Rudenko: What is Speer's line of defense at the Trial? Speer presents his case in the following way: He was pressed by Hitler to take on the post of Minister; he was an intimate friend of Hitler's, but he knew nothing about his plans. He had been a member of the Nazi Party for 14 years, but he was far from politics and he'd never even read Mein Kampf. It is true that upon being given the lie Speer confessed that he had lied during his preliminary interrogation. Speer lied when he denied that he had ever belonged to the SA and then to the SS. The Tribunal possesses the original file...

In such situations one should not think only of one's own life. Every soldier on the battlefield is faced with danger of death and has no choice in the matter. (Speer)

You have been among those closest to me and we have known each other since our early youth. I therefore want to ask you to get together a collection of my work and to set down, for the future, some of what you know of my life. I think that one day it will be appreciated . . . . The essential points of my life; I think I'm entitled to be seen by posterity in a different light than all these repulsive bourgeois 'revolutionaries.' My idealistic attitude toward Hitler--for that is what it was--should here be described . . . . I know you will do it well. Perhaps it will even give you some satisfaction to thus complete your task as my official chronicler. In any case, I should be grateful to you. (Sereny)

I have now finished writing my closing statement for the court. It end a career which, after early years of anonimity gave me huge responsibility and fame and swept me to unimagined heights. It was a life which eventually turned an industrious responsible man into a ttraitor to the master he had faithfully served for ten years.

After all the momentous events of those years, nothing can be more indicative of what life had become than that, at the end, the only real decision left was whether to serve the people, or the Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler.

I am not writing this in an effort to justify myself ... but ... I feel the need to provide my wife and my children for their later lives with a clear understanding of events and a summary on many memories.

The limited time at my disposal, and the external circumstances will not allow me, stylistically or otherwise, to produce the kind of account I would ordinarily hope to present, but the main thing is, I'm sincere in my purpose. Albert Speer, Nuremberg, August 10, 1946, Prison, Cell 17.

Final Statement of Albert Speer: Mr. President, may it please the Tribunal: Hitler and the collapse of his system have brought a time of tremendous suffering upon the German people. The useless continuation of this war and the unnecessary destruction make the work of reconstruction more difficult. Privation and misery have come to the German people. After this Trial, the German people will despise and condemn Hitler as the proven author of its misfortune. But the world will learn from these happenings not only to hate dictatorship as a form of government, but to fear it.

Hitler's dictatorship differed in one fundamental point from all its predecessors in history. His was the first dictatorship in the present period of modern technical development, a dictatorship which made complete use of all technical means in a perfect manner for the domination of its own nation. Through technical devices such as radio and loudspeaker 80 million people were deprived of independent thought. It was thereby possible to subject them to the will of one man. The telephone, teletype, and radio made it possible, for instance, for orders from the highest sources to be transmitted directly to the lowest-ranking units, where, because of the high authority, they were carried out without criticism.

Another result was that numerous offices and headquarters were directly attached to the supreme leadership, from which they received their sinister orders directly. Also, one of the results was a far-reaching supervision of the citizen of the state and the maintenance of a high degree of secrecy for criminal events. Perhaps to the outsider this machinery of the state may appear like the lines of a telephone exchange—apparently without system. But like the latter, it could be served and dominated by one single will. Earlier dictators during their work of leadership needed highly qualified assistants, even at the lowest level, men who could think and act independently. The totalitarian system in the period of modern technical development can dispense with them; the means of communication alone make it possible to mechanize the subordinate leadership. As a result of this there arises a new type: the uncritical recipient of orders.

We had only reached the beginning of the development. The nightmare of many a man that one day nations could be dominated by technical means was all but realized in Hitler's totalitarian system. Today the danger of being terrorized by technocracy threatens every country in the world. In modern dictatorship this appears to me inevitable. Therefore, the more technical the world becomes, the more necessary is the promotion of individual freedom and the individual's awareness of himself as a counterbalance. Hitler not only took advantage of technical developments to dominate his own people—he almost succeeded, by means of his technical lead, in subjugating the whole of Europe. It was merely due to a few fundamental shortcomings of organization such as are typical in a dictatorship because of the absence of criticism, that he did not have twice as many tanks, aircraft, and submarines before 1942.

But, if a modern industrial state utilizes its intelligence, its science, its technical developments, and its production for a number of years in order to gain a lead in the sphere of armament, then even with a sparing use of its manpower it can, because of its technical superiority, completely overtake and conquer the world, if other nations should employ their technical abilities during that same period on behalf of the cultural progress of humanity.

The more technical the world becomes, the greater this danger will be, and the more serious will be an established lead in the technical means of warfare. This war ended with remote-controlled rockets, aircraft traveling at the speed of sound, new types of submarines, torpedoes which find their own target, with atom bombs, and with, the prospect of a horrible kind of chemical warfare. Of necessity the next war will be overshadowed by these new destructive inventions of the human mind.

In 5 or 10 years the technique of warfare will make it possible to fire rockets from continent to continent with uncanny precision. By atomic power it can destroy one million people in the center of New York in a matter of seconds with a rocket operated, perhaps, by only 10 men, invisible, without previous warning, faster than sound, by day and by night. Science is able to spread pestilence among human beings and animals and to destroy crops by insect warfare. Chemistry has developed terrible weapons with which it can inflict unspeakable suffering upon helpless human beings.

Will there ever again be a nation which will use the technical discoveries of this war for the preparation of a new war, while the rest of the world is employing the technical progress of this war for the benefit of humanity, thus attempting to create a slight compensation for its horrors? As a former minister of a highly developed armament system, it is my last duty to say the following: A new large-scale war will end with the destruction of human culture and civilization. Nothing can prevent unconfined engineering and science from completing the work of destroying human beings, which it has begun in so dreadful a way in this war.

Therefore this Trial must contribute towards preventing such degenerate wars in the future, and towards establishing rules whereby human beings can live together. Of what importance is my own fate, after everything that has happened, in comparison with this high goal? During the past centuries the German people have contributed much towards the creation of human civilization. Often they have made these contributions in times when they were just as powerless and helpless as they are today. Worth-while human beings will not let themselves be driven to despair. They will create new and lasting values, and under the tremendous pressure brought to bear upon everyone today these new works will be of particular greatness.

But if the German people create new cultural values in the unavoidable times of their poverty and weakness, and at the same time in the period of their reconstruction, then they will have in that way made the most valuable contribution to world events which they could make in their position. It is not the battles of war alone which shape the history of humanity, but also, in a higher sense, the cultural achievements which one day will become the common property of all humanity. A nation which believes in its future will never perish. May God protect Germany and the culture of the west.

Final Judgement: Speer is indicted under all four Counts. Speer joined the Nazi Party in 1932. In 1934 he was made Hitler's architect and became a close personal confidant. Shortly thereafter he was made a department head in the German Labor Front and the official in charge of capital construction on the staff of the Deputy to the Fuehrer, positions which he held through 1941. On 15 February 1942, after the death of Fritz Todt, Speer was appointed Chief of the Organization Todt and Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions (after 2 September 1943, for Armaments and War Production). The positions were supplemented by his appointments in March and April 1942 as Plenipotentiary General for Armaments and as a member of the Central Planning Board, both within the Four Year Plan. Speer was a member of the Reichstag from 1941 until the end of the war.

Crimes against Peace: The Tribunal is of opinion that Speer's activities do not amount to initiating, planning, or preparing wars of aggression, or of conspiring to that end. He became the head of the armament industry well after all of the wars had been commenced and were under way. His activities in charge of German armament production were in aid of the war effort in the same way that other productive enterprises aid in the waging of war; but the Tribunal is not prepared to find that such activities involve engaging in the common plan to wage aggressive war as charged under Count One, or waging aggressive war as charged under Count Two.

War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity: The evidence introduced against Speer under Counts Three and, Four relates entirely to his participation in the slave labor program. Speer himself had no direct administrative responsibility for this program. Although he had advocated the appointment of a Plenipotentiary General for the Utilization of Labor because he wanted one central authority with whom he could deal on labor matters, he did not obtain administrative control over Sauckel. Sauckel was appointed directly by Hitler, under the decree of 21 March 1942, which provided that he should be directly responsible to Goering, as Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan.

As Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions and Plenipotentiary General for Armaments under the Four Year Plan, Speer had extensive authority over production. His original authority was over construction and production of arms for the OKH. This was progressively expanded to include naval armaments, civilian production, and finally, on 1 August 1944, air armament. As the dominant member of the Central Planning Board, which had supreme authority for the scheduling of German production and the allocation and development of raw materials, Speer took the position that the board had authority to instruct Sauckel to provide laborers for industries under its control and succeeded in sustaining this position over the objection of Sauckel. The practice was developed under which Speer transmitted to Sauckel an estimate of the total number of workers needed; Sauckel obtained the labor and allocated it to the various industries in accordance with instructions supplied by Speer. Speer knew when he made his demands on Sauckel that they would be supplied by foreign, laborers serving under compulsion. He participated in conferences involving the extension of the slave labor program for the purpose of satisfying his demands. He was present at a conference held during 10 and 12 August 1942 with Hitler and Sauckel, at which it was agreed that Sauckel should bring laborers by force from occupied territories where this was necessary to satisfy the labor needs of the industries under Speer's control.

Speer also attended a conference in Hitler's headquarters on 4 January 1944, at which the decision was made that Sauckel should obtain "at least 4 million new workers from occupied territories" in order to satisfy the demands for labor made by Speer, although Sauckel indicated that he could, do this only with help from Himmler. Sauckel continually informed Speer and his representatives that foreign laborers were being obtained by force. At a meeting of 1 March 1944, Speer's deputy questioned Sauckel very closely about his failure to live up to the obligation to supply 4 million workers from occupied territories. In some cases Speer demanded laborers from specific foreign countries. Thus, at the conference of 10 and 12 August 1942, Sauckel was instructed to supply Speer with "a further million Russian laborers for the German armament industry up to and including October 1942."

At a meeting of the Central Planning Board on 22 April 1943, Speer discussed plans to obtain Russian laborers for use in the coal mines and flatly vetoed the suggestion that this labor deficit should be made up by German labor. Speer has argued that he advocated the reorganization of the labor program to place a greater emphasis on utilization of German labor in war production in Germany and on the use of labor in occupied countries in local production of consumer goods formerly produced in Germany. Speer took steps in this direction by establishing the so-called "blocked industries" in the occupied territories which were used to produce goods to be shipped to Germany. Employees of these industries were immune from deportation to Germany as slave laborers and any worker who had been ordered to go to Germany could avoid deportation if he went to work for a blocked industry. This system, although somewhat less inhumane than deportation to Germany, was still illegal. The system of blocked industries played only a small part in the over-all slave labor program, and Speer urged its co-operation with the slave labor program, knowing the way in which it was actually being administered. In an official sense, he was its principal beneficiary and he constantly urged its extension.

Speer was also directly involved in the utilization of forced labor as chief of the Organization Todt. The Organization Todt functioned principally in the occupied areas on such projects as the Atlantic Wall and the construction of military highways, and Speer has admitted that he relied on compulsory service to keep it adequately staffed. He also used concentration camp labor in the industries under his control. He originally arranged to tap this source of labor for use in small out-of-the-way factories; and later, fearful of Himmler's jurisdictional ambitions, attempted to use as few concentration camp workers as possible. Speer was also involved in the use of prisoners of war in armament industries, but contends that he only utilized Soviet prisoners of war in industries covered by the Geneva Convention. Speer's position was such that he was not directly concerned with the cruelty in the administration of the slave labor program, although he was aware of its existence.

For example, at meetings of the Central Planning Board he was informed that his demands for labor were so large as to necessitate violent methods in recruiting. At a meeting of the Central Planning Board on 30 October 1942, Speer voiced his opinion that many slave laborers who claimed to be sick were malingerers and stated: "There is nothing to be said against SS and Police taking drastic steps and putting those known as slackers into concentration camps." Speer, however, insisted that the slave laborers be given adequate food and working conditions so that they could work efficiently. In mitigation it must be recognized that Speer's establishment of blocked industries did keep many laborers in their homes; and that in the closing stages of the war he was one of the few men who had the courage to tell Hitler that the war was lost and to take steps to prevent the senseless destruction of production facilities, both in occupied territories and in Germany. He carried out his opposition to Hitler's scorched earth program in some of the Western countries and in Germany by deliberately sabotaging it at considerable personal risk.

Conclusion: The Tribunal finds that Speer is not guilty on Counts One and Two, but is guilty under Counts Three and Four.

[Speer was] quite lucky to have avoided a death sentence . . . . My own view was one of great surprise that Speer was so leniently dealt with, and I still think it quite wrong that his subordinate, Sauckel, who worked under his instructions, was sentenced to death while Speer escaped. (Sereny)

In the afternoon brooms and mops are handed to Schirach, Hess, and me. We are told to follow a soldier who leads us into an empty gym. This is where the executions took place. But the gallows has already been dismantled, the spot cleaned. Nevertheless, we are supposed to sweep and mop the floor. The lieutenant watches our reactions closely. I try hard to keep my composure. Hess comes to attention in front of a dark spot on the floor that looks like a large bloodstain; he raises his arm in the party salute. (Speer II)

As we were showering today, Hess disclosed that his loss of memory was faked. While I stood under the shower and he sat on the stool, he said out the clear sky: "The psychiatrists all tried to rattle me. I came close to giving up when my secretary was brought in. I had to pretend not to recognize her, and she burst into tears. It was a great effort for me to remain expressionless. No doubt she now thinks I am heartless." These remarks will certainly stir a lot of talk, because we were being guarded by an American soldier who understands German. (Speer II)

