National Solidarity Day

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The German National Socialists called the National Solidarity Day an annually recurring collection day at the start of the “ Winter Relief Organization of the German People ”, during which prominent party officials and artists used collecting boxes to solicit donations.

Introduced in 1934

On October 11, 1934, Adolf Hitler gave a speech in the Kroll Opera House to raise funds for the second “Winter Relief Organization of the German People”. Joseph Goebbels , who had highlighted the successful campaign of the previous year in his diary as “my greatest achievement”, soon feared that the amount of donations would fall far short of expectations. He wrote in his diary at the end of October 1934: “WHW is not in good shape. Exert all your strength. Large shortfall to be expected ”.

Goebbels wanted to prevent a setback, "strengthen the back" of the collectors and "popularize" the winter aid organization by including prominent artists and officials at the start of the nationwide collections. The directed press, cinema advertising and posters announced a "Day of National Solidarity". On December 10, 1934, Goebbels noted the resounding success of that day, on which, according to initial estimates, 3,500,000 Reichsmarks were collected across the Reich : “Everyone is in a collector's mood. The guide was also very enthusiastic. [...] At 4 pm with Göring at the Adlon . Indescribable. Tens of thousands. An unmistakable jubilation and hubbub. I'm almost crushed. [...] These wonderful Berliners! And they give. Warmest of all the poorest. I often cry. I collect everywhere. Magda [Goebbels] too. And thousands of others. Everyone is excited about it. In the evening to the guide. Report. 30 collectors there. High spirits. A great victory. I have 42 cans full ”.

term

The term “national solidarity” is attributed to Joseph Goebbels and was used by Adolf Hitler in his opening speech on September 13, 1933. With propaganda intentions it was supposed to suppress the slogan “ international solidarity anchored in the consciousness of the workers ”. The magazine Mutterssprache complained in 1935: “Anyone who cares about their German mother tongue as the most expensive inheritance from their ancestors, as the purest expression of the German soul, must feel deeply offended by the unfortunate choice of that French name for such a holy, good one German cause, a name that also reminds of the 'international solidarity' of unhappy memory ... ”This objection was ineffective.

Interpretations

The result of that day was enthusiastically praised by the press: “The winter relief organization 1937/38 now demonstrated in its brilliant development the progress of socialist education in the German national community . The Day of National Solidarity [4. December 1937], on which the German leadership corps again collected in town and country, this time around 8 million RM ”. The writer Walter Tausk , classified as a Jew by the National Socialists , wrote in his diary on December 3, 1938: “Today is the 'Day of German Solidarity', as you can see from the attachment that was in our mailbox yesterday. The Jews are therefore under house arrest from twelve to eight o'clock [...] , that is, they do not have to leave their apartments because they are not involved in German solidarity '. Does not matter. As long as you are left alone ”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Elke Fröhlich (ed.): The diaries of Joseph Goebbels. Part 1: Records 1923–1941 . Volumes 2, 3: Angela Hermann: October 1932 – March 1934 . Revision. Saur, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-598-23788-X , p. 377 (as of February 24, 1934).
  2. ↑ Elke Fröhlich (ed.): The diaries of Joseph Goebbels. Part 1: Records 1923–1941 . Volume 3, 1: Angela Hermann: April 1934 – February 1936 . Revision. Saur, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-598-23730-8 , p. 125 (as of October 25, 1934).
  3. ↑ Elke Fröhlich (ed.): The diaries of Joseph Goebbels. Part 1: Records 1923–1941 . Volume 3, 1: Angela Hermann: April 1934 – February 1936 . Revision. Saur, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-598-23730-8 , p. 151 (December 10, 1934).
  4. ↑ Cornelia Schmitz-Berning: Vocabulary of National Socialism. 2. through and revised Edition, de Gruyter, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-11-019549-1 , p. 602.
  5. ↑ a b c Quoted from Cornelia Schmitz-Berning: Vokabular des Nationalozialismus. P. 603.

SORTING: National Solidarity Day