1. Fritz Todt was a German construction engineer and senior figure of the Nazi Party.
19 Facts About Fritz Todt
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Fritz Todt was the founder of Organisation Todt, a military-engineering organisation that supplied German industry with forced labour, and served as Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition in Nazi Germany early in World War II, directing the entire German wartime military economy from that position.
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An engineer by training, Todt served in the Luftstreitkrafte during World War I and was a recipient of the Iron Cross.
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Fritz Todt joined the Nazi Party in 1922 and the Sturmabteilung in 1931.
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Steadily rising through the ranks, Fritz Todt became Inspector General for German Roadways after Adolf Hitler came to power.
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In 1938, he founded Organisation Fritz Todt and directed large-scale engineering projects such as the Westwall and the Atlantic Wall.
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Fritz Todt was killed in February 1942 near Rastenburg when his aircraft crashed shortly after take-off.
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Fritz Todt was succeeded as Reichsminister and head of the OT by Albert Speer.
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Fritz Todt was born in Pforzheim in the Grand Duchy of Baden to Emil Fritz Todt and his wife, Elise, nee Unterecker.
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From 1911 to 1914, Fritz Todt studied engineering at Technical Hochschule of Munich and Karlsruhe, graduating with a Diplom degree in construction engineering from the latter.
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Fritz Todt rose steadily through its ranks, attaining the rank of SA-Obergruppenfuhrer in September 1938.
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Fritz Todt was given the task of organizing a new construction company for the motorways.
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Fritz Todt edited the journal Die Strasse, which was a publication of his agency from 1934 to 1942.
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In May 1938, he initiated the Organisation Fritz Todt, joining government firms, private companies and the Reichsarbeitsdienst.
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Fritz Todt was responsible for the construction of the "West Wall" to defend the Reich territory.
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On 17 March 1940, Fritz Todt was appointed Reichsminister fur Bewaffnung und Munition which meant he managed the entire military economy.
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In October 1940, Fritz 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.
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Fritz Todt wanted to use Fascist Italy's empire as a model for the development of a Nazi colonial empire.
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Fritz Todt was buried in the Invalids' Cemetery in the Scharnhorst-Strasse in Berlin.