30 January 1939 Reichstag speech
On 30 January 1939, Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler gave a speech in the Kroll Opera House to the Reichstag delegates, which is best known for the prediction he made that "the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe" would ensue if another world war were to occur.[1]
Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels helped write the speech,[2] which was delivered on the sixth anniversary of Hitler's seizure of power in 1933.[3] The speech lasted two[4] or two-and-a-half hours. It dealt with both the foreign and domestic policies of the Nazi government.[5]
Foreign policy[edit]
Hitler discussed the Munich crisis and admitted that he had planned a military invasion after the May Crisis in the event that Czechoslovakia did not capitulate to his demand to surrender the Sudetenland by 2 October 1938. Referencing "a serious blow to the prestige of the Reich" and an "intolerable provocation", Hitler claimed that the Sudetenland had been secured by German determination and willingness to resort to war, rather than by diplomacy.[6] For the first time since Munich, Hitler hinted at further expansion, stating "how important the expansion of our people’s living space (Lebensraum) was in order to permanently secure their food supplies", as Germany currently had "to export in order to buy food".[7] He complained that Germany was prevented from expanding by "the continuing blindness of the former victor powers".[7] German history professor Longerich wrote that demanding "living space, while simultaneously stressing Germany’s commitment to peace, soon became part of the standard repertoire of German propaganda".[7]
Other topics[edit]
After speaking about the Jews, Hitler discussed the situation of the churches in Nazi Germany, threatening to effect a complete separation of church and state, which would have serious financial consequences for both Protestant and Catholic churches. He said that clergymen who abused children or criticized the government would not enjoy any immunity.[16]
Dissemination and reactions[edit]
Hitler's prediction about the Jews was reprinted in the party newspaper Völkischer Beobachter and in a dedicated pamphlet.[17] The speech was broadcast live on radio.[4] According to Goebbels' explicit instructions to Fritz Hippler, the part of the speech that included Hitler's threat against the Jews was recorded simultaneously as audio and video (a difficult technical achievement at the time) and included in the weekly UFA Wochenschau newsreel after Hitler personally approved it.[18][19][20] Newsreels typically played down the exclusionary aspect of the people's community; January 1939 was the first time that Nazi policies towards the Jews were directly connected to the party leader on newsreels.[21] Historian Richard J. Evans writes that the threat "could not have been more public".[19]
At the time of the speech, Jews and non-Jews inside and outside of Germany were paying close attention to Hitler's statements because of Kristallnacht and the possibility of war.[8] In the following days, the speech attracted significant commentary in Germany.[4] The German-Jewish diarists Luise Solmitz and Victor Klemperer mentioned the speech in their diaries but paid little attention to Hitler's threat.[22]
Outside of Germany, coverage of the speech focused on the geopolitical implications,[23][24] while the threat to Jews went unremarked.[23] Some foreign commentators interpreted the speech as expressing a desire for peace if legitimate German demands were satisfied.[24] The New York Yiddish newspaper Forverts printed a headline referencing Hitler's threat against the Jews, but the article below it only discussed the threat of war and Hitler's alliances with Italy and Japan. The Warsaw Yiddish newspaper Haynt discussed the speech in several issues beginning on 31 January, but did not emphasize the prophecy. On 31 January, it printed the main points of the speech without mentioning the prophecy; in an analysis of the speech published the next day, Moshe Yustman discussed appeasement and other foreign policy issues.[25]