During the morning's work in the corridor, Raeder's, Doenitz's and Schirach's dislike of me for my attitude toward the Nuremberg Trial came out in the open. Schirach, who always looks to someone to lean on, is now following the two grand admirals; during the trial he belonged to my faction, together with Funk and Fritzsche. Today he came up to me in a deliberately challenging manner and declared: "You with your total responsibility! The court itself rejected this charge, as you may have noticed. There is not a word about it in the verdict." The other five prisoners nodded approvingly. I had long been observing them whispering together and drawing aside when I approached. "I stick to it," I answered heatedly. "Even in the management of a company, every individual is responsible for the conduct of the business." There was an awkward silence. Then the others turn on their heels without a word and left me standing there . . . . In the afternoon I swept up fallen leaves with Schirach. (Speer II)

Began the New Year dispiritedly. Swept corridor, a walk, and then to church. Doenitz and I sing louder than usual because Raeder is sick and Funk is due to go to the hospital. (Speer II)

We do not know what Hess is up to. Every chance he gets he asks us about things that need doing; he recently questioned Funk about the strengths and weaknesses of each one of us. "All his remarks suggest that he is putting together a new government," Funk commented. "What craziness! Just imagine a list of cabinet members being found under the mattress!" (Speer II)

Talked with Hess. He keeps to his cell while the rest of us go walking. Like Hitler when things started going badly, he has built up an escapist world. And once again, as we did with Hitler, we respect his conduct, if only because he has a life sentence before him. Sometimes I have the impression that being a prisoner was always his destined role. Ascetic in appearance, his eyes sometimes wild in their deep, dark sockets; as a prisoner he can again be the total eccentric he was when he moved so strangely in the sphere of power. Now at last he can play the martyr and the buffoon, thus fulfilling the two sides of his personality. (Speer II)

We are still here. Doenitz, Hess, and I are convinced that the idea of Spandau has been dropped. But many of us were always inclined to mistake wishes for reality. (Speer II)

Raeder tells me I have a fortunate disposition; I am adjusting to imprisonment more easily than all the others. Even now, he says, after two years I still give the impression of being half-way balanced, which is more than can be said for many of the others. (Speer II)

The wives of Funk, Hess, Schirach, and Goering are being held along with the wives of other prominent officials in a Bavarian prison camp. The wives of Doenitz, Neurath, and Raeder, as well as my own wife, have so far been let alone. To judge by letters, the women get along with one another even worse than we do. Not hard to see why. Whereas we here are playing a historic part, though one reduced to banality, they are really just prisoners and nothing more. They don't even have any guilt to their credit. Moreover, in the past each of them was socially a focal point, ruler of a circle that was held together by her husbands power. That, too, is over now. So they have nothing left. The bickering we hear about probably concerns place in a by-now imaginary hierarchy. But then again, it isn't very different among us. (Speer II)

Today, by pressing the button installed in every cell, Funk activated the red disc in the corridor. This is the way we summon the guards. Monsieur Terray called through the hatch in his whispering manner: "I don't have a light. No light. No, nothing in my pocket." Funk teased: "But you always do have matches. There must be one in the other pocket." Terray insists: "I don't have any." Then, suddenly: "Oh yes, here!" Funk plays this game every morning and seems to enjoy it. (Speer II)

Today, Saturday, we had our first Spandau religious service. . . . The French chaplain, Casalis, gave a sermon on the subject: "The lepers in Israel were cut off from the community of the people by a host of legal prohibitions; these are as insurmountable as a prison wall." Raeder, Doenitz, and Schirach take offense; they contend that the chaplain called them "lepers." Fierce discussions rage in the yard and the washroom. (Speer II)

Before the service Raeder officially protested to Chaplain Casalis, in the name of five of his fellow prisoners, because the chaplain had referred to them as lepers. They were asking him to preach the Gospel and nothing else. I deliberately took the opposite view, saying: "I am not a neurasthenic. I would rather not be treated delicately. Your sermons SHOULD upset me." Much ill feeling. (Speer II)

Today Schirach brought up my quarrel with Doenitz. In our uneventful world that minor disagreement seems to have been the subject of extensive discussion. Doenitz has Neurath entirely on his side, and for once Raeder also; Hess is completely indifferent; this time Funk sides with me; Schirach vacillates. He admits that the entire Third Reich was founded more upon Hitler's personal fascination than upon the attractiveness of an idea. That particularly struck him about his fellow Gauleiter’s. Powerful satraps though they might be in their own provinces, he says, in Hitler's presence they all seemed small and crawling. He reminded me of how they would grovel before Hitler when he came to the capital of their Gau, how they would concur with his every phrase, even when the context was completely beyond them. That was true for everything from staging an opera to the planning of a building or a technological problem.

Surprisingly, Schirach decides on the basis of these facts that in a sense Doenitz was right in his quarrel with me. The identity of Hitler and the State was so complete, he contends, that it would have been impossible to turn against one for the sake of preserving the other. In conclusion he threw at me, as his strongest argument: "Don't you see, with Hitler's death it wasn't so much the government as the State itself ceased to exist. The State was indissolubly bound up with Hitler." I replied, "Just tell that to Doenitz. As Hitler's successor and the Reichs last head of state I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear it." (Speer II)

Schirach fetches the meal for the bedridden Funk. "Let's have this for Funk first. Here is his bladder tea. That's all. Yes, all." Schirach returns from serving Funk muttering to himself "Coffee with milk, with milk, milk, milk" . . . . After the regulation half-hour for eating, the doors are unlocked again, the trays placed on the serving cart and wheeled out. The sparse meal seems to have agreed with Schirach. He sings: 'It is all passing, it will all pass.' He does not know the rest of the words, so he whistles the melody. He repeats it again and again, singing or whistling. "This is the twelfth time," I comment to Funk. "And still nothing passes, nothing at all," he replies. (Speer II)

Some weeks ago the directors hit on the idea of having us fold and paste envelopes. Raeder conscientiously keeps a record of his daily production. The finished envelopes are heaped in great piles in an empty cell. When there is no paper for starting the stoves, kindly guards permit the use of the envelopes, so that our production is gradually going up in flames. That confuses and torments Raeder. But the authorities are in one sense relieved; they were worried that our handiwork might be sold as souvenirs. (Speer II)

"Come over here all of you; I have something important to say," Funk calls to us. "The world is evil. Everything is fraud. Even here!" Expectantly, we approach. "There are supposed to be two hundred sheets. But who ever counted them? I have! I went to the trouble. And there are only one hundred and ninety-three." Into our perplexed faces he tosses the words: "The toilet paper, of course." The Russian director, a small energetic man whose name we do not know, appears. We separate. "Why speaking? You know that is verboten." He departs, but shortly afterward he puts in a surprise appearance in the garden. This time Funk and Schirach are caught talking and warned. Schirach comments scornfully, "That is the dictatorship of the proletariat." (Speer II)

For all the closeness that living together enforces, we have hitherto not exposed our private lives. As a general principle, we do not talk about matters relating to our families. An attempt to keep a measure of privacy. Today, for the first time Schirach infringed upon this unwritten rule. While we were preparing a hotbed together, he talked about his parental home in Weimar and his childhood. His father was manager of the theater there; Hitler's passion for the theater led to acquaintance with his father. Before long, Hitler called at the Schirach home whenever he visited Weimar. And as an adolescent Schirach sometimes accompanied the visitor to the theater. Watering can in hand, Schirach recalled Hitler's amazing knowledge of stagecraft . . . .

