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Albert Speer

Spandau the Secret Diaries Paperback – 17 February 2010

by Albert Speer (Author), Richard And Clara Winston (Translator)

4.5 128 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?

Print length

566 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Ishi Press
Publication date

17 February 2010
Dimensions

15.19 x 3.2 x 22.91 cm
ISBN-10

4871878791
ISBN-13

978-4871878791
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ishi Press (17 February 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 566 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 4871878791
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-4871878791
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.19 x 3.2 x 22.91 cm

Customer Reviews:
4.5 128 ratings

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Ger Alt

Well written

Reviewed in Canada on 15 June 2023

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

R. Paquette

INSIDE VIEW

Reviewed in Canada on 8 April 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 26 December 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.

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 30 July 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

Paul

Fascinating read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 October 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

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Spandau the Secret Diaries Paperback – 17 February 2010

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