We recognize only two Gods: A God in Heaven and a God on earth and that is our Fatherland. September 22, 1938. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

Nations are weighed in the spirit of their soldiers and are either found wanting and stricken from the book of life and history or found to be worthy of bearing new life. Our nation, with its difficult geo-political situation, was saved again and again only through the heroic actions of its men. We have lived for 2,000 years only because there were always men ready to stake all and, if necessary, sacrifice all for the common weal. But these heroes did not give their lives thinking thereby to free later generations of a like obligation. The achievements of the past would all be in vain if a single generation were lacking in strength or the will to make equal sacrifices. Speech of March 10, 1940, My New Order

What has been strewn about only these past few weeks in the way of altogether crazy, stupid and reckless allegations about Germany is simply outrageous. What can one possibly say, when Reuters invents attacks on my life, and English newspapers talk about huge waves of arrests in Germany, about the closing of the German borders to Switzerland, Belgium, France, etc.; when yet other newspapers report that the Crown Prince has fled Germany, or that a military putsch has taken place in Germany; that German generals have been taken prisoner, and on the other hand that German generals have stationed themselves with their regiments in front of the Reich Chancellery; that a quarrel has broken out between Himmler and Göring on the Jewish question, and as a result I am in a difficult predicament; that a German general has established contact with Daladier via intermediaries; that a regiment has mutinied in Stolp; that 2,000 officers have been dismissed from the army; that the entire German industrial sector has just received orders to mobilize for war; that there are extremely strong differences between the Government and private industry; that twenty German officers and three generals have fled to Salzburg; that fourteen generals have fled to Prague with Ludendorff's corpse; and that I have completely lost my voice, and the resourceful Dr. Goebbels is presently on the lookout for a man capable of imitating my voice to allow me to speak from gramophone records from now on. I take it that tomorrow this journalistic zealot of truth will either contest that I am really here today or claim that I had only made gestures, while behind me the Reich Minister of Propaganda ran the gramophone. Speech of February 20, 1938. Quoted in Domarus

Hitler and the Treaty of Versailles / Weimar Germany

Think back to the year 1918. The German people, which still in the summer had been at the height of its power, had collapsed within a few months and now lay prostrate, completely wrecked and shattered. One question must have confronted everybody at that time: Is it possible to rise again from this depth of misery and misfortune? The tragedy of our collapse lay not in military defeat, nor in the horrible peace as such, nor in the oppression resulting therefrom, nor in the lack of armament and defense, nor in all that which afflicted Germany these many years. The tragedy lay in the fact that all this came about through our own fault—that millions of Germans not only did not realize this even at the last moment, but actually welcomed it. It lay in the fact that hundreds of thousands rejoiced at the defeat; that millions acclaimed our disarmament; and that many saw in all our oppression by the enemy a just judgment and the execution of justified punishment. The fact that a great part of the German people no longer cared about the misery of the Fatherland—that was the tragic misfortune and the horrible disaster that befell us. This brings us to a basic question, the answer to which holds the fate of the German nation. And this question is, will it still be possible in Germany to reintegrate the masses of those who have lost faith in their people and who look upon their enemy as more of a brother than their own Volksgenosse who happens to differ from them in regard to party ideals or philosophy; will it be possible to reintegrate these masses into one unified national community? Yes or no? If this question is not answered in the affirmative, the German nation will be doomed. For peoples can perish. It is madness to believe that a great people of sixty or seventy million cannot be destroyed. It perishes as soon as it loses its drive of self-preservation. There are 18,000,000 in the German Reich today who are still of the opinion that self-preservation as such is no justification for the existence of our people on this earth, but that our existence is conditional on some kind of a fantastic conception of the interests of others. ... That is the misfortune of the German people. As long as this condition is permitted to prevail, any thought of liberating the German people is Utopia. And why? In the first place, why did we actually collapse? We collapsed because for years on end too many sins had been committed in domestic politics and in the old Reich, and because the Reich was denied the means necessary for its existence. We collapsed because for a long time already the most sacred matters of the whole nation were used for purposes of party politics. We collapsed because millions were unwilling to sacrifice their all for the preservation of their people and their country, but were determined to sacrifice both for the sake of their party. We collapsed because the overwhelming majority of our pacifist, anti-national and Marxist citizens no longer gave the state that which was necessary for its existence. And we collapsed as regards foreign policy because the other countries knew only too well our inner political weaknesses. They readily recognized the Achilles heel of the German Reich and they knew exactly how the balance of power stood in Parliament. They knew perfectly well that any policy of active self-preservation would be defeated by the majority of lukewarm, cowardly and stupid individuals in this country. And today, as before the year 1918, the question is still the same. Can this situation be altered or not? February 27, 1925. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

Twenty-five years ago the German people entered into a war which had been forced upon them. In those days Germany was not well armed. France had made much better use of her national resources than the Germany of pre-war days. Russia was the most formidable adversary. It was possible to mobilize the whole world against Germany. But she entered the struggle. In its course, she accomplished deeds of heroism which were little short of miraculous. And Providence watched over our people. In 1914 German soil was freed from the danger of foreign invasion. In 1915, the situation of the Reich improved; 1916 and 1917 were years of continuous and bitter struggle. Sometimes Germany seemed to be on the verge of collapse but was saved again and again as if by a miracle. In those days, Germany furnished amazing proof of her strength and it was obvious that Providence had bestowed its blessing upon her. Then the German people became ungrateful. Instead of having faith in their own future and their own strength, they began to place their trust in the promises of others. And finally in their ingratitude, they even rose up against their own state and their own leaders. From that time forth, Providence turned its face from the German people. Since then, I have never regarded this catastrophe as undeserved. I have never complained that Providence treated us unjustly. On the contrary, I have always expressed the opinion that it gave us just what we deserved. The German nation was ungrateful and, therefore, was denied its final reward. This will never be repeated in the history of our nation. January 30, 1940. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

Twenty years ago I appeared for the first time in this hall before the general public. That which brought me here at the time was the most difficult and most fanatic decision of my life. The fact that I see before me here in this group today so many of my fellow fighters of twenty years ago is in itself remarkable. I do not know how many of the leaders of the democratic countries can appear again before their first followers as I do after so many years. It was no pacifist conviction that caused me to enter this hall in those days. I was still a soldier at that time, a soldier in body and soul! That which brought me here then was my protest as a soldier against what today can be called the greatest humiliation of our people. An unparalleled collapse had befallen our people—a collapse which was unparalleled in history for the reason that the so-called vanquished had fallen victim to a monstrous self-deception. As a matter of fact, we were not the only ones who were deceived. The victors also deceived their own people. In all the so-called victorious nations, the peoples did not get what they had expected. An era of justice was supposed to emerge, but also within the victorious nations themselves, the social justice which had been promised was not forthcoming. It was, however, our German people that was deceived most of all. The German people laid down its arms on the basis of promises which were set forth in the Fourteen Points. The result was Spaa and finally Versailles. This was the beginning of a new world order, that is, of the so-called victors and vanquished, a world order wherein the victors had all the rights and the vanquished none at all. There were others who were also deceived. The victorious nations deceived the Italians, they deceived the Hindus. The Hindus were promised their freedom if they would fight for England. The victors deceived the Arabs. The Arabs were told that they would be given a large Arabian empire of their own. At the same time, of course, the Jews also were deceived, for to begin with they had been assured of getting the very same territory that had been promised to the Arabs. In view of our total collapse there were many people in all walks of life who believed that the end of the German nation was at hand. I was of a different opinion. What many believed was the end, I considered only the beginning, for what had actually collapsed at the time? Untenable structures had been destroyed, structures which would not have been able to stand up much longer anyhow. The bourgeois-capitalist world had collapsed. It had outlived itself. This collapse is bound to occur everywhere sooner or later in some form or other. There will not be an exception anywhere. At that time there was only one decisive factor as far as we were concerned: At that time when so many external institutions of a formal nature were destroyed, the German individual as such was not destroyed. In fact, he had just accomplished a feat which no other people on this earth had ever accomplished. In a war which lasted four years this people had withstood twenty-six nations and it was defeated only by means of lies and deceit. If there had not been Germans in those days who destroyed the confidence in their own regime, England and France would never have won. If in those days a certain Adolf Hitler had been Chancellor of the German Reich instead of a musketeer in the German Army, do you believe that the capitalist idols of international democracy would have won? February 24, 1940. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

