Volume Two - The National Socialist Movement
Chapter III: Subjects and Citizens
The institution that is now erroneously called the State generally classifies
people only into two groups: citizens and aliens. Citizens are all those
who possess full civic rights, either by reason of their birth or by an act
of naturalization. Aliens are those who enjoy the same rights in some other
State. Between these two categories there are certain beings who resemble
a sort of meteoric phenomena. They are people who have no citizenship in
any State and consequently no civic rights anywhere.
In most cases nowadays a person acquires civic rights by being born
within the frontiers of a State. The race or nationality to which
he may belong plays no role whatsoever. The child of a Negro who once lived
in one of the German protectorates and now takes up his residence in Germany
automatically becomes a 'German Citizen' in the eyes of the world. In the
same way the child of any Jew, Pole, African or Asian may automatically
become a German Citizen.
Besides naturalization that is acquired through the fact of having been born
within the confines of a State there exists another kind of naturalization
which can be acquired later. This process is subject to various preliminary
requirements. For example one condition is that, if possible, the applicant
must not be a burglar or a common street thug. It is required of him that
his political attitude is not such as to give cause for uneasiness; in other
words he must be a harmless simpleton in politics. It is required that he
shall not be a burden to the State of which he wishes to become a citizen.
In this realistic epoch of ours this last condition naturally only means
that he must not be a financial burden. If the affairs of the candidate are
such that it appears likely he will turn out to be a good taxpayer, that
is a very important consideration and will help him to obtain civic rights
all the more rapidly.
The question of race plays no part at all.
The whole process of acquiring civic rights is not very different from that
of being admitted to membership of an automobile club, for instance. A person
files his application. It is examined. It is sanctioned. And one day the
man receives a card which informs him that he has become a citizen. The
information is given in an amusing way. An applicant who has hitherto been
a Zulu or Kaffir is told: "By these presents you are now become a German
Citizen."
The President of the State can perform this piece of magic. What God Himself
could not do is achieved by some Theophrastus Paracelsus of
a civil servant through a mere twirl of the hand. Nothing but a stroke of
the pen, and a Mongolian slave is forthwith turned into a real German. Not
only is no question asked regarding the race to which the new citizen belongs;
even the matter of his physical health is not inquired into. His flesh may
be corrupted with syphilis; but he will still be welcome in the State as
it exists today so long as he may not become a financial burden or a political
danger.
In this way, year after year, those organisms which we call States take up
poisonous matter which they can hardly ever overcome.
Another point of distinction between a citizen and an alien is that the former
is admitted to all public offices, that he may possibly have to do military
service and that in return he is permitted to take a passive or active part
at public elections. Those are his chief privileges. For in regard to personal
rights and personal liberty the alien enjoys the same amount of protection
as the citizen, and frequently even more. Anyhow that is how it happens in
our present German Republic.
I realize fully that nobody likes to hear these things. But it would be difficult
to find anything more illogical or more insane than our contemporary laws
in regard to State citizenship.
At present there exists one State which manifests at least some modest attempts
that show a better appreciation of how things ought to be done in this matter.
It is not, however, in our model German Republic but in the U.S.A. that efforts
are made to conform at least partly to the counsels of commonsense. By refusing
immigrants to enter there if they are in a bad state of health, and by excluding
certain races from the right to become naturalized as citizens, they have
begun to introduce principles similar to those on which we wish to ground
the People's State.
The People's State will classify its population in three groups: Citizens,
subjects of the State, and aliens.
The principle is that birth within the confines of the State gives only the
status of a subject. It does not carry with it the right to fill any position
under the State or to participate in political life, such as taking an active
or passive part in elections. Another principle is that the race and nationality
of every subject of the State will have to be proved. A subject is at any
time free to cease being a subject and to become a citizen of that country
to which he belongs in virtue of his nationality. The only difference between
an alien and a subject of the State is that the former is a citizen of another
country.
The young boy or girl who is of German nationality and is a subject of the
German State is bound to complete the period of school education which is
obligatory for every German. Thereby he submits to the system of training
which will make him conscious of his race and a member of the folk-community.
Then he has to fulfil all those requirements laid down by the State in regard
to physical training after he has left school; and finally he enters the
army. The training in the army is of a general kind. It must be given to
each individual German and will render him competent to fulfil the physical
and mental requirements of military service. The rights of citizenship shall
be conferred on every young man whose health and character have been certified
as good, after having completed his period of military service. This act
of inauguration in citizenship shall be a solemn ceremony. And the diploma
conferring the rights of citizenship will be preserved by the young man as
the most precious testimonial of his whole life. It entitles him to exercise
all the rights of a citizen and to enjoy all the privileges attached thereto.
For the State must draw a sharp line of distinction between those who, as
members of the nation, are the foundation and the support of its existence
and greatness, and those who are domiciled in the State simply as earners
of their livelihood there.
On the occasion of conferring a diploma of citizenship the new citizen must
take a solemn oath of loyalty to the national community and the State. This
diploma must be a bond which unites together all the various classes and
sections of the nation. It shall be a greater honour to be a citizen of this
Reich, even as a street-sweeper, than to be the King of a foreign State.
The citizen has privileges which are not accorded to the alien. He is the
master in the Reich. But this high honour has also its obligations. Those
who show themselves without personal honour or character, or common criminals,
or traitors to the fatherland, can at any time be deprived of the rights
of citizenship. Therewith they become merely subjects of the State.
The German girl is a subject of the State but will become a citizen when
she marries. At the same time those women who earn their livelihood independently
have the right to acquire citizenship if they are German subjects.