(broadcast read by Dr.
Goebbels)
Germans!
For years we have witnessed the
fate of our fellow Germans in Austria with deep distress. An eternal historical
bond, severed only by the events of the year 1866 but forged anew in the World
War, has from time immemorial destined Austria to take its place in the German
national community and share its fate. The suffering which was imposed on this
country, first from outside and then from within, we experienced as our own,
and we know that the misfortunes of the Reich caused millions of German
Austrians similar anxiety and concern!
When the German nation
regained the proud self-confidence of a great People, thanks to the triumph of
the ideals of National Socialism, in Austria a new period of suffering and most
bitter adversity began. A regime with no legal mandate was attempting by means
of the most brutal terror and physical mistreatment as well as punitive and
destructive economic measures, to maintain an existence which was rejected by
the vast majority of the Austrian People. Thus, we as a great People saw how a
numerically small minority, which had simply been able to seize the necessary
instruments of power, was suppressing more than six million people with whom we
share a common origin. Their political disenfranchisement and the deprivation
of their freedom was accompanied by an economic decline which was a shocking
contrast to the blossoming of new life in Germany.
Who could blame these
unfortunate fellow Germans if they looked toward the Reich with longing eyes?
To that Germany with which their forefathers had been united for so many
centuries, with which they had once fought shoulder to shoulder in the most
terrible of all wars, whose culture was their culture and to which they
themselves had contributed their most cherished values in so many areas. To
suppress these longings was to condemn hundreds of thousands of people to the
most profound spiritual distress. Whereas years ago, this suffering was still
borne patiently, as the prestige of the Reich steadily increased, the
determination to end this oppression became stronger and stronger.
Germans! In recent years I
have tried to warn the former rulers in Austria not to continue on this path.
Only a maniac could believe that suppression and terror can deprive human
beings of their love of their own People. European history proves that this
causes nothing but more intense fanaticism. This fanaticism then forces the suppressor
to employ ever more cruel and violent methods, which in turn only increase the
revulsion and hatred felt by the victims of this violence.
I also tried to convince those
in power that in the long run it is impossible, because it is unworthy, for a
great nation to be forced constantly to watch as a People of the same
nationality are persecuted and incarcerated merely because of their origin, or
their allegiance to a People, or their dedication to an idea. Germany alone has
had to accept more than 40,000 refugees, 10,000 others have been in jails,
prison cells and holding camps in this small land. Hundreds of thousands have
been made beggars, reduced to misery and poverty. In the long run no nation in
the world could tolerate such conditions on its borders without itself
deserving same disrespect.
In 1936 I tried to find some
way which could offer the prospect of alleviating the tragic fate of this
German brother nation, and in this way perhaps achieve genuine reconciliation.
The Agreement of July 11 was signed only to be breached a moment later. The
vast majority remained deprived of their rights. Their humiliating position as
a pariah in this state was in no way changed. Anyone who openly supported the
ideal of one German nation continued to be persecuted, no matter whether he was
a National Socialist street labourer or an old meritorious army commander who
had fought in the World War.
I tried a second time to reach
an understanding. I attempted to explain to the representative of this regime,
who without any legitimate mandate of his own stood before me in my capacity as
the elected leader of the German People, I tried to explain to him that in the
long run this situation would become intolerable, since the growing outrage of
the Austrian People could not be suppressed forever by the increasing use of
force, and that from a certain point in time the Reich would find it impossible
to continue to stand idly by and silently observe such outrageous treatment.
Today, when even the solution
to colonial problems must take into consideration the right of inferior nations
to self-determination, it is intolerable that six and a half million members of
an old and great civilized People are in practical terms deprived of these
rights by the nature of the governing regime. Hence in a new agreement I wanted
all Germans in this country to be granted the same rights and be subject to the
same obligations. This agreement was to fulfil the terms of the Treaty of July
11 1936.
A few weeks later it
unfortunately became obvious that the men of the Austrian government in power
at that time had no intention of complying with the terms of this agreement.
However, in order to acquire an alibi for their continued failure to grant
equal rights to the Austrian Germans, a plebiscite was devised which was
intended to finally deprive the majority in this country of its rights! The
modalities of this procedure were to be unique. A country which has not had an
election for many years, which lacks all the documentation required to compile
voters' lists, announces a vote which is to take place within just three and a
half days.
There are no electoral lists.
There are no voters' cards. There is no scrutiny of the eligibility to vote.
There is no obligation to preserve secret ballot. There is no guarantee that
the voting will be conducted with impartiality. There is no method of ensuring
fair counting of the votes, and so on. If these are the methods to give a
regime legality, then we National Socialists in the German Reich were utter
fools for 15 years! We went through a hundred election campaigns and took great
pains to gain the approval of the German People!
When the late Reichspräsident
finally called upon me to form the government, I was the leader of the party
which had by far the strongest support in the Reich. Since then I have
repeatedly sought to have the legality of my existence and my actions confirmed
by the German People, and it was confirmed. If the methods Herr Schuschnigg
wanted to use were the right ones, then the plebiscite we once held in the Saar
can only have been a device to harass a People whose return to the Reich we
wanted to make more difficult. We, however, do not subscribe to that view. I
believe we can all be proud that it was in this very plebiscite in the Saar
that we received such an indisputable vote of confidence from the German
People.
The German People of Austria
themselves finally rose up in protest against this unprecedented attempt at
election fraud. If, however, it was again the intention of the regime to simply
crush the protest movement with brute force, the result could only be a new
civil war. The German Reich will, however, henceforth not permit Germans to be
persecuted in this territory because of their membership in our nation or
because they profess certain views. It wants peace and order.
I have therefore decided to
offer the millions of Germans in Austria the assistance of the Reich. Since this
morning soldiers of the German armed forces have been crossing all of the
German-Austrian borders. Armoured units, infantry divisions and SS units on the
ground and the German Luftwaffe in the skies, summoned by the new National
Socialist Government in Vienna, will ensure that the Austrian People are within
the very near future finally given the opportunity to determine for themselves
their future, and thus their fate, through a genuine plebiscite. And these
units are supported by the will and determination of the entire German nation.
I myself, as Führer and
Chancellor of the German People, will be happy once again to be able to enter
the country which is also my homeland as a German and a free citizen. The
world, however, shall see for itself that for the German People in Austria
these days are filled with hours of blissful joy and deep emotion. They regard
their brothers who have come to their aid as saviours who have rescued them
from great distress!
Long live the National
Socialist German Reich! Long live National Socialist German Austria!
Berlin, March 12, 1938
Adolf Hitler
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