Did Albert Speer know about the concentration camps? (1 Viewer)

[Bec-B]

My opinion is that he must have known. But what do you think? And what evidence do you have for or against? At the moment I'm trying to read Gitta Sereny's book and I've ordered a copy of Inside the Third Reich, but apart from that I'm having trouble getting good views from historians specific to the whole notion of concentration camps, it always ties in with forced labour and stuff like that.

 

[CrOsToWnTrAfFiC]

My opinion is that he knew but didn't particularilly want to know.
Himmlers speech about the concentration camps tends to suggest Speer was there, even though he denies it, as Himmler adresses him in the speech. "That has absolutely nothing to do with comrade Speer, you can do nothing about it."

There is also an indication that Speer didn't like poorly treating people, When he saw the conditions of the workers at teh Dora milssile camp he ordered that their conditions be improved but his orders were delayed by the SS.

 

[annarose]

I went to a lecture thingy today at the National Museum in Sydney... it was really good.
Anyway, one of the slides was a picture of Speer at a concentration camp. He was literally standing less that a metre from the prisoners.

 

[Lucid Scintilla]

In his autobiog. Inside the Third Reich, he says that he had no direct involvement or knowledge of The Holocaust, but he has commented on it many a times.
One can only assume that Speer has some degenerative memory-affecting disorder.

In my sole year in Mod History, I came to the conclusion that Speer was knowledgeable of the Holocaust and the concentration camps, but had nothing to do with the ordering of the killing of millions of people. Recently, however, I have come across a text in which it is said that Speer did know of plans to exterminate the Jews.

My two cents on this. Sorry if I'm not much of a help.

 

[Lucid Scintilla]

Ah, here we are: http://www.guardian.co.uk/secondworldwar/story/0,,2032490,00.html

Speer did know.
He knew of Heinrich Himmler's plans to exterminate the Jews.

Read it.

 

[coopert]

Yeah I read that, It got released like last week or something

But regardless of that new piece of evidence, I say he had to have known about Hitlers plans. He probably didn't know in any great detail, but he definately would have known about the camps. Speer may not have known that Hitler was commiting full on Genocide, but he would have known that there were Mass-Murders.

Besides, you would have to be a moron not to put 2 and 2 together after years and years of Hitler taking away the rights of the Jewish people, using them as scapegoats, and eventually removing them from their homes; how could you not predict what would follow??

 

[.K.]

It was proven that he knew, wasn't it? Goldhagen found records that proved he attended a speech that Himmler gave, although Speer denied he was there they proved taht he could have heard about it. Gitta Sereny has a quote that regars him knowing but turning a blind eye. By sayign hat he knew it was going on, and choose to ignore it.

 

[emmer17]

yeah he knew..In a movie we watched in class they said he actually took a trip to one of the concentration camps and was said to have commented on how the slave laborouers had too much roofing and that it was ''a waste of important materials''.

hope thats helped.

 

[!R3VOLUTION!]

Besides, you would have to be a moron not to put 2 and 2 together after years and years of Hitler taking away the rights of the Jewish people, using them as scapegoats, and eventually removing them from their homes; how could you not predict what would follow??

actually i dont think the JEWS didnt expect themselves to be killed within 10 years time when the NAZIS came into power (although they were discriminated til Kristallnacht), if Speer actually knew about the final solution (which i believe he did), itz not like he could approach hitler or himmler to stop killing the Jews (he would been part of the Holocaust). cos u gotta remember Speer was opputurnist he wanted power, if u remember Foachim Fest quotes that "Speer was intoxicated with the power given by hitler" (i think thatz the quote).
well anyways History is about personal opinion i guess

 

[circusmind]

He knew. He appears to have admitted as such later on, in a letter to a Jewish orgnaisation in South Africa. Check Sereny's book.

 

[Mclaren89]

Ok guys, I don't know how active this site is but I have to say - He would've known. In all my readings, each one points to exactly that.

Wasn't he placed in charge of evicting the Jewish from their homes? Where would they go if not for the concentration camps?

Not to mention, he was talking about murdering Hitler via a gas chamber wasn't he? Didn't he know all the workings of gas chambers? Shouldn't that mean that he had something to do with the installation of those death traps??

Just a few questions to throw at you there. I believe he was guilty. And if you look at everyone else' posts, you'll realise how many agree with each other but each one comes up with new evidence supporting their views. I'm sure if you were to search you would find evidence supporting the theoryof innocence, although we have not yet had one denial.

 

[!R3VOLUTION!]

Ok guys, I don't know how active this site is but I have to say - He would've known. In all my readings, each one points to exactly that.

Wasn't he placed in charge of evicting the Jewish from their homes? Where would they go if not for the concentration camps?

Not to mention, he was talking about murdering Hitler via a gas chamber wasn't he? Didn't he know all the workings of gas chambers? Shouldn't that mean that he had something to do with the installation of those death traps??

Just a few questions to throw at you there. I believe he was guilty. And if you look at everyone else' posts, you'll realise how many agree with each other but each one comes up with new evidence supporting their views. I'm sure if you were to search you would find evidence supporting the theoryof innocence, although we have not yet had one denial.

OK he was in charge of all this and he was ignorant about the Jewish evictions, letz just say the judges @ nuremburg didnt know about his evil mind. He is smart, manupulative etc....

 

[shinninggum]

Ok but then think about this.

1. He was a Nazi official and member. Think about it from all the meetings and casual talks about colleagues, he would have known about it. So he would of talked to either Hitler or Himmler or Heydrich about this in some direct way
2. As well, his role of the Minister of Armaments, he exploited slave labour for developments in artillery and armaments and rockets etc. He went to these factories to experiment, so he would have also knew about it, even indirectly.
3. While evacuating Jewish people out of their apartments to make way for Germania, they were sent to concentration camps. Speer would of have known this .

 

[osamabanana]

Dd speer know about the concentration camps and did speer know about the final solution are two very different questions. There is no question he knew about the concentration camps they were part of the Nazi state before the war and were common knowledge. The question of whether he knew about the final solution however is a different question altogether.

While i believe he knew about the final solution there are alot of examples people are using here which don't prove that at all. In relation to his visit to the concentration camp this doesen't prove anything as it was just a sanitised VIP visit in which the true horrors of the camp would not have been shown hence why he thought there were lavish building projects.

 

[ASNSWR127]

Speer compartmentalised his life

he was simplty someone who knew where he wanted to be and he knew how to get there - no more

The question is: why on earht do we study Speer/Refienstehl?? i mean if you are going to do NAZI's you may as well do the nastiest of the nastiest...

Himmler, Hoess etc

 

[housah0lic]

of fucking course he knew

 

[cem]

Dd speer know about the concentration camps and did speer know about the final solution are two very different questions. There is no question he knew about the concentration camps they were part of the Nazi state before the war and were common knowledge. The question of whether he knew about the final solution however is a different question altogether.

While i believe he knew about the final solution there are alot of examples people are using here which don't prove that at all. In relation to his visit to the concentration camp this doesen't prove anything as it was just a sanitised VIP visit in which the true horrors of the camp would not have been shown hence why he thought there were lavish building projects.

That argument is so true and so rarely used in the HSC.

Everyone knew about the concentration camps - Dachau was established in 1933 and films were made and shown in newsreels from then on.

Did he know about the death camps - e.g. Auschwitz - that is a different question and one about which we really don't know a definitive answer. That he knew Jews were being sent east - no question - he knew that - but what actually happened to them once there - maybe he did and maybe he didn't.

 

[Sexy Student]

I reckon Speer is the 'good nazi' that others described him as... mainly because the only good Nazi is a dead one

On a serious note I find it extremely difficult to believe speer didnt know about the holocaust. How could someone so close to Hitler not have known? I think he was a good liar and conducted his trial at Nuremburg better than the other Nazi leaders did. Also he evicted jews in order to create buildings.

I guess none of us can be 100% sure but evidence nowadays is heavily stackde against him

I'm doing an assignment on Speer at the moment and we need to write a submission to a court on the following charges:
1. Speer knew about the Jewish Holocaust while claiming ignorance
2. He deliberately prolonged a war which could not be won and in which he did not believe

Can anyone help me out with these two bad boys?

 

[weenisorchy]

I have to say Speer may or may not have known about the Final Solution but when it all comes down to it, what could he do? Even Speer would have to be taken care of if he talked out about the regime. I think he was quite right in arguing collective responsibility at Nuremberg. After all, i dont think Speer should be implicated directly in the extermination of the Jews if he didnt participate and if said he did know then he was most certainly dead. He could have argued entirely against the charge instead, but accepting collective responsibility in my opinion was the best action.

And the reason we study Speer is because hes controversial, i dont know anything about Leni other than shes the media propaganda master. No point trying to debate anything on Himmler or Goebbels etc.

Also, our research task is the same as the 2008 HSC question on Speer 'History is about winners'. Terrible quote i know. Anyone got any ideas? Ive got all the common stuff, Jewish Flats, Nuremberg, Armaments Minister. Thanks

 

[cyndieeeeee]

heyy... does anyone know the name of the historian that is quoted for saying that Albert Speer prolonged the war effort by a year??
thanksss