Martin Bormann
Illustration, not an archive object
Head of the Party Chancellery · Germany
On the regime page: Nazi Germany
3 quotes, oldest first. Filter with other speakers.
Content note: Declares Christianity incompatible with National Socialism; antisemitic claim about Christian origins. The words are shown as they were said or written. Why
“National Socialist and Christian concepts are irreconcilable. Christian churches build on uncertainty of human beings and attempt to preserve the uncertainty of as wide segments of the population as possible, for only in this way can Christian churches keep their power. As opposed to that, National Socialism is based on scientific fundamentals. [...] Our National Socialist ideology is far loftier than the concepts of Christianity, which in their essential points have been taken over from Jewry. For this reason also we do not need Christianity.”
English: Office of United States Chief of Counsel, translation of Nuremberg document D-75. Original-language text not found.
Party Chancellery decree sent to the regional party leaders (Gauleiters). A copy found on a priest in Aachen reached the Gestapo, whose report to Berlin, printed in the same document, identifies it as a secret decree signed by Bormann.
Secret decree 'Relationship of National Socialism and Christianity' of the Party Chancellery, signed M. Bormann, 6 June 1941 (circular letter 8/41, sent to all Gauleiters on 7 June 1941), document D-75, in Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (US Government Printing Office, 1946), vol. 6, pp. 1036-1037
Content note: Reports and condones killings of captured Allied airmen by civilians. The words are shown as they were said or written. Why
“In the last few weeks low-flying English and American flyers have repeatedly shot children playing in squares, women and children at work in the fields, peasants plowing, vehicles on the highways, trains, etc. from a low altitude with their aircraft guns [Bordwaffen], and have thus murdered defenseless civilians — particularly women and children — in the vilest manner. Several instances have occurred where members of the crews of such aircraft who have bailed out or have made forced landings were lynched on the spot immediately after capture by the populace which was incensed to the highest degree. No police measures or criminal proceedings were invoked against the German civilians who participated in these incidents.”
English: Office of United States Chief of Counsel, translation of Nuremberg document 057-PS. Original-language text not found.
Circular from the Head of the Party Chancellery to party leaders during the Allied air offensive against Germany. It reports that downed Allied airmen had been killed by civilians and that no police or court action had been taken against the civilians involved.
Circular letter 125/44 (secret, not for publication), 'Justice exercised by the people against Anglo-American murderers', Party Chancellery, 30 May 1944, document 057-PS, in Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (US Government Printing Office, 1946), vol. 3, p. 102
“Dear Admiral of the Fleet, As, owing to the non-arrival of all divisions, our position appears hopeless, the Fuehrer last night dictated the enclosed political Testament.”
English: Office of United States Chief of Counsel, translation of Nuremberg document 3569-PS. Original-language text not found.
Short letter sent from the besieged Reich Chancellery on the day before Hitler's death, enclosing the testament in which Hitler named Admiral Dönitz his successor as head of state.
Covering letter of Martin Bormann, Fuehrer Headquarters, 29 April 1945, with Hitler's political testament, document 3569-PS, in Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (US Government Printing Office, 1946), vol. 6, p. 258
Often attributed, not verified
These words circulate under Martin Bormann’s name but could not be traced to a source. They are listed so readers can check them, not as Martin Bormann’s words.
“The Slavs are to work for us. In so far as we don't need them, they may die. Therefore compulsory vaccination and German health services are superfluous. The fertility of the Slavs is undesirable.”
The passage in document R-36 (printed in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression vol. 8) comes from a draft memorandum 'Concerning Bormann's letter' dated 19 August 1942 in the Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories, answering Bormann's letter of 23 July 1942. Its author says: 'Imagine the formulas of Bormann's letter translated into the language of a member of the German civil administration, and you will get roughly the following views.' The words are the memo author's paraphrase of what he reads in Bormann's letter, not a quotation of Bormann.