Nuremberg Diary by G. M. Gilbert Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Nuremberg Diary
Book Review: A fascinating, gripping read!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was totally fantastic! A real chance to get into the minds of the higher up Nazis! It was fascinating to see the different personalities, and how they reacted to what was going on! Some were scared, some were totally arrogant, some were up and down. A couple were honest. I myself am of the opinion that had many of these men defied Hitler, they would have wound up dead. The court was of the opinion that any of them could have defied him and lived to tell about it. Some people actually did (especially Speer). On the other hand, MANY people that defied him were shot as traitors or defeatists, or whatever the maniac branded them on that particular day. If he even bothered to brand them. If I were in their place, I would have been TERRIFIED to have defied him. I hope I am NEVER on a jury, where I would have to make decisions on things like this.
I do not feel that people came anywhere near CLOSE to paying for what went on with the Holocaust. But some of these men were not the ones to blame for that. I remember reading the survivor story of Joe Moser, a US flier, who was taken prisoner and put in Buchenwald. Luftwaffte officers heard that there were fliers in Buchenwald, and went and got them out and had them put in POW camps instead of that horrid place. The Germans were not all animals (even the ones under that nut, Goehring)! At times I think people tried to blame the wrong Germans for some of the things that went on. Unfortunately, the worst, most criminal of the lot, got out of everything without having to pay, and this left everyone I think (Allies and Germans alike) feeling very frustrated. I have read of extremely evil butchers that were found, and nothing was done to them. That makes me feel that SOME of the defendants here could have gotten a bum rap!
And what a LAUGH!!! The ministers were told by the court that they should have given Hitler different advice! What kind of nuts ARE they? Hitler didn't listen to a word those people told him! He told THEM what to do! They were thinking from the point of view of a democracy, and were totally unable to get into the mindset of a policestate, controlled by a freakin' maniac! That attitude ticked me off!
The book itself (though I disagreed with some of the mindsets in it) was just magnificent! To get into the minds of these people, after reading so much about the war, and about many of them, was very compelling, and I could hardly put this book down! Goehring was a buffoon, but I found it so interesting what he had to say about Russia! That they (the Nazis) had tried to take care of Stalin, but we wouldn't let them, and now WE were going to have to deal with him. And durn if that mess didn't start right in the middle of the trial! Why he kept defending that maniac Hitler was totally beyond me. He really did himself a disservice there.
It was very intriguing finding out what they all had to say about each other, and about the regime.
This whole war was just so wrong and unnecessary and so hard to understand sometimes. I am reminded of the Sonnerkommando, who played such a role in the killing of so many Jews and prisoners, for their own survival. How many of them were blamed for what they did? None, really, that I'm aware of. However, in one of the books there was a story of (I believe) three men who were told to work in the Sonnerkommando, and they refused, and said that they would die before they would do anything like that. Of course, the Nazis obliged them. To me, this is exactly what the Americans were insisting the Germans should have done, when working under Hitler. Martyred themselves. But on the other hand, they didn't insist that the few people who were left that were in the Sonnerkommando should have martyred THEMselves. All were asked (well, TOLD is the way they Nazis did it) to do something that was distasteful to them. (I am not talking about ALL the Nazis of course. Many of them were GLAD to do the horrible things they did!) Some responded by accepting in order to save their own skin, and others preferred to give up their own skin instead. It's just hard for me to expect people to martyr themselves, which they seemed to feel they should have done, in the trial.
And the attitude that all the Germans knew about what went on in the concentration and extermination camps, I find totally wrong. Most of those Germans were out fighting a war, without the needed supplies, and told to fight to the death and that retreat was forbidden, and lots of times in hideous circumstances (i.e. 50 below zero weather). People in that type of situation probably just didn't have the inclination to find out what was going on in faraway camps, even had they had a clue. (Not directing this to most of the people in the Nuremberg trial, but just some things I have heard people say about the situation.)
There were so many different things to look at, consider and weigh in these trials, and indeed in the whole war itself. I would have HATED to be the person to have to decide whether these people were telling the truth or lying, and decided whether they should have had the death sentence or not. It's just a cryin shame that Hitler, Himmler, Eichman, Heydrich, Goebbels, etc., were not around to be tried. I hate to think of the type of death I might have ordered for these people had I been THEIR judge! It would almost bring you down to the level of the atrocities they committed. Suffice it to say that hanging or the firing squad would just not have been sufficient at all.
(By the way, I found it very interesting in another book on Nuremberg, that the British wanted to line them all up and shoot them as war criminals, with no trial, and that the US disagreed with them and felt there should be a trial.)
I found this book to be truly outstanding, and wholeheartedly recommend it!!!!
Book Review: AN EXCELLENT ACCOUNT FROM THE MAN WHO WAS THERE
Summary: 4 Stars
Gustav Gilbert gives a brilliant account of isstay at Nuremberg for the duration of the infamous trial. He exposes the men on trial not only as monsters but as humans. An account like no other as he remains steadfast to his work until the end when other such as Gen Kelley have left to return home and publish their own accounts. Gilbert allows us full access to these men as they realize what has happened and that they have no escape from their fate. He shows his own compassion for the condemed as he pays visits to their families to give them hop as well as get information vital to his book.Book Review: Ally Retribution
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a fascinating book. One that every student of WWII history should read.Book Review: Brilliant insight into Nazi Criminals' minds
Summary: 5 Stars
Gilbert somehow manages to contain his indignation with his subjects to the extent that he is able to protray the Nazi war criminals in a light that is not often associated with them. Von Ribbentrop the pathetic ashamed boot-licker, almost pity garnering, rather than the haughty "stateman" who once inspired fear in diplomats from the Bay of Biscay to the Urals. Goering, once the Marshall of the most powerful air force in the world, reduced to a playground bully. This is a very useful book for those who want to look behind the facade of the Nazi war criminals.Book Review: Dubious Justice
Summary: 3 Stars
What makes Nuremberg Diaries at all interesting is author Gilbert's insider's view of victor's justice. But for the moderating influence of British and American jurisprudence, Nuremberg would have turned out to be a kangaroo court in the grand style of that great "defender" of human rights, Josef Stalin. It is fascinating to read how the defeated, on trial for their lives, divide into opposing groups, each pointing the finger at the other. Gilbert roams freely among the accused, sometimes provoking, sometimes digging, not at all understanding what went on in the minds of those accused of such enormities. The problem with the Nuremberg trials is that they were held to assuage the public consciences of the victorious allies and to seek revenge for acts which could have been prevented if those same allies had followed other policies. As far as international law in effect at the time of the alleged crimes, the trial provided dubious justice at best. The author himself lends scant credibility to his pose as a disinterested observer as he frequently mocks and provokes his subjects particularly the utterly degenerate Goering. The defendants claim that "they had acted in good faith according to the standards of their respective positions and professions" should have been a good enough defense for most of them as their country was at war. In most countries, particularly in dictatorships, the penalty for refusing an order in time of war, lawful or not, is a date with the rope or the firing squad. Every citizen becomes an instrument of the state. That the Soviets sat in judgement of the defeated when they were guilty of far greater crimes is an indelible stain on the fairness of the trial. What should have been done instead was that the cases should have been handed to the German Civil Administration for trial under German law as was in effect at the times of the crimes. Despite its defects, Nuremberg Diary is interesting for anyone wishing to peer into the minds of the vanquished Nazi leadership.