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Helmut Stellrecht Hitler Youth

“Order”

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From Faith and Action (1938) by Helmut Stellrecht for the Hitler Youth:


The world came into being when order first appeared. It will exist as long as there continues to be order. It will reach its culmination when it has reached the highest state of order.

§ The German has the gift of creating order, living order, whether in the form of factories, armies or states. An order in which each has his place and his task, in which everything flows together smoothly as if it were a single body.

§ The ability of Germans to create order is evident also in small things, in precision. It shows itself in the German home, which has no equal in its cleanliness and order. It shows itself in a machine, in an apparatus, that function so precisely that they are unparalleled in the world. It shows itself in the German soldier, whose weapon is spotless, whose boots are not missing a single nail. It shows itself in the SA man or Hitler Youth, whose backpack or locker is perfectly arranged and maintained.

§ It is always the same German trait. It is not because of the presence of a spot of the absence of a nail, but rather because of order itself, because one must be brought up to do his task as best as possible and maintain German accomplishment at the highest level.

§ Results always depend on small things. A valuable machine is unusable because one part is not quite right. A machine gun on which everything depends fails because a grain of sand got in the barrel.

§ There must be order for there to be accomplishment, because every accomplishment begins with order. That is true for each individual part of life, and for the whole of it as well.

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Helmut Stellrecht Hitler Youth

“To Do a Thing for its Own Sake”

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From Faith and Action (1938) by Helmut Stellrecht for the Hitler Youth:


You should never do anything for pay, but rather always because it is worth it for its own sake. Did ever a German soldier go to war for the sake of money? He did it for the Fatherland. He who asks us to be good and pious for money seduces us and draws us away from god. He is the devil’s advocate, even if he promises us heaven.

§ God is in the good that we do, but he is not in a heaven that we will enjoy for eternity.

§ It is German to do something for its own sake. Such was always the first and highest service to god in Germany, and thus it will remain as long as our nation lives and the world is there to warn us.

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Helmut Stellrecht Hitler Youth

“Nature”

From Faith and Action (1938) by Helmut Stellrecht for the Hitler Youth:


The divine is powerful in its creatures. It dwells not in walls that people build. They may be witnesses of its will, but god is in the living.

§ Our ancestors went into the forests to find or to honor god. They greeted his light rising in the morning. That was more to them than a lamp in a man’s hand. They stood on mountain tops because his greatest work, the starry sky, was nearest there, not covered by a roof of stone. The great spring flowing from the mountain was more genuine and nearer to god than anything that could flow from a bottle held by a human hand.

§ Who dares to say that they were not close to the living god?

§ Other peoples may seek refuge in the stone walls of their cities or seek their god in caves. The true German senses god with holy fear in the life of creation. He prays to god by honoring his great works.

§ Who dares to say that God is nearer to us in that which human beings have built?

§ The faith of our fathers remains strong in us. Still today the German wanders through his countryside and is moved by the beauty of the land god has given him. The summits of his mountains give freedom. He feels eternity amidst the sea. Flowing water is to him the image of eternal change.

§ He protects the forest and the tree and the bush as if they were his comrades. He loves the animals that are tortured and tormented in other countries. What to him is part of his household is elsewhere only a possession.

§ He sees and honors in everything god’s creation, in the holy earth, in the wandering wind, in the flickering flames, in which there is always change. Ever again we stand on the summits of the peaks and wave the torch and feel the magnificent and the ineffable.

§ Who dares chide us because our eyes are open?

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Helmut Stellrecht Hitler Youth

“Birth and Death”

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From Faith and Action (1938) by Helmut Stellrecht for the Hitler Youth:


Birth and death are the same; they are the two sides of one door. To enter one room always means leaving another. It depends on which room or which life we are in as to whether we say “entrance” or “exit,” life or death.

§ For he who understands it, death holds no terrors. But he who did not go his proper way in life and sinned will see his guilt in death. But there is after death no place of torture, no hell. To see one’s guilt is the severest judgment and at the same time the greatest penalty. Judgment and punishment are within yourself.

