Albert Speer Flashcards
Introduction to Nazism and Reasons for Joining
1930- Attended a Nazi rally in inner-city berlin to hear hitler speak, audience of students and academics.
Speer was captivated by Hitler. Tailored to his audience e wore a respectable blue suit and spoke intellectually about communism, versailles and unemployment.
Later attended more aggressive Nazi rallies which he did not enjoy but decided speakers will still led by the crowd, not trying to lead them.
1 march 1931 joined nazi party.
Reasons:
- genuine belief weimar was crumbling and it was nazism or communism.
- hated versailles
- massively the hypnotic effect of hitler, did not join the nazi party, he joined the hitler party.
Early work for the Nazi Party
Great depression (october 1929) left little work for an architect, forced to move back in with parents.
In this time Speer made acquaintance with Hanke, head of Kreisleitung West and later state secretary in goebbels propaganda ministry. Gave Speer first major jobs for the party like redecorating the headquarters of a district branch, later Goebbels ministry building.
1 May 1933 Templehof Field Night Rally, extravagant and elaborate design including 10 story banners and a powerful spotlight on hitler earned him first permanent appointment.
July Nuremberg Rally: 500000 people, eagle with 30m wingspan.
Became Troosts assistant (first architect of the reich) and upon his death in 1934 took his position
First Architect of the Reich
Ran “beauty of labour” and “strength through joy campaigns.
Nuremburg rally of 1934- created “cathedral of light” effect using 130 anti-aircraft spotlights (Riefenstahl’s “triumph of the will”)
-redrew plans for 1936 olympic stadium
Germania:
Rebuilding berlin to rival paris and vienna. Hitlers vision included:
-domed hall many times larger than st peters in rome
-triumphal arch bigger than that of paris
-dozens of cultural buildings
-huge Fuhrer’s palace.
In 1937 Speer put in charge of the project and was “answerable to Hitler alone”
Reich Chancellery:
1938 Hitler tasked speer with designing a new reich chancellery to impress and overwhelm visitors.
With skilful management of 8000 men, Speer had the job done in less than a year, said to be his greatest architectural achievement. Whats more he worked without a plan, improvised.
-claims to have stayed away from party intrigue but still had his disputes with Bromann and Giessler
Minister for Armaments
After Todt’s plane crash on 6 Feb 1942 Hitler personally appointed Speer with the role of minister for armaments. Speer felt unprepared due to lack of experience with munitions but Hitler trusted his organisation skill, had it made a direct order to avoid opposition.
Consolidated power via:
- using non-party experts, cutting direct party control of his ministry.
- got decree passed to have people tried for misuse or claim of war materials i.e. Bypassing ministry of justice.
- 13 Feb document signed to give him full control over all armaments decisions.
Wartime Economy:
Problems:
-not prepared for long term total war, ‘business as usual’ policy until 1943
-organisation chaotic and confused, rife with petty rivalry
-shortage of labour
Solutions:
-organised factories to specialise in one thing, mass production lines.
-took control of administering war production from generals and gave it to industrialists.
-encompassed 10000 french factories
Result: in 6 months gun and tank production- +25%, ammunition production doubled.
-Speer wanted to bring women into the workforce but was stopped due to ‘spiritual and emotion damage’ it would cause. Instead Sauckel had 700000 foreign workers kidnapped by mid 1942.
Jewish Flats
April 1939
“Law of Rental Contracts with Jews” allowed the ejection of jews from their homes to alternative accommodation.
Goebbels decided 20000 Berlin flats should be evacuated for German people to live in if their homes were damaged by allied bombing.
Speers office had dealt with building contractors but by the time the homes were taken they had surrendered administrative function.
Posen Conference
October 1943
Speer made morning speech against the selfishness of gauleiters hurting the war effort.
In the afternoon Himmler brought up the ‘Jewish Problem’ and the final solution was decided upon, speer is mentioned several times in the speech as if being addressed directly.
Speer claims to have left the conference at noon and did not hear of this.
Speer and Hitler
-scorched earth policy
If hitler had a friend, I was it -speer
Speers attachment to hitler was a major part of his ability to overlook the more grizzly parts of the regime.
Relationship was romantic- fest, psychologist mitscherlich and prison pastor casilas.
Relationship deteriorated from late 1943 onwards, Hitler began getting armaments info from Speers subordinates.
