Finally, Speer states, "Because I failed at the time, I still feel, to this day, responsible for Auschwitz in a wholly personal sense. [46] Eventually, 75,000 Jews were displaced by these measures. Albert Speer Jr. was born on July 29, 1934, one year after Hitler had consolidated power in Germany. Speer was born in Mannheim, into an upper-middle-class family. Albert Speer, the Nazi architect who built a Cathedral of Light for Hitler and commanded millions of prisoners in the forced production of weaponry, had a comfortable second life. He was credited with a dramatic increase in the shipment of arms that was widely reported as keeping Germany in the war. [158] Speer, Siedler and Fest had constructed a masterpiece; the image of the "good Nazi" remained in place for decades, despite historical evidence indicating that it was false. [91], On 14 April 1944, Speer lost control of Organisation Todt to his Deputy, Franz Xaver Dorsch. by punktlich02 29 Oct 2009, 11:35, Return to The Dieter Zinke Axis Biographical Research Section. These factories were death-traps; discipline was brutal, with regular executions. He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, principally for the use of slave labor, narrowly avoiding a death sentence. It became instrumental in exploiting slave labor for the benefit of the German war effort. [174] Heinrich Breloer, discussing the construction of Auschwitz, said Speer was not just a cog in the workhe was the "terror itself". He was charged with planning for war, planning a war of aggression, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. Brother of Hermann Speer and Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer. [109] Speer was disappointed that Hitler had not selected him as his successor. Speer's own staff described the conditions there as "hell". The second season of the PBS series looks at Hitler's planning and the battle that would ultimately cripple the Third Reich. [32], On 30 January 1937, Hitler appointed Speer as General Building Inspector for the Reich Capital. Study now. The journalist had unwittingly collaborated in one of his myths. It is considered to be one of the most detailed descriptions of the inner workings and leadership of Nazi Germany but is controversial because of Speer's lack of discussion of Nazi . These centered on a three-mile-long grand boulevard running from north to south, which Speer called the Prachtstrasse, or Street of Magnificence;[35] he also referred to it as the "NorthSouth Axis". [1]:488498,569, Speer's involvement with concentration camp prisoners as a work force came about when Hitler agreed to Himmler's proposal they be used for the secret V-2 project. [119] While three of the eight judges (two Soviet and American Francis Biddle) advocated the death penalty for Speer, the other judges did not, and a compromise sentence was reached after two days of discussions. He continued to deny explicit knowledge of, and responsibility for the Holocaust. A speech by Albert Speer (there is an account of this speech in Albert Speer, Erinnerungen [Berlin, 1969], p. 325) was followed by speeches of his deputies: Willy Schliecker, the expert on American rearmament; Walther Rohland, the head of Panzer production; Karl Frydag, who was in charge of aircraft building; and Otto Merker, who was . His formal title was changed on 2 September 1943, to "Reich Minister for Armaments and War Production". [158] Kitchen said he had deceived the Nuremberg Tribunal and post-war Germany. [96] In January 1945, Speer told Goebbels that armaments production could be sustained for at least a year. On 23 May, two weeks after the surrender of German forces, British troops arrested the members of the Flensburg Government and brought Nazi Germany to a formal end. [15], In January 1931, Speer applied for Nazi Party membership, and on 1 March 1931, he became member number 474,481. [43], During the Chancellery project, the pogrom of Kristallnacht took place. Progress was slow because fuel was rationed and Army Group A were given priority. [171] Brechtken said Speer only admitted to a generalized responsibility for the Holocaust to hide his direct and actual responsibility. This was probably the start of the downfall of the Reich. Martin Kitchen, writing in Speer: Hitler's Architect, stated that much of the increase in Germany's arms production was actually due to systems instituted by Speer's predecessor (Fritz Todt) and furthermore that Speer was intimately involved in the "Final Solution". [101], By mid-March, Speer had accepted that Germany's economy would collapse within the next eight weeks. [53] Speer's offices undertook building work for each branch of the military, and for the SS, using slave labor. The task force was established by 1 March 1944, orders of Speer, with support from Erhard Milch of the Reich Aviation Ministry. Inside the Third Reich (German: Erinnerungen, "Memories") is a memoir written by Albert Speer, the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942 to 1945, serving as Adolf Hitler's main architect before this period. [49] Martin Kitchen described Speer's often repeated line that he knew nothing of the "dreadful things" as hollowbecause not only was he fully aware of the fate of the Jews he was actively participating in their persecution. [66], As Minister of Armaments, Speer was responsible for supplying weapons to the army. Despite this opposition, the two married in Berlin on 28 August 1928; seven years elapsed before Margarete was invited to stay at her in-laws' home. [5], Another kind of criticism is the claim that Speer pretended that he was unaware of the extermination camps and presented the figure of a "good Nazi". Included in the building works was material to build gas chambers, crematoria and morgues. In her renowned biography, Albert Speer: His Battle With Truth, she describes her friend Schramm as "maybe the most moral person I have ever met". Ernst Speer. shelved 32,158 times. sent during this battle. This miracle was brought to a halt in the summer of 1943 by, among other factors, the first sustained Allied bombing. A scene from 'Rise of the Nazis' Photo: 72 Films. Stars Laurence Olivier Averell Harriman Albert Speer See production, box office & company info Search on Amazon search for Blu-ray and DVD Add to Watchlist 120 User reviews 5 Critic reviews Top rated TV #14 [citation needed], At the Nuremberg Trials, Speer was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his use of prisoners in the armaments factories while Minister of Armaments. like so many other Germans his body was never found or returned to . The myth began to fall apart in the 1980s, when the armaments miracle was attributed to Nazi propaganda. [121] There he was known as Prisoner Number Five. [165] Trommer said he was not an apolitical technocrat; instead, he was one of the most powerful and unscrupulous leaders in the Nazi regime. [97] However, he concluded that the war was lost after Soviet forces captured the important Silesian industrial region later that month. "[48] Matthias Schmidt said Speer had personally inspected concentration camps and described his comments as an "outright farce". Speer died of a stroke in 1981. He added a stone exterior that pleased Hitler. The idea for this myth came to him after he recalled the panic when car fumes came through an air ventilation system. [26], The image of the good Nazi was supported by numerous Speer myths. Speer (Albert Speer's brother) and his life. Another myth posits that Speer revolutionized the German war machine after his appointment as Minister of Armaments. For the record, Ernst Speer is discussed at p. 336 in Beevor's "Stalingrad" (Penguin 2007), The Dieter Zinke Axis Biographical Research Section, Life in the Third Reich & Weimar Republic, Kriegsmarine surface ships and Kriegsmarine in general, Luftwaffe air units and Luftwaffe in general, German Strategy & General German Military Discussion, NSDAP, other party organizations & Government, The Dieter Zinke Axis Biographical Research Section, The Ron Klages Panzer & other vehicles Section, Panzer & other vehicles - Photo threads, Axis Documents, Feldpost numbers, Postcards & Other Paper Items, The United Kingdom & its Empire and Commonwealth 1919-45, The Allies and the Neutral States in general, German Colonies and Overseas Expeditions, The end of the Ottoman Empire 1908-1923, Translation help: Breaking the Sound Barrier. Speer first heard Adolf Hitler speak during an address to the combined students and faculty of Berlin University and his institute. I'd like to know more about his life; all I know is that he was inside Stalingrad's. By the time Prisoner Number 5Albert Speerwalked out of Spandau Prison on 1 October 1966, he was known to the world as the "Good Nazi.". He remained so even after his release from imprisonment in 1966, despite their efforts to forge closer bonds. [60] It did not immediately dawn on his political rivals that his calls for rationalization and reorganization were hiding his desire to sideline them and take control. [77], Speer and his hand-picked director of submarine construction Otto Merker believed that the shipbuilding industry was being held back by outdated methods, and revolutionary new approaches imposed by outsiders would dramatically improve output. In 1918, moved to Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg, Heidelberg, Germany. [108] On 29 April, the day before committing suicide, Hitler dictated a final political testament which dropped Speer from the successor government. Supposing politics to be irrelevant, he turned aside and built roads and bridges and factories, while the logical consequences of government by madmen emerged. [139] Although he stated he hoped to resume an architectural career, his sole project, a collaboration for a brewery, was unsuccessful. [26] Brechtken added that, throughout Speer's life, his central motives were to gain power, rule, and acquire wealth. [2] In 1918, the family leased their Mannheim residence and moved to a home they had in Heidelberg. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [15] Instead, he revised his Spandau writings into two autobiographical books, Inside the Third Reich (in German, Erinnerungen, or Reminiscences[140]) and Spandau: The Secret Diaries. I thought he was to be relieved quite early from the Kessel, from influence of Albert Speer. Speer was aided in shaping the works by Joachim Fest and Wolf Jobst Siedler from the publishing house Ullstein. [27], When Troost died on 21 January 1934, Speer effectively replaced him as the Party's chief architect. Fun facts: before fame, family life, popularity rankings, and more. After August 1944, oil from the Romanian fields was no longer available. [155] Isabell Trommer writes in her biography of Speer that Fest and Siedler were co-authors of Speer's memoirs and co-creators of his myths. Though stockpiling of materials and other work continued, this slowed to a halt as more resources were needed for the armament industry. Speer studied at the technical schools in Karlsruhe, Munich, and Berlin, and acquired an architectural license in 1927. a nemzeti szocialista Nmet Birodalom fptsze, fegyverkezsi minisztere, a haditermels irnytja.. A hbor befejezse utn Nrnbergben egyetlen volt a brsg el lltott szemlyek kzl, aki elismerte felelssgt a msodik vilghbors esemnyekrt, hsz . "[16] The historian Magnus Brechtken, discussing Speer, said he did not give anti-Jewish public speeches and that his anti-Semitism can best be understood through his actionswhich were anti-Semitic. During his life, he worked on redesigning city centers of . [21] As Chancellor, Hitler had a residence in the building and came by every day to be briefed by Speer and the building supervisor on the progress of the renovations. Detailed plans were completed in July 1937 and the first shell of the new chancellery was complete on 1 January 1938. The house had a studio were Hitler (see Hitler parents) often came to draw his . His architectural skills made him increasingly prominent within the Party, and he became a member of Hitler's inner circle. [29] Speer insisted that as many events as possible be held at night, both to give greater prominence to his lighting effects and to hide the overweight Nazis. Four years into their relationship, in September 1981, Speer died. [44] The chancellery was completed in early January 1939. [167] Brechtken wrote that his most brazen lie was fabricated during an interview with a French journalist in 1952. Three days later, he also proposed to Hitler that Germany's remaining military resources be concentrated along the Rhine and Vistula rivers in an attempt to prolong the fighting. [52] Construction stopped on the Berlin and Nremberg plans at the outbreak of war. [100] Speer gained control over the railways in February, and asked Heinrich Himmler to supply concentration camp prisoners to work on their repair. Speer went on to quote Hitler as telling him privately after the remilitarization of the Rhineland, "We will create a great empire. [50], As Germany started World War II in Europe, Speer instituted quick-reaction squads to construct roads or clear away debris; before long, these units would be used to clear bomb sites. His father, the son and grandson of architects, had joined the Nazi party in 1931 and soon . The existing Berlin railroad termini were to be dismantled, and two large new stations built. "[118], Speer was credited with an "armaments miracle". all Albert Speer wanted was to feel important. [10] After passing his exams in 1927, Speer became Tessenow's assistant, a high honor for a man of 22. Albert Speer was a young architect initially seduced by the speeches and rhetoric of Hitler. Entrance to Spandau Prison, 1951. [51] Speer used forced Jewish labor on these projects, in addition to regular German workers. [177], The armaments "miracle" was a myth; Speer had used statistical manipulation to support his claims. Instead, development turned to a "uranium motor", for use in the navy's submarines. FC Bayern Munich opens a new sports complex with a youth academy planned by AS+P. [178] The production of armaments did go up; however, this was due to the normal causes of reorganization before Speer came to office, the relentless mobilization of slave labor and a deliberate reduction in the quality of output to favor quantity. ", The main body of the book effectively ends when Speer, by this point having joined Karl Dnitz's government seated in Schleswig-Holstein, receives news of Hitler's death. But the children-my two brothers and I-had to use the back stairs. The book also shows a photograph from 1943, of . [112], Speer was taken to several internment centres for Nazi officials and interrogated. Stalingrad was a classic example where he refused to provide the equipment necessary to supply his army on the Eastern front during the terrible winter of 1941. Speer, Albert (1905-81). [40] Speer was involved virtually from the beginning. Albert Speer (1905-1981) was a trained architect. By Thomas Rogers 23 May 2017 She was a kind and simple lady, living for her children. They paid for Toni Proost to go on holiday, and for bribes to those who might be able to secure Speer's release. I recommend this book without reservations. By July 1943 Speer's armaments propaganda became irrelevant because a catalogue of dramatic defeats on the battlefield meant the prospect of losing the war could no longer be hidden from the German public. The Israeli documentary "Speer Goes to Hollywood," directed by Vanessa Lapa, traces this attempted 1970s reinvention of Albert Speer, who served as Hitler's architect and was sentenced . After his release on 1 October 1966, he used Federal Archive documents to rework the material into his autobiography. [114], The chief United States prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson, of the U.S. Supreme Court said, "Speer joined in planning and executing the program to dragoon prisoners of war and foreign workers into German war industries, which waxed in output while the workers waned in starvation. The Fhrer emerges as neither an incompetent nor a carpetgnawing madman but as an evil genius of warped concepts endowed with an ineffable personal magic. Albert Speer, Germany Architect. [39], Plans to build a new Reich chancellery had been underway since 1934. I myself must carry this out. He lost Hitler's unconditional support and began to lose power. The SS called this "Professor Speer's Special Programme". [85] The growth, however, consisted in large part of models that were becoming obsolescent and proved easy prey for Allied aircraft. Adam Tooze wrote in The Wages of Destruction that the idea that Speer was an apolitical technocrat was "absurd". [83] His political rivals used the opportunity to undermine his authority and damage his reputation with Hitler. Men da Moritz Schramm var barn, var det et andet blik, han havde p morfaren. He admitted only to being uncomfortable around Jews in the published version of the Spandau Diaries. He agreed to expand Auschwitz and some other camps, allocating 13.7 million Reichsmarks for the work to be carried out. [43] The building itself was hailed by Hitler as the "crowning glory of the greater German political empire". "[115] Speer's attorney, Hans Flchsner, successfully contrasted Speer from other defendants[116] and portrayed him as an artist thrust into political life who had always remained a non-ideologue. Speer's full length portrait of Hitler has unnerving reality. Efforts were made and a search of Ernst's unit ended in failure. He had become one of the most powerful people in Nazi Germany. 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