the constitution of the Third Reich
guarantees to the individual his place in the community of the people:
The legal position of the individual member of the people
forms an entirely new concept which is indispensable for the
construction of a nationalistic order. The legal position of
the individual is always related to the community and
conditioned by duty. It is developed not for the sake of the
individual but for the community, which can only be filled
with life, power, and purpose when a suitable field of
action is insured for the individual member. Without a
concrete determination of the individual's legal position
there can be no real community.
This legal position represents the organic fixation of the
individual in the living order. Rights and obligations arise
from the application of this legal position to specific
individual relationships ... But all rights must be regarded
as duty-bound rights. Their exercise is always dependent
upon the fulfilment by the individual of those duties to
which all rights are subordinate ...[89]
The concept of private property in the totalitarian state is also at
variance with the democratic concept of private property. In the
Third Reich the holder of property is considered merely as a manager
responsible to the _Volk_ for the use of the property in the common
interest. Huber sets forth the Nazi view in the following words:
"Private property" as conceived under the liberalistic
economic order was a reversal of the true concept of
property. This "private property" represented the right of
the individual to manage and to speculate with inherited or
acquired property as he pleased, without regard for the
general interests ... German socialism had to overcome this
"private," that is, unrestrained and irresponsible view of
property. All property is common property. The owner is
bound by the people and the Reich to the responsible
management of his goods. His legal position is only
justified when he satisfies this responsibility to the
community.[90]
Pursuant to this view of the nature of ownership, property may be
confiscated whenever the state decides that public management would be
in the interests of the community, or if the owner is found guilty of
irresponsible management, in which case no compensation is paid him.
Refer
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