NUREMBERG DIARY

An American psychiatrist records, in minute and ugly detail, the comments, attitudes, conversations and psychopathic tendencies of the Nazi defendants at Nuremberg. Dr. Gilbert's method is simply to outline briefly the current court action and to report at length, often with tiresome repetition, the reaction of the defendants. The diary reveals in vivid detail the warped minds of the Nazi hierarchy, the moral cowardice of Goering, the hysterical guilt complex of Frank, the simpering stupidity of Ribbentrop, the self-righteousness of Von Papen and Schacht, the pornography of Streicher, the utter mental deterioration of Hess, the perverted morality of the militarists, and so on. The most striking revelation of the whole diary is the absolute power of Goering over his fellow defendants and his near-successful attempt to coerce them into building a Hitler-Goering myth. An extensive, perceptive psychiatric record of Nazi officialdom on trial, of historical significance despite the author's evident non-objectivity.