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Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial

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Nothing so defines the differences separating the Third Reich from 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. In this book author Joseph Persico offers a ground-level introduction to the motley cast of characters on trial as well as the collection of interested others who gathered to oversee the proceedings.

Achieving the result of fair trials that would literally change the perspective of the world toward participants in 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 since I had recently viewed the telecast by TNT based on this book which covered the trials, and the book served to fill out a lot of the remaining questions I had regarding the nature of the individual personalities from Truman to Churchill to Jackson to Biddle and the others. This is a worthwhile book, and I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about these singular trials and their impact on history.

This account of the Nuremberg Trials is truely a gift. Presico give a detailed account of the trial and a background to the major players that participated in this historic event. This trial forever changed the outlook of international law and directly outlined the concenquences of future of wars -- if you commit crimes, you will be punished. This book is a prime example of critical, but reader friendly analysis. This book is a good introduction to the Nuremberg Trials that gives you the reader a close, inside view of the men who ran the Nazi war effort.

I've always been facinated by the Nuremberg trials, and last year I actually took a college course solely on Nuremberg, so I've read many Nremberg historicals in my life. I think that this one might be the best simply because it is written in the most interesting way. Persico takes you through the trial as if it were a novel with twists and climaxes in its plot. He also interjects a fair amount of subjective criticism into the book ( much of which I disagree with ). I would recommend this book even above those written by trial participants such as Taylor's and Tusa's books for readers interested in learning about the shape and scope of the trials. This is especially true for readers new to the Nuremberg trial since this book is more likely than most to keep your attention throughout the book. The only book about Nuremberg that I have read that is better than Persico's is psychologist G.M. Gilbert's "Nuremberg Diary." Although this one is better for readers interested in learning about the trial itself.

I got started reading about the atrocities committed during WWII when I was in medical school and came across Henry Friedlander's book about The Medical Holocaust. I read several books on that, and then started reading military history of WWII. When I became more involved in a bioethics/disability group and started writing concerning this problem that persists today, I felt compelled to read more history about the original Nuremberg Trial, that set the legal precedent both for putting on trial war criminals and using the ideas of `crimes against humanity' as a means to prosecute these people.

Persico's book is probably one of the best in the historical genre. His writing is such that the book reads as quickly as a novel, but he doesn't speculate. He didn't have to, as there was so much information in writing, in photography, in video...that he could use the actual words of both the prosecution and the defendants. It not only flabbergasted the prosecution, but me as a reader to find that the Germans documented everything. It boggles the mind that these men and women who carried out such unbelievably horrible crimes, felt compelled to write about them. They were proud of what they did, and expected the world to actually laud them for their efforts to rid the world of the Jews and other minority groups.

It is so necessary that our children who are now three generations removed from The Holocaust be taught about the reality of what happened in Germany and the countries that Germany conquered (or tried to). What is so terrifying is the fact that many of these men were not charismatic, were not charming or handsome, had no great abilities of any kind, but in `normal' situations would have been merely cruel and lowly workers that no one would ever pay attention. The fact that one madman could pull into power a group of men like this (Goring among them), and threaten not only the world but their own people continues to be frightening. I see some politicians in power currently whose grasp for more power and seeks the destruction of many of the basic rights in our own democracy that parallel what happened in Germany. And unfortunately, too many of these people hold sway over other more intelligent men such as Albert Speer. I read about Speer's impact before, but still find it incredible that he could have ever listened to a raving madman and feel that his words held any credibility.

Persico writes well...I am forcing my husband to read this book because he was in Germany for two years, and I think he will find this fascinating, as I did. Persico brings up the fact that without the collaboration of industry, banks, and other corporate groups Hitler would never have retained power. These groups actively participated in the development of the Nazi killing machine, and Justice Jackson and the others involved in the criminal proceedings were right not only to bring the heads of these groups to task for their participation in the atrocities, but also to hold the entire proceeding within Germany itself, so as to allow it's people to see and have a say within the proceedings. This helped many Germans to come to an understanding of why and how this was allowed to happen in their country, and set the stage for the building of a democratic Germany.

