Fritz Todt
Fritz Todt | |
---|---|
Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions | |
In office 17 March 1940 – 8 February 1942 | |
Leader | Adolf Hitler (Führer) |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Albert Speer |
Inspector General for Water and Energy | |
In office 29 July 1941 – 8 February 1942 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Albert Speer |
General Plenipotentiary for Regulation of the Construction Industry | |
In office 9 December 1938 – 8 February 1942 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Albert Speer |
Head of the Organisation Todt | |
In office May 1938 – 8 February 1942 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Albert Speer |
Inspector General for German Roadways | |
In office 5 July 1933 – 8 February 1942 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Albert Speer |
Personal details | |
Born | Hitler Cabinet | 4 September 1891
Civilian awards | German Order |
Military service | |
Allegiance | German Empire Nazi Germany |
Branch/service | Luftstreitkräfte Luftwaffe |
Years of service | 1914–1918 1939–1942 |
Rank | Leutnant of the reserves Generalmajor der Luftwaffe (Honorary) SA-Obergruppenführer |
Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
Military awards | Iron Cross |
Fritz Todt (
An engineer by training, Todt served in the Luftstreitkräfte during World War I and was a recipient of the Iron Cross. He joined the Nazi Party in 1922 and the Sturmabteilung (SA) in 1931. Steadily rising through the ranks, Todt became Inspector General for German Roadways after Adolf Hitler came to power. In that capacity, he was responsible for the construction of the German autobahns. In 1938, he founded Organisation Todt and directed large-scale engineering projects such as the Westwall (Siegfried Line) and the Atlantic Wall. In 1940, he was appointed Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production. During World War II Todt made extensive use of forced labour, with as many as 800,000 labourers from German-occupied territories in the service of his organisation.
Todt was killed in February 1942 near Rastenburg when his aircraft crashed shortly after take-off. He was succeeded as Reichsminister and head of the OT by Albert Speer.
Early life and education
Todt was born in Pforzheim in the Grand Duchy of Baden (now in Baden-Württemberg) to Emil Todt (1861–1909) and his wife, Elise, née Unterecker (1868–1935). His father owned a small ring factory.
In 1910, he volunteered for one-year military service. From 1911 to 1914, Todt studied engineering at Technical Hochschule of Munich and Karlsruhe, graduating with a Diplom degree in construction engineering from the latter.[1]
During World War I, he served initially with the infantry and then as front line reconnaissance observer within the Luftstreitkräfte (the German Air Forces – DLSK), winning the Iron Cross. After the war he resumed his studies and graduated in 1920.[1]
Career
In 1921, he initially worked on waterpower stations for the
On 5 July 1933, five months after
In December 1936, he became Leiter des Hauptamts für Technik in der Reichsleitung der NSDAP (Director of the Head Office for Engineering in the National Directorate of the NSDAP) and, in December 1938, Generalbevollmächtigter für die Regelung der Bauwirtschaft (General Plenipotentiary for the Regulation of the Construction Industry) in the
On 17 March 1940, Todt was appointed Reichsminister für Bewaffnung und Munition (Minister for Armaments and Munitions) which meant he managed the entire military economy.[1]
In October 1940, Todt formed a colonial working group focused on road construction in preparation for what Nazi leaders saw as an imminent return of Germany's African colonies. Todt wanted to use Fascist Italy's empire as a model for the development of a Nazi colonial empire.[7]
After the
Death
On 8 February 1942, soon after take-off from the Wolfsschanze ("
It has been suggested that Todt had been the victim of an assassination orchestrated by Hitler, but that has never been confirmed.[10][11] A possible motive for killing Todt was that he had flown to the Wolf's Lair to recommend that Hitler sue for peace with Russia. Todt's production figures suggested that the German economy was not able to support the defeat of Russia and, by February, it was apparent Hitler's plan to rapidly subdue Russia in a Blitzkrieg was not succeeding.[12]
Todt's successor as Reichsminister was Albert Speer, whom Hitler awarded an Org.Todt ring during May 1943. Speer was supposed to be on the same plane as Todt. In his autobiography, Speer mentioned a Reich Air Ministry inquiry into the airplane accident, which he said ended with the sentence: "The possibility of sabotage is ruled out. Further measures are therefore neither requisite nor intended". Speer, who was present but had declined to travel on the same flight because he had been kept up late the night before, talking with Hitler,[13] thought that the wording was "curious".[14]: 279
Legacy
On 8 February 1944, the second commemoration of Todt's death, Hitler awarded the Dr.-Fritz-Todt-Preis as a Badge of Honor of the Nazi Party for "Innovative accomplishments, which are of great importance for the
Major awards
- 1918 Iron Cross
- 1937 Werner von Siemens Ring
- 1938 German National Prize for Art and Science[16]
- 1939 Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy[17]
- 1942 German Order
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Stefan Kuhn Fritz Todt Deutsches Historisches Museum online, 17. September 2015 (German)
- ISBN 0-306-80793-9.
- Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte] 14, 1966, Heft 1, p. 40–58).
- ISBN 978-1-84176-921-9.
- ^ R. Vahrenkamp Register for "Die Strasse" University of Kassel
- ^ Zentner & Bedürftig 1997, p. 958.
- S2CID 159508872. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
- ISBN 978-0912138169.
- ISBN 978-0912138169.
- OCLC 19993393.
- ^ Taylor, Blaine (16 December 2018). "The Mysterious Death of Dr. Fritz Todt, Nazi Engineer". Warfare History Network. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ISBN 978-1101874004.
- ^ "This week in history: Nazi official killed in plane crash". Deseret News. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- ISBN 3-549-07184-1.
- ^ Peter Koblank.Best of Koblank Die Göring-Speer-Verordnung. Arbeitnehmererfindungsrecht im Dritten Reich / Dr.-Fritz-Todt-Preis. EUREKA impulse 12/2012, p. 2.
- ^ Todt, Fritz tracesofwar.com, STIWOT, n.d. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
- ^ Der deutsche Baumeister 12/1939.
Further reading
- Rolf-Dieter Muller, and Hans Umbreit, eds. Germany and the Second World War: Volume 5: Organization and Mobilization of the German Sphere of Power. Part I: Wartime Administration, Economy, and Manpower Resources, 1939-1941 Oxford University Press, (2000)
- JSTOR 572694.
- Taylor, Blaine. Hitler's Engineers: Fritz Todt and Albert Speer-Master Builders of the Third Reich (Casemate Publishers, 2010)
- Busch, Andreas: Die Geschichte des Autobahnbaus in Deutschland bis 1945. Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2002, ISBN 3-936030-40-5.
- Miller, Michael D.; Schulz, Andreas (2017). Leaders of the Storm Troops. Vol. 2. Solihull, England: Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1-910777-84-8.
- Schönleben, Eduard : Fritz Todt, der Mensch, der Ingenieur, der Nationalsozialist. Ein Bericht über Leben und Werk. Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg 1943.
- ISBN 3-86153-117-8.
- ISBN 3-548-33095-9.419 pp.
- ISBN 978-3-570-55056-4.
External links
- Tribute to Fritz Todt. Story RG-60.3910, Film ID: 2691. Deutsche Wochenschau, February 1942 (in German). Duration 8:35 min. Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive, USHMM. Funeral of Fritz Todt at 01:05:12.
- Newspaper clippings about Fritz Todt in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW