Fritz Todt

Fritz Todt (Pforzheim, German Empire, September 4, 1891 - Rastenburg, February 8, 1942) was a German military and engineer. Featured figure within the Nazi Party, and founder of the Todt Organization, became known as the builder of numerous highways in Germany of the 1930s.

Biography

He was born in Pforzheim, his father owned a small factory. He studied engineering in Karlsruhe and then in Munich. He participated in World War I, initially in infantry and then as an observer of the air force, winning the Iron Cross. During the post-war period he completed his studies in 1920 and began working as an engineer for the Sager & Woerner company.

On January 5, 1922 he joined the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), the Nazi party. After Hitler's ascension to Chancellor (Reichskanzler) on January 30, 1933, Todt became Generalinspektor für das deutsche Straßenwesen (Inspector General) in July of that same year. of roads) and was involved in the enterprise of the construction of the new motorways (Reichsautobahnen).^{[citation needed]}

Todt later became Leiter des Hauptamts für Technik in der Reichsleitung der NSDAP (Director of the central office for technology in the administration of the NSDAP) and Generalbevollmächtigter für die Regelung der Bauwirtschaft(Head of the commission to regulate the construction industry).

As a special privilege, Todt was allowed considerable power and supervised all construction in the Reich. He was also appointed Generalmajor of the Luftwaffe in March 1935. In 1938 he founded the Todt Organization, an organization in which private companies and government companies were integrated into the Reichsarbeitsdienst i> (Reich Labor Service) and which was in charge of the Western Wall (Westwall), later known as the Siegfried Line, whose purpose was to defend German territory.

On March 17, 1940 he was appointed Reichsminister für Bewaffnung und Munition (Minister of Armaments and Ammunition) and supervised the work of the Todt Organization on the Eastern Front, after the invasion of the Union Soviet in June 1941. At the same time he was appointed to carry out the restoration of the railway infrastructure, since the gauge of the German railways was narrower than that of the Russian ones. Todt, who despite his position was a rather modest person, became an implacable enemy of Hermann Göring, who wanted the German steel magnates to be the direct beneficiaries of the Organization.

Todt expressed many times that the war with the Soviet Union was lost, and he made these presumptions personally before Hitler.

The strange death of Todt

On February 8, 1942, at dawn while visiting Hitler in the wolf's den, near Rastenburg in Prussia, Albert Speer arrived from Dnipropetrovsk to receive instructions and from there fly to Berlin. Todt, who had just left the meeting, somberly invited Speer to accompany him when he left in the morning, but Hitler objected and Speer declined the offer. Speer detailed his activities to Hitler while Todt slept before traveling.

In his book Memoirs, Speer observed that Todt was exhausted and very depressed. Speer was unable to find out the reason for his state of mind. It was later learned that Todt, before Speer's arrival, had had a bitter open discussion with Hitler about the conflict with the USSR and war production. Todt had declared to Hitler that the war was lost, this being the crux of the discussion.

At 3 o'clock, Todt boarded a civilian Heinkel 111 and during takeoff his plane exploded at a height of 30 meters, killing Todt and the entire crew immediately. Five hours later Hitler gave Albert Speer the position of Todt and control of his organization.

Speer said, suspiciously, that intelligence work may have been involved in this strange accident.

Later, the Air Ministry ordered an investigation into the accident to determine whether it had been sabotage or an accident. Hitler stopped the investigation cold and the subject was never discussed again.