"No word of this statement is true. Several declarations to this effect were issued from the German side, and the Prague Government was also informed but Prague needed this deception as an excuse for its election chicanery "I can assure it at this late date firstly that at that time not a single additional German soldier was called upon and secondly that not a single regiment or military detachment marched to the frontier, "In spite of our assurances, that despicable campaign began in which all of Europe was mobilized in the service of the criminal aims of a Government that intended to place the election under military pressure, Unscrupulous accusations were levelled at our nation and all of Europe was alarmed to the point of plunging into a sanguinary war.
"Germany possessed no such intention and on the contrary was convinced that the local elections would confirm the right of the Sudeten Germans. The Reich's Government took no step whatsoever and this was then interpreted as retreat under the threat of serious intervention by France and England.
"A big power cannot afford to tolerate an infamous assault of this kind a second time, I have therefore taken care to draw the necessary consequences, I am a National Socialist and as such accustomed to hitting back, Nevertheless the German Reich is peace-loving.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.