Il nazista e lo psichiatra

by Jack El-Hai, Roberta Zuppet (Translator)

Nel 1945 Douglas Kelley vegliò sulla salute mentale dei gerarchi nazisti, seguendoli dall'istruzione fino alle prime fasi del processo di Norimberga. Potè studiarli da vicino, li sottopose a un'imponente mole di test e raccolse interi quaderni di appunti rimasti finora inediti, prese nota di vezzi, debolezze e meschinità: dalla falsa amnesia di Rudolf Hess alle farneticazioni mistiche di Alfred Rosenberg, dagli strani effetti personali portati alla luce dalle perquisizioni ai capricci del vero coprotagonista di questo libro: il pachidermico, fatuo, narcisista e magnetico Hermann Göring, il maresciallo del Reich. "La personalità più interessante del carcere", annotò Kelley sul proprio quaderno, il solo detenuto che avrebbe potuto guidarlo verso quell'abisso dell'animo umano che era impaziente di esplorare. Le conclusioni della sua indagine furono sorprendenti: i nazisti non erano fantocci che "obbedivano agli ordini", ma persone ambiziose, aggressive, intelligenti e spietate "come uomini d'affari". Il "germe" nazista che aveva sperato di trovare non esisteva: "Sono certo che anche in America ci siano persone disposte a scavalcare i cadaveri di metà della popolazione americana pur di ottenere il controllo dell'altra metà" concluse, senza mai riuscire a lasciarsi davvero alle spalle quell'esperienza che aveva scosso nel profondo i suoi presupposti e gettato i semi della sua stessa rovina.

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

349 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2013

About the author

Jack El-Hai is a widely-published journalist who covers history, medicine, and science, and the author of the acclaimed book The Lobotomist. He is the winner of the June Roth Memorial Award for Medical Journalism, as well as fellowships and grants from the McKnight Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, and the Center for Arts Criticism. He lives in Minneapolis.

Reviews

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was quick and interesting, but lacked a certain je ne sais quoi for me and, at times, felt a bit "forced" in its attempt to give the relationship between its two titular characters a causal weight in the events that eventually befell the Kelley family.

Like Dr. Douglas M. Kelley (below), I am fascinated by the inner workings of the human mind. Likewise, the human capacity for evil revealed in criminology and the study of history (in particular the events of and surrounding WWII) capture my curiosity and desire to understand. Kelley and I are certainly not alone in this, and in the decades since WWII scholars from a variety of fields have sought to unravel the sociological, psychological and historical underpinnings of what happened. All of this is to say, that I did not find Dr. Kelley to as exceptional as the author may have intended.



That notable figures who work with notorious criminals are often somewhat egotistical is not surprising. John E. Douglas, the original "Mindhunter," is an example that stands out (see: Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit ). What author Jack El-Hai refers to as tele-empathy , "the ability to feel what others are feeling and thinking" after carefully examining them" (p.201), seems like it would be requisite for the job. From studies such as the Milgram experiment and the Stanford Prison Study (both of which El-Hai refers to toward the end of the book- including some dubious extrapolations), we have learned more about quotidian obedience to authority. Books such as Martha Stout's The Sociopath Next Door describe that individuals who completely lack conscience are by no means an anomaly.

The most interesting pieces of information in re. the over-the-top character of Hermann Göring , which are almost unfathomably bizarre (his extreme pill addiction, his letter writing campaign to President Truman regarding the inhumane conditions in which he was being kept, his obsession with wild animals etc.), were brushed over too quickly for my liking, in favor of Kelley's family history.



While I enjoyed this book, I feel like it could have done more. Perhaps that was not the author's intention, but somehow the parallels between Göring and Kelley failed to draw me in as stories unto themselves. Furthermore, these characteristics seemed to me less exceptional, less notable than one might believe based on this material alone. Kelley told journalists that:

"[Göring] is still the same swaggering, vain, conceited braggart he always was. He has made up his mind he's going to be killed anyway, so he's very anxious to be considered the number one Nazi, a curious kind of compensation" (p.116).

This desire to rise to the top (one that Kelley, apparently, shared with Göring) seemed, to me, unsurprising. It certainly didn't seem like a trait so noteworthy as to suggest that two men sharing it would somehow be distant reflections of one-another. I'll withhold the other "big" parallel as not to spoil anything, but I, again, thought it was a bit overstated...

[Stacey B · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many other books similar to this one that are equally as good.
Imagine being the Dr. trying to get your arms around this .

Kelly's purpose:
A 32-year-old American psychiatrist named Douglas M. Kelley entered his cell for the first of many meetings. Kelley was among the few people—along with other medical personnel, lawyers and guards—allowed access to Goering. After the horror of the war, Kelley wrote, “the near destruction of modern culture will have gone for naught if we do not draw the right conclusions about the forces that produced such chaos. We must learn the why of the Nazi success so we can take steps to prevent the recurrence of such evil.” Kelley's manuscript describes Göring as "a brilliant, brave, ruthless, grasping, shrewd executive," —characterized Göring as an "intelligent but sadistic egotist"

As the last man standing, Goring showed the world what a coward he was swallowing Cyanide.

