# Quote — William L. Shirer, Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich

> That the German people were spared this final catastrophe was due to — aside from the rapid advances of the Allied troops, which made the carrying out of such a gigantic demolition impossible — the superhuman efforts of Speer and a number of Army officers who, in direct disobedience (finally!) of Hitler's orders, raced about the country to make sure that vital communications, plants and stores were not blown up by zealously obedient Army officers and party hacks.

- Author: [William L. Shirer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-l-shirer.md)
- Book: [Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-l-shirer/rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich.md)
- Page: 1103
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_L._Shirer#The_Rise_and_Fall_of_the_Third_Reich_(1960)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-l-shirer/rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich/that-the-german

## More from this book

> And had all the other orders of Hitler and Bormann — there were a number of supplementary directives -- been carried out, millions of Germans who had escaped with their lives up to then might well have died. Speer tried to summarize for the Nuremberg court the various "scorched earth" orders. To be destroyed he said were: "All industrial plants, all important electrical facilities, water works, gas works, food stores and clothing stores; all bridges, all railway and communication installations, all waterways, all ships, all freight cars and all locomotives."

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-l-shirer/rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich/and-had-all.md)

> "I have fallen from Heaven!" ("Ich bin vom Himmel gefallen!") Hitler exclaimed when he read Chamberlain's message. He was astounded but highly pleased that the man who presided over the destinies of the mighty British empire should come pleading to him, and flattered that a man who was sixty-nine years old and had never travelled in an airplane before should make the long seven hours' flight to Berchtesgaden at the farthest extremity of Germany. Hitler had not had even the grace to suggest a meeting place on the Rhine, which would have shortened the trip by half.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-l-shirer/rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich/i-have-fallen.md)

> Chamberlain's stubborn, fanatical insistence on giving Hitler what he wanted, his trips to Berchtesgaden and Godesberg and finally the fateful journey to Munich rescued Hitler from his limb and strengthened his position in Europe, in Germany, in the Army, beyond anything that could have been imagined a few weeks before. It also added immeasurably to the power of the Third Reich vis-à-vis the Western democracies and the Soviet Union.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-l-shirer/rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich/chamberlains-stubborn-fanatical.md)