Unfortunately, Justice Jackson's hope that the criminal proceedings would have an impact on future wars and other atrocities/genocides was misguided. I don't know if anyone ever stopped to think prior to committing crimes like these, that they could end up in court. Milosovec and other Serbs obviously didn't bother to consider this. However, Jackson's efforts did provide a precedent with which other war criminals have been tried, and with which the Serbs are now being tried.

An incredible book, an incredible story, an incredible writer.

Karen Sadler,
Science Education,
University of Pittsburgh

As someone who has studied the Second World War and knew the basics behind the men on trial I still found Persico's account very illuminating. In addition to mearly reporting the facts of the trial, Persico gets inside the defendant's minds and attempts to convey the emotions that these men went through. From the conflicts between Goring and his jailers to the cunning defence strategy of Albert Speer, this is a story that all students of World War II should know.

This is one of the only nonfiction books I've ever read, and it was well worth the effort. Although nearly everyone will be quick to place Hitler at the top of their 'most evil men in history' list, the rest of the Nazi coterie are not so well known, and what we find is a cast of characters worthy of any fictional account. You have Albert Speer, the sensitive and morally astute architect who nevertheless relied on slave labor to build his masterpieces; Goering, a bombastic wit who destroyed his captors and fellow inmates alike; Von Schirach, the eerily handsome youth leader described by one prosecution attorney as 'the sort of scout master who molests young boys;' Von Schacht, the imposing old financial genius who admits, grudginly, that he has some trouble with basic arithmetic; Julius Streicher, the lunatic propogandist, who swears at children and does nude calisethnics in front of the guard assigned to watch him.

The account is, however, very long, and I found the sections about the various other personalities involved in the trial uninteresting (well, it's difficult to compete with some of the most dramtically evil men of the century). If you're willing to skim a few passages (which is would be unacceptable in a novel, but which doesn't do much harm with a work like this), I think you'll find this very interesting, whether as a student of history, an artist, or anyone attempting to expand their knowledge of human nature.

For me this volume functioned as a sequel to William L. Shirer's THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH. As much as I learned from that volume, in the end I found myself wondering about what happened next. I had already known, even before Shirer (where I learned this I cannot say-it was one of those things that I just managed to know somehow) that near the end of the Third Reich Göbbels and Himmler had both committed suicide, that Göring had been hung by the Allies, that Speer escaped with a prison term, and that Hess had been incarcerated for life. But I found that I wanted to know more, not just about the details of the more prominent Nazis, but of the whole Nuremberg trial process.

At the very least Persico's NUREMBERG did that. I am not sufficiently versed in the history of the period to make any valid judgment on this book as a work of history. I can, however, say that it is enormously interesting and quite enjoyable. It contains a wealth of fascinating material, and presents it clearly. Persico neither attempts to overpraise or criticize unnecessarily those who conducted the trial. All the major participants on all sides of the trial are presented in a completely fleshed out manner. Although the work is one of history, the key figures appear as well developed as characters in the novel. This is as true of the defendants as the prosecutors, so that by the end, when the sentences are passed out, I as a reader found that I had developed a measure of compassion for the Nazis that was completely out of keeping with the crimes they had committed. In a couple of cases this was because some of the Nazis had clearly become aware of the enormity of their crimes (like Hans Frank), or because I came to see that for these individuals, they were merely functioning within a society in which unquestioned obedience was a given (such as the military figures such as Keitel and Jodl). Even Göring becomes an object of some compassion. Not that I would have commuted his sentence of those of most who were hung.

Unlike Shirer's book, this volume did a marvelous job of clothing the Nazis in the garb of humanity, which makes their crimes seem all that more horrible. It would be much easier to think of most of the Nazis as bizarre monsters, but studies such as this give the lie to that picture. These men were recognizably human. Yet they performed acts of unspeakable evil. They were not aliens. They are examples of what human beings are capable of when their thought becomes diseased and their ability to conceive of the extent of the human family becomes corrupted.

Still, despite the horrible things they managed to achieve, both the Shirer and Persico volumes drive home a point that neither elaborates but which is latent in each, namely, the Nazis were almost to a man horrible bores. Hitler might be interesting inasmuch as he is an example of just how degraded a human being can become in moral character, or one might find the events in which he was the prime shaper interesting, but this does not obscure the fact that he was a person with whom you would not really want to spend ten minutes talking. He does not seem to have been especially intelligent (apart from a practical ability in power politics), or an interesting conversationalist, or at all well rounded. I mean, what would you talk to Hitler about? The same holds true of most of the other Nazis, with only a couple of exceptions. Albert Speer does not seem to have been a complete dunderhead. And then, of course, there was Göring.

Easily the most interesting individual in Persico's account is Hermann Göring. I in fact felt a bit guilty in finding him to be such an interesting individual. I mean, after all, he was one of the worst of the Nazis. Possibly not quite the embodiment of evil that you find in Hitler, Himmler, Heydrich, or Eichmann, but still not a very nice guy. I felt better about this when I realized that he reminded me of nothing so much as one of the villains in a James Bond movie. Granted, his crimes were real and not restricted to celluloid, but like a James Bond villain, you have to acknowledge his very real charms along with his evil.

I can qualifiedly recommend this book. If you have any degree of interest in the World War II and its major participants, then one could do worse than reading this book.

Joseph Persico proves that a book can be thoroughly researched, historically accurate, finely detailed, and yet utterly fascinating to read. Even one who has a wide knowledge of the history of World War 2 will find himself caught in the drama as it unfolds, almost as if he can hardly wait to see what will happen next. I knew how the Nuremberg trials actually turned out and what the verdicts were, and yet felt the grip of the suspense as the courtroom debates ended and the judges began their deliberations, and again as the minutes ticked down to the time for the executions.

What makes the book so highly interesting, aside from the excellence of the writing style, is the emphasis upon personality, rather than just bare facts. This is an inside view, as we see how this extremely critical event affected the very human characters caught in the spotlight of history. We are let into the secrets of the power struggles and jealousies among the prosecutors and defense attorneys, as well as the sense of high responsibility and the determination of some of the leading figures to get this momentous chore done right.

And we see how some of the most notorious men in history dealt with their fall from power to their treatment as common criminals facing death by hanging. Each one becomes a real person as the author skillfully reveals how the passing of the long days of confinement and the presentation of overwhelming masses of lurid evidence worked inexorably upon the psyche.

Anyone who has any interest in World War 2 will find this book engrossing. (Why, even the author's acknowledgments are interesting.) And anyone who does not know the story of the famous war crimes trials at Nuremberg will receive a thorough education in one of the most significant events of that earth-transforming conflict.

Although based on historical fact, Persico¡¯s day-by-day account of the Nuremberg Trials reads more like a novel. In fact, because of the way he focuses on the points of view of nearly every individual who was involved, it almost seems as though the book were written so as to be easily adapted to a screenplay, which of course it eventually was.

Essentially, Persico tells the story of the Nuremberg trials, from before the start to after the finish. In so doing, he presents not just a narrative of the trial itself, but he also discusses and analyzes many of the subplots that were going on during the trial. Thus, at times he focuses on personal and professional struggles between characters, such as two American psychiatrists who, although theoretically working together, found themselves at odds over who could profit from the experience first. Likewise, he gives some attention to Justice Jackson¡¯s courtroom struggles, and how he tended to be overshadowed by the courtroom performances of fellow prosecutor Thomas Dodd.

Nevertheless, this attention to subplots does not come at the cost of examining the psychological issues or legal intricacies of the trials. Despite Persico¡¯s focus on the players involved, he spends a large part of the book examining the issues that readers would tend to find most historically important. He gives in-depth analysis of each individual Nazi defendant, discussing how each spent his time in prison, how some seemed to grasp and express contrition for what they had done while others felt no remorse. Likewise, he also spends a good deal of time looking at some of the important legal issues surrounding the trial, and the incredible efforts that the allies (except, generally, for the Russians) put forth to ensure that the defendants had as fair a trial as possible.

Overall, it is an insightful and engaging book, and an easy read.

Great book for those that want a quick glance on the happenings of the Nuremberg trials. Four main sections: Preparation of the court, Prosecution statements, Defense and Counterinterrogation of the Nazi warlords, Sentencing and beyond. Narration keeps the reader interested in the book. The only problem is the fragmentation of the situations; chapters are really short and have little continuity. This is a curse for the Nuremberg lovers...but a blessing for the normal reader...you can delay reading and not lose the whole objective of the book. There are TOO MANY NAMES...it is more difficult when half of the names are German. Still...I would highly recommend the book.