Hilde Schramm

Hilde Schramm
Schramm in 2012
Born
Hilde Speer

(1936-04-17) 17 April 1936 (age 88)
NationalityGerman
OccupationPolitician
Parents

Hilde Schramm (née Speer; 17 April 1936) is a German politician for Alliance 90/The Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen). Internationally she is best known as the daughter of the German architect and high-ranked Nazi Party official Albert Speer (1905–1981), and the younger sister of Albert Speer Jr. (1934–2017).

Biography

Hilde Schramm (left) at the Berghof (Hitler's country house) in 1940. SS officer Josef "Sepp" Dietrich with sister Margret on his lap. Photo by Eva Braun.

As a teenager, Schramm was awarded an American Field Service scholarship to study in the United States. The US government initially refused her a visa, but reversed its decision in the face of publicity, including offers of hospitality from several families (some of them Jewish).[1]

Schramm became a prominent European political figure who distinguished herself for helping victims of antisemitism and Nazi atrocities. In 1994, she was awarded the Moses Mendelssohn Award from Berlin for her work.[2] Schramm is active in politics, and has been a leader of the Green Party in Berlin. She has served as member of the Berlin House of Representatives from 1985 to 1987 and 1989 to 1991 and its vice president between 1989 and 1990.[3]

Schramm had a lengthy correspondence with her father while he was in Spandau Prison, from which he was released in October 1966.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ Sereny, Gitta (1995). Albert Speer: His Battle With Truth (First ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 625. ISBN 0-394-52915-4.
  2. ^ Loy, Thomas (9 May 2004). "Ein Mensch ist mehr als Tochter oder Sohn". Tagesspiegel – Berlin (in German). Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  3. ^ Hamrén, Henrik (17 April 2005). "Hilde Schramm tells how it really feels to be the daughter of Albert Speer". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  4. ^ Sereny, Gitta (1995). Albert Speer: His Battle With Truth. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 637–661. ISBN 0-394-52915-4.Gitta Sereny's book "Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth" mentions two visits of Hilde, in company with her brother Albert at the first (followed by a meal at 'superchic' restaurant Horcher's), and the second with her sister Margret (pp. 641–42; Chapter XXIV, "Spandau II" of the 1995 Alfred Knopf hardback edition). Hilde brought her new husband Ulf to visit her father in prison two months after their marriage (Ibid. at 653). The same chapter documents Hilde's efforts with foreign governments lobbying for his early release. A quote from Ibid. at p. 658: "It was the silly season, "but it was infectious," Hilde said. "We let him dream his dreams, and meanwhile got on with it, but it was quite exciting. I think my brothers and sisters were pretty anxious; my mother too, but I less. I felt I knew him pretty well, and I liked him."" Gitta Sereny's book documents, thoroughly and throughout, and with Hilde Speer Schramm's assistance, as shown above, an ongoing correspondence with her father.
  5. ^ d'Arcy, Abby (11 September 2015). "Speer's daughter and the Syrian refugees". BBC News, BBC World Service. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
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