Schirach's and my conversation, although conducted in a murmur because of the guards, had become quite lively. Kneeling side be side in the hotbed, we thought of more and more anecdotes illustrating Hitler's mania for the theater, which we had once taken as proof of his universal genius, but which now strikes us as peculiar and immature. (Speer II)

Since our tete-a-tete in the hotbed a few months ago, my relationship with Schirach has become more relaxed. Today he told me about a remarkable affront Hitler delivered to the Hitler Youth in the summer of 1938. After a visit to Dessau for the dedication of a new opera house, Hitler had watched a parade. Shortly before, for reasons of foreign policy, he had ordered that the Hitler Youth were no longer to take part in public parades. Allegations had been repeatedly published abroad that the Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization. Now, after the march-past of other organizations, Hitler saw units of the youth group approaching. In the presence of all the dignitaries, Schirach said, he shouted at his adjutant, Julius Schaub. Then he ordered Gauleiter Jordan to have the Hitler Youth turn back at once.

Barely a hundred meters from Hitler's car thousands of young people who had come great distances from the countryside and small towns and had waited hours were stopped and sent back. The scandal, the offense to the Gauleiter, the disappointment of the boys--all that left Hitler completely cold. Schirach saw the act as evidence of Hitler's intemperateness, but I disagreed. It rather seems to me that once more Hitler was putting on a calculated outburst. His purpose was to drive home a lesson; from now on his orders were to be obeyed meticulously. For he could well assume that word of the incident would spread like wildfire through the leadership of the Party. Compared to the salutary results, what did a few disappointments and a scandal in a small town in Saxony amount to! (Speer II)

Book distribution today at a quarter after five. The library, as empty cell, is unlocked. On one side shelves with our personal books, which we brought with us from Nuremberg. The lions share had been provided by Hess, who in England was able to buy an impressive number of books, even some rare editions, because during his imprisonment he received a captain's pay (in keeping with international agreements, since he had landed in a captain's uniform). Raeder sits down at the table; Hess goes to him and reports: Number Seven. "I am returning: Zinner, Sternglaube und Sternforschung (Astrology and Astronomy)." He mentions his number because Raeder has several times used it when addressing him. Then Hess looks over the book list. Meanwhile Schirach returns Bernauer's 'Theater meines Lebens.' Raeder notes down the choice. Since Hess has not yet made up his mind, Raeder grows impatient. "Have you finished yet?" he asks. Hess decides on a book entitled The School of Danger. When Raeder objects that it is about mountaineering, he replies angrily, "No matter." (Speer II)

The medical aide brings a basketful of thirty new books from the Spandau Municipal Library. Raeder with his assistant librarian, Schirach, has been busy for an hour entering the books in a registry that he keeps with such care that one might think he is administering thirty battleships instead of that many books. (Speer II)

Raeder and Doenitz have their difficulties with each other. Raeder, who in the spring of 1943 was replaced by Doenitz as commander of the navy, is now seventy-two years old, and still vigorous. He still regards Doenitz, fifteen years his junior and his former subordinate as chief of the submarine forces, as an over-ambitious officer. Doenitz, for his part, blames his predecessor for his policy of bloated surface vessels. Thanks to Raeder, he says, the German navy entered the war with only some fifty U-boats, of which only ten could be permanently operating in the Atlantic. Today, talking at length with Neurath in the garden, he excitedly argued that England would have been forced to her knees as early as 1941 if Germany had had three hundred U-boats, as he had demanded, at the outbreak of the war. It had been Raeder's fault, he said, that until the middle of 1940 only two U-boats a month slid down the ways. The navy command had not built even half the 24,000 tons of submarines permitted under the 1935 Naval Treaty with England, he pointed out.

Spade in hand, I watched Neurath listening with polite interest to the grand admiral's tirade. Whenever the two passed by me on their rounds, I could only hear Doenitz's agitated voice. Raeder treats Doenitz with the condescension of a superior officer, which particularly irritates him. As for Doenitz's allegations, Raeder ignores them. The two usually avoid each other. The disagreement will not be settled, but I have the distinct feeling that Doenitz is only waiting for the chance to denounce what he considers to be omissions in the German preparations for war. He wants to point an accusing finger at Raeder. Among us are passive types who pass the time by endless talking. Among these are Funk, Schirach, and--a taciturn and absurd variant of the type--Hess. The active types who go to pieces without occupation are Raeder, Neurath, Doenitz, and I. We have at any rate got rid of titles. Raeder is no longer the grand admiral. (Speer II)

Recently, Funk has started a friendly talk with me every few days, but my own ineptness at small talk hampers things. Another obstacle is Funk's tendency to wallow in self-pity. But sometimes he gives even his laments an ironic twist. He also likes to mourn the loss of his onetime corpulence and recollect vanished sybaritic pleasures. (Speer II)

It is raining today. When eleven o'clock comes, time for the daily walk, Hess begins to groan. When we others go out, he remains lying on his cot. Stokes orders him: "Number Seven! Go for a walk!" Curious, we linger in the corridor and listen to a protracted discussion. "Seven, you'll be put in the punishment cell. You must go out!" Shrugging, Hess gets up and without demurring goes into the punishment cell, which is furnished with a chair and table. (Speer II)

Nuremberg's influence on world politics is of a high order, both now and in the long term . . . . It is undoubtedly a dim but growing awareness that we have deeply committed ourselves to the Nuremberg principles by undertaking to judge men under them and punish men for their violation that explains the comment one so often hears today that "Nuremberg has established a dangerous precedent."

Funk underwent an operation a few days ago. The Western doctors wanted to perform it at the American hospital, but the Russian director refused to allow it. An army-type mobile operating unit was brought to Spandau. The difficult operation was carried out by a French surgeon. Three guards had to be present, because the rules require it. One fainted. There was a coffin ready at hand in the cellar. Funk is being cared for by a French nurse. We do not get to see her, since as soon as she appears we are locked up. I am just as glad, for after so many years of not being in the company of women, I am afraid of being gauche and clumsy. (Speer II)

Funk is out of danger. He is mad about Mademoiselle Antissier, but to his grief she does not reciprocate his feelings. However, she allows him his illusions. (Speer II)

Today I learned from Pease that more than a year ago Frau Schirach broke with her husband and has entered on a new relationship. But after all, theirs was a marriage in which she was partly after his power and he was partly after her money. The children are supposed to have taken their fathers side. (Speer II)

