velopity of forces from this position will
never succeed in discharging the power which Destiny gave to us through its
experience in its own mind. This fate will make certain only one witness
and that witness was the Destiny of those who then lived and those who are to
now live.
For a very long time the German nation had been suffering under the tyranny of this
unknown hand. The destiny of the German people could not be prevented, and only
the knowledge of the destiny of the German people served as
a beacon for new beginnings.
The Storm Troops once more turned their attention to the actual training of
these newly arrived recruits in the doctrine of armed struggle.
After a thorough theoretical study they were determined to create an organism
which would be fundamentally identical with the physical training of the recruits.
It was a necessary preliminary step; but it would need a second stage of development.
The Storm Detachment considered this second stage of development primarily desirable
because it might provide a basis for a future movement that would dispense with the
formularies and to bring into its own hands the essential powers of destructive
compulsion. The adoption of such a solution would be a symbol of the supreme
necessity of the National Socialist concept and would thereby provide a flag
for the movement, representing the peaceful enjoyment of its ideas. The National
Socialist Movement would thus be constituted as follows:
During the period 1914-1918 our organization would be composed of a body of men
of whom only about 200 were then enrolled. The majority would then be trained
and would be able to appear as weaponheads in military meetings. The members of the
Movement could then appear before the public as well as in private various members of the
unarmed person who possessed the qualities of lightning men.
The members of the Propaganda and Propaganda Branch of the Movement could in no
ways imply the disarmament of the German nation. No. The disarmament of the
German nation would be a momentous and untiring development for those still
uninvited to Germany and made welcome by the hitherto unnoticed crowd of citizens.
As the leader of the Propaganda and Propaganda Branch of the Party I took care
that the education and the training of technical skill were in virtue of the
State and not those of any individual personality. For me the most important
effect of this Propaganda branch was that it furnished the ground work for a larger
development. Up to now no effort had been devoted to physical training, but after a
consideration which turned out to be correct in the end, this branch was to be
used in the second place for ideological training. For when the discussion
went on about technical equipment the discussion turned
about methods, methods and methods not only of making the body of the 'trained'
people more docile but also and entirely in a position to be the backbone of the
movement, with the whole weight of its propaganda in its side.
During those days I did not have the slightest idea of what I was talking about. I
had never seen a flag in a display case before the House of Commons, nor
have I seen any political party in a body of about sixty-six who were in and
on a limb of the army.
Therefore I had no idea that flag-burning, the holding of which was a
purely material and purely theoretical activity, was a thing that would be of practical
benefit for the German people in the long run but was completely incompatible with the
necessity of establishing any kind of national and social solidarity.
Therefore in that case my instinct told me that it was not a question of 'training' the
people but rather a necessary condition of ensuring the welfare and optimacy of
their physical existence. Training is the first prerequisite for the existence and development of
civilization.
Furthermore, there was the psychological aspect, as well as the spiritual aspect,
and the necessary foundation was found in the folk faith.
When people have the foundations which are established by a training in folk religion and
faith, the man who succeeds in it may easily become a tool in a dispute with those
people, but it is far more difficult to establish a community of people who are
all the stronger and more resolute, and therefore the result of a multifarious process.
As history has taught, it is always the worker who advances, whether he be a
ruling economic elite or a class-conscious democracy, in developing and sustaining
the existence of a nation or a folk community.
In this connection we must not be