In order to justify all of the measures of this edict (Treaty of Versailles), Germany had to be branded as the guilty party. This is a procedure which is, however, just as simple as it is impossible. This would mean that in future, the vanquished will always bear the blame for conflicts, for the victor will always be in a position to simply establish this as a fact. Speech of May 17, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

My program was to abolish the Treaty of Versailles. It is futile nonsense for the rest of the world to pretend today that I did not reveal this program until 1933, or 1935, or 1937. Instead of listening to the foolish chatter of émigrés, these gentlemen would have been wiser to read what I have written—and rewritten thousands of times. No human being has declared or recorded what he wanted more often than I. Again and again I wrote these words—the Abolition of the Treaty of Versailles. Not because it was a quixotic idea of my own, but because the Treaty of Versailles was the greatest injustice and the most infamous maltreatment of a great nation in recorded history and because it was impossible for our nation to continue to exist in the future unless Germany was free of this stranglehold. January 30, 1941. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

After a war which had lasted for four years and had already done untold damage to the national resources, the victorious Powers imposed upon the German nation a peace dictate devoid of all political and economic reason and which aimed at making the relation of forces that existed at the end of the war the legal basis for the life of the nations for all time. Without considering the conditions and laws that govern economic life, and even in direct contradiction to them, the victorious Powers deprived Germany of every possibility of an economic revival while demanding on the other hand payments and services which lay within the realm of the fantastic. The edifice of German economics was razed to the ground under the watchword "Reparations". This incomprehensible disregard for the most elementary economic laws resulted in the following situation: First, the nation had a surplus of workers; second, the nation was in urgent need of something to replace the values pertaining to the high standard of life to which it had been accustomed and which had been destroyed by the war, the inflation, and reparations; third, the nation suffered from a lack of natural resources of foodstuffs and raw materials; fourth, the international market which it needed in order to overcome all these evils was too small and was further increasingly limited in practice by various measures and by a certain inevitable trend in developments. It is a very poor testimony to the economic sense of those who were then our political opponents that until their action had not only completely destroyed German economy but had begun to show its ill effects in the economic life of other countries they did not begin to see that it was impossible for us to fulfill unlimited and sometimes incomprehensible demands. The result of this madness was that German industry was paralyzed, agriculture was destroyed, the middle classes were ruined, trade had shrunk to almost nothing, the whole economic life was overladen with debt, the public finances were rotten to the core and there were six and a half million unemployed on the register —in reality more than seven and a half millions. May 21, 1935. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

A peace was established without regard for reality, indeed even without regard for the most primitive intelligence, a peace which was attended by a single thought: How can one suppress the vanquished, how can one deprive the defeated of all honor, how can one brand him for all eternity as the guilty one. It was a peace which was not peace, but which inevitably must lead to the perpetuation of hatred between nations. There were 440 paragraphs, the majority of which bring the blush of shame to our faces when we read them—a peace which is not to be compared with similar ones of former times. May I refer to the fact that in the year 1870 no one could have any doubt about the cause of war at that time, and thus no doubt about the war guilt. And just as much one could not doubt that at that time we were the victors. But what did Germany impose on the vanquished? The loss of a region which at one time was of German origin, a financial burden which had no relation to the wealth of the enemy of that time nor to his natural wealth, a burden which was completely disposed of in scarcely three years. Moreover, there was not a single clause offensive to the honor of that people, nothing at all which might have burdened the future of that people in any way, no hindrance to their own development, to their own life, to their opportunities, to their abilities, not the slightest attempt to limit their army in the future. No, nothing of all that. After three years France was really completely free. The last peace, however, was not at all to be measured with the yardstick of reason. What connection is there with reason if the world on the one hand cannot do away with the fact that here exists a nation of 65,000,000 persons and on the other hand deprives it of the possibility of life. The Peace Treaty is based on the gross error that the misfortune of one nation must be the good fortune of another, on the error that the economic plight of one nation would bring economic well-being to another. This peace, which was supposed to cure the world of all its suffering, this peace which should finally bring reason to the world, which should give human beings life and bread for life, this peace has in reality plunged the world into immeasurable misery. Armies of millions of unemployed are the living witnesses of the folly of those who concluded these treaties. A higher justice prevails here, which has now avenged this folly on all, not only on the vanquished, but also on the victors. There is no more devastating judgment of this Peace Treaty than the fact that it has not only plunged the vanquished into boundless misfortune, but it has also brought no advantage to the victors. One cannot establish a permanent world order upon the idea of hatred. One cannot construct in Europe a permanent community of nations which are not equal. In the long run such a situation is intolerable and must lead to the disruption of such a community. It is not to be contested that after more than thirteen years this Peace Treaty has brought no peace to Europe, but eternal unrest, disquietude, distrust, hatred, uncertainty, and despair. October 24, 1933. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

That life was impossible under the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles is something that I need not tell you about. New conditions for life had to be created. This was opposed by a divided nation and two ideologies, which already at the time appeared to be in the process of disintegration, since a large number of parties represented both the bourgeois and the Marxist ideology, which included groups from Social Democracy to the most radical syndicalism, namely, anarchism. It was clear that, in the year 1919, an exclusive, clear victory by one of these two ideas could no longer be expected. Just as Germany had once before disintegrated into countless small dynastic structures, there again was the threat of the German nation disintegrating into countless small ideological or party political groups. There was a time when a maximum of forty-six such "pocket parties" (Parteichen) stepped up to compete for the favor and approval of the German Volk. It was utopian to expect a resurrection under these conditions, not to mention bringing about such a resurrection. No people can project strength abroad which it is unable to free it at home. This means: the more a nation uses up its strength internally, the more it will lack external strength. A people has only one strength. The strength needed within the system of the assertion of life is either applied at home or abroad— one of the two. Speech of December 18, 1940. Domarus

Hitler on his own Struggle

I might have perished like millions of my comrades. I took my life back from Providence as a gift and swore to myself to dedicate this life to the Volk. And I will adhere to this until my dying breath. Speech of October 25, 1932. Quoted in Domarus

I am told that, if you are a German nationalist, you must want military triumphs. I can only say that my ambition is directed toward completely different triumphs. I am a German nationalist and will represent my Volk with all the zealousness of a soldier in that great army of the past. My ambition is aimed at creating the best possible institutions for training our Volk. I want that we in Germany have the greatest stadiums; that our road network is expanded; that our culture becomes elevated and refined; I want our cities to become beautiful; I want to put Germany at the top in every field of human cultural life and cultural aspiration. That is my ambition! Speech of March 12, 1936. Quoted in Domarus

Personally, I am against accepting any honorary titles, and I do not believe that one will ever be able to accuse me of much in this respect. I do not do what is not absolutely necessary for me to do. I would never want to have visiting cards printed with the titles which are so ceremoniously conferred upon people in this earthly world. I would not want to have anything else on my gravestone but my name. But perhaps my own peculiar biography has made me more capable than anyone else of understanding and comprehending the essence and life as a whole in the various German classes - not because I have been able to look down on this life from above, but because I have experienced it myself, because I have stood in the midst of this life, because Fate, on a whim or perhaps guided by Providence, threw me into this broad mass of Volk and people. Because I myself worked for years in the building trade and was forced to earn my own living. And because I once again stood in this broad mass for years as an ordinary soldier, and because life then raised me into the other classes of our Volk so that I also know these better than countless others who are born into these classes. Thus perhaps Fate chose me above all others to be - I may apply this term to myself - the honest broker, a broker honest to all sides. I have no personal interest; I am neither dependent upon the State nor upon a public office; neither am I dependent upon the economy or industry or any kind of union. I am an independent man, and I have set myself no other goal than to serve the German Volk to the best of my power and ability—and above all to serve the millions of people who have perhaps been hit hardest thanks to their simple trust, their ignorance, and the baseness of their former leaders. I have always held to the opinion that there is nothing finer than to be an advocate of those who are not capable of defending themselves Speech of May 10, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

