Dawson Davis
Advanced Summer Research Scholar
Majors: History, Economics
Mentor: Gunther Jikeli
Albert Speer was one of Nazi Germany’s most impactful contributors to the Holocaust. Heading the country’s slave labor projects from 1942 to 1945, Speer was undoubtedly a figurehead for Nazi atrocities. Despite this, Speer’s performance in Nuremberg and his personal reputation with the public granted him several advantages over his former acquaintances. Evading the death penalty, Speer would later go on to fabricate and promote many myths surrounding the Holocaust. With the help of influential editors, historians, and industrialists, Speer’s depiction of the Holocaust and of Nazi Germany gained significant traction. Despite over 40 years of academic conclusion on Speer’s guilt in the Holocaust, many of Speer’s misconceptions and talking points can still be seen today, the largest being that the Holocaust was carried out by very few people. This research examines why Albert Speer in particular was so successful in spreading the myth of the “good Nazi”.
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