Fritz Todt


Fritz Todt was a German construction engineer and senior figure of the Nazi Party. He was the founder of Organisation Todt, a military-engineering organisation that supplied German industry with forced labour, and served as Reich [Ministry of Armaments and War Production|Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition] in Nazi Germany early in World War II, directing the entire German wartime military economy from that position.
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 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 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 along with four other people in February 1942 near Wilhelmsdorf when his aircraft crashed en route from Rastenburg to Berlin-Tempelhof. 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 to Emil Todt and his wife, Elise, née Unterecker. 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.
During World War I, he served initially with the infantry and then as front line reconnaissance observer within the Luftstreitkräfte, winning the Iron Cross. After the war he resumed his studies and graduated in 1920.

Career

In 1921, he initially worked on waterpower stations for the Grün & Bilfinger AG, Mannheim company and the same year for the civil engineering company where he worked until 1933. In January 1922, he joined the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, or Nazi Party. In 1931, he joined the Sturmabteilung, which was then commanded by Ernst Röhm. He rose steadily through its ranks, attaining the rank of SA-Obergruppenführer in September 1938. In 1932, Todt completed his thesis at Technical Hochschule of Munich Fehlerquellen beim Bau von Landstraßendecken aus Teer und Asphalt and became a Doctor of Engineering.
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B01718, Ausstellung "Planung und Aufbau im Osten".jpg|thumb|right|275px|Rudolf Hess, Heinrich Himmler, Philipp Bouhler, Reich Minister Todt and Reinhard Heydrich, listening to Konrad Meyer at a Generalplan Ost exhibition, 20 March 1941
On 5 July 1933, five months after Adolf Hitler became Reichskanzler, Todt was appointed Generalinspektor für das deutsche Straßenwesen. In November, this public authority was raised to the status of a "Supreme Reich Authority" outside the hierarchy of Reich Ministries; Todt was subordinated directly to Hitler. Alan S. Milward characterized this phase as follows:
"His personal views on business questions and, what was more important, the success of the motorway project kept Todt in the inner circle of the Führer. At the same time, his deliberate pose as a technical expert, as a man without interest in internal power struggles, saved him from the adversaries of the more important party leaders for a long time".
He was given the task of organizing a new construction company for the motorways. He edited the journal Die Strasse, which was a publication of his agency from 1934 to 1942.
For his work on the autobahnen, Todt was recognized with the German National Prize for Art and Science by Hitler, next to Ernst Heinkel, Ferdinand Porsche and Willy Messerschmitt. Hitler donated the award during 1937, devised as a replacement for the Nobel Prize, which Hitler forbade Germans from accepting starting during 1936.
In December 1936, he became Leiter des Hauptamts für Technik in der Reichsleitung der NSDAP and, in December 1938, Generalbevollmächtigter für die Regelung der Bauwirtschaft in the Four Year Plan. At the beginning of World War II in Europe, he was also appointed to the rank of Generalmajor of the Luftwaffe. In May 1938, he initiated the Organisation Todt, joining government firms, private companies and the Reichsarbeitsdienst. OT used up to 800,000 forced labourers from countries that Germany occupied during World War II. Todt was responsible for the construction of the "West Wall" to defend the Reich territory.
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1978-Anh.023-02, Peenemünde, Emil Leeb, Fritz Todt, Wernher von Braun.jpg|thumb|Todt with Wernher von Braun at Peenemünde, 21 March 1941
On 17 March 1940, Todt was appointed Reichsminister für Bewaffnung und Munition which meant he managed the entire military economy.
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.
After the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Todt was appointed to manage the restoration of the infrastructure there. In late July 1941, he was named Generalinspekteur für Wasser und Energie. During that year, he became increasingly distant from the commanders of the Wehrmacht, in particular from Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, the Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe. After an inspection tour of the Eastern Front, Todt complained to Hitler that without better equipment and supplies for the armed forces, it would be better to end the war against the Soviet Union. Hitler rejected such an assessment and continued the offensive against the Soviets.

Death

On 8 February 1942, sometime after take off from the Wolfsschanze airfield near Rastenburg, in East Prussia, Todt's Heinkel He 111 aircraft crashed near the village of Wilhelmsdorf and he was killed. He was buried in the Invalids' Cemetery in the Scharnhorst-Strasse in Berlin. Posthumously, he became the first recipient of the newly created Deutscher Orden.
It has been suggested that Todt had been the victim of an assassination orchestrated by Hitler, but that has never been confirmed. A possible motive for killing Todt was that he had flown to the Wolf's Lair to recommend that Hitler sue for peace with the Soviet Union. 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.
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, thought that the wording was "curious".

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 Volk community because of the improvement of their weapons, ammunition and military equipment, and the saving of labor, raw materials and energy". The Badge of Honor came with a material prize and a certificate, was awarded as a medal made of gold, silver, or steel. The Golden Award of Honor was presented by Hitler in person upon proposal by the responsible Gauleiter, upon the joint proposal of Robert Ley, the director of the corresponding Deutsche Arbeitsfront and NSDAP leaders, and the director of the "Main office for Technology in the NSDAP", Albert Speer.

Major awards