Lies being taught;
Mein Kampf is unintelligible ravings of a
maniac.
Now the Truth; Read and know.
Volume 2 CHAPTER XI PROPAGANDA AND
ORGANIZATION
Part 1 – ORGANIZATION
..From August 1st, 1921, onwards I undertook
this internal reorganization of the party and was supported by a number of
excellent men. I shall mention them and their work individually later on.
In my endeavour to turn the results gained by
the propaganda to the advantage of the organization and thus stabilize them, I
had to abolish completely a number of old customs and introduce regulations
which none of the other parties possessed or had adopted.
In the years 1920-21 the movement was controlled
by a committee elected by the members at a general meeting. The committee was
composed of a first and second treasurer, a first and second secretary, and a
first and second chairman at the head of it. In addition to these there was a representative
of the members, the director of propaganda, and various assessors.
Comically enough, the committee embodied the
very principle against which the movement itself wanted to fight with all its
energy, namely, the principle of parliamentarianism. Here was a principle which
personified everything that was being opposed by the movement, from the smallest
local groups to the district and regional groups, the state groups and finally
the national directorate itself. It was a system under which we all suffered
and are still suffering.
It was imperative to change this state of
affairs forthwith, if this bad foundation in the internal organization was not
to keep the movement insecure and render the fulfilment of its high mission
impossible.
The sessions of the committee, which were
ruled by a protocol, and in which decisions were made according to the vote of
the majority, presented the picture of a miniature parliament. Here also there
was no such thing as personal responsibility. And here reigned the same absurdities
and illogical state of affairs as flourish in our great representative bodies
of the State. Names were presented to this committee for election as
secretaries, treasurers, representatives of the members of the organization,
propaganda agents and God knows what else. And then they all acted in common on
every particular question and decided it by vote. Accordingly, the director of
propaganda voted on a question that concerned the man who had to do with the
finances and the latter in his turn voted on a question that concerned only the
organization as such, the organizer voting on a subject that had to do with the
secretarial department, and so on.
Why select a special man for propaganda if
treasurers and scribes and commissaries, etc., had to deliver judgment on
questions concerning it? To a person of commonsense that sort of thing seemed
as incomprehensible as it would be if in a great manufacturing concern the
board of directors were to decide on technical questions of production or if, inversely,
the engineers were to decide on questions of administration.
I refused to countenance that kind of folly
and after a short time I ceased to appear at the meetings of the committee. I
did nothing else except attend to my own department of propaganda and I did not
permit any of the others to poke their heads into my activities. Conversely, I did
not interfere in the affairs of others.
When the new statute was approved and I was
appointed as president, I had the necessary authority in my hands and also the
corresponding right to make short shrift of all that nonsense. In the place of
decisions by the majority vote of the committee, the principle of absolute responsibility
was introduced.
The chairman is responsible for the whole
control of the movement. He apportions the work among the members of the
committee subordinate to him and for special work he selects other individuals.
Each of these gentlemen must bear sole responsibility for the task assigned to
him. He is subordinate only to the chairman, whose duty is to supervise the general
collaboration, selecting the personnel and giving general directions for the
co-ordination of the common work.
This principle of absolute responsibility is
being adopted little by little throughout the movement. In the small local
groups and perhaps also in the regional and district groups it will take yet a
long time before the principle can be thoroughly imposed, because timid and hesitant
characters are naturally opposed to it. For them the idea of bearing absolute
responsibility for an act opens up an unpleasant prospect. They would like to
hide behind the shoulders of the majority in the so-called committee, having
their acts covered by decisions passed in that way. But it seems to me a matter
of absolute necessity to take a decisive stand against that view, to make no
concessions whatsoever to this fear of responsibility, even though it takes
some time before we can put fully into effect this concept of duty and ability
in leadership, which will finally bring forward leaders who have the requisite
abilities to occupy the chief posts.
In any case, a movement which must fight
against the absurdity of parliamentary institutions must be immune from this
sort of thing. Only thus will it have the requisite strength to carry on the
struggle.
At a time when the majority dominates
everywhere else a movement which is based on the principle of one leader who
has to bear personal responsibility for the direction of the official acts of
the movement itself will one day overthrow the present situation and triumph
over the existing regime. That is a mathematical certainty.
This idea made it necessary to reorganize our
movement internally. The logical development of this reorganization brought
about a clear-cut distinction between the economic section of the movement and
the general
political direction. The principle of
personal responsibility was extended to all the administrative branches of the
party and it brought about a healthy renovation, by liberating them from
political influences and allowing them to operate solely on economic
principles.
In the autumn of 1921, when the party was
founded, there were only six members. The party did not have any headquarters,
nor officials, nor formularies, nor a stamp, nor printed material of any sort.
The committee first held its sittings in a restaurant on the Herrengasse and then
in a café at Gasteig. This state of affairs could not last. So I at once took
action in the matter. I went around to several restaurants and hotels in
Munich, with the idea of renting a room in one of them for the use of the
Party. In the old Sterneckerbräu im Tal, there was a small room with arched
roof, which in earlier times was used as a sort of festive tavern where the
Bavarian Counsellors of the Holy Roman Empire foregathered. It was dark and
dismal and accordingly well suited to its ancient uses, though less suited to
the new purpose it was now destined to serve. The little street on which its
one window looked out was so narrow that even on the brightest summer day the
room remained dim and sombre. Here we took up our first fixed abode. The rent
came to fifty marks per month, which was then an enormous sum for us. But our exigencies
had to be very modest. We dared not complain even when they removed the wooden
wainscoting a few days after we had taken possession. This panelling had been
specially put up for the Imperial Counsellors. The place began to look more
like a grotto than an office.
Still it marked an important step forward.
Slowly we had electric light installed and later on a telephone. A table and
some borrowed chairs were brought, an open paper-stand and later on a cupboard.
Two sideboards, which belonged to the landlord, served to store our leaflets,
placards, etc.
As time went on it turned out impossible to
direct the course of the movement merely by holding a committee meeting once a
week. The current business administration of the movement could not be
regularly attended to except we had a salaried official.
But that was then very difficult for us. The
movement had still so few members that it was hard to find among them a
suitable person for the job who would be content with very little for himself
and at the same time would be ready to meet the manifold demands which the
movement would make on his time and energy.
After long searching we discovered a soldier
who consented to become our first administrator. His name was Schüssler, an old
war comrade of mine. At first he came to our new office every day between six
and eight o'clock in the evening. Later on he came from five to eight and subsequently
for the whole afternoon. Finally it became a full-time job and he worked in the
office from morning until late at night. He was an industrious, upright and
thoroughly honest man, faithful and devoted to the movement. He brought with
him a small Adler typewriter of his own. It was the first machine to be used in
the service of the party. Subsequently the party bought it by paying for it in
installments. We needed a small safe in order to keep our papers and register
of membership from danger of being stolen--not to guard our funds, which did
not then exist. On the contrary, our financial position was so miserable that I
often had to dip my hand into my own personal savings.
After eighteen months our business quarters
had become too small, so we moved to a new place in the Cornelius Strasse.
Again our office was in a restaurant, but instead of one room we now had three
smaller rooms and one large room with great windows. At that time this appeared
a wonderful thing to us. We remained there until the end of November 1923.
In December 1920, we acquired the VÖLKISCHER
BEOBACHTER. This newspaper which, as its name implies, championed the claims of
the people, was now to become the organ of the German National Socialist Labour
Party. At first it appeared twice weekly; but at the beginning of 1928 it
became a daily paper, and at the end of August in the same year it began to appear
in the large format which is now well known.
As a complete novice in journalism I then
learned many a lesson for which I had to pay dearly.
In contradistinction to the enormous number
of papers in Jewish hands, there was at that time only one important newspaper
that defended the cause of the people. This was a matter for grave
consideration. As I have often learned by experience, the reason for that state
of things must be attributed to the incompetent way in which the business side
of the so-called popular newspapers was managed. These were conducted too much
according to the rule that opinion should prevail over action that produces
results. Quite a wrong standpoint, for opinion is of itself something internal
and finds its best expression in productive activity. The man who does valuable
work for his people expresses thereby his excellent sentiments, whereas another
who merely talks about his opinions and does nothing that is of real value or
use to the people is a person who perverts all right thinking. And that
attitude of his is also pernicious for the community.
The VÖLKISCHE BEOBACHTER was a so-called
'popular' organ, as its name indicated. It had all the good qualities, but
still more the errors and weaknesses, inherent in all popular institutions.
Though its contents were excellent, its management as a business concern was
simply impossible. Here also the underlying idea was that popular newspapers ought
to be subsidized by popular contributions, without recognizing that it had to
make its way in competition with the others and that it was dishonest to expect
the subscriptions of good patriots to make up for the mistaken management of
the undertaking.
I took care to alter those conditions
promptly, for I recognized the danger lurking in them. Luck was on my side
here, inasmuch as it brought me the man who since that time has rendered
innumerable services to the movement, not only as business manager of the
newspaper but also as business manager of the party. In 1914, in the War, I
made the acquaintance of Max Amann, who was then my superior and is to-day general
business Director of the Party. During four years in the War I had occasion to
observe almost continually the unusual ability, the diligence and the rigorous
conscientiousness of my future collaborator.
In the summer of 1921 I applied to my old
regimental comrade, whom I met one day by chance, and asked him to become
business manager of the movement. At that time the movement was passing through
a grave crisis and I had reason to be dissatisfied with several of our
officials, with one of whom I had had a very bitter experience. Amann then held
a good situation in which there were also good prospects for him.
After long hesitation he agreed to my
request, but only on condition that he must not be at the mercy of incompetent
committees. He must be responsible to one master, and only one.
