e unity of the folk has
been realized to an extent undreamed of through the return to the
homeland of territories which had been torn from it and the
resettlement of German folk-groups. Thus the awakening of Germandom to
become a political folk has had a twofold result: the unity of the
folk-community has risen superior to differences of birth or wealth,
of class, rank, or denomination; and the unity of Germandom above all
state boundaries has been consciously experienced in the European
living-space [_Siedlungsraum_]."[45]

The Fuehrer Principle

The second pillar of the Nazi state is the Fuehrer, the infallible
leader, to whom his followers owe absolute obedience. The Fuehrer
principle envisages government of the state by a hierarchy of leaders,
each of whom owes unconditional allegiance to his immediate superior
and at the same time is the absolute leader in his own particular
sphere of jurisdiction.

One of the best expositions of the Nazi concept of the Fuehrer
principle is given by Huber in his _Constitutional Law of the Greater
German Reich_ (document 1, _post_ p. 155):

The Fuehrer-Reich of the [German] people is founded on the
recognition that the true will of the people cannot be
disclosed through parliamentary votes and plebiscites but
that the will of the people in its pure and uncorrupted form
can only be expressed through the Fuehrer. Thus a distinction
must be drawn between the supposed will of the people in a
parliamentary democracy, which merely reflects the conflict
of the various social interests, and the true will of the
people in the Fuehrer-state, in which the collective will of
the real political unit is manifested ...

The Fuehrer is the bearer of the people's will; he is
independent of all groups, associations, and interests, but
he is bound by laws which are inherent in the nature of his
people. In this twofold condition: independence of all
factional interests but unconditional dependence on the
people, is reflected the true nature of the Fuehrer
principle. Thus the Fuehrer has nothing in common with the
functionary, the agent, or the exponent who exercises a
mandate delegated to him and who is bound to the will of
those who appoint him. The Fuehrer is no "representative" of
a particular group whose wishes he must carry out. He is no
"organ" of the state in the sense of a mer