[Judie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, who served as a psychiatrist for the U.S. Army in World War II, received an order to be the lead psychiatrist and work with the high level Nazis being detained for trial at Nuremberg after the war. He saw it as an opportunity to try to discern if there was there a common flaw among the Nazi leaders? “We must learn they why of the Nazi success so we can take steps to prevent the recurrence of such evil.” “What made these men criminals?” “Were they born with evil tendencies?” “Did they share psychiatric disorders?” “The trial and it run-up served as fascinating laboratories for the study of group dynamics of aggression, criminal motivation, defense mechanisms of the guilty, depression, and the response of deviant personalities to the judicial process.”
His conclusions are as relevant in the United States today, in 2013, as they were in 1947.
Hermann Göring, President of the Reichstag, Hitler’s deputy, Prime Minister of Prussia, Reich Minister of Aviation and Commander in Chief of the Luttwaffe, Minister of Economics, member of the Secret Cabinet Council, director of the Hermann Göring Works manufacturing combine, field marshal, chairman of the Reich Council for National Defense, Reich Forestry and Hunting Master, and Reichsmarshall, was the highest ranking Nazi in detention. After seeing the films taken when the concentration camps were liberated, he stated he didn’t know the extent of the atrocities committed against the victims and thought it was enemy propaganda. Until that point, he wanted all co-defendants to “defend themselves, be proud of their actions, and accept the punishment of the victors as a unified group.” At first, he told his fellows, to expected exile, then a group execution which “would grant them an afterlife as national martyrs.” Unlike the others, he didn’t blame Hitler or the Nazi regime. He considered himself a moving force in the Nazi movement.” Kelley spent a lot of time with Göring, admiring his intelligence but aware of his dark side. In a letter to his wife, Göring suggested that if both of them did not survive the war, their daughter should be sent to live in the US with Kelley and his wife.
The first two pages of THE NAZI AND THE PSYCHIATRIST tell about the suicide of Dr. Kelley on January 1, 1958. The book then moves back to May 6, 1945. Realizing the war was soon ending, Göring sent a letter offering to help the Allies form a new government for the Reich. The Americans captured him but he didn’t get to meet with General Dwight Eisenhower or any other officials. Instead, he was taken into custody as a criminal for his crimes in World War II. At the time, he was addicted to paracodeine, taking forty pills a day. (Five tablets had the narcotic effect of 65 mg of morphine.) An army official found that “Göring’s hoard of [paracodeine] amounted to nearly the world’s entire supply.”
During the war, Kelley recognized “combat neurosis” and “combat exhaustion,” now referred to as PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder and worked to rehabilitate soldiers and determine who could return to the battlefield or noncombatant duty and who should be returned the US for further treatment. In the early years of the war, only 2% of the its victims in the North Africa campaign could return to duty. After Kelley trained physicians in ways to treat it, more than 95% of the service personnel were able to do so. He was able to use some of techniques when he worked with the Nazi prisoners to help keep them fit for trial. He combined psychiatry with criminology and also developed group therapy as psychiatric tool.
One of Kelley’s co-workers, Captain John Dolibois a welfare official helping detainees with their problems and listening to them observed “they spoke quite freely believing they would never face trial. We sometimes had trouble getting them to shut up. They felt neglected if they hadn’t been interrogated for a several days.” The psychological staff was able to easily get information where traditional interrogation methods failed.
Relying heavily on The Rorschach or Ink Blot Test, he concluded,“These people without Hitler are not abnormal, not pervert[s], not geniuses. They were like any other aggressive, smart, ambitious, ruthless businessman, and their business happened in the setting up of a world government.” Others, working with him, particularly Lieutenant Gustave Mark Gilbert who held a PhD in psychology and wanted to gather information to write a book, came to a different conclusion.
THE NAZI AND THE PSYCHIATRIST presents a detailed picture of the detainees lives before and after Nuremberg, a description of the courtroom itself, the reaction of the Nazis to the testimony and the verdicts, It also tells what happened to each prisoner after the trial. While most of the book deals with Hermann Göring and the relationship between him and Kelley , the book presents information about each of the main defendants, the men at the higher leadership roles in the Nazi regime. For example, Julius Streicher, editor of the exceedingly anti-Jewish Der Stürmer, was considered loathsome, a pariah among the other prisoners. He had a reputation as a sadist, rapist, and collector of pornography. Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler’s foreign minister, had only an elementary school education and had worked in the liquor business previously. Kelley questioned whether Hess’s amnesia was real, faked, or somewhere in between (had been faked then turned real) but was able to show he was capable to stand trial.
The book also states that Hitler had gastrointestinal disorders for more than twenty years though no organic cause was ever found by doctors. Because of that, he feared death and acted impulsively. He believed he had stomach cancer and “turned his attention from successful assaults on Great Britain to a campaign in the east that resulted in defeat.”
There were three suicides among the detainees, two by hanging before the trial and one, Göring’s by swallowing a cyanide capsule the night before he was to be hung.
After Kelley returned to the United States, Kelley was urged to write, but he wanted to get away from the detentions and trial. Eventually, did write about his experiences and examination as well as taught and trained law enforcement personnel. His family life was extremely complex with him alternating between kindness and vicious enforcer. He and his wife had major arguments and his children never knew how he would react to anything. He refused to see a psychiatrist because he didn’t want to appear weak before a peer since he was an expert in the field. He was excessively strict with his children, especially his oldest son, because he wanted to train him to not act like the Germans did. He was to be observant and analytical. His son began thinking of killing his father when he was seven years old.
Based on his interpretation of their psychological make-up and trying to answer his original questions about why the Nazis acted as they did, Kelley said. “Unbridled ambition, weak ethics, and excessive patriotism that could justify nearly any action of questionable rightness.” They were “Not monsters, evildoing machines, or automata without soul and feelings.”
He wrote 22 Cells “to influence the thinking of the American people and hoped readers would understand the qualities that allowed a group of men to dominate a country and let them believe they had the right to do so....That America could become Germany.”
Some of the Nazi prisoners compared Germany to the United States and it’s racial bigots and ultranationalists, such as white supremacists Senator Theodore Bilbo, Congressman John E. Rankin, Governor Eugene Talmadge and Huey Long. To prevent people with personalities similar to the Nazis from gaining control of the US, “Kelley advocated:

