Voelkischer Beobachter 21 January 1942
Kattowice 20 January—
Reichsleiter Baldur von Schirach spoke Tuesday afternoon at a major convention of party leaders of the Gau Upper Silesia in the City theatre of Kattowice to the corps of leaders from party, administration and commerce on duties of the German Youth in the East, which will be the deciding factor in the destiny of the German people.
[Par. 4]
The German, in the East, the Reichsleiter began, has a definite sense for reality. Here the German has either to fight or to stand guard. On top of it he has to carry out very hard work. Peace in the established sense was never known to him. Continuously he believed in the greater Germany and has always shown himself in his devotion as a true soldier and National Socialist.
[Par. 7]
Reichsleiter Baldur von Schirach then dealt with the tasks of German youth in the East. The Hitler youth had carried out political schooling along the lines of the Fuehrer's Eastern policy. We are grateful to the Fuehrer for having turned the face of the German people towards the East, because the East is the destiny of our people. After having shown up the mistakes in past Eastern policy, the Reichsleiter continued:
Service in the East is honorable service to the German people. The young Germans must live for the ideas for which the German soldiers have died, and the young generation of our people must regard it as their highest duty to work in those regions where their German comrades in uniform have shed their blood.
It is the duty of every youth leader to regard the fight of his fallen comrades as a symbol for his future tasks. He must be prepared at all times to spend even his whole life in the East under the most difficult conditions. There can be no greater honor than to consolidate with the plough—for the future and simultaneously for the sons and grandsons of our fallen comrades—those regions whose soil has been drenched with the blood of German soldiers.
907
Extracts from a speech on the role of young Germans in the East in consolidating the task begun by German soldiers
Authors
Baldur Schirach, von (Nazi youth leader; governor of Vienna)
Baldur von Schirach*
German Nazi politician and convicted war criminal (1907-1974)
- Born: 1907-05-09 (Berlin)
- Died: 1974-08-08 (Kröv)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: autobiographer; politician; screenwriter
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Member of: Sturmabteilung
- Military branch: Wehrmacht
- Position held: member of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany; member of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic
Date: 20 January 1942
Literal Title: Baldur von Schirach spoke at Kattowice: Service in East is a service of honour to the people
Defendant: Baldur Schirach, von
Total Pages: 1
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: D-664
Citation: IMT (page 10397)
HLSL Item No.: 453093