The Two Worlds of Albert Speer: Reflections of a Nuremberg Prosecutor [Hardcover]

Henry T., Jr. King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0761808728 | ISBN-13: 978-0761808725

This book offers a close 'inside' account of the psyche of Albert Speer, one of the most powerful men in the Third Reich and a close personal associate of Hitler. King, a Nuremberg prosecutor, offers firsthand observations based upon his encounter with Speer as a defendant at Nuremberg, as well as his 35 year relationship with Speer which ended with the latter's death in 1981.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Dramatic and engaging. His view of Speer...is both provacative and controversial. (Robert E. Hertzein )

A very thoughtful analysis of a very gifted and complicated man, the duality of his career, and his spiritual journey.>>>> (Jackson, William E. )

..an important book about a major personality who took part in one of the horrendous periods in world history...fascinating insight... (Case Western Reserve Journal Of International Law )

A highly valuable addition to the works of and about Albert Speer. His personal contacts with Speer and members of Speer's family provide special interest. (Whitney R. Harris )

A very thoughtful analysis of a very gifted and complicated man, the duality of his career, and his spiritual journey. (William E. Jackson )

About the Author

Henry T. King, Jr. is Professor of Law at Case Western Reserve Law School in Cleveland, Ohio.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: University Press Of America (October 16, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761808728
• ISBN-13: 978-0761808725
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,298,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The clearest assessment available on Albert Speer., October 19, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Two Worlds of Albert Speer: Reflections of a Nuremberg Prosecutor (Hardcover)

SPEER REVIEW

by

T.S. Peric'

"I knew Albert Speer better than any American," said Henry King during an interview, at 26-years-old, the youngest prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials and the author of "The Two Worlds of Albert Speer: Reflections of a Nuremberg Prosecutor" (University Press of America). It was not a comment filled with braggadocio. In 1946, fallow and a few years out of Yale Law School, King dreamt the dreams of many young men: accomplish a great deed or participate in a grand undertaking. Hearing about a friend's appointment to the American "team" at Nuremberg, King immediately applied for a position. Within a few months, he arrived at Nuremberg in the middle of a rainstorm and soon found himself collecting evidence against Erhard Milch, deputy chief of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), who was charged with participating in Nazi slave labor and human experiment programs. King also interviewed Reichsmarshall and Luftwaffe chief, Hermann Goering and Wilhelm Keitel, the chief of staff of Germany's military high command. But frozen in King's memory were the interviews with Speer in a bleak interrogation room. "Speer was remarkably composed and unshaken; he seemed to possess an inner security and objectivity that many of the others lacked," King recalls. His composure was all the more remarkable because of the unique and key role he played in the Third Reich. "From 1942 to 1945 not only was he one of the men closest to Hitler, but he was also one who influenced Hitler's decisions. At one time in late 1943, Speer was reputed to be Hitler's heir apparent." Speer was unemotional, analytical, almost regal in his deportment. And unlike the other 20 defendants, he accepted full responsibility for his actions. "The question that haunted me then and still does today was why Speer, who appeared so decent and honest, was a close collaborator of Hitler," King writes. "Why had he served such a monster." Nearly half a century would intervene before King could offer any answers. Speer spent the next 20 years locked away in Spandau prison (kept incommunicado except to his attorney and family). After his release, he became a best-selling author with "Inside the Third Reich" (1970) a personal look into the sanctum sanctorum of the Nazi leadership and "Spandau: The Secret Diaries" (1976) which described his imprisonment. King continued practicing law, including a stint as general counsel to the U.S. Foreign Economic Aid Program, moving to the private sector and eventually settling in as a professor of international law at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. In 1966, King reestablished contact with Speer, but was unable to pursue his goal of a book until his retirement from TRW where he served as general counsel of Automotive Operations. King interviewed Speer repeatedly (including Speer's last interview, one month before his death in 1981). He consulted the Nuremberg records, his own notes and the literature on Speer and the Nazis. He also interviewed Speer's daughter and Traudl Junge, Hitler's secretary, who observed the interaction between Hitler and Speer. King's book carefully plots the conditions and events in Speer's life that drew the architect toward the summit of Nazi power. Speer was politically naïve, despite his aristocratic background, growing up in a cold, emotionless family, where intellectual prowess was demanded and ambition expected. Introduced to the Nazis at Berlin's Institute of Technology, Speer fell victim - as did millions of Germans -- to the zeitgeist of Nazi Germany before the war, a time when the promise of a new Reich seemed to represent an unfettered, glorious future. Speer's ability to organize was quickly recognized, reaching new heights at the Nuremberg rallies. His Pantheon-like "Cathedral of Lights," established Speer's chilling brilliance for displaying raw power. The final, crowning jewel, that firmly enthroned Speer to the Nazis fold was his artistic talent which brought him within handshaking distance of Adolph Hitler. Now, Hitler, the failed Viennese artist, would live vicariously through Speer's artistic triumphs. The Nazis' world was Albert Speer's first world, according to King. It was among the Nazis that Speer performed with remarkable thoroughness and unquestioned devotion, rising to the position of the Third Reich's Architect and Minister of Armament Production. Indeed, if Speer's artistic triumphs contributed to the physical manifestation of how the Nazi's viewed themselves, his star as Armament Minister shone even brighter. Experts estimate that Speer's contribution to industrial production lengthened the war by at least two years. Despite Speer's success, he began to enter his "second world," according to King, even before Germany's surrender. Speer was the only top Nazi to act in defiance of Hitler-and did so openly. He refused to carry out Hitler's "scorched earth policy" that would destroy the remains of German industry. Speer's second world is "where his horizon broadened and his values changed," writes King. "The second and succeeding world of Albert Speer was the horizontal world of the questioning spirit. This was a world of ethical and cultural values, a humanistic world . . . " In "The Two Worlds of Albert Speer," King deftly presents how naiveté, seduction and ambition drove Speer to the pinnacle of Nazi power. He concludes that Speer was clearly unique among the top Nazis that survived the war. Speer accepted responsibility for his actions and offered mea culpas for his sins. During and after his imprisonment, Speer pondered his actions and began to search for some degree of redemption until the end of his life. While supporting the prison sentence Speer received, King ably demonstrates that Speer was not some cardboard character from the Nazi past. Rather, he was a complex and brilliant individual who confronted issues of good and evil on a scale that most of us cannot imagine. King succeeded in his search for a great undertaking with his successful role in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg. More than one half century later, he succeeds with another marvelous undertaking: the writing of "The Two Worlds of Albert Speer."

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent first-person account of the Nuremberg Trials, January 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Two Worlds of Albert Speer: Reflections of a Nuremberg Prosecutor (Hardcover)

Henry King was actually there. As a young man, he volunteered to be a prosecutor at the most important trial ever held. While in Nuremberg, he became fascinated with the one defendant who provoked reluctant admiration due to his aristocratic bearing and obvious intelligence. This fascination has continued throughout King's life. Now nearing 80, King is one of the few prosecutors still living and coherent. His memories and impressions offer an in-depth, close-up view of one of history's most important events.