Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

COUP D'ETAT BY INSTALLMENTS 589even knowing it. For the first time the National Socialists succeeded inteaching the whole world what they meant by the concept of race.Hitherto, the couplet, 'What you believe is no disgrace, The swinishnessis in the race,' had been a mere Nazi joke, understood by few. Now itbecame bitter earnest. On April 12, Frick handed down a definition inwhich 'non-Aryan' meant far more than Jewish: 'Anyone is considerednon-Aryan who is descended from non-Aryan, and in particular Jewishparents or grandparents. It suffices for one parent or one grandparent tobe non-Aryan.'One 'Jewish grandmother' made the subject a 'non-Aryan,' treatedcxacdy like a Jew, at least with regard to employment in the civilservice. The grandmother did not even have to be Jewish; she became acurse to her grandchildren even if she was a Christian, but non-Aryan;that is, descended from Jews. This was a blow to the Duesterberg type,particularly widespread among Germany's upper crust. And, indeed, thewhole anti-Semitic legislation was a weapon in the struggle betweendifferent leader groups.Hitler himself stated that the main thing was to drive the Jews out ofthe intellectual professions and to create an intellectual upper class freeof Jews. On April 6, in an address to a delegation of physicians, hedeclared: 'Germany's claim to an intellectual leadership of her own racemust be satisfied by a swift eradication of the majority of Jewishintellectuals from the cultural and intellectual life of Germany. Theadmission of too large a percentage of foreigners in proportion to thewhole of the nation might be interpreted as recognition of theintellectual superiority of other races, and this must absolutely berejected.' As an individual, the armed intellectual got rid of competition;as a class, he founded a new system of domination; competition wasreplaced by command.Up till now the object of this command had been the seventeenmillions who had voluntarily subordinated themselves to Hitler bygiving him their vote. But the true goal was the twenty millions whowere still opposed to him; for they included the working class. To gaincontrol of this group, trained to handle the technical apparatus, seemedat this point more important to the National Socialist leadership than tooccupy additional posts of command; for if you had the workers youhad the state — provided only that