Hitler's Table Talk

FEW IRON CROSSES FOR FOREIGNERS 485
It does not occur to any of those who howl when we transport a
few Jews to the east that the Jew is a parasite and as such is the
only human being capable of adapting himself to any climate
and of earning a living just as well in Lapland as in the tropics.
Among our petty bourgeois there are not a few who pride
themselves on reading their Bible; but they don't seem to know
that, according to the Old Testament, the Jew survives with
equal ease a sojourn in the desert and a crossing of the Red
Sea.
Frequently during the course of history, the Jew has become
too presumptuous and has exploited to excess the country into
which he has insinuated himself. And the countries concerned,
victims of his plundering, have one after the other borne witness
to the damage they have suffered at the hands of Jewry; each
country has then tried, in its own way and when the opportunity
arose, to solve the problems arising from the presence of
the Jews. And the telegram which we have just read shows with
what speed the Turks, for their part, are in process of solving the
problem.
Facts show that we are cheapening our German decorations
by awarding them to foreigners. That is why I think twice
before decorating a foreigner with the Iron Cross. It is actually
the most beautiful of our decorations (it was designed by
Schinkel) ; and it is furthermore a military distinction of high
international repute. To award it for exploits which are not
military exploits in the true sense cannot therefore but diminish
its lustre.
I am, of course, fully aware of the advantages which may
accrue from the decoration of foreigners. There are everywhere,
and among the diplomats in particular, vain men, whose pro-
German sentiments can be greatly increased by giving them an
impressive German decoration. So, to satisfy their needs, I
have created a special Order, and in this way those decorations
of ours which are designed to be rewards of valour will still
retain all their original value. Incidentally, this new decoration
will be a lot cheaper than the gold or silver cigarette cases
which the Reich was formerly wont to present to foreigners
whom it wished to honour. The most magnificent of these