Try reading this from 1934...
German men, German women, German boys, German girls, over a million of you are gathered in many places in all of Germany!
On this the anniversary of the proclamation of the Party's program, you will together swear an oath of loyalty and obedience to Adolf Hitler. You will display to the world what has long been obvious to you, and what you have expressed in past years, often unconsciously.
You are swearing you oath on a day that Germany celebrates for the first time Heroes' Memorial Day. We lower our flags in remembrance of those who lived as heroes, and who died as heroes. We lower the flags before the giants of our past, before those who fought for Germany, before the millions who fought in the World War, before those who died preparing the way for the new Reich. I name Horst Wessel because he has become a symbol for us, and remember through him all those "shot by the Red Front and Reaction."
Woe to the people that fails to honor its heroes! It will cease producing them, cease knowing them. Heroes spring from the essence of their people. A people without heroes is a people without leaders, for only a heroic leader is a true leader able to withstand the challenge of difficult times. The rise or fall of a people can be determined by the presence or absence of a leader.
We do not want to forget the mothers, women, and children who gave their dearest, often their provider, and bear their fate with quiet heroism.
The battle-ready manly heroes and the quiet sacrifices of mothers and women are holy examples of loyalty for we Germans. The flags that we now raise once more are the symbols of this loyalty, which for Nordic mankind is closely bound to heroism!
Loyalty not only in deed, but in character is demanded of you. Loyalty of character often demands no less heroic virtue than does loyalty in deed. Loyalty in character is unbreakable loyalty, a loyalty that knows no ifs and buts, that knows no weakening, Loyalty in character means absolute obedience that does not question the results of the order nor its reasons, rather obeys for the sake of obedience itself. Such obedience is an expression of heroic character when following the order leads to personal disadvantage or seems even to contradict one's personal convictions. Adolf Hitler's strength as a leader is that he almost always works through the power of his persuasion; rarely does he command. He must know, however, that when he commands, or allows a command to be given, that it will be followed absolutely, down to the last block warden.
The Oath to Adolf Hitler
Speech by Rudolf Hess on 25 February 1934 |
