The Nuremberg Women: The Untold Story of the Eight Women Who Brought the Nazis to Justice

by Natalie Livingstone

The most famous trial of the twentieth century - told through the eyes of the women history forgot.

In November 1945, the world turned its gaze to Nuremberg. Inside a courtroom built by and for men, justice was being sought for crimes almost beyond comprehension. The spotlight fell on Nazi leaders, Allied prosecutors and military judges - but in the shadows, women were recording, interpreting, witnessing, painting, testifying. Yet their names were often missing from the headlines. Eighty years on, this book finally returns them to the centre of the story.

The Nuremberg Women follows eight extraordinary a young Soviet interpreter balancing political survival with truth-telling; a British painter capturing justice in oils; a French resistance fighter who survived Auschwitz to confront her persecutors; a Hungarian countess hosting both Nazis and survivors in a single house. Alongside them stand the sharpest literary minds of the day - Erika Mann, Rebecca West and others - each wielding the pen as a tool of reckoning.

Far from the official narrative, Natalie Livingstone reveals a trial that was more intimate, chaotic and human than history has allowed. It was a place of intense love affairs and political tensions, of personal reckonings and the first tremors of the Cold War. These women, often dismissed or sidelined, shaped how the trial unfolded - and how it was remembered.

This is Nuremberg as you've never seen not only a reckoning with the horrors of war, but a story of erasure, courage and transformation. The women's voices - once silenced - now ring out with clarity, offering a powerful new vision of the past, and of justice itself.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, World War II, War, Biography, Holocaust, Politics

432 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 2026

About the author

Natalie Livingstone was born and raised in London. She graduated with a first class degree in history from Christ's College, Cambridge in 1998. She began her career as a feature writer at the Daily Express and now contributes to Tatler, Harper's Bazaar, US Vogue, Elle, The Times and the Mail on Sunday. Natalie lives in London with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[MarilynW · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nuremberg Women: The Untold Story of the Eight Women Who Brought the Nazis to Justice
by Natalie Livingstone

Over the years I've been reading extensively about the events leading up to WWII, all the things happening during WWII, and what happened after WWII. What I am almost always drawn to are the stories of the people, whether as groups or individuals. In November 1945, the Nuremberg trials began in Germany, where former Nazi leaders were indicted and tried as war criminals by the International Military Tribunal. This book focuses on eight women but also informs us about other women and men in the lives of those women and/or in connection to the trial. The book covers a lot of ground and I learned some things that I wasn't aware of before and also learned more details about things I already knew.

I won't get into the detailed politics of the women because that's not where my interests lie. But all of these women were swimming against a tide of one sort or another, some of them persecuted for being born women, or from the wrong country, or being Jewish, or for wanting to break out of the expected roles of a woman. This book is extensive and I'll just mention two things that stood out to me among the many interesting things I learned.

There was the young Russian translator, very skilled at her job, and having to transcribe at breakneck pace, not having time to miss a beat, as all this information comes out during the trial and as she is translating she learns of atrocities of her own people, events that she and others thought were inflicted by the Germans. No time to think about what she is translating, her job must be done at a pace that does not allow for emotion or shock or a breath to get over the shock. She just had to go on translating and had to process this information in her mind, later.

Another of the women, a refugee aristocrat, had to go through great hardship to flee several times, children in tow, even having a baby during this time, and eventually she is given the job of being the manager two large homes that house the criminals and witnesses during the trial. There she is serving the high ranking Nazi criminals who are accused of so much torture and death and she must be a gracious and polite hostess to these men. During this time we get to learn more about some of the men, men so concerned about their comforts and those of their families while they were responsible for unimaginable atrocities. The book even mentions when survivors of the concentration camps where staying at one of the homes as trial witnesses and they all had to dine with the men being tried.

There is so much here, what the women went through in the years leading up to the trials, their time during the trials and their lives afterward. This is a very good book to go with all that we have learned about what happened before and during the war. Some of these criminals did pay, not nearly enough for what they did, but at least their names are out there and the work of these women helped to get their names out there.

Expected pub November 3, 2026

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for a story of the women behind the scenes at the Nuremberg war crimes trial that started in November 1945. The initial trials ended in October 1946, and this book focuses on eight women connected with the trials:
Harriet Zetterberg, a lawyer, who went through thousands of documents to prepare legal briefs for prosecutor Robert Jackson, a US Supreme Court Justice.
Erika Mann, daughter to celebrated author Thomas Mann and an accredited reporter at the Nuremberg trials. Although born in Germany, she was now an American citizen.
Ingeborg Kalnoky, chosen to oversee "the witness house." More than just witnesses were housed at the two houses she oversaw. Some of the people staying at these houses were the families of the war criminals being prosecuted.
Marie-Claude Vaillant Couturier was a survivor of Auschwitz. She was called to give evidence of what she saw at Auschwitz.
Laura Knight, a well known artist, commissioned by the British government to paint a portrait of the trial.
Tatiana Stupnikova, a simultaneous translator for the Soviet Union. She had to be very precise in her translations. A wrong word could have her sent to the gulag.
Ursula von Kardorff, one of a small number of accredited German reporters allowed to watch the trials.
Rebecca West, employed by the US magazine New Yorker to report on the Nuremberg trials.
The author gives a short biography of each woman, including where they grew up and how they came to the Nuremberg trials. She also has an after the trial segment on each woman.
I enjoyed reading this book for the information provided about the women behind the scenes and how they contributed to the outcome of the trials.
I recommend this book to fans of lesser known history, in particular fans of women in history.
Triggers: gruesome descriptions of Auschwitz in witness testimony.
One quote by Victoria Ocampo from a Nuremberg article entitled "Among Men alone."
"this tribunal, that plane[Dakota airplane}, did not foresee the presence of women.' This was not just an observation but grounds for protest. How was it that women, who had borne so many of the burdens of the war, could be so briskly and summarily excluded from attempts to reckon with its horrors?"
Thank You Lindsay Nickelson at St. Martin's Press for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.

