English Translation

- 2 - the fate of the Czechoslovak state. These are historical facts, which were then transmitted by the ruling strata to us. These were satisfied by the deceptive promises of the so-called Western powers, if necessary the promises of Soviet Russia. The then ruling strata did not understand the signs of the times and allowed our people to live in conditions which were in sharp contradiction with the interests of the German neighbour people. The year 1938 unrelentingly exposed the gambling of France and England. Our people experienced one of his greatest disappointments at that time: it was first driven by his alleged friends into an impossible situation and then - when it became serious - treacherously abandoned! However, the crisis has not yet come to an end. We see today that Providence meant very well with us. She gave us, as a leading statesman, a man who was above all interested in the people. President Dr. Emil Hácha, correctly recognized the path that led to salvation. After a mature consideration and a correct assessment of the situation, he went to Berlin three years ago to put the fate of our people in the hands of the leader of the Great German Empire with confidence, as he himself put it. The leader and Chancellor of the Reich responded to this wish and his decision at the Prague Castle in the decree of the 16th century. The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was thus created. Makes book, my Czech fellow citizens, even a judgment on what farsighted action this was against the destruction that would otherwise have broken into our homeland, and at the same time the firm line was drawn between the political romanticism of the past and the real facts of the new era. The political and real basis of our people has been firmly established since that historic moment. The Czech people were integrated into the Great German Empire as an integral part of it by the decisions of 15 and 16 March for all the future.