German Oath of Allegience required by Hitler

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Brig
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German Oath of Allegience required by Hitler

#1

Post by Brig » 19 Nov 2002, 15:38

Does anybody know where I can find a text copy of the oath required by Hitler to be pledged by every German soldier, pledging their loyalty to Fuhrer and Fatherland?

haoster
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Re: oath

#2

Post by haoster » 26 Dec 2002, 01:50

There is a reference contained in a post on this forum, which I forwarded in a personal message, and can reiterate, if necessary. Also translated in Megargee, "Inside Hitler's High Command," p. 29.

Regards,
Henry


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Marcus
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Re: German Oath of Allegience required by Hitler

#3

Post by Marcus » 26 Dec 2002, 01:53

Brig wrote:Does anybody know where I can find a text copy of the oath required by Hitler to be pledged by every German soldier, pledging their loyalty to Fuhrer and Fatherland?
The soldiers of the Wehrmacht was ordered to take a new oath (fahneneid) on 2 Aug 1934 (when President Paul von Hindenburg died) and it was:
"Ich schwöre bei Gott diesen heiligen Eid, daß ich dem Führer des Deutschen Reiches und Volkes Adolf Hitler, dem Oberbefehlshaber der Wehrmacht, unbedingten Gehorsam leisten und als tapferer Soldat bereit sein will, jederzeit für diesen Eid mein Leben einzusetzen."
(""I swear by God this sacred oath that I shall render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of the German Reich, supreme commander of the armed forces, and that I shall at all times be prepared, as a brave soldier, to give my life for this oath.")

The soldiers of the Waffen-SS however, took a slightly different oath:
"Ich schwöre Dir, Adolf Hitler, als Führer und Kanzler des Reiches Treue und Tapferkeit. Ich gelobe Dir und den von Dir bestimmten Vorgesetzten Gehorsam bis in den Tod, so wahr mit Gott helfe."
("I swear to you, Adolf Hitler, as Führer and Chancellor of the German Nation, loyalty and bravery. I vow to you and to my superiors designated by you obedience to the death. So help me God.")

Fore more detals, see http://www.skalman.nu/third-reich/military-oath.htm

/Marcus

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Re: German Oath of Allegience required by Hitler

#4

Post by nasdaq7 » 26 Dec 2002, 02:06

I think in the past German soldiers had to swear an
oath of allegiance to the German constitution and to Germany
itself. Hitler wanted them to swear allegiance to him directly.
Does anyone have a copy of the oath German soldiers had
to swear to Germany?
Last edited by nasdaq7 on 26 Dec 2002, 02:20, edited 2 times in total.

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Marcus
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Re: German Oath of Allegience required by Hitler

#5

Post by Marcus » 26 Dec 2002, 02:10

nasdaq7 wrote:I think in the past German soldiers had to swear an oath of allegiance
to the German constitution and to Germany itself. Hitler wanted them
to swear allegiance to him directly. Does anyone have a copy of that
oath?
Take a look at the link I posted above.

/Marcus

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nasdaq7
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#6

Post by nasdaq7 » 26 Dec 2002, 02:18

I was wondering what the old oath looked like ( pre 1934 ).
Last edited by nasdaq7 on 26 Dec 2002, 02:25, edited 1 time in total.

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#7

Post by Marcus » 26 Dec 2002, 02:20

nasdaq7,

Again, take a look at the link I posted above, it includes the pre-1934 oaths.

/Marcus

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Old oath

#8

Post by nasdaq7 » 26 Dec 2002, 02:23

Sorry Marcus, I wasn't concentrating.

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tigre
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Re: German Oath of Allegience required by Hitler

#9

Post by tigre » 01 Jul 2017, 19:46

Hello to all :D; a complement with an interesting point of view........................

Hindenburg's legacy. Death at the right time.

A massive threat was Ernst Rohm with his four million SA men. Röhm's idea of ​​transforming the Party army of the SA into a popular militia was definitely rejected by Hitler. The Reichswehr remained "the only weapon of the nation". The Reichspräsident had the supreme command over the Reichswehr. Paul von Hindenburg was then in his 87th year. Since March 1934 he suffered from a rapidly advancing renal disease, which put him at a nursing home. In June 1934, the mentally still active head of state moved his residence to his Ostpreußisches farm Neudeck.

Hindenburg's testament.

Hindenburg had already made his political testament on May 11. "To the German people and their chancellor!" The document was overwritten. In Hindenburg's face, there was a political goal that surpassed all the others: the unification of the German people. And Hitler had, according to his conviction, served better than all the heads of government before him. But the unrest in the run-up to the so-called Röhm-Putsch irritated the old gentleman.

imminent danger

Hitler saw that imminent danger. In a concerted action, which he had spoken with Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler, and Reinhard Heydrich, he had assassinated the entire head of the SA as well as numerous representatives of the old regime. On July 3 Hitler reported in Neudeck about the crushing of the Rohm Putsch. The Reich President was satisfied.

To make sure

For a long time, Hitler had ambitions to take over the post of President of the Reich. Hitler wanted to be safe, however, and on August 1 issued a law which stipulated: "The office of the President of the Reich shall be united with that of the Reichskanzler." The second paragraph was a novelty of the legal history, which read: "This law comes into force with effect from the date of the death of the President of the Reich." That was the case one day later. On August 16 Hindenburg's testament was published in the German press. Two days later, President's son Oskar von Hindenburg called on the radio to vote for Hitler as his father's successor. In the popular vote the following day, 89.9 percent of Germans voted yes, 10.1 percent voted no. The participation rate was 95.7 percent.

Preventive obedience

Already on 2 August - the deceased was just laid out - Adolf Hitler had taken over Hindenburg's most important competence. General von Blomberg had made an oath to the "Führer". Adolf Hitler was angry about that 10.1 percent of the votes, but he was now a party leader in a one-party state, head of the government, head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Within eighteen months he had achieved almost unlimited power. As uncertain as his future had been a few weeks before, his future now looked bright.

Sources: http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/hinden ... 48434.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/ ... tuary-1934
http://archiv.preussische-allgemeine.de ... _30_30.pdf

Cheers. Raúl M 8-).
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German president Paul von Hindenburg with Adolf Hitler in Berlin, May 1933.......................................
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The Marshal and President of the Reich, Paul von Beneckendorff and von Hindenburg on his deathbed - August 2, 1934 ..................................................
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