Albert Speer

:For the son of Albert Speer, also an architect, see Albert Speer (the younger)

Minister of Armaments

Hitler was always a strong supporter of Speer, in part because of Hitler's own frustrated artistic and architectural visions. A strong affinity developed between Hitler and the ambitious young architect early in their professional relationship. For Speer, serving as architect for the head of the German state and being given virtual carte blanche as to expenses, presented a tremendous opportunity. For Hitler, Speer personified a talented architect capable of translating Hitler's grandiose visions into tangible designs which expressed what Hitler felt were National Socialist principles.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After Minister of Armaments and War Production Fritz Todt was killed in an airplane crash in 1942, Hitler appointed Speer as Todt's successor in all of his posts. Hitler's affinity for Speer and the architect's efficiency and stature above party squabbling are believed to have been considerations in Speer's promotion to Minister of Armaments. In his autobiography, Speer recounts that the power-hungry but lazy Hermann Göring raced to Hitler's headquarters upon word of Todt's death, hoping to make a claim on the office. Hitler instead presented Göring with the fait accompli of Speer's appointment to the armaments position.

Related Topics:
Fritz Todt - 1942 - Hermann Göring

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Faced with this new responsibility, Speer tried to put the German economy on a war footing comparable to that of the Allied nations, but found himself incessantly hindered by party politics and lack of cooperation amongst the Nazi hierarchy. Nevertheless, by slowly centralizing almost all industry control and cutting through the dense Nazi bureaucracy, he succeeded in multiplying war production four times over the course of the next 2 and a half years, with it actually reaching its peak in 1944 during the height of the Allied strategic bombing campaign. Another big hurdle in his way was the Nazi policy that excluded women from factory work, which was a serious hindrance in war production and a problem unknown to Germany's rival nations, who all made full use of the female workforce. To fill this gap, Speer made heavy use of foreign labor, with a considerable amount of it forced labor.

Related Topics:
Allied - Bureaucracy - Strategic bombing campaign - Forced labor

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Speer was considered one of the more "rational" members of the Nazi hierarchy, and was the opposite of the raging Hitler, grotesque Göring, fanatical Goebbels, and the perverse Himmler.

Related Topics:
Hitler - Göring - Goebbels - Himmler

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Speer's name was found on the list of members of a post-Hitler government envisioned by the July 20 plot to kill Hitler.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

However, the list had an annotation "if possible" by his name, a note that Speer credits with helping to save his life from the extensive purges that followed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

According to his own accounts, Speer considered assassinating Hitler in 1945 by releasing poison gas into the air intake vent on the Führerbunker, but backed down for a number of reasons. Independent evidence for this is sparse. Some credit his revelation of this plan at the Nuremberg trials as being pivotal sparing him the death sentence, which the Soviets pushed for.

Related Topics:
Assassinating - 1945 - Führerbunker - Nuremberg trials - Death sentence - Soviet

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hitler continued to consider Speer trustworthy, though this trust waned near the conclusion of the war as Speer, with considerable risk to his own life, campaigned clandestinely to prevent the implementation of Hitler's scorched earth policy on both German soil and occupied territories.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Speer worked in association with General Gotthard Heinrici, whose troops fighting in the east retreated to the American-held lines and surrendered there instead of following Hitler's orders to make what would have been a suicidal effort to hold off the Soviets from Berlin.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Speer even confessed to Hitler shortly before the dictator's suicide that he has been disobeying, and indeed actively hindering, Hitler's "scorched-earth" decree.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

According to Speer's autobiography, Speer stated gently but bluntly to Hitler that the war was lost and tried to express his opposition to the systematic destruction of German national existence while reaffirming his affection and faith in Hitler.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This conversation, it is said, brought Hitler to tears.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In spite of this reaffirmation and Speer's trip to the Führerbunker toward the final days of the war to bid farewell to his long-time benefactor and Führer, Hitler excluded Speer from the new cabinet he outlined in his political testament, where Speer was to be succeeded by his subordinate, Karl-Otto Saur.

Related Topics:
Führerbunker - Political testament - Karl-Otto Saur

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~