

* Salus publica suprema lex *



All ideal forms of government are utopias. A state cannot be constructed on a purely theoretical basis;

rather, it must grow and ripen in the way an individual human being matures. But we must not forget that at

the starting point of every civilization the state was already there in rudimentary form. The family is as old

as man himself, and out of this initial bond man, endowed with reason, created for himself a state founded

on justice, whose highest law was the common good. The state should exist as a parallel to the divine

order, and the highest of all utopias, *the civitas dei*, is the model which in the end it should approximate.



Here we will not pass judgment on the many possible forms of the state - democracy, constitutional

monarchy, and so on. But one matter needs to be brought out clearly and unambiguously. Every individual

human being has a claim to a useful and just state, a state which secures the freedom of the individual as

well as the good of the whole. For, according to God's will, man is intended to pursue his natural goal, his

earthly happiness, in self-reliance and self-chosen activity, freely and independently within the community

of life and work of the nation.



But our present "state" is the dictatorship of evil. "Oh, we've known that for a long time," I hear you object,

"and it isn't necessary to bring that to our attention again." But, I ask you, if you know that, why do you not

bestir yourselves, why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in

secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a

mechanized state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by

abuse that you forget it is your right - or rather, your *moral duty* - to eliminate this system?



But if a man no longer can summon the strength to demand his right, then it is absolutely certain that he

will perish. We would deserve to be dispersed through the earth like dust before the wind if we do not

muster our powers at this late hour and finally find the courage which up to now we have lacked. Do not

hide your cowardice behind a cloak of expediency, for with every new day that you hesitate, failing to

oppose this offspring of Hell, your guilt, as in a parabolic curve, grows higher and higher.



Many, perhaps most, of the readers of these leaflets do not see clearly how they can practice an effective

opposition. They do not see any avenues open to them. We want to try to show them that everyone is in a

position to contribute to the overthrow of this system. It is not possible through solitary withdrawal, in the

manner of embittered hermits, to prepare the ground for the overturn of this "government" or bring about

the revolution at the earliest possible moment. No, it can be done only by the cooperation of many

convinced, energetic people - people who are agreed as to the means they must use to attain their goal.



We have no great number of choices as to these means. The only one available is *passive resistance*.

The meaning and the goal of passive resistance is to topple National Socialism, and in this struggle we

must not recoil from any course, any action, whatever its nature. At *all* points we must oppose National

Socialism, wherever it is open to attack. We must soon bring this monster of a state to an end. A victory of

fascist Germany in this war would have immeasurable, frightful consequences. The military victory over

Bolshevism dare not become the primary concern of the Germans. The defeat of the Nazis must

*unconditionally* be the first order of business. The greater necessity of this latter requirement will be

discussed in one of our forthcoming leaflets.



And now every convinced opponent of National Socialism must ask himself how he can fight against the

present "state" in the most effective way, how he can strike it the most telling blows. Through passive

resistance, without a doubt. We cannot provide each man with the blueprint for his acts, we can only

suggest them in general terms, and he alone will find the way of achieving this end:



*Sabotage* in armament plants and war industries, sabotage at all gatherings, rallies, public ceremonies,

and organizations of the National Socialist Party. Obstruction of the smooth functioning of the war

machine (a machine for war that goes on solely to shore up and perpetuate the National Socialist Party

and its dictatorship). *Sabotage* in all the areas of science and scholarship which further the continuation

of the war - whether in universities, technical schools, laboratories, research institutions, or technical

bureaus. *Sabotage* in all cultural institutions which could potentially enhance the "prestige" of the

fascists among the people. *Sabotage* in all branches of the arts which have even the slightest

dependence on National Socialism or render it service. *Sabotage* in all publications, all newspapers,

that are in the pay of the "government" and that defend its ideology and aid in disseminating the brown lie.



Do not give a penny to the public drives (even when they are conducted under the pretense of charity). For

this is only a disguise. In reality the proceeds aid neither the Red Cross nor the needy. The government

does not need this money; it is not financially interested in these money drives. After all, the presses run

continuously to manufacture any desired amount of paper currency. But the populace must be kept

constantly under tension, the pressure of the bit must not be allowed to slacken! Do not contribute to the

collections of metal, textiles and the like. Try to convince all your acquaintances, including those in the

lower social classes, of the senselessness of continuing, of the hopelessness of this war; of our spiritual

and economic enslavement at the hands of the National Socialists; of the destruction of all moral and

religious values; and urge them to *passive resistance*!



Aristotle: *Politics*: "... and further, it is part [of the nature of tyranny] to strive to see to it that nothing is

kept hidden of that which any subject says or does, but that everywhere he will be spied upon,... and

further, to set man against man and friend against friend, and the common people against the privileged

and the wealthy. Also it is part of these tyrannical measures, to keep the subjects poor, in order to pay the

guards and the soldiers, and so that they will be occupied with earning their livelihood and will have

neither leisure nor opportunity to engage in conspiratorial acts... Further, [to levy] such taxes on income as

were imposed in Syracuse, for under Dionysius the citizens gladly paid out their whole fortunes in taxes

within five years. Also, the tyrant is inclined constantly to foment wars"



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