removing all restrictions on the voting rights of US citizens, convincing as many Americans as possible to vote in elections, and rebuilding the educational system to cultivate students who could think critically and resist using ‘strong emotional reactions’ to make decisions. Finally, he urged his countrymen to refuse to vote for any candidate who made ‘political capital’ of any group’s race and religious beliefs or referred indirectly or directly to the blood, heritage, or morals of opponents. ‘The United States [would] never reach its full stature’ until it has undergone this transformation

Near the end of the book, we read more of Dr. Kelley’s suicide, by cyanide capsule.
At the beginning, NAZI AND THE PSYCHIATRIST presents a list of the principle characters including their job titles. The final book will include eight pages of photos and a full bibliography which includes writings by both Dr. Kelley and Lieutenant Gilbert.
I received an advance copy this book from Goodreads.com and am very glad I had the opportunity to read it. Kelley’s comments about preventing similar experiences in other countries, quoted above, echo strongly in the US political atmosphere today.

[Carlos Pedraza · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a historical perspective, this is a hugely informative and compelling book. Unfortunately, it's greatest weakness is that it features very little of the actual conversations between Dr. Kelley and Hermann Goering. Their face-to-face should have been the most riveting delivery of the premise of the book. I suspect those possibilities are why this book was optioned for a movie adaptation before it was even published.

[Aimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book for two reasons.
Like the other 99.9% of everyone who picked it up, it sounds fascinating to read firsthand accounts from a psychologist on what cord snapped in a mass collective to shed the skin of morality and step in line inflicting vile, monstrous acts with indifference.
Everyone one in the world has a perspective and answer to that question, but what about the nazis themselves? Once they’re staring at the aftermath and into their own graves? What's the psychology behind why that remorse or guilt didn't start creeping in?

The second is that I normally read holocaust survivors' stories and the history leading up to the rise and Hitler's inner circle. But I’ve never spent time looking into the “after.”
My knowledge of the Nuremberg trials is limited at best, so this was a chance to learn more.
But this book is so…. Blah..
I would have retained more information by doing my research on the studies and reading the interviews.

To me, there’s so much filler regarding the psychologists themselves. It felt superficial and had nothing to do with the “inner workings of nazis' brain” I would have rather read the notes from the psychologists themselves or first-hand accounts without the narrator. Also I don’t know why the author spent so much time info dumping about Rorschach Inkblot Test throughout the book.
I tuned it out because it didn’t add anything to understanding these men other than lo and behind... Not crazy. Just a crazy evil ideology. But this is my taste/opinion, and there are so many books on this subject that match what I’m after.

[Zachary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was honestly a pretty disappointing read. The book jacket bills it as the story of two great, dangerous minds coming together in a flash of tension and influence such that you can't tell where one ends and the other begins as the heroic American psychiatrist seeks to understand the evil and secrets of the Nazi mind. But instead what you get is a rather plodding history of Nazi imprisonment and the casual relationship that existed not just between Kelley and Göring but between Kelley and a whole host of Nazi prisoners. There's some psychiatric research that goes on, to be sure, and some frank conversations between the varied characters of the drama, but none of it amounts to anything approaching the "fatal meeting of the minds" that the title promises (even if some people do die along the way). The book's epilogue reveals that the author befriended and was greatly informed by Kelley's surviving son; this ends up meaning a lot in terms of the content of the book, such that this really ends up reading like a congenial biography of Kelley that had to be given a little rhetorical flair at the book's outset and in the marketing to sell it...which is ironically the same kind of fate that one of Kelley's own books met, according to a chapter in this book. Ultimately I felt like I learned a bit about Kelley, but still didn't get inside his head; the rest of the book's content I could have learned from other, probably more engaging histories.

