Albert Speer

A first edition, first printing of The Slave State, written by Nazi and war criminal Albert Speer, accompanied by a typed and signed letter.

• Albert Speer (German).
• Translated by Joachim Neugroschel. 
• London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1981.
• Bound in publisher’s original green cloth with gilt titling to the spine, jacket design by Sara Komar.
• Includes a 29-line typed letter from Albert Speer, dated 3 March 1969.

The Slave State by Albert Speer (born Mannheim, Germany 19 March 1905 - died London 1 September 1981) published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson in 1981, reflects on his role as Hitler’s chief architect and Minister of Armaments during the period of Nazi Germany. Speer examines how he helped build a regime reliant on forced labor, massive exploitation and brutality.

He offers a unique insider’s view of the Third Reich’s bureaucratic machine, exposing the moral blindness and self-deception that allowed such horrors. Though often seen as self-serving, his account provides chilling insights into the structure and mentality of a totalitarian system. Speer, the ‘Nazi Architect’, was sentenced to twenty years in prison for his close involvement with Hitler and the Nazi’s inner command. He was released in 1966 and his books remain a fascinating witness account, whilst being an attempt to portray himself as unaware of the ‘Final Solution’. However, this has been steadily undermined by research showing that Speer not only knew the fate of the Jews but actively participated in their persecution.

Speer made himself widely available to historians and other enquirers. In October 1973, he made his first trip to Britain, flying to London to be interviewed on the BBC Midweek program. In the same year, he appeared on the television program The World at War. Speer returned to London in 1981 to participate in the BBC Newsnight program; he suffered a stroke and died in London on 1 September.

The included letter, in German and on Speer’s headed paper, reads:

‘Dear Mr Collins, By an unfortunate coincidence, your letter ended up among a whole stack of magazines that I have only recently worked through. Therefore, I neglected to thank you for the warm lines you wrote to me and to reply to them. We would be very happy if you were able to come to Heidelberg again. We were just recently in the same restaurant again, in Rainbach, and we talked to the innkeeper and his daughter about them. She actually intends to come to you one day. Whether my wife and I are going to England soon. My "Memoirs" will be published in England in May 1970; As well as the publisher (it will certainly be a good one) is known, I will try to find out through this publisher's connections whether I am viewed as an "unwelcome person" in your home country. Of course, my wife and I would be very happy to come there one day. But we are already fully booked with our trips for 1969! [hand-corrected] So the only possibility left for 1969 is that the route takes you to Heidelberg again on your annual tour. With kind regards, also to Mrs Collins and from my wife, yours, Albert Speer [hand-signed]'.

The letter resides in the original envelope with Speer having added the word ‘England’ and with his personal address to the rear.

From the estate of the late David Sadler.