Today Hess surprised us by declaring that he has once again lost his memory. After all those years he is again asking Schirach, Funk and me grotesque questions. He maintains that he has never seen our British director, who makes his rounds almost every day. In despair he asks what this stranger is doing here. In the garden he asks me who the Rosenberg is whom Schirach has just been talking about. In order not to offend him, I dutifully tell him. Half an hour later, Funk comes over. "Imagine, Hess just asked me who Rosenberg was." I wonder what is prompting Hess to come out with all these crazy old tricks again. In the evening I have a chance to pay Hess back for his little games. In the library he picks up the memoirs of Schweninger, Bismarck's personal physician. "Who is Bismarck?" he asks with amazing calm. "Don't you know that, Herr Hess? The inventor of the Bismarck herring, of course." Everybody laughs. Hess, insulted, leaves the library cell. Later I go to his cell and apologize. (Speer II)

For several weeks Hess has been refusing to get up in the mornings, to wash, to go for breakfast. He says he is in such pain that he cannot stand it. Several times there have been noisy scenes with the guards in his cell. In response to the shouts of "Get up! Out of bed, out!" Hess could be heard whimpering: "Pain! I can't. I can't go on. Don't you see how I'm suffering? It's terrible!" Now the American doctor has given orders that Hess must get up for an hour in the morning, wash and clean his cell, but that he may lie down again. I am no longer allowed to bring him his food. Obviously the doctor thinks Hess is malingering. An x-ray has shown nothing significant. (Speer II)

"Herr Speer, I have my memory back!" Hess exclaims as he comes toward me. "Want me to prove it?" Unasked, he bursts out with detailed information on literature and history, referring mostly matters I know nothing about. Can the psychiatrist have produced this cure? (Speer II)

In spite of Schirach's open disapproval, Funk sat down beside me on the garden bench today. We are both listless from the monotonous food of the Russian month. Five steps away from us is a bed of cucumbers. Suddenly Funk says after a pause, "I would like to eat a cucumber. How about you?" I say no. Long pause. Funk sits still until I comment: "This is psychologically interesting. Probably you lack the energy to stand up alone." Funk shakes his head apathetically. "No, that isn't it. But if you would do it, I would ask you to bring me one." (Speer II)

Telford Taylor proposed yesterday ... creation of a UNO tribunal to punish all war crimes committed in Korea--by Koreans, the UN Allies and even the Russians. The prosecutor said in an interview...that trials must not be run on the lines of those at Nuremberg when only the defeated Germans were in the dock. "If international law is to have meaning," he said, "we must bring both sides to court or alternately admit that extenuating circumstances are valid for both sides and let everyone go their own way."

Schirach and Funk long ago succumbed to the temptation of taking a sleeping pill every night, year in and year out. That seems to be physically dangerous, and psychologically at least short-sighted. (Speer II)

After three years of vainly searching the cells every day, this afternoon the Russians found something in Schirach's bed: a ball of horse manure, carefully wrapped in paper, presumably from the manure we use in the garden. (Speer II)

Christmas morning starts off with an argument in Hess's cell. The new, strict chief guard, Kovpak, calls on Hess to wash. Hess replied in a loud voice that he did so last night. Stokes interjects that a normal person washes three times a day. Hess replies, "I am normal and I wash only once." The quarrel grows more heated after that, and in between Hess shouts, groans, and begs for sympathy. Finally he lets himself be led to the washroom, but then refuses to fetch his breakfast, saying that Speer will bring it. When he is told that that is against the rules, Hess declares with the hauteur of old times that if that is the case he won't have breakfast. (Speer II)

Eyes glittering, Hess unfolds an idea for illuminating highways. He has read that highway lighting has been introduced in America, he says. But of course it is much too wasteful, like everything in America. In Germany, he thinks, the expenses can be paid for in a much simpler manner, for all cars would then not use their headlights. This would save current, he maintains, and the erection and maintenance of the floodlights could easily be financed out of the money thus saved. I object that the cars generators would be running anyhow, to supply current to the spark plugs. He dismisses that; the generator could shut off automatically as soon as the battery was charged. Thus energy would be stored, fuel saved, and this savings could be spent on financing the illumination of highways. Reckoned out for all the cars the people would soon have in Germany, that would easily amount to more than the highway lights could cost. We listen speechless, until at last Funk says ambiguously, "At any rate, Herr Hess, I am glad that you have recovered your health." Hess ponders for a moment, then looks sternly at me and orders me to work out the idea in detail. Whereupon he returns to his cell, pleased with himself. (Speer II)

A New Years walk in the afternoon. Always the same: Doenitz walks with Neurath, Schirach with Raeder and Funk. Hess remains for me. (Speer II)

Hess's attacks are frequently provoked by trivialities that he objects to a request to go into the garden or to bathe, to clean the cell, or in fact anything that involves physical movement. The threat of basket-making likewise set him off. Even though the threat is over, Hess goes on complaining and wailing for hours. At night, too. It sounds ghastly in the empty hall. Nobody knows whether he is actually in pain. Even the doctors who believe him doubt that there is any organic cause, for x-rays show nothing. (Speer II)

Each of us has spells of bad temper and prison psychosis. At the moment Schirach seems to have gone into a tailspin. He has openly broken with me and no longer even responds to my greetings. Why, I don't know. (Speer II)

Three days ago, Raeder complained to the French director about Hess's groaning at night. It's shattering his nerves, he claims. Major Bresard asked Neurath, Doenitz, and me whether Hess disturbed our sleep too, but we said no. At nine o'clock this morning Major Besard, who is generally so decent, went into Hess's cell and shouted, "Allez, allez, raus!" Hess stood up; Bresard ordered the guards to take the blanket and mattress out of the cell until evening. Hess sat on his chair and wailed. At half past the hour Pease had me carry the bedding back in. Half an hour later the Russian director, in an emphatic, friendly tone, gave me the order to take the blanket and mattress out again. In an equally friendly manner I replied that I would not participate in carrying out a measure against a fellow prisoner. But Hess solved the impasse by asking me to do so. (Speer II)

I suspect Schirach, Funk, and Raeder, Inc., of playing a cunning game. On the one hand they are supporting Hess in his obstinacy, on the other hand inciting the guards against "the malingerer" and disturber of their night's sleep. But when Hess is harshly treated, Funk writes reports to the outside in which he exaggerates Hess's suffering. This morning when I told him that by adroit questioning I had more or less established that Hess was pretending, Funk replied tersely that it was too late now, that he had already communicated the whole story to his liaison man. (Speer II)

Today a notice posted on the cell door stipulated that Prisoner Number Seven [Hess] may remain in bed every morning until half past nine if he has pain. This is an official a acknowledgment that Hess is sick. However, the sickness is not taken seriously, since the medical aide reports that he is injecting only "aqua destilla" (distilled water), a trick frequently used with hysterics. In the medical office this morning Raeder irritably tells the guards Hawker and Wagg that they were wrong to give in, that Hess ought to be handled roughly; he doesn't have any real pain at all. Doenitz is outraged when he hears this. In the washroom he says to Neurath and me, "Raeder would suffer for that in a prisoner-of-war camp. And rightly so, to my mind. That's terribly un-comradely. Hess has a right to malinger if he wants to. We ought to be supporting him. And not to upset him, we shouldn't even tell him that the sedative injection is a trick. You can never tell what he might do then." (Speer II)

