The fourth directive and virtue, which applies to us, is that of obedience; of obedience, which arises unconditionally through the highest spontaneity, through the service to our ideology [Weltanschauung], which is ready to make every necessary sacrifice of pride, superficial honors and of everything, which is dear and valuable to us; of obedience, not hesitating once, but following every order, which is given by the Fuehrer, or has lawfully been given by one of the superiors; the virtue of obedience, which keeps silent even during the time of the political fight, when the will of freedom believes to have to rise indignantly, which, with wide-awake senses and with strict attention toward the enemy, does not raise a finger, which also obeys unconditionally, and goes over to the attack, even if it should believe, in its heart, that it cannot conquer.

We are so honest, that we do not claim about ourselves, that all these laws are understood by the very last man, and in their last deepest sense. But we believe to be able to claim, that now for six years, the SS has generally assembled according to these directives, was organized and lives according to them. We know, that year for year, we will accept more of these virtues, and that they will more and more become the natural property of every SS man. We are convinced, when fate determines sooner or later, that as the first generation of the SS, we are no more, then we can hand down these virtues as a full heritage, as the best tradition to those, who are SS men after us.

BLOOD and SOIL

I, as Reichsfuehrer SS, who am myself a peasant according to ancestry, blood and being, would like to state this second fact in front of you, German peasants: The idea of blood, advocated by the SS from the beginning would be condemned, if it were not tied eternally with the conviction about the value and holiness of the soil. From the beginning, the Race and Settlement Main Office [Rasse- und Siedlungs-Hauptamt], has incorporated the term "Blood and Soil" in its name, although with different words, but in the same meaning. I can assure you, that it is not a coincidence, that the Reich Leader of Peasants [Reichsbauernfuehrer des Deutschen Reiches] has belonged to the SS as a leader for years, and that he, as a SS Lt. Gen. is Chief of its Race and Settlement Main Office, as much as it is no coincidence, that I am a peasant, and belong to the Reich Council of Peasants [Reichsbauernrat]. Peasants and SS men both do not belong to those kind of men, who speak superfluously many kind and friendly words. But let it be said here clearly and plainly, as it was until now, so it should be according to our will in the future. Wherever Adolf Hitler's peasants stand, they shall always have the SS at their side as their most faithful friend, just as we know, that wherever Adolf Hitler's SS stands, it will have at its side the German peasant as its best friend and comrade. That is how it is today, and that is how it will be forever.

I know that there are some people in Germany who become sick when they see these black coats; we understand the reason for this and do not expect that we shall be loved by too many. All those who love Germany close at heart will and shall respect us; those who shall fear us, in any way or at any time, must have a bad conscience toward the Fuehrer and the nation. For these persons we have established an organization called Security Service, and likewise, we the SS, place the men for the service in the Secret State Police. We shall unremittingly fulfill our task, the guaranty of the security of Germany from the interior, just as the Wehrmacht guarantees the safety of the honor, the greatness, and the peace of the Reich from the exterior We shall take care that never again in Germany, the heart of Europe, will the Jewish-Bolshevistic revolution of sub-humans be able to be kindled either from within or through emissaries from without. Without pity we shall be a merciless sword of justice for all those forces whose existence and activity; we know on the day of the slightest attempt, may it be today, may it be in decades or may it be in centuries.

Every one of us knows, that he does not stand alone, but that this tremendous force of two hundred thousand men, who are bound together by oath, gives him unmeasurable strength, and he knows as well, that he, as a representative of the black corps, must do honor to this community by his best performance at his place. Thus we assemble and march according to unalterable laws as a national socialist, soldierly order of distinctly Nordic men, and as a sworn community, of its clans, on our way into a far future, and we wish and believe, that we do not only want to be the descendants who fought it out better, but above that the ancestors of later generations, necessary for the eternal life of the German, Germanic people.