Nuremberg Diary

 ( Nuremberg Trials ) 

Nuremberg Diary is Gustave Gilbert's account of he conducted during the of high-ranking Nazism leaders, including Hermann Göring, who were involved in World War II and the Holocaust.

Gilbert, a fluent German language speaker, served as a prison psychologist in Nuremberg, arriving on October 20, 1945,

where he had close contact with those on trial. The text is the notes Gilbert took immediately after having conversations with the prisoners, information backed up by essays he asked them to write about themselves.p. 3-4

Following the , Gilbert writes: "I asked each of the defendants to autography my copy... with a brief statement giving his opinion of it".

Out of the twenty responses received, most either proclaimed personal innocence while blaming Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, or dismissed the charges entirely. Alfred Rosenberg and Julius Streicher blamed the Jews. Ibid. pg. 10-13

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Background and contents In 1945, after the end of the war, Gilbert was sent to Nuremberg, Allied-occupied Germany, as a translator for the International Military Tribunal for the trials of high-ranking German Nazi leaders for War crime. Gilbert was appointed their prison psychologist. During the process of the trials Gilbert became, after Douglas Kelley, the confidant of Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, Hans Frank, Oswald Pohl, Otto Ohlendorf, Rudolf Höss, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner, among others. Gilbert and Kelley administered the Rorschach test to the 22 defendants in the Nazi leadership group prior to the first set of trials. Gilbert also participated in the Nuremberg trials as the American Military Chief Psychologist and provided testimony attesting to the sanity of Rudolf Hess.

Gilbert also administered to the Nazi leadership. Hjalmar Schacht scored highest with 143 points, followed by Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Göring. Julius Streicher scored lowest with 106 points.

In 1946, after the trials, Gilbert returned to the US. Gilbert stayed busy teaching, researching, and writing. In 1947 he published Nuremberg Diary, consisting of observations taken during interviews, interrogations, "eavesdropping" and conversations with German prisoners. An expanded edition was printed in 1961 just before the Eichmann trial (one of the major organisers of the Holocaust).

The following is a famous exchange Gilbert had with Göring from this book:

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Publication history Nuremberg Diary was first published in 1947,New York: Farrar, Straus and Company. again in 1948,London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. and an expanded edition was issued in 1961,New York: Signet. just before the trial of Adolf Eichmann.

The 1948 London edition contains a foreword by Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, Deputy Chief Prosecutor for the British Legation. This edition does not contain Göring's commentThe last paragraph of Ch. 12: Frank's Defense. that "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."

• Jack El-Hai (2025). 9781610391566, PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781610391566

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