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Spandau: The Secret Diaries (English and German Edition)

by Albert Speer (Author)

4.5 159 ratings

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This is one of the most amazing books every written. After being convicted in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, the prisoners were not allowed to have writing paper, were not allowed to write their memoirs and were allowed only limited visits from their relatives. However, they were allowed to have toilet paper. So, on thousands of squares of toilet paper, Albert Speer wrote his diary in tiny letters so small that they could hardly be seen, which he was then able to pass to his relatives when they visited him. By the time Speer was released on September 30, 1966, twenty years later, there were more than twenty thousand pages of secret diaries just waiting to be edited and published, but it took him another ten years before he could bear to look at them. Albert Speer was a brilliant writer and the world should be forever grateful to him for leaving us this work, that addresses and attempts to answer questions the world will always be asking, including: 1. How was Adolph Hitler, an obvious madman, totally insane, able to attain and keep such great power? 2. Why did the German people not recognize what was happening and do something about it long before the destructive end? 3. Most importantly: Can this happen again? Could and will another Hitler arise, perhaps not in Germany again? Perhaps in the United States of America? What assurance do we have that a lunatic madman could not enter the White House and do much worse than Hitler ever did?

ISBN-10

0026995018
ISBN-13

978-0026995016
Publisher

Macmillan Pub Co
Publication date

1976
January 1
Language

EN
English
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About the Author

Albert Speer (March 19, 1905 – September 1, 1981) was a German architect who was, for part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office. As "the Nazi who said sorry", he accepted responsibility at the Nuremberg trials and in his memoirs for crimes of the Nazi regime. His level of involvement in the persecution of the Jews and his level of knowledge of the Holocaust remain matters of dispute. As Hitler's Minister of Armaments and War Production, Speer was so successful that Germany's war production continued to increase despite massive and devastating Allied bombing. After the war, he was tried at Nuremberg and sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the Nazi regime, principally for the use of forced labour. He served his full sentence, most of it at Spandau Prison in West Berlin. Following his release from Spandau in 1966, Speer published two bestselling autobiographical works, Inside the Third Reich and Spandau: The Secret Diaries, detailing his often close personal relationship with Hitler, and providing readers and historians with a unique perspective within the workings of the Nazi regime. He later wrote a third book, Infiltration, about the SS. Speer died of natural causes in 1981 while on a visit to London. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Macmillan Pub Co (January 1, 1976)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0026995018
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0026995016
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.54 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #1,423,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,310 in German History (Books)
- #4,179 in History (Books)
- #12,520 in World War II History (Books)

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4.5 159 ratings

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forrest c posey

AWESOME

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2012

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This is a MUST read book, so much detail & information. One of my favorite books on a different slant about the Nuremburgh Nazi Trials/ Holocaust / what the " saved " Nazis endured during their stay in Spandau
etc. Very easy reading . My personal feeling is ALL of them should've HANGED, Speer included ! So many escaped JUSTICE because maybe they weren't the " exact " ones to lead the poor men/women/children into the Gas Chambers etc., but they didn't have too, they had others to do their "BLOODY Work" for them & were able to keep their hands "clean ". While SPEER was no doubt " Between a Rock & A Hard Place ", he knew of the MONSTROUS regime he was working for & what it's EVIL Plans were for the Jews & others that didn't " FIT " into Hitlers future ! He just figured as long as he was not "physically " attached, he was " clean " ! He was part of the EVIL CHAIN OF COMMAND & should've hung! There's no doubt thousands that escaped justice should've HUNG, camp guards etc., as i've read several books on the Holocaust & survivor storys. The whole WORLD owes the JEWS an apology ? { more than that ] because of HOW we ignored what was being done to them [not just the Jews ]when we KNEW way beforehand of the catrastophe that was developing !!!Shame on us , may WE [The World ] NEVER allow nothing like this to EVER happen again !!!!

2 people found this helpful

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Franky63

We are treated to beautifully written private moments with the chancellor of the third ...

