Indeed, serenys account is in large measure devoted to presenting a more accurate picture of speer s role in the nazi horrors. Serenys ability to extract secrets, the nazi once said to her. A superb book by gitta sereny and an indepth look at speer and his knowledge of the holocaust and other issues within nazi germany. Sereny albert speer proposes that children under 14 should not be held criminally responsible and should be tried by a specially convened panel instead of by jury. Of all the moral cripples who marched into hell at hitler s. Albert speer was the only member of the nazi party to accept responsibility for the actions of hitler and apologize for those actions. Plucked from obscurity to be hitlers architect and minister of. His battle with the truth an excellent book, sereny provides her own background information on heydrich, but she reports that, speer certainly. Kubarych believes that speer felt true guilt for what he did but was too engrossed in his. Sep 26, 2002 nonetheless, it is the secondbest book written on speer, after sereny s albert speer. Journalist was known for her unflinching studies of nazis and child criminals, including albert speer and mary bell barry neild mon 18 jun 2012. Albert speer, whom i knew well and grew to like, might easily have been hanged the night of 1617 october 1946, when, in the gymnasium of nuremberg prison, 10 other of hitler s men were executed. Sereny peels back multiple layers of the speer defense.
Feb 28, 20 gitta sereny s investigation of this man s mind, and of the influences which shaped him, has become a classic. That was the absolute limit for the third reichs war effort. The second viewpoint, which is more widely believed than the first, is that speer was a clever man who manipulated the nazi party, the nuremburg war crimes prosecutors and also. Gitta sereny, an acclaimed investigative journalist whose books on nazis and killers delved into the minds behind heinous acts of depravity and violence, died june 14 at a hospital in cambridge. Internationally she is best known as the daughter of the german architect and highranked nazi party official albert speer 19051981, and the younger sister of albert speer jr. Speer, a young architect seeking work, proposed to hitler a night rally that would be geared to suggest infinite space by employing a backdrop of 10story flags and a wall of 150 searchlight beams. His battle with the truth, a more extensively researched and readable book if somewhat digressive and. Compact pistols have never offered this level of protection. Gitta sereny, through twelve years of research and through many conversations with speer, his friends and colleagues, reveals how speer came to terms with his own acts and failures to act, his progress from moral extinction to moral selfeducation and the question of his real culpability in the nazi. Jun 18, 2012 journalist was known for her unflinching studies of nazis and child criminals, including albert speer and mary bell barry neild mon 18 jun 2012 17. In the first, speer defends every single action he took or didnt take. Speer was born in mannheim, into an uppermiddleclass family. Gitta sereny was one of europes foremost journalists with a special interest and expertise in the third reich.
Whether youre a veteran reloader, or just getting started, let. A panoramic historical drama about the man whose devotion to hitler blinded him to the worst crime of the twentieth century, drawing closely on gita serenys definitive and magisterial biography of albert speer. In the text, speer went on to urge hitler to concentrate on doing everything possible for the countrys population to. She interviewed him for three weeks, 12 hours a day, and followed this up with 12 years further research, pursuing the twists and turns of his logic in an effort to make him confront the extent of his culpability and at the end of it even she could not make. It is probably on the basis of her biography of albert speer that most of the criticism has come. Gitta sereny obituary biography books the guardian. Stangl commanded treblinka and was found guilty of coresponsibility for the slaughter there of at least 900, 000 people. Is hitlers reich minister albert speers memoir, inside the. Highly recommend reading gitta serenys portrait of albert speer after reading either of speers books. I remember reading in gitta serenys biography of him, how his daughter hilde was both repulsed by it, and fascinated by it. As a memoir by a trusted member of hitlers inner circle it provides insights that scholars will use, when cross referencing other sources.
Architect of the house of lies how much did albert speer. Albert speer his battle with truth by gitta sereny illustrated. Sereny s ability to extract secrets, the nazi once said to her. Brilliant historian gitta serenys 1972 book tried to argue that society was to blame for mary bell. Perhaps the most enigmatic and interesting member of hitlers inner circle, albert speer was the only nazi leader tried at nuremberg who. Sereny s massive and wellresearched biography includes extensive interviews with speer who died in 1981, speer s family and friends, and dozens of people who either worked with him during the. From 1942 speer was the second most powerful man in the reich and hitlers righthand man. I have read inside the third reich followed by gitta sereny s biography of speer. Oct 24, 2002 there has, however, been no adequate biography serenys book was an extensive report on speers personality that emphasized issues of guilt and responsibilityand it is gratifying to have that deficiency repaired now by joachim fest, the author of one of the most highly respected biographies of adolf hitler.