§ Neglected work can only be made up by double effort. It will once more be your choice, either to work toward the world plan, or to be its enemy. That is the only death that there is, to become a force for destruction rather than for creation, and this death is not physical. It is your free choice to decide on which side you belong, on god’s or, to use an old term, “the devil’s.”

§ What we call birth and death is only the door between two worlds. There is no birth and no death, only change, and we can go confidently through the door, for all the worlds were created by one hand.

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Helmut Stellrecht Hitler Youth

“Fate”

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From Faith and Action (1938) by Helmut Stellrecht for the Hitler Youth:


We do not believe in a blind fate that leads people through their lives. We do not believe that god’s angels protect us in every step that we take and keep us from falling. But we do believe in a godly will that gives meaning to each life that is born. Not an arbitrary generally meaning, but rather each life has its own particular purpose and meaning.

§ In the depths of our souls we sense whether we act according to this meaning. One can call this conscience or something else. It is there. We probably know the right path. We need only ask. A voice within us gives the answer, and speaks of the godly will that shows us the path we should go.

§ This path is our fate. Each has but one proper path. To follow it makes one happy to the highest degree, even if it is a path that brings only poverty and toil.

§ Any path that leads away from the meaning and purpose of life is death and sin. And even if the path seems ever so pleasant, you will sin every day of your life.

§ But you have the freedom to decide which path you want to follow. No blind fate rules you. You go your own way.

§ If you follow the law in your own heart, it is the way to your god. It is the way that comes from eternity and goes to eternity; in all the world there is never an end, only transformation. There is no death that is not also a beginning. Everything is part of the enormous plan of the worlds, of which you are a part if you seek your path. Everything is in development. The joy of creation lives in each, for it belongs to the builders at work. There is no heaven of pleasure and blessedness. But work and life alternate in eternal form, whether in the realm of the body or the sphere of the spirit.

§ Those who fell for an idea of god — and people and fatherland are such — continue to work for it. They become a part of the soul and the strength of their people. They continue to work and grow. They are in reality in us as our better thoughts.

§ Thus each creature plays its part, both in body and soul, in the great plan of the worlds. It is god, the eternal wisdom and the exalted sense of that which is beyond comprehension. When you submit and follow the path, it is also in you. You understand your part and do what you can, and whatever happens to you, you will be happy. You carry god in your own heart. You have overcome death, and if you do die, you live on as a part of the eternal strength that works continually and creates.

§ Your fate is the path that is shown to you. Your free will decides if you follow it and if you fulfill your task.

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Helmut Stellrecht Hitler Youth

“Faith”

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From Faith and Action
by Helmut Stellrecht
for the Hitler Youth:



Knowledge is that which can be measured by reason. Knowledge alone means nothing and is dead.

§ A wish that you can fulfill is called hope. Hope can easily come to nothing.

§ But faith can never fail, for faith is strength. Faith springs from your deepest feelings. It is that knowledge for which there is no explanation through reason. In faith the soul sees a part of the world order. It has a sense of that which should be, and sees through its eyes a part of the way that it should and can go. It knows that by going this way it fulfills god’s command and is working toward the great work that is immeasurable, incomprehensible.

§ Because faith sees this and can do it, it is more than human strength. It is a part of the enormous power that fills all life and all worlds. With faith, a person walks with the assurance of a sleepwalker. Who can resist him, for he follows the path of the highest will. He will succeed when he believes. No hand raised against him will divert him from his way. The bullet aimed at him will not hit as long has he has not finished his path, as long as he has not turned from it.

§ Thousands do not understand the believing person because their souls cannot see. But what do the faithful care about the opinion of others, what do those who can see care about the opinion of the blind, what do those who have become strong care about what the weak think.

§ The way of faith is the way of everything great. Before our eyes Adolf Hitler went the way fate led him. He was filled with it and believed what no reason of the reasonable could see.

