“Remember that you are German. Keep your blood pure.”

“Remember that you are German. Keep your blood pure.” is the motto that Dietrich Eckart and Adolf Hitler recite together. Its paired commands connect national identity to the demand for racial purity, and the scene places the words within a conversation about the Thule Society.

The Motto in Context

Dietrich Eckart first tells Adolf Hitler that he should join the Thule Society. Hitler replies that he is already a member. Eckart then proposes that they recite the motto together, making the expression a shared declaration rather than an isolated slogan.

Wording and Function

The motto has two imperatives: it tells its addressee to remember a German identity and to preserve the purity of blood. In the scene, the first command establishes belonging; the second gives that belonging an exclusionary racial basis. Their joint recitation associates the words with the men’s stated connection to the Thule Society.

Narrative Significance

The exchange gives the expression a ceremonial force: Eckart invites the recitation, and Hitler joins him. The motto condenses the racial-nationalist outlook represented in this embedded conversation into a brief formula. Its appearance also belongs to the narrator’s account of developing novel notes after seeing anti-abortion protesters outside his sister’s clinic, where he reflects on the hatred and fear of those protesters and on his interest in Hitler’s relationship to art.