Cold Open

It’s 5 A.M. on May 12th, 1945, in the Austrian Alps.

31-year-old Robert Matteson’s breath mists in the freezing air as he trudges through the snow toward a remote cabin. Robert is a U.S. Army Counterintelligence agent, and he and his small team have spent the night trekking through a dangerous mountain pass to get here. And now, with dawn breaking, they’re finally closing in on their target—senior SS officer Ernst Kaltenbrunner.

Four days ago, Nazi Germany surrendered, ending the war in Europe. Adolf Hitler is already dead. But the Allies are determined that the surviving leaders of the Third Reich will not escape justice for their crimes, and Kaltenbrunner is one of the highest-ranking members of the SS still at large.

The mountain cabin glows in the dawn light.

Robert’s team separates and surrounds the cabin, while he steps onto the wooden porch.

Balling his hand into a fist, he pounds on the door. At first, there’s silence. No surprise given the early hour.

So Robert bangs again.

This time, a window shutter opens a crack. Robert can see only the silhouette of a man inside. So he gets straight to the point and tells the shadowy figure that he’s here for Ernst Kaltenbrunner.

The shutter abruptly slams closed, and Robert sighs. It looks like they’re going to have to do this the hard way.

Robert steps away from the door and draws his pistol. The rest of the team moves forward, weapons raised. Robert calls for Kaltenbrunner to surrender, but there’s no response. So, it’s a standoff.

The seconds tick by, and as Robert considers his options…the front door suddenly swings open. Robert’s finger tightens on the trigger. But then a man steps slowly onto the porch, his hands above his head.

Another man follows. Then two more. It’s not just Kaltenbrunner surrendering, but three other members of the SS as well.

Ernst Kaltenbrunner’s companions are all lower-ranking members of the SS. They will be imprisoned and interrogated before eventually being released. But Kaltenbrunner himself faces a very different fate. Alongside other leading Nazis, he will stand trial in the city of Nuremberg on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. And finally, after months of devastating evidence, Kaltenbrunner and his co-defendants will face justice on October 1st, 1946.

This episode focuses on the trials of Nazi leaders that took place after World War II in Nuremberg, one of the cities we’ll be visiting on my European History and Christmas Markets Tour.

That adventure is sold out, though, but I’m planning others like it, and I’d like your help. Go to historydaily.com and find the History Tour survey section. I’d like to know more about where you would be excited to go with me, who you might be traveling with, and what you’d like to do. Would a solo expedition through Civil War battlefields be fun? A family vacation to a national park? A few friends exploring historic sites?

Help me plan the ultimate history vacation by going to historydaily.com and take the survey. That’s history daily dot com.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is October 1st, 1946: The Nuremberg Trial Verdicts.

Act One: Reichsmarschall

It’s early August 1945, at the Palace Hotel in Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg, three months after the capture of Ernst Kaltenbrunner.

American psychologist Dr. Douglas Kelley stands back as a guard unlocks a door and pushes it open. Kelley steps inside what was once one of the hotel’s luxurious bedrooms. Most of its fittings have been removed, and all that remains is a simple cot and a chair. Sitting at the end of the bed is 52-year-old Hermann Göring.

For more than a decade, Göring was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. A former World War I fighter ace, he was the head of the German Air Force, Adolf Hitler’s designated successor, and even received a special rank created just for him—Marshal of the Greater German Reich. He was famed for his lavish uniforms and extravagant tastes. But now, a pale blue tunic hangs loosely off his body, his complexion is pasty, and beads of sweat glisten on his face. With Hitler dead, Göring is the most senior Nazi still alive, and it’s Dr. Kelley’s job to assess his mental state ahead of his upcoming trial.

But Kelley’s first impression of Göring is surprising. During their initial conversations, he is unsettled by how normal Göring seems. He had expected to meet a cold-blooded monster, but Göring is friendly, even charming. It’s difficult to reconcile his relaxed manner with the brutal crimes he is accused of.

And Kelley soon notices something else. Throughout their meetings, Göring is constantly reaching for a bottle of pills beside his bed. He pops them into his mouth like candy, crunching them loudly between his teeth. Göring explains that they are painkillers, prescribed for an injury he suffered years ago. But as Kelley watches Göring swallow pill after pill, it’s obvious that he is suffering from a severe drug addiction.

Göring needs to be fit to stand trial, so Kelley decides to break Göring’s drug habit—and he knows how to do it. He appeals to Göring’s vanity. During their conversations, Kelley claims that a strong person should be able to overcome a dependency through sheer force of will. And this challenge works. Driven by his pride, Göring agrees to give up the drugs, and he is gradually weaned off his addiction in only a few weeks.

But Göring isn’t the only prisoner that Dr. Kelley has been assigned to evaluate. Over the coming months, he assesses 21 other defendants. And each responds differently to Kelley’s questions.

Former armaments minister Albert Speer adopts a clinical approach, carefully weighing every word he says. Robert Ley, the former head of the Labor Front, breaks down in tears and paces endlessly around his room. And former Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess appears increasingly unstable, swinging between erratic behavior and long periods of complete withdrawal.

But regardless of their mental state, shortly before the trials are due to begin, the prisoners are transported to Nuremberg Prison in southern Germany. There, Dr. Kelley continues his work assessing the prisoners and trying to understand what drew them to Nazi ideology. Over time, he identifies certain characteristics they appear to share. All the men are ambitious. Many show a striking lack of empathy. And few seem capable of truly grasping the human consequences of the regime they served. But Kelley finds no single psychological disorder that can explain their actions.

Eventually, Kelley wraps up his evaluations and submits his reports to the international team of investigators and prosecutors. Shortly afterward, indictments are served on the prisoners in their cells. They are jointly charged with four counts—conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Three days later, Robert Ley commits suicide in his cell, hanging himself with a towel tied to a pipe. His death sends shockwaves through the prison. Security is immediately tightened, with guards tasked with observing the other prisoners around the clock.

Then in November 1945, the remaining defendants are taken from their cells and escorted along a covered walkway to Nuremberg’s Palace of Justice. There, in Courtroom 600, they enter their pleas. Hermann Göring goes first and launches into a rambling speech. But the presiding judge quickly cuts him off, demanding a simple answer. Göring relents and pleads not guilty. One by one, the other defendants follow, all entering the same plea.

But this is only the first step. Over the next year, the world will watch as an unprecedented international trial unfolds—one that will decide the fate of the men who directed some of the greatest atrocities in human history.

Act Two: Courtroom 600

It’s the afternoon of November 29th, 1945, at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, nine days after the Nazi defendants pleaded not guilty.

Sitting behind a large oak desk, Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence glances along the bench at the seven other judges beside him. He sees that they’re all ready. So he gives the signal, and the lights of Courtroom 600 begin to dim. A projector whirs to life, and black-and-white footage flickers on a screen across the room.

Scenes of long barbed-wire fences come into view. They’re followed by harrowing images of starving captives in concentration camps, their hollowed faces and haunted eyes seeming to stare directly out at Justice Lawrence. Next come images of the dead—charred skeletons, piles of corpses, bodies bulldozed into mass graves.

For almost an hour, the room is silent apart from the whir of the projector and the occasional gasp from a shocked observer. Lawrence glances toward the defendants' dock, which is still bathed in the harsh, white glare of a spotlight. Hans Frank, the former Governor-General of Occupied Poland, begins to weep quietly. Rudolf Hess turns away, refusing to look at the screen. Hermann Göring coughs nervously. And then, he leans over the railing and buries his face in his arm.

When the footage finally ends, the courtroom remains silent. Reeling from the atrocities he’s just seen, Justice Lawrence forgets to formally adjourn the proceedings before rising from his seat. The guards lead the defendants from the courtroom, leaving a somber atmosphere in their wake.

Over the next three months, American, British, French, and Soviet prosecutors take turns presenting evidence. They introduce documents seized as Nazi armies retreated across Europe and call witnesses to corroborate them. Former SS officers testify about the mass murders they committed. Survivors of concentration camps describe the brutal treatment they endured. And piece by piece, the prosecution builds its case against the men on trial.

Then in March 1946, the defendants are given the opportunity to defend themselves. Despite the overwhelming evidence against them, Hermann Göring is determined to go down fighting. He hopes to salvage his own reputation and protect the honor of his co-defendants.

So when Göring takes the stand, he turns it into a pulpit and attempts to justify the Nazi regime. He denounces the tribunal as a show trial, and his magnetic, charismatic presence rattles the prosecution. Göring anticipates questions. He points out translation errors. He corrects minor factual mistakes. And when he finds himself cornered, he launches into long speeches intended to rally his fellow defendants and provoke the court. He denies knowing about the full extent of the extermination program and dismisses reports of mass killings as Allied propaganda.

But the longer Göring remains on the stand, the more the prosecution finds its footing. Prosecutors stop engaging with his rants and instead steer him back to the evidence. When they present documents detailing specific atrocities and illegal executions, they do not give Göring the chance to respond with a lecture. Instead, they keep their questions short and pointed, simply asking him to identify the documents and confirm his own signature at the bottom.

Then, when Göring’s time on the stand is over, he’s followed by his co-defendants, and they all adopt wildly different strategies.

Hans Frank appears to break dramatically with his past beliefs. Unlike Göring, Frank openly acknowledges the regime’s crimes, telling the court that he feels a deep sense of guilt. Albert Speer accepts a measure of responsibility for the Nazi regime, too, but insists that he had no knowledge of its worst actions. Appearing calm and controlled, Speer claims to have been blinded by Adolf Hitler’s power and charisma.

Other high-ranking military officers argue that they were professional soldiers and obligated to follow orders. Admirals in the navy defend the use of unrestricted submarine warfare as a military necessity rather than a criminal conspiracy, while generals in the army express shock that atrocities were carried out by the men under their command.

But no defendant is more difficult to judge than Rudolf Hess, who appears increasingly detached from reality. He claims to have lost his memory and behaves strangely. Behind the scenes, doctors and judges question whether Hess is genuinely unwell, or engaged in a clever ruse to avoid responsibility.

Either way sifting through the mountain of evidence against Hess and the others takes months. But eventually, the court adjourns and the judges retire to deliberate. Four weeks later, they announce that they have reached their verdicts.

The defendants prepare to return to the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. And soon, the senior Nazis will learn whether they have been found guilty—and what their fates will be.

Act Three: A Common Criminal

It’s 3 P.M. on October 1st, 1946, at the Palace of Justice, just over ten months after the Nuremberg Trials began.

An American guard steps out of an elevator, gripping Hermann Göring by the arm as he guides the former Reich Marshal back into Courtroom 600. Göring takes his now-familiar seat. He slips on a pair of black headphones and waits for Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence to begin.

Justice Lawrence began announcing the court’s judgment yesterday. Earlier today, the verdicts were announced, and three defendants were acquitted. But the other nineteen have been found guilty—and Göring is among them. Now, he is about to learn his punishment.

The judge begins reading slowly. Through his headphones, Göring hears the translation—and as the words sink in, the color drains from his face. He is been sentenced to death.

When the proceedings are over, Göring slowly removes his headphones and shuffles out of the courtroom, returning to his cell for what he knows are the final weeks of his life.

In total, eleven of the defendants are sentenced to death by hanging. Among them are SS officer Ernst Kaltenbrunner, captured in the Austrian Alps, and Hans Frank, who was directly involved in the mass murder of Jews.

Others though, are treated more leniently. Rudolf Hess is told he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison, while Albert Speer is sentenced to 20 years behind bars.

But Hermann Göring has no intention of dying on the gallows.

Late on the evening of October 15th, just hours before the executions are scheduled to begin, a guard looks into Göring's cell and hears a strange, muffled gurgling sound.

Sensing that something is wrong, the guard unlocks the door. And inside, Göring lies on his bed, foaming at the mouth and shaking uncontrollably. Within minutes, he is dead, poisoned by a cyanide capsule he had somehow smuggled into his cell. He leaves behind a note outlining his refusal to be hanged like a common criminal.

But the next day, the ten remaining condemned prisoners are executed in the prison gymnasium. To prevent their graves from becoming Nazi shrines, the bodies are cremated and the ashes scattered in a river.

And although Göring may have avoided this punishment, legal experts will still recognize the Nuremberg Trials as an important turning point in international law. Precedents have been set. “Following orders” is not a defense. And government office does not provide immunity for war crimes.

There could never be true justice for all the victims of Nazism. But some of those responsible for the Holocaust and the other crimes of Adolf Hitler’s regime were finally held accountable when they were sentenced at the Nuremberg Trials on October 1st, 1946.

Outro

Next on History Daily: October 2nd, 1957. The Bridge on the River Kwai premieres in London, sparking criticism from former prisoners of war about the movie’s inaccuracies.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Angus Gavan McHarg.

Edited by Scott Reeves.

Managing producer Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser