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The Wehrmacht Oath of Loyalty:
"I swear by God this sacred oath that to the Leader of the German empire and people, Adolf Hitler, supreme commander of the armed forces, I shall render unconditional obedience and that as a brave soldier I shall at all times be prepared to give my life for this oath." |
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The SS Oath of Loyalty:
“I vow to you, Adolf Hitler, as Führer and chancellor of the German Reich, loyalty and bravery. I vow to you and to the leaders that you set for me, absolute allegiance until death. So help me God.” |
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The SS-man vowed “absolute obedience unto death.” The German Soldier, repeating his “Oath of Loyalty,” said: “I shall render unconditional obedience…and shall at all times be prepared to give my life for this oath.” Viewed as aggressive and brutual, the posture of the German warrior was one of abject, absolute submission.
The Holocaust victim, too, was compelled to become "obedient unto death." His posture, too, was one of abject, absolute submission.
The German soldier received “honor” and “glory” by virtue of his willingness to submit absolutely to Hitler and Germany. The death of a Jew at the death camp brough no honor or glory.
The Holocaust came into being in order to make a statement about warfare: to convey suffering and death at the hands of a nation-state stripped of words like honor and glory.
The Holocaust was Hitler's anti-war statement.
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