Speer Appears as IMT Trial Opens
Speer appeared in the defendants' dock when the International Military Tribunal opened proceedings against the principal surviving leaders of Nazi Germany.
Albert Speer
33 historical records in the World History Database Nuremberg collection.
Role in this collection: IMT Defendant
The collection identifies Albert Speer as IMT Defendant. Speer is convicted and receives twenty years imprisonment for forced-labour exploitation and his senior role in the German war economy.
Speer Pleads Not Guilty before IMT
When called upon individually by the Tribunal, Speer entered a plea of not guilty to the charges contained in the international indictment.
Speer Acknowledges Knowledge of Involuntary Foreign Labour
Speer acknowledged that he knew foreign workers were being used in Germany against their will while his ministry continued to demand manpower for war production.
Speer Addresses Central Planning Responsibilities
Speer discussed his role in central economic planning and the relationship between his armaments responsibilities, industrial production and requests for labour.
Speer Addresses Subterranean Armaments Factories
The defence questioned Speer about underground armaments plants, and he described their scale, technical requirements and the composition of the labour force used there.
Speer Denies Using Terror to Increase Factory Output
He denied that his ministry had promoted terror as a normal method for increasing output and argued that sustained industrial production depended on effective working conditions.
Speer Describes Appointment as Armaments Minister
Speer described how he moved from architecture into wartime administration and succeeded Fritz Todt as Reich Minister responsible for armaments and munitions in 1942.
Speer Describes Mauthausen Inspection
Speer described a wartime visit to Mauthausen undertaken while inspecting industrial projects and explained what he said he knew about work and construction around the camp.
Speer Discusses Concentration Camp Labour in Industry
Speer testified about the employment of concentration-camp prisoners in armaments factories and described the conditions he claimed to have observed during industrial inspections.
Speer Discusses Labour Allocation Demands
The defence examined how Speer's offices submitted labour requirements for armaments production while the actual recruitment and allocation machinery operated through other agencies.
Speer Explains Armaments Production Organization
Speer outlined the industrial committees, ministry offices and production controls through which his administration attempted to increase armaments output during the later war years.
Speer Explains Expansion of Armaments Authority
His testimony traced the enlargement of his ministry's authority over armaments production and explained the administrative structure used to coordinate German war industry.
Speer Rejects Extermination by Work as Industrial Policy
Speer rejected the suggestion that deliberate exhaustion or destruction of workers could serve armaments industry, arguing that such turnover would undermine production itself.
Speer Takes Oath for Defence Testimony
Speer took the witness stand, stated his full name and swore the Tribunal's oath before beginning his evidence in his own defence.
Speer Accepts Responsibility for Orders He Carried Out
He stated that he accepted responsibility for directives issued within his own sphere and for Hitler's orders that he personally implemented, while distinguishing actions he did not execute.
Speer Accepts Share of Reich Leadership Responsibility
Speer told the Tribunal that, as an important member of the Reich leadership from 1942, he accepted a share of responsibility for the catastrophe produced by the war.
Speer Calls Final Months of Fighting Senseless
Speer told the Tribunal that the sacrifices made after January 1945 were senseless and argued that continued fighting only increased deaths and destruction after defeat had become inevitable.
Speer Dates Full Armaments Commitment to January 1945
Speer testified that he devoted his full efforts to maximizing German armaments production until the middle of January 1945, when his conduct began to change.
Speer Describes Attempts to Shorten the War
His testimony described measures taken during the final months of the conflict that he said were intended to reduce destruction and bring an already lost war to an earlier end.
Speer Describes Efforts to Preserve Bridges and Transport
Speer explained efforts to limit demolition of bridges and communications infrastructure, including discussions with military commanders as Allied forces advanced into Germany.
Speer Describes Opposition to Industrial Destruction in the West
Speer described intervening against proposed destruction of industrial facilities in western occupied territories and said he accepted personal responsibility for preventing some demolitions.
Speer Describes Resistance to Scorched Earth Orders
Speer testified that he opposed Hitler's scorched-earth policy because destruction of factories, utilities and transport systems would leave the German population without a viable economic base.
Speer Explains Measures to Protect Mines and Industry
He recounted issuing unauthorized instructions intended to preserve coal mines, ore facilities and other productive assets as German forces withdrew from western areas.
Speer Presents March Memorandum Opposing Destruction
The defence introduced Speer's March 1945 memorandum warning Hitler that systematic destruction of industry, transport and supply facilities would make post-war survival and reconstruction far more difficult.
Jackson Cross Examines Speer on Wartime Responsibility
Robert Jackson cross-examined Speer about the reach of his authority, his knowledge of labour conditions and the extent to which ministerial responsibility followed from wartime decisions.
Soviet Prosecution Questions Speer on Economic Plunder
Soviet prosecutor Mikhail Raginsky questioned Speer about exploitation of occupied territories and sought to connect his economic administration with wartime plunder and removal of resources.
Speer Clarifies Historical and Criminal Responsibility
On redirect examination, Speer explained that his acceptance of common responsibility referred to leadership responsibility before Germany and history, while leaving criminal liability for the Tribunal to decide.
Speer Defence Evidence Concludes
After final questions and submission of supporting documents, Speer's counsel closed the evidentiary presentation of his defence before the International Military Tribunal.
Speer Defence Final Argument Presented
Defence counsel Hans Flachsner delivered the final argument for Speer, disputing charges of aggressive-war responsibility and addressing forced labour, concentration camps and Speer's late-war opposition to destruction.
Speer Gives Final Statement before Judgment
Speer addresses the Tribunal in his last statement before the judges retire to consider the final judgment.
IMT Verdict for Albert Speer
Speer is convicted and receives twenty years imprisonment for forced-labour exploitation and his senior role in the German war economy.
Speer Gives Sworn Interrogation for Milch Case
Speer was examined under oath in connection with the Milch Case, answering questions about Milch's position, armaments administration, labour matters and wartime organizational relationships.
Speer Testifies for Milch Defence
Albert Speer testifies about Milch's wartime position, armaments administration and relations within the German war economy.