The End of the Third Reich
By August, 1945, the Third Reich is near collapse. Her armies are being depleted and the Allies are getting ever so close the Berlin, the capital of Germany. The Germans are running out of fuel for their vehicles and the planes of the air force are almost gone. Germany is collapsing and her leaders are powerless. The citizens are scared and don't know what to do. The end is near. |
Hitler's "Scorched Earth" Decree (Nero Decree) (March 19, 1945) and Albert Speer's Response (March 29, 1945)
"On March 19, 1945, the hopeless state of the war effort prompted Hitler to issue the “Nero Decree,” which called for the complete destruction of Germany’s infrastructure. The approaching enemy would thus find nothing but “scorched earth.” Hitler justified this step as a military necessity, but his intention was to destroy the German population as punishment for its defeat. There was to be no future for the nation after National Socialism. The day before Hitler issued his decree, Minister of Armaments and War Production Albert Speer (1905-1981) had submitted a memorandum opposing Hitler’s plans for mass destruction. Hitler ignored it, however. In Speer’s response to Hitler’s decree, reproduced below, he once again expressed his fundamental opposition. In the end, Speer decided that his ministry would have to implement any measures geared toward mass destruction. Thus, together with the Wehrmacht and the administration, it could also go far in blocking Hitler’s plans." [http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1590]
"On March 19, 1945, the hopeless state of the war effort prompted Hitler to issue the “Nero Decree,” which called for the complete destruction of Germany’s infrastructure. The approaching enemy would thus find nothing but “scorched earth.” Hitler justified this step as a military necessity, but his intention was to destroy the German population as punishment for its defeat. There was to be no future for the nation after National Socialism. The day before Hitler issued his decree, Minister of Armaments and War Production Albert Speer (1905-1981) had submitted a memorandum opposing Hitler’s plans for mass destruction. Hitler ignored it, however. In Speer’s response to Hitler’s decree, reproduced below, he once again expressed his fundamental opposition. In the end, Speer decided that his ministry would have to implement any measures geared toward mass destruction. Thus, together with the Wehrmacht and the administration, it could also go far in blocking Hitler’s plans." [http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1590]