Report from Nuremberg: The International War Crimes Trial

by Harold Burson

Audible brings to life through dramatic performance the 1945-1946 radio broadcast reports covering the greatest courtroom drama of the 20th century - the Nuremberg trials. The original broadcasts have been lost forever, but the verbatim text - written by Harold Burson, founding chairman of one of the world’s leading public relations firms, Burson Marsteller, who at the time was a reporter for the Armed Forces Network - has been newly interpreted by an ensemble of some of our fine actors. This original production, published here for the first time and only in audio, blends journalism, history, re-enactment and performance, and reimagines what it was like to experience first-hand this groundbreaking trial and to witness close-up some of the most infamous figures in recent world history: members of the Nazi ruling class. The production is being released on the anniversary of the opening of the first and most famous trial, November 19, 1945.

©2011 Harold Burson (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

Audiobook

First published November 19, 2013

Reviews

[Lady Wesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working from transcripts of actual radio broadcasts during the Nuremberg trials, this audiobook delivers a "you are there" vibe. Like William L. Shirer's Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent 1934-1941, there is something extraordinary about listening to contemporaneously written descriptions of such momentous historical events.

[Andy Caffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot and really enjoyed experiencing this collection of 5-10 minute daily missives sent out by Armed Forces Radio as the Nuremberg trial occurred over the course of a year from Oct. 1945-Oct. 1946.

Peculiarly to me, these news reports were all written by Harold Burson, who would go on to form the third larges (and criminal) public relations firm Burson-Marsteller.

But he began as a very astute and talented radio journalist. At the time, over the course of the year there were a handful of servicemen who actually read these scripts over the radio. Audible brought together several of its stalwart audiobook actors to read the texts acting as if they were those readers.

Add some teletype sound effects, bring in some more actors to re-enact the live guests who were part of the shows now and then and you get an excellent You-Are-There experience that must be very similar to what it was like to hear these broadcasts day after day as the year unrolled at that time.

I encourage you to have that experience too, especially since our dishonest war criminal president is arguing that we should not have any war crimes trials for the vastly more monstrous American war criminals who taught Putin how he could do the same thing–but not halfway around the world like what the US does–but stage (verb chosen carefully) war crimes trials against the Russians.

Without any history author's spin, you get a very clear personal shorthand experience of what happened, and I bet it will provoke in you a lot of your own thoughts about the meaning of WWII war crimes trials to bringing the world's politicians in line today.

Here are some of the things I learned as I listened, that were so important–and as I ranted, CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT for us to apply in the political and justice realms today, that I put the audiobook on pause and wrote it up, on two occasions, at my Facebook page:

I'm listening right now to an audiobook that reconstructs the daily GI news reports from the Nuremberg trials. From that, I have two points to make:

The Nazi's were already on trial, in a tribunal put together by four nation (US, France, England & USSR) FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE WAR WAS OVER IN EUROPE!

TRUMP HAS STILL NOT GONE ON TRIAL, EVEN FOR THE SLAM DUNK CASE OF ELECTION TAMPERING WITH HIS CALL TO THE GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE ASKING FOR EXACTLY THE NUMBER OF VOTES HE WOULD NEED TO REVERSE BIDEN'S GEORGIA VICTORY!

