Leon Goldensohn (1911–1961)
Author of The Nuremberg Interviews
About the Author
Dr. Leon Goldensohn was an American physician and psychiatrist who joined the U.S. Army in 1943 and was posted to France and Germany. He died in 1961 Robert Gellately is the Earl Ray Beck Professor of History at Florida State University
Works by Leon Goldensohn
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Goldensohn, Leon
- Birthdate
- 1911-10-19
- Date of death
- 1961-10-24
- Gender
- male
- Education
- William Alanson White Institute
- Occupations
- psychiatrist
- Organizations
- United States Army
- Relationships
- Gellately, Robert (editor)
Godensohn, Eli (brother) - Short biography
- Dr. Leon Goldensohn, a Jewish psychiatrist from Newark, NJ, served with the U.S. Army’s 63rd Division in France and Germany during World War II. At the end of the war, he was stationed at Nuremberg Prison and assigned the task of monitoring the mental health of more than two dozen high-ranking and lesser Nazi officials who were either charged with the genocide of the Jews or who were witnesses in the war crimes trials to be held. Dr. Goldensohn spent about six months visiting the prisoners nearly every day.
His assignment was to observe the men, not treat them, but the interviews are very revealing. Unfortunately, Dr. Goldensohn died at age 50 in 1961 before he could carry out his intention to write a book about the experience; but in 2005, thanks to his widow Julia, his children, and his brother Eli, the interviews along with Dr. Goldenshohn's detailed notes were published together as The Nuremberg Interviews. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Newark, New Jersey, USA
Tenafly, New Jersey, USA
New York, New York, USA - Map Location
- USA
Members
Reviews
The Nuremberg Interviews: An American Psychiatrist's Conversations with the Defendants and Witnesses by Leon Goldensohn
A fascinating read, offering an insight into Nazism using a psychiatric angle.
We often perceive the high ranking members of the Nazi regime as embodying Evil absolute, the puppets of an ideology whose animal brutality could only be inhuman. It's an easy way to deal with the issue: it allows us all to distance ourselves from such fanatic criminals, and, therefore, from their ideas and deeds, as if we, ourselves, wouldn't have been capable of doing what they did. Here, though, the approach is show more different. Leon Goldensohn, by interviewing such people (most of whom have, at this point, absolutely nothing to lose anymore and they know it) makes them more relatable, by letting them exposing their own humanity too often conveniently denied and negated. Of course, it's not about offering a naïve view of what remained atrocious individuals, nearly all of them self-righteous criminals! It's about sitting down with them, in their cells, to listen and learn about what Nazism was all about, as told by staunch Nazis themselves.
Our a priori are blown apart right from the start. They might be interviewed by a psychiatrist indeed, yet, out of the 33 individuals concerned (accused and witnesses) only two had serious mental issues -Rudolf Hess, of course, and Julius Streicher. The others-and it may come as a surprise- were in fact highly intelligent, even disturbingly pleasant to 'listen to' (Donitz and Speer, for example, which I found remarkable for their intelligence and clear ways to articulate their views). In fact, out of 22 people standing here accused, 7 had an IQ above 130... Those were not psychopathic beasts, after all -those were people like you and me.
The chapters here read like biographical snippets, where each person interviewed retells his journey, interspersed by Leon Goldensohn's comments about their psychology. Everything isn't here -it's been edited, which surely makes for a reasonable and practical approach (it certainly would have been too long otherwise, without everything to be particularly relevant!) but it also means that readers cannot judge of the choices made as to what ought to be included. Nevertheless,
here's a necessary read for anyone interested in Nazism, not least because it goes beyond the repulsive aspects of such a vile ideology to focus on the human side (disconcerting at times) of those who implemented it, in all its horror. It's disturbing, but engrossing. show less
We often perceive the high ranking members of the Nazi regime as embodying Evil absolute, the puppets of an ideology whose animal brutality could only be inhuman. It's an easy way to deal with the issue: it allows us all to distance ourselves from such fanatic criminals, and, therefore, from their ideas and deeds, as if we, ourselves, wouldn't have been capable of doing what they did. Here, though, the approach is show more different. Leon Goldensohn, by interviewing such people (most of whom have, at this point, absolutely nothing to lose anymore and they know it) makes them more relatable, by letting them exposing their own humanity too often conveniently denied and negated. Of course, it's not about offering a naïve view of what remained atrocious individuals, nearly all of them self-righteous criminals! It's about sitting down with them, in their cells, to listen and learn about what Nazism was all about, as told by staunch Nazis themselves.
Our a priori are blown apart right from the start. They might be interviewed by a psychiatrist indeed, yet, out of the 33 individuals concerned (accused and witnesses) only two had serious mental issues -Rudolf Hess, of course, and Julius Streicher. The others-and it may come as a surprise- were in fact highly intelligent, even disturbingly pleasant to 'listen to' (Donitz and Speer, for example, which I found remarkable for their intelligence and clear ways to articulate their views). In fact, out of 22 people standing here accused, 7 had an IQ above 130... Those were not psychopathic beasts, after all -those were people like you and me.
The chapters here read like biographical snippets, where each person interviewed retells his journey, interspersed by Leon Goldensohn's comments about their psychology. Everything isn't here -it's been edited, which surely makes for a reasonable and practical approach (it certainly would have been too long otherwise, without everything to be particularly relevant!) but it also means that readers cannot judge of the choices made as to what ought to be included. Nevertheless,
here's a necessary read for anyone interested in Nazism, not least because it goes beyond the repulsive aspects of such a vile ideology to focus on the human side (disconcerting at times) of those who implemented it, in all its horror. It's disturbing, but engrossing. show less
In case one should wonder how many ways a Nazi can justify his behavior, this is an illuminating read. These were real humans, not monsters, and these notes constitute a terrific, first-hand account of the mind-works of some of the criminals of the Holocaust. For me personally, the fact that the psychiatrist is a Jew makes these interviews all the more astonishing for the impartiality with which he was able to conduct himself, even in his notes, most of the time. Those times when Goldensohn show more cannot help but insert his own personal thoughts and feelings creates even more interest. show less
The Nuremberg Interviews: An American Psychiatrist's Conversations with the Defendants and Witnesses by Leon Goldensohn
This book contains unique information collected through interviews with the Nuremberg trial defendants and some of the witnesses by the prison psychiatrist. A good general introduction to the history of the trials is given and then each individual is covered in a separate chapter.
Unfortunately, the list of defendants covered is not complete - no Seyss-Inquart or Raeder - and these omissions are not explained, nor is the single page devoted to Speer. One possible explanation for this might be show more due to missing notes, as the book was compiled by a historian years after the trials had finished (?). Each set of interviews also contained too much information about the subject's childhood and family which does not interest me.
The author makes clear that much of the material needs to be read with caution, given that those imparting the information were potentially facing the gallows, i.e. not objective. However, they are still their own words, assuming accurate transcription, and this consideration does not apply to the same degree with the witnesses.
I found the witness section the most interesting because of the high profile interviewees included and the more candid nature of the testimony. As alluded to above, this was partly due to the fact that they were facing no or lesser charges or, alternatively, were certain to hang whatever (e.g. Hoess). This didn't stop one or two of the SS lying through their teeth, however. The final chapter covering Hitler's interpreter and his opinions on foreign affairs makes excellent reading. Others include: Pohl, Schellenberg, Kesselring, Sepp Dietrich, von Manstein of a total of 14.
Writing this review has focused my attention on how much I liked this, despite some minor grumbles - highly recommended for those interested in the trials or the Nazi regime. show less
Unfortunately, the list of defendants covered is not complete - no Seyss-Inquart or Raeder - and these omissions are not explained, nor is the single page devoted to Speer. One possible explanation for this might be show more due to missing notes, as the book was compiled by a historian years after the trials had finished (?). Each set of interviews also contained too much information about the subject's childhood and family which does not interest me.
The author makes clear that much of the material needs to be read with caution, given that those imparting the information were potentially facing the gallows, i.e. not objective. However, they are still their own words, assuming accurate transcription, and this consideration does not apply to the same degree with the witnesses.
I found the witness section the most interesting because of the high profile interviewees included and the more candid nature of the testimony. As alluded to above, this was partly due to the fact that they were facing no or lesser charges or, alternatively, were certain to hang whatever (e.g. Hoess). This didn't stop one or two of the SS lying through their teeth, however. The final chapter covering Hitler's interpreter and his opinions on foreign affairs makes excellent reading. Others include: Pohl, Schellenberg, Kesselring, Sepp Dietrich, von Manstein of a total of 14.
Writing this review has focused my attention on how much I liked this, despite some minor grumbles - highly recommended for those interested in the trials or the Nazi regime. show less
The Nuremberg Interviews: An American Psychiatrist's Conversations with the Defendants and Witnesses by Leon Goldensohn
Very interesting book. Made me feel like I was right there in Nuremberg in 1945, listening to all of these defendants trying to justify their actions. Highly recommended. The footnotes provide great information as well.
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