The life of a people, he added, may be compared to a chain which grows ever longer until a link, representing a generation, is broken.
"That is why no person has the right to honour his heroes unless he himself is capable of accomplishing an heroic act," the Fuehrer continued. "He who has not heightened tradition by his own life and actions has no right to speak of tradition. This principle applies to a nation as well as to statesmen and general. We would have had no right to come here today if we did not, in our hearts, bear the sacred resolution to be as courageous as those who wore these arms, these banners, and these uniforms. The infantry units which gave their lives last September did no more than the warriors who 2000 years ago fought to protect German soil but no less than that which is asked of us today. The strength, determination, and courage of statesmen and military chiefs of the past was as great as the efforts which we are asked to furnish today. Even in the past the Gods loved great statesmen and men of arms only because they accomplished tasks which appeared unfeasible. Feeble theorists will never understand the mystery of the miracle of life."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.