Oath of leadership
Hitler oath or oath to the leaders appoint an oath that during the period of National Socialism was asked of different groups of people. Oath of the oath was sometimes used synonymously in the military context .
With the death of Reich President Paul von Hindenburg on August 2, 1934, the offices of Reich Chancellor and Head of State were merged. From that date on, Hitler used the official title of "Führer and Reich Chancellor" . On the same day, Reichswehr Minister Werner von Blomberg had the soldiers of the Reichswehr sworn in on the "Leader of the German Reich and People, ... Adolf Hitler".
The immediate swearing in of the Reichswehr soldiers on Hitler as a person after the death of Hindenburg was the result of tactical considerations of the Hitler supporters and admirers of Reichswehr Minister Werner von Blomberg and Walter von Reichenau . It had become clear to them that the intention of Reich Chancellor Hitler to take over his powers upon the death of Reich President Hindenburg also meant taking over the supreme command of the Reichswehr. Through their initiative, they wanted to ensure that Hitler, who with the "suppression of the Röhm Putsch " in June 1934 had decided in their opinion for the Reichswehr as "the nation's only armed forces", the supreme command as "leader" of the German people and the NSDAP could not exercise. From the swearing-in on his person, previously agreed with Hitler, they expected the Reichswehr to gain greater weight in the Nazi state that was being established. The swearing-in took place on the same day on the basis of a "ministerial ordinance " by Blomberg without any direct agreement with the Reich government, including Hitler, and without the necessary legal requirement. Reichenau's formula of the oath, which had not been preceded by any constitutional considerations, and which deviated from the one stipulated by law on the same day when Hitler was titled “Leader of the German Reich and People”, was dictated to his colleague Major Hermann Foertsch . Nevertheless, on August 20, Hitler legally sanctioned them with his signature as "Führer and Reich Chancellor".
oath
Reichswehr
"I swear loyalty to the Reich constitution and vow that as a brave soldier I want to protect the German Reich and its legal institutions at all times, and to obey the Reich President and my superiors."
"I swear to God this holy oath that I will always serve the people and my fatherland faithfully and honestly and, as a brave and obedient soldier, I will be ready to commit my life for this oath at any time."
Reichswehr from August 2, 1934 and Wehrmacht
"I swear to God this holy oath that I will unconditionally obey the leader of the German Reich and the people, Adolf Hitler, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and, as a brave soldier, I will be ready to give my life for this oath at any time."
In order to secure his claim to military power, Hitler changed the designation Commander- in -Chief to Supreme Commander by law :
"I swear to God this holy oath that I will obey the leader of the German Reich and the people, Adolf Hitler, the Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht, unconditionally and, as a brave soldier, I will be ready to give my life for this oath at any time."
Walter von Reichenau , who was instrumental in building up the Wehrmacht , dictated this oath to his colleague Hermann Foertsch for writing. After speaking the oath, the soldiers had to say a hurray to Hitler .
SS
- Oath formula of the Schutzstaffel (SS):
- "I swear to you, Adolf Hitler, as leader and chancellor of the German Reich, loyalty and bravery."
- “I pledge obedience to you and your appointed superiors until death! So help me God! "
- “I swear to you, Adolf Hitler, as leader and Chancellor of the German Reich, loyalty and bravery. We pledge obedience to you and your appointed superiors until death. So help me God! "
Officer
From the law on the swearing in of civil servants and soldiers of the Wehrmacht of August 20, 1934:
"§ 1. The public officials and the soldiers of the Wehrmacht have to take an oath of service when entering service.
§ 2. 1. The official oath of service reads:
- 'I swear: I will be loyal and obedient to the leader of the German Reich and the people, Adolf Hitler, observe the laws and conscientiously fulfill my official duties, so help me God.' [...]
§ 3. The officials on duty are to be sworn in immediately according to § 2 number 1. "
The German Civil Service Act of January 26, 1937 stipulated:
“A professional civil service that is rooted in the German people and permeated by the National Socialist worldview, which is loyal to the leader of the German Reich and the people, Adolf Hitler, forms a cornerstone of the National Socialist state. Therefore, the Reich Government has passed the following law, which is hereby promulgated:
§ 1. to § 3.
[...].2. Oath of allegiance
§ 4. (1) The official affirms the special bond with the Fiihrer and Reich with the following oath, which he has to take when starting his first service:
- 'I swear: I will be loyal and obedient to the Führer of the German Reich and the people, Adolf Hitler, observe the laws and conscientiously fulfill my official duties, so help me God.'
(2) If a law permits members of a religious society to use other form of protest in place of the oath, the civil servant who is a member of such a religious society can use this formula of protest.
(3) If the official declares that he has reservations about taking the oath in religious form, he can take it without the closing remarks. "
Other groups of people
The oath was required of university professors ( Kurt von Fritz and Karl Barth were the only university professors in Germany who refused to take the leadership oath in 1934); also by nurses (see Nursing under National Socialism ) and by some student groups (e.g. the theology student Heinz Welke refused the oath in 1935 ).
The oath was controversial in parts of the Evangelical Church (cf. Paul Schempp ). The Confessing Church rejected him. The evangelical current German Christians and the Luther Council supported him; the regional bishops of the intact regional churches then demanded it from their pastors.
The nurses of the Nazi sorority took their oath on the Führer analogously to the National Socialist understanding of welfare and the so-called " New German Medicine ".
Others
In 1935 compulsory military service was reintroduced in the German Reich : Since then, conscientious objectors have faced severe penal sentences - regular imprisonment in a concentration camp - and the death penalty if they persisted .
During the Second World War , Section 5 of the Special War Criminal Law Ordinance (KSSVO) stipulated that anyone who publicly requested or incited others to refuse to obey Adolf Hitler or to refuse military service could be punished with death. Refusing soldiers were usually shot dead.
Nevertheless, up to 1945 there were around 8,000 objectors, around 6,000 of whom were Jehovah's Witnesses who refused to war or take oaths . Of these, around 1,200 (635 of them on conditions of detention) died or were murdered in custody without a judgment; 203 - according to other information 250 - of which due to a court ruling for their conscientious objection to military service (see Jehovah's Witnesses during the Nazi era )
It is known that some of the assassins on July 20, 1944 - despite their conspiracy against Hitler - felt strongly bound by this oath. Others, however, did not attach any importance to him because they felt pressed to the oath.
After their resistance had been criminalized, many opponents of the regime were pressed into a so-called probation battalion - for example, they were given the choice of “concentration camp or front”. From July 1941, the Wehrmacht began to call up the first soldiers to the Penal Division 500 . In October 1942, the Penal Division 999 was set up. Both often had to fight in the front line. In addition, there was the following procedure: a system critic - for example a priest or pastor who had attracted attention with critical sermons - was called up for military service. His superiors were ordered to deploy him on the front line.
Well-known objectors
- Karl Barth (Swiss theologian); Result: loss of the professorship
- Kurt von Fritz (university professor); Consequence: compulsory retirement
- Martin Gauger (Legal Assessor at the Wuppertal Public Prosecutor); Result: immediate release from the public prosecutor's office, victim of action 14f13
- Franz Heckenast (Austrian officer), after the “ Anschluss ”; Consequence: forced retirement
- Paul Jacobs (pastor and professor in Münster)
- Hermann Klugkist Hesse (theologian and church historian)
- Erica Küppers (theologian from Hesse); Result: forced to retire
- Josef Mayr-Nusser (Bozen), after being drafted into the Waffen SS ; Result: Death sentence, died on the way to the Dachau concentration camp
- Franz Reinisch (Pallottine Father from Austria), after being drafted into the Wehrmacht; Result: execution
- Theodor Roller ( CVJM member from Tübingen); Result: psychiatric admission
- Joseph Ruf ("Brother Maurus" of the Christ the King Society), in the Wehrmacht; Result: execution
- Ulrich Sporleder (ev. Theologian), at his 2nd theological exam in 1940; Consequence: No charge
- Karl Steinbauer (Evangelical Lutheran theologian)
- Rudolf Towarek (Major General in Austria), after the “Anschluss”; Consequence: forced retirement
- Hellmut Traub (theologian)
- Ernst Volkmann (guitar maker from Bregenz ), after being drafted into the Wehrmacht; Result: execution
- Ludwig Walz (clothing merchant and mayor), after being drafted into the Wehrmacht; Result: three days in prison
- Heinz Welke (theologian from Frankfurt) refused as a student
- Ingeborg Willrich (teacher); Result: u. a. retired without entitlement to a pension
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Reichswehr swearing in Adolf Hitler on the day of Hindenburg's death (August 2, 1934) . In: German History in Documents and Pictures (DGDB), accessed on May 8, 2020.
- ↑ Klaus-Jürgen Müller : The Army and Hitler. Army and National Socialist regime 1933–1940 . DVA, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 978-3-421-01482-5 , p. 135 ff.
- ↑ Deeply immersed . In: Der Spiegel . No. 31 , 1969 ( online ).
- ↑ Heinrich Himmler: Die Schutzstaffel (SS) as an anti-Bolshevik combat organization , 1937, p. 15 .
- ^ Officials Act of 1937 (full text)
- ↑ § 5 KSSVO decomposition of military strength
- ↑ Eberhard Röhm: Dying for Peace. Calwer, Stuttgart 1985, p. 213.
- ↑ G. Grünewald: Conscientious objection. In: Hermes Handlexikon (ed.): Helmut Donat , Karl Holl : The peace movement. Econ, Düsseldorf 1983, ISBN 3-612-10024-6 , pp. 236-239.