After four days, Hess has given up. He now rises on the dot, submits punctiliously to the daily routine . . . . Hess breaks the silence by saying out of context, "I'm annoyed with myself. I no longer have the desire to protest. Now I'm doing what they ask me. It's a decline, a moral fall, believe me!" I try to bring him round by pointing out all that he gains by making concessions. "It may be so, but I'm no longer the man I used to be," he replies. (Speer II)

My dear Annemarie Kemp, I really am touched to read how energetically and loyally you are extending yourself for me. Just don't be disappointed if it doesn't work; I don't have great hopes . . . . There is no reason not to speak openly with Leni [Riefenstahl], of course not mentioning [our clandestine way of communicating]. She is grateful to me for many things and I think will gladly help. (Sereny)

As I've been traveling, I only received your letter from June 6 today but want to reply at once. Above all I want to say that I will do anything to help Herr Speer. Already before getting your letter, I asked a friend in Berlin to contact Mr. Lewinsohn [sic. Levinsohn, head of the Berlin Denazification Board for the US occupation authorities], to inform him that I am at his disposal as a witness for Speer . . . . I suggest that, when you are next in Berlin, you pay a visit to my friend, who knows Mr. Lewinsohn and was himself present at my own hearing ... and get him to advise you ... also my own very good lawyer. At all my hearings--and you know there have been many--I have testified about Herr Speer, of course in his favor, describing him as I know him . . . . Please keep me informed about him, but also about Frau Speer ... perhaps the day will come when I will be in a position to help in one way or another . . . . Is there anything I can send him? Can one? Anyway, I'm so relieved that, thanks to you, I can now communicate with him. (Sereny)

Today Raeder rebukes me with unexpected vehemence for an innocently intended remark about Hitler's contempt for other human beings. Schirach joins in the rebuke; Doenitz and strangely, Funk also look on with obvious satisfaction. (Speer II)

The new Russian director, energetic as they always are at the start, confiscated Schirach's Watchwords, a calendar with Bible texts for every day. Schirach used it to keep a record of medicines prescribed and family birthdays. (Speer II)

Big quarrel among all of us because of the lighting problem. Everyone wants something different. Doenitz, Neurath, Hess, and I are against Schirach's proposal that a weak blue bulb be screwed into the socket, because in that case we could no longer read. Violent discussion. Funk backs off ten paces and berates first Neurath and then all of us. When he starts using vulgar epithets, I shout back: "You sound like a truck driver!" He clears out. The first scene of this sort in seven years and, worse yet, in the presence of a guard. (Speer II)

[I tell Hess] that his wife has published his letters as a book. Hess becomes feverishly excited at this news. When he hints that it is quite natural for him to be ahead of the rest of us as an author, I put a bit of a damper on. "You should be grateful to the censor for always scissoring out your crazy ideas about politics. This way you are published purified, virtually a model democrat." Hess laughs and pretends to be shocked . . . . What I like about Hess is that he does not take my views, which must be a horror to him, as a basis for being hostile to me, as Doenitz does. (Speer II)

Doenitz has illegally read an extract from the official history of the British Admiralty. He is wildly pleased because the British share his viewpoint: that neglect to build hundreds of U-boats before the beginning of the war, or at least during the first few years, was the crucial strategic error. Again and again he stresses that he will bring up all these points against Raeder in the full light of publicity once he and Raeder are free. He grows very excited when he talks about this. (Speer II)

My parents didn't go to church ... and in school the chaplain was in the unintelligent habit of imposing the learning of Psalms by heart as a punishment! You can imagine how that called forth my spirit of contradiction. Your mother and I did marry in a church, but I can't claim to have felt anything then: we just did it to please her parents. And so, even though when you were born we were still members of the church, we didn't have you baptized . . . . It really wasn't that Hitler forced anything on us—on the contrary, he forbade his closest circle, Hess, Goebbels, Goering, etc., to leave their churches, and he himself, as you may know, never formally renounced the Catholic Church. You may say that was just political expediency, but I'm not sure I would agree: I suspect that i the way of many Catholics, he somehow couldn't give it up. I think they always believed that renouncing the church would bring Gods wrath upon them. When your mother and I did leave the [Protestant] church, it was in reaction to the political opposition of the churches to Hitler—I suppose it was a sort of statement of loyalty. Silly. But we did decide together to make Albert attend Sunday school in Berchtesgaden--perhaps the only sensible thing we did.

And then, of course, there was Nuremberg, with two exceedingly kind American chaplains at a time when kindness was in low supply, and ... then, of course, in Spandau, there was Casalis, the most unique man I have known . . . . You write that in your discussions about God, rational considerations argues against rather than for His existence. Well, I am against applying reason to God, for the miracles of nature show that reason has nothing to do with it, or Him. How do you explain that the peas I deliberately planted in the spring in a deep hole unfailingly pierced fifteen centimeters of earth to shoot straight up out of the ground? And what about the fern I planted by mistake upside down? It turned itself around, to grow straight up, bypassing its own root. I know, you can find reasons: the nature of growth; Schopenhauer's 'Will For Life' [sic] or whatever. Of course one cn always say no, but if you are honest you have to admit that these are miracles, which become more mysterious he more you ponder them . . . . I have read and thought so much by now, and I suppose the knowledge I gain will remain with me later. I only hope though that I won't lose the feeling for faith once I'm back in ordinary life . . . . As you see, it is ethics which particularly interest me . . . . I read again and again what Jaspers said: "Evil will rule unless I confront it at all times in myself and in others." (Sereny)

I began writing as if it was the most natural thing in the world . . . . I have made it easy for myself. I did not begin with Hitler, but with my childhood.

All this evening of my Birthday I have kept going at the memoirs . . . . Interruption. Funk at my peephole. "Come over to my cell. I have to show you something interesting." Irritated by the disturbance, which violates our usual social forms, I do not react. After fifteen minutes Funk is back. "Do come, it is really interesting." I have my cell unlocked. "Put out the light," Funk says. "Do you see the moon with the stars in front of it? That is the Turkish sign for good luck." Long (the guard) is bored, because Funk showed him the same thing a few minutes ago, and disappears. In the darkness Funk thrusts a cup toward me and whispers, "Quick, drink! To your forty-eighth birthday! What you dream tonight will be fulfilled." Where in the world can he have got this excellent cognac? (Speer II)

Today as we were planting a chestnut sapling Funk said, "We'll be here to sit in the shadow of this tree." (Speer II)

