Before the War

Albert Speer, the son of an architect, was born in Mannheim on 19th March, 1905. After studying architecture at the Munich Institute of Technology and at the Berlin-Charlottenburg Institute, he became an architect in 1927.

In 1932 Speer joined the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) and shortly afterwards became a member of the Schutzstaffel (SS).  Adolf Hitler met Speer in July 1933 and gave him the task of organizing the elaborate 1934 Nuremberg Rally, a series of events used as a propaganda exercise aiming to demonstrate Nazi power.  Hitler was impressed by Speer's achievements and gave him the commission to design the German exhibit at the Paris Exhibition in 1937, the Reich Chancellery in Berlin and the Party Palace in Nuremberg.

Speer's artistic imagination and technological expertise appealed to Hitler, who appointed Speer to the position of Inspector General of the Reich, responsible for re-building Berlin and other German cities in the neo-classical, monumental style which he favored. 

Wartime Role

In February, 1942, Adolf Hitler appointed Speer as Minister of Armaments. A brilliant administrator, Speer considerably raised production levels of armaments.  Despite constant Allied bombing “around-the-clock”, Speer was able to cope with any damage done by the bombers quickly and effectively.  In fact, while the Allies focused on destroying the Nazi aircraft and tank-making abilities of the Germany industry, Speer actually increased the production during the heavy raids of 1944!  Working closely with Admiral Karl Dönitz, Speer was able to announce that Germany was producing a whopping 42 U-boats a month by 1945.  However, Speer’s planning and administration could not have been successful without the thousands of slave laborers who worked at the German factories to create these weapons.

Still, Speer clashed with SS Chief Heinrich Himmler about the use of slave labor.  Albert Speer argued that concentration camp factories were inefficient and preferred using paid labor in occupied countries. He later claimed that he saved lives because of this policy but his opponents pointed out that this policy had more to do with efficiency than morality.