NPR

Daughter Of Hitler's War Architect Has Made Fighting Anti-Semitism Her Life's Work

Hilde Schramm is the daughter of key Hitler adviser Albert Speer. That chapter in her life, and Germany's history, inspired her to start a foundation dedicated to supporting Jewish causes.
Hilde Schramm attends a press conference in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Jan. 21, 2019. Schramm, daughter of Hitler's architect Albert Speer, receives the Jewish history award for a foundation she founded to support Jewish women's cultural projects. (Michael Sohn/AP)

Anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise worldwide — in the United States, there was a reported 57 percent increase in 2017. That trend is being watched with concern by Hilde Schramm, who knows firsthand where it can lead.

Schramm, 82, is the daughter of Albert Speer, who was Adolf Hitler’s chief architect and later armaments minister. She inherited paintings from her father — which hadn’t been stolen, as so much art was during World War II — that she decided to sell in order to start the Zurückgeben Foundation, which offers financial support for Jewish female artists.

Schramm, a

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