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2018

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A stunning book, written by a stunning writer who would have become a master of the universe, had he not chosen to bet on the wrongest horse of the 20th century: Adolf Hitler. Speer was the architect but also, and that's what makes his tale so interesting, the fuhrer's protégé. We are treated to beautifully written private moments with the chancellor of the third reich, on picnics near frontlines, visiting theaters the chancellor wants renovated--he was a mise-en-scène addict--while recording his world class awkwardness and world-weariness with extreme gusto. Speer tale is multi-layered: part prison diary, part soul search for his motivations in following so blindly a madman into the destruction of Europe, part spoiled brat who regrets, without saying so, that history has not taken a more favorable turn, as it would have made him, he thinks, the architect of the 20th century. One hell of a tale from a man who "was in the room" where the future of Europe was being decided in blood. It reveals how accommodating one can be with dictatorship without ever seeming to. For history buffs. Beautifully introspective, it is a stark warning on how little arrangements with reality--ie denial--can lead to huge prison sentences.

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Capt J. D. Obenberger

maybe I should just have known better. Rudolf Hess comes through as a real jerk

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2018

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It must have been a serious challenge to turn twenty years of notes clandestinely written on toilet paper and smuggled out by cooperative guards into something interesting, but Speer pulled it off. This was tough, especially because religion is about nonexistent in Speer's thinking and there really exists no convincing story of introspection/redemption/repentence. Speer, and his co-detainees were materialists and went through only the most superficial moral exercises. Yet, I admit, it is a very interesting book for other reasons. He does go back to cover intimate human details about Hitler that were left out in Inside the Third Reich - for example, Hitler's fascination with the writer of westerns and adventure stories in German, Karl May, who is almost unknown in the English speaking world. When Hitler was overcome by adversity, he'd crawl up in bed with a book by May to recharge his batteries. Who would have guessed? I should not be surprised that most of the guards from each of the 4 occupying powers were corruptible and snuck in cogniac and cigars, and so now I wonder less about how cyanide was smuggled into Goerring at Nuremburg. I was kinda surprised at the corruption, maybe I should just have known better. Rudolf Hess comes through as a real jerk, in technicolor, a malingerer who tried to fake (or maybe exaggerate) his mental disorders for sympathy or a break that never came. All the gory details. And much talk about Speer's lingering interest in architecture, a regret that his Germania was never built You will get something valuable from this book if you read it, for it is a rich source, but exactly what you derive will be more about you than the scattered and often undirected rambles that shape it. But it is as valuable as Inside the Third Reich. It will take you inside Speer's mind and a bit into those of the other prisoners, and more than a little into the thoughts of the guards, directors, and others who ran this tiny prison, even what they thought of how such prisoners should eat. The Russians get a fair measure of criticism, especially for gastronomic monotony (cabbage and stew mainly, statistics in the book) but he really does not tar them very much, and seemed to get along with an like the Russian guards, too, though the officers were tough nuts to crack. Even if you are not a professor of modern European history, you will find much that is interesting amidst the writings about twenty wasted years and you will form a better understanding about the basically amoral, materialist people who led the Third Reich.

20 people found this helpful

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Ballerina

Confession of A Most Moving Kind

Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2007

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That which was good (Inside the Third Reich) is now even better for "Spandau" is Speer's soul-searching account of and reflection on himself and his life while he was imprisoned for 21 years. The book was written in a day-by-day diary entry form so one almost feels one is there with him sharing his emotions and observations. He made it quite clear from the very outset that writing kept him sane but ".. it must be more than a matter of organizing sheer survival. This must also become a time of reckoning. If at the end, after these twenty years, I do not have an answer to the questions that preoccupy me now, this imprisonment will have been wasted for me. And yet I fully realize that even at best my conclusions can only be tentative..." Upon his release in 1966, he left the mass of papers of his prison diaries lay untouched, unread for over ten years before he finally published them. Apart from the historical importance, readers will enjoy the writing of a fine intellectual mind despite his sad observation that "Diaries are usually the accompaniment of a lived life. This one stands in place of a life." This is an immensely personal and moving book that no one could afford to miss and deserves much more than a running commentary.

