Jan 4, 2008 Posted by Nancy Williams on Jan 4, 2008 in Books read, History, Non-Fiction, Twentieth Century, War | 0 comments

The Nuremberg Interviews – Leon Goldensohn

The Nuremberg Interviews were conducted by Leon Goldensohn during the trials of 1945-1946. Gathered together and finally published by his brother, Eli, and carefully edited and annotated by Robert Gellately, this primary historical source makes for chilling reading. Goldensohn, an American Jewish psychiatrist, was present at the prison and conducted interviews with many of the defendants and witnesses of Nuremberg. What results is a story of banality, in some cases inhumanity, weakness, bombast and fear. Through questioning, the personalities of the leading players came out, sometimes to terrifying and devastating effect.

I did not know all of the defendants or witnesses, but those that I did know – Goering, Ribbentrop, Jodl, Keitel and Franck among others, were suddenly given colour. To hear their own words was chilling. Most begged innocence. Most exonerated themselves of any responsibility for the mass murder and horror of the Second World War. Most chose to blame those players who were dead – Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler. And most were clearly lying and delusional.

The most frightening of all was the interview with Rudolf Hoess – Kommandant of Auschwitz prison. His account of his responsibilities and the cool detatchment with which he spoke of them made me feel physically ill. I had to put the book down halfway through the chapter because I couldn’t stand reading further. To think that humans could be so detached in the face of suffering and murder, as attested to by his own words, was almost impossible.

This is a valuable historical source. It makes for incredibly compelling reading – if nothing else to find out how utterly ordinary most of the people involved with Hitler actually were. They didn’t appear to be monsters. They didn’t appear large as life. They just seemed like very ordinary (or often weak, snivelling or pathetic) men who for some reason, ceased to think like civilised human beings when it came to genocide.

A must for any historian of World War II. But be prepared.

Rating: 8/10
ISBN: 1-8459-5014-3
Publisher: Pimlico
Year: 2006
Date Finished: 29 December 2007