From Faith and Action (1938) by Helmut Stellrecht for the Hitler Youth:
Life demands hardness. One must strive with burning heart toward the ideal of hardness. To be hard for the sake of life, to become a fighter, to win the victory.
§ Our environment is a given. Burning heat in summer, biting cold in winter, long marches in the wet and cold. Working long at the factory, or behind a machine gun. Bearing hunger and thirst, sleeping on the bare earth, not surrendering in battle, never, never, no matter how hopeless everything sees, hurling an empty pistol in the face of the enemy, reaching for his neck without regard for oneself, even if it leads to death. To be a fighter, a fighter with faith in his cause, even if everyone says it is a false cause. That brings victory, the victory that belongs to him who is the harder.
§ You should never give up in battle or work. Even if you fail a thousand times, you must make the thousand and first attempt. In the end it will succeed and you will be the victor, even if almost bled dry, almost faint, but filled with the triumphant knowledge of having overcome. You are victor in your struggle and victor over yourself.
§ Each must prepare for his battle. Each must train as if he will one day fight the decisive battle for Germany. Each must be able to march, suffer hunger and thirst, sleep on bare ground, bear all privations, be a fighter, a soldier from the moment he can understand what is at stake.
§ We need men hard and tough as steel, harder than anything else in the world. Only they will master the great future of Germany. Do you want to be one of them, or stand aside as a weakling?
§ Germany will be the land of the brave and the strong. Either you belong to them, or you will no longer be a German.
2 replies on ““Hardness””
these are awesome, i really appreciate this stuff. the national socialist idea of totally engaging the individual within society, through making mundane work and suffering part of a heroic struggle. compared to working a day in america, where you are merely thrown into labor with a conflicting belief in “freedom” bored into your head. the ascetic ideal gave meaning to suffering, that before was just the wild unconscious squealing of pigs in a monsanto factory writ nationwide.
Now you can see the level of evilness among Americans, who behaved like real devils with these people after the most hellish western war.