Pub Date Nov 3 2026

[Linden · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author highlighted marginalized women who were present or who assisted in some way at the Nuremburg trials. I was unfamiliar with the women profiled: attorney Harriet Zetterberg; journalists Erika Mann, Rebecca West, and Ursula von Kardorff; translator Tatiana Stupnikova; concentration camp survivor Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier; artist Laura Knight; and witness house hostess Ingeborg Kalnoky. The author mentioned Victoria Ocampo, an Argentine woman who was present at the trial-- I wish she had been included--and Kalnoky seemed to me more of an opportunist than someone deserving to be profiled in this collection. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The stories of the 8 women were fascinating, and presented well (kind of in parallel to the story of the Nuremberg trial). Perhaps the thing that truly made it 5 stars for me was the second part of the book with the continuation of their stories post Nuremberg: with several brilliant women having to settle for traditional lives, being forced to abandon their careers and passions because of attitudes of the time. The range of countries covered , including the perspectives and reflections from the Soviet Union and Germany, allowed Livingstone to cover a wide scope of history. Most fascinating perhaps was the story of the witness house, presided over by Ingeborg Kalnoky, revealing a window into both the experience of witnesses (worthy and not) as well as contemporary attitudes towards them, shaped by the times they had lived through.

[Helen_t_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Rachel Nevin Communications and John Murray Publishers for reaching out to offer me a GIFTED copy of The Nuremberg Women by Natalie Livingstone, to read and review.

Eighty years after the International Military Tribunal, or trial, took place, The Nuremberg Women offers a gripping account of one of the defining events of the twentieth century. The book focuses on eight extraordinary women who witnessed, documented, prosecuted, or participated in the proceedings, and we see this monumental historical event through their eyes.

The women are:

Erika Mann: A German-born exiled anti-fascist journalist and daughter of Thomas Mann who returned to a fractured Germany seeking a reckoning

Harriet Zetterberg: An American lawyer barred from speaking in court due to her gender, yet instrumental in compiling key prosecution cases.

Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier: An Auschwitz survivor and French Resistance fighter whose devastating testimony helped shape global awareness of the Holocaust.

Laura Knight: A British painter commissioned to capture the courtroom on canvas.

Ingeborg Kálnoky, a Hungarian countess, managing one of the Witness Houses

Tatiana Stupnikova: one of the Russian interpreters in the 'Fish Tank' in court

Ursula von Kardorff: German journalist

Rebecca West: celebrated British author and newspaper journalist.

The breadth and depth of Natalie Livingstone's research is immense, and her story-telling is utterly compelling, making this book an incredibly well-written, engaging, interesting and thought-provoking read.

The Nuremberg Trials, were framed by Rebecca West as 'a flawed yet necessary reckoning with evil', 'an imperfect instrument tasked with an impossible duty', yet, despite the numerous failures, disappointments, limitations and absurdities, this was 'a grand, courageous and essential undertaking.'

Reading Livingstone's book gives an understanding of what the trial was like with all the legal and historical issues of that time, along with her vividly rendered impressions: the atmosphere, the surroundings, the personalities involved, the bombed out surroundings of Nuremberg itself. You feel like you're there, witnessing it at first hand.

We gain a strong grasp of the vitally important legacy of the Trial too. How it would lead to a definition for a legal basis for future prosecutions, with the subsequent introduction of genocide, and crimes against humanity, to international legal frameworks via the United Nations.

The trial prosecution also gathered a significant amount of evidence which provides to this day 'a timeless rebuttal to Holocaust deniers and sceptics'.

Inevitably this is a very difficult, tough and emotional read in places. The testimony of Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier, the focus of Chapter 4, was a defining moment for the trial. It is especially emotional, haunting and damning, and will stay with me for ever.

Other incredibly important historical perspectives are gained during the trial too. For example, the revelation of Russian atrocities at what is known as the 1940 Katyn Massacre, and how the Soviets attempted to blame their mass execution of nearly 22,000 Polish military officers, police, and intellectuals on the German forces.

The trial reveals the growing fracture between the east and the west, and we see it as another step in the developing Cold War between the sometime Allies, along with the realisation by some that Nazism and Stalinism were actually two sides of the same coin, and not that different after all.

And then of course, there are the women themselves, whom we come to know so well through their respective chapters. Their Nuremberg experiences, their lives before the trial, and, equally as importantly, their lives afterwards. Some of the women would continued to have influence within their sphere, to develop, thrive and shine.

However some were victims of the sexual politics, gender stereotyping, and political and cultural thinking of the time, and would suffer frustration, obscurity, a lack of purpose, and no opportunity to contribute their genius, their gifts or their talents, displayed so compellingly during their time in Nuremberg.

This is a truly powerful, thought-provoking and highly readable biography, redressing the balance, and giving sidelined women their due - and a voice - in the history of the landmark1945 Nuremberg trials. Highly recommended.

[Lydia Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly powerful and illuminating read.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nuremberg trials are famous for bringing a sense of closure to the horrors of World War II and some sense of justice to the atrocities committed by the Nazis. They've been written about extensively and dramatized on screen. But, as far as I know, little has been documented about the small but significant group of women who were present at the trials. In The Nuremberg Women, Natalie Livingstone focuses on eight women from varied backgrounds, nationalities, professions, and political beliefs to show the importance of their involvement. We get to know a brief biography of each woman, her role in the trials, and a bit about her life afterward. As a collection, these profiles show that these women all played a crucial role, but those roles often were behind the scenes or downplayed as less important than those of the (male) lawyers and judges. What was particularly fascinating was learning about how their views of the trials changed over the years and colored their experiences of the Cold War in the decades to come. War is so often characterized as a masculine arena, but these women -- a lawyer, three journalists, an artist, a survivor of Auschwitz and Ravensbruck, and an interpreter -- all recognized that wars inflict suffering on women just as much as men and that they should have a voice in the processes of reckoning that follow a war.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review. It will be published November 3, 2026.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and thought provoking but inconsistent. The author basically recounts the experiences of a handful of women who played an important background - or under reported foreground - role during the Nuremberg trials. She covers the details of their involvement and provides their backstory as well as how their lives unfolded afterwards.
I was riveted during the first four or so accounts but parts of the others irritated and or bored me. I think my experience was influenced by the narrator of the audiobook. There is not much variation in tone and inflection and her voice has a nasal quality.

I am glad I read it because it opened up a whole new view of the events around and behind Nuremberg and the lives of fascinating and important women of the time such as Erika Mann, Laura Knight and one of the key witnesses, Marie Claude Valliant Couturier. I was completely absorbed in the story of the brilliant and unsung young American lawyer who played a significant part in securing the conviction of Hans Frank.Similarly fascinating was the story of a young Russian interpreter and war veteran whose parents were branded enemies of the Soviet state before her exemplary service redeemed them. Her particular story provided much illumination of the suppressed Russian misdeeds and the Allies' complicity in covering them up.

Overall I was glad I read this, but I can't unreservedly recommend the audiobook. Note that what you hear in the sample is how the narration is going to be all the way through.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is actually already published in the UK - I got it from my local library! Anyway, a fascinating new angle to see the Nuremburg trials from, and always a bit disappointing that women need to have books like this written about them. But it was typical of the time. One of the judges reactions towards Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier's experience of concentration camps just said it all, really. He was shocked that women would have experienced what she did - women have always been treated abominably during any conflict - and continue to be treated so.
I really "enjoyed" this. So much information generally, inbetween the stories of the 8 women, but all written in an accessible, interesting way.

[Britt Gx · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most outstanding historical non-fiction books I've read. I will be reading more Livingstone whenever given the chance. So much gorgeous research compiled to tell an appropriately complex story of a part of history we all thought we knew as it was being uncovered and reckoned with. With implications for our current positioning relative to contemporary world events, I would recommend this to anyone.

[Thomas Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here the author gives a different view of the famous trials by examining women that participated in various roles and their lives afterward.

From the author's introduction explains the relevance beyond men of the crimes being prosecuted from this men's war:

...war trials prosecuted were as painfully relevant to women’s history as men’s.

...

I realized that many had observed the way in which the trial was built for men, by men. Rebecca West’s articles from the trial include the Rebecca West’s articles from the trial include the refrain “a man’s world, a man’s world.” Arriving in Nuremberg, the Argentine writer Victoria Ocampo noticed that the courtroom, like the warring elites it had sprung from, was overwhelmingly male. “Everything in the [court] room proves to me that this is a matter for men alone,” she wrote in a section of a Nuremberg article entitled “Among Men Alone.” The trial reminded her of the Dakota airplane in which she had been brought to the city: “this tribunal, that plane, did not foresee the presence of women.” This was not just an observation but grounds for protest.

Covered here are:

1. Harriet Zetterberg, a lawyer at the Nuremberg Trials, although sidelined from the spotlight given to the men. (See first quote from book above.) Her experiences back in the USA reminds us of the Truman-era loyalty oaths that presaged the Red Scares.

In March 1947 Truman signed an executive order requiring that all federal civil servants be screened for “loyalty.” First Dan and then Harriet were investigated by the Loyalty Review Board, he in 1948 and she the following year. Harriet, who had fought totalitarianism at Nuremberg and seen its consequences, felt the bitter irony of having come back to America, only to find herself facing a hazy and drawn out extrajudicial investigation. “I feel very strongly that giv[ing] credence to unproven charges and condemnation without a hearing before a jury and court is the first step toward the Concentration Camp, and I want no part in it, even for the sake of keeping a job with the Federal Government.”

2. Erika Mann, a German actress and writer, daughter of the novelist Thomas Mann. She emerges to me as a clarion critic on Nazi and post-Nazi Germany

Erika set about finding new ways to express her political views. On 15 March 1937 she gave a speech at the Peace and Democracy Rally in Madison Square Garden to an audience of 23,000 people. It was an impassioned call to action in which she entreated her audience to spread the word of what was happening in Nazi Germany. In the wake of that speech she began a nationwide tour. It was a resounding success not only in getting her message across but also in improving her English— by the autumn she was nearly as comfortable speaking English as German. The following year she and Klaus published the first in what would become a series of anti-Nazi books. Erika’s School for Barbarians (1938), about the education and indoctrination of children, was followed by Escape to Life (1939), about German artists and scholars in exile, and The Lights Go Down (1940), which traced the lives of ordinary Germans under Nazism. The Other Germany (1940), also written with Klaus, sought to explain the “true” German culture, one that stood in opposition to Nazism.

...and fascinating free spirit:

before arriving in Nuremberg, the German journalist Erika Mann, daughter of Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann, had lived an extraordinary life. She had raced cars, staged cabarets, written several books, struck a marriage of convenience with the English poet W. H. Auden, and taken a string of glamorous lovers, including a photographer, a dancer and a charismatic actress. Throughout the 1930s Erika had been a scabrous polemicist, warning of the Nazi threat. When war broke out, she became an unrelenting political activist in exile. She came to Nuremberg full of anger at her fellow Germans, and desperate to find some hope for the future buried beneath the legal process of Courtroom 600.

Later, back in the USA, Mann also ran into the Truman Loyalty Board and the later, full Red Scare.

In 1950 the inquisitorial culture spawned by Truman’s loyalty boards was supercharged by a speech delivered by the anti-communist senator Joseph McCarthy, who claimed to have a list of “known communists” operating within the US State Department. Over the coming months and years McCarthy would develop an extrajudicial apparatus of investigation that would prove powerful enough to end careers, destroy reputations, ...

...