[uk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der Autor Jack El-Hai kann sich nicht richtig entscheiden zwischen dem Nazi und dem Psychiater und schreibt deshalb ein Scharnierbuch über einen alkoholkranken genialischen Arzt und einen drogenkranken ausnahmeintelligenten Patienten. Dieser vermag mehr Interesse auf sich zu ziehen als Ersterer.

Im Zentrum der psychiatrisch-kriminologischen Untersuchung steht neben der Befragung der übrigen 20 Hauptangeklagten die inhaltlich ebenso detail- wie fachkenntnisreiche Wiedergabe der zahlreichen Begegnungen zwischen dem US-amerikanischen Psychiater Douglas M. Kelley und dem tiger- und tochterliebenden, zynischen und brutalen, charmanten Schwerverbrecher und Schampus-Connaisseur Hermann Göring im Vorfeld der Nürnberger Prozesse.

Der ehemalige Reichsmarschall des Großdeutschen Reiches hätte sich gewünscht, seine Verteidigung am liebsten auf die 4 Wörter „Leckt uns am Arsch!“ aufzubauen, und beschied Kelley auf dessen Frage nach dem Sinn der nationalsozialistischen Rassenlehre kurz und bündig: „Den Quatsch glaubt doch ohnehin niemand.“

Am 15. Oktober 1946 zerbiss Hermann Wilhelm Göring eine Zyankalikapsel.
Am 1. Januar 1958 zerbiss Douglas McGlashan Kelley eine Zyankalikapsel.

So viel zur Parallelität der Selbsttötungshandlungen.
So viel zum Sensationalistischen der Scharniermechanik.

[Annie J (The History Solarium Book Club) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack El-Hai’s The Nazi and the Psychiatrist opens with an incredible hook, giving me chills at the end of Chapter 1. The book follows U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelley as he evaluates the Nazi leaders on trial at Nuremberg and explores both their psychology and his own unraveling. El-Hai’s impressive research into Kelley’s experience and the lives of those on trial is clearly evident. However, my overall interest in this topic was overwhelmed by the level of detail presented. The psychological case studies and historical context were thorough, but the density made it harder for me to stay engaged. The book remains a fascinating account, and I am interested to see how the upcoming film will bring this story to life.

Recommended for: readers who enjoy detailed explorations of psychology, World War II history, or the Nuremberg trials.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

(nb: I received an Advanced Review Copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley)

Jack El-Hai’s latest book, “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist,” tells one of the lesser-known stories of post-World War 2: the psychological analysis of the infamous Nuremberg Trial defendants. It is a fascinating journey.

The book follows Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, a celebrated Army psychiatrist. As a Captain serving in the European theater, he developed techniques that greatly slashed the detrimental effects of combat fatigue, enabling soldiers to return to their units mentally healthy and able to resume fighting. Always an intellectually curious man, Dr. Kelley was overjoyed to be reassigned to work with the surviving Nazi leaders.

Kelley served as a regular physician as needed, but his specialty was analyzing the psychological fitness of these prisoners. Of particular interest to Kelley was Hermann Göring, Hitler’s Reichsmarschall and choice to take over Germany after his death.

Dr. Kelley performed the psychological evaluations as required, but he went one step further. Under the guise of administering routine tests, Kelley dug deeper into his Nazi “patients,” trying to discover if there was some trait, some gene, some sort of special indicator that facilitated these men becoming Nazis.

His findings may surprise you. So painstakingly thorough was his methodology, that much of Dr. Kelley’s research is still being analyzed over 60 years later.

During his tenure at Nuremberg, Dr. Kelley developed close professional relationships with some of history’s most-feared men. The sheer normalcy, even collegiality, with which Kelley and Göring interacted was especially unexpected: the guy who created the Luftwaffe could be charming, intelligent, and even funny.

Naturally, most of “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist” focuses on this period in Dr. Kelley’s life. However, he was definitely not an ordinary Army doctor. Kelley came from an intellectually driven background, where mental discipline and broad curiosity were taught from a young age. After he left the Army, Kelley took a while to find his bearings, eventually settling at his alma mater, UC Berkeley, where he was the star professor in the school’s new criminology program.

In addition to teaching, Kelley served as a consultant to numerous law enforcement agencies, TV shows, even Hollywood movies.

As his professional life became more hectic, life at home with his wife and three kids began to suffer. And we are left to wonder if there might be a touch of psychosis in the psychiatrist.

“The Nazi and the Psychiatrist” is a fascinating book—with a promising title like that, how could it not be? One risk with historical treatises is that the author sometimes over-reaches, padding what could be an interesting story with endless, dry recitation of facts.

Happily, “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist” avoids this pitfall beautifully. Author Jack El-Hai presents plenty of information; indeed, I came away with a new understanding of both behavioral psychology and psychiatry, as well as the Nuremberg Trials. What El-Hai does so well is keep the story moving. No single part of the story bogs down in minutiae. He presents all manner of salient facts and details, but he does a wonderful job editing.

As the title suggests, at the core is the relationship between a Nazi (Göring) and psychiatrist Kelley. The pre-War and post-War life of Dr. Douglas Kelley bookends his Nuremberg experiences, and this information is crucial. Also, we go inside the Nuremberg Trials, even after Dr. Kelley had returned stateside. This, too, is critical.

