Speer and Er
Speer and Er is a three-part German docu-drama ; It tells the story of the architect and later war criminal Albert Speer , who was finally appointed Minister for Armaments and Armaments by Hitler in 1942 and 1943, and his relationship with "him", the dictator Adolf Hitler . In addition to reconstructed game scenes and historical film material, the documentary also uses interviews with eyewitnesses, including conversations with three of Speer's children, Albert Speer Jr. , Arnold Speer and Hilde Schramm .
action
Part 1: "Germania - Der Wahn"
Albert Speer is sitting in his cell in Nuremberg and is preparing for his trial with his defense attorney Hans Flächsner. The former star architect remembers the fateful "friendship" with Adolf Hitler, who promoted him and replaced him after the accidental death of the armaments minister Fritz Todt . He and Hitler planned the construction of Germania , the world metropolis par excellence. Whole parts of Berlin were to be torn down and replaced by the new city. Speer planned the preparations, but Albert Speer claims not to have known about the deportations of Berlin's Jews or the crimes on the Eastern Front.
Part 2: "Nuremberg - The Trial"
Through a film that shows the atrocities in the concentration camps , and through the indictment, Albert Speer begins to admit his complicity in Hitler's crimes. He incriminates old party comrades, including Fritz Sauckel , creates enemies among the ranks of the accused, but also wins a sympathizer in the US prosecutor Robert H. Jackson . Despite his denial, he remembers his visits to the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp and how he approved the expansion of Auschwitz .
After a year of trial, Albert Speer is sentenced to 20 years in prison, Fritz Sauckel, Hans Frank and other defendants are sentenced to death by hanging.
Part 3: "Spandau - The Punishment"
In the Spandau war crimes prison inmate number 5 (Albert Speer) is interned with six other defendants (Baldur von Schirach, Karl Dönitz, Konstantin von Neurath, Erich Raeder, Walther Funk and Rudolf Hess). While his children grow up outside and both the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR emerge, Albert Speer spends his time walking in the prison yard and writing diaries. The diaries are sent to Rudolf Wolters in Coesfeld by a prison doctor , who keeps them until Speer's release and hopes to earn some money by publishing them. Twenty years go by, which he spends developing survival skills and during which his family begins to live with their identity as relatives of a war criminal. While Karl Dönitz is still loyal to Hitler's regime, Speer has long since understood that Germania would never have become a reality.
20 years later, in 1966, Speer was released.
Documentary: "Nachspiel - The Deception"
The documentary ties in with part 3 of the docu-drama and reports on Speer's efforts to establish his reputation as an apolitical seduced with the publication of his diary and memoir. The main interview partners are Wolf Jobst Siedler , Speer's publisher, and Joachim Fest , who helped Speer edit his books. Both tell of their impression of being manipulated by Speer and having been surrendered to a legend. There are also scenes with Speer's nephew Wolf Speer, who is informed in conversations with historians and former concentration camp inmates about the extent of the crimes and his uncle's involvement in them, as well as interviews with Rudolf Wolters' son Friedrich, who was still an old man through the Film learns details of Hitler's admiration.
Reviews
"The film raises the question of the historical context of the Federal Republic of Germany, in which Speer's distortions and lies found a broad and benevolent response."
Awards
The trilogy was awarded the Golden Romy for Best TV Film and Jupiter for Best TV Feature Film in 2006 . Sebastian Koch was awarded the Bavarian Television Prize and the German Television Prize for best actor in a television film in 2005 for his performance .
literature
The film (and the story of how it came about) constantly deal directly and indirectly with two books and their portrayals of Speer's views:
- Gitta Sereny : Wrestling with the truth. Albert Speer and the German trauma. Kindler, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-463-40258-0 .
- Joachim Fest : Speer. A biography. Fischer, Frankfurt a. M. 2001, ISBN 3-596-15093-0 .
Web links
- Speer and He in the Internet Movie Database (English)
supporting documents
- ↑ Speer and Er. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .