NATURE, FOUNDATION, AND AIMS OF THE NSDAP
[Wesen, Grundsaetze, und Ziele der NSDAP]
Alfred Rosenberg
Copyright 1934
It is now clear why the new movement of the people carries the name of National Socialist German Labor Party.
National—nationalistic it is with the complete fervor of a new experience of an age-old but latent character; socialistic in the revelation that the co-worker and co-founder of the state must not at best be thrown charity (as was done by the liberal state), but that the State as such has the duty to supervise all that its members need. In further recognition that all this cannot be realized until the bacillus which is poisoning our blood and soul has been immunized: the Jew and the Jewish spirit born from him with his followers from the German camp, the ruthless fight. will be taken up against these seducers of the German people. That means simultaneously: war of all intellectual and physical
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productive workers against all drones and parasites. For National Socialism there exists neither a "proletarian" nor a "bourgeois" as two deadly enemy classes; they are only Germans as companions of blood and fate. Creative Germans.
The great change of fates of today has brought about a new conception of world,' history and state, which has not been clearly formulated as yet; however, its course has been unmistakenly chartered. We recognize history no longer as the "eternal development of mankind," be it in the direction of humanity, or of the Christianization of all peoples, or of an imaginary "human culture," nor as a crude class fight, but as a clash of spiritual-racial powers with their surroundings and other races. The appearance and passing of the races is apparent to us as the last great law of nature; its disregard has created the racial chaos which ruined the great Aryan cultures of India, Persia, Greece, and Rome in their time. Becoming aware of a European race of German embodiment, that is the innermost awakening of our presence, that power of the soul, which does not want anything but to portray itself in the firm belief of creating in such a way the most valuable of which it is capable. After denying eternal nature for centuries, the racial [voelkisch] national socialistic movement consciously goes back to the lawfulness of the eternal process of life. This consciousness gives it power and faith.
The party calls itself a movement out of the sober realization that such an announced fight for power against a whole world cannot be carried on by all conciliatory, organizations above party lines, but only by a fusion of very clearly defined fighting personalities and. energies. The number of such is small for the time being and it should never comprise the majority of the people, just as never in the world history have people's fates been decided by majorities but only by determined minorities. And in that respect each organization, be it called league, circle, lodge, or something else, is always a party: Yes, and may it act as much "beyond party lines" as it pleases and desires' to represent the "people's entity." As there are still millions today who do not desire this "people's entity", the party as such is also indicated in this case. This also, as everywhere, is a case of faith. National Socialism openly admits that in numbers it may never be a fight-party representing a majority, but it does it in the firm belief that it represents a people's movement, which one day will decide the fate of Germany and beyond that, that it will show other people new ways to the future. But at present it calls for fight, and fight always means man versus man, and
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party versus party. Out of all these realizations the liberty movement of the German people is called:
NATIONAL SOCIALIST GERMAN LABOR PARTY. * * *
The salvation of Germany lies in the destruction of the demo-cratic-marxist-plutocratic idols. This is the aim of the national socialist movement and its endeavor to eliminate the causes which lead to the reign of the Jewish-mammonist spirit, and to give the entire people a new direction. New thoughts are not needed as much as new thinking in general. When successful, when the racial conception of state and world will have won, then the NSDAP will have fulfilled its mission and can leave the stage. That which today is the battle cry against all power of time, will then become the foundation of all new edifices of eternally flowing life. This Nationalsocialism cannot pre-deter-mine, as it cannot be anticipated when and under what interior and foreign political conditions the coming Greater Germany will have become a reality. Fundamentally, however, it fights for the execution of 25 theses, and it rejects the declaration of immortality of a political party as such:
Therefore this declaration is made at the beginning of our program:
"The program of the German Labor Party is a program of time. The leaders refuse to put up new aims, after having reached those previously scheduled in the program, only for the purpose of keeping the party alive by artificially fanning the dissatisfaction of the masses." * * *
Only out of the racial idea has the thought of the real people's state become a reality. It is today the last measure of our entire worldly actions. The two foldedness of everything human in old times became apparent in such battle cries as Christendom— heathendom—Catholicism—Protestantism, monarchy—republic. Today it is called racial—international. This decision is also the basis of the national socialist movement and represents the starting point of all points of the program as well as of all political measures. '
The national socialist movement recognizes and demands that the same blood, the same language, and the same cultural tradition must also build one state. Should trouble with neighboring countries arise during the process of building such states, at least both parties will know that they are fighting for their own racial necessities and that they are not battling each other's heads in the interest of an international idea (be it democratic or communistic-international) or some dark gentlemen of the stock exchange, i.e. for the good of a third party.
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Out of these realizations the first point of our program is :
"We demand the rallying of all Germans on the basis of the right of self-determination of all peoples to a Greater Germany." * * ❖
Instead of fighting for liberation, the subjugation of the German people was completed.
The further consequences were in 1919 the "peace" treaties of Versailles and St. Germain, followed in 1924 by the Dawes dictates.
These shameful documents are based on the lie of Germany's responsibility for the world war and have the purpose of the political destruction of the German Reich, the economic dependence of the German people on foreign countries, its demoralization, finally the extermination of all its life possibilities. The treators of 9 November 1918 were successful because of the liars' activities with the purpose of branding the Reich government as responsible for the world war, to mark it as the only obstacle for a just peace, and to demand its elimination as the premise for a real understanding of nations.
The National Socialists reject the popular phrase of the "Revision of the Peace of Versailles" as such a revision might perhaps bring a few numerical reductions in the so-called "obligations," but the entire German people would still be, just as before, the slave of other nations. * * *
"We demand equality for the German people with other nations, the cancellation of the peace treaties of Versailles and St. Germain." * * *
In this connection, it is not possible under present conditions to designate such European and non-European territories which would be taken into consideration for colonization (only this much can be said, that German foreign policy must make its most important primary goal the consolidation of all Germans living closely together in Europe in one state and to secure the territory of what today is the Polish-Czech East.) The world political possibilities of today may be changed after some time. They will be the cue to the conduct of German foreign policy at any time. The main premise remains; never to allow the necessary will for the third basic demand to be dulled:
"We demand land and soil (colonies) to feed our people and to settle our overflow of population." * * *
National Socialism even sees in the manner of the State construction and state leadership a result of a certain racial character. If one allows a strange race—consequently other impulses —to take part in it, the purity of the organic expression will be falsified and the racial existence will be crippled. The history
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of the last centuries with its disintegrated parliamentarianism caused by the Jewish high finance, is a sad example of this. The history of Germany of the last decades, especially its history since 1918, is even more shattering in this respect.
This entire conception of state is countered with a basically different one by National Socialism. It recognizes that individual tribes of the German language domain may be different, but they belong to races closely related to each other, that emerging among such tribal companions have produced new vital formations, among others the versatile and yet German man, but that a merger with the basically different and inimical Jewish counter race, completely different according to its entire spiritual and physical structure, and with similar rays emanating from Asia Minor, only resulted in bastardization.
Therefore National Socialism demands as the fourth fundamental point:
"A state citizen can only be one who is a member of the German community. A member of the German community can only be one who is of German blood, regardless of his religion. No Jew can therefore be a member of the German community."
From this principle follows of course the belief, that the Jew —as far as he may stay in Germany at all—is to be regarded as a guest and consequently is subject to a law as are all members of foreign states, peoples, and races. Therefore the fifth point says:
"Whoever is not a citizen of the state may only live as a guest in Germany and must be subject to the laws for foreigners."
The present-day depersonalized parliamentarianism has led to the demoralization of our entire public opinion, and was not only not conducive to choosing the elite of the best, but rather the most unscrupulous instead. These ambitious climbers have become the prototype of the modern politician in all democratic parliamentary states and everywhere in the same way have made themselves willing tools of high finance and of international big business, recently also of industry, which, in order to defend itself, in the twelfth hour has also taken recourse to the means of organizing political parties, in order to support purely private interests with power politics. * * *
From these premises the National Socialism demands in the sixth place:
"The right to direct the leadership and the laws of the state can only be relegated to the state citizen. Therefore we demand that each public office, no matter which, no matter whether in the Reich, province or community, must be occupied only by citizens of the state.
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"We fight the corrupt parliamentary management of handing out offices for party favors, without regard to character and capabilities." * * *
National Socialism regards as one of the most important tasks of a German Reichs Government not so much the protection of a form of government in itself and of a few parliamentary politically bankrupt ministers, as the guaranty of a people's protection. To what extent foreigners may be tolerated in Germany can only be determined by German life necessities. Therefore the following two points of the program say:
"We demand that the state be obligated firstly to take care of the chances to work and live of the state citizens. If it should not be possible to feed the entire state population, members of foreign nations (non-citizens) are to be expelled from the Reich.
"All further immigration of non-Germans is to be prevented. We demand that all non-Germans, who have immigrated into Germany since 2 August 1914, will be forced to leave the Reich immediately." * * *
If one lets the welfare of the entire working people really and truly take precedent over other so-called principles, the fight against usurers and profiteers can only be carried out with the utmost ruthlessness. Especially today, since a supposedly revolutionary flood of all previously stemmed influences has been set free. In such times no half measures can help, as experience has taught, but only a series of deterrent examples. The life of millions of usured people is worth more than that of several thousand usurers. If anyone today opposes the death penalty for usurers, he shows that all his speeches about people's welfare, humanity, and so on are nothing but common lies, to cover up either cowardliness of conviction or connection with the usurers. The conduct of Marxist labor leaders illuminates the situation with a flash * * *
National Socialism has only one interest: that of the intellectually and physically productive working man. Therefore the 18th principle says:
"We- demand the ruthless fight against those who through their activities harm the common interest. Common criminals against the people, usurers, profiteers and others are to be punished by death, without consideration for their religion or race." * * *
The dictators of Versailles knew what they did when they abolished the German Army and put a troop of mercenaries in its place. And their Marxist and democratic friends in Germany knew equally well why they all supported the disarmament re-
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quests of the Entente, yes, why they actually demanded them. The place of a sense of duty and honorability was to be taken by the sound of the coin, the spirit of democracy! But despite all treachery the old character still lives on today, despite the shame and disgrace of the time.
Germany now stands in an extremely difficult world political situation. In spite of this it is vital for everybody—be he a laborer, civil servant, or politician—never to dull the will, and to call back to life the traditions of a great time. Not in order to conquer the world, as external and internal enemies contend, but to cultivate the conception of honor and duty again against the corruption of the world of today. Therefore the 22nd point of the National Socialism laconically says:
"We demand the abolishing of the mercenary troop and the formation of a people's army." * * *
That the blood shed by two million German heroes in all parts of the world has so far been in vain is primarily the fault of the people for whom the expression "press scoundrel" is still too mild. If a German Reich is once more to come into existence, the first indispensable prerequisite will be that all these poison centers must be exterminated and the still living guilty press-bandits must be brought to justice before a German court.
National Socialism holds the opinion, that all constructive and impulsive movements within the German people have of course the right to express themselves. But it is equally natural to maintain the premise that the goal of all the different manifestations of a direction of will, is only the furthering of the welfare of the German people. No other goal has justification of existence in the German Reich and representatives of a direction which uses the German nation or parts thereof only as means to reach international aims of power, will as a matter of course lose German citizenship and if indicated also the right to belong to the State.
Once one has the conviction, that the Japanese, the Negro or the Jew can, according to his innermost character, only be himself and not European, it follows also—instinctively as well as consciously—that he pursues entirely different intellectual, political aims; all of these ideas which are the same in all phases of life lead to the 23rd demand:
"We demand the legal fight against conscious political lies and their dissemination through the press. To facilitate the creation of a German press we demand that:
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a. All editors and collaborators on papers which appear in the German language must be members of the people.
b. Non-German papers, in order to appear, require the specific permission of the state. They may not be printed in the German language.
c. Each financial participation in German papers or their influencing through non-Germans be prohibited by law and we request as punishment for infringements the shutting down of such papers, as well as the immediate expulsion from the Reich of,the non-Germans concerned.
Newspapers which violate the common good are to be forbidden. We demand the lawful fight against a direction of art and literature, which has a disintegrating influence on our national life, and the closing of entertainments which violate the foregoing demands."
As previously stated it is impossible for any parliament to carry out even the slightest measures of liberating people. All parliaments today are directly, at best indirectly, dependent on high finance and its affiliated big trusts, which are enslaving ail peoples. Their reign, however, is built on the misery of the people. The representatives do not take care of the people's interest, but of those groups of economy which have paid for their elections. The situation is made more tragic by the fact that parliament is not confronted by a "constitutional" opposition. Ministers are appointed and dismissed by the majority party, and they are more irresponsible than ever a tyrant was. As each minister can take recourse to the untouchable decision of the majority of the "people's representation," he is actually being trained for irresponsible action. The anonymous parliament today is the de facto lawmaker in all affairs of state; it is the executive branch and judiciary in one person, without the existence of an authority which really exercises control in the interest of the people.
Thus the real life of the nations develops completely outside of the people's representation. Everything active has long since lost faith in parliaments and majority rule. The rootless unracial [unvoelkisch] idea of democratic parliamentarism is dying today and no longer finds followers who are ready to give their lives at the barricades for this reform of constitution. No propaganda will ever be able to revive this corpse.
The division of ideas proceeds with unerring logic. Those disappointed by democracy went over to socialism, those dissatisfied with it, the more active they are, the more energetically do they move into the ranks of the storm column of state-destroying communism. Here lies the last consequence of the self-disintegrating parliamentarianism.
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On the other hand, however, all those active ones gather together who fight in principle the entire lying parliamentary system, inimical to the people—in political, economic, and ideological respect: these are the storm columns of the racial idea, the National Socialists.
National Socialism recognizes that the fate of the German people will not be decided by compromises but by fights for power. Only a strong political power, uniformly directed in the general German sense, ruthlessly putting common good before individual welfare, will be able to clean up the evils of this time. Within the great power groups of the globe there can only be a strong national central power for interior and foreign politics if one is to strive at all for a position for Germany, which will make it once more eligible for treaties with other nations. * * *
But National Socialism still believes that its principles and ideology—though in individually different suitable ways of fight according to racial-nafional conditions—-will be directives far beyond the borders of Germany for the inevitable fights for power in other countries of Europe and America. There too a decision of ideas must take place, and the racial-nationalistic fight against the very similar loan-capitalistic and marxist internationalism must be taken up. National Socialism believes that once the great world battle is concluded, after the defeat of the present epoch, there will be a time when the swastika will be woven into the different banners of the Germanic peoples as the Aryan symbol of rejuvenation. The German fight again today has become a world fight, even if the German National Socialists are led by nothing, absolutely nothing, but their endless love for the German people, and born from it, the endless hatred against its destroy-AMQ <)> ¥ ¥
If, however, in the great coming fight the thought of the personality is to take place of the majority idol, this will have to be realized on a small scale already. The elected leader will and must be leader. That means, that in the domain of the task put before him, the elected has full freedom of action and direction on the strength of his own responsibility, undeterred by restraining intermediate voices. Only in such way are accomplishment, purposefulness and final victory possible.
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Extracts from a book on the nature and goals of the NSDAP, including the cancellation of the peace treaties, the racial basis of Germany, the welfare of the working people, the establishment of a new army, control of the press, and the consolidation and centralization of power
Authors
Alfred Rosenberg (Commissioner for Ideological Training; Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories)
Alfred Rosenberg
Baltic German architect, Nazi politician and ideologue (1893-1946)

- Born: 1893-01-12 (Tallinn)
- Died: 1946-10-16 (Nuremberg)
- Country of citizenship: Nazi Germany; Russian Empire; Weimar Republic
- Occupation: administrator; architect; journalist; opinion journalist
- Member of political party: German Workers' Party; Nazi Party
- Member of: Corps Rubonia; Militant League for German Culture; Thule Society
- Participant in: Beer Hall Putsch; International Military Tribunal (role: defendant)
- Military rank: Obergruppenführer
Date: 1934
Literal Title: Alfred Rosenberg, "Wesen, Grundsaetze und Ziele der NSDAP."
Defendant: Alfred Rosenberg
Total Pages: 7
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: PS-2433
Citation: IMT (page 255)
HLSL Item No.: 450143
Notes:This book was published in several editions between 1923 and 1938. In the document book's table of contents the title is translated as "Character, Foundation and Aims of the NSDAP."