Hitler threatens bloodbath for ‘cowardice’ in Reich
Serves notice Nazis will fight on and show no mercy to Germans who waver
LONDON, England (UP) – Adolf Hitler’s 12th anniversary speech was seen today as a warning that Germany will fight on – even after the fall of Berlin – regardless of consequences for as long as his Nazi regime can control the army and restless hordes of war workers.
He served notice that the Nazi government will show no mercy toward any who waver from the policy of resistance to the end. The public execution of the deputy mayor of Breslau “for cowardice,” as announced by the Berlin radio, was believed symbolic of bloodbaths to come, perhaps already underway.
Hitler spoke for 16 minutes last night over the Berlin radio in commemoration of the start of his 13th year as ruler of Germany. The decision to speak was apparently made at the last moment, for Nazi broadcasts less than 24 hours earlier said the Fuehrer was too busy with the military situation to speak.
Listeners familiar with Hitler’s voice said they were certain that it was the Fuehrer speaking, though he sounded tired and omitted rhetorical outbursts of his heyday.
He pledged Germany to “wield the sword, no matter where and under what circumstances until final victory crowns our efforts.” Those who would “stab the nation in the back out of cowardice or lack of character will definitely and under all circumstances die ingloriously,” he warned.
Will stop at nothing
He said:
Whatever our enemies may devise, whatever suffering they may inflict on German towns, German provinces and especially on German people, it pales compared with the unimaginable misery and distress which would befall us if the plutocratic Bolshevist conspiracy should become victorious…
For this reason, we are even more determined to save our people in this struggle from this most horrible fate and we are determined to stop at nothing and to follow steadfastly and loyally the commandment of the self-preservation of our nation.
Hitler appealed for every man, woman and child in the Reich, the ailing as well as the healthy, to come to the aid of the Reich against the Red Army.
Stake life and soul
He said:
I expect every German to do his duty to the last. I expect him to render every sacrifice demanded of him.
From the healthy, I expect that they should stake they very life and soul in this struggle.
From the ailing and from those who cannot be spared for other reasons, I expect that they should work to the last ounce of their strength.
Of our town dwellers, I expect that they shall forge the weapons for the struggle.
From the farmer, I expect restriction of his own consumption to the utmost possible limits so that he can furnish bread for the soldiers and the workers engaged in this struggle.
I expect all women and girls to support this struggle with the utmost fanaticism as before.
Crisis will be mastered
However grave the German crisis may be at the moment, Hitler said, “it will finally be mastered by our unalterable will, by our readiness for sacrifice and by our abilities.”
He predicted that Britain not only “will fail to tame Bolshevism, but her own line of development will run more and more on the lines of this disintegrating disease.”
He said:
They will never get rid of the specters which they raised from the steppes of Asia. All small European nations which, believing in the promises of the Allies, capitulated, now face complete extinction.