For fifteen years I have slowly brought this Movement forward from the people. I have not been placed over this people by anyone. Out of the people I have grown, in the people I have remained, to the people I return. I see my ambition in the fact that I know of no statesman in the world who can say with greater right than I that he is the representative of a people. Today, my German people, I appeal to you to support me with your faith. Be now the source of my strength and my faith. March 20, 1936. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

If, before history, I look at myself and my opponents, then I do not fear a comparison of our characters. After all, who are they—these egoists! Every single one of them stands up only for the interests of his class. Behind all of them stands either a Jew or their own moneybag. They are nothing other than profiteers; they live from the profits of this war; no good will follow it. I confront these folk as nothing other than the simple fighter for my German Volk that I am. Speech of February 24, 1941. Domarus

Hitler the National Socialist Revolution

Want and misery came upon our Volk with terrible force. A proud economy, once thriving and rich, seems to be falling into ruin. The scarcity of work condemns millions of industrious people to idleness. The process of proletarianization is pulling one rank of our Volk after another down into its depths. The foundations of our society are crumbling, and the fists of those bringing still further destruction are pounding at the very gates of the temples of our faith. Turmoil and conflict at every turn. Germany defenseless and without rights, the Volk filled with despondency and despair! Fate has assigned us the wonderful task of fighting in this crisis, of filling the hearts of these despondent people once more with faith and confidence, of restoring order to the economy, of giving work back to the millions of people who are laid off, of snatching the classes back from the brink of destruction, of building a new society and stopping its enemies with a fist of iron, of protecting the nation and its material, moral and cultural assets from the elements of destruction. A bold and proud mission! Speech of October 15, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

A great age has thus dawned once again for Germany. We say this knowing that the greatness of an age lies in the greatness of the tasks assigned to it and thereby to us. Great tasks, such as those vested in only few generations in history. Yesterday we were still a powerless Volk, for we were strife-torn, falling out and apart in internal discord, fragmented into hundreds of parties and groups, leagues and associations, Weltanschauungen (worldviews) and confessions ... The economy was in the throes of death. Disintegration and ruin at every turn. Every principle had been abandoned. What had once seemed good became bad; what had been detestable was suddenly venerable. What was once meant to and able to give life more meaning was now passed off and perceived to be merely a burden to mankind. One author summed up the impressions of this age in a book which he entitled, The Decline of the West. Is this then really the end of our history and hence of our peoples? No! We cannot believe or accept it! It must be called not the 'Decline of the West,' but the 'Resurrection of the Peoples of the Western World'! Speech of May 1, 1935. Quoted in Domarus

Our Movement was not formed with any election in view, but in order to spring to the rescue of this people as its last help in the hour of greatest need, at the moment when in fear and despair it sees the approach of the Red Monster. The task of our Movement is still today not to prepare ourselves for any coming election but to prepare for the coming collapse of the Reich, so that when the old trunk falls the young fir-tree may be already standing. ... Either Germany sinks, and we through our despicable cowardice sink with it, or else we dare to enter on the fight against death and devil and rise up against the fate that has been planned for us. Speech of August 1, 1923. Quoted in My New Order

Germany suffered most from these effects of the [Versailles] Peace Treaty and the widespread insecurity it caused. The number of unemployed increased to a third of those normally engaged in the working life of the nation. That means, however, that in Germany, counting family members, approximately twenty million people of a total of sixty-five million were heading toward a hopeless future without any means of existence. It was only a matter of time until this army of the economically disinherited would of necessity have become an army of fanatics politically and socially alienated from the rest of the world. One of the oldest lands of culture in today's civilization stood, with over six million Communists, at the brink of disaster, and only a blase lack of comprehension would be capable of ignoring this fact. Had Red rebellion raced through Germany like a firebrand, the civilized countries in Western Europe may well have come to the realization that it is not immaterial whether the outposts of a spiritual, revolutionary, and expansionist Asian world empire stood watch at the Rhine or on the North Sea or whether peaceful German peasants and workers, in sincere solidarity with the other peoples of our European culture, wish to earn their bread by honest work. In snatching Germany from the brink of this catastrophe, the National Socialist Movement saved not only the German Volk but also made a historic contribution to the rest of Europe. Speech of October 14, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

Although the [NSDAP] Revolution which took place in Germany did not, unlike the French or Russian Revolutions, butcher hecatombs of humans and murder hostages, and did not, unlike the uprising of the Paris Commune or the Soviet Revolutions in Bavaria and Hungary, destroy cultural monuments and works of art - on the contrary, it did not smash a single storefront window, did not loot a single shop, and did not damage a single building - unscrupulous agitators are spreading a flood of tales of atrocity which can only be compared with the lies fabricated by these same elements at the beginning of the War! Tens of thousands of Americans, English, and French were in Germany during these months and were able to conclude from what they saw with their own eyes that there is no country in the world with more law and order than present-day Germany, that in no other country of the world can person and property be more highly respected than in Germany, but that, perhaps, too, in no other country of the world is there a fiercer battle being waged against those who, as criminal elements, believe they are at liberty to give free rein to their lowest instincts to the detriment of their fellow men. These parties and their Communist accomplices are the ones who are endeavoring today as emigrants to try to turn honest and decent peoples against one another. Speech of October 14, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

We are going to see to it that in this state there will be 60,000,000 who will not say in the first line of their political creed: "I am a democrat," or "I am a member of the People's Party," but who will say "I am a German." November 17, 1928. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

I began my activities in Germany at approximately the same time Bolshevism was celebrating its initial achievements, i.e. the first civil war in Germany. When, after fifteen years, Bolshevism in our country had six million followers, I had risen to thirteen million. Then, in the decisive battle, it lost. National Socialism has ripped Germany and with it perhaps the whole of Europe back from the brink of the most horrible catastrophe of all time. Speech of May 21, 1935. Quoted in Domarus

The three factors which dominate our revolution do not contradict the interests of the rest of the world in any way. First: preventing the impending Communist subversion and constructing a Volksstaat (people's state) uniting the various interests of the classes and ranks, and maintaining the concept of personal property as the foundation of our culture. Second: solving the most pressing social problems by leading the army of millions of our pitiful unemployed back to production. Third: restoring a stable and authoritarian leadership of the State, supported by the confidence and will of the nation which will finally again make of this great Volk a legitimate partner to the rest of the world. Speaking now, conscious of being a German National Socialist, I would like to proclaim on behalf of the National Government and the entire national uprising that, above all, we in this young Germany are filled with the deepest understanding of the same feelings and convictions and the justified demands of the other nations to live. The generation of this young Germany, which until now has come in its lifetime to know only the want, misery and distress of its own Volk, has suffered too dearly from this madness to be capable of contemplating subjecting others to more of the same. Speech of May 17, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

Both bourgeoisie and proletariat were left behind, and the German nation is the sole victor. Speech of March 28, 1938. Quoted in Domarus

Today we share a feeling of community which is far stronger than one founded in political or economic interests ever could be. It is the feeling of a community determined by blood. Today man has neither the capacity nor the desire to be separated from his Volkstum, he clings to it with obstinate love. He will endure even the worst distress, he will endure misery, but he shall be with his Volk! Blood binds more firmly than business! Speech of March 25, 1938. Quoted in Domarus

Just imagine: we can follow the German Volk throughout history for nearly 2,000 years, and never was the Volk as united in the form of its inner convictions and its actions as it is today. For the first time since Germans have inhabited the world there is one Reich, ruled by one Weltanschauung, shielded by one army - and all this joined under one flag. Speech of November 8, 1935. Quoted in Domarus

