Quick questions on Speer at Nuremberg and Spandau: HSC Modern History Personality

The IMT sat at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg from 20 November 1945 to 1 October 1946. The Four Powers (United States, Britain, France, USSR) supplied judges (Lord Justice Lawrence presiding) and prosecutors (Robert H. Jackson for the United States). Twenty-four senior Nazis were indicted on four counts:

Speer's counsel Hans Flachsner was a 39-year-old Berlin lawyer. They developed the unique strategy that distinguished Speer from every other defendant:

The IMT delivered its verdict on 1 October 1946. Speer was found:

The seven prisoners sentenced to imprisonment (Hess, Speer, Donitz, Raeder, von Neurath, von Schirach, Funk) were transferred to Spandau prison in the British sector of Berlin from 18 July 1947. Spandau was administered jointly by the Four Powers on rotation. Donitz, Raeder, von Neurath, and Funk were released early. Speer served his full 20 years from arrest in May 1945 to release on 1 October 1966.

Throughout the 1970s, Speer made private admissions that contradicted his public position. The Walters Letter (23 December 1971), in which he acknowledged having been present at Himmler's Posen speech, is the most striking. Gitta Sereny's interviews from 1978 onwards recorded similar admissions. The 1985 historian Erich Goldhagen had published evidence (1971) that Speer must have known of the Final Solution; Speer threatened libel but did not pursue it.

Source A is an extract from Speer's closing statement at Nuremberg (31 August 1946). Using Source A and your own knowledge, explain Speer's defence strategy. [5 marks]

Evaluate the extent to which Speer's Nuremberg defence shaped post-war understanding of the Nazi regime. [25 marks]

Compare the views of Gitta Sereny and Magnus Brechtken on Speer's post-war career. [10 marks]