Through a clandestine note from his son-in-law, Doenitz has heard the results of a (July 1952) survey . . . . He himself stands at the head of the list of formerly prominent personages (former Nazis) whom the Germans still have a good opinion of. Doenitz has 46 percent; he is closely followed by Schacht with 42, Goering with 37, myself with 30, Hitler with 24 percent. Schirach and Hess lag behind with 22 percent. Seven percent have a bad opinion of Doenitz, 9 percent of me, 10 of Schacht, 29 of Schirach and Hess, 36 of Goering and 47 percent of Hitler. "Because the German people cherish me in their hearts, I shall soon be getting out," Doenitz observed complacently as he stood beside me today washing his hands. Nevertheless, the letter gave Doenitz no pleasure, for his son-in-law unforgivably passed on the information that he is now as popular as Rommel. In a tone of sharp repugnance, Doenitz commented that Rommel had been nothing but a propaganda hero because he participated in the July 20 conspiracy. Then Doenitz stalked off. (Speer II)

Yesterday he [Doenitz] got at me all day. "If it was up to the Americans," he said, "you'd get out ahead of me. The American Jews would make sure of it. But now it's German public opinion that counts." What gets me ... is that he makes me out a sycophant. Yes, it's true, I'm civil to Jew who are civil to me--I always have been and always will be. I would say that after what has happened, they have more reason to think ill of me than I of them. Hess, with whom I discuss it all, is as cross with himself as I am with myself. "I don't understand it either," he said. "When Raeder has a go at me, I simply can't think of anything to say. In the evening in my cell, I am furious for not having given as good as I got. Is it the same for you?" . . . .

... I can tell you that I'm often at the end of my tether. The smallest things become absolutely enormous. The other day--my wife was to come the next afternoon--I decided to sew on some missing buttons. After finally having managed to thread the needle, it disappeared. I couldn't find it. I first looked all over the bed, including, ridiculously enough, under the pillow, then took the whole bed apart, took off my jacket and then my trousers thinking it might have got stuck in them and, still not finding it, found myself bathed in nervous sweat.

When finally, exhausted, I collapsed on the bed, I saw needle and thread, clear as day, lying on the floor at my feet. You won't believe it, but my heart beat so hard, I had trouble breathing. And then the next day, my wife's visit: always the saddest half-hour one can imagine, for her, I fear, quite as much as for me. Sometimes I feel I should spare us both these visits, and yet ... and yet ...

I try—I really try—never to show my occasional despair. What is most difficult for me is not having anybody to talk to here. I fear I am rather more sensitive than the others. Well, I suppose I can't very well ask for a second architect to be locked up here for my sake, can I? . . . . It is a relief to be able to tell you what troubles me. Nonetheless don't worry, I'll stick it out. (Sereny)

I can see you would like me to be more positive about Hitler. But if I'm to write honestly, I cannot do that. That would really be falsification of subjective [sic] truth. This kind of embellishment happens to most writer of memoirs which, probably unconsciously, they repress the negative aspects of their lives or the events they describe . . . .

Perhaps this is what is happening already now in our country and to our people. It is, in the final analysis too painful to face that one has sacrificed children or parents for ideals one can now only condemn. I fear that, just as happened after Napoleon's fall, when for a long time only negative opinions were voiced, this restraint may repeat itself here--just as happened then--result in a historical rebound, with German historians fifteen or twenty years from now presenting a Hitler repainted in positive colors . . . .

You criticize me for calling Hitler a criminal and you are of course right that, as this is a value judgement which the reader should make for himself, it is appropriate in a book of memoirs. But if I say it, not once but many times, then I do so deliberately, in a way to remind myself. Of what? Of what I learned so graphically in Nuremberg: that upon his orders families--yes, imagine it, families—a man with his wife and small children—had to die [mussen in den Tod gehen] just because they were Jews. Being myself the father of young children, I have sufficient imagination to picture myself in their place . . . .

Of course, nobody who was close to Hitler, or committed to him, wants to hear this. I understand that and expect furious attacks. As I am by nature weak, I prefer to put them off until after I'm dead. But I need for you to believe, firstly that I am aware of what I risk if I continue in this vein, but secondly, that I hope to God that I will have th strength to go on doing so. I beg of you to take very seriously what I am saying here, for putting it into words is very, very difficult for me, and I probably can't do it again.. (Sereny)

For his birthday Schirach drank half a bottle of cognac. I see him sitting on his bed in a daze. (Speer II)

There is such a thing as mass hypnosis--we have seen it before in the life of nations--which can have incredible consequences. Let me remind you only of the witch-hunts of the Middle Ages, the horrors of the French Revolution, or the genocide of the American Indians . . . . In such periods there are always only a very few who do not succumb. But when it was all over everyone, horrified, asks, "For heavens sake, how could I?" (Sereny)

Let me show you the kind of grave problems we have. Saturday, before the service, is our bath time, two of us at a time, as there are two tubs in the bathroom. As there are seven of us, the last has to bathe alone and that is usually me. Well, last week Funk asked me whether I mind if he went last—there is a Russian guard he can't stand who goes on duty at 11 AM and always makes a point of immediately looking in on the bathers, who at that time are usually Funk and Hess. I said fine, I'd bathe with Hess.

As it happened, I got to the bathroom just before Hess and got into 'my' tub; over the course of time we have come to feel proprietary about all kinds of things, among them the tubs. Hess comes in and asks, "What are you doing in my tub?" As you know, I am a peaceful man. "Oh, is this your tub?" I say and, with water pouring off me, get out of it and take the other. Hess bathes very quickly and is out while I'm still splashing about—you might send me a duck to play with next!

Funk comes in, ready for his bath, and makes a serious face. "What are you doing in my tub? says he. "That has been mine for six years." I know he is half joking so I burst quit laughing. "To punish you," he says, "I'm going to play nothing but Wagner at the service." As you know, he plays the organ—beautifully. And indeed, that was what he did . . . . Terrible, terrible Wagner, from Lohengrin to Gotterdammerung for forty-five minutes. Well, there you are—a look-in on our daily life.

Raeder has returned from his wife's visit. He told her that he gained six pounds during the American month. When she asked how much he had lost during the Russian month, the Soviet interpreter interrupted, "Stop! you're not allowed to say that." Neurath, during his wife's visit, reported that he was feeling well. That time, too, the Russian interpreter interrupted, but Neurath went on undeterred. "As you see, everything is lies and hypocrisy here." (Speer II)

After (West German President) Adenauer's statement (concerning early releases for some Spandau inmates) to the Bundestag, Hess and Funk are redoubling their efforts to be considered seriously ill . . . . (Hess) came down with total forgetfulness. About once a week he asks me to explain who Malenkov is or who Adenauer is. When director Cuthill reproved him because he had not folded his blankets properly, he exhibited his poor memory by writing on the wall of his cell "Fold Blankets." He has also increased the force of his attacks. Tonight he groaned for hours, crying out again and again, "I can't stand it any longer. My God, my God, I'm going mad!" When I visited him in his cell this morning he gave the impression of being quite sound of mind, but remained lying on the bed and underscored his point in dramatic and rather moving terms: "One of my worst attacks. My end is nearing. I've lived like a man and will know how to die like a man. By the way, who is Adenauer?" (Speer II)

Funk had been bedridden for days. (Speer II)