The resulting book is a gripping, informative, oddly bittersweet account of two men, and how their extraordinary lives came tangent to one another for a brief moment in time. It is most definitely a story worth reading. That it’s true makes it all the more compelling.

Highly Recommended

[Maine Colonial · Rating 4 out of 5]

For more than seven decades, we've been trying to understand the nature of the Nazi mind. Was there something uniquely psychopathic about them, or could their horrors be wreaked by any country's leaders and citizens?

One of the first people to get an opportunity to try to answer this question was Captain Douglas M. Kelley, a 32-year-old psychiatrist in the U.S. Army medical service, who was assigned to attend to the 22 top Nazi defendants being held in Nüremberg, Germany, in the months before their trial began for crimes against humanity. Kelley spent long hours talking to the defendants and administering what were then relatively new psychiatric tests, like Rorschach ink blot testing and Thematic Apperception Tests.

Among the Nazi bigwigs Kelley was responsible for, the top patient was Hermann Göring, former head of the Luftwaffe and Hitler's one-time designated successor. Göring's huge personality and appetites were like a tractor beam for Kelley. He was charming, intelligent and quick-witted, but it soon became clear that he had no regard for anyone outside his small circle of family and close friends.

As the book description tells us, Göring managed to kill himself with a cyanide capsule in his cell the night before he was scheduled to be hanged. Twelve years later, Kelley also killed himself with cyanide, after a long slide into emotional illness and alcoholism. The book description concludes that Kelley's suicide shows "the insidious impact of the Göring-Kelley relationship, providing a cautionary tale about the dangers of coming too close to evil."

I think the book description is misleading. Author Jack El-Hai does not try to make an argument that Kelley's exposure to Göring and the other Nazis somehow tainted him and led to his suicide. He does argue that there are some similarities between Göring's and Kelley's motivations for suicide and for choosing cyanide as a method, but that's the extent of it.

The value of this book is not in some sensationalistic link between Göring and Kelley. Instead, the real value is the inside look at the minds of these Nazi leaders and how they revealed themselves to Kelley, whom many of them came to trust. El-Hai writes a great deal about Göring, but there is also extensive and valuable discussion of Rudolf Hess, Alfred Rosenberg, Robert Ley, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Julius Streicher and others. This should be of interest to many history readers, especially those who enjoyed books like Anthony Read's The Devil's Disciples: Hitler's Inner Circle.

Secondarily, El-Hai gives us an insightful look at the early days of criminal psychology and psychiatric testing. Kelley was active in both fields, including in the years after Nüremberg, when he lectured and consulted, was a professor of psychiatry at Wake Forest University and, in 1949, became the first head of the newly-established department of criminology at the University of California at Berkeley. Many of the concepts we take for granted today were in their infancy during this period, and El-Hai provides a clear and interesting view of what the field was like at that time.

Finally, El-Hai provides a fascinating description of various analysts' views of Kelley's records of the psychoanalytic tests of the Nazi defendants, and their debates about what they revealed about the Nazi psyche.

Rights to The Nazi and the Psychiatrist have been optioned to turn it into both a film and a stage play. I suspect in both cases, the hook will be the same sensationalistic one as in the book description. While that may make a good selling strategy, I hope people will read and appreciate the book for its actual content.

[Dimitar Angelov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Книга, писана като за сценарий на документален филм. Съдържа доста любопитни факти, за които не бях чувал. За съжаление информацията е разхвърлена и ми беше трудно да се ориентирам в изложението. Ел-Хай все пак успя да ме заинтригува и бих се поразтърсил за книгата на Кели "22 килии в Нюрнберг", в която са описани тестовете и разговорите, които психиатърът провежда с Гьоринг, Хес, Рибентроп и компания.

[Jeff Koeppen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used an Audible credit for this book after seeing the movie Nuremberg. It was about US Army psychiatrist Dr. Douglas Kelley's experiences with the Nazi war criminals held in Nuremberg- Dr. Kelley was there to study them through interviews and basically keep them alive so they could be tried. I thought the movie was OK but suspected that too much artistic license was taken with the relationship between Dr. Kelley and Göring, and Dr. Kelley's interaction with Göring's wife and daughter. Turns out the movie was probably pretty accurate.

This book was hit and miss with me. I thought the interactions between Dr. Kelley and Göring were the highlight of the book as well as ongoing mystery of Rudolf Hess's odd behavior. The descriptions and analysis of the motivations and personalities other Nazi war criminals incarcerated at Nuremberg was also very interesting. As was the description of the trial and its aftermath. The documented conversations Dr. Kelly had with all the twenty-two Nazis was eye-opening and frankly horrifying. I think most people are familiar with historical event and remember seeing the black and white photos and film clips of these infamous criminals in history class. How could these people orchestrate such horrors? Dr. Kelley shines some light on what made these people tick and follow Hitler blindly.

Dr. Kelley opines that what happened in Nazi Germany could happen in any country given the right set of circumstances and outlines what these circumstances are. Given some of the recent historical events around the world this was sobering commentary.

