All the learning in the world cannot replace instinct.

By 1938 he owned a luxurious estate near Cologne a string of villas in other cities a fleet of cars a private railway carriage and a large art collection. As the air war against Germany increased from 1943 "dehousing" German workers became an objective of the Allied area bombing campaign and Ley's commissariat was increasingly unable to cope with the resulting housing crisis. Here his job was to prepare for the effects on German housing of the expected Allied air attacks on German cities which began to increase in intensity from 1941 onwards.

Robert Ley (German pronunciation: [ˈlaɪ]; 15 February 1890 – 25 October 1945) was a Nazi politician and head of the German Labour Front from 1933 to 1945.