Background: The Nazi Party maintained a winter charity, for which there was an annual fund drive. Those who contributed received a variety of small items in return. Sometimes, these were small booklets like this one, shown in its full size. This is the booklet for 1938. The texts accompanying each picture are taken from Hitler’s speeches.
The Führer Makes History: 1938
12 February: Schuschnigg in Berchtesgaden.
“In the long term, it is intolerable for a confident great power to know that its comrades are suffering nearby, that they are suffering the gravest sorrows, if it sympathetic to the whole people.” (From a speech on 20.2.38)
20 February: The Reichstag
“The German people is not by nature a war-like people, but rather a soldierly one. That means it does not want war, but neither does it fear it. It loves peace, but it loves honor and freedom just as much. The 15 terrible years that are behind us are both a warning and a lesson that will, I believe, forever inspire the German people and will never be forgotten by it.”
12 March: The Freeing of Austria
I have therefore decided to place the help of the Reich at the disposal of the millions of Germans in Austria.
Since this morning, soldiers of the German army are crossing the border at every point into German-Austria.”
12 March: The Führer in Linz
“Providence once called me from this city to lead the Reich. There must have been a reason, and it could only have been to return my beloved homeland to the German Reich!”
15 March: The Freedom Celebration in Vienna
“I announce to the German people the greatest achievement of my life.
As Führer and Chancellor of the German nation and of the Reich, I proclaim before history the entrance of my homeland into the German Reich.”
29 March: Launching the KdF Cruise Ship “Robert Ley”
“The purpose of the ‘Kraft durch Freude’ organization is to show the less fortunate the wonders and beauties of their nation. It opens opportunities to the people that formerly were reserved for the well-to-do.”
7 May: The Führer in Rome
“The National Socialist Movement and the Fascist Revolution have built new, strong states that are pillars in the mist of a world of disorder and confusion. Germany and Italy thus have the same interests....
26 May: Laying the cornerstone of the Volkswagen factory
“It bears the name of the organization that has done the most to fill the broad masses with pleasure and therefore strength. It will be called the ‘KdF-Wagen.’
This factory will come from the strength of the whole German people, and it will bring joy to the German people!”
24 August: State visit of the Hungarian regent Horthy
“Now that the borders between our two countries have found their final historic form, our firm, unshakable relationship is of particular importance for both peoples.”
12 September: The Party Congress of Greater Germany
“I order that construction of defensive fortifications in the West be begun immediately.
I can assure you that since 28 May, the most gigantic defensive positions of all time have been under construction.”
12 September: The Party Congress of Greater Germany
“I have not demanded that 3 1/2 million Frenchmen or Englishmen be given over to German oppression. I have demanded that the oppression of 3 1/2 million Germans in Czechoslovakia must end, and that they must have the right of self determination.”
26 September: Mass Meeting in the Berlin Sports Palace
“My German people, stand behind me, each man, each woman. We want to unite in common will today. We must be stronger than any threat or danger.
If our will is stronger than any threat or danger, any threat or danger will break. We are determined! Let Mr. Benesch make up his mind!”
29 September: The Munich Agreement
“We are happy that in 1938 ten million Germans and 110,000 square kilometers of territory have bloodlessly joined the Reich.” (From the speech in Saarbrücken on 9 October)
3 October: In liberated Sudetenland
“The nation was willing to draw the sword for you. You will be ready to do the same, if ever the German nation or the German people are threatened.
Your good fortune is shared by the 75 million in the former Reich... just as your sorrow was also shared by them. You now join the great German future! We thank Almighty God that he has blessed us in the past and ask that he bless us also in the future. Germany, Sieg Heil!”
9 November: The March to the Feldherrnhalle
“Ten years have passed. Today it gives me the greatest joy that our former hopes have become reality, that the representatives of our army and our people can stand together, that we have again become one, and that this unity will never again fail in Germany.”
5 October: Opening of the Winter Relief Campaign
“Later historians will record that the German nation regained its honor, that our history has once again become a worthy history. I believe that this year the great social welfare organization must demonstrate similar results. I expect that the Winter Relief campaign in 1938 will correspond to the historical greatness of the year!”