In the McCarthyite climate, scrutiny of Erika’s “premature anti-Fascism” and leftist sympathies was revived, and her application for US citizenship was mired in suspicion. In 1950 she documented a “Kafkaesque” visit from the FBI, who had kept files on the Mann siblings throughout the 1940s and were now stepping up their investigations. A heartfelt letter of December 1950, written to the director of immigration, captures her sense of betrayal: “I felt like an American, lived like an American… I lived and worked in the United States, and since I wished to go on doing so, I deemed it only fair to add myself legally to the good people of this country.” Following the visit from the FBI, she found herself “finished,” and this “in a country I love and whose citizen I had hoped to become.” Like Harriet in her tussle with the Loyalty Board, Erika was outraged to find herself under attack by a country she had worked so hard to serve. “Immeasurable are the times I endangered my life while… covering the war as a correspondent accredited to the US Forces,”

Mann was not silent by the later reluctance in Germany to continue denazification.

Adenauer gave no ground. As he later put it: “I think we now need to finish with this sniffing out of Nazis.” By the end of January 1951 amnesty laws had benefited nearly 800,000 West Germans sentenced or threatened with prosecution for their participation in Nazi crimes. By the end of the 1950s only three of those given prison sentences at Nuremberg— Albert Speer, Baldur von Schirach and Rudolf Hess— remained behind bars. 10 For Erika, such clemency was intolerable, and she was furious at the injustice. She had seen the IMT as the beginning of a much bigger project. But yet again, her country had morphed into a place she did not recognize.

3. Ingeborg Kálnoky, the countess who presided over the witness house in the Nuremberg trails. She also wrote about her experiences "In a memoir penned shortly after her time in Nuremberg and subsequently reworked into the 1975 book The Witness House, Ingeborg explained how she was able to show charm and compassion to the Nazis under her roof. “I listened, wondered, and tried neither to judge nor justify, but master my own bitterness against those who bore a share of the great guilt.”
4. Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier who participated in the Resistance and helped produce clandestine publications.

By the time Marie-Claude returned to Germany on another assignment a year later, Hitler had swept to power. This time she had to be more daring in order to access her subject. By hiding her camera under a scarf, she was able to photograph the entrance to the newly opened Dachau concentration camp and, through the fences, the inmates of the Oranienburg camp. Marie-Claude also made contact with the earliest resistance to Hitler’s regime, underground Communist Party activists.

5. Laura Knight the English artist who was the courtroom painter.
6. Tatiana Stupnikova a Soviet interpreter in Nuremberg and one of the Soviets that learned there the realities of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact while being overworked:

...where they were struggling to provide written translations of a large number of documents. As she wrote elsewhere in her memoir: “Our entire translation fraternity worked tirelessly. We, Soviets, were not accustomed to complaining.”

7. Ursula von Kardorff , a a member of aristocratic anti-Nazi family and German journalist whose work concentrated mostly on arts and culture in Germany during the Third Reich.
8. Rebecca West, the noted British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer who had an affair with Trial judge Francis Biddle.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Natalie Livingstone is quickly becoming the queen of history introducing the women behind the men we’ve been hearing about for years, and her latest undertaking is the women behind the scenes (or briefly in front of them) at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg at the end of World War Two.

If the research she’s done to peel back the layers and find the women rarely mentioned isn’t impressive enough, the fact that she is able to focus on women of all different ages, serving in a variety of roles, representing different backgrounds and six different countries should be pretty mind blowing. It also gives the reader a lot of insight into how women experienced the trial of the Nazis, and how conflicting the experience was for some of them.

Harriet is a brilliant young American lawyer, hampered by her gender in a time where women’s professional careers were limited, especially if they wanted to have a family.

Erika is a German journalist who fled the country with her family when it became clear their opposition to Hitler would lead to their own demise, angry and determined to see the men held accountable for their crimes.

Ingeborg is a titled Hungarian serving as a hostess at the lodgings where defendants and victims are being housed during the tribunal.

Marie-Claude is a French woman testifying to the court about her time at the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Ravensbruck.

Laura is a British woman commissioned to paint a picture of the tribunal, who gets wrapped up in her personal connections to Nazis.

Tatiana is a young Russian interpreter walking on eggshells, trying to offset her parents while learning of complicit acts the Soviets were involved in and tried to pawn off on the Germans.

Ursula is a German reporter who’s struggling with reconciling the acts of her country men, while not having entirely clean hands herself.

And Rebecca West is a British journalist looking to reestablish her well respected career, who gets wrapped up in a love affair.

Not all of these women are particularly admirable, as women are flawed, just like men. It is easy to expect this of someone like Ursula, who is trying somewhat delusionally to justify her choices and those of others, and can only see the atrocities for what they are when they become personal. I also struggled with the British women and their choices, as well as Ingeborg, though she was in one of the most difficult positions of anyone.

Occasionally the book strays away from its primary focus on the women and their roles, and after incorporating Martha Gellhorn fairly heavily in the chapters about Rebecca, it almost feels like she deserves chapters of her own. And while the role women played in Nuremberg is fascinating, much of the tribunal was drawn out and boring, and that did tend to creep into the book for me.

Those things should not stop you from reading this book, which not only introduces women into a historical event solely focused on men, but also gives the reader insight into all the work that went into running the tribunal on a daily basis that went beyond the defendants, lawyers, and judges - and it was a massive amount of work.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[ManOfLaBook.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

For more reviews and bookish posts visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

The Nuremberg Women: The Untold Story of the Eight Women Who Brought the Nazis to Justice by Natalie Livingstone consists of short mini biographies of eight women who shaped the Nuremberg trials. Ms. Livingstone is a historian and writer of non-fiction books.

The book consists of short sections about eight women during their time in Nuremberg and how do got to be included in that very inclusive club. The women are:

Harriet Zetterberg - A young American attorney, a brilliant woman preparing crucial legal briefs.

Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier - Auschwitz and Ravensbrück survivor, a French resistance member whose stirring and chilling firsthand testimony still reverberates today.

