BRUCE M. STAVE AND MICHELE PALMER WITH LESLIE FRANK
WITNESSES TO NUREMBERG
An Oral History of American Participants at the War Crimes Trials
TWAYNE PUBLISHERS
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Cover design by Judy Kahn.
Cover photo: Lieutenant William Jackson, the journalist
Walter Lippman and Mrs. Lippman survey the destruction of Nuremberg.
Courtesy the Thomas J. Dodd Papers, Archives and Special Collections
Department, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center,
University of Connecticut Libraries.
Used with permission.
Printed in the U.S.A.
To the memory of those for whom justice was
sought at Nuremberg and to those who helped bring it about
Twayne's Oral History Series
About the Authors
Contents
The Second World War was a cataclysmic event that directly affected
millions of
people. By contrast, the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1949), which sought j
ustice for the victims of Nazi war crimes, had a profound effect upon history
but
involved only a small number of direct participants. Although the trials were
shown on newsreels and chronicled in the papers and on radio, for many they
remained
a distant affair to a society preoccupied with rebuilding shattered lives,
communities, and economies.
Witnesses to Nuremberg: An Oral History of American Participants at the
War Crimes Trials brings this historic event into focus on a very
personal
level. Oral historians Bruce M. Stave and Michele Palmer, with the
assistance
of Leslie Frank, have conducted a series of interviews with Americans who
were involved
in the trials and through eleven compelling oral histories get behind
the scenes to recreate the American community at Nuremberg. These first person
accounts humanize history as readers share the experiences of American
prosecutors, security personnel, journalists, and even the
architect who designed the courtroom.
Since the interviewees represent average people and not the "stars" of
Nuremberg, their voices speak directly to the reader in terms that a modern
audience can understand.
This approach sets Witnesses to Nuremberg apart from other
literature about the trials.
Stave and Palmer do not concentrate on justifying the
concept of postwar war crimes trials or the legal technicalities of the
prosecution and defense;
instead they offer the distinctly personal views of those who w
ere there and their impressions of the atmosphere, details, and personalities of
the trials. The authors seek to capture the "Nuremberg experience," from
living in a
bombed-out city, to rebuilding the courtroom, to the everyday lives of
the participants.
This latest addition to Twayne's Oral History Series allows us to come
face-to-face
with the Nazi defendants, learn about interactions with ordinary German
citizens, and reflect upon
the meaning of justice in the post-World War II world.
Suitable for the classroom as well as the general reader, this volume
recreates a historic reckoning
that the world can ill afford to forget.
The book includes 11 edited interviews. A Catalogue describing
all 30 interviews conducted by the project and compiled by Leslie
Frank in 1995 is available from The Center for Oral History,
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-1205 or email your request to
COHADM01@UConnvm.UConn.edu
Twayne's Oral History Series No. 27
Witnesses to Nuremberg: An Oral History of American Participants at
the War Crimes Trials
Bruce M. Stave and Michele Palmer with Leslie Frank
Copyright 1998 by Twayne Publishers
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, rec
ording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission i
n writing from the Publisher.
Twayne Publishers
An Imprint of Simon & Schuster Macmillan
1633 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Library of Congress Catologing-in-Publication Data
Stave, Bruce M.
Witnesses to Nuremberg: an oral history of American participants at the war crim
es trials/Bruce M. Stave and Michele Palmer, with Leslie Frank.
p. cm.-- (Twayne's oral history series; no. 27)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8057-1628-9 (alk. paper)
1. Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1
946.
2. War Crime Trials--Germany--Nuremberg--History--20th century--Sources.
3. Courts--Germany--Nuremberg--Officials and employees--Interviews.
4. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.
I. Palmer, Michelle.
II. Frank, Leslie.
III. Title.
IV. Series.
KZ1176.S73 1998
341.6'9'0268--dc21
98-39982
CIP
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z3948-1992 (Permanence of
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Printed in the United States of America