Fritz Todt Fritz Todt ( 4 September 1891 – 8 February 1942 ) was a German engineer and senior Nazi figure , the founder of " Organisation Todt " . He died in a plane crash during World War II . Life . Todt was born in Pforzheim to a father who owned a small factory . He studied at Technische Hochschule München and at Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe , receiving a Diplom degree in construction engineering from the latter . Later , he was awarded a Dr . - Ing . degree from the Technische Hochschule München with a thesis titled " Fehlerquellen beim Bau von Landstraßen aus Teer und Asphalt " ( Sources of failure in building state roads from tar and asphalt ) . In World War I , he initially served with the infantry and then as front line reconnaissance observer within the " Luftstreitkräfte " ( the German Air Forces – DLSK ) , winning the Iron Cross . After his military service , he finished his studies in 1920 and joined at first the " " Grün & Bilfinger AG , Mannheim " " company and , later , the civil engineering company Sager & Woerner ( 1921 ) . He joined the " Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei " ( NSDAP ) ( better known as the Nazi Party ) on 5 January 1922 . In 1931 , he became an " Oberführer " ( a rank equivalent to senior Colonel ) in the " Sturmabteilung " ( SA ) , which was then commanded by Ernst Röhm : that year , Todt also completed his doctorate ( on " " Fehlerquellen beim Bau von Landstraßendecken aus Teer und Asphalt " " – " Sources of defects in the construction of tarmac and asphalt road surfaces " ) . Nazi Germany . Following the appointment of Hitler as " Reichskanzler " on 30 January 1933 , Todt became ( in July ) " Generalinspektor für das deutsche Straßenwesen " ( " Inspector General for German Roadways " ) and was involved in the new construction company for the motorways ( " Reichsautobahnen " ) . He later became " Leiter des Hauptamts für Technik in der Reichsleitung der NSDAP " ( " Director of the Head Office for Engineering in the National Directorate of the NSDAP " ) and " Generalbevollmächtigter für die Regelung der Bauwirtschaft " ( " General Commissioner for the Regulation of the Construction Industry " ) . As a special privilege , Todt was permitted to have considerable power and was not necessarily immediately answerable to any of the Reich ministries . He was also appointed to the rank of " Generalmajor " of the Luftwaffe after its official promulgation in March 1935 . Todt was awarded the German National Prize for Art and Science by Hitler for his work on the autobahnen . This award was a replacement for the Nobel Prize which Hitler forbade Germans from accepting in 1936 . In 1938 , he founded the " Organisation Todt " ( OT ) , joining together government firms , private companies and the " Reichsarbeitsdienst " ( Reich Labor Service ) , for the construction of the " West Wall " , later renamed the " Siegfried Line " , for the defence of the " Reich " territory . On 17 March 1940 , he was appointed " Reichsminister für Bewaffnung und Munition " ( " Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions " ) and oversaw the work of " Organisation Todt " in the occupied west . After the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 , he was appointed to manage the restoration of the infrastructure there . In 1941 , he became increasingly distant from the commanders of the " Wehrmacht " and from " Reichsmarschall " Hermann Göring , the " Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe " ( Commander - in - chief of the Luftwaffe ) in particular . He did remain close to Hitler at this time ; yet , after an inspection tour of the Eastern Front , he complained to Hitler that , without better equipment and supplies for the armed forces , it would be better to end the war with the USSR . Inevitably , Hitler rejected such an assessment of the situation and carried on the offensive against the Soviets regardless . On 8 February 1942 , shortly after the start from the " Wolfsschanze " ( " Wolf ' s Lair " ) airfield near Rastenburg , his aircraft crashed . He was succeeded as " Reichsminister " by Albert Speer , who had narrowly missed being on the same aircraft . He was buried in the Invalid ' s Cemetery , located in the Scharnhorst - Strasse in Berlin and became the first holder , albeit posthumously , of the " Deutscher Orden " ( " German Order " ) . It was even suggested that Todt was the victim of an assassination plot , but this has never been confirmed . Albert Speer mentioned the Reich Air Ministry enquiry into the plane accident , which he said ended with " The possibility of sabotage is ruled out . Further measures are therefore neither requisite nor intended " . Speer thought this wording was " curious " . What was never in dispute , however , was that the OT used millions of forced laborers ( " Zwangsarbeiter " ) from the occupied countries of the " Reich " during World War II , and that the judging panel at the Nuremberg Trials ( formally , the " Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Court " ) in 1946 sentenced Speer to 20 years ' imprisonment for having headed this organisation and thus sanctioned the international illegal use of forced labor . In popular culture . Fritz Todt is portrayed in Robert Wilson ' s novel " The Company of Strangers " ( 2001 ) . In this book it is suggested that his death was organized by leading Nazi authorities .