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Russell Crowe as Hermann G\u00f6ring. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics<\/p>\n
The 148-minute PG-13 film,\u00a0Nuremberg<\/a>, directed and written by James Vanderbilt, also stars Rami Malek (who played Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury in the biopic\u00a0Bohemian Rhapsody) as the official prison psychiatrist Dr. Douglas Kelley, and Colin Hans as Dr. Gustave Gilbert, official prison psychologist.<\/p>\n Un-historically, Gilbert appears in a tertiary role, with the entire film focus on the relationship between G\u00f6ring and Kelley (credited to Jack El-Hai\u2019s book\u00a0The Nazi and the Psychiatrist<\/a>), which is an odd paring because, in fact, Kelley left \u201cafter the first month of the trial and was succeeded by Major Leon N. Goldensohn for most of the rest of the trial,\u201d an explanation on offer from Dr. Gilbert himself in his 1947 book\u00a0Nuremberg Diary<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the film, the two shrinks are juxtaposed as quarreling over who was going to profit from participation in the trial of the century, departing the scene in anger. But in his\u00a0Nuremberg Diary\u00a0acknowledgments, Dr. Gilbert writes:<\/p>\n I am indebted to Colonel B. C. Andrus, prison commandant, and Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, prison psychiatrist for the first two months, for facilitating my assignment to the Nuremberg jail with free access to all the prisoners from the very beginning of my stay there.<\/p>\n Gilbert\u2019s book is a compendium of deep insights into politics, Nazism, war, conflict, personality, free will and moral culpability, and the nature of good and evil. There are also amusing insights like this one\u00a0from the prison commandant Colonel Andrus: \u201cWhen G\u00f6ring came to me at Mondorf, he was a simpering slob with two suitcases full of paracodeine. I thought he was a drug salesman. But we took him off his dope and made a man of him.\u201d\u00a0I have a hardback first edition that I picked up at a used-book sale at Glendale College in the 1980s, where I was teaching at the time and researching the history of conflict, violence, and war.<\/p>\n Some notable excerpts from Dr. Gilbert\u2019s book:<\/p>\n In our conversations in his cell, G\u00f6ring tried to give the impression of a jovial realist who had played for big stakes and lost and was taking it all like a good sport. Any question of guilt was adequately covered by his cynical attitude toward the \u201cjustice of the victors.\u201d He had abundant rationalizations for the conduct of the war, his alleged ignorance of the atrocities, the \u201cguilt\u201d of the Allies, and a ready humor which was always calculated to give the impression that such an amiable character could have meant no harm. Nevertheless, he could not conceal a pathological egotism and inability to stand anything but flattery and admiration for his leadership, while freely expressing scorn for other Nazi leaders.<\/p>\n G\u00f6ring\u2019s ego was on full display over the weekend of March 16-17, 1946, as evidenced in this reflection by Gilbert after visiting the prisoner\u2019s cell:<\/p>\n G\u00f6ring was very tired from the strain of the past three days\u2019 testimony. His defense being almost completed, he was already moodily brooding over his destiny and speculating on his role in history. Humanitarianism had become a thorn in his side, and he cynically rejected it as a threat to his future greatness. The empire of Genghis Kahn, the Roman Empire, and even the British Empire were not built up with due regard for principles of humanity, he expostulated with weary bitterness\u2014but they achieved greatness in their time and have won a respected place in history. I reiterated that the world was becoming a little too sophisticated in the 20th\u00a0century to regard war and murder as the signs of greatness. He squirmed and scoffed and rejected the idea as the sentimental idealism of an American who could afford such a self-delusion after America had hacked its way to a rich Lebensraum [living space] by revolution, massacre, and war [a reference to America\u2019s own history of extermination of Native Americans, of which G\u00f6ring was familiar].<\/p>\n When his testimony was over, G\u00f6ring \u201cmade an outright bid for applause for his performance,\u201d asking Gilbert \u201cWell, I didn\u2019t cut a\u00a0petty\u00a0figure, did I?\u201d Gilbert penned in his notes: \u201cHe couldn\u2019t help admiring himself, and paused for a moment to do so. Yes, he was quite satisfied with his figure in history. \u2018Why, I bet even the prosecution had to admit that I did well, didn\u2019t they? Did you hear anything?\u2019\u201d Gilbert concluded of G\u00f6ring, \u201cThe test of his medieval heroism was admiration by the enemy. I shrugged my shoulders.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Another un-historical segment in the\u00a0Nuremberg\u00a0film has Dr. Kelley visiting G\u00f6ring\u2019s wife and daughter, Emmy and Edda, when in fact it was Dr. Gilbert who \u201cvisited Frau Emmy G\u00f6ring at the house in the woods of Sackdilling near Neuhaus, to which she had retired with her daughter and niece after her release from custody\u201d (he devotes a chapter in\u00a0Nuremberg Diary\u00a0to the visit). (Why filmmakers take such unnecessary license with historical truths is beyond me.) Emmy G\u00f6ring had plenty to say about how \u201cdisgraceful to us to see how many Germans are saying they never really supported Hitler, that they were forced into the Party, there is so much hypocrisy, it is sickening!\u201d She raged about Hitler\u2019s order to execute the entire G\u00f6ring family (\u201ccan you imagine that madman ordering that child shot?\u201d pointing to Edda), then when her daughter was not present addressed the topic of atrocities:<\/p>\n She told how she had asked Himmler to let her go and see Auschwitz concentration camp, because she had received so many letters saying that things were not quite as they should be. As the first lady of the land she wanted to be convinced that everything was in order. Himmler wrote a polite letter, but told her not to meddle in things that were no concern of hers.\u00a0<\/p>\n As for the unprecedented concept of the Nuremberg trial itself, G\u00f6ring told Gilbert \u201cI still don\u2019t recognize the authority of the court,\u201d adding:<\/p>\n Anything that happened in our country does not concern you in the least. If 5 million Germans were killed, that is a matter for Germans to settle; and our state policies are our own business.<\/p>\n Clearly the court begged to differ, and to drive home the point G\u00f6ring and the others were subjected to George Stevens\u2019\u00a0The Nazi Concentration Camps<\/a>\u00a0film footage from, for example, Nordhausen:<\/p>\n Gilbert took notes as he observed the Nazi leaders reacting to the horrors on the screen:<\/p>\n Fritzsche already looks pale and sits aghast as it starts with scenes of prisoners burned alive in a barn\u2026 Keitel wipes brow, takes off headphones\u2026 G\u00f6ring supported his head on his hand and looked tired, then stirred uneasily in the doc and changed position. Funk covers his eyes, looks as if he is in agony, shakes his head\u2026 Ribbentrop closes his eyes, looks away\u2026 Sauckel mops brow\u2026 Frank swallows hard, blinks eyes, trying to stifle tears\u2026 Funk now in tears, blows nose, wipes eyes, looks down\u2026 Frick shakes head at illustration of \u201cViolent death\u201d\u2014frank mutters \u201cHorrible!\u201d\u2026 Speer looks very sad, swallows hard\u2026 Defense attorneys are now muttering, \u201cFor God\u2019s sake\u2014terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to employing the now discredited Rorschach ink-blot test in hopes of evoking deep personality characteristics and hidden motives of his charges (in the film the Nazis see Jews, vaginas, and Jewish vaginas), Gilbert administered the\u00a0Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale<\/a>\u00a0and found the following results (100 = average, 115 = one standard deviation above average, or better than 84% of test takers, 130 = two standard deviations above average, or better than 98% of test takers, and 145 = three standard deviations above average, or better than 99.9% of test takers):<\/p>\n Name<\/p>\n IQ Score<\/p>\n Arthur Seyss-Inquart<\/p>\n 143<\/p>\n Hermann G\u00f6ring<\/p>\n 138<\/p>\n Karl Doenitz<\/p>\n 138<\/p>\n Frans von Papen<\/p>\n 134<\/p>\n Hans Frank<\/p>\n 130<\/p>\n Joachim von Ribbentrop<\/p>\n 129<\/p>\n Wilhelm Keitel<\/p>\n 129<\/p>\n Albert Speer<\/p>\n 128<\/p>\n Alfred Jodl<\/p>\n 127<\/p>\n Walther Funk<\/p>\n 124<\/p>\n Fritz Sauckel<\/p>\n 118<\/p>\n Ernst Kaltenbrunner<\/p>\n 113<\/p>\n As Gilbert concluded:<\/p>\n The IQs show that the Nazi leaders were above average intelligence, merely confirming the fact that the most successful men in any sphere of human activity\u2014whether it is politics, industry, militarism, or crime\u2014are apt to be above average intelligence. It must be borne in mind that the IQ indicates nothing but the mechanical efficiency of the mind, and has nothing to do with character or morals, nor the various other considerations that go into an evaluation of personality. Above all, the individual\u2019s sense of values and the expressions of his basic motivation are the things that truly reveal his character.<\/p>\n Even more insightfully, Gilbert adds:<\/p>\n However, a social movement as far-reaching and catastrophic as that of Nazism cannot be adequately analyzed and understood merely in terms of the individual character traits of its leaders. A realistic psychological approach requires an insight into the total personalities in interaction in their social and historical setting. The Nuremberg Trial afforded an ideal opportunity for such a study.<\/p>\n Here, for example, is one of the most poignant exchanges Gilbert had with G\u00f6ring about the politics of war:<\/p>\n G\u00f6ring:\u00a0Why, of course, the\u00a0people\u00a0don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England,\u00a0nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the\u00a0leaders\u00a0of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.<\/p>\n Gilbert:\u00a0There is one difference. In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress\u00a0can declare wars.<\/p>\n G\u00f6ring:\u00a0Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.<\/p>\n That is an accurate description of the world before World War II. After, when the world came to grasp the full extent of the Nazi genocide, an International Law Commission was born out of the Nuremberg trials of German war criminals for their \u201ccrimes against humanity,\u201d which it defined as follows:<\/p>\n Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Figure-2-Title-Page-1.jpeg\")
My personal copy of the first edition of the \u201cNuremberg Diary.\u201d Gilbert\u2019s book is a compendium of deep insights into politics, Nazism, war, conflict, personality, free will and moral culpability, and the nature of good and evil<\/p>\n
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Gilbert\u2019s summary of G\u00f6ring\u2019s conviction<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-15-at-10.35.07---AM-1.png\")
Russell Crowe as Hermann G\u00f6ring. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics<\/p>\n