The parts that dragged for me were the obsession with the inkblot tests and the final two chapters which were set after Dr. Kelley returns from Germany. I can't believe inkblots were ever a thing in psychiatry (which I know very little about) and in the final chapter studies showed that all these inkblot tests conducted in Nuremberg did not reveal anything when compared to two control groups (one being clergy - weird). In the last two chapters, the author takes a deep dive in to Dr. Kelley's postwar life and in the final chapter the author follows the family' lives after Dr. Kelly's death and focuses primarily on the point of view of his son who did not have good relationship with his dad but was fascinated with his work. While I thought the biographical information about Dr. Kelley was fairly interesting, it seemed that there was too much of it and was surprised that there was so much book left after the Nuremberg trials were over, especially given the title of this book.

Overall, I thought this was a good read. There is some really interesting history in this book and I learned a lot about a period of time which I thought I knew better. I would have enjoyed this more had their been less detail about Dr. Kelley, there were parts in the last two chapters where my interest began to wane. 3.5 stars.

[Alla Komarova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Це було набагато опукліше за фільм! (хоча фільм також вартий уваги, хоча й з інших причин).

🖇 Після оприлюднення маси звірств, що їх скоїли нацисти під час WWII, кожен задався питанням "а чи не є нацизм ознакою, яку можна виявити, як дальтонізм чи якесь захворювання? і якщо так, то чи не допоможе психіатрія це визначити, а значить попередити подібне у майбутньому?"

🖇 До вивчення питання стало багато людей, але особливо серед них виділявся американський психіатр Дуглас Келлі, який провів безліч часу у задушевних розмовах із заарештованою верхівкою Райху. Висновки, до яких прийшов Келлі, сьогодні нікого не дивують — про банальнісь зла він сказав на кільканадцять років раніше за Арендт.

🖇 Джек Ель Хай, автор книги, написав майже біографію Келлі, починаючи від його діда і закінчуючи побіжно життям сина Келлі, з яким дуже багато спілкувався. І саме це робить книгу на порядок ґрунтовнішою та цікавішою за фільм (хоча знову підкреслюю, що фільм вартий уваги!).

🖇 Нащо Хай це зробив? Вчергове довести, що не існує хвороби чи вірусу нацизму — це просто люди. Ось вам Дуглас Келлі, він такий самий як Герінг — самозакоханий, театральний, самовпевнений й амбітний. Тільки один з них спрямував ці риси на геноцид, а інший — на вивчення творців геноциду.

🖇 Ще одна різниця між фільмом та книгою — сильно спотворений образ Келлі. В фільмі він постає таким собі запальним молодиком, який западає то на ефектну блондинку (до речі, суцільні вигадки ця лінія), то на дружину Геринга (взагалі лютий крінж). По книзі — це одружений (!) чоловік, який весь час перебування у Нюрнбергу писав листи своїй молодій дружині, з якою навіть медового місяця не встиг провести, як його витягли до в'язнів Трибуналу.

🖇 По фільму складається враження, що Келлі скоює суїцид після того, що його вигнали з радіо. По книзі — після Трибуналу він став успішним, затребуваним і унікальним спеціалістом, який розробив критерії для відмови конкурсантам на посаду поліцейських, які не пройдуть тестів. Тести ці він також сам розробляв. Він писав книги, читав лекції — настільки цікаві, що за всі роки жоден студент їх не прогуляв, чим Келлі пишався, виступав експертом і так тривало багато років. По фільму ж здається, наче це був якійсь істерик, не здатний впоратися із тим, що його не чують. Келлі якраз таки чули.

✅ Зрештою, #Дафа_радить, це цікавий та корисний нонфік, хоча й трішки якійсь смиканий у викладі, саме тому оцінка знижена на одну зірочку.

[MisskTarsis · Rating 3 out of 5]

¿Qué hizo a esas personas cometer semejantes crímenes? Muchos nos preguntamos eso. Pero la verdad, tal como relata ese libro, es que la maldad está en las personas. No necesitan estar locos, o dementes, sólo deben tener ambición y una brújula moral desviada.

Este libro recopila muchas entrevistas, retazos de vidas de criminales que fueron juzgados por la muerte de miles y miles de personas. Y la verdad es que el final me sorprendió. Siento que ese doctor, era incluso tan malo como ellos.

[Mateusz Kołota · Rating 5 out of 5]

Książka Jacka El-Haia to wyjątkowe połączenie reportażu historycznego, studium psychologicznego i biografii, które przenosi czytelnika w sam środek jednej z najważniejszych prób zmierzenia się z absolutnym złem XX wieku – procesu norymberskiego. Autor koncentruje się nie na samych rozprawach sądowych, lecz na ich zapleczu psychicznym: na tym, co działo się w umysłach ludzi odpowiedzialnych za machinę Zagłady oraz tych, którzy próbowali ich zrozumieć.

