The Kindly Ones

by Jonathan Littell

We all agree that in a National Socialist State the ultimate foundation of positive law is the will of the Führer. That’s the well-known principle Führerworte haben Gesetzeskraft. Of course, we realize that in practice the Führer cannot take care of every single thing, and so others must also act and legislate in his name. In principle, this idea should be extended to the entire Volk. Thus Dr. Frank, in his treatise on constitutional law, extended the definition of the Führerprinzip in the following way: Act in such a way that the Führer, if he knew of your action, would approve of it. There is no contradiction between that principle and Kant’s Imperative.”