The Reich Chancellery was a magnificent building that had been finished exterior construction before the beginning of the war; and the interior decorations completely installed before the surprise attack. The Führers favorite architect, Albert Speer had overseen the design and construction of the building was handsomely rewarded for the effort.
On December 18th, 1942, Speer was awarded as the position of Armaments Minister, which was a monumental task at the end of the year. Factories that the Reich would nominally count on were in lands being occupied by the Soviets. There was a shortage of male workers to keep production of vital armaments around the clock, and production of consumer goods was near level with that of peacetime. With keen awareness of organization and priority, Speer cut down the level of consumer goods, and worked with factories to employ females in shifts to continue production into the evening and night.
His influence extended beyond the factory floor. Speer has collaborated with the High Command and me numerous times in standardizing production of armaments – most notably the construction of heavy panzers favored by the Führer. I was privy to information that Speer had personally informed the Fuhrer of the cancellation of his special projects, the gigantic Lowe and Maus panzers; which would be unsuitable for the style of warfare that was being faced. Guderian and I were informed that the Führer was disheartened by the loss of his projects; but since it came from his favorite person and adviser, he could understand the necessity of the request.
Speer had become a sought after commodity, and it was my prerogative to use the main who was rumored to be a possible successor to the Führer to assist the advantage of the conspiracy. Discussions within the conspirators was always, hazy at best, but nobody could exactly determine who would best suit the German industrial needs – the answer always came back to the man who currently occupied the situation. Ludwig Beck, the head of the conspiracy simply stated that we had to keep Speer as a “will work on it” basis. However; I had a feeling that if the new government were to call on the man, he would answer without question.
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We continued up the steps, reaching the landing entrance and pushed open the heavy wooden door. I did not know what to expect. I knew through this door was the spacious marble gallery; which 145 meters long. I wondered if perhaps Hitler’s loyal guards would be in the gallery, ready to shoot intruders. I figured it was no secret what was going outside, so the likelihood of being shot felt high. We entered the gallery, and there was utter silence except for some faint sounds of weeping and sniffs. The fear of being shot and killed receded from my gut.
I had worked my way to the front of the group and was a few steps ahead of the nearest person, Stauffenberg. The weeping and sniffling sounds remained, and seemed to grow ever slightly in volume. I looked to my right, and did not see the source of the sound. I repeated the motion but to my left and saw a man whose head was lowered, being supported in his palms, elbows resting on his knees. Further intrigued by seeing a man crying inside the Chancellery, I detoured from the group and the immediate plans to storm the Führerbunker to the person of interest.
I noticed that the cries became softer and less frequent as I drew closer. The sound of boots against marble is noticeable, and alerted him to somebody approaching. The sound also alerted me that the rest of my party had noticed my movement and were following suit. I halted three feet in front of the man, and looked down at him. His attire seemed rather familiar, I knew this man.
“Speer?” I said rather quietly. Increasing volume I asked a second question. “What are you doing here?”
“I…” he looked up, sensing that he and I were not alone. His face had turned red from the weeping. “I told him everything. I could not do it the coward’s way,” he said the tears and sniffling hinting at returning. A tear appeared to run down his left cheek a second later.
Our faced turned the same color as Speer’s. The betrayers had been betrayed. I completed an about face and saw Stauffenberg slowly reaching for his pistol. Rundstedt, Guderian, and Model were staring at Fromm; which surprised me. I then noticed an odd movement from Fromm that racked my nerves.
“You are all under arrest,” Fromm said at first with a rasp in his voice. “You are all under arrest!” he repeated but with more confidence.
I still faced Stauffenberg and noticed he had finished retrieving his Luger. It was not pointed at either of the party, but downwards. From his words, it did seem like he noticed Stauffenberg. “Schnack!” ordered Fromm. “Turn around and face me.” I followed his order with only a slight delay, to confirm to Stauffenberg I would not reveal he had his weapon prepared.
“Speer, get with the traitors!” demanded Fromm. I wondered how Fromm knew I was a traitor. Perhaps, I along with Speer were being lodged with the group based on the circumstances. As far as I knew, none of my correspondence had been compromised.
Fromm had taken interest in watching Speer reluctantly at first get up from the wooden bench. With his interest divided, Stauffenberg slipped behind Fromm and methodically raised the Luger to his head. “Good bye Herr General,” he said with a wide grin showing. The single shot forced blood and skin splatter onto Stauffenberg face. Fromm seemed to slowly lurch forward before gaining momentum and causing a thunderous thud. He landed an inch in front of Guderian’s boots; which amazingly as far as I saw avoided blood.
We all stared at the motionless Fromm as blood began to pool on the floor from his wound. Stauffenberg had wiped his face with a handkerchief from his breast pocket, afterwards throwing it down to Fromm’s corpse. Speer came over to me and whispered into my ear and began walking off towards a hallway. I followed suit, indicating to the group that I would rendezvous before the showdown in Hitler’s room. We parted ways, with Stauffenberg distraught at my departure. I could sense that something did not seem to add up.
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