Laura Knight - an English artist who was commissioned to capture the trials through oil pains. Her painting documented not just the trial but captured the ruined city reminding people of the surrounding atmosphere.

Tatiana Stupnikova - a Russian interpreter who managed to balance political pressure during her work in real time.

Ingeborg Kálnoky - a Hungarian aristocrat with Hollywood looks who ran a house, and played host, to concentration camp survivors and war criminals under the same roof.

Erika Mann, Rebecca West, and Ursula von Kardorff - all three are journalists covering the proceeding but with a different lens, perspectives, and complexities.

We all heard a lot about the famous and infamous men at the Nuremberg trials, but like many successful people, it's those that do the grinding work behind them that often make a huge difference. In the male dominated world of occupied Germany, the author brings to light eight women who have been lost to history, but their presences and contributions were felt at the time, and some are still felt today.

The book is published during the 80th anniversary of the trial. Instead of focusing on the "stars" of the trial, the author shines the spotlight on the overlooked constitutions of eight women. According to Ms. Livingstone, about 300 women, from reports to linguists, helped with the proceedings.

The strength of The Nuremberg Women by Natalie Livingstone lays in that it humanizes the trial, the people and the surroundings. The author doesn't dwell on the tedious postwar justice and trial procedures, but weaves the narratives with individual backstories in between, and during the court proceedings through female eyes navigating a men's world in a ruined city.

Through the eyes of the women, we see mass criminal as pathetic creatures, still evil but without power. Each of the women had to fight for her job, and recognition, as well as chauvinism and misogyny which were part of the culture at the time. They did it with their heads held high, doing their job to the best of their ability.

Books like this usually have the same issue, some sections are exciting and informative, others weigh it down. But it is a highly readable book and an indispensable look at women whose efforts must be recognized and remembered, and more important - women deserve a voice in our history.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning compilation of biographies of eight women who were “witnesses” - each in a different way - to the Nuremberg trials. These biographies give us a wide ranging glimpse into what happened at the trials as well as highlighting women’s contributions to them.

The eight biographies were of women who came from different countries and diverse backgrounds or professions, and who experienced the post WWII from different perspectives, thus allowing us in retrospect to appreciate that moment in history from a woman’s perspective particularly as it was a male world then - as now.

The women were: Harriet Zetterberg, an American lawyer who helped assemble case files; Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier, a member of the French resistance and a witness to the atrocities of the concentration camps; Laura Knight, British artist who painted an incredible scene of the trial; Erika Mann, daughter of German novelist, Thomas Mann, a free spirit and journalist: Rebecca West, well known British journalist; Tatiana Stupnikova, a Russian translator; Ursula von Karloff, a German journalist battling over her perceptions old pre-Nazi and Nazi Germany, and Igneborg Kálnoky, Hungarian countess who hosted the setting where witnesses were housed.

The book humanize the Nuremberg trials and brings to life the courtroom from the perspective of the outsider. So much has been written about the American presence there that it was enlightening to learn about then Soviet portion of the trial and the controversy of who was the aggressor at the Katyn Massacre where Tatiana learned the truth about her country’s culpability in it. The Soviet perspective was interesting to have particularly their belief that Nazism was the child of capitalism” (a very prescient belief). Also interesting was Vaillant-Couturier’s later battle against holocaust deniers and her work that led to the prosecution of Klaus Barbie in 1987. All these women contributed to history in their own unique way which is why books that bring this to life in this age of DEI are incredibly important.

The book brings a new perspective on Nuremberg with its details that should not be forgotten as well as the foundation that trial gave to international order (one of the reasons for my five star rating). Also in being true to history, the author doesn’t shirk revealing her subject’s moral complexities such as Kálnoy’s “sentimentality for Nazi guests (yet ignoring the mention her Jewish guests in her latter memoir) or von Kardoff’s struggle to believe her country could have committed such atrocities - another reason for my five star rating. Finally, this brought history to life with real people who did real things, not “the famous names” we know, because it is these people who are equal witnesses to history (my final reason for my five star rating).

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for granting me access to this excellent ARC.

[Richard Propes · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I were to venture a guess, I'd say that the vast majority of us have never, not even a single time, considered the Nuremberg trials through the lens of women.

Guilty as charged.

Author/historian Natalie Livingstone gives us that lens with "The Nuremberg Women," the story of the Numberg trials told through the lens of the women who were there.

It was November 1945. The world was looking at Nuremberg, partly out of a morbid curiosity seeking to know and understand the truth about the Nazi crimes and partly to envision some sort of justice through it all. I'll confess myself that when I think of the Nuremberg Trials, I've historically thought of men.

Yet, as Livingstone brings to life, women were there and very much involved in a variety of roles ranging from lawyers to court reporters, defendants to interpreters, journalists to witnesses and more. The truth is that the presence of women was vital, and that presence is vividly captured by Livingstone through the specific lens of eight women whose lives are brought to life here and whose roles are remarkably researched and finally acknowledged.

Livingstone captures a side of Nuremberg seldom ever acknowledged let alone given its due. Yet, "The Nuremberg Women" does exactly that - gives these women their due. In the end, we gain a different understanding of this period in history and its imperfections that still somehow served justice.

"The Nuremberg Women" captures, both intimate in its storytelling and universal in its themes. "The Nuremberg Women" is not always an easy read, however, it's a remarkably immersive read that for me was both narratively alive and surprisingly visual. There wasn't a story here that was familiar to me, somewhat embarrassingly, and Livingstone's ability to bring these stories to life is a remarkable accomplishment academically and as a storyteller.

I'm most certain that as the end of the literary year arrives, "The Nuremberg Women" is destined to be one of those books I'll still be talking about.

[Candy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

First, I’m perplexed about the title, which irked me the entire time I was reading the book. One of the eight women highlighted in the book, Laura Knight, painted The Nuremberg Trial AKA The Dock, which contains all male subjects. The author states “The painting presents the story of a modern Armageddon conducted by men, fought by men, inflicted on men, prosecuted by men and, ultimately, judged by men. It’s a picture of the bloodiest catastrophe in human history with half of humanity painted out.” The whole point of the book is how there were many women working behind the scenes. It sounds hypercritical, but including the in front of eight erases all the other women involved in the trial.

The book appears well-researched, and focuses on eight women: a lawyer, three journalists/reporters/writers, a hostess to witnesses and defendants alike, a resistance fighter who survived Auschwitz, a painter, and a translator/interpreter. Their stories are told individually, yet they are woven into the context of the trial. The first section of the book ends at the trial’s conclusion, and we get an intimate glimpse into the women’s backgrounds which shaped the unique perspective of each individual. The second section of the book follows the women and their personal and professional struggles after the trial.

There is a good amount of historical information with some tedious bits, especially following so many names. The many interesting and surprising side stories make reading further worthwhile. LIvingstone does an excellent job of showing the contrasting perspectives of the women, as well as those of all involved in the trial (defense and prosecution) and society’s norms.

Overall, this was a well-written and extremely interesting look at history and eight of the many women who helped shape it.

https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/

[Kate Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year is 1945 and the world demands justice for crimes against humanity during World War II. The scene is focused on male defendants, defense attorneys, prosecuting attorneys, judges, military guards, news correspondents, translators, interpreters, etc. Yet, there has been little notice of the women who served alongside them. In this thorough, detailed, and moving account of eight of the women who served in one fashion or another at, in, and around the Nuremberg trials we get a glimpse of their challenges, personal and professional struggles, frustrations, and hopes. Among them was a legal assistant, several journalists each with a different national perspective, a refugee countess, a commissioned painter, an interpreter, and a camp survivor giving witness to the horrors endured and observed. Author Natalie Livingstone gives voice to these overlooked (until now) women in order that they may never be forgotten.

Utilizing written accounts, photographs, and volumes of historical records, Ms. Livingstone has crafted a deeply emotional and revealing story about these amazing women. The book speaks of the horrors observed and endured. It relays the challenges they faced whether affronted by misogynistic men or navigating through a city lying in war's rubble. It also provides glimpses into brief moments of shared joy.

Ms Livingstone's writing is concise, highly descriptive, evocative, and thorough. Her research is Herculean in scope. She delivers an emotional roller coaster as one might imagine the feelings of these women to be. I was deeply moved by the stories, stunned by the women's endurance, and amazed by their accounts. Highly recommend this book.

I am grateful to St. Martin's Press for having provided a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.


Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication date: November 3, 2026
Number of Pages: 432
ISBN: 978-1250345189

[Angie Nicol · Rating 5 out of 5]

AD/PR/Gifted

Many thanks to Rachel Nevin Communications for gifting me a copy of The Nuremberg Women, written by Natalie Livingstone.

This work of non fiction outlines the roles of eight women during the Nuremberg Trials, trials which brought to justice, the atrocities committed by the Nazis.

The book is split into two parts. The background and roles of the women during the trials, and in the second part, how their lives continued after the trails.

There were many unsung women who worked tirelessly ‘behind the scenes’ collating information to prove links between lead nazis and their crimes. The characters highlighted in this publication were lawyers, an artist, journalists, translators, witnesses and even a countess.

There were some chapters I personally found more interesting than others, including those involving Erica Mann, the actress and writer. Ingeborg Kalonky, a countess whose role it was to govern the witness house which accommodated both Nazi defendants and ex-prisoner of war witnesses for the duration of the trials and the in-depth witness statements from Marie-Claude Valliant-Couturier, an Auschwitz survivor, who was also a resistance member .

It was clear that despite their professional contributions during the trial, these women were not given the recognition they deserved for their efforts.

There are some memorable quotes that specifically stood out for me ;

Harriet Zetterberg, with reference to Hans Frank, said he “dug his own grave with a fountain pen”

“The men gathered in the dock were responsible for the unprecedented catastrophe that has descended over the whole of the globe “

Marie - Claude - camp survivor
“You do not know what you have just done. You are going to leave for a concentration camp in Germany. One never comes back from there”

Natalie Livingstones’ level of detail and research is outstanding, and has resulted in an amazing, in-depth account .

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 out of 5 stars

History is often told from the perspective of men or examined through the accomplishments of men. Natalie Livingstone brings a new perspective to World War II and the trials after the war in her book The Nuremberg Women: The Untold Story of the Eight Women Who Brought the Nazis to Justice.

While this book does not provide new information about the Nuremberg trials, it does showcase the works of eight women and showed how it was more than just men who contributed to the trials. The women discussed in this book came from around the world and from different walks of life. They each contributed in their own unique way and provided new perspectives of the events. The jobs the women did included reporting, translating, painting, providing witness testimony. Women were present in many aspects of the Nuremberg trials and this book clearly illustrates that fact.

I particularly liked how Livingstone looked closely at each woman before, during, and after the trials. Their upbringing and their backgrounds gave them different perspectives on the events and contributed to how they approached their jobs. The short examination of their lives after the trials is especially interesting because they did not have a great social impact of their lives. They worked hard during the trials and some of them were met with accusations and suspicions after the war. Although some of them played a significant role in the trials, they returned to life as a woman (one that continued to favor men and did not acknowledge the women’s accomplishments) after the war.

If you are looking for a thoroughly researched and well-written book about the fallout of World War II this is the book for you. Livingstone provides an interesting narrative of women’s roles after the war. This book kept my interest the whole way through. Highly recommend!