It is to the inestimable credit of this first
business manager of the party, whose commercial knowledge is extensive and
profound, that he brought order and probity into the various offices of the
party. Since that time these have remained exemplary and cannot be equalled or excelled
in this by any other branches of the movement. But, as often happens in life,
great ability provokes envy and disfavour. That had also to be expected in this
case and borne patiently.
Since 1922 rigorous regulations have been in
force, not only for the commercial construction of the movement but also in the
organization of it as such. There exists now a central filing system, where the
names and particulars of all the members are enrolled. The financing of the party
has been placed on sound lines. The current expenditure must be covered by the
current receipts and special receipts can be used only for special
expenditures. Thus, notwithstanding the difficulties of the time the movement
remained practically without any debts, except for a few small current
accounts. Indeed, there was a permanent increase in the funds. Things are
managed as in a private business. The employed personnel hold their jobs in
virtue of their practical efficiency and could not in any manner take cover
behind their professed loyalty to the party. A good National Socialist proves
his soundness by the readiness, diligence and capability with which he
discharges whatever duties are assigned to him in whatever situation he holds
within the national community. The man who does not fulfil his duty in the job
he holds cannot boast of a loyalty against which he himself really sins.
Adamant against all kinds of outer influence,
the new business director of the party firmly maintained the standpoint that
there were no sinecure posts in the party administration for followers and
members of the movement whose pleasure is not work. A movement which fights so energetically
against the corruption introduced into our civil service by the various
political parties must be immune from that vice in its own administrative
department. It happened that some men were taken on the staff of the paper who
had formerly been adherents of the Bavarian People's Party, but their work showed
that they were excellently qualified for the job. The result of this experiment
was generally excellent. It was owing to this honest and frank recognition of individual
efficiency that the movement won the hearts of its employees more swiftly and
more profoundly than had ever been the case before. Subsequently they became
good National Socialists and remained so. Not in word only, but they proved it
by the steady and honest and conscientious work which they performed in the
service of the new movement. Naturally a well qualified party member was
preferred to another who had equal qualifications but did not belong to the
party. The rigid determination with which our new business chief applied these principles
and gradually put them into force, despite all misunderstandings, turned out to
be of great advantage to the movement. To this we owe the fact that it was
possible for us--during the difficult period of the inflation, when thousands
of businesses failed and thousands of newspapers had to cease publication--not
only to keep the commercial department of the movement going and meet all its obligations
but also to make steady progress with the VÖLKISCHE BEOBACHTER. At that time it
came to be ranked among the great newspapers.
The year 1921 was of further importance for
me by reason of the fact that in my position as chairman of the party I slowly
but steadily succeeded in putting a stop to the criticisms and the intrusions
of some members of the committee in regard to the detailed activities of the party
administration. This was important, because we could not get a capable man to
take on a job if nincompoops were constantly allowed to butt in, pretending
that they knew everything much better; whereas in reality they had left only
general chaos behind them. Then these wise-acres retired, for the most part
quite modestly, to seek another field for their activities where they could
supervise and tell how things ought to be done. Some men seemed to have a mania
for sniffing behind everything and were, so to say, always in a permanent state
of pregnancy with magnificent plans and ideas and projects and methods. Naturally
their noble aim and ideal were always the formation of a committee which could
pretend to be an organ of control in order to be able to sniff as experts into
the regular work done by others. But it is offensive and contrary to the spirit
of National Socialism when incompetent people constantly interfere in the work
of capable persons. But these makers of committees do not take that very much
into account. In those years I felt it my duty to safeguard against such
annoyance all those who were entrusted with regular and responsible work, so
that there should be no spying over the shoulder and they would be guaranteed a
free hand in their day's work.
The best means of making committees
innocuous, which either did nothing or cooked up impracticable decisions, was
to give them some real work to do. It was then amusing to see how the members
would silently fade away and were soon nowhere to be found. It made me think of
that great institution of the same kind, the Reichstag. How quickly they would evanesce
if they were put to some real work instead of talking, especially if each
member were made personally responsible for the work assigned to him.
I always demanded that, just as in private
life so also in the movement, one should not tire of seeking until the best and
honestest and manifestly the most competent person could be found for the
position of leader or administrator in each section of the movement. Once
installed in his position he was given absolute authority and full freedom of action
towards his subordinates and full responsibility towards his superiors. Nobody
was placed in a position of authority towards his subordinates unless he
himself was competent in the work entrusted to them. In the course of two years
I brought my views more and more into practice; so that to-day, at least as far
as the higher direction of the movement is concerned, they are accepted as a
matter of course.
The manifest success of this attitude was
shown on November 9th, 1923. Four years previously, when I entered the
movement, it did not have even a rubber stamp. On November 9th, 1923, the party
was dissolved and its property confiscated. The total sum realized by all the
objects of value and the paper amounted to more than 170,000 gold marks.
Adolf Hitler
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