Writer best known for her books on mary bell and albert speer 12 obitsereny. The psychology of albert speer humanities portfolio. Speer, the minister of armaments and war production under hitler, the man who had kept germany armed and the war machine running even after hitlers mystique had faded, takes a brutally honest look at his role in the war effort, giving readers a complete view of the inside of the nazi state. The manner in which gitta sereny and david irving respectively dealt with the controversial career of hitlers munitions minister albert speer in their biographies is one of the issues before the high court.
Gitta sereny and the truth about evil the spectator. A personal assessment by gitta sereny of hitlers armaments minister, who died in london this week at the end of 1977, quite out of the blue, i received a letter from albert speer. Gitta serenys biography meticulously recreates for the reader the professional, emotional, and psychological life of albert speer, hitlers architect and later. Mary, then eleven, was charged and subsequently convicted of the manslaughter of two younger boys. Gitta sereny, who has written prolifically about the third reich and spent 12 years working with albert speer and a large number of people who knew him, tells. Only four men commanded nazi extermination as opposed to concentration camps. His battle with truth offers the patient reader a model of careful excavation, the sort that yields tiny fragments of bone that suddenly disrupt everything we thought we knew. All these attributes were on display at nuremberg, where he stood out among the 21 defendants for his reasoned confession of guilt even as he. I was not a priori sympathetic to speer but i was ready to be persuaded of the case for and i havent been. Gitta serenys investigation of this mans mind, and of the influences which shaped him, has become a classic. The best over view of the controversies around speer is albert speer. I find speer from his own testimony cold, irascible, manipulative, ambitious, selfabsorbed to an unusual degree and instinctively difficult to believe. I came to serenys book after twenty years working on the german war economy. To listen to more of gitta serenys stories, go to the playlist.
Sereny s questioning, speer contradicted his nuremberg testimony and told her that he had been keenly aware of the final solution, and had done nothing to stop it. I have read inside the third reich followed by gitta serenys biography of speer. If youre a speer completest, then this work is worth reading. On one side is speers own view of himself, as presented in his two. Speer might have supposed that the ss leader was talking about executions, as he told the journalist gitta sereny. As possibly no other politician in our time, hitler understood the art of public speaking, of pauses, of silence. The young historian schmidt used this new information to revolutionise histories view of speer. Speer was one of the few defendants at the nuremberg trials to take responsibility for nazi war crimes, even as he denied knowledge of the holocaust. Albert speer, the man who killed millions, saved millions more, lied to save his own neck and recreated history so people would see him as a hero has had a definitively negative impact on his time.
Nonetheless, it is the secondbest book written on speer, after serenys albert speer. Indeed, serenys account is in large measure devoted to presenting a more accurate picture of speers role in the nazi horrors. Therein, speer reported the german economy could only hold out another four to eight weeks. The heralded speer reloading manual represents years of finetuning loads and meticulous testing. Perhaps the most enigmatic and interesting member of hitlers inner circle, albert speer was the only nazi leader tried at nuremberg who expressed remorse and accepted responsibility for the. Is hitlers reich minister albert speers memoir, inside. Speer, irving, dine together at frankfurt book fair october 1980 the albert speer i knew. Why do people believe what albert speer said about hitler when he was a liar and a traitor. This view was damaged when matthias schmidts extended thesis on speer was published as a book albert speer the end of a myth in 1982.
This is worth reading if you want a different perspective on albert speer. Perhaps the most enigmatic and interesting member of hitler s inner circle, albert speer was the only nazi leader tried at nuremberg who expressed remorse and accepted responsibility for the. But certainly, the seeds of corruption lay, as barraclough suggested, in speers own political ambition. He was the second of three sons of luise mathilde wilhelmine hommel and albert friedrich speer. Vista outdoor sales llc speer cci speer reloading manual 15. Synopsis renowned journalist and biographer gitta sereny covered the mary bell case in the 1960s and wrote about it at the time. This made a detailed examination of the inconsistencies contained in speers book and thoroughly researches his statements by making crossreferences to other sources. A few weeks earlier the sunday times had published an analysis by lewis chester and myself of david.
She is known for her work on channel 4 news 1982, history 2000 and reputations 1994. Dec 23, 2016 there is great value to a memoir likes speers, but it must always be supplemented by outside scholarship. There is great value to a memoir likes speers, but it must always be supplemented by outside scholarship. Gitta sereny, cbe march 1921 14 june 2012 was an austrianbritish biographer, historian, and investigative journalist who came to be known for her interviews and. There has, however, been no adequate biography serenys book was an extensive report on speers personality that emphasized issues of guilt and responsibilityand it is gratifying to have that deficiency repaired now by joachim fest, the author of one of the most highly respected biographies of adolf hitler. This made a detailed examination of the inconsistencies contained in speers book and thoroughly researches his statements by making crossreferences to. Albert speer outline albert speers role within the nazi regime albert speers role in the nazi regime primarily was centred on a couple of areas, his work as the general building inspector gbi, the chief architect of the reich and his role as armaments minister. King, deputy prosecutor at the nuremberg trials who later wrote a book about speer said, love and. Made in 2005 and now released on dvd, speer and hitler. Aug 01, 2010 the first is that speer was merely a technocrat, with no political views and this view is created by speer in his postwar writings, as well as historian joachim fest. Serenys account of bells 12year incarceration is disjointed and overwritten, but it offers a scorching look at british womens prisons as cesspools of drugs, abuse and coerced sex. Highly recommend reading gitta sereny s portrait of albert speer after reading either of speer s books. Not only did speer view hitler as his only means of professional legitimacy, but hitler constantly used fear to subordinate nazi officials.
Serenys questioning, speer contradicted his nuremberg testimony and told her that he had been keenly aware of the final solution, and had done nothing to stop it. New students of speer should seek out serenys work first. Serenys book gives a needed perspective that reminds us to treat speers books with cautiousness especially about events in nazi germany that speer may have deliberately avoided. His battle with truth is a dense but wellwritten, meticulously researched and brilliant tome by the londonbased journalist gitta sereny, reconsidering the colorful life, memorable tribulations and profound ethical and moral conflicts of the third reichs master technocrat. Gitta sereny s biography meticulously recreates for the reader the professional, emotional, and psychological life of albert speer, hitler s architect and later. Why do people believe what albert speer said about hitler. New students of speer should seek out sereny s work first. I recommend reading them in the same order that i did. Gitta sereny, cbe march 1921 14 june 2012 was an austrianbritish biographer, historian, and investigative journalist who came to be known for her interviews and profiles of infamous figures, including mary bell, who was convicted in 1968 of killing two children when she herself was a child, and franz stangl, the commandant of the treblinka extermination camp. Serenys massive and wellresearched biography includes extensive interviews with speer who died in 1981, speers family and friends, and dozens of people who either worked with him during the. Thirty years after his death, and 16 after gitta serenys controversial biography, albert speer. The article references gitta serenys biography of speer to explain the methods of manipulation used by hitler. Albert speer, whom i knew well and grew to like, might easily have been hanged the night of 1617 october 1946, when, in the gymnasium of nuremberg prison, 10 other of hitlers men were executed.
His battle with truth, speer remains a most enigmatic figure. Gitta sereny, the writer and journalist, who has died aged 91, spent her adult. Speers autobiography, inside the third reich, addressed this issue as well, and went to great lengths. In the text, speer went on to urge hitler to concentrate on doing everything possible for the countrys population to ensure their survival. Albert speer by by david edgar 9781854594853 nick hern. Sereny s book gives a needed perspective that reminds us to treat speer s books with cautiousness especially about events in nazi germany that speer may have deliberately avoided. However, excerpts of serenys conversations with speer alone make this book this book does a wonderful job in framing speers two other books in terms of his own moral questioning, but it doesnt give much more factual information about speer if you have read inside the third reich and spandau diaries. It is true that sereny got close to speer and liked him. Theyre built for accuracy and the most consistent expansion at extreme distances. By implication hitler was the dominant partner and, in serenys view, it was he who corrupted speers moral sense by the seductive attraction of his grandiose visions. Speer only mentions in passing that heydrich was one of himmlers lieutenants, he had an icy aura, and that he was quite determined to carry out decisions that he made. A portrait of a child who murdered 1972 and albert speer. She died on june 14, 2012 in cambridge, cambridgeshire, england.
The biography of franz stangl, commandant of the treblinka extermination camp a classic and utterly compelling study of evilonly four men commanded nazi extermination as opposed to concentration camps. We know a good deal about albert speer during his years at spandau, both through his own voluminous accounts, and through forensic crossexaminations performed by the incomparable gitta sereny. We use cookies to provide you with an improved user experience and to personalize content. Albert speer was hitlers most highranking war minister, but just how much was he complicit in nazi atrocities.
Speers ascendancy within the nazi hierarchy has been described by henry king as vertical and ladder like, speer was an. Himmler was always careful never to mention gas chambers. By continuing to browse this site you consent to the use of cookies. In 1918, the family leased their mannheim residence and moved to a home they had in heidelberg. Speer only mentions in passing that heydrich was one of himmler s lieutenants, he had an icy aura, and that he was quite determined to carry out decisions that he made. As a teenager, schramm was awarded a competitive scholarship to. Sep 19, 1995 however, excerpts of sereny s conversations with speer alone make this book this book does a wonderful job in framing speer s two other books in terms of his own moral questioning, but it doesnt give much more factual information about speer if you have read inside the third reich and spandau diaries. Weve built upon the lawenforcement proven gold dot g2 bullet, optimizing the design for compact concealed handguns.
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