Albert Speer – rise to prominence Albert Speer was a significant figure in German history due to his various architectural projects and his appointment as Minister for Armaments. Although he claimed to be apolitical, Speer joined the Nationalist Social party on March 1st, 1931 and from they’re his career in the Nazi party prospered. Speer’s first contribution to the Nazi party was as a chauffer, as district head of the Nazi Motorist League, where he met Karl Hanke. A recommendation by Hanke to Goebbels, gave Speer his first architectural assignment of decorating Goebbels headquarters in Berlin. Hitler approved the finished result, however Goebbels did not like its simplicity and had it redecorated.
Speer’s first introduction to Nazism was in 1930 where he attended a meeting which Hitler spoke at. He admitted that he was swayed by Hitler’s charisma and his speech gave Speer a sense of hope thus, joining the Nazi Party. This led to his first commission of renovating Hanke’s home in Berlin in 1932, leaving the Nazi Leaders impressed. Goebbels offered him his second job to rebuild the Propaganda Ministry with a promise from Speer that it would be completed within seven months. Speer gained a reputation from this commission as not only a creative architect but also an efficient organiser.
In 1919, Hitler had written that systematic legitimate opposition can only be done through sensible anti Semitism (The Holocaust, n.d). He blamed Jews for the defeat in war and also asserted that Jews stabbed us in the back just to seize power and control German people. Hitler also declared that Jews wanted to undermine the Aryan Race through communism and capitalism. In his book Mein Kampf, (My Struggle) he further extended this hatred for Jews when he said that Jews are an evil race who wants to dominate the world. Nazi policy treated Jews as “parasitic vermin” who are only worthy of eradication.
Their scholarship seemed to reveal the war as it sordid scramble among imperialist powers. -the new disillusion was clinched in 1934 and 1935 by the work of the Senate committee set up under the chairmanship of Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota to investigate the munitions industry. - The Nye committee purported to show that the United States had been shoved into the war when international bankers saw no other way to guarantee be payment of the vast credits they had granted to the Western Allies. - Nye also charged Wilson with duplicity in pretending to be ignorant of the secret treaties. - The Nye Committee consolidated the isolationists' argument.
Historians, Bracher and Jackel believed the holocaust was a completely intentional act, as Wyman states: “Intentionalism anchored Nazi behaviour in Hitler’s and his cohorts' deeply felt anti-Semitism, which they had formulated well before their ascent to power; once in power, they had put into practice what their intention had been all along.” (Wyman, p.419, 1996) Intentionalists argue everything in the Nazi period, was a deliberate move towards Hitler’s ultimate goals. Hitler was a fanatical anti-Semite, who committed himself to the extermination of the Jews from early in his career. Intentionalist historian, Goldhagen argues Hitler had a ‘blueprint’, for the Holocaust, as Morris
However, it... Gangsterism to serve the interests of the Western powers. This is not a global conspiracy theory, it is a global conspiracy pact, with parts played - or not played - by various... Reagan Assassination Attempt brought up, Foster has been known to immediately end the interview. Several conspiracy theories have emerged pertaining to Hinckleys true motives. John Hinckley... Ted Art It is as a scientist that I have the most trouble with the official government conspiracy theory, mainly because it does not satisfy the rules of probability... Comparison Of The Cole To The
The Nuremberg Laws Imagine finding a document signed by Adolf Hitler, the leader of such a large country. We all know to believe that Hitler was behind the Holocaust but do we really know that he was directly involved? Well we do now, and we can say he is affiliated with the persecution of the Jews. The Nazis expressed Anti-Semitic views by passing the Nuremberg Laws and other anti-legislation. The Nazis believed in what is known as Anti-Semitism.
Wolters believed that Speer only tried to protect his reputation, that he was trying to build himself up systematically & that he was a hypocrite who was far from apolitical. Dan van der Vat further supports Wolters, and says “the only reason Speer escaped the death penalty was because he was a good liar”. Matthias Schmidt, author of ‘The end of a Myth’, believed that Speer had the motive to become a great historical figure, and attempted to do so by gaining power in the Nazi party I agree with Wolters, Dan van der Vat and Matthias Schmidt, with saying Speer was only interested in his reputation. That he was a megalomaniac architect who had established what Schmidt said was a “cunning apologia”, and had therefore escaped execution at Nuremburg. Although, due to Gitta Serenys studies, we can sympathize.
He was not involved with any decisions regarding the Final Solution or the Holocaust, his job was to solely present them as good to the German people. He was very manipulative as a result, and so this can be seen as an evil trait. After learning of Hitler’s suicide, Goebbels planned to kill himself and his family, an evil action which he eventually carried out. | Albert Speer | March 19th 1905 | September 1st 1981 (76) | Minister of Armaments and War Production | 4 | Speer is sometimes nicknamed ‘the Nazi who said sorry’. This is because during his Nuremburg trial he accepted his guilt and responsibility for his actions.
Therefore abstaining Hitler from having a grand design to put into effect. They deem Hitler to be more of an opportunist than a mastermind and that the eradication of the Jews became a convenient division of Hitler’s charming of the Jewish population. Extreme structuralists tend to believe that that Holocaust was initiated by the German bureaucracy, with Hitler having no place in its inception. They believe he merely capitalized on what would became an opportune occurrence for his winning over of the population. While Structuralists with a more passive view would believe that although effort was made by the Nazis to eventually remove all Jews from Europe, mass genocide was merely a last resort.