Centralną postacią książki jest major Douglas McGlashan Kelley, wybitnie utalentowany amerykański psychiatra, oddelegowany do zbadania stanu psychicznego najwyższych rangą nazistów osadzonych w norymberskim więzieniu. El-Hai, korzystając z prywatnych notatek Kelleya, jego raportów, korespondencji oraz materiałów archiwalnych, buduje drobiazgowy portret człowieka, który stanął twarzą w twarz z Göringiem, Hessem, Ribbentropem i innymi filarami Trzeciej Rzeszy.

Największą siłą tej książki jest jej psychologiczna głębia. Kelley nie szuka tanich odpowiedzi ani wygodnych uproszczeń. Zadaje pytania, które do dziś pozostają niepokojące:
Czy naziści byli potworami – czy może wstrząsająco „zwyczajnymi” ludźmi?
Czy zło rodzi się w patologii, czy w mechanizmach posłuszeństwa, ambicji i konformizmu?

Wnioski Kelleya okazują się nie tylko niekomfortowe, ale wręcz przerażające w swej prostocie. Według niego większość badanych nie wykazywała cech psychopatii czy ciężkich zaburzeń – byli funkcjonalni, racjonalni, często bardzo inteligentni. To właśnie ta normalność staje się największym źródłem grozy, bo prowadzi do refleksji nad kruchością moralnych granic w każdym społeczeństwie.

Szczególnie interesująco El-Hai opisuje relację Kelleya z Hermannem Göringiem – człowiekiem inteligentnym, narcystycznym, manipulacyjnym, a jednocześnie groteskowo przyzwyczajonym do luksusu i uzależnień. Göring jawi się jako mistrz gry psychologicznej, próbujący zdominować swojego rozmówcę, a jednocześnie desperacko walczący o zachowanie resztek kontroli. Kelley, wpatrzony w niego jak w fascynujący przypadek kliniczny, stopniowo zaczyna tracić zdrowy dystans – i to właśnie ten proces El-Hai opisuje z mistrzowską precyzją.

Równoległym wątkiem jest rywalizacja Kelleya z porucznikiem Gustave’em Gilbertem, psychologiem o zupełnie innym podejściu. Podczas gdy Gilbert kierował się moralnym osądem i humanistycznym współczuciem, Kelley pozostawał chłodnym naukowcem zafascynowanym mechaniką zła. Ta konfrontacja dwóch sposobów patrzenia na człowieka nadaje książce dodatkowy wymiar filozoficzny.

El-Hai nie poprzestaje jednak na historii Norymbergi. Równolegle kreśli osobisty dramat Kelleya, jego narastające wypalenie, obsesję badawczą i powolne osuwanie się w kryzys psychiczny. Tragiczny finał jego życia – nawiązujący ironicznie do losu Göringa – nadaje całej opowieści wymiar niemal antycznej tragedii. Zło, które badał przez całe życie, pozostawiło w nim ślad głębszy, niż mógł przypuszczać.

Styl Jacka El-Haia jest klarowny, precyzyjny i sugestywny. Potrafi pisać jednocześnie jak reporter, historyk i psycholog. Narracja płynie dynamicznie, mimo powagi tematu, a szczegóły – opisy więziennych cel, testów psychologicznych, rozmów i zachowań oskarżonych – budują niemal filmową atmosferę napięcia.

[Петър Стойков · Rating 2 out of 5]

Изобщо не знам каква е целта на тая книга - очевидно тя се продава само благодарение на заглавието си, дето е споменат Гьоринг. Авторът НЕ Е психиатърът от заглавието, така че няма какво да каже от първа ръка, а само може да разкаже историята на Дъглас М. Кели и на работата му с арестуваните нацисти в Люксембург.

Не очаквайте нищо нито интересно, нито изненадващо - описанието е плитко и очевидно авторът няма никаква подробна и конкретна информация за ставалото там. По-скоро е сбор от кратки исторически справки за споменатите в нея хора.

Смятам излишно е да казвам, че не се споменават изтезанията, на които са подложени арестуваните, за да направят своите признания пред съда в Нюрнберг. Те и в повечето подробни исторически книги не се споменават...

[P · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book offers some little known information about the Nazi prisoners at Nuremberg, along with differing psychiatrical opinions as to what made them tick, ie, why they did what they did, with the most emphasis on the role of the titular doctor Doug Kelly and what made him tick.
This exemplifies the bogus notion that psychiatrists actually know anything - virtually all they do is postulate opinions they want to have accepted as theories, but since none of what they do is actually science, of course they're inevitably unsuccessful, and the cycle returns to just differing opinions.

And even if there were a consensus, science isn't a subject ruled by what the majority thinks.

Anyway, in this case there is no agreement on why this group of high-level Nazis behaved as they did, so after the trial is over the book swerves to the rest of Kelly's life, from 1946-1958. He became a highly accomplished man in his nebulous field, as well as associated ones, eg., criminology, and ultimately became a noted professor at Berkley. Sadly for him, he was besotted with his own demons, and ends up killing himself by chewing on a cyanide tablet - the same way his most infamous Nuremberg client - Hermann Goering - did. Ha! So, was he crazy (too)?

