Nuremberg Diary

G.M. Gilbert was a U.S. Army psychologist, who had 24/7 access to the top brass of the first Nuremberg trial--Goering, Strasser, Speer, von Pappen, von Ribbentropp, to name a few. Not all received the death sentence, although Goering managed to cheat the hangman with a cyanide capsule, the day of or the day before the scheduled hanging, something well known to students of the Third Reich and the Second World War. And this was truly a World War. No sea lanes were safe. England was on its knees, and after the U.S. entered the war, the drip, drip, drip of U.S. Aid became a flood--and the U.S. protects our citizens and soldiers on the ocean waves. I am a trained Clinical Psychologist and Neuropsychologist. So, I know where the profession started--in Nuremberg. Testing of recruits was the beginning the mass intelligence testing, however, one-on-one counseling also began here, with interviews by Gilbert who was to learn everything he could about these mass criminals, while at the same time trying to prevent suicide (on was successful before Goering. This book represents the sum and total of what Gilbert learned under these unnatural constraints--and he listened and learned a great deal. There is much more here than documentary series about the leaders of the Third Reich could convey. It isn't difficult reading, but I recommend it to anyone. You can easily wonder if under the right circumstances, your obnoxious 1st cousin, or your next-door neighbor, could rise to the level of being part of such a cabal. It has even occurred after this horrible war--Josef Stalin and his close advisors, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia after the U.S. abandoned South Vietnam, North Korea, Communist China (sometimes we seem to forget that it is a totalitarian system, and that companies helped onto their feet in our republic have abandoned us to set up shop in China, and assist the Communist Chinese in managing billions of people, down to managing who can travel, buy airline tickets, whether that person is a nuclear physicist or a rice farmer, or one who toils unfortunately in an Apple factory, where suicide nets outside the dormitories are necessary. Would such be tolerated if it were on display here???? I recall a track in a Mothers of Invention album, about 1966, called "It Can't Happen Here." Well, how prophetic, because it can happen here, I hate to tell you. Just read a few chapters of Nuremberg Diary. The translations are of course first rate So here, after roughly 70 years of research in psychology, we have not learned much about "The Authoritarian Personality" (1950s), or social conditions under which people will execute a person they have never seen (1950s, 1960s, the Zimbardo and Milgram experiments. Well, the fact that this can occur in a relatively benign fashion has already been demonstrated. We have a few freshman congresspeople who speak virulent hate and there is not a peep from so-called leadership of any stripe. When you hear "let's bring back the House Un-American Activities Committee" which held hearings in the 1950s, is that really uncool? Is there anything that qualifies as "un-American"? Well, the Germans managed to concoct a theory of what was "un-German" an put it into ACTION as quickly as any fascist or communist dictator did it. You can, in my opinion, learn a great deal about the national and world's troubles of 2019 in this priceless book about an unprecedented war crimes trial held in 1945.

Before laying my thoughts on the importance of this book, this recorded History by Dr. Gilbert it is in my view important to understand what the basis of not only the trial meant at the end of the war but for the innocent victims of the Concentration Camps. Nothing in this diary work hit me harder than the details of words that Dr. Gilbert used in the recording of the interview he held with Colonel Rudolf Hoess; the Commandant of Auschwitz on 9 April 1946. Hoess commanded the camp from May of 1940 to December of 1943 – “efficiency” never had a more diabolical meaning and existence, yet matter-of-fact employment of the term. It is extremely difficult to fathom and believe today in 2017 that “efficiency” would ever have had this sort of application to the destruction of people, classes of people, people that deserved protection from the most hideous and disgusting purpose to the existence of mankind; I also doubt that never in the history of mankind had that this hatred ever existed on an “efficient” scale of this magnitude. Herein lay the facts, the terms, the reality of the truth to the demented henchmen that ran a machine for purposes that today I still cannot fully comprehend – I am not alone. Many good people who aren’t perfect people feel the same way. Having lost a Belgian uncle to a concentration camp during this war it is in my mind an equation whereby I cannot internally equate any reason that would support any belief that this was “necessary”. Gold teeth melted and sent to the financial institutions, hair for pillows, confiscated property, the removal of civil rights of citizens and some of which that had in fact fought for this same nation during the First World War. (See my review please on “Somme – Into the Breach” on one Lieutenant F.L. Cassel.) Dr. Gilbert had provided a psychological blot test to all the defendants following the Indictment Phase of this court proceeding. During discussions in the cell of Hoess that followed the test, Dr. Gilbert proceeded to discuss the Auschwitz Camp. Hoess provided the information that roughly 2.5 million Jews were exterminated (as opposed to “killed”) during his tenure. Dr. Gilbert had asked how this was technically possible – Hoess quickly replied in return with a question “Technically?” then went on to state that he (Dr. Gilbert) was thinking of this all wrong. Hoess referenced in conversation that one had to break the system up to 24 hours; and, in 24 hours 10,000 people were “killed” (he used the word “exterminated” again and I cannot bring myself to think in of innocence in this manner). Hoess went on to explain that there were 6 chambers total; 2 large ones and 4 smaller ones. The 2 larger could accommodate 2,000 persons, the 4 smaller ones 1,500 all within a 24 hour period – Hoess stated so matter of fact with another correction “…no you don’t figure it right – the killing took the least amount of time – killing 2,000 would take a half an hour…” Hoess went on to state that “…It was the burning that took the most amount of time…” Herein lay the suggestion that many more could have been killed had they only found a more "efficient” manner to dispose of the bodies more quickly. Hoess then went into the logistics of moving the bodies from the chambers to the crematorium and the work that followed. This had to have stunned Dr. Gilbert – he hid his feelings well; however, the few words that follow within this passage made me feel as though I was sitting next to him, looking at Hoess. The author was the Psychologist at the Nuremberg Trials and had unfettered access to all the accused. Dr. Gilbert begins the first chapter by introducing each of the defendants though not in chronological order – this is based more on IQ tests that were administered to each and with each, Dr. Gilbert had brief discussions. This added an interest point for me, though I admit for no particular reason. His perception of Albert Speer I thought was most interesting in this early chapter and covered a mere couple of paragraphs. Having read “Spandau” and “Inside the Third Reich” the internal thoughts I had of Speer were somewhat confirmed in this early part of the book. The IQ tests and discussions began before the trial began but directly after the indictments had been handed to each of the defendants. As the writings of Dr. Gilbert would show based on his direct interactions with all of the accused – Albert Speer was the one constant throughout the whole process of this trial. That is to say – he never wavered from his conviction of the waste the Nazi Party brought to the world nor of the destruction it brought to the nation of Germany as a result of the same. He was truly sorry for his support of Hitler in the early years, this came to a head in the latter years – his testimony to the Nuremburg trial only made one mad man Goering more crazy than he was. Even after a near year of trials and imprisonment, both Dr. Goldensohn and Dr. Gilbert’s analysis conveyed the professional opinion that Herr Goering was still a drug addict though he had not had any form of access to the heroine or amphetamines he had during the final days of the Third Reich. Death toll for the nations that fought during the Second World War – this as a reminder why the Nuremberg Trial was a necessary component to the war, atrocities, and the willingness of breaking of international agreements to sovereign nations across the globe – as an American, I am equally reminded that it was the Imperial Forces of Japan that brought our own entry into this war; additionally, it was Germany that declared war upon the United States and not the other way around. Casualties listed by caused upon by armed belligerent forces: Allied: 14,276,800 (estimate – 10 million listed as Soviet Soldiers) Axis: 6,582,000 (estimate – German numbers have never been officially verified during the World War II and nor for World War I) Civilian Casualties: Allied: 25,986,500 (estimate – 10 million listed as Soviet Civilians) Axis: 1,686,000 (estimate – German numbers have never been officially verified) A refresher for the results of the Nuremburg Trials are posted here for the arm chair historian and the otherwise curious. There were four counts provided against the defendants within the indictment: 1. Conspiracy to commit crimes alleged in other counts; 2. Crimes against peace; 3. War crimes; 4. Crimes against humanity. 1. Herman Goering: Guilty on all 4 counts; Death by Hanging; committed suicide before judgement had been rendered; the Lutheran Chaplain refused to provide last rites as Goering never admitted anything of wrong doing and his pompous style was indicative of the drug addict he was and remained to the very end. 2. Rudolf Hess: Guilty on counts 1 and 2; Life in Prison. 3. Joachim von Ribbentrop: Guilty on all 4 counts; Death by Hanging. 4. Robert Ley: Committed suicide in Prison Cell 25 October 1945 5. Wilhelm Keitel: Guilty on all 4 counts; Death by Hanging 6. Ernst Kaltenbrunner: Guilty on counts 3 and 4; Death by Hanging 7. Alfred Rosenberg: Guilty on all 4 counts; Death by Hanging 8. Hans Frank: Guilty on counts 3 and 4; Death by Hanging 9. Wilhelm Frick: Guilty on counts 3 and 4; Death by Hanging 10. Julius Streicher: Guilty on count 4; Death by Hanging 11. Walter Funk: Guilty on counts 2, 3, and 4; Life in Prison 12. Hjalmer Schacht: Not Guilty 13. Karl Doenitz: Guilty on counts 2 and 3; 10 years in Prison 14. Erich Raeder: Guilty on counts 1, 2, and 3; Life in Prison 15. Baldur von Schirach: Guilty on count 4; 20 years in Prison 16. Fritz Sauckel: Guilty on counts 3 and 4; Death by Hanging 17. Alfred Jodl: Guilty on all 4 counts; Death by Hanging 18. Martin Bormann: In Absentia – Guilty on counts 3 and 4; Death by Hanging – long story as to whether he survived the war or not. 19. Franz von Papen: Not Guilty 20. Arthur Seyss-Inquart: Guilty on counts 2, 3, and 4; Death by Hanging 21. Albert Speer: Guilty on counts 2 and 3; 20 years in Prison 22. Constantin von Neurath: Guilty on all 4 counts; 15 years in Prison 23. Hans Frizsche: Not Guilty 24. Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach: Following the Allied victory, plans to prosecute Gustav Krupp as a war criminal at the 1945 Nuremberg Trials was dropped as he was bedridden and senile. Krupp remained technically still under indictment and liable to prosecution in subsequent proceedings As with the “Rape of Nanking” I proudly purchased this book at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. in August of 2016 – the bookstore there is a treasure trove of the saddest stories to history; important people be reminded of what occurred and is a most somber and dignified museum. I will leave this review now; the Holocaust deniers then as now are simply people I do not, nor will ever understand.

The Author, Gustave Gilbert, was an American psychologist (PhD from Columbia) who was also a native German speaker (parents were Austrian immigrants). When the war broke out he joined the army as an intelligence officer (translator/interpreter). When surviving Nazi leadership was rounded up and taken to Nuremberg for war crimes trials in late 1945-1946, Captain Gilbert was appointed as the official psychologist for the group of prisoners and he had unfettered access to them throughout the several months of trials. His diary is fascinating - he took contemporaneous notes and published them verbatim, so you are basically listening directly to the words of Goering, Speer, Ribbentrop, and others as they went through the trial process - how they felt about the prosecution, how they crafted their defenses. In addition to the record of these conversations, Captain Gilbert also eavesdropped on the defendants during the trial and took notes, and he debriefed German speaking American guards at the prison to give unimpeded insight into the minds of these Nazi war criminals. It is a must read - I have never experienced anything like this, including in my travels to Germany - this book puts you right there.

This was a fascinating, engaging book. The author does not hold back his opinions on the subjects, and his distaste for some of the defendants' outrageous amorality and cowardice makes it all the more interesting. It is a true "diary," infused with passions and prejudice, and it makes the reader feel like he/she is right there along with the trial observers, eavesdropping on the Nazi leadership's perception of their day(s) of reckoning. We all know how it ends but it's a good and gripping read all the way through.

This book was written by Captain Gilbert of the US Army who was the psychologist assigned to the Nuremberg Trials to speak with the main war criminals. This is a chronological account of the events leading up to the trials, during the trials and while they were awaiting for their death sentences to be carried out. At each phase Captain Gilbert had the unenviable duty of speaking with all of the major war criminals throughout the trial so that the Nuremberg (Nürnberg in German) Court could be certain that these men remained able to participate in their own defense. This book is arguably the greatest insight we have into the minds of the major Nazi leaders and "The banality of evil."

Dr Gilbert's book, written in 1945/46, provides a fascinating view of the catastrophe that was the second world war. What made it most interesting for me was that I read it immediately after the currently (2012)popular "Paris 1919" - a record of the actions of the participants in WWI in "arranging" the world following the defeat of Germany. Sadly, much of what the Nazi defendants in Nuremberg said about the causes of the rise of Hitler are much more believable now (in retrospect), as are their predictions about the rise of the USSR and the coming of the cold war. I am now reading Goldensohn's book "The Nuremberg Interviews", which provides a companion piece to the foregoing, further supporting the observations made above. I'd recommend all three for a bit of enlightening reading. (Not light, but quite profound.)

"Nuremberg Diary", by G. M. Gilbert, tells about Dr Gilbert's interactions with the top Nazi war criminals during the first Nuremberg tribunal/trial in 1945/46. Dr Gilbert was the prison psychologist (as opposed to psychiatrist) at Nuremberg, and had unfettered access to the military officers and civilians on trial. Dr Gilbert could speak with the defendants in their own language, and through conversations with them, he was able to draw out their views of the war, of themselves, of their fellow trial-mates, their day-to-day reactions to the trial, as well as their own increasingly desperate attempts to save their own necks. What emerges is stunning in that far from being supermen, the Nazi leaders were generally ordinary men who were given great power in a Faustian bargain with Adolf Hitler, and thereby corrupted to commit horrendous acts of murder and violence against humanity. It is also surprising to see how shallow, vain, and eager to compromise their morals and ideals in the name of power and authority that most of these men were. Dr Gilbert, however, was not necessarily an objective observer. He has clear favorites and enters into verbal sparring matches with some of the defendants. The book is often almost annoyingly repetitive in some of its characterizations, which is perhaps to be expected given that the defendants were on trial for their lives and were under great stress and focusing on their defense. While I don't consider this a perfect book, it is nonetheless an essential book in understanding the Nazi leadership, and how Hitler came to dominate them and use their talents for his own warped plans. Virtually all of the books and articles I've read about Nuremberg have heavily quoted Dr Gilbert's book. If you're a World War II buff, this book should be on your bookshelf.

G.M. Gilbert, the psychologist assigned to the Nuremberg War Crimes prisoners before and during the trial provides a fascinating first hand account and surprising insight into the personalities of the Nazi leadership on trial. It well deserves its status as a classic.

Very well written, easy to read if not an easy reading...Insightful report of conversations the author shared with prisoners: reader is able to understanding somewhat the psych of these Nazi "founding fathers"!!!! This book is very informative and author is doing its best to remain fairly objective with few opinions and comments on the characters of each interviewees... I have enjoied this book very much

Well, there's not much that "likeable" about the subjects of this book, but the content, the interviews, are extremely illuminating and you can't help being drawn in by Gilbert, whose acerbic comments and dialogue with some of these prisoners is highly entertaining. Goering is simply a psychopath, Hess a virtual lunatic. Speer is fascinating (read Gitta Sereny's Speer: His battle with Truth). These corrupted people speak for themselves. You'll need to detox after reading this.

G.M. Gilbert was a U.S. Army psychologist, who had 24/7 access to the top brass of the first Nuremberg trial--Goering, Strasser, Speer, von Pappen, von Ribbentropp, to name a few. Not all received the death sentence, although Goering managed to cheat the hangman with a cyanide capsule, the day of or the day before the scheduled hanging, something well known to students of the Third Reich and the Second World War. And this was truly a World War. No sea lanes were safe. England was on its knees, and after the U.S. entered the war, the drip, drip, drip of U.S. Aid became a flood--and the U.S. protects our citizens and soldiers on the ocean waves. I am a trained Clinical Psychologist and Neuropsychologist. So, I know where the profession started--in Nuremberg. Testing of recruits was the beginning the mass intelligence testing, however, one-on-one counseling also began here, with interviews by Gilbert who was to learn everything he could about these mass criminals, while at the same time trying to prevent suicide (on was successful before Goering. This book represents the sum and total of what Gilbert learned under these unnatural constraints--and he listened and learned a great deal. There is much more here than documentary series about the leaders of the Third Reich could convey. It isn't difficult reading, but I recommend it to anyone. You can easily wonder if under the right circumstances, your obnoxious 1st cousin, or your next-door neighbor, could rise to the level of being part of such a cabal. It has even occurred after this horrible war--Josef Stalin and his close advisors, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia after the U.S. abandoned South Vietnam, North Korea, Communist China (sometimes we seem to forget that it is a totalitarian system, and that companies helped onto their feet in our republic have abandoned us to set up shop in China, and assist the Communist Chinese in managing billions of people, down to managing who can travel, buy airline tickets, whether that person is a nuclear physicist or a rice farmer, or one who toils unfortunately in an Apple factory, where suicide nets outside the dormitories are necessary. Would such be tolerated if it were on display here???? I recall a track in a Mothers of Invention album, about 1966, called "It Can't Happen Here." Well, how prophetic, because it can happen here, I hate to tell you. Just read a few chapters of Nuremberg Diary. The translations are of course first rate So here, after roughly 70 years of research in psychology, we have not learned much about "The Authoritarian Personality" (1950s), or social conditions under which people will execute a person they have never seen (1950s, 1960s, the Zimbardo and Milgram experiments. Well, the fact that this can occur in a relatively benign fashion has already been demonstrated. We have a few freshman congresspeople who speak virulent hate and there is not a peep from so-called leadership of any stripe. When you hear "let's bring back the House Un-American Activities Committee" which held hearings in the 1950s, is that really uncool? Is there anything that qualifies as "un-American"? Well, the Germans managed to concoct a theory of what was "un-German" an put it into ACTION as quickly as any fascist or communist dictator did it. You can, in my opinion, learn a great deal about the national and world's troubles of 2019 in this priceless book about an unprecedented war crimes trial held in 1945.