This is a GROSS FAILURE OF THE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP: PELOSI, SCHUMMER, BIDEN & GARLAND!
~~~~~
The second point is that the CEOs of the corporations that financed and manufactured for Hitler (like your likely coffee grinder manufacturer KRUPP) were also put on trial at Nuremberg and the later war crimes trials inside and outside Germany and sentenced to over a decade of hard time: leaders of the German economy, such as Gustav Krupp (of the conglomerate Krupp AG), former Reichsbank president Hjalmar Schacht, and economic planners Albert Speer and Walther Funk, along with Speer's subordinate and head of the forced labor program program, Fritz Sauckel.

Now if we can put war financiers and armaments manufacturers on trial like we did GUSTAV KRUPP at Nuremberg, then that means the financiers were MORALLY AND LEGALLY part of the war effort.

If Biden is providing Ukraine's war machine with arms, technical training on use of those and other arms, and providing intelligence to assassinate Russian Generals and sink Russia's biggest military ship, doesn't that mean we are already at war with the Russians? Another undeclared US war, but this time we are finally at war with Russia.

Hey centrist Democrats! I bet you didn't see this thing coming from your candidates! Better wake the hell up! Your peeps have now taken us to the brink of nuclear war!

All of which, let's not forget, would never have happened if Biden kept George H.W. Bush's promise to Gorbachev to keep NATO away from Russia's border and made that commitment to Russia.

That is all that had to happen and there would be no war at all, no dead Ukrainians, no obliterated cities, no spike in food and gas prices. It's Biden's war every bit as much as it is Putin's. Joe is the guy who wouldn't make the deal to prevent war, not Putin. Putin went to Biden hat in hand and Biden said, "Fuck off, Vlad!"

So save some of your hatred for Biden and both parties in Congress.

From wikipedia:

The Krupp company produced steel used to build railroads in the United States and to cap the Chrysler Building. During the time of the Third Reich, the Krupp company supported the Nazi regime and used slave labour, which was used by the Nazi Party to help carry out the Holocaust, with Krupp reaping the economic benefit.

Krupp used almost 100,000 slave labourers, housed in poor conditions and many worked to death. The company had a workshop near the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Alfried Krupp was convicted as a criminal against humanity for the employment of the prisoners of war, foreign civilians and concentration camp inmates under inhumane conditions in work connected with the conduct of war. He was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment, but served just three and was pardoned (but not acquitted) by John J. McCloy.

And...

A third point from the NUREMBERG TRIALS: They would have put everyone on FOX NEWS on trial for their role in poisoning the minds of the Germans so they would tolerate the Himmlers and Goerings.

Like Trump publicly visiting with Sean Hannity to give him an "Atta Boy!"

From Nuremberg trial reports Re Julius Streicher: "On Streicher's fiftieth birthday... Hitler personally came to Nuremberg to congratulate a man who would unflinchingly stand behind his fuehrer in every situation.

"The numerous articles which Streicher wrote and printed in his newspaper were in many cases so fantastic in their presentation of 'The Jewish Problem in Germany' that it was impossible to suppress the chuckles that breathed through the court room. This was especially true when Streicher interjected the subject of sex in his tirades, a subject n which he reveled..."

"Summarizing his case, the British prosecutor recognized that Streicher is less directly involved, physically in crimes against humanity than his fellow prisoners. But his crime was called NO LESS WORSE for that matter.

"For it was Streicher–and men like Streicher–who conditioned the German people to the extent that they would tolerate the... Himmlers and the thousands of small-fry murderers.

"Streicher's crime, the prosecutor said, was to poison the minds of the young people of Germany–an act that leaves a legacy of hate and sadism for a whole people."

Streicher was convicted at Nuremberg and executed. on Oct. 16, 1946, seventeen months after the war in Europe was over. it's now been eighteen months since Trump unleashed his Stop the Steal seditious social conditioning conspiracy and not even charges yet.

wikipedia note: Streicher was the founder and publisher of the virulently antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer, which became a central element of the Nazi propaganda machine. The publishing firm was financially very successful and made Streicher a multi-millionaire.

How is that any different from what Rupert Murdoch has been getting away with since October 7, 1996. Obviously, he should meet the same fate. We need a #NewNuremberg.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this absolutely fascinating. These are transcripts of brief broadcasts on Armed Forces Radio during the actual Nuremberg trials. The original broadcasts have been lost but a group of skilled narrators (Scott Brick, Stefan Rudnicki among them) have recreated the broadcasts with the genuine feel of a radio news report. Not only are they well-read, they're so stylishly written that they engage listeners in the characters and the drama as if it were happening now. They're immersive with a you-are-there approach, as Burson's script offers descriptions of the defendants (including what they're wearing) and their mannerisms and personalities. We may not recognize the names of the news readers but the defendants are familiar: Hermann Goering (who steals the show with his comic antics), Rudolf Hess, Martin Bormann, Ribbentropp, and more. A sobering look at a piece of history. An interview with Burson follows, and that's as fascinating as the scripts, as he fills in the background, telling how he wrote them and that he sat in the front row. No wonder we feel as if we're there. My only complaint is that the introduction which sets the stage for this performance is too slapdash and unprofessional for what follows. It doesn't make one want to listen to the rest.

[Maine Colonial · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering that the audio records of the original broadcasts are long gone, how lucky that Harold Burson kept his transcripts for decades. The producers of this audio reenactment did an excellent job, making the listener feel as if these are the originals. I also appreciated the fact that these broadcasts were from the Armed Forces Network, so their intended audience is those in uniform who spent years fighting the Nazis and Axis powers. The broadcasts are direct in addressing the common soldiers' question: we know these guys are guilty, so why don't we just execute them rather than going through this costly and lengthy trial and giving them the chance to air their perverted justifications?

The interview with Burson is a plus, adding color to what it was like for correspondents to live in the ruined city of Nuremberg and experience the trials.

[Davina · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting audio reenactment of the radio broadcasts of the Armed Forces Radio Network coverage of the Nuremberg trials. The writer kept copies of his scripts, and then found someone to bring these broadcasts back to life. They can be, at times, a bit sensational. The reporting is also quite frank for an official government broadcast. The trial has been covered in a number of books, but this is an interesting angle. The author was friends with the chief psychiatrist for the tribunal, and he interviewed the psychiatrist a couple of times. The audio version includes some original audio from the trial.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The interview with the author at the end of the book was more interesting than the rest of it.