![]() ![]() Oath of Loyalty for All State Officials as of August 20, 1934: “I swear I will be true and obedient to the Führer of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler, observe the law, and conscientiously fulfill the duties of my office, so help me God. Oath of Loyalty for All State Officials as of August 14, 1919: “I swear loyalty to the Constitution, obedience to the law, and conscientious fulfillment of the duties of my office, so help me God.” In this way, the oath appeared to equate Hitler's authority with the constitution and to ensure that it would be limited by the primacy of law and duty in public office. The oath served to affirm the binding of the liegeman to his liege, but emphasized that the vassal had not lost his status as a free knight, because only the free could be bound by oath. By replacing “Constitution” with “Hitler,” the oath was meant to convey that Hitler's will was the same as that of the nation and the people and that his will could not, by definition, contradict the imperative to “observe the law and conscientiously fulfill the duties” of office. Truman to establish a loyalty program for federal employees. Shortly thereafter, on August 20, 1934, the longstanding oath taken by state officials was changed so that they no longer swore loyalty to the German constitution but rather to Hitler as head of state.Īlthough in retrospect this change seems to indicate another step in Hitler's consolidation of power, at the time many would have understood it differently. In particular, the idea of a governmental loyalty oath rose to prominence in the 1940s, when tensions between the US and the Soviet Union and growing fears about a communist infiltration of the government prompted President Harry S. Following the death of President von Hindenburg in August 1934, Adolf Hitler assumed power as Reich Chancellor and Führer.
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