Speer I

On June 19, 1946, Defendant Albert Speer, Reich Minister for Armaments and War Production, was called to the stand by his counsel, Dr. Flaechsner. Speer had been a close friend and confidant to hItler since 1934. Under direct examination, Speer denied responsibility for recruiting manpower saying “neither I nor my Ministry was responsible for this recruitment. He said that his Ministry collected the demands for labor from industries subordinate to it without specification as to whether the laborers be German, foreign workers, or prisoners of war.”
Justice Robert H Jackson conducted the first and by far the longest cross-examinations of Speer. It was one of the highlights of the Trial. He conceded that the Nazis were anti-semitic and the Jews were being evacuated from Germany. He acknowledge that there was a deportation of 100,000 Jews from Hungary.

Produced by US Army Signal Corps 1945-1956, housed in National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Digitized and provided by The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive.

On June 19, 1946, Defendant Albert Speer, Reich Minister for Armaments and War Production, was called to the stand by his counsel, Dr. Flaechsner. Speer had been a close friend and confidant to hItler since 1934. Under direct examination, Speer denied responsibility for recruiting manpower saying "neither I nor my Ministry was responsible for this recruitment. He said that his Ministry collected the demands for labor from industries subordinate to it without specification as to whether the laborers be German, foreign workers, or prisoners of war." Justice Robert H Jackson conducted the first and by far the longest cross-examinations of Speer. It was one of the highlights of the Trial. He conceded that the Nazis were anti-semitic and the Jews were being evacuated from Germany. He acknowledge that there was a deportation of 100,000 Jews from Hungary.

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