§ The path of faith is before each of us. Even if it is not the path of fame and honor, it is still the path of duty and of greatest happiness. To find it means to gain a part of the eternal strength that moves the worlds.

§ Because faith is strength, it can do what seems impossible. It is the foundation for every deed. No one can do anything without faith. No one can even jump over a ditch if he does not believe he can do it. The highest and most important in a person is not knowledge and understanding, but rather his faith. Each is worth only as much as the faith he has.

§ This new Reich began with faith. The first party rally after the seizure of power was called “The Victory of Faith.” It grew and became great through faith. It no longer grew from the faith of one man, but from the faith of us all, and was borne by the strength of all. More than human strength was present.

§ Woe to those who do not believe. They are not on the side of the strength of creation, but rather annihilation. They are the destroyers of the Reich.

§ Faith is however stronger than all other powers that can be found in this world.

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Helmut Stellrecht Hitler Youth

“Freedom”

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From Faith and Action (1938) by Helmut Stellrecht for the Hitler Youth:


There is no freedom in Germany to do whatever one wants, and there will be no such freedom, because otherwise Germany would not exist.

§ Freedom does not mean taking advantage of others, stealing from them, without being punished. Freedom does not mean living as one pleases. Nor does it mean preserving one’s life through cowardice.

§ Freedom is choosing to follow the path that duty requires. The others are slaves of themselves. He is the only free man: upright and proud, master of everything that might demean him, the best of the nation, and the bearer of the state. He has elevated himself. He does his duty while others take a holiday. But his duty raises him above over his little ego and makes him free.

§ Somewhere in the middle of a hot summer, a village’s well dries up. Day and night, someone works hard to dig a new well. No one gave the order. But for him it is a happy duty to find water for women and children and comrades. The other does what he likes. The one is a free man amidst the hard work he has chosen to do. The other is the slave of his desires and passions. He is a rogue who may say in the pub that man is born free and can do whatever he wishes.

§ He who thinks of himself is a slave and bound; he who thinks of others is master and free.

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Helmut Stellrecht Hitler Youth

“Loyalty”

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From Faith and Action (1938) by Helmut Stellrecht for the Hitler Youth:


Loyalty is a holy word. Speak it rarely. It must be as taken-for-granted as the air we breathe.

§ What exists exists because of loyalty. If that which exists ceases to be loyal, it returns to nothingness. That tears the bonds that hold everything together. It shatters camaraderie; it shatters leadership; it shatters honor; it shatters confidence in the law; it shatters the army; it shatters the state; it shatters everything that exists.

§ Germany collapsed in 1918 because disloyalty replaced loyalty. An “excess of loyalty” raised it again from the abyss. Now it stands on the foundation of loyalty, which must be stronger than the destructive forces of the world.

§ What is loyalty, comrade?

§ Your loyalty is that you never, never turn from the ideals to which you have sworn allegiance. National Socialism has raised them high, so that they live in you and will go into the grave with you. That is your first and deepest loyalty.

§ And you are true to your fatherland, called Germany. As its earth brought forth your blood, you belong to it forever.

§ The third claim on your loyalty is to follow the Führer both in the brightest and the darkest days. It is better for you to follow him ever into darkness and misery than that your loyalty weakens even once.

§ Fourth, you owe loyalty to your comrade. You will always help him in need and danger. He should always know that he can come to you, that he can rely on you entirely, as if you were his physical brother.

§ Siegfried and Hagen were loyal. Siegfried, the bright hero, fought battles for his king. His life was joy and jubilation and victory. Love and loyalty accompanied him, as if bearing him on their hands.

§ Hagen slew Siegfried not as a cowardly murderer, but rather because Siegfried invited guilt upon himself. The honor of the king was at stake. Siegfried had to die. But Hagen took the guilt upon himself. His loyalty to his king was more to him than his own outward honor. He took the curse of a murderer on himself and was greater than all and he was loyal [This story is part of the Nibelungen saga].

