Mysterious Ending of Dr. Fritz Todt

Dr. Todt was gone, and he was only 55. The date was February 8 th , 1942. Questions must have been raised, but one of two men who had the 'guts' to raise any questions when it was 'the Fuehrer' himself one was dealing with, was Fritz Todt. The other was, of course, Adolf Speer, but he had been made 'the beneficiary', if one could so put it. Ordinarily, more questions might have been asked. There was nothing 'ordinary' about what had then just happened. Hitler was elected under very ordinary circumstances in Berlin, in May 1933, following regular elections. Among his assets was talking or canvassing Josef Goebbels. He (Hitler) won the election, and he got sworn in, under the supervision of the 'Reichspresident', Herr General Emil von Hindenburg, whom everybody knew 'was on his death-bed.'  But Hitler subsequently hijacked everything one could describe as normal. The Fuehrer ran ' an Animal Farm extraordinaire,'   whilst the world looked on nervously or fought ineffectively until after 12 years, the same world watched 'the curtain fall' and the victims had been multitudinous. The victims keep getting counted, even until today, and they are in dozens of millions. Six million Jews and how many million Ukrainians?  How many died in North Africa?  How many in Germany itself? The British, the French, the Belgians, the citizens of the then Colonies, especially those under the British and French 'Empires', who were marched to the Sub-Continent to fight for their masters?  Hitler meant braggingly, his Nazi-party would last ONE THOUSAND YEARS.  It lasted only 0.12% of what he had predicted. Out of the 36 'Reichsministers' that Adolf Hitler appointed, twenty-nine were convicted (acquired) Nazi-enthusiasts, those, who initially, might have been able to stop Hitler, but they didn't, arguing that he was just an 'imbecile', and that he wouldn't reach far, 'were just wrong.' How could they all go so much wrong? But, why too did men like Dr. Todt join in voluntarily? He believed in 'Hitlerism.' But, is it not true that HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF? Each and every one of us, as world citizens, must ask ourselves, when all of a sudden we may be stopped from saying what we feel should be right for the 'ordinary CITIZENS.' But, then someone quickly may ask you, how much of 'any education' would one need? You and I could spend the rest of our lives defining the ordinary citizen. Who is he, or she, and what are his or her rights?  Is a Colonel from the army educated enough to lead a nation, or is primary education or none of it at all, enough to qualify anybody to understand what the ballot paper carries?  Has a Doctor of Medicine got what it takes? Were men like Julius Nyerere, the two Bushes, Bill Clinton, and Tony Blair enough material? They stopped dictators, right? After reading Dr. Arthur Kennedy's book, 'Chasing the Elephant back into The Bush', I wrote him a personal letter, congratulating him, but I did not miss the opportunity of asking him, if I could quote him when I felt it would be appropriate?  As expected, he had no objection. That was fine. I talked to someone 'I knew closely' whether he would like to read it too. I could describe his reaction to it as 'lukewarm.'  He accepted it.  But, I have hardly heard him pass even a casual comment on it. Now and again, I would ask him how he found the book. Not being able to discuss it at all, convinces me that he hasn't read it, no! Sad as I find it, it is also true that many prominent enough personalities that have made the effort to read i to begin with, say that 'Arthur  Kennedy should have discussed the errors he (Kennedy) felt must have contributed to their 'narrow defeat', before 'daring to put it into a book.' Really! And we are talking of a democracy!  As it turned out, it all speaks for itself, the fact that he was not given any chance to come close enough to the 'big pot' so as not to spoil the soup a second time around. In hearing him on radio interviews since then, especially after the ' Flagbearer' yet again, had constituted his team for the battle the second time around, does it seem he himself, ' the one-time loser'  would have done as his party-colleagues would have wished, by consulting them first. Do things move that way?  He is now distantly contributing 'his quota'. That too could be seen as a contribution.  I am convinced he wishes his party the best! So, people might learn that even in a Democracy you may not utter all you feel, or all you think! 'That's life', that is how the late Frank Sinatra would put it. We still come closer to the assignment we seem unable to have solved. Just what happened to the aircraft that bore just the pilot and Dr. Fritz Todt on that fateful February 8 th , 1944?  He was one among two out of 36 Cabinet Ministers of the Hitler's Band, who would dare raise an 'occasional objection.' Did he say enough?

Dr. Kofi Dankyi Beeko, MD.
E-mail: [email protected] mailto:[email protected]

Programmed for the 03/04/13, and 10-04, 2013