If future historiographers aim to record the entire contents of these three years [1933-35], they will require more pages than they would in other times for perhaps ten, perhaps twenty, fifty, or even a hundred years. January 15, 1936. Quoted in Domarus

It is to this 1933 Revolution that the German Volk owes its booming economy. The Volk owes the protection accorded by a strong army to this Revolution. It owes a new form of German culture to this Revolution. It owes a new form of German art to this Revolution. However, above all, it owes the development of a new German being to this Revolution. Speech of July 5, 1936. Quoted in Domarus

I cast my mind back to the time when with six other unknown men I founded this association, when I spoke before eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, twenty, thirty, and fifty persons; when I recall how after a year I had won sixty-four members for the Movement, how our small circle kept on growing, I must confess that that which has today been created, when a stream of millions of our German fellow-countrymen is flowing into our Movement, represents something which is unique in German history. The bourgeois parties have had seventy years to work in; where, I ask you, is the organization which could be compared with ours? Where is the organization which can boast, as ours can, that, at need, it can summon 400,000 men into the street, men who are schooled to blind obedience and are ready to execute any order - provided that it does not violate the law? Where is the organization that in seventy years has achieved what we have achieved in barely twelve years? - and achieved with means which were of so improvised a character that one can hardly avoid a feeling of shame when one confesses to an opponent how poverty-stricken the birth and the growth of this great Movement were in the early days. Speech of January 27, 1932. Quoted in My New Order

A splendid crusade! It will go down as one of the most miraculous and remarkable phenomena in world history. And history will attempt to find analogues and parallels, but it will hardly find a parallel in which, beginning with such a birth, an entire Volk and a state could be totally conquered in so few years. This miracle is something we have wrought. We are the fortunate ones who are not learning about it from books, but were chosen by Fate to live through it. This is what joins us all and welds us together; coming generations will learn it one day. But we can say: we were there. That is our accomplishment! Other generations learn from heroic sagas and heroic crusades. We have lived this saga and marched in this crusade. Whether the name of a certain individual among us lives on in posterity is of no consequence. We are all bound together in a single, great phenomenon. It will live on. Speech of November 8, 1935. Quoted in Domarus

We do not have the feeling that we are an inferior race, some worthless pack which can and may be kicked around by anyone and everyone; rather, we have the feeling that we are a great Volk which only once forgot itself, a Volk which, led astray by insane fools, robbed itself of its own power and has now once more awakened from this insane dream. Let no one believe himself capable of immersing this Volk in such a dreamstate again within the next thousand years; this lesson, which we have learned in such a terrible way, will be a historical reminder to us for millenniums. What happened to us through our own fault will not be allowed to happen to the German Volk a second time! Speech of June 17, 1934. Quoted in Domarus

The French Premier asks why German youth are marching and falling into line; the answer is, not in order to demonstrate against France, but in order to show and document that very political formation of will which was necessary to overcome Communism and will be necessary to keep Communism at bay. In Germany there is only one bearer of arms, and that is the Army. And conversely, there is only one enemy for the National Socialist Organization, and that is Communism. Speech of October 14, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

Here there is building going on! Here there is comradeship! And here above all is the faith in a better humanity and hence in a better future! What a difference from another country [Spain] in which Marxism is attempting to gain power. There the cities are in flames, there the villages are being reduced to rubble, there a man no longer knows whom he can trust. Class is fighting against class, rank against rank, brothers are destroying brothers. We have chosen the other path: instead of tearing you apart, I have joined you together. Speech of September 10, 1936. Quoted in Domarus

In the past, my Volksgenossen, five Germans had ten different opinions. Today, nine out of ten Germans are of the same opinion. I am therefore confident that we will be capable of winning the tenth man, too, for at any rate you can believe me when I say that the path from the first seven men to 38 million was more difficult than the path from 38 to 42 million will be. Speaking about the recent election results where Hitler won 90% of the vote. August 26, 1934. Quoted in Domarus

When we were engaged in the first trial and were waging that battle, it was still natural - because they were all, in fact, leaders - that each individual was to stand up for his actions and take the entire responsibility. But there was one thing I feared. Following us were nearly 100 Party comrades to come, men from minor combat patrols, members of certain SA storm troops. They, too, would be dragged before the judge. I was already in the fortress when these trials began to unwind. And I had only one fear, namely that under the pressure of being held in detention etc. or of all these methods of conducting trial, one or the other of them might perhaps weaken and try to save himself by declaring, "But I'm innocent, was forced to do it, I had no choice." My heart overflowed when I saw the first report of these trials and when I read in the Münchener Post (at that time it was delivered to us): "The people from the combat patrols are just as brazen and impertinent as their lord and master." Then I knew: Germany is not lost. The spirit will find a way to survive! It was one thing they would not be able to stamp out. And these same people from the combat patrols and these same SA men later became the largest organizations of the German Movement, the SA and the SS. And the spirit has remained and proven itself ten thousand times over, hundreds of thousand times over. Because you see, that is what we owe to these dead: the example they gave us in a most terrible time in Germany. As we marched forth from here, we knew that it was no longer a triumphal march. We went forth in the conviction that it was the end, one way or another. I remember one man who said to me outside on the stairs as we were leaving, "This is the end." Each of us carried this conviction with him. Speaking of the events of November 1923. November 8, 1935. Quoted in Domarus

The rest of the world will have to change its views. It will have to erase the fourteen years of German history before us from its memory and put in its place the memory of a thousand-year history prior thereto, and then it will understand that this Volk was without honor for fourteen years thanks to a leadership without honor, but was strong and brave and honest the thousand years prior thereto. And it can rest assured that the Germany which is living today is identical with the eternal Germany. Speech of February 24, 1935. Quoted in Domarus

I am prepared to admit that the National Socialist ideal, in its final perfection, stands like a polar star above mankind. But mankind must ever follow a star. If it laid hold of this star, it would see it no more. We are on the right road, and we have the right goal. We shall be reforming the German people for centuries. Speech of January 15, 1936. Quoted in My New Order

I admit that the National Socialist ideal, in its ultimate consummation, stands over mankind like the North Star. And man will always need a star to gain his bearings. Were man to grasp that star, he would no longer he able to see it. We are on the right path, and we have the right goal. We will improve upon the German Volk for centuries. Speech of January 15, 1936. Quoted in Domarus

Back then I derived my entire faith in the German Volk and its future from my knowledge of the German soldier, of the small musketeer. In my eyes, he was a great hero. Naturally, other sections of the Volk did their best also. But still there was a difference. For him who lived at a wealthy home and lived in luxury, for him Germany looked quite beautiful back then. He could take part in everything: culture, the easy life, and so on. He could enjoy German art and so many things more. He could travel through the German lands, tour German cities, and so on. Everything was beautiful to him. That he stood up for it was understandable. But on the other side stood the small musketeer. This little prole, who barely had enough to eat, who slaved away simply to exist, and who, in spite of all of this, fought like a hero out there for four years: on him I stacked my hopes, on him I pulled myself up again. And when all the others in Germany despaired, I looked to this small man and regained my faith in Germany. I knew: naturally, Germany would not perish, not as long as it has such men. Speech of December 10, 1940. Domarus

At a time when the whole people was running after the illusion of democracy and parliamentarianism, when millions believed that the majority was the source of a right decision. It was at this time that we began resolutely to build up an organization in which there was not one dictator but ten thousand. When our opponents say: 'It is easy for you: you are a dictator' - we answer them, 'No, gentlemen: you are wrong; there is no single dictator, but ten thousand, each in his own place.' Speech of April 8, 1933. Quoted in My New Order

