English Translation

Appendix 1B Copy. Speech by the Wehrmacht authorised on 15 March 1942. Today our thoughts go back to the times of the great struggle we call the World War. Two million German men did not return from it any more. At that time the environment could not free itself from the fatal belief that their blood was useless for Germany. The unbelievable came: the homeland denied its fallen sons, it denied the meaning of the great sacrifice. During this period of decay, few were willing not to despair of the future of Germany. The leader came to the head of this initially small group. His thoughts were freed from the narrowness of the desolate present, and his gaze hurried far ahead into the future. It had become clear to him that a new generation would grow up, which would demand accountability for the millions of victims of the world war, who would not agree with the fact that the helpful performance of a people should remain without any meaning. It was the leader and the crowd around him who were awakened by the nation's never-lost fighting spirit. Every fallen fighter was replaced by a new fighter, until the ground from which the new army grew was prepared. The battle of these men was a continuation of the great war, and when today the group of fallen heroes of the war passes by our soul, they march along in their ranks. The defeat of old forces us to the struggle of today. The fighters of then have now their