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Discussion Forum |
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Susan Barrett is a teacher of Modern History at
McCarthy Catholic College in Tamworth, NSW Australia.
She is also Careers Adviser and part time Librarian.
The school website is : http://www.mccarthy.nsw.edu.au/ |
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Susan Barrett found Jerry Gallante's paper (Spring 2003) to be very useful.
"My students evaluated the same historians as Jerry plus several others such as Hamscher and King. As a group we were in agreement with most of his insights except for his interpretation of Matthias Schmidt. We felt Schmidt was critical of Speer and the points/quotes Jerry sees as a positive, we interpreted as a negative eg. Galante's comments on Speer at Nuremberg were:
In addition, Speer is seen as someone that Schmidt admires for his tact and intelligence. He showers Speer with compliments within the book. 'Speer's cultivated manners, his intellectually fashioned aura of remorse did not fail to make an impression on the observers, the prosecutors, and the judges.' (11) 'And so, at the Nuremberg Tribunal, Hitler's favorite minister defended himself with admirable dexterity and strategical genius.' (12) 'Nevertheless, although declared a major war criminal, Speer once again displayed his extraordinary flexibility.' (13) It is with an admiring tone that Schmidt describes virtually every action of the minister, making him out to be a certifiable genius of all dimensions.
However, my students see Speer's 'cultivated manners, his intellectually fashioned aura of remorse‚' and the fact that he defended himself with‚ 'admirable dexterity and strategical genius‚' as proof of Speer's 'deliberate attempts to cultivate favour with the judges and present himself in a positive light in order to get a lighter sentence. It was a deliberate performance by Speer. Schmidt was critical of Speer. We felt that Schmidt did not present Speer in‚ 'a good light'‚ as Galante writes."
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Contact
For additional information, please contact:
Dr. Cristina Zaccarini
Associate Professor
Department of History
Blodgett Hall, Rm 200
p - 516.877.4788
f - 516.877.4797
e - zaccarin@adelphi.edu
This page last modified on 15 July 2008
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