... even my most malicious libellers cannot deny that I have never changed in these fifteen years. Whether in good fortune or in bad, whether in liberty or in prison, I have remained true to my flag, the flag which is now the national flag of the German Reich. And they further cannot claim that I had ever in my life undertaken or omitted any political act for the sake of my own personal benefit. And they must finally admit that, in general terms, this fifteen-year-long battle of mine was not unsuccessful, but led a movement evolving from nothing to victory in Germany, giving the German Volk a new and better position at home and abroad. I will gladly answer for and accept whatever mistakes they can prove that I actually made. However, these all lie within the limits set for everyone by the basic fact of human fallibility. But I can point out in this context that I have never in the course of my fight committed an act which I did not hold to be for the benefit of the German Volk. For since I have become involved in the political fight, I have been governed and guided, so help me God, by a single thought: Germany! Speech of August 17, 1934. Quoted in Domarus

As everywhere, I followed the path of instruction, education, and slow adaptation. For it was my pride to have brought about this revolution in Germany without a single glass pane shattering, a revolution which led to the greatest upheaval ever seen on earth. It did not destroy even the least of values, but, instead, slowly set things straight, set the course, until finally the great community has found its new form. That was our goal. And it was the same in foreign policy. I stated my platform: elimination of Versailles. One should not be silly in the outside world today, should not pretend that I had only discovered this platform in the years 1933, 1935, or 1937. Instead of listening to the foolish talk of the emigrants, the gentlemen would have done well to read what I wrote; what I wrote over a thousand times. No man ever declared and wrote down more often what he wanted than I did. And, time and time again, I wrote: elimination of Versailles. And when I came to power, I did not then say to myself as democratic politicians do: Never expect gratitude once you've served your purpose. Instead, I made the solemn resolve: I thank you, Lord God, for bringing me to where I can finally realize my platform. And here, too, I did not want to realize this platform by force. Instead, I spoke, I spoke as much as a man can. My speeches before the Reichstag are evidence of this. No democratic statesman can swindle history from them. The offers which I made them [the English]! How often did I ask them to be reasonable and not to take from a great Volk the foundations of its life and existence! How often did I prove to them that this was not to their advantage, that it was senseless, and, yes, that it was to their detriment! The things I did over the years to ease the way to an understanding for them! Never would it have been necessary to enter into this arms race had the others not wanted it! I placed many proposals before them. However, every proposal which came from me sufficed to agitate a certain Jewish-internationalist, capitalist clique immediately, just as had been the case in Germany, my Volksgenossen, where any reasoned proposal from us National Socialists was rejected primarily because we had made it. Speech of January 30, 1941. Domarus

Real mistakes which can be proven against me - for them I will readily answer and accept responsibility. They are all within the limits set for everyone by general human fallibility. But against these mistakes I can set the fact that never in my fight have I taken any action which I was not convinced was for the welfare of the German people. For during my whole political fight I have been dominated, commanded, so help me God! by one thought alone, Germany! Speech of August 17, 1934. Quoted in My New Order

Frequently, people abroad have claimed that we were making propaganda, while in truth it was the idea that propagandized itself. It holds great attraction especially for those who are of the same blood. It does not matter whether or not this pleases the democrats. Ideas cannot be imprisoned. States can be torn apart, but the bonds of a Volksgemeinschaft [people's community] are indissoluble. And once the sparks of these ideas begin to fly, they inflame every man whose blood links him to them as though it were an internal antenna. And this is precisely the case with National Socialism. Austria's National Socialists were persecuted, hundreds of them were murdered and thousands were shot. They were hanged as though they were murderers lacking any feeling of honor although their only crime had been their belief in their Volk. And the world remained silent and uttered not a word of condemnation. You can judge for yourselves the meaning the word democracy took on for us. It became the embodiment of lies and injustice, the pinnacle of hypocrisy. But the minute - be it in Berlin or Vienna - we cause one of those Jewish agitators to close his shop for a while and to go somewhere else, then democracy becomes incensed and speaks of an assault upon holy rights. Speech of March 29, 1938. Quoted in Domarus

I openly admit that, in view of the horrible persecution, the thought occurred to one that it would only be right if the Volk would finally wreak its vengeance on its persecutors. But I nonetheless resolved to avoid that, for one thing I knew: there are those in the ranks of our opponents who are so depraved that they must be deemed lost to the German Volksgemeinschaft; on the other hand, there are also many who are blind or mad and who have simply jumped on the bandwagon. Speech of March 25, 1938. Quoted in Domarus

I admit openly that at times, in view of the terrible persecutions, the thought might even come to one that it was only right if the people did at last wreak its vengeance on its torturers; but in the end I decided to prevent that. For I saw one thing: amongst our opponents there are men who are so depraved that they must be counted as lost to the community of the German people, but on the other hand there are many blinded and mad folk who have only run with the rest. Speech of March 25, 1938. Quoted in My New Order

If I then turn my gaze to the unequal weapons with which we had to fight: on the one hand the large and powerful representatives of the State - Ministers, Chancellors, of course only in their capacity as civil servants, not as agitators or, much less, as candidates; when I take a look at the imbalance of arms, with the radio, the cinemas, and the power to prohibit everything which is really convincing on the other hand; and when I see the other side at the mercy of this terror; and when I further reflect on this admirable number of opponents: the Center, the Bavarian People's Party, the German People's Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Reichsbanner, the Iron Front, all of the unions, the Christian unions, the free unions, the "völkisch" organizations such as the DHV - if you take a look at this whole bunch of parties, associations and organizations, then I can be proud that, confronted with this whole jumbled-up mixture, we National Socialists alone summoned up 11.3 million, and now, in a barely thirteen-year-long fight, compared to these "venerable remains" of times past, we have, after all, been able to raise - from nothing - the largest German party which has ever existed. Speech of March 15, 1935. Quoted in Domarus

Ever since the first German dukes labored to form wild tribes into higher unions, their endeavors had to obliterate institutions grown dear, cherished recollections, manly pledges of loyalty, and so on. It was nearly two thousand years before the scattered Germanic tribes emerged as one people; before the countless lands and states forged one Reich. We may now consider this process of the formation of the German nation as having reached its conclusion. The creation of the Greater German Reich represents the culmination of our Volk's thousand-year struggle for existence. As streams of German blood flow together therein, so do traditions of times past, their standards and symbols, and, above all else, all the great men of whom their contemporaries were rightly proud. Small matter whose side they stood on in their day, all those daring dukes, great kings, formidable warlords, mighty emperors, and around them the inspired geniuses and heroes of the past served as instruments of Providence in the formative process of a nation. Insofar as we embrace this great Reich in grateful reverence, the wealth of German history reveals itself to us in all its splendor. Let us thank the Lord Almighty for bestowing on our generation the great blessing to be alive at this time and this hour. Speech of January 30, 1939. Quoted in Domarus

Philosophy of NSDAP

I do not believe in any regime which is not anchored in the Volk itself. I do not believe in an economic regime. One cannot build a house from the top, one must begin at the bottom. The foundations of the State are not the Government, but rather the Volk. Speech of October 12, 1932. Quoted in Domarus

This Reich shall belong neither to a certain class, nor to a certain rank: it shall be the sole property of the German Volk. ... What I summoned to life during this time does not claim to be an end in itself. Nothing is or ever will be immortal. What remains for us is the body of flesh and blood called the German Volk. The Party, the State, the Wehrmacht, and the economy are all institutions and functions which are valuable only as being a means to an end. In the eyes of history, they will be judged on the basis of the services they performed toward this goal. Yet their goal is always the Volk. They are short-lived phenomena compared to those which alone are everlasting. To serve these latter with all my might has been and continues to be my life's good fortune. Speech of February 20, 1938. Quoted in Domarus

We want to educate the Volk so that it moves away from the insanity of class superiority, of arrogance of rank, and of the delusion that only mental work is of any value; we want the Volk to comprehend that every labor which is necessary ennobles its doer, and that there is only one disgrace, and that is to contribute nothing to the maintenance of our Volksgemeinschaft (people's community), to contribute nothing to the maintenance of the Volk itself. Speech of September 23, 1933

Liberty? Insofar as the interests of the Volksgemeinschaft permit the exercise of liberty by the individual, he shall be granted this liberty. The liberty of the individual ends where it starts to harm the interests of the collective. In this case the liberty of the Volk takes precedence over the liberty of the individual. Above the liberty of the individual, however, there stands the liberty of our Volk. The liberty of the Reich takes precedence over both. Speech of May 1, 1939. Quoted in Domarus

Great decisions must be long-term decisions: their realization demands time, as indeed do all great things in this world. So it was essential to give to the new Government an unexampled stability, since only governments which are stable, which are assured of their existence and of the permanence of that existence are in a position to rise to the making of really fundamental and far-reaching decisions. Speech of March 21, 1934

It is wrong, you see, that the bourgeois parties have become the employers and for the Marxists to call themselves proles and employees. There are just as many proles among the employers as there are bourgeois elements among the employees. The bourgeois - allegedly for the sake of the Vaterland (Fatherland) - are defending property, a capitalistic value. Thus from a Marxist point of view, love of one's country is not dumb, but rather capital's greed for profit. On the other hand, the international character of Marxism is regarded by the middle class as speculation for a world economy in which there is only state administration and no longer any private property. In a conversation with Hanns Johst on January 27, 1934. Quoted in Domarus

If we want a strong Germany, you must one day be strong, too. If we want a powerful Germany, you, too, must one day be powerful. If we want an honorable Germany, you must one day uphold this honor. If we want order in Germany, you must maintain this order. If we want to once again create a loyal Germany, you yourselves must learn to be loyal. You are the Germany of the future, and thus we want you to be what this Germany of the future must and will be. Therefore you must also avoid anything which impressed the stamp of dishonor upon the Germany of the past. You must cultivate the spirit of the great community. The German Volksgemeinschaft (people's community) is anchored in you. For many centuries, people longed for what has become reality today. The nation expects you to be worthy of this great age. From a speech to Germany's youth on April 30, 1934. Quoted in Domarus

The internal stability of a regime always becomes a source of a people's trust and confidence. When the masses in their millions see that above them there stands a government which is sure of itself, part of this certainty is transferred to the masses. Only in this way the boldness of a government's plans is matched by a like boldness in the readiness of the people to execute and carry into effect these plans. But trust and confidence are the fundamental conditions for the success of any economic revival. Speech of March 21, 1934

The blood of millions can be pledged only if they know that the conflict does not serve a particular class, but that it benefits the entire people. Do not believe that this people will go to war again, if it does not carry a different conviction to the battlefield than it did formerly. The day will come when the German people will rise up and break their bonds asunder, when in millions of hearts there will be one single faith, one embracing conviction: We do not fight for the German middle class, nor for the German proletariat; we fight for our people, for wife and child, we fight for our children's children. I am happy that fate guided me, a simple soldier for four years, through the hell of blood and fire. I cannot imagine that a true German would ever take the responsibility of leading his people through this hell a second time unless he was convinced that from this inferno a paradise would be forthcoming for his people. April 9, 1927. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

Men and nations with the proper Weltanschauung (worldview) climb steadily, and those without it are as chaff in the wind. The decisions of the latter are beyond comprehension. The present-day political parties in Germany serve as the best illustration of what happens to political organizations without a Weltanschauung. Marxism has a Weltanschauung which leads rapidly to destruction. We too have a Weltanschauung, and we are convinced that it will lead our people upwards. A Weltanschauung is justifiable if it leads a nation forward. The justification of this Weltanschauung can be ascertained through an investigation of the general laws of all nature, from an examination of all the laws which form the basis of our own life, from a logical testing of the fate of other nations which have perished, from a scientific investigation of definite methods which bring nations to a position of dominance and of the methods which are responsible for the downfall of nations. ... We Nazis say that we have formulated a Weltanschauung for ourselves. This can be synthesized in a few propositions. What constitutes our importance and the importance of nations in any event is nothing that is academic per se. It is nothing which lies in artificial education. It is something which originally has been an integral part of one's racial heritage. This heritage of blood is our basic value, our specific weight which we, as human beings, possess once and for all. ... The preservation of this heritage is the first and essential factor. Whenever a nation loses its racial heritage, it perishes. The second factor is that of leadership. We say that among nations it is not the majorities that are decisive but the evaluation attached to the leader. It is not the sum total but genius itself. There is nothing of lasting importance in the world which does not owe its origin to the creative ability of the individual. Thus a people must organize its constitution and its political life in such a way, that the greatest emphasis is placed upon the value of leadership. Leadership must not be destroyed by an artificial structure; that is, by the system of parliamentary democracy which cultivates little dwarfs—democracy which represents the conspiracy of dwarfs against him who towers head and shoulders above the masses. The third factor is struggle, without which nothing on earth is created and without which nothing is preserved. Development means struggle. That is the inspiring outlook of the National Socialist Weltanschauung. November 29, 1929. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

History shows that the right as such does not mean a thing, unless it is backed up by great power. If one does not have the power to enforce his right, that right alone will profit him absolutely nothing. The stronger have always been victorious. The whole of nature is a continuous struggle between strength and weakness, an eternal victory of the strong over the weak. All nature would be full of decay if it were otherwise. And the states which do not wish to recognize this law will decay. If you need an example of this kind of decay, look at the present German Reich. April 13, 1923. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

The fundamental motif through all the centuries has been the principle that force and power are the determining factors. All development is struggle. Only force rules. Force is the first law. A struggle has already taken place between original man and his primeval world. Only through struggle have states and the world become great. If one should ask whether this struggle is gruesome, then the only answer could be: For the weak, yes, for humanity as a whole, no. World history proves that in the struggle between nations, that race has always won out whose drive for self-preservation was the more pronounced, the stronger. ... Unfortunately, the contemporary world stresses internationalism instead of the innate values of race, democracy and the majority instead of the worth of the great leader. Instead of everlasting struggle the world preaches cowardly pacifism, and everlasting peace. These three things, considered in the light of their ultimate consequences, are the causes of the downfall of all humanity. The practical result of conciliation among nations is the renunciation of a people's own strength and their voluntary enslavement. November 22, 1926. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

Never have votes and majorities added one iota to the culture of mankind. Every accomplishment is solely the result of the work and energy of great men, and as such, a flaming protest against the inertia of the masses. November 23, 1927. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

To us, the German peasant is not only a class, but a representative of German vitality and thus also of the German future. We perceive in the German peasant the source of national fertility, the foundation of our national life. Speech of October 1, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

In the end, we do not live for ourselves alone; rather, we are responsible for everything which those who lived before us have left behind, and we are responsible for that which we shall one day leave behind to those who must come after us. For Germany must not end with us. Speech of March 4, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

Life necessarily divides us into many different groups and professions. It is the job of the political and spiritual education of the nation to overcome this division. Speech of September 12, 1935. Quoted in Domarus

The National Socialist program replaces the liberalistic conception of the individual by the conception of a people bound by their blood to the soil. Of all the tasks with which we are confronted, it is the grandest and most sacred task of man to preserve his race. Speech of January 30, 1937. Quoted in "My New Order"

The main plank in the National Socialist program is to abolish the liberalistic concept of the individual and the Marxist concept of humanity and to substitute therefor the folk community, rooted in the soil and bound together by the bond of its common blood. January 30, 1937. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

Leadership is always based upon the free will and good intentions of those being led. My doctrine of the Führer concept is therefore quite the opposite of what the Bolshevists like to present it as being: the doctrine of a brutal dictator who triumphs over the destruction of the values of private life. Thus as Reich Chancellor I am not discontinuing my activities as a public educator; on the contrary: I am using every means provided by the State and its power to publish and make known my every word and deed with the goal of winning the public with this openness for every single decision of my national will by proof and conviction. And I am doing this because I believe in the creative power and the creative contribution of the Volk. In a conversation with Hanns Johst on January 27, 1934. Quoted in Domarus

The broad mass would rather not be troubled by doubt, it has only one desire: to be led by a leadership it can trust. The mass does not want this leadership to be a divided one, but rather that this leadership should step before it as one. You may believe me that the Volk likes nothing better than the feeling that when I venture out into the streets with my colleagues on a day such as November 9, they can point at us and say: "That is he, and that is he, and that is he." The Volk feels secure in the knowledge that these men will stand together, follow one Führer, and this Führer will stand by these men. These men are their idols. It is possible that an intellectual might not be capable of comprehending this. But the man in the street, he somehow places his trust in those men who step before him. He depends on these men. Seeing the Führer step forth, accompanied by all his men, that picture reassures the man in the street. It is this that makes the people happy! That is what they want! This has been the case throughout German history. The Volk always delights in seeing the men on top united. This makes it easier to maintain its own unity. We must bear in mind the big picture, we must do everything in our power to preserve and foster this impression with the Volk. We must instill in the Volk the conviction that the leadership is right and that everyone stands behind this leadership. Psychologically speaking, this makes it possible for the leadership to hold its own in times of crisis. Speech of November 10, 1938. Quoted in Domarus

It is very difficult to count the number of thinkers who have made stimulating contributions to every great idea of the past. Our entire way of thinking originates to an overwhelming extent in the products of the mental labors of the past and is only in small part the product of our own thoughts. The important thing is to organize the body of thoughts passed down by the great thinkers of former times reasonably and effectively and to draw the resulting logical consequences. What good is knowledge when one does not have the courage to use it? In an interview with Casimir Smogorzewski on January 25, 1935. Quoted in Domarus

National Socialism is not a doctrine of lethargy, but a doctrine of fighting. Not a doctrine of good fortune, of coincidence, but a doctrine of work, a doctrine of struggle, and thus also a doctrine of sacrifices. That is how we did things before the fight, and in these past three years this has not changed, and it will remain so in the future! Speech of January 30, 1936. Quoted in Domarus

The German of today is no different from that of ten, twenty or thirty years ago. Since then the number of Germans has not increased to any considerable extent. The capabilities of genius and energy cannot be considered more plentiful than in former times. The one thing which has changed considerably is the way in which these values are utilized to the full by the manner of their organization, and thanks to the formation of a new method of the selection of leaders. [...] When appointing men to leading positions in the State and party, greater value should be placed on character than on purely academic or allegedly intellectual suitability. It is not abstract knowledge which must be considered as a decisive factor wherever a leader is required but rather a natural talent for leadership, and with it a highly developed sense of responsibility which brings with it determination, courage and endurance. It must be recognized on principle that the lack of a sense of responsibility can never be made up for by a supposedly first-class academic training, of which certificates may supply the fruit. Knowledge and qualities of leadership, which always imply energy, are not incompatible. But in doubtful cases knowledge can in no circumstances be a substitute for integrity, courage, bravery and determination. These are the qualities that are more important in a leader of the people in the State and party. Speech of January 30, 1939. Quoted in My New Order

In assigning men to posts of leadership in State and Party, attitude and character are to be valued more highly than so-called purely scientific or supposed mental qualifications. For, wherever leadership has to be exercised, it is not abstract knowledge which is decisive, but instead the inborn ability to lead and therefore a high degree of readiness to take on responsibility, of determination, courage, and persistence. In principle, we must realize that documented proof of a presumedly first-class scientific education can never compensate for a lack of readiness to take on responsibility. Knowledge and leadership abilities, and hence vigor, are not mutually exclusive. In case of doubt, however, knowledge cannot serve as a substitute for attitude, courage, valor, and initiative, under any circumstances. These attributes are the more important ones in terms of the leadership of a Volksgemeinschaft in Party and State. From a Speech on January 30, 1939. Quoted in Domarus

When appointing men to leading positions in the state and Party, greater value should be placed on character than on purely academic or allegedly intellectual suitability. It is not abstract knowledge which must be considered a decisive factor wherever a leader is required but rather a natural talent for leadership and with it a highly developed sense of responsibility which brings with it determination, courage and endurance. It must be recognized on principle that the lack of a sense of responsibility can never be made up for by a supposedly first-class academic training of which certificates may supply the proof. Knowledge and the qualities of leadership, which always imply energy, are not incompatible. But in doubtful cases knowledge can in no circumstances be a substitute for integrity, courage, bravery and determination. These are the qualities that are more important in a leader of the people in state and Party. I say this to you now, gentlemen, looking back on the one year of German history which has shown me more clearly than the whole of my previous life how vital and essential these very qualities are, and how in a time of crisis one single energetic man of action outweighs a thousand feeble intellectuals. January 30, 1939. Quoted in "Hitler's Words"

The sacrifice of the woman bearing a child for this nation is equal to that of the man who defends this nation. Speech of November 8, 1939. Quoted in Domarus

... any Reich built only upon the classes of intellect is a weak construction! I know this intellect: perpetually brooding, perpetually inquiring, but also perpetually uncertain, perpetually hesitating, vacillating, never firm! He who would construct a Reich on these intellectual classes alone will find that he is building on sand. It is no accident that religions are more stable than the various forms of government. They generally tend to sink their roots deeper into the earth; they would be inconceivable without this broad mass of people. I know that the intellectual classes are all too easily seized by the arrogance that rates this Volk according to the standards of its knowledge and its so-called wisdom; yet there are things here which even the understanding of the prudent fails to see because it is unable to see them. This broad mass of people is certainly often dull and certainly backward in some respects, not as nimble, not as witty, not as intellectual. But it does have one thing: it has faith, it has persistence, it has stability. Speech of May 10, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

It is no chance that religions are more stable than constitutional forms. Generally they tend to sink their roots deeper into the soil; they would be unthinkable in the absence of the masses of the people. I know that the intellectual classes fall all too easily a victim to that arrogance which measures the people according to the standards of its knowledge and of its so-called intelligence; and yet there are things in the people which very often the intelligence of the 'intelligent' does not see because it cannot see them. The masses are certainly often dull, in many respects they are certainly backward, they are not so nimble, so witty, or intellectual; but they have something to their credit - they have loyalty, constancy, stability. Speech of May 10, 1933. Quoted in My New Order

There are, however, in the life of nations certain necessities which, if they are not brought about by peaceful methods, must be realized by force, however regrettable this appears, not only to the life of the individual citizen but also to the life of the community. It is undeniable that the greater interests common to all must never be impaired by the stubbornness or ill will of individuals and communities. Speech of October 6, 1939. Quoted in My New Order

I have always stressed that an authoritarian regime bears particularly great responsibilities. If it is demanded of the Volk that it place blind trust in its leadership, that leadership must earn this trust by its achievements and by particularly good behavior. Mistakes and errors may occur in a given case, but they can be eradicated. Bad behavior, drunken excesses, molesting peaceful, upstanding citizens - this is unworthy of a leader, contrary to National Socialism, and detestable to the utmost degree. Thus I have always insisted that higher demands be placed upon the behavior and conduct of National Socialist leaders than upon the other Volksgenossen. He who would command more respect for himself must in turn achieve more. The most basic thing which can be expected of him is that his life not be a disgraceful example to those around him. Speech of July 13, 1934. Quoted in Domarus

When one demands of a people that it should put blind confidence in its leaders, then for their part these leaders must deserve this confidence through their achievement and through specially good behavior. Mistakes and errors may in individual cases slip in, but they are to be eradicated. Bad behavior, drunken excesses, the molestation of peaceful decent folk - these are unworthy of a leader, they are not National Socialist, and they are in the highest degree detestable. Speech of July 13, 1934. Quoted in My New Order

The world does not live on wars, and similarly the Volk does not live on revolutions. Both cases can, at most, provide the basis for a new life. But no good will come of it if the act of destruction is not accomplished for the sake of a better and thus higher idea, but is exclusively subject to the nihilistic drives of destruction and will thus result not in the formation of something better but in unending hatred. A revolution which perceives its sole purpose as the defeat of a political opponent, the destruction of earlier accomplishments, or in the elimination of existing circumstances will lead to nothing better than a world war which will reach its appalling culmination—or rather its logical progression - in a mad Diktat. Speech of September 5, 1934. Quoted in Domarus

