Blind Obedience and Denial: The Nuremberg Defendants

A revealing new examination of the men in the dock at Nuremberg - who they were, what they did, and their thoughts and attitudes towards the Third Reich and other senior Nazis as the trial progressed. A revealing yet accessible examination of the Nuremberg trial, and most crucially all 23 men who stood accused, not just the most infamous Speer, Hess, and Göring. This account sets the scene by explaining the procedures, the legal context, and the moments of hypocrisy in the Allies' prosecution ignoring the fact that the Katyn massacre was a Soviet crime and overlooking carpet bombing. Author Andrew Sangster discusses how the word "Holocaust" was not used until long after the trial, probably due to Russian objection as they had lost many more people, and because the Allies generally were not innocent of anti-Semitism themselves, especially Russia and Vichy France. However, the defendants to a person immediately recognised that this was the singular issue which placed them on the steps of the gallows, and their various defences on this charge are therefore crucial to understanding the trial. Sangster also explores how the prisoners related to one another in their approach to defending themselves on the charge of genocide and extermination camps, especially in facing the bully boy Göring. This new study utilises not only the trial manuscripts, but the pre-trial interrogations, the views of the psychiatrists and psychologists, and the often-overheard conversations between prisoners who did not know their guards spoke German to give the fullest exploration of the defendants, their state of mind, and their attitudes towards the Third Reich, Hitler and each other as they faced judgement by the victors of the war. AUTHOR: Dr Andrew Sangster holds his doctorate in Modern European History as well as degrees in Law, Theology, History and English. He has written several biographies including Lord Alan Brooke, Beria, Franco, Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, a history of France 1936–46 and an account of the main European Secret Services before 1939.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction Two Critical Issues Procedures Hermann Göring 1893–1946 Rudolf Hess 1894–1987 Joachim Von Ribbentrop 1893–1946 Wilhelm Keitel 1892–1946 Ernst Kaltenbrunner 1903–46 Alfred Rosenberg 1893–1946 Hans Frank 1900–46 Wilhelm Frick 1877–1946 Julius Streicher 1885–1946 Hjalmar Schacht 1877–1970 Walther Funk 1890–1960 Karl Dönitz 1891–1980 Erich Raeder 1876–1960 Baldur Von Schirach 1907–76 Fritz Sauckel 1894–1946 Alfred Jodl 1890–1946 Arthur Seyss–Inquart 1892–1946 Franz Von Papen 1879–1969 Albert Speer 1905–1981 Constantin Von Neurath 1873–1956 Hans Fritzsche 1900–53 Robert Ley 1890–1945 Reflections Final Thoughts Glossary And Abbreviations Appendix Bibliography Endnotes Index

About the Author :
Dr Andrew Sangster holds his doctorate in Modern European History as well as degrees in Law, Theology, History and English. He has written several biographies including Lord Alan Brooke, Beria, Franco, Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, a history of France 1936–46 and an account of the main European Secret Services before 1939.

Review :
This is an excellent summary of the trials' main points and defenses -- following orders, amnesia, under the influence of others, blame others, and even protestations of innocence. WWII readers will forever be appreciative of what Andrew has prepared for us and our personal libraries.