§ The German warrior loyally followed his nobleman and did not return home without him. The knights loyally followed their lords and emperors. Prussia’s greatest sons were served their king loyally, even when they were better than he. They served not his person, but the crown that he bore. The millions who died in the World War loyally followed their leaders. In loyalty, they lie with them as a ring of dead around Germany. In loyalty, we all follow the Führer and his flag. The hand of each will hold the flag until death, the flag that leads Germany to new life.

§ We show loyalty in daily life as well. Once again, a man’s word is dependable. Promises must be kept and will be kept. We do not need a handshake and an oath. Each can depend on our word, because we again have become loyal.

§ Germany is the land of loyalty. It dwells in its vast forests. It dwells in its knights and soldiers. It dwells again in us. Loyalty is our honor. Who wants to be dishonorable amidst the brave and the heroes?

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Helmut Stellrecht Hitler Youth

“Honor”

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From Faith and Action (1938) by Helmut Stellrecht for the Hitler Youth:


You live by honor, not by bread. Slaves believe that they only need food and drink to live. The free man knows that he needs honor first of all.

§ Your honor is your standing with your comrades and fellow citizens. It is just as much your standing with yourself.

§ To be honorable is to be courageous. To be honorable is to be selfless and loyal. To be honorable is to be in control of oneself. He who does great things for his fatherland is honorable.

§ Honor comes not from money and possessions. But he who creates new values or gives other work through his spirit or the work of his hands can thereby win honor.

§ It is also honorable to be the son of someone noble, someone who has done much for his people and his state. But the son is unworthy of his honor if he does not win it anew.

§ Inherited honor does not last forever, but always demands work and struggle. Honor is like a crown. He who ceases to live and act like a king loses it—and has lost it, even if he still wears it on his head.

§ Not everyone can take honor from another. The insult of a boy cannot harm one’s honor. But he who accepts an insult in a cowardly way loses honor before others.

§ We do not reply to an insult ourselves at first. That is why superior leaders and judges are there. But if someone hits you, hit back, and if someone strikes your face, strike him back. For we National Socialists in Germany today, there is only one honor, one concept of honor. There is no particular concept of honor for particular classes any longer. National Socialism has given us all a new common sense of honor. We know it. He who does not have it is not free, but a slave. The least important worker today can be free and honorable, the prosperous businessman a slave and a serf.

§ That is the new law, which gives honor only to the brave, the selfless, the loyal, the self controlled, those who do everything for Germany that they can.

§ The way to honor is open for every German.

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Helmut Stellrecht Hitler Youth

“Duty”

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From Faith and Action (1938) by Helmut Stellrecht for the Hitler Youth:


Duty is a hard word as long as one has not done it. Duty is a pleasant word as soon as one has done it.

§ Duty is the “you should” that you feel inside. Duty is that which family, people and the state demand of you. Doing one’s duty does not mean being controlled by the reins that rule a horse, but rather doing one’s duty means that one does it with joy, no matter how hard.

§ The fatherland grew from the duty done by our fathers and forefathers. From the duty we all do grows the present state and the future both of the individual and the whole.

§ Duty can also mean sacrifice, the sacrifice of one’s own life. Your people can demand of you what it has given you. But what does demand mean? The state, the fatherland dwell in your own breast. You demand it of yourself, and the path of highest duty is the way of greatest happiness, even if it leads to your death.

§ Justice comes from fulfilled duty. There is no other justice in the National Socialist state, just as there is no pay without labor. The greater the duty, the greater the justice. He who does the most for Germany has the greatest right to guide Germany and determine its fate. He is the Führer of the Reich, and others follow him according to the duty they have fulfilled.

§ A worker on the street can stand higher in the ranks than a government minister if he has better done his duty.

§ Fulfilling one’s duty to the utmost is required of each of us. Who will wait until the demand comes, until it is required? He who does his duty of his own free will, he is a free man and not a slave.