“Reporting the Nuremberg Trials: How Journalists Covered Live Nazi Trials & Executions” – by Noel Marie Fletcher
For the first time, journalists who shared details about Nazi crimes from the International Military Tribunal, better known as the Nuremberg Trial, have their own story told. As World War II in Europe drew to a close in 1945, the Allies prepared to hold Nazi leaders accountable for crimes against humanity and selected Nuremberg as the site for the trial. The U.S. military took the lead in refurbishing a courtroom and making accommodations for 325 journalists and 23 defendants plus Allied judges, prosecutors, translators and administrative staff. Because publicity was a main consideration, the latest innovations and technology were incorporated into the courtroom to enhance news coverage of the trial. Press passes were in demand worldwide for courtroom seats. A press pool was selected to witness the executions in which 10 criminals were hung on Oct. 16, 1946.
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Famous war correspondents and young journalists who later became household names were headquartered in a castle, explored bombed ruins and faced dangers as a lingering spirit of Nazism seethed within the city. The lengthy trial became an excruciating endurance test for journalists by the time it ended (far longer than expected) on Oct. 1, 1946, setting a precedent for coverage of subsequent justice at Nuremberg. ————–
“A must-read for scholars and students of history, human rights, and the role of media in the modern world.” — Scott Wallace, bestselling author of The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes and Central America in the Crosshairs of War
“Full of relevance for the present, this book not only places the journalists who reported from the Nuremberg trials centre stage but, with them, the very idea of vocation central to any meaningful definition of journalism in a democracy.” — Martin D. Conboy, Emeritus Professor of Journalism History, University of Sheffield
“Against today’s strictly digital media spaces, the grainy, black-and-white lessons of tyranny, suffering and loss after World War II seem buried so coldly within history’s vault as to be broadly forgotten and easily repeated. ‘Reporting the Nuremberg Trials’ artfully captures some of the world’s darkest days of reckoning with heinous acts of violence. Fletcher conveys a media culture driven by leaks, fueled by unofficial sources documenting a ward of international villains parading toward their deaths.” — Jesse Garnier, Journalism Chair and Associate Professor, San Francisco State University
“There is a lot to like here, from the you-are-there courtroom coverage, to the descriptions of Germany in the immediate postwar period, to reflections on recording and disseminating history, and finally to lessons that are relevant to journalists — and their readers or listeners today. The military historian will be interested not just in reading about the leaders of the German Army and Navy (who don’t seem to have even the faintest grasp that they had just committed monumental war crimes) but also about life in post-war Germany, especially Nuremberg, very soon after the fighting ended. The author does an excellent job of showing the reader what the city, once styled the capital of the Nazi Party, was like in 1945 — the wholesale destruction, the terrible smell of the dead lying under the rubble, the destitute population, the orphaned children who turned to prostitution to survive, even occasional gunfire. We are reminded that wars don’t simply end when the shooting officially stops; the phase that comes next must not be forgotten.
“We come to appreciate these journalists as they go about their work. While the writing is lively, this is a carefully reported story. … this is a book that historians, journalists, and citizens alike can enjoy and learn from.” — Dr. Nicholas E. Reynolds, bestselling author, Col. USMCR (ret.) & editor of The Journal of America’s Military Past