Reading " Inside the Third Reich "

[EnjoyGermanHistory]

I just got done reading " Inside the Third Reich ". I must say that is one of the most powerful book I have ever read. It deals with the beginnings of Albert Speer's career to the very end as the # 2 man next to Adolf Hitler.

Do you have any more books I could read that adds to the human drama of that time period please ? It blows my mind to think that Hitler sold out Germany and towards the end, Hitler exhibited poor leadership to the point that his own generals and military men wanted to kill him on July 20th. I was especially shocked with what Hitler said towards the end towards the German people which made me very angry while Germany did make many very good things during the war of high quality and there were excellent military leaders, military men who really could lead etc. I can not believe what Hitler did and the physical symptoms that he exhibited towards the end made me think of the Egyptian Pharoah with the 10 curses sent down by God to free the Hebrews. I saw a similiar pararellel.

Very interesting book, I have more respect for Albert Speer who tried to do the right thing.

[Rolf Steiner]

Haven't read many books that are comparable to this one, but a friend lent me his copy recently and Speer's book is a very interesting one. I know opinion varies over whether he was truly repentent or just had the sense to know what to say once it was over... but I'd like to think the 'we'd have taken the credit if we'd won, we have to deal with the fallout now we've lost' type of sentiment was in some way genuine. I kind of like the idea he had some concern over the welfare of the ordinary citizen (ie preserving some infrastructure no matter what the war's outcome), and the idea that the surviving leadership should stand up for responsibility for the regime rather the blame being shouldered by the man in the street - well maybe he knew this was what judges etc wanted to hear, and was just more savvy about that than his contemporaries, but if it meant Germany had a something left to build a future on, that has to count for something. On the other hand, some historians - i can't remember exactly but I think it might have been Hugh Trevor Roper - argued that since Speer was clearly someone who should have know better, he deserved to hang more than all of them. I'm sure this one's been chewed over a few times in here already!

[EnjoyGermanHistory]

Yes, that was a very good book which kept me on the edge of my seat towards the end.

Just one question, the prison where Albert Speer and the rest of the men went to. It seems Spandau was in what was East Germany, if I am right ? or was that in West Germany at that time ?

Thank you

[derGespenst]

Spandau is located in what was the British zone of Berlin.