In one of his books Chuck Colson tells about an interview with Albert Speer that took place on ABC’s “Good Morning, America.” Speer was the Hitler confidante whose technological genius kept Nazi factories humming throughout World War II. The only one of twenty-four war criminals tried in Nuremburg to admit his guilt, Speer spent twenty years in Spandau prison.
Interviewer David Hartman referred to a passage in one of Speer’s earlier writings: “You have said the guilt can never be forgiven, or shouldn’t be. Do you still feel that way?”
Colson says he will never forget the look of pathos on Speer’s face as he responded: “I served a sentence of twenty years, and I could say `I’m a free man, my conscience has been cleared by serving the whole time as punishment.’ But I can’t do that. I still carry the burden of what happened to millions of people during Hitler’s lifetime, and I can’t get rid of it. This new book is part of my atoning, of clearing my conscience.”
Hartman pressed the point. “You really don’t think you’ll be able to clear it totally?” Speer shook his head, “I don’t think it will be possible.”
For thirty-five years Speer had accepted complete responsibility for his crime. His writings were filled with contrition and warnings to others to avoid his moral sin. He desperately sought expiation. All to no avail.
Colson says he wanted to write Speer, to tell him about Jesus and His death on the cross, about God’s forgiveness. But there wasn’t time. The ABC interview was Speer’s last public statement; he died shortly after. (1)
How sad, but also how revealing. Speer learned what millions of others have learned through the ages. There is no forgiveness in this world save at the foot of the cross. That is where forgiveness begins.
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1. Charles Colson, WHO SPEAKS FOR GOD?, (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1985).