“Once I really am in power, my first and foremost task will
be the annihilation of the Jews. As soon as I have the power
to do so, I will have gallows built in rows – at the Marienplatz
in Munich, for example – as many as traffic allows.
Then the Jews will be hanged indiscriminately, and they will
remain hanging until they stink; they will hang there as
long as the principles of hygiene permit. As soon as they
have been untied, the next batch will be strung up, and so
on down the line, until the last Jew in Munich has been
exterminated. Other cities will follow suit, precisely in
this fashion, until all Germany has been completely
cleansed of Jews.” (1)
…and:
“When I now broached the question of what the source of his
so strongly felt hatred for the Jews was, and why he wanted
to destroy this so undeniably intelligent race – a race to
which the Germans and all other Aryans, if not the entire
world, owed an incalculable debt in virtually all fields of
art and knowledge, research and economics – Hitler suddenly
calmed down and gave this unexpectedly sober and almost
dispassionate explanation:
‘It is manifestly clear and has been proven in practice and
by the facts of all revolutions that a struggle for ideals,
for improvements of any kind whatsoever, absolutely must be
supplemented with a struggle against some social class or
caste.
My object is to create first-rate revolutionary
upheavals, regardless of what methods and means I have to
use in the process. Earlier revolutions were directed either
against the peasants, or the nobility and the clergy, or
against dynasties and their network of vassals, but in no
case has revolution succeeded without the presence of a
lightning rod that could conduct and channel the odium of
the general masses.
‘With this very thing in mind I scanned the revolutionary
events of history and put the question to myself against
which racial element in Germany can I unleash my propaganda
of hate with the greatest prospects of success? I had to
find the right kind of victim, and especially one against
whom the struggle would make sense, materially speaking. I
can assure you that I examined every possible and thinkable
solution to this problem, and, weighing every imaginable
factor, I came to the conclusion that a campaign against the
Jews would be as popular as it would be successful.
There are few Germans who have not been vexed with the behavior of
Jews or else have not suffered losses through them in some
way or other. Disproportionately to their small number they
account for an immense share of the German national wealth,
which can just as easily be put to profitable use for the
state and the general public as could the holdings of the
monasteries, bishops, and nobility.
‘Once the hatred and the battle against the Jews have been
really stirred up, their resistance will necessarily crumble
in the shortest possible time. They are totally defenseless,
and no one will stand up to protect them.'”(2)
1. Josef Hell, “Aufzeichnung,” 1922, ZS 640, p. 5,
Institute fuer Zeitgeschichte. The retired Major Josef Hell
was a journalist in the twenties and in the beginning of the
thirties, during which time he also collaborated with Dr.
Fritz Gerlich, the editor of the weekly newspaper Der Gerade
Weg, as cited in Fleming, Gerald. Hitler and the Final
Solution. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. p. 17
2. Ibid., as cited in Fleming, pp. 28-29
Archive/File: pub/people/h/hitler.adolf/hitler-1922
Last-Modified: 1996/03/01