In 19 march 1945 Hitler ordered a ‘scorched earth policy’ (the Nero Decree) as allied moved into germany, destroying all infrastructure for futures german peoples. Speer was given the responsibility of carrying out the decree but used his authority in the coming weeks to circumvent hitlers orderes as much as possible and save many important structures (railways, bridges) (Maybe to look good at his trial, maybe actually nice)
Nuremburg War Trials
All 21 Nazi defendants tried under 4 counts:
1) conspiracy to commit crimes against peace
2) crimes against peace
3) crimes against humanity
4) war crimes
The first 2 counts dont apply to Speer due to his lack of involvement in the outbreak of war.
3rd-linked to use of prisoners of war and concentration campers as slave labour in brutal conditions.
Claimed he no knowledge of how labour was procured or the conditions (left on sauckel) his visit to Mauthausen being satisfactory. Defiance of scorched earth policy also helped here. Court found Speer not responsible for Sauckels actions, directly answerable to hitler.
4th- argued he did what any war minister would do, maximise war potential.
On 30 September 1946 found guilty under 3rd and 4th counts and sentenced to 20years imprisonment.
12 were sentenced to death and speer was the only one in such a high position to avoid that fate.
Speers tact in the trial was unique in that he did not deny his involvement or stand by the nazi regime but acted repentant. “This trial is necessary. There is a shared responsibility for such horrible crimes even in an authoritarian state” -speer
Mauthausen and Nordhausen (Dora)
Mauthausen: concentration camp
Early 1943, sanitised vip visit, speer stated conditions better than expected.
Dora: rocket production site using slave labour
Late 1943 visit, huge death rate and slaves sleeping in niches in the walls. Speer insisted on better accommodation for workers.
Later Life:
Spent 20 years in Spandau Prison where he wrote his memoirs to form the basis of his book “Inside the 3rd Reich.”
Speer was released in 1966 and continued to write accountants of the 3rd reich, becoming its pseudo-historian, somewhat of a celebrity making TV and magazine appearances.
Died 1981 of a stroke
Good Nazi?
Good:
Going against scorched earth policy
Remorse at nuremburg
Ambitious, opportunistic technocrat, just doing his job
Evil: Posen conference Dora and mauthausen High position and relationship with hitler i.e. Knew what was happening Jewish flats 1939 Prolonged war 2 years
Historians:
At the time Speer’s tale of an apolitical technocrat was bought by historians like Fest and U.S prosecutor King.
However as time progressed and more evidence became available this tale has unravelled.
Sereny: compartmentalises
Van der Vat: egocentric opportunist-moral disintegration under the presence of power
Trevor-roper: real smart which makes him extra evil bc he had the intelligence to know what was happening and do nothing.
The most recent account on Speer 2016s Speer: Hitlers Architect by Martin Kitchen sees speer as a myth maker, lying in everything from:
- his birth
- posen conference attendance
- reich chancellery
- armaments production
- Dora visit
Half a million concentration camp inmates working under him.
Therefore, Speer’s ignorance is a logical impossibility.
Early Life: family and education
- Born 19 March 1905 in Mannheim, Germany
- family part of ‘haute bourgeoisie’, elite social group of upper middle class.
-dad=architect, too busy for family
mum=too busy with social whirl for family
Brothers also cold
-excelled in school and later sport
1924- studied architecture in Munich
1926-studied under Tessenow in berlin and became his assistant by 1928.
1928-married Margaret Weber, long term interest due to shared artistic pursuits.
-Showed a complete lack of political awareness through youth
Timeline:
1905- born in Mannheim
1928- study in munich, became tessenow’s assistant
-married Margaret weber
1931- join nazi party after listening to hitler’s speech
1933- redesigns Goebbels headquarters in Berlin.
- templehof airfield in may (10ft banners and spotlight)
- nuremburg rally
1934- becomes Troost as first architect of the reich
-another Nuremburg rally with “cathedral of light”
1936- works on plans for 1936 olympics
1937- head on germania project
1938- design a new reich chancellery, had it built within a year.
1939- jewish flats
6 Feb 1942- Todt (minister for armaments) dies in plane crash and hitler appoints Speer in the role.
1943- ends business as usual, gets product lines going, uses foreign factories etc etc.
October- Posen Conference
-Relationship with Hitler deteriorates
-Mauthausen and Dora
March 1945 -scorched earth policy refusal
1945/30 september 1946- Nuremburg trials
-sentenced to 20 years on counts of crimes against humanity (not conspiracy to commit crimes against peace or crimes against peace)
1966- released, historian of the reich
1981- dies of stroke