Then a lot of time is devoted to reading about how Kelly's oldest son felt he was mistreated as a child because his father had high expectations and standards for him. Aww.... Woe is he.
All the characters in this whole historical account are pretty much screwed up, but in reality not so much more than we find in the general public.
If you have a natural skepticism about social 'sciences', and psychiatry in particular, this may just seal the deal for you. There aren't enough pearls to compensate for the lost time reading it takes.

[Христо Блажев · Rating 4 out of 5]

Психиатърът, който изследваше умовете на нацистите: https://knigolandia.info/natsistut-i-...

На първо място това е книга за затворничеството на оцелелите висши нацисти след края на войната до присъдите на Нюрнбергския процес – сред тях, освен маститата фигура на Херман Гьоринг, са гросадмирал Карл Дьониц, командващият въоръжените сили Вилхелм Кайтел и неговият заместник Алфред Йодл, Роберт Лай, психически нестабилният нацистки трудов директор, Ханс Франк, бившият райхсгубернатор на Полша, нацисткият философ Алфред Розенберг, , и Юлиус Щрайхер, издател на прочутия антисемитски вестник „Дер Щюрмер“ и други – общо петдесет и двама високопоставени германски армейски офицери и правителствени представители са задържани в бивш хотел в Люксембург, лишен от всичките си луксове и превърнат в затвор. По привичен маниер „Радио Москва поднася на слушателите си странно и фантастично описание на нацистите, затворени в дворец, в който им се сервират богати ястия и отбрани напитки със сребърни прибори, те се угояват и наедряват, а из територията на затвора ги возят с луксозни автомобили“, нещо, което е крайно далеч от истината, например Айзенхауер заявява, че „на високопоставените германци ще бъдат предоставени само минимално необходимите помещения, които няма да бъдат богато обзаведени, и че всички пленници ще се хранят стриктно с дажбата, която е разрешена за германските пленници от тази конкретна категория.“

[Gina Loubert · Rating 3 out of 5]

More about the Psychiatrist than the Nazi AND the Psychiatrist. Not what I expected going into this book but nevertheless it was interesting. My biggest complaint is this books bloat. At least a third of this book could’ve been cut.

[Szymon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Książka trochę jednak powinna nosić tytuł "Kelley. Psychiatra przez soczewkę nazistów", bo jednak mam wrażenie zr dla autora zdecydowanie istotniejszy niż sami naziści z Norymbergi jest Douglas Kelley, częściowo tylko przez pryzmat jego myśli o tychże nazistach. Co zasadnicza można zrozumieć, jako że efektem współpracy z synem Kelleya.

Nie jest to do końca wada, bo mimo wszystko jest to dość unikalna perspektywa, ale trochę książka reklamuje sie inaczej niż w rzeczywistości jest.

Przydałoby sie też trochę krytyki - bo książka jest dość bezkrytyczna jeśli chodzi o ocenę poglądów czy metod Kelleya (np. Mamy kilkanaście chyba stron dyskusji o różnych interpretacjach testów Rorschacha Kelleya i Gilberta, natomiast zero dyskusji o tym czy Rorschach jest w ogóle sensowną metoda diagnostyczna).

[Argos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Çok iyi bir kitap daha, bir gazeteci tarafından yazılmış, edebi derinlik beklemeden okunmalı. Nürnberg Mahkemesi'nde yargılanan üst düzey Nazi yöneticilerini ( Görring, Hess, Dönitz vd) yakından izleme ve inceleme fırsatı bulmuş Amerikalı psikiyatrist Dr Kelley'in bulgular ile vardığı sonuçlar uzun uzun anlatılmış. Bu arada aynı görevi yapan psikolog Gilbert'in vardığı sonuçlar çok farklı.
Kitabı iki yönüyle okumak gerekli. İlki Dr Kelley'in kişiliğini ve hayatını öğrenme, ikincisi Kelly ve Gilbert arasındaki görüş farklılığındaki doğru tarafı bulmak için düşünmek. Yazar ise tamamen farklı niyetle yazmış kitabı, o Görring'in Dr Kelley'i etkilediğini hatta tamamiyle ele geçirmiş olduğunu vurguluyor. Ayrıca bu 22 üst düzey nazi yöneticisinin, insan kasaplarının kişilikleri hakkında daha ayrıntılı bilgi edinmek de kitabın bir başka artı yönü.
Dr Kelley Nazi'lerin de bizler gibi normal isanlar olduğunu ancak çok rahatça güç, otorite, hükmetme vb isteklere evet demelerini ve hedefe ulaşmak için son derece egoist ve duyarsız olduklarını söyleyerek bu durumun her ülkedeki insanlar için de geçeli olabileceğini, ABD'de fırsat çıktığında ırkçılık ve milliyetçi duyguların faşist yönetici profillerini kolayca yaratabileceğini ileri sürmekte. Bugünkü Amerika ve Trumph'ı düşünürsek hiç haksız değil.
Gilbert ise Nazi'lerin psikopat olduklarını ruhsal problemi oan insanlar olduklarını onları bizler gibi normal kabul etmenin yanlş olduğunu savunuyor. Yani LePen, Willers,Putin, Saddam, Kaddafi vb liderlerin normal olmadıