Nuremberg Diary

A chilling and unrivaled look into the psychology of Nazi leaders standing trial at Nuremberg.

In August 1945, the United States, Great Britain, France, and the USSR convened a tribunal in Nuremberg to try the military and civilian leaders of the defeated Nazi regime. A military intelligence officer with fluency in German, G. M. Gilbert arrived in October to work as the prison psychologist—a position that gave him unrivaled access to twenty-three of the men responsible for crimes against humanity unlike any the world had ever seen. Through clinical evaluations and hours of conversation, Gilbert coaxed the imprisoned Nazis into sharing their most candid thoughts with him, recording his findings with solemnity and poise. Nuremberg Diary is a disturbing look into the minds of the leadership of the Third Reich: their views on Jews and segregation; their private opinions of Hitler; their motivations behind the atrocities of the death camps; their feuds with one another; and their attempts at justifying their actions. From outright admissions to chilling fanaticism, Nuremberg Diary captures the intimate confessions of Nazis unlike any other document, and serves as a key source for understanding the manipulative strategies of authoritarian leaders and the systems of belief that undergird fascism.