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I don’t think I can write anything that will do this book justice. It is a thoroughly researched non-fiction book about 8 incredible women and their roles during the Nuremberg Trials. Despite a degree in history, I am embarrassed to admit I had little to no knowledge of the trials before going into this, but I have always been drawn to books based on Holocaust survivor stories. At the start of the book there is a coloured print of Laura Knight’s painting ‘the Nuremberg Trials’ which didn’t mean anything to me before, but held such a huge significance after reading the book. The trials have always predominately been remembered and reported through the eyes of men, with little as much as a footnote to include any women’s role. Livingstone sets to right this wrong and does so phenomenally, with a dedicated section to each of these women;
💛 Harriet Zetterberg - the American lawyer
💛 Erika Mann - the German activist
💛 Ingeborg Kalnoky - the Hungarian Countess
💛 Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier- The French Auschwitz survivor
💛 Laura Knight - The British Painter
💛 Tatiana Stupnikova - The Russian Interpreter
💛 Ursula Von Kardorff - The German journalist
💛 Rebecca West - the British writer

I took my time reading this book because I really wanted to give it the time it deserved to do it justice. Every time I read about something that interested me I found myself Googling it to find out more.

I have to give this book 5 🌟 purely for the sheer amount of research that must have gone into it, and for the way it has brought these women to light after being in the shadows of men for decades, men who went on to greater things whereas these women were merely forgotten.

Outstanding. A must read for people interested in learning more about the Nuremberg Trials through the eyes of women, or anyone interested in forgotten women.

[The Wrapped Chapter UK · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

An incredibly well-researched, important and thought-provoking book that introduced me to the stories of remarkable women whose experiences have largely been overlooked by history.

The depth of the author’s knowledge and the extensive research that has clearly gone into telling these stories is extraordinary. Through the experiences of journalists, a refugee, an interpreter, a lawyer, an artist and a survivor, I learnt so much about the women connected to the Nuremberg Trials and the extraordinary strength they demonstrated during an unimaginable period of history.

This was the kind of book I needed to take slowly, often reading just one section at a time alongside a more uplifting fiction book.

I found myself stepping away after each section and thinking about the women I’d just read about, their lives, what they witnessed and endured, and how much of their truth has been lost to history. Their stories stayed with me long after I’d put the book down.

From the perspective of the subject matter, research and everything I learnt, this is undoubtedly a five-star book.

However, as a personal reading experience, I found it incredibly intense. In places, it felt closer to textbook learning than the narrative non-fiction I naturally gravitate towards. Of course, given the subject matter, I never expected it to be an easy or comfortable read.

I would absolutely recommend this to anyone interested in women’s history, the Second World War and the stories that have remained largely untold for decades. I’d simply suggest taking your time with it and perhaps reading something lighter alongside it, as I did.

For the importance of the stories and everything I learnt: 5/5.

For my personal reading experience: 3.5/5.

An important book, and one I’m very glad I had the opportunity to read.

I received a gifted copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Nuremberg Women proved to be very readable, as so many books in the WWII genre can be wordy and dry. I can't say that it was pleasant reading it, due to the subject material, which was how several women experienced the war and its aftermath, but it proves that women did indeed play a noteworthy, important role in the war, and suffered as much as men did. They fought in the resistance, as well as actually fighting on the ground by Russian women troops; they were imprisoned in concentration camps, often dying in greater numbers than men who could work a little harder due to gender differences; they were shot, hanged, guillotined, beaten to death, just like their male counterparts, BUT, they were not given an important place beside men in recounting the history of the war. This book shows that they served an equally important role during the war, and had to serve other roles at the same time as they fought. They had children and families to protect and feed, they often had small farms they had to work themselves since most men were gone, they had to endure bestial treatment by the Germans and their subordinates, often their own countrymen who seemed to try to outdo the Germans in sheer awfulness. After the was was over, women still had to fight to protect themselves and their families, they still had to scramble to feed, clothe, and shelter those they were responsible for, and often they endured rape and death at the hands of the victors!

This story needed to be told, and these women, like millions of others then, need to be remembered for their fight for freedom.

I received an ebook ARC of this by Netgalley; my review and observations are all my own, however.

[Jann Howell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously my head has been in the sand in terms of the Nuremberg trials. The main guys got away and of the ones on trial, most got off and went back to being leaders in the new Germany. I never ever thought about the trials themselves - or the women who helped. This book follows 8 of these courageous women.
Courtroom 600 - what a name to live in infamy! The courtroom was packed with journalists, witnesses, observers, and attorneys (as well as the defendants). Each country had an allotment of people - not sure what it was dependent on.
The prosecution had to PROVE these Nazis were guilty. (Really?) Women trudged through a lot of the paper trail to find evidence, but plausibly the best evidence was the video - about an hour long - which showed the atrocities of the Nazis. People cried, were horrified and some couldn't watch. But Hess and Goring had no reactions at all. (creepy) Again, women sifted through the videos to put together the one video for court.
There are places the journalists (and some of the Nazis) stayed during the trial. Lots of tragic experiences even here - when it should be safe. It's incredible what the women contributed but were not highlighted - because they were women. One woman journalist became pregnant - and she was shipped off to NY.

This is a tough book to read, but not because the author is at fault. Livingstone has done a meticulous job of combing through historical documents to bring to life the trial. She has a nice narrative style and it's an easy read - except for what you are reading off the page. I thought I had heard most of the cruelty of the Nazis but I was wrong.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the honor of reading this.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Journalist Howard Kingsbury stated of the Nuremberg trials « There is not nook or cranny that is safe from them. No position of authority over which their shadow does not hover. » This quote did not reference the men on trial, but women’s presence.

In Livingstone’s book she attempts to give colour to the lives of the women involved in the Nuremberg trials, highlighting 8 women who served as legal clerks, translators, painters, etc. But in an attempt to highlight the skills and capabilities of these women, there feels to be a real omission of suffering.

The original IMT Nuremberg trials were - and I state this neutrally - a show trial. A place for the world to grieve what they had lost in the war and to give that grief a name. 100 testimonies were given, and only 4 were women. When contrasted with the 2 million women who died in the holocaust, we engage with a different type of grief entirely. The grief of not having your suffering recognized.