Before laying my thoughts on the importance of this book, this recorded History by Dr. Gilbert it is in my view important to understand what the basis of not only the trial meant at the end of the war but for the innocent victims of the Concentration Camps. Nothing in this diary work hit me harder than the details of words that Dr. Gilbert used in the recording of the interview he held with Colonel Rudolf Hoess; the Commandant of Auschwitz on 9 April 1946. Hoess commanded the camp from May of 1940 to December of 1943 – “efficiency” never had a more diabolical meaning and existence, yet matter-of-fact employment of the term. It is extremely difficult to fathom and believe today in 2017 that “efficiency” would ever have had this sort of application to the destruction of people, classes of people, people that deserved protection from the most hideous and disgusting purpose to the existence of mankind; I also doubt that never in the history of mankind had that this hatred ever existed on an “efficient” scale of this magnitude. Herein lay the facts, the terms, the reality of the truth to the demented henchmen that ran a machine for purposes that today I still cannot fully comprehend – I am not alone. Many good people who aren’t perfect people feel the same way. Having lost a Belgian uncle to a concentration camp during this war it is in my mind an equation whereby I cannot internally equate any reason that would support any belief that this was “necessary”. Gold teeth melted and sent to the financial institutions, hair for pillows, confiscated property, the removal of civil rights of citizens and some of which that had in fact fought for this same nation during the First World War. (See my review please on “Somme – Into the Breach” on one Lieutenant F.L. Cassel.) Dr. Gilbert had provided a psychological blot test to all the defendants following the Indictment Phase of this court proceeding. During discussions in the cell of Hoess that followed the test, Dr. Gilbert proceeded to discuss the Auschwitz Camp. Hoess provided the information that roughly 2.5 million Jews were exterminated (as opposed to “killed”) during his tenure. Dr. Gilbert had asked how this was technically possible – Hoess quickly replied in return with a question “Technically?” then went on to state that he (Dr. Gilbert) was thinking of this all wrong. Hoess referenced in conversation that one had to break the system up to 24 hours; and, in 24 hours 10,000 people were “killed” (he used the word “exterminated” again and I cannot bring myself to think in of innocence in this manner). Hoess went on to explain that there were 6 chambers total; 2 large ones and 4 smaller ones. The 2 larger could accommodate 2,000 persons, the 4 smaller ones 1,500 all within a 24 hour period – Hoess stated so matter of fact with another correction “…no you don’t figure it right – the killing took the least amount of time – killing 2,000 would take a half an hour…” Hoess went on to state that “…It was the burning that took the most amount of time…” Herein lay the suggestion that many more could have been killed had they only found a more "efficient” manner to dispose of the bodies more quickly. Hoess then went into the logistics of moving the bodies from the chambers to the crematorium and the work that followed. This had to have stunned Dr. Gilbert – he hid his feelings well; however, the few words that follow within this passage made me feel as though I was sitting next to him, looking at Hoess. The author was the Psychologist at the Nuremberg Trials and had unfettered access to all the accused. Dr. Gilbert begins the first chapter by introducing each of the defendants though not in chronological order – this is based more on IQ tests that were administered to each and with each, Dr. Gilbert had brief discussions. This added an interest point for me, though I admit for no particular reason. His perception of Albert Speer I thought was most interesting in this early chapter and covered a mere couple of paragraphs. Having read “Spandau” and “Inside the Third Reich” the internal thoughts I had of Speer were somewhat confirmed in this early part of the book. The IQ tests and discussions began before the trial began but directly after the indictments had been handed to each of the defendants. As the writings of Dr. Gilbert would show based on his direct interactions with all of the accused – Albert Speer was the one constant throughout the whole process of this trial. That is to say – he never wavered from his conviction of the waste the Nazi Party brought to the world nor of the destruction it brought to the nation of Germany as a result of the same. He was truly sorry for his support of Hitler in the early years, this came to a head in the latter years – his testimony to the Nuremburg trial only made one mad man Goering more crazy than he was. Even after a near year of trials and imprisonment, both Dr. Goldensohn and Dr. Gilbert’s analysis conveyed the professional opinion that Herr Goering was still a drug addict though he had not had any form of access to the heroine or amphetamines he had during the final days of the Third Reich. Death toll for the nations that fought during the Second World War – this as a reminder why the Nuremberg Trial was a necessary component to the war, atrocities, and the willingness of breaking of international agreements to sovereign nations across the globe – as an American, I am equally reminded that it was the Imperial Forces of Japan that brought our own entry into this war; additionally, it was Germany that declared war upon the United States and not the other way around. Casualties listed by caused upon by armed belligerent forces: Allied: 14,276,800 (estimate – 10 million listed as Soviet Soldiers) Axis: 6,582,000 (estimate – German numbers have never been officially verified during the World War II and nor for World War I) Civilian Casualties: Allied: 25,986,500 (estimate – 10 million listed as Soviet Civilians) Axis: 1,686,000 (estimate – German numbers have never been officially verified) A refresher for the results of the Nuremburg Trials are posted here for the arm chair historian and the otherwise curious. There were four counts provided against the defendants within the indictment: 1. Conspiracy to commit crimes alleged in other counts; 2. Crimes against peace; 3. War crimes; 4. Crimes against humanity. 1. Herman Goering: Guilty on all 4 counts; Death by Hanging; committed suicide before judgement had been rendered; the Lutheran Chaplain refused to provide last rites as Goering never admitted anything of wrong doing and his pompous style was indicative of the drug addict he was and remained to the very end. 2. Rudolf Hess: Guilty on counts 1 and 2; Life in Prison. 3. Joachim von Ribbentrop: Guilty on all 4 counts; Death by Hanging. 4. Robert Ley: Committed suicide in Prison Cell 25 October 1945 5. Wilhelm Keitel: Guilty on all 4 counts; Death by Hanging 6. Ernst Kaltenbrunner: Guilty on counts 3 and 4; Death by Hanging 7. Alfred Rosenberg: Guilty on all 4 counts; Death by Hanging 8. Hans Frank: Guilty on counts 3 and 4; Death by Hanging 9. Wilhelm Frick: Guilty on counts 3 and 4; Death by Hanging 10. Julius Streicher: Guilty on count 4; Death by Hanging 11. Walter Funk: Guilty on counts 2, 3, and 4; Life in Prison 12. Hjalmer Schacht: Not Guilty 13. Karl Doenitz: Guilty on counts 2 and 3; 10 years in Prison 14. Erich Raeder: Guilty on counts 1, 2, and 3; Life in Prison 15. Baldur von Schirach: Guilty on count 4; 20 years in Prison 16. Fritz Sauckel: Guilty on counts 3 and 4; Death by Hanging 17. Alfred Jodl: Guilty on all 4 counts; Death by Hanging 18. Martin Bormann: In Absentia – Guilty on counts 3 and 4; Death by Hanging – long story as to whether he survived the war or not. 19. Franz von Papen: Not Guilty 20. Arthur Seyss-Inquart: Guilty on counts 2, 3, and 4; Death by Hanging 21. Albert Speer: Guilty on counts 2 and 3; 20 years in Prison 22. Constantin von Neurath: Guilty on all 4 counts; 15 years in Prison 23. Hans Frizsche: Not Guilty 24. Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach: Following the Allied victory, plans to prosecute Gustav Krupp as a war criminal at the 1945 Nuremberg Trials was dropped as he was bedridden and senile. Krupp remained technically still under indictment and liable to prosecution in subsequent proceedings As with the “Rape of Nanking” I proudly purchased this book at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. in August of 2016 – the bookstore there is a treasure trove of the saddest stories to history; important people be reminded of what occurred and is a most somber and dignified museum. I will leave this review now; the Holocaust deniers then as now are simply people I do not, nor will ever understand.

The Author, Gustave Gilbert, was an American psychologist (PhD from Columbia) who was also a native German speaker (parents were Austrian immigrants). When the war broke out he joined the army as an intelligence officer (translator/interpreter). When surviving Nazi leadership was rounded up and taken to Nuremberg for war crimes trials in late 1945-1946, Captain Gilbert was appointed as the official psychologist for the group of prisoners and he had unfettered access to them throughout the several months of trials. His diary is fascinating - he took contemporaneous notes and published them verbatim, so you are basically listening directly to the words of Goering, Speer, Ribbentrop, and others as they went through the trial process - how they felt about the prosecution, how they crafted their defenses. In addition to the record of these conversations, Captain Gilbert also eavesdropped on the defendants during the trial and took notes, and he debriefed German speaking American guards at the prison to give unimpeded insight into the minds of these Nazi war criminals. It is a must read - I have never experienced anything like this, including in my travels to Germany - this book puts you right there.

This was a fascinating, engaging book. The author does not hold back his opinions on the subjects, and his distaste for some of the defendants' outrageous amorality and cowardice makes it all the more interesting. It is a true "diary," infused with passions and prejudice, and it makes the reader feel like he/she is right there along with the trial observers, eavesdropping on the Nazi leadership's perception of their day(s) of reckoning. We all know how it ends but it's a good and gripping read all the way through.

This book was written by Captain Gilbert of the US Army who was the psychologist assigned to the Nuremberg Trials to speak with the main war criminals. This is a chronological account of the events leading up to the trials, during the trials and while they were awaiting for their death sentences to be carried out. At each phase Captain Gilbert had the unenviable duty of speaking with all of the major war criminals throughout the trial so that the Nuremberg (Nürnberg in German) Court could be certain that these men remained able to participate in their own defense. This book is arguably the greatest insight we have into the minds of the major Nazi leaders and "The banality of evil."

Dr Gilbert's book, written in 1945/46, provides a fascinating view of the catastrophe that was the second world war. What made it most interesting for me was that I read it immediately after the currently (2012)popular "Paris 1919" - a record of the actions of the participants in WWI in "arranging" the world following the defeat of Germany. Sadly, much of what the Nazi defendants in Nuremberg said about the causes of the rise of Hitler are much more believable now (in retrospect), as are their predictions about the rise of the USSR and the coming of the cold war. I am now reading Goldensohn's book "The Nuremberg Interviews", which provides a companion piece to the foregoing, further supporting the observations made above. I'd recommend all three for a bit of enlightening reading. (Not light, but quite profound.)

"Nuremberg Diary", by G. M. Gilbert, tells about Dr Gilbert's interactions with the top Nazi war criminals during the first Nuremberg tribunal/trial in 1945/46. Dr Gilbert was the prison psychologist (as opposed to psychiatrist) at Nuremberg, and had unfettered access to the military officers and civilians on trial. Dr Gilbert could speak with the defendants in their own language, and through conversations with them, he was able to draw out their views of the war, of themselves, of their fellow trial-mates, their day-to-day reactions to the trial, as well as their own increasingly desperate attempts to save their own necks. What emerges is stunning in that far from being supermen, the Nazi leaders were generally ordinary men who were given great power in a Faustian bargain with Adolf Hitler, and thereby corrupted to commit horrendous acts of murder and violence against humanity. It is also surprising to see how shallow, vain, and eager to compromise their morals and ideals in the name of power and authority that most of these men were. Dr Gilbert, however, was not necessarily an objective observer. He has clear favorites and enters into verbal sparring matches with some of the defendants. The book is often almost annoyingly repetitive in some of its characterizations, which is perhaps to be expected given that the defendants were on trial for their lives and were under great stress and focusing on their defense. While I don't consider this a perfect book, it is nonetheless an essential book in understanding the Nazi leadership, and how Hitler came to dominate them and use their talents for his own warped plans. Virtually all of the books and articles I've read about Nuremberg have heavily quoted Dr Gilbert's book. If you're a World War II buff, this book should be on your bookshelf.

G.M. Gilbert, the psychologist assigned to the Nuremberg War Crimes prisoners before and during the trial provides a fascinating first hand account and surprising insight into the personalities of the Nazi leadership on trial. It well deserves its status as a classic.

Very well written, easy to read if not an easy reading...Insightful report of conversations the author shared with prisoners: reader is able to understanding somewhat the psych of these Nazi "founding fathers"!!!! This book is very informative and author is doing its best to remain fairly objective with few opinions and comments on the characters of each interviewees... I have enjoied this book very much

Well, there's not much that "likeable" about the subjects of this book, but the content, the interviews, are extremely illuminating and you can't help being drawn in by Gilbert, whose acerbic comments and dialogue with some of these prisoners is highly entertaining. Goering is simply a psychopath, Hess a virtual lunatic. Speer is fascinating (read Gitta Sereny's Speer: His battle with Truth). These corrupted people speak for themselves. You'll need to detox after reading this.

Finished about half of it so far. It is not emotional or biased, it just presents what happened during the trials and what the prisoners said during and out of the court,

Very interesting and informative. It helps to understand Hitler's associates as a person (the good, the bad,and the ugly) and to what extend many were sycophants and self-serving.

What I found most interesting was the defendants pose and defense. I thought the US chief prosecutor Jackson did a lot of grand-standing that I found out of place.

The content of the book was excellent. The condition of the book was misrepresented. I thought i was getting a new book. It turned out to be a book that was rated good, but was actually fair at best. The book started to fall apart and had to be reinforced with tape. Reading the book was such a profound historical experience, however , that I really didn't mind the condition of the book and was able to hold it together with the tape.

Through it all and they still stood by what they did. An awesome read...Mr. Gilbert writes like he was talking to you. He had them all figured out perfectly. Speer should have hung with the rest of them. Big mistake made by the court on this character.

Excellent quality and value Revealing studies of the Nazi leaders by a master clinician

I enjoyed this book a great deal. Listening to Goering, Donitz, Speer and the others describe the war, and most importantly Hitler, in their own words was insightful. There was also great tension as they raced to save their own necks. There was a great deal of back stabbing as each one realized the 'trial' was really nothing more than a puppet court and prolonged expose for Western propaganda prior to a summary execution. The Goldensohn book, Nuremburg Interviews, points this out and is much less biased. The Goldensohn book also points out the propaganda purposes of this trial. There was no way this court was going to let the main leaders go free. The allies were out for blood and as the Germans complained the Russians behaved no better, but the victors can hide their atrocities. Also don't form your opinion on how the Nazi government ran or what these men felt about Hitler based on this book alone. Early on in the book they are obviously only trying to save their own necks and reality of the situation goes out the window as each German expresses innocence and the war tribunal which is out for blood is haranguing them on anything they can come up with. The Japanese emperor wasn't treated like this despite a war of aggression and the murder of millions of Chinese, both counts worthy of hanging according to this court. The psychologist, Gilbert, was obviously biased and would subtly torment the prisoners regarding war crimes and their belief system. But still an excellent book and Gilbert did a great job recording their informal conversations and behaviors. If you are interested in this period of history this book is an invaluable source. Amazon was great as usual.

A compelling read. It was like cracking their heads open and seeing the real thought processes of mostly totally irrational and crazy men. The scary thing was that they appeared normal within their families. A little overwhelming to feel their evil, and evil it was.

This psychiatrist's observations add great insight into these diverse defendents. Everything from IQ to mental stability is examined in this book. It was an excellent read before my visit to Nuremberg. I also found Albert Speer's diary while in Spandau very informative reading. The recording of Report From Nuremberg, the Armed Forces Radio dispatches useful as well. I got it through Audible.

This book is the "fly on the wall" account of the surviving Nazi leaders in their final chapter of their infamous history. Gustave Gilbert was the American Jewish psychoanalyst that the Army placed in the Nuremberg Trials as both a suicide deterrent and a "spy" to glean information on what made those monsters tick. He interferes very little as the deposed leaders "spilt their guts" out to him as they awaited sentencing. His account of what transpired is now used as a reference in classes on psychology for aberrant and psychopathic personalities. This book is full of surprises! Some are comedic, most are ghastly. He reports on Streicher's fanaticisms and bombastic speeches about "Hitler and the halo on his head." He reports on the once arrogant Ribbentrop being reduced to a washrag without the support of his "fuhrer." All cases of blind militarism, puffed arrogance, and fanatical foolishness are represented in this collection of papers, detailing how mundane losers can become madmen in the right set and setting. Of particular interest is his observations of Goering. That man prided himself on being the world's "school bully." Yet he was a moral coward, who doped himself during the war rather than have his childish hero-fantasies crushed. It took a man like Gilbert to crush Goering's goadings and proddings of the other defendants with promises of "Marble Caskets." Through Gilbert's influence, most of the Nazi leadership finally recognized their errors and sins. This book should be a "must read" for those interested in why such calamities happen in world history. Also it should be a "must read" for those crazy neo-nazis and Holocaust deniers out there. Gilbert got all his information on the whole Nazi "religion" straight from the horses mouths.

Perfect for any WW2 enthusiast or historian.

Interesting study of the Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg.

Written pretty drily, as I reacted to it, but highly valuable and detailed history of this overpowering event.

Truly a great book for anyone interested in any way in the second world war. If you want to see what REALLY drove people to accept/participate in such terrible atrocities then stop reading this and order the friggin book already! From Goring and Streicher's non penance and "loyalty" to Speer's "common responsibility", Gilbert covered it all. Also there are quite a few great jabs that Gilbert takes at the "defendants" which, I think, millions since the end of the war have wanted to take on these "men". It seems strange that this book would have the ability to not only turn your stomach during one of Streicher's rants or Rosenberg's excuse speeches, but also to make you giggle at times with comments like "Hess is crazy" over and over to Speer's naming Goring "The fat one". All in all a great book that will keep you deep inside it even though you already now the outcome!

Fascinating read for anyone interested in ww2 history. Live alongside Nazi leaders during their last days in captivity. Hear their excuses and rational for why they caused so much suffering. 5/5

Great book! Very well written and shows a glimpse into the minds of some of the greatest criminals this world has ever seen. It shows almost the ordinariness or banality of those who perpetrated the greatest crime in world history.

Ah Nuremberg! Once the sight of major Nazi rallies it was now the locus of the major war crimes trial of the Nazi bigwigs still alive in August 1945. Already in hell were Hitler, Himmler, and Goebbels. The criminals were tried in the first international tribunals to judge war crimes. Judges represented the winning Allied nations: The United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. Tried were twenty men who had served Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich from 1933-1945. This old book written by Psychiatrist G.M. Gilbert who was an eyewitness to the trials and a confidant of the defendants is first rate history. During the course of the book we learn the personalities of the chief defendants. Eleven of them would be hanged including: Hermann Goering-Number two to Hitler this fat egotistical morphine addicted windbag sought to be the leader of the prisoners. He had a high IQ and committed suicide hours before he was to be hanged. Rudolf Hess-Helped Hitler in the dictation of Mein Kamf. Flew to England on May 10, 1941. Claimed to have amnesia and served a life sentence. Albert Speer-Hitler's architect this suave scamp served twenty years. Hans Frank-The evil Governor General of occupied Poland he claimed a religious conversion in the pokey. Hanged. Joachim Ribbentrop-The shallow and dumb foreign minister of the Third Reich. Hanged Julius Streicher-The infamous Jew baiter who loved pornography. He was hanged. Alfred Jodl and Hans Keitel-Hitler's military lackeys. Both men were hanged There were 20 prisoners of whom eleven hanged; four were acquitted and the others sentenced to long prison sentences. A fascinating portrait of repulsive and odious rogues who all deserved their punishment for launching the worst war in human history. Recommended.

SO important that people understand what Nurenberg was all about, how the top officials in the Nazi government were apprehended, tried, and executed for their deeds during the Third Reich....they deserved death, and MORE, if that was possible.

This book contains the diary entries of G.M. Gilbert, the chief psychiatrist at the Nuremberg trials. It can be a little bit dry at times, but offers a lot of insight into the defendants. This is not a book about the details of the trials- more so a recollection of how the defendants reacted to the trials and the conversations that took place among Gilbert and the defendants. Goering is portrayed with all his pomp and bluster, Ribbentrop in his absurdity and sense of self-importance, Rosenberg and others in their complete arrogance. It is a good read.

As expected

You get to know the accused very well.

Arrived as promised.

Very good reading

This book was written by the first American Psychiatrist to have access to the Nazi 'elite' in their cells as they were on trial at Nuremberg. The author's impressions, and anaylsis of each of these men, as well as the actual words spoken by the defendants themselves exposes the madness, cowardice, hatred and self delusion of these criminals. In my opinion, it again leaves unanswered the question as to why these people were able to convince the German people to follow their lead. It is an altogether fascinating book. Anyone with an interest in WWII should read this.

Excellent work on the Nuremburg trial defendants.

Personal interest in history

an early appraisal of the nuremberg defendants. gives a real feeling for these criminals.

I have read and seen documentaries on the subject; this book provides detail that has given me a true understanding of the Nazi leadership on a personal basis.

well written and very informative, good insite of a really messed up people

Very interesting as historical document. Disgusting to see the Nazi leaders blaming each other for their own actions in the atrocities. I never understood why Speer got away with 20 years inprisonment.

A great companion to the TNT Network movie "Nuremberg" of a few years ago (available on dvd). You'll come away with a good understanding of an important era of history.

Outstanding book with fascinating first-person personality observations.

Great read, well written!

It is interesting to read to what lengths the defendants went to in the attempt to absolve themselves of any blame for the atrocities that were committed in which they were either directly responsible for or had a part in and try to shift the blame to others whether they were the co-defendants or not. One would expect such highly placed and powerful people to admit their part in what happened but when it came down to it they were just as petty as you would expect anyone else to be. The exception being Speer who was the only one that pleaded guilty.

Many thanks.

This book is excellent. I usually take notes as I read my World War 2 books, but this had so many interesting facts, that I didn’t even bother.

This was a fascinating book. One that every student of WWII history should read.

We know more than we care to say.

Very in depth look at the leaders and their beliefs/attitudes towards their actions.

Beyond my expectations

Excellent

This book was a well thought out and extremely insightful looking glass into the minds of the defendants at Nuremberg.

Good book on the nazis. I recommend it to any one who likes nazis.

This was a gift to a friend, a pathologist. He responded, "excellent book, including medical reports.... very interesting.... they knew what they were doing..."

Great book

Getting into the heads of the Nazi war machine as they face the trial for their lives. Informative for sure.

The book is absolutely great, everybody should read it. (Not really gruesome, just a riveting insight into the minds of the top-ranking Nazis.) BUT...the description of its condition was a bit optimistic - it should have beenb "poor." Yes, the corner was clipped; but the book's binding was in such bad shape, it split in half while i was reading it, & I had to use a rubber band to keep it together! I'm not likely to buy from this vendor again.

So-so. The guy has a very strong point of view and it's quite slanted.

I already received and this product is very good. I suggest for all people interest in anti-nazi and politics action

I was 11 years old at the time of the Nuremberg trials. Little did I know that they were an important first step in the redemption of the German people from the curse of Hitler’s NAZI madness. Back then , it was a simple matter of delivering justice to the aggressors who had started a terrible war, and lost. Looking back, it was one of many examples of how the West finessed the end of the war while the East overreacted. Truman and Churchill emphasized the carrot while Stalin wielded a stick. The West condemned the system while the East condemned the people. And so over time. Western Germans repented and rebuilt, while Eastern Germans settled into a new but really not so different totalitarian experience. What started as brutal, and possibly well deserved retribution, eventually settled into a dull dictatorship enforced by German communists. Their unpopular and inefficient regime. maintained by Stasi thugs and just possibly by some kind of ingrained Teutonic obedience, lasted until the collapse of the USSR in 1989. But it all fell apart in a matter of days when, to his eternal credit, Gorby allowed Eastern Europeans to bumble their way to a proto-democracy, not totally unlike the way the way had stumbled onto the road to sustainable democracy that the English has pioneered centuries earlier. With historical hindsight, we can see that this happy outcome was due to the foresight and diplomacy of the Anglo-American cold warriors whose policy of Containment restrained Soviet hawks while gradually convincing Soviet doves that Marx and Lenin were wrong and that coexistence could be permanent. The way these Anglo-Americans managed the Nuremberg Trial was a small, but important, step toward the peace that Europe enjoys today. This said, three things in the book seem worthy of further comment: 1. G.M. Gilbert, a lowly Captain but fluent in German and with a degree in Psychology, was assigned as interpreter for the 21 Nazi defendants. His role turned out to be anything but that of a neutral linguist. He makes clear that he acted on behalf of the prosecution in a number of crucial ways. Most notably, by reporting to his superiors that Hermann Goering, second only to Hitler in the hierarchy, was having more than a little success at persuading the other 20 to adopt the defense that they were only following orders of the Fuehrer. Goering, a natural charmer and master of the bizarre thought processes of his party, hoped to convince them to tell the world that they, like Germans in general, knew nothing about the “Final Solution” that had all been arranged between Hitler, Bormann, and Himmler. Goering labored mightily to convince his co-defendants that they should all claim they were nothing more than nationalists trying to redeem their country from the injustice of Versailles and while they could expect to hang, at least the German people, their military leaders, and politicians might not be judged by history quite so harshly. Apparently, he was hoping to convince post-war Europeans that the Nazis were merely nationalists yearning to undue the injustice of Versailles, not monstrous and racist revolutionaries planning to dominate the world by force. Aware that this was taking place, Gilbert arranged to have the 21 defendants split into four lunch and exercise groups of five, by age, with Goering isolated and alone. When called to testify the defendants, facing a fair but vigorous team of prosecutors, responded largely with testimony that reflected their acceptance both of well-established factual evidence and some recognition of Western moral principles.. Good for Dr. Gilbert, though I shudder to think of what the ACLU would charge him with today. 2. Few reviewers have commented on the results of the standardized tests administered by Dr. Gilbert before the trial started. He administered the Wechsler-Bellevue test of general intelligence, and that classic from the days of Freudian follies, the Rorschach ink-blot test, which was then thought to be a good way for therapists to come to grips with the “unconscious drives” that motivated people. Keeping in mind the many contemporary quarrels with the concept of I.Q. within the psychological community, the Wechsler-Bellevue test still has a pretty good reputation as a measure of how smart people are. Gilbert cheerfully reveals their scores. The 21 Nazi defendants ranged from a high of 143 (Schacht) to a low (morally as well as intellectually), Julius Streicher at 106. That’s an average of 128 , and if even close to accurate, would suggest an average Nazi monster would be on the fast track to acceptance at most of the selective colleges in the U.S. Those of us who might be inclined to think that “smarter means better” can take some consolation from the fact that the three who were found not guilty at Nuremberg, had an average I.Q. of 136. Since the gap between, for example, 135 and 140 is far greater than that between 100 and 105, this at very least suggests that the not-guilty were significantly brighter than the guilty, by 136 to 128. And the three found not guilty were brighter still by a margin of 136 to 125 over the 10 Nazi who were sentenced to be hanged because of the heinous nature of their crimes. So I.Q. tests affirm that which we instinctively believed, i.e. that monsters who think and react quickly, are more dangerous than grouchy folk who have nasty reactions to the world but too slow to do anything about itl Alas, Gilbert reveals nothing about what, if anything, the ink-blot tests told about political monsters. Probably just as well. 3. What total amateurs these Nazis were. Over and over they reveal that they were totally in over their heads. Once into the maelstrom of racist madness, they just kept “doing their jobs” while blinded by rhetoric and images designed to ease their path to hell. Their counterparts in Moscow, in sharp contrast to adolescent madness and propelled by a more disciplined path to victory, arranged their own “final solution”. Happily Churchill & Truman saw it coming, the West stood steady while restraining it’s zealots, the soviets gradually matured over 45 years of coexistence, and Gorby made his move at just the right time.

When the Allies put the top members of the Nazi leadership on trial in 1945 for the most ghastly crimes in human history, a young Jewish-American psychologist named Gustave Gilbert was assigned to check on their sanity and keep track of their mental condition during the trial. That was quite a job -- Gilbert's "patients" consisted of some of the most bizarre individuals ever to lead a modern industrialized nation, and their course had taken that nation to its destruction and led to the ghastly death of 56 million people, millions of them civilians cold-bloodedly butchered in the Holocaust. Along the way, these leaders had overseen and conducted wars of aggression, massacres of PoWs, kleptomaniacal looting, and ghastly medical experiments. Dr. Gilbert wondered, like the rest of the world, how these leaders could authorize such acts. Unlike the rest of the world, he got to hear from the leaders up close and personal, going into their cells on a daily basis, administering psychological tests, going over their stories and lives. From the start, he resolved to write a diary and sell it, both for the commercial and historic value. The patient-doctor privilege did not seem to apply, as the "treatment" was court-ordered. Indeed, Dr. Gilbert reported some of his assessments of the defendants to the prosecution. Most notably, he saw that Hermann Goering was trying to unify the defendants into a single block, preventing the more remorseful defendants from confessing. Gilbert suggested that Goering dine alone, and the other defendants be broken into social eating groups that would break down their wall of silence. It worked. So did Gilbert. He kept voluminous notes on his meetings and conversations with the defendants, which revealed the once-omnipotent Nazi elite in all their tawdriness, defiance, despair, stupidity, and loathsomeness. Here is Joachim von Ribbentrop, the former "Second Bismarck," unable to offer a coherent thought about a foreign policy that bullied Austria and Czechoslovakia into surrender. Here is Albert Speer, trying to save his own life by deflecting his role as a slavemaster by denouncing Hitler. Here is Julius Streicher, an unrepentant anti-Semite, obsessed with sex. Here is Walther Funk, whose Reichbank melted down gold teeth for gold bars, now a sad little man. Here are Erich Raeder, Karl Doenitz, Wilhelm Keitel, and Alfried Jodl, all flag officers, trying to maintain their dignity and bearing in the face of responsibility for massacring PoWs. Here is Hermann Goering, cynical, pompous, convinced of his own importance in world history, evading responsibility through sneering defiance. Here is Artur Seyss-Inquart, a snickering "gentle Judas. Here is Robert Ley, a slobbering alcoholic who commits suicide. Here is Wilhelm Frick, a colorless functionary, unaware of the horror he has caused. Here is Rudolph Hess, feigning madness, but losing his memory. Here is Hjalmar Schacht, enraged at going from Nazi concentration camp prisoner to Allied war crimes prisoner. Here is Franz von Papen, pompous and aristocratic to the end, certain of his innocence. Here is Hans Fritzsche, a hapless young broadcaster, overwhelmed by it all, wondering what he is doing there. All these characters and others make up the heart of this diary. They leap from the pages into a frightening life, proving that their crimes are not mere stories from 70 years ago, but actual horrors, committed by ordinary men. This book is a chilling freeze-frame of a terrifying group of people and time -- which can easily be repeated again.

This is the best Nuremberg Trial book that I have read. I have read so many books on the Nuremberg Trials. It is a life-long fascination. This book is different because it gives you a glimpse of how some of these criminals think. Sure, these individuals committed some of the worst crimes in history on a massive scale that is unique in history. There crimes are unspeakable. But how do people who in another setting may have been "average" people capable of such crimes? In other words, this book helps to portray the criminals as individuals that are more than just monsters. What makes this so scary is that people that you might otherwise think are normal or odd, but not particularly dangerous can ultimately lead to some terrible results. Some people feel that the thesis of Daniel Goldhagen's book "Hitler's Willing Executioners" is exaggerated. There is such tension between the idea of how much the Nazi government made such solid actions to keep all types of really ghastly actions secret from the citizens of Germany. If you believe Shirer's allegations in his "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" it would seem that many if most Germans did not know all of the most grizzly of details. Although even the Germans must have realized that bad things are happening to all of the Jews that are disappearing in astounding numbers. Additionally, the way Jews were portrayed by the Nazi's and how they treated the Jews could only lead a reasonable person to believe that nothing good could happen. When I saw the movie "Munich," I was interested as much in the stories of the Palestinians. I am not pro-Palestinian and am in fact Jewish. The holocaust has been an ever present shadow in my life and the Holocaust has had a profound effect on my world view including my own feelings and thoughts about being a Jew. What was amazing is reading the opinions of other Jewish viewers of the "Munich" that were upset that the Palestinians were portrayed (at least at times) in a favorable light. This is the problem. Even if you are to assume that the Palestinians are the "villains" in "Munich," you cannot discount that they are all people with all of the good and bad qualities that all people have in varying degrees. When you read information on Hitler and other Nazis, there is clear evidence that these were people that had friends, admirers, and detractors--like all of the rest of us. In my mind, this is what makes them so dangerous because these very same monsters can seem so normal so much of the time. This is what makes this book so interesting. Because of this, genocide and other horrible things, mass killing and other terrible deeds done by governments shall inevitably recur. Ideas themselves can really be very dangerous. This is so important because even the most evil individuals can appear relatively normal or even very normal until their true self or portions of their true selves are revealed. How and why these men were so willing to toss aside morality or decency? I have no doubt that many of the people through out life that knew them probably liked them. A book like this is a good reminder that a large percentage of the population of any culture can probably be convinced to go along with evil behavior. The book flows well and is very easy to read. I have since read it several times. The character of G.M. Gilbert is characterized in the television series Nuremberg featuring Alec Baldwin. For people really interested in the Nuremberg Trials--particularly the transcripts of trial testimony, there is a huge amount of written material that is free over the web and at very reasonable rates from Amazon

Gilbert was a prison psychologist before and during the Nuermberg war crimes trial. In this role, he had nearly unfettered access to Nazi defendants facing charges from waging aggressive warfare to crimes against humanity. Gilbert ate lunch with the defendants; frequently visited them in their cells for private conversation; and conducted psychological tests. He kept a daily journal of these activities and this book is the result. Although some leading figures in Nazi Germany (e.g., Hitler and Himmler) committed suicide before they could be captured and tried, several major players were brought to trial (e.g., Frank, Speer, and Ribbentrop). One stands out in this book: Hermann Goering. Goering was with Hitler in Munich in 1923 and commanded the German air force throughout the Second World War. Brilliant, cruel, charming, loyal, and manipulative, Goering unrepentantly waves the party flag until the end (upon being sentenced to death he committed suicide in his cell -- surely a final middle finger to the Allies). Gilbert heatedly challenged the defendants about their crimes and in doing so sacrificed objectivity. But the price is worth it: he is able to illuminate thoughts and attitudes that the formailities of the courtroom kept hidden. This book is a jewel of historical information and is a primary source in several other books I have enjoyed. I would like to see everyone read it but I think it would be tough going for readers who lack a good grasp of the history of Nazi Germany.

This book was totally fantastic! A real chance to get into the minds of the higher up Nazis! It was fascinating to see the different personalities, and how they reacted to what was going on! Some were scared, some were totally arrogant, some were up and down. A couple were honest. I myself am of the opinion that had many of these men defied Hitler, they would have wound up dead. The court was of the opinion that any of them could have defied him and lived to tell about it. Some people actually did (especially Speer). On the other hand, MANY people that defied him were shot as traitors or defeatists, or whatever the maniac branded them on that particular day. If he even bothered to brand them. If I were in their place, I would have been TERRIFIED to have defied him. I hope I am NEVER on a jury, where I would have to make decisions on things like this. I do not feel that people came anywhere near CLOSE to paying for what went on with the Holocaust. But some of these men were not the ones to blame for that. I remember reading the survivor story of Joe Moser, a US flier, who was taken prisoner and put in Buchenwald. Luftwaffte officers heard that there were fliers in Buchenwald, and went and got them out and had them put in POW camps instead of that horrid place. The Germans were not all animals (even the ones under that nut, Goehring)! At times I think people tried to blame the wrong Germans for some of the things that went on. Unfortunately, the worst, most criminal of the lot, got out of everything without having to pay, and this left everyone I think (Allies and Germans alike) feeling very frustrated. I have read of extremely evil butchers that were found, and nothing was done to them. That makes me feel that SOME of the defendants here could have gotten a bum rap! And what a LAUGH!!! The ministers were told by the court that they should have given Hitler different advice! What kind of nuts ARE they? Hitler didn't listen to a word those people told him! He told THEM what to do! They were thinking from the point of view of a democracy, and were totally unable to get into the mindset of a policestate, controlled by a freakin' maniac! That attitude ticked me off! The book itself (though I disagreed with some of the mindsets in it) was just magnificent! To get into the minds of these people, after reading so much about the war, and about many of them, was very compelling, and I could hardly put this book down! Goehring was a buffoon, but I found it so interesting what he had to say about Russia! That they (the Nazis) had tried to take care of Stalin, but we wouldn't let them, and now WE were going to have to deal with him. And durn if that mess didn't start right in the middle of the trial! Why he kept defending that maniac Hitler was totally beyond me. He really did himself a disservice there. It was very intriguing finding out what they all had to say about each other, and about the regime. This whole war was just so wrong and unnecessary and so hard to understand sometimes. I am reminded of the Sonnerkommando, who played such a role in the killing of so many Jews and prisoners, for their own survival. How many of them were blamed for what they did? None, really, that I'm aware of. However, in one of the books there was a story of (I believe) three men who were told to work in the Sonnerkommando, and they refused, and said that they would die before they would do anything like that. Of course, the Nazis obliged them. To me, this is exactly what the Americans were insisting the Germans should have done, when working under Hitler. Martyred themselves. But on the other hand, they didn't insist that the few people who were left that were in the Sonnerkommando should have martyred THEMselves. All were asked (well, TOLD is the way they Nazis did it) to do something that was distasteful to them. (I am not talking about ALL the Nazis of course. Many of them were GLAD to do the horrible things they did!) Some responded by accepting in order to save their own skin, and others preferred to give up their own skin instead. It's just hard for me to expect people to martyr themselves, which they seemed to feel they should have done, in the trial. And the attitude that all the Germans knew about what went on in the concentration and extermination camps, I find totally wrong. Most of those Germans were out fighting a war, without the needed supplies, and told to fight to the death and that retreat was forbidden, and lots of times in hideous circumstances (i.e. 50 below zero weather). People in that type of situation probably just didn't have the inclination to find out what was going on in faraway camps, even had they had a clue. (Not directing this to most of the people in the Nuremberg trial, but just some things I have heard people say about the situation.) There were so many different things to look at, consider and weigh in these trials, and indeed in the whole war itself. I would have HATED to be the person to have to decide whether these people were telling the truth or lying, and decided whether they should have had the death sentence or not. It's just a cryin shame that Hitler, Himmler, Eichman, Heydrich, Goebbels, etc., were not around to be tried. I hate to think of the type of death I might have ordered for these people had I been THEIR judge! It would almost bring you down to the level of the atrocities they committed. Suffice it to say that hanging or the firing squad would just not have been sufficient at all. (By the way, I found it very interesting in another book on Nuremberg, that the British wanted to line them all up and shoot them as war criminals, with no trial, and that the US disagreed with them and felt there should be a trial.) I found this book to be truly outstanding, and wholeheartedly recommend it!!!!

G. M. Gilbert had a remarkable opportunity to observe evil. Appointed psychologist at Nüremberg in 1945, he had daily access to notorious defendants throughout the trial. This diary (published 1947) faithfully records their remarks and behavior from indictment through prosecution, defense, summation, and judgment. It's a unique contemporary record of the trial through their eyes, as lucid as best-selling fiction. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, the highest ranked defendant, WWI air ace , drug-addict, art thief, and thug par excellence produced some of the most cautionary rationalizations of régime action: "Naturally the common people don't want war...But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along. Whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship." "Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." At the same time wife Emmy Göring assured Gilbert "You know my husband. He is not a man obsessed by hatred. He only wanted to enjoy life and let other people enjoy it." All while 50 million died. The author, ever professional, eschews personal commentary and lets his subjects speak for themselves. The record is followed by two appendices: `The Judgment' (individual verdicts), and `Chronology' (The rise and fall of Nazi Germany). This work is an invaluable source document. Highly recommended. Other useful accounts of the trial: -Robert E. Conot: `Justice at Nüremberg' (published 1983) -Telford Taylor: `The Anatomy of the Nüremberg Trials' (a memoir, published 1992) -Joseph E. Persico: `Nüremberg: Infamy on Trial' (published 1994) George Orwell published `Animal Farm' in 1945, the year the trial opened. "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others" seems to appropriately summarize the belief held by many Nüremberg defendants.

Written by an American psychologist attached to the prison holding the accused war criminals. Gilbert gives highlights of the interactions between himself and the accused, and observations of the interactions among the accused, as well as highlights of the trial. I felt Gilbert let himself down by falling under the spell, as so many others did, of Speer.He doesn't delve deeply enough into the reasons for Speer's about face on nazism. Rather he takes it as face value, while at the same time portraying others for their weakness, vanity, and evil natures. I expected a more clinical look at these monsters rather than the brief outline of the personality tests undertaken. Also Gilbert had access to other war criminal not required for the main trial, but failed to draw comparisons with those 'lower down the order' in a hierarchy of 'i was only following orders'. However, the book is an insight into the trial on, dare I say it, a human level, for that, it is a valuable work.

An extraordinary&remarkable book....a must read for those seeking insights into the personalities behind the horror that was Hitler's Third Reich.

Gilbert weaves the tale of the Nuremburg trial as seen through the eyes of the defendants being tried. He describes the reaction of the defendants to the various parts of the prosection's case, to the witnesses, to the documented activities of their fellow defendants, and to the testimony of the defendants themselves. So we see the contempt of the military clique (Raeder, Doenitz, Jodl, Keitel) toward the politicians (Frank, Frick, Funk, et al), the self-righteous disdain shown by the three ultimately acquitted defendants (Schact, Fritsch, von Papen). We see Goering take off his headset when witnesses talk about the death camps and the atrocities, so as not to have to face those realities. And we hear them talk about each other behind the back. After Keitel testifies to all the orders he transmitted, even horrendous ones, he insisted he merely passed them on from Hitler, and hence was not culpable. "He is an honest man" says Doenitz to von Papen. "Yes, a man without a mind of his own, but an honest man" replies von Papen. Schact overhears, and chimes in "Yes, not a man at all, but an honest man." As the trial draws to conclusion, the defendants use their personal testimony to settle scores with some other defendants. We hear Schact tell the court and the world how Goering used to receive dignitaries at his palace wearing a toga, with lipstick and painted fingernails. "He didn't have to say that" whines Goering. "I didn't wear lipstick." The picture Gilbert shows us is darkly comedic, rather than tragic. These guys seem more like characters out of "Hogan's Heroes" than sinister figures of the third reich. Yet these guys were deadly, as Gilbert shows by synopsizing some of the evidence against them. If you haven't read this book, be sure to give it a shot. Well worth reading. It's the best chance you'll have to understand what made those Nazis tick.

I litterally ate that book. It was that good. Learning and reading about how those characters lived the Nuremberg trial kept me glued to the book. Goering's bullying tactics, Frank's ambiguity, Keitel's weak stand, Rippentrop's unfathomable approach and despair, Speer's "cards on the table" strategy are just a sample of what the reader will experience going throught this marvelous work. The only thing I found a little annoying toward the end was the repeted holier attitude of Gilbert. But that was a thiny price to pay. I suggest you buy Gilbert's book and then treat yourself with "Spandau, The Secret Diaries" by Albert Speer. Spandau is what happened to those who were sentence to prison terms. You will enjoy the engoing and developping animosity and friendship those inmates continued to have after Nuremberg.

The author, Gilbert, was an American intelligence officer who in his capacity as prison psychologist at the Nuremberg Jail had unlimited free access to the top Nazi leaders throughout their trial. He produced an invaluable book. With few exceptions, the top Nazis reveal themselves as ordinary men promoted to higher positions than their abilities merited, and willing to do or at least tolerate pretty much anything in order to hold onto them. What they say privately about each other gives a unique perspective on the interplay of personalities and motivations that produced the Nazi regime and its horrors. Foremost among those exceptions is Hermann Goering. Goering's character is rich and multifaceted. The facets can hardly be reconciled as belonging to the same person. So much about him is appealing - his intelligence, his sense of humor, his expansive good-natured bonhomie, his childlike responses to praise or reprimand. But a man can smile and smile and still be a villain. Goering uses the weaker defendants to pressure the more independent ones to toe his "party line" of maintaining loyalty to Hitler. He offers to trade or withhold testimony, inveigles his lawyer into intimidating a witness, and even threatens retaliation by the Feme kangaroo courts. In part because the author's duties required him to prevent that sort of behavior, he spent more time with Goering than with any of the other defendants. In part, though, I think he just found him fascinating. The author's duties as psychologist required that he spend considerable time with Streicher, whose leering, lascivious, bigotry probably indicated mental illness. Streicher's anti-semitism was obsessive - it was the only subject he talked about - and he incessantly lobbied anyone who would listen. Gilbert also had to monitor Hess (Bormann's predecessor) and Ribbentrop (Foreign Minister) because of Hess's recurrent amnesia and Ribbentrop's descent into depression. Hess was empty-minded even when his memory was intact. Ribbentrop was an endless stream of rationalizations, denials, evasions, and lies - truly a washrag of a man. These entries become tedious, but are instructive as an antidote to the Hollywood image of the hard, focused, strong-willed Nazi. So too with Keitel, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces High Command whom the author fairly describes as having no more backbone than a jellyfish, and with Hans Frank, Governor General of Occupied Poland. When with the author, Frank was all introspection and contrition, but in the dock with his fellow war criminals, he joined freely in their stock rationalizations. The author is sympathetic toward those defendants - Speer, von Schirach, Jodl, Fritsche - who passionately wanted the world to learn as much of the truth as possible about the Third Reich and its crimes. He usually but not always manages to restrain his animosity toward those who persisted in rationalizing or denying their guilt, particularly the vicious anti-semite Rosenberg (Nazi philosopher and Reich Commissioner for Eastern Occupied Territories) cold callous Frick (Minister of Interior) and the unspeakable Kaltenbrunner (Chief of RSHA - SD and Gestapo). A story related by Funk (President of the Reichsbank) is especially revealing. After Kristalnacht, his wife wanted him to resign from the government. She said that the whole antisemitic business was just disgraceful, and they should have no part in it. He felt she was right. But to give up the status and luxury that went with his position and go live in a three-room flat? He just couldn't do it. Funk was no monster. Of his own volition, he wouldn't have hurt anybody. But step by step he went along, until he was accepting deposits of dental gold from the camps. Active malice is rare. This book makes clear that although great evil may originate from active malice, its success in this world depends upon weakness - human, understandable, and frighteningly common weakness.

As a person who has read a number of books relating to this subject, nothing so defines the striking differences between the nature of the Third Reich from the constitutional democracies that largely comprised the Allies as the way in which the defendants of the trials at Nuremberg were handled. With painstaking precision and at extraordinary cost in terms of international arm-twisting and back-door deals, the proponents of a judicial proceeding designed to illustrate the manifest individual guilt of the various Nazi officials forged a result that still stands today as a model of a non-retributive effort in the face of extraordinary pressure. While one can hardly describe the Nuremberg trials as unflawed or perfect, they did prove to the world that the Allies were willing to subscribe to the existing canon of law to judge the actions of the Nazis. Doing so was anything but easy, Indeed, achieving a fair result that would literally convince the watching world of the guilt of the participants in the war was anything but easy, and moving toward that deliberate goal is a theme providing an interesting theme punctuating the pace of the book. Churchill wanted revenge by way of summary trials and quick retribution, while the Russians just wanted to string up the whole group in a mass hanging. Yet American Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson was able to resolve the differences well enough to proceed, although at times the reader wonders if the trials will be anything like the fair-minded judicial event he has in mind. Indeed, the back-stabbing, personal ambitions, and petty jealousies of the various factions, trial officials, and individual defendants becomes a kind of political circus that sometimes resembles nothing so much as vaudevillian showboating. Still, the efforts at conducting a fair and open forum for the world to watch as the prosecution and defense teams clashed before the international tribunal prevailed, and the trials concluded with mixed results in terms of the results. Most of the defendants were found guilty, and many were hanged. Yet few observers doubted that the defendants had had their day in court along with and adequate opportunity to defend their actions to a watching world. Given how little justice and liberty they collectively allowed for their tens of millions of victims, it is remarkable just how civilized and dignified a proceeding the Nuremberg trials were, with all their theatrics and subterranean undercurrents. One marvels at the fact that after fifty years the world still stands in awe at the deliberate, careful, and methodical way in which the Allies achieved the result of a rational and fair trial of the defendants in history's most horrific modern nightmare, the terror of the Third Reich. This is an interesting and absorbing book, and a fascinating and entertaining book to read. It was also particularly interesting to me because it explores the lives of each of the defendants in looking at their individual guilt. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about these singular trials and their impact on history

What makes Nuremberg Diaries at all interesting is author Gilbert's insider's view of victor's justice. But for the moderating influence of British and American jurisprudence, Nuremberg would have turned out to be a kangaroo court in the grand style of that great "defender" of human rights, Josef Stalin. It is fascinating to read how the defeated, on trial for their lives, divide into opposing groups, each pointing the finger at the other. Gilbert roams freely among the accused, sometimes provoking, sometimes digging, not at all understanding what went on in the minds of those accused of such enormities. The problem with the Nuremberg trials is that they were held to assuage the public consciences of the victorious allies and to seek revenge for acts which could have been prevented if those same allies had followed other policies. As far as international law in effect at the time of the alleged crimes, the trial provided dubious justice at best. The author himself lends scant credibility to his pose as a disinterested observer as he frequently mocks and provokes his subjects particularly the utterly degenerate Goering. The defendants claim that "they had acted in good faith according to the standards of their respective positions and professions" should have been a good enough defense for most of them as their country was at war. In most countries, particularly in dictatorships, the penalty for refusing an order in time of war, lawful or not, is a date with the rope or the firing squad. Every citizen becomes an instrument of the state. That the Soviets sat in judgement of the defeated when they were guilty of far greater crimes is an indelible stain on the fairness of the trial. What should have been done instead was that the cases should have been handed to the German Civil Administration for trial under German law as was in effect at the times of the crimes. Despite its defects, Nuremberg Diary is interesting for anyone wishing to peer into the minds of the vanquished Nazi leadership.

Ever have the urge to get into the mind of a monster just to see how he thinks? Sound like another serial killer book? Well, in a sense, Nuremberg Diary is that, but it is so much more as well. About a month ago, I watched the TNT production about the Nuremberg trial and took note of the names of some of the characters portrayed in it. The character of Captain Gilbert interested me. He was a prison psychologist who visited with many of the prisoners in their cells... spending an inordinate amount of time with Goering. I speculated that very probably that individual might have written a book after the trial. I did a search on his name and guess what... he did indeed write a book about his experiences. It was published originally by Farrar, Straus & Company in 1947... barely a year after the Nuremberg trial was over. I quickly emailed a query off to Tracy at The Attic... could she get me a copy? The reply came back a day or so later... yes, she could, it would cost a certain amount... and if I wanted one with the dust-cover still intact... a certain amount plus about eight bucks... if I remember right. I placed the order and a few weeks later (coming from Canada), it arrived and Tracy emailed me to come pick it up. I showed up the next day to behold a beautifully preserved first-edition copy with the name "Clayton J. Golding" inscribed with an old-fashioned fountain pen. Thanks Tracy... good scrounge! What's the book about? Well, some of you web-surfers are a bit young, I suppose. After WWII was over, the victorious Allies decided to have a trial... charging 23 of the aforementioned monsters with four separate offenses. Two of the defendants, Robert Ley and Hermann Goering, killed themselves before sentence could be carried out, Ley, barely before the trial was even started. The others were either convicted and had their sentence carried out, or were released with a "not guilty" verdict... leaving them to the tender mercies of the German government. During most of their time in captivity, an American officer, the aforementioned Captain G. M. Gilbert, Phd., for a time the Prison Psychologist, had access to the prisoners in their cells as well as at other times. He administered psychological tests... including intelligence tests, (they were all of fairly high intelligence... which I found a bit surprising) interviewed them at length, and even visited with some of their families... most noteworthy, the wife and daughter of Hermann Goering. Most importantly, he kept a journal... making careful notes as soon as he left the presence of the individual in question. The book is lengthy, comprising some 471 pages, including the index. I found it to be fascinating at the outset, though the oft repeated anti-Semitic Nazi party line became a bit tedious toward the end. Surprisingly, the defendants were willing to talk to Captain Gilbert quite openly... displaying lewdness, bigotry, hatred, stupidity, piousness, resignation, and every extreme of emotion that any group of men might display under similar pressures. One can really get a flavor for what these men of Hitler's inner sanctum were like. After finishing this book, I was left with some questions, and a rather disturbing conclusion, that should not have surprised me but did. I wondered why they decided to try all these men simultaneously. Normally criminals are tried separately, not as a group. The defendants were judged guilty/not guilty of different crimes, indeed they were widely different in beliefs and temperament as well as tasking within the Dritte Reich. So why did they do it that way? The sentencing tends to support my questioning this as they were not sentenced as a group. Initially, Goering was able to exert his yet considerable influence upon his co-defendants. As things began to heat up, and people saw, among other things, the incredible wealth of stolen artwork in Goering's larder, the absolutely horrifying conditions of the concentration camps, the lies, the signatures on orders, etc., his hold on them was broken. It was broken further when he was prevented from communicating with them. It was surprising how powerful he was perceived to be by the others who would hang with him... almost literally. Gilbert shows this in great detail by the words and activities of the other prisoners he chronicled. I was surprised by what I saw of the monsters of the Dritte Reich. What surprised me most was that they were not monsters at all. They were just ordinary men. As a group, more intelligent on the average than most, but still fairly run-of-the-mill in terms of character and judgment. Yes, they were racists, certainly they were guilty of many crimes... but for all that, they were not significantly different from many other men of their time... not so very different than men of our own era. They sought to put the blame on others, to justify their actions by comparing themselves to other men in history, to deny knowledge... much like our own politicians do when they get some body part from the nether regions caught in a trap. (I was very much reminded of the words of William Jefferson Clinton during the Monica scandal.) This is the truly scary part... the fact that they were not monsters. For if they were not monsters, then what makes them different from any one of us? Could not any of us, even including those of us blessed with high intellect, be seduced by a charismatic leader? This is one that more people should be reading today, lest history repeat itself. The message is timeless... and should never, ever, be forgotten. Dale A. Raby Editor/Publisher The Green Bay Web

'Nuremberg Diary' is Gustav Gilbert's narrative of the time he spent with the defendants of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial after WWII. As the prison psychiatrist, Gilbert was given access to all the prisoners and the resulting conversations form the basis of this book. From the unrepentant, pompus bravado of Hermann Goering to the disgusting anti-semitism of Julius Streicher to the absent minded Joachim von Ribbentrop to the humbled Albert Speer, this work proves a keen insight into the men who at one time controlled an empire, but who now faced the world's final justice. Thought-provoking, chilling, and at times even moving, Gilbert's 'Nuremberg Diary' will stand forever as an important witness against Nazi barbarism.

Gilbert brings Goering and the other Nazis to three-dimensional life in this impressive and ambitious book. Ultimately, however, Nuremberg Diary doesn't live up to its promise. A key problem is that Gilbert can't resist intruding his (albeit understandable) moral indignation. After all, he was the prison psychologist, and one has to wonder how objective his appraisals were. In interpreting the results of the personality tests, did Gilbert do so as a trained psychologist or as an outraged layman? The book would have been superior, I think, if Gilbert had discussed at least some of the results of his psychological testing, while keeping his angry outbursts (however understandable and even laudable) more to himself.

Gilbert takes us into the minds of the Nuremeberg War Crinimals, a look that not everyone got to see first hand. Gilbert has in-depth conversations with the various Nazis and reflects the emotion of the everyday effects of teh trial as if you were there talking to him in a normal conversation. This book is a good source of information for a sense of state of mind for the Nazis held in the Papalce of Justice.

Gilbert somehow manages to contain his indignation with his subjects to the extent that he is able to protray the Nazi war criminals in a light that is not often associated with them. Von Ribbentrop the pathetic ashamed boot-licker, almost pity garnering, rather than the haughty "stateman" who once inspired fear in diplomats from the Bay of Biscay to the Urals. Goering, once the Marshall of the most powerful air force in the world, reduced to a playground bully. This is a very useful book for those who want to look behind the facade of the Nazi war criminals.

this book provides a fascinating look into the lives, pyches, and views of the surviving nazi elite during their imprisonment at nuremberg. the author, G.M Gilbert, one of the prison pyschologists, presents extracts of his talks with the likes of goering, ribbentrop, and funk, through-out the span of the trial. also included are descriptions of the trial in session. it's fascinating; a real page turner, as you listen to the defendants preoccupations: goering tries to bully and position himself as a historical martyr; funk undergoes an almost whimsical, hyterical religious conversion, always articulate and interesting, and displays seemingly genuine guilt; speer is cool, dry, contrite - but i was left with the sense that his 'general responsibilty' wasnt as vigorously applied to himself as it could have been; ribbentrop is pathetic, broken, and lost; the soldiers (keitel, jodl, donitz)say they are only following orders, and streicher, terrible as he is, is perhaps the only defendant who remains consistant...he's still banging on about the jewish threat. oh, and hess, is the comic element - fogets, remembers, then forgets again. the big problem that i had with this book, and hence the mild 3 star rating, is the author. there's nothing wrong with his writing, his choice of layout, anything like that; it's his pompous self certain moralising that does it. at first it's easy to ignore, but it becomes so consistant - in his reflections, and during his actual discussion with the inmates, that it really starts to grate, and the hypocricies of the western powers, through him, become more stark and jarring. after all, Gilbert is a physchologist, do we really need to listen to endless moral jibes and quips? in his defence, according to Gilbert, the nazi's all seem to like him, and he is speaking with a voice from 1945 when the holocaust and war were still breath-takingly fresh. an examples of his self righteous style: Ribbentrop is talking to Gilbert about knowledge of the holocaust, and it moves on to why didnt ribbentrop try and kill Hitler. Ribbentrop protests, and Gilbert replies - "No, I would certainly have denouced him as a murder (meaning Hitler), and if that was impossible, i would have felt it my solemn duty, as a last resort, to kill him myself." so lets get this straight then, Gilbert. if you had been Ribbentrop, you would have first denouched hitler? to who exactly? the police, the S.S? your foreign connections maybe? and failing that you would kill Hitler. really? so you'd travel from your berlin foreign office residence, to the ukraine, walk into the wolf's lair, walk past all the secuirty and shoot him dead? at least this represents the worst of his comments. generally it's just fatuousness. that said, Gilbert isnt only an author. he is a part of the actual history we are concerend with. viewed in that way, it's possible to view his comments as part of the time and place, and learn from it, rather than get all hot under the collar and curse him for his lack of objectivity.

in my opinion this book is not accurate about those nazis and the psychologist is in my opinion too much of an prosecutor compared with the nuremberg interviews from goldensohn this one cannot compare at all even the few images inside the book are pretty bad quality.

In nowadays history is being increasingly abused by generations of White House residents fake news. This book provide glimpse of western european aggression and cruelty, if left to its own devices. Germany twice in the last century attempted to bring Eurasia to its knees and conquer. People in the west has short memory and greed and history will repeat itself if the lessons are forgotten.

Excellent, very good read, I am very interested in WW2 and recent been into Hitlers escaping the Bunker, saw this whilst looking for books it had good reviews and they were right. I had never read anything on Nuremberg, this being written by the prison psychologist I thought was worth reading.

This book shows how the minds and conscience of these men, responsible for so many crimes, were distorted. How could German people trust these men? Read what they answered when were questioned. They seemed children.

This book is an excellent record of the famous trials of the major war criminals still living after the 2nd World War. I have studied several books on the subject and found this most detailed and atmospheric.I shall certainly keep it for future reference.I recommend it to others reading about these events.

An absolute must for anyone who is fascinated by this era. offers an insight into the personalities and psyches of the leading Nazi's, as well as an opportunity for the reader to decide for him or herself whether Nuremberg was just a 'show trial' or a justifiable inditement of a criminal regieme. Fascinating and unputdownable.