Disclaimer: This is a paper that I wrote in the spring of 2011 about the Nuremberg Trials and Gustave Gilbert based on what I learned from my World War II project. After many drafts, I learned through the help of Ms. Sylvia that I was not completely meeting the standard in the correct way and I never had enough time to fix it properly. So here is the last draft of this paper that I wrote.
Gustave Gilbert and the Nuremberg Trials
By Hunter Burgtorf
Standard 6: Understand the causes and course of World War II, the character of the war at home and abroad, and its’ reshaping of the United States role in the post-war world.
Benchmark 7: Describe the attempts to promote international justice through the Nuremberg Trials.
On November 20, 1945 at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, Germany, twenty-one of the highest ranking Nazi officials were tried by the International Military Tribunal for their work with the genocide during World War II. Dr. Gustave Gilbert was appointed as the official prison psychologist. Over the course of the trials he became the prisoner’s confidant and made observations about each of the criminals. The Nuremberg Trials promoted international justice, set a precedent for future leaders who commit war crimes, and established a World Court to try people who commit crimes against humanity. As a result of Dr. Gilbert’s observations, the world gained insight into the leaders of the largest and most destructive Holocaust ever.
Dr. Gustave Gilbert was an American psychologist. He was born in New York in 1911 and his parents were Jewish-Austrian immigrants. In 1939, he received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University. He also had a diploma from the American Board of Examiners in Professional Psychology. During World War II, Dr. Gilbert was the military psychologist with the rank of First Lieutenant. He was very skilled in the German language and was therefore sent overseas to be a military intelligence officer. After World War II ended Dr. Gustave Gilbert was sent to Nuremberg, Germany to be the translator for the International Military Tribunal for the trials of the German criminals from World War II. He became the Prison Psychologist for the German prisoners and ultimately became the confidant of many Nazi leaders and prisoners including Herman Goering, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Rudolph Hess, Wilhelm Keitel, Hans Frank, and others. Through Gilbert’s many observations, the world was allowed to gain some insight into how the Nazi regime was run.
The twenty-one defendants were accused of up to four charges which were conspiracy to commit crimes alleged in other counts, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. These charges were based off of the murder of six million Jews, brutal concentration camps, slave labor, and initiating an aggressive war. In the International Military Tribunal, four allied countries were represented: The United States, Great Britain, Russia, and France. These countries decided that a judge and one alternate judge would be appointed from each of the prosecuting countries. The defendants all proclaimed their innocence to the judges and on October 1, 1946 the verdicts were announced. Eighteen defendants were found guilty and three were acquitted. Eleven of the defendants that were found guilty were sentenced to death by hanging and the rest faced anywhere from ten years to life in prison. Although these trials could not fix what had already been done, they did provide the world with some peace and helped promote international justice through the criminals sentencing. (http://hunternathanww2.weebly.com/index.html)
Dr. Gilbert was present when each defendant was taken from the courtroom to their prison cell after hearing the verdict. He wrote observations about each prisoner which gave insight into the mindset of the Nazi regime. The first prisoner that left the courtroom was Herman Goering. He entered his cell pale-faced and his eyes were popping out. Goering seemed to be scared for the first time in his life and he was attempting to control what could become an emotional breakdown according to Dr. Gilbert. Rudolph Hess was incredibly nervous yet tried to remain calm. Many others seemed to react like Hess. Some defendants, such as Wilhelm Keitel, were angry with the sentence. He was convinced that he would be spared from death. Joachim von Ribbentrop and Hans Frank both seemed to feel intense shame for their sentences and attempted to try and accept them. These men could not believe what they put themselves into, but what was most evident in each of the eighteen Nazi leaders was that they still felt their superiority even in this time of shame. ("The Sentencing and Execution of Nazi War Criminals, 1946" EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2004).)
Early in the morning on October 16, 1946 the hangings were carried out. The hangings occurred in a small gymnasium that was built in the prison’s courtyard. The executions were quick, lasting just around three and a half hours in total. Herman Goering avoided being hung by swallowing a cyanide capsule shortly before his scheduled hanging and he died. Adolf Hitler, the one most responsible for the Holocaust and Germany’s part in the war, skipped the trials and hangings entirely by shooting himself right before the Soviet Troops came to take him away on April 30, 1945. There was one representative from the American press during the hangings, Kingsbury Smith, and he made many observations. At 1:11 AM, Von Ribbentrop entered the execution room. Originally, the condemned men were allowed to walk from their prison cells to the execution chamber with their hands free, but once Goering committed suicide, they all had to be manacled. Joachim von Ribbentrop remained arrogant with his head held high until he was hung. Two minutes after the trap had dropped underneath von Ribbentrop, Keitel entered. Wilhelm Keitel also maintained that same arrogance up until his death, holding his head high until the very last minute. He recited his last words, and then met his fate. Hans Frank was the next scheduled to be hung. He was the only prisoner that had a smile on his face. Frank appeared to be nervous but seemed to accept what was to come. He whispered his last words and was hung. The last of the men was executed at 2:38 AM. Although Goering killed himself before his hanging, he still had to be officially recognized so his body was carried into the gymnasium on a stretcher. And then the executions were finished. ("The Sentencing and Execution of Nazi War Criminals, 1946" EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2004).)
Dr. Gustave Gilbert was present during the trials, sentences, and ultimate deaths of the criminals. His work contributed to international justice because his psychological work with these criminals gave the world insight into how the Nazi regime was run and what the thinking process behind the Holocaust was. The Nuremberg Trials promoted international justice, helped lay the law down for future leaders who commit war crimes, and established a World Court which would not let criminals be free from the responsibility of their crimes. Because of these trials and Dr. Gilbert’s work, justice was served to the millions of people who suffered and died from World War II and the Holocaust.
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