Peoples have never yet been successfully led by a majority but always only by a minority. This minority is not something outside, alien to the majority and opposed to it, it is composed of the best elements chosen out of the people as a whole. Just as the nation entrusts to a minority the defense of all its individual vital interests and feels no jealousy, so it will without hesitation entrust to a minority also the defense of its most weighty affairs so soon as it realizes that the minority is the most capable authority and, further, represents those from its own ranks best qualified to perform these tasks. Speech of September 10, 1934

We cannot live from phrases, from platitudes and theories, but only from the results of our work, our capacity, and our intelligence. This hard life-struggle of ours is not made any easier by each going his own way, if each man says, 'I do what I will and what seems good to me.' No, we must live one with another. No one can shut himself off from this community, because no one can escape from this common destiny. Speech of May 1, 1937. Quoted in My New Order

The German people is no warlike nation. It is a soldierly one which means it does not want a war but does not fear it. It loves peace but it also loves its honor and freedom. Speech of February 20, 1938. Quoted in My New Order

With every shred of its being, the German Volk is not a warlike, but a soldierly Volk; i.e. it does not desire war, yet it does not fear it, either. It loves peace, but it equally cherishes its honor and its liberty. Speech of February 20, 1938. Quoted in Domarus

National Socialism regards the forcible amalgamation of one people with another alien people not only as a worthless political aim, but in the long run as a danger to the internal unity and hence the strength of a nation. National Socialism therefore dogmatically rejects the idea of national assimilation. That also disposes of the bourgeois belief in a possible 'Germanization.' Speech of May 21, 1935. Quoted in My New Order

... the cultural evolution of a Volk resembles that of the Milky Way. Amongst countless pale stars a few suns radiate. However, all suns and planets are made of the same one material, and all of them observe the same laws. The entire cultural work of a Volk must not only be geared toward fulfillment of one mission, but this mission must also be pursued in one spirit. National Socialism is a cool and highly-reasoned approach to reality based upon the greatest of scientific knowledge and its spiritual expression. As we have opened the Volk's heart to these teachings, and as we continue to do so at present, we have no desire of instilling in the Volk a mysticism that transcends the purpose and goals of our teachings. Above all, National Socialism is a Volk Movement in essence and under no circumstances a cult movement! Insofar as the enlightenment and registration of our Volk demands the use of certain methods, which by now have become part of its traditions, these methods are rooted in experience and realizations that were arrived at by exclusively pragmatic considerations. Hence it will be useful to make these methods part of our heritage at a later date. They have nothing to do with other borrowed methods or expressions derived from other viewpoints which have to this date constituted the essence of cults. For the National Socialist Movement is not a cult movement; rather, it is a völkisch and political philosophy which grew out of considerations of an exclusively racist nature. This philosophy does not advocate mystic cults, but rather aims to cultivate and lead a Volk determined by its blood. Speech of September 6, 1938. Quoted in Domarus

The National Government will regard it as its first and foremost duty to revive in the nation the spirit of unity and co-operation. It will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built. It regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life. Speech of February 1, 1933. Quotes in "My New Order"

What the intellect of the intellectual could not see was grasped immediately by the soul, the heart, the instinct of this simple, primitive, but healthy man. It is another one of the tasks of the future to re-establish the unity between feeling and intellect; that is, to educate an unspoiled generation which will perceive with clear understanding the eternal law of development and at the same time will consciously return to the primitive instinct. Speech of September 1, 1933. Quoted in My New Order

I am of the opinion that there is nothing which has been produced by the will of man which cannot in its turn be altered by another human will. Speech of January 27, 1932. Quoted in My New Order

Government of the Reich will undertake a thorough moral purging of the body corporate of the nation. The entire educational system, the theater, the cinema, literature, the Press, and the wireless - all these will be used as means to this end and valued accordingly. They must all serve for the maintenance of the eternal values present in the essential character of our people. Art will always remain the expression and the reflection of the longings and the realities of an era. The neutral international attitude of aloofness is rapidly disappearing. Heroism is coming forward passionately and will in future shape and lead political destiny. It is the task of art to be the expression of this determining spirit of the age. Blood and race will once more become the source of artistic intuition. Speech of March 23, 1933. Quoted in My New Order

Germany possessed once - as the first condition for the organization of our people on a large scale - a weltanschauliche basis in our religion - Christianity. When this basis was shattered we see how the strength of the nation turned from external affairs to internal conflicts, since the nature of man from an inner necessity compels him at the moment when the common weltanschauliche basis is lost or is attacked to seek for a new common basis. These were the great periods of the civil wars, of the wars of religion, etc., struggles and confusions during which either a nation finds a new weltanschauliche platform and on this can build itself up anew and then it can turn its force outwards, or else a people is split in two and falls into chaos. Speech of January 27, 1932. Quoted in My New Order

The more you bring it home to their consciousness that they are only objects for men to bargain with, that they are only prisoners of world-politics, the more will they, like all prisoners, concentrate their thoughts on purely material interests. On the other hand, the more you bring back the people into the sphere of faith, of ideals, the more will it cease to regard material distress as the one and only thing which counts. And the weightiest evidence for the truth of that statement is our own German people. We would not ever forget that the German people waged wars of religion for 150 years with prodigious devotion, that hundreds of thousands of men once left their plot of land, their property, and their belongings simply for an ideal, simply for a conviction. We would never forget that during those 150 years there was no trace of even an ounce of material interests. Then you will understand how mighty is the force of an idea, of an ideal. Only so can you comprehend how it is that in our Movement today hundreds of thousands of young men are prepared at the risk of their lives to withstand our opponents. Speech of January 27, 1932. Quoted in My New Order

The Government of the nation must never harden into a purely bureaucratic machine: it must ever remain a living leadership, a leadership which does not view the people as an object of its activity, but which lives within the people, feels with the people and fights for the people. Forms and organizations can pass, but what does and must remain is the living substance of flesh and blood. Speech of September 1, 1933. Quoted in My New Order

The organizations defending class interests naturally resisted their own dissolution: but one cannot let a people go to ruin because these organizations wish to live. For a people does not live for theories, for programs or for organizations, but all these have to serve a nation's life. Similarly today we see that the struggle between peoples is fostered by folk with definite interests to promote. It is an uprooted international clique which incites the peoples one against another. They are folk who are at home everywhere and nowhere: they have no soil of their own on which they have grown up: today they are living in Berlin, tomorrow they may be in Brussels, the day after in Paris, and then again in Prague or Vienna or London - everywhere they feel themselves at home. Everywhere they can carry on their business, but the people cannot follow them: the people is chained to its soil, is tied to its homeland, tied to the possibilities of life of its State, its nation. The peasant cannot leave his soil, the workman depends upon his factory. If his factory is ruined, where will he find help? What is today the meaning of international class solidarity? That is mere theory at a time in which on every hand distress cries aloud and peoples have to fight hard for their existence. The strength of all of us lies - not in this international phantom, it lies in our homeland. My aim has always been to arouse and to reinforce this strength. Speech of November 10, 1933. Quoted in My New Order

A Press which is on principle anti-national cannot be tolerated in Germany. Whoever denies the nation can have no part in it. We must demand that the press shall become the instrument of the national self-education. Speech of April 27, 1923. Quoted in My New Order

Hitler on Economics

Great are the tasks of the National Government in the sphere of economic life. Here all action shall be governed by one law: the Volk does not live for the economy, and the economy does not exist for capital, but capital serves the economy and the economy serves the Volk! In principle, the Government protects the economic interests of the German Volk not by taking the roundabout way through an economic bureaucracy to be organized by the State, but by the utmost promotion of private initiative and a recognition of the rights of property. A fair balance must be established between productive intention on the one hand and productive work on the other. Speech of March 23, 1933. Quoted in Domarus

Here all action must be governed by one law: the people does not live for business and business doe