When Funk is not bedridden, he walks back and forth in the garden with Schirach for a few hours. The American guard Felner recently called them "the two evil spirits." But nowadays Funk is in bed almost all the time. Today the doctor came, because Funk was supposedly on the verge of uremia and had almost lost consciousness. Doenitz calls that "an attempted escape." Raeder, too, is envious of Funk's chances of being taken to the hospital. When he was passing the cell today he punned to Felner, "Well, he doesn't seem to be in such a funk after all." (Speer II)

Raeder and Funk are also ill. I wouldn't mind being without them. ... Funk remarks dully, in a low voice, "It's too late for me. Nothing matters to me anymore." The poor fellow is painfully struggling to win the favor of the Russian guards. He addresses them with friendly smiles, but they do not react. (Speer II)

For several days we have been receiving the four uncensored newspapers. Our grand admiral librarian has been assigned the task of distributing them. He announces: "All four newspapers will be circulated together in one file folder. I shall paste a white slip of paper on this folder: each man will enter first the time of receiving it and then the time he passes it on. In addition, each man checks off when he no longer wants it." Doenitz protests: "It will take too long for one person to read all four newspapers." "That doesn't matter. You've got plenty of time, after all," Raeder insists obstinately. (Speer II)

The food program for the Russian month has scarcly changed in the last seven years...This month the meat smells and tastes abominable. Schirach commented in disgust, "When I find a cat's whisker in the goulash, the truth will be out." Some of the others suspected that it was horsemeat or dog. (Speer II)

Surprisingly, Doenitz has come out strongly for Adenauer. "Granted, he's a thickheaded martinet, but by his obstinacy he holds the government together. Always better to have someone like that, rather than one of these intellectuals whose cabinet ministers go running in all directions." All of us are struck by the fact that the newspaper from East Germany is constantly invoking such notions as "Fatherland" or "Germany." Today Schirach commented to Doenitz on Ulbricht's speech at a youth group meeting, a speech larded with quotations from Schiller: "You've got to read this! One of the best speeches I've seen. Simply tremendous!" And Raeder echoed him: "Simply tremendous!" (Speer II)

Yesterday Funk was transferred to the British military hospital to undergo an operation. This is the first time one of us has been outside the walls. Four British jeeps filled with MP's accompanied the ambulance. The four directors of Spandau, the heads of legal departments, and other representatives of the Four Powers followed by car. Since each one had his own car, the column was almost a kilometer long, as one of the guards described it. Quite a bit of fuss for one old man. At the hospital a stretcher was waiting. Four strong men took hold of it and carried it on the double up one flight of stairs; Funk was in his room before he could look about him. "If they had given Funk twenty-five pfennigs for the streetcar, he would have arrived on his own," Long commented dryly. (Speer II)

At the Paris Conference it was decided to admit the new German army into NATO. Die Welt has a report on the structure of this new army and its methods of training. Doenitz took a critical view: "A mistake not to build the Bundeswehr on the traditions of the Wehrmacht. They are cutting off the limb they are sitting on." And Schirach exclaims, "Outrageous! Saluting officers only once a day! And no more high boots! I can't understand it. The best part of the army." Doenitz was more interested in what all this might portend for us. "I've never ventured to prophesy, but this time I predict that all of us will be going home next spring. The Western Powers simply cannot keep us prisoners longer than that. My naval officers simply wouldn't go along with it." (Speer II)

Today the British commandant of Berlin went from cell to cell...Funk thanked the general for having visited him in the hospital. (Speer II)

My relations with Doenitz continue to deteriorate. For his part, Doenitz has recently been trying to work things out with Raeder--the two of them, the one-time supreme commander of the navy and his successor, have managed to retain their former antagonism right up to the present time within these walls. On the other hand, Raeder's hate complex toward Hess, so fierce it is almost grotesque, is outlasting all changes of time and place. (Speer II)

For a few hours, Raeder has a speech impediment. Like Neurath during his last months, he is no longer allowed to work. He sits in the garden on his stool twice a day for an hour, staring into space, lost in thought. The rest of the time he is locked in his cell. In spite of all our differences these past years, I am deeply moved by the sight of this doomed old man. Raeder no longer wants to gloss over the state of his health; I can't understand why he has done so up to now. (Speer II)

Routine visit from the British general. He does not seem as pleasant as his predecessor. Raeder, who is feeling better, wanted to say something about his illness, but was so keyed up that he could not produce a word. The British director urged him to sit down. Luckily, Schirach, instead of making any personal request, called the generals attention to the danger hovering over Raeder. (Speer II)

Ill humor for days. Without asking our admiralty, I recently did my laundry a day earlier than usual. Even today, four days afterward, Doenitz and Raeder stood together discussing my behavior. "Another of his explosive decisions! He doesn't ever pause to consider." (Speer II)

First day of the American month. In the garden Funk suddenly became conspiratorial and said to Schirach, "Now you watch the soldier on the left tower. When he goes to the other side, give me a sign." And turning to me: "You post yourself a little more to the right. There, now the soldier on the other tower can't see me. And where is the guard? Ah, he's busy with the admiralty back there." Then, in a low voice, he called out, "Schirach! What is your man in the tower doing?" Schirach gave the agreed sign. Funk took a deep breath. Then he reached into his pocket, saying, "Well then, cheers!" With a groan of pleasure Funk took a long drink, then passed the bottle on. It was quickly emptied. "First rate," Funk moaned. "From my wife. Eighty proof--real aged rum. Now we know what were missing. We manage to get used to doing without other things, but not this!" He looked around. "But what are we going to do with the bottle?" We dug a deep hole and buried the bottle in it. The label read, "Tussamag Cough Syrup." (Speer II)

... later the British doctor returned to the cellblock and went in to see Raeder. "Didn't you say something about dizzy spells? Come along to the medical office for an examination." Both men vanished from the cellblock. The iron door closed behind them with a metallic clang. After an hour, while lunch was being passed out, and Raeder was not yet back, we looked at Pease. Nobody said a word; none of us dared to ask. But as though he guessed what we wanted to know, Pease said simply, "Yes."

Later in the afternoon Vlaer tells us that Cuthill received the astonished Raeder with the words: "You are completely free and you may go wherever you want." But Raeder wanted to return to our cellblock. He said he must hand over the library to his successor, and he didn't even know who that would be. But this request was refused. He sent his regards to us by way of the medical aide. I felt sorry for Doenitz. Raeder's release has taken a good deal out of him. For the first time in many months I have walked with him and tried to buck him up. Schirach joined us. Once free, so he confined to Schirach, Raeder plans to attack two persons chiefly: Hess, because it was psychological torture to be forced to live with him for years, and the British director, because of his total lack of feeling. "Oh hell," Doenitz said, "that may be what he had in mind. But his wife always gave the orders. Of course, he has to attack me." (Speer II)

In the newspapers we see pictures of Raeder's first steps in freedom. Like Neurath when he was released, Raeder too seems entirely changed by his civilian dress and by his relaxed features. Curious, how one of us looks in freedom. But it isn't really all that exciting. (Speer II)

Raeder's release has revived hopes in the rest of us. (Speer II)