Livingstone has written an account not of grief but of tenacity and erudition, and although that certainly has a place, it is found wanting. One of her own highlighted figures, Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier stated in her testimony, « It was a fear of all the deportees…That no one would ever know. » and I remain uncertain that Livingstone told us.

This book is a well researched and in depth look at 8 women present at the Nuremberg trials. If the bureaucracy and intricacies of the trials are what interests you, crack on. However if your aim was to understand why the trials were held, maybe look elsewhere.

[Adam Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Imperial War Museum, you'll find a powerful painting entitled "The Nuremberg Trial". It depicts part of Courtroom 600 in Nuremberg's Palace of Justice, giving way to a war-torn scene of destruction in the background. There are lots of people in the picture - but none of them are women.

As the title of this book suggests, Natalie Livingstone wants to highlight the important contributions that women made to the Nuremberg Trials, and to explore their unique perspective on the proceedings. This includes Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier, an Auschwitz survivor who became the first female witness to testify to the court; Ingeborg Kalnoky, a Hungarian countess who oversaw a lodging house for witnesses, both supporters and victims of the Nazi regime; Tatiana Stupnikova, a Russian interpreter, who struggled with how the Stalin's atrocities were overlooked at the trials; Ursula von Kardorff, a German journalist whose writings were shaped by her own prior cooperation with the Nazis; and Laura Knight, the British painter who captured the famous woman-less scene.

The narrative is not uniformly engaging, and some of the chapters are more interesting than others. But this is a fascinating alternative perspective on the Nuremberg Trials, giving a fuller picture of some of the behind-the-scenes activities. Together, these eight women "reveal a Nuremberg that is more intimate, human and haphazard."

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting read. So many reporters were at the Nuremberg trials, many of them men, and those are the voices history records. Knowing that women were there, fighting for their spot to be able to report what they saw and heard, is amazing. So many times in history women's voices are ignored. I was especially interested in how the German and Russian reporters felt. This was much more personal for them and for some, it was quite shocking. Many people really didn't realize how horrific the camps were. Whether because they didn't want to realize or because the Nazi propaganda machine was that good at fooling people, we don't know. But their feelings and opinions on the matter are important. We see them struggle with their patriotic love for their country while also wresting with how inhumane their fellow citizens could be. Women's voices are more passionate and emotional. In situations like these, that's a good thing. We hear the humanity, not just the facts. The trials do not allow you to be a casual observer. You're witnessing living evil and not having a visceral reaction is impossible. The women reporters were able to express their emotions in a way that was intelligent, informative and balanced. They brought a different view than the men, which helped balance the reporting and exposed more people to a variety of voices and opinions. I was given an advance copy in return for my opinion.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this immersive and intense new book about the Nuremberg Trials, Natalie Livingstone explores the pivotal roles that eight women -- an American lawyer, three journalists (two German women and a British woman), an artist, an aristocratic refugee, an Auschwitz survivor, and a Russian translator -- played during the trials. From large-scale narratives to their smaller, intimate lives, Livingstone offers some of the many women involved in this critical trial the spotlight their hard work and effort deserved. While women were part of the trial at all levels, these eight women (and their many colleagues) ensured justice was served in this new look at the Nuremberg Trials. Packed with details and fascinating looks behind the scenes of the trial, the book delves into the human side of the trial and into the lives of eight incredible women. The historical research is absolutely fascinating and the details really immerse readers into the intensity of the setting. Livingston really nails the atmosphere and emotional intensity of the setting for the players and the many moving parts of the trial. Immersive, intense, and fascinating, this is a brilliant and well-researched new title from Natalie Livingstone that World War II and women’s history fans will absolutely love.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the advance copy.

[Andrea Tomé · Rating 3 out of 5]

A much-needed but ultimately flawed book. Enormous research on a riveting topic. Some of the chapters are as fascinating as the women they’re devoted to; for the same reason, others are comparatively duller, and the pages of pre-Nuremberg biography strike as tedious.

The weaving of character biography and historical account of the Trials is likewise weak. Notes on the women’s personal lives mud the chronology of the Trials.

The key message, beyond the long overdue insight into the women of Nuremberg, is confused. The depiction of the USSR is simplistic and biased. Bearing in mind the number of Soviet women who took part in the Trials, it’s definitely a choice that the only one covered in this book held anti-Soviet views and went on to describe Nazism and Soviet communism as “twins”. Although the author doesn’t shy away from necessary criticisms to the limitations of the Nuremberg Trials, particularly when it came to prosecuting the genocide, the USSR’s efforts to punish the Nazis more harshly and to extend the scope of the crimes are underestimated.

[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early read in exchange for an honest review. Natalie Livingstone has written a compelling and fascinating book detailing the contributions of eight women who each, in some way, contributed to the Nuremburg trials, the series of military tribunals held by the Allied powers after World War II to prosecute the leaders of Nazi Germany for war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity. Each chapter focuses on the lives of a specific woman – lawyer, journalists, artist, translator, a countess presiding over a lodging house, and a death camp survivor – as they deal with misogyny and inhospitable working and living conditions alongside the trial revelations of war horrors. It took me a while to get through this very thorough telling as I stopped often to Google the places and people referred to. There is a possibly a bit too much extraneous info in each chapter, but it is definitely worth the read.

[Jeanette Durkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing and inspiring book! The book highlights the stories of 8 women and their experiences at and after the Nuremberg trials. Each woman's life and experiences made a profound impact on the trials. I liked the pictures a lot! It helped me to connect with these women.

There are many parts that became difficult for me to read. I believe though that it's important to remember that horrible atrocities actually occurred. "The things I saw beggar description," General Dwight D Eisenhower....He immediately ordered that the liberated camps be filmed and photographed so that nobody could deny the reality of what had happened."

The author did a superb job at research! The epilogue and acknowledgements sections are worth reading!!

I was provided a complimentary ARC copy of the book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.