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Ger Alt

Well written

Reviewed in Canada on June 15, 2023

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A heart breaking look in to one man's heart.

R. Paquette

INSIDE VIEW

Reviewed in Canada on April 8, 2023

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An extremely informative and educative view of what transpired inside the third Reich when coupled with the other book of Albert Speer titled "Inside the Third Reich" . A candid report of the author's personal life experience. Sometimes boring, but what could you expect of 20 years behind bars?

Steven de Boer

A great diary of Albert Speer the Architect, who helped the German Gorvernment during the 2nd. WW.

Reviewed in Germany on December 26, 2022

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A great diary of Albert Speer the Architect who helped the German Gorvernment during the 2nd. World War prosper.

You don't oftenly see such detailed and accurate diaries from important figures
that were part of the German Government during the WW2.

It is realistic and very interesting.
The diaries were written by Albert Speer himself during his captivity and smuggled after he was sentenced for 20 years after the WWII has ended.
The authors probably did not change much of his stories, they are Britons.
Albert Speer was an intellectual who helped during WWII with many great designs and schemes
for the Empire to become rich and prosperous.

Paul

Fascinating read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2009

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Albert Speer wrote this diary using fragments of paper which he smuggled out. He gives an amazing account of the daily lives of himself and the other six imprisoned in Spandau at the time.

I wasn't even born when Speer was imprisoned but by the time of his release I was sixteen years old.

The book can be a bit heavy reading and monotonous at times though he gives interesting accounts of the different personalities and character of the others, Shirach, Raeder, Donitz, Funk, Hess, and Neurath. Its hard to believe that all these men were at one time working for Hitler, though its obvious not all shared the same morales.

The restrictive practices put in place by the four controlling powers running Spandau prison seem quite pathetic and ludicrous, ie, being addressed by number only (Speer was "number five") and not name, no talking allowed, even a polite gesture such as shaking of the hand would result in a reprimand. Yet Speer shows that despite this craziness, many of the guards often 'bent the rule book' and ignored trivial matters, including some of the Russian guards! One of the guards was even helped by Hess to improve his knowledge of the German language.

Speer was not a military man yet had to serve double the sentence which Donitz received.

When Speer is coming to the last few days of his sentence he writes about how Hess will now be left entirely alone which I found quite sad. Hess lived for another 22 years in Spandau after Speer had departed.

It shows the craziness which existed keeping just seven men in a prison whilst other Nazis who had committed far worse crimes enjoyed years of freedom. It also gives a weird insight into the way which the Russian Director (one from each country) often shared meals and drinks together with the British, French and American.

10 people found this helpful

Phil

If you are interested in Albert Speer this is unmissable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2012

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I would not necessarily recommend this book for people interested in or in Second World War or the Nazi Party. If you are interested in the life of Albert Speer and his `battle with the truth' you will however find this book hard to put down.

I would definitely recommend reading this book after you have read `Inside the Third Reich' by Speer. Inside the Third Reich is primarily about the governance of Germany under Hitler, as the title suggests. Although Speer looks into aspects of his own morality and the part he played in Hitler's regime this is not the real aim of that book.

The Spandau Diaries, written while Speer was incarcerated in Spandau Prison between 1947 and 1966, are far more unvarnished, due to their nature as journal entries. They delineate the battle of a man with loneliness and someone who I believe struggled to accept his place in history. From my limited architectural understanding if it had not been for his unique relationship with Adolf Hitler his architectural work would have been sound, but would never have made it into any history book.

Throughout his diaries Speer looks back at the past and remincies about moments with Hitler and some of the key decisions that were made in his presence. This is not the strength of this book though. This is a chance to get inside the mind of Albert Speer that the more varnished transcript of Inside the Third Reich does not offer.

The truth is that despite the excellent works like Albert Speer: His Battle with the Truth by the late Gitta Sereny we will never truly know how complicit Speer was in the greatest crimes of the Third Reich. This book however, along with other studies, has helped me to make up my own mind. Speer is truly a fascinating character and this book, if you are interested in his life, you have to read.

17 people found this helpful

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