Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler

First of all, it was not permissible to take this question frivolously; it had to be understood
that the fortune or misfortune of generations would depend on its solution; yes, that it could,
if not had to be, decisive for the entire future of our people. Such a realization, however,
obligated us to ruthless measures and surgical operations. What we needed most was the
conviction that first of all the whole attention of the nation had to be concentrated upon this
terrible danger, so that every single individual could become inwardly conscious of the
importance of this struggle. Truly incisive and sometimes almost unbearable obligations and
burdens can only be made generally effective if, in addition to compulsion, the realization of
necessity is transmitted to the individual. But this requires a tremendous enlightenment
excluding all other problems of the day which might have a distracting effect.
In all cases where the fulfillment of apparently impossible demand.s or tasks is involved, the
whole attention of a people must be focused and concentrated on this one question, as
though life and death actually depended on its solution. Only in this way will a people be
made willing and able to perform great tasks and exertions.
This principle applies also to the individual man in so far as he wants to achieve great goals.
He, too, will be able to do this only in steplike sections, and he, too, will always have to unite
his entire energies on the achievement of a definitely delimited task, until this task seems
fulfilled and a new section can be marked out. Anyone who does not so divide the road to be
conquered into separate stages and does not try to conquer these one by one, systematically
with the sharpest concentration of all his forces, will never be able to reach the ultimate goal,
but will be left lying somewhere along the road, or perhaps even off it. This gradual working
up to a goal is an art, and to conquer the road step by step in this way you must throw in
your last ounce of energy.
The very first prerequisite needed for attacking such a difficult stretch of the human road is
for the leadership to succeed in representing to the masses of the people the partial goal
which now has to be achieved, or rather conquered, as the one which is solely and alone
worthy of attention, on whose conquest everything depends. The great mass of the people
cannot see the whole road ahead of them without growing weary and despairing of the task.
A certain number of them will keep the goal in mind, but will only be able to see the road in
small, partial stretches, like the wanderer, who likewise knows and recognizes the end of his
journey, but is better able to conquer the endless highway if he divides it into sections and
boldly attacks each one as though it represented the desired goal itself. Only in this way does
he advance without losing heart.
Thus, by the use of all propagandist means, the question of combating syphilis should have
been made to appear as the task of the nation. Not just one more task. To this end, its
injurious effects should have been thoroughly hammered into people as the most terrible
misfortune, and this by the use of all available means, until the entire nation arrived at the
conviction that everything-future or ruin-depended upon the solution of this question.
Only after such a preparation, if necessary over a period of years, will the attention, and
consequently the determination, of the entire nation be aroused to such an extent that we
can take exceedingly hard measures exacting the greatest sacrifices without running the risk
of not being understood or of suddenly being left in the lurch by the will of the masses.
For, seriously to attack this plague, tremendous sacrifices and equally great labors are
necessary.
The fight against syphilis demands a fight against prostitution against prejudices, old habits,
against previous conceptions, general views among them not least the false prudery of
certain circles.
The first prerequisite for even the moral right to combat these things is the facilitation of
earlier marriage for the coming generation. In late marriage alone lies the compulsion to
retain an institution which, twist and turn as you like, is and remains a disgrace to
humanity, an institution which is damned ill-suited to a being who with his usual modesty
likes to regard himself as the 'image' of God.