DOCUMENTS

On March 15, on the occasion of the Heroes' Mem01"ial Day, Chan­cellor Adolf Hitler made a speech in which he indicated the militarydevelopmentlJ to be expected in the course of thilt year.

Today it may be said that the winter behindus was such as liad not been experienced incentral and eastern Europe for 140 years.During the past four months our soldier! andthose of our allies have been cruelly tested byProvidence as to their intrinsic value. Theyhave stood this test in a manner that leavesno doubt that, whatever fate has in store forus, it can only be easier than that which liesbehind us.

Scarcely four months after the successfulexecution of the Balkan campaign, Germanarmed forces embarked in 1941 on their marchinto the wide expanse of Russia. Battles werewaged and victories achieved which will beregarded in the future as unique deeds of glory.Jointly with their allies they have attacked.defeated, and exterminated new Russian forma­tions in order to meet further masses of men.In four months endless roads were covered in anoffensive which, in its depth and breadtb. hadno parallel in history.

Many weeks earlier than any experience orscientific prediction could allow it to beassumed, winter enveloped our army, a winterwhich gave the enemy four months to bringabout a change in this struggle fraught withdestiny. And that was the only hope of therulers in the Kremlin: to be able to inflict onthe German armed forces the Napoleonic fateof 1812 in this uproar of the elements, whichwas such as even they had never beforeexperienced.

By superhuman effort and by putting intothe scales their last ounce of energy of bodyand soul. German soldiers and their allieshave stood this test and overcome it. In a fewmonths history will probably be in a positionto state whether the sacrifice of hecatombs ofRussian lives in this struggle was or was Dotthe right thing to do from a military view­point.

One thing, however, we know already: theBolshevist hordes which did not succeed indefeating the German and allied soldiers thiswinter will be defeated and annihilated by usin the coming summer. The Bolshevist colos·8US, the cruel dangers of which we are onlytoday fully aware, may never again-andthat is our firm decision-touch ArcadianEuropean fields. but shall find its final fron­tiers far away.

111 a sh~rt sll'rvcy of the econcmlic atldpolitical events that had led to the outbreah 01the prclJent war, he took the R'iom trials as anexample to show the mentality 01 Germany'sopponents, a mentality incomprehensible toGc·rmans. Alter mentioni11g hOllJ nece8sa,ryGermany's military preparations had provedto be, he eo'ntintled:

"When in 1940 we commemorated our nation'sheroes on Memorial Day, we did so in the proudrealization of having won the first phase of aconflict imposed upon us against our will.With the greatest confidence we could thenhope to weather successfully the secondphase also. And in fact in March 1941 achieve­ments lay behind us of one year's fighting ofhistorically unillue dimensions.

In a victorious campaign in the north andwest without precedent, Europe was purged ofContinental enemy forces. Italy joined us asa loyal aUy in this life anti death struggle of"have-nots."

But the performance of the German armiesin these campaigns paled in comparison withthose problems and difficulties which Fate hadimposed on our armed forces nnd allies to solveand master in the past year. Only now do werealize the full extent of the preparations ofour enemies.

Today we behold the collaboration. spreadacross the whole world, of the Jewish wire­pullers who, in a joint attack, in a conspiracyof Democracy and Bolshevism, believed theycould destroy the whole of Europe. Providenceenabled us to withstand victoriously on allbattlefields this coalition of Jewish Marxismand capitalism. Therefore let us thank Himfrom our hearts without Whose protection andshield all human strength, all industriousness,and all courage would have been in vain.

For behind us is a year, not only of thelargest-scale fighting in the history of theworld, but also of the hardest test undergoneby our people, a test which-this may be saidtoday- has been weathered not only at thefront but also at home. That the Germanpeople are not afraid of human threats hasoften been proved by history. This time, how­ever, they were tested, not only by the forceof enemy weapons and by a numerically andapparently inexhaustible stream of primitivepeople, but also by the most cruel hardshipsof Nature.

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We all feel at this moment the greatness ofthe era in which we are living. The world isbeing shaped anew. While in East Asia theheroic Japanese people-provoked, insulted, andeconomically throttled like the German andItalian people-are breaking up Democraticcapitalist fortresses with gigantic blows onthe sea, in the air, and on land, in Europeprerequisite conditions are being created forgiving this continent genuine independence.

For it is unbearable that the lives ofhundreds of millions of people of the highestculture and the greatest industriousness shouldbe dependent for ever upon the wishes of asmall, criminal clique of Jewish capitalisticworld conspirators and the opinions of a fewpeople and states oppressed by them, who thusalone are opposed to Europe.

There can, therefore, be only one solution,namely, to fight this war until a guaranteeof lasting peace is gained, that is, until theannihilation of the enemies of this peace.

By proclaiming this decision as a solemnconfession, we shall do most justice to thesacrifices which the war of 1914·18, thestruggle of the National-Socialist movementfor the resurrection of our people at home,and finally the present battle, demanded of usand will still demand of us. How the rest ofthe world shapes its life is of no concern tothe German people.

The attempt, however, of extra-continentalpowers to interfere continually in internalEuropean affairs, especially in the affairs ofour own people, will now be warded off andprevented once and for all time.

Whether and in what world the AmericanPresident wants to live does not concern usGermans in the least. His intention, however,of ~-l'll'dinAtine the r.<!l'mAD 01' even F.ul'opeanworld to his requirements, that is to say, hisintentions of overthrowing the world whichhas become dear to us Hnd replacing It lly al1alien world which we hate, will not only failbut his own world will go down in theattempt.

With regard to his intention of punishingEurope by Bolshevism, however, I have alreadystated in another place that the state whichis most allied to Bolshevism will presumablybecome the first victim of Bolshevism.

The German people today have been enlight­ened about tbe 'blessings' of this bestialtheory, and above all are strong enoughto resist successfully this danger to its ex­istence.

In view of the great year just past and ofthe equally great year ahead-of this we areconvinced-we commemorate our heroes andthose of our valiant allies in the past andpresent with determination to see to it thatall their sacrifices have not been in vain norever will be.

We cannot take a more sincere part in thiscommemoration than in the consciousness thatthe present generation once again equals thegreat times of the past, that is, equals themin its soldiers at the front as well as in itsmen and women at home.

No matter what fate may demand of us,these years of battle will nevertheless beshorter than the years of that long andblessed peace which will be the outcome ofthe present struggle.

To shape this peace in such a manner thatit will do justice to the sacrifices of oursoldiers from all classes of our people is thefuture task of the National-Socialist state.For they have all fallen for the eternalGennAn ponr1o, our eommnn Gl'eater Reich.and the better community of nations of ourcontinent.

May the Lord God, therefore, grant us allstrength to do also in the future wbat dutydemands of us. With this request we bowreY\;a:cl1~ly !Jc!Qce tho deAd horooo And bolol'Qtheir next of kin who are mourning for them,and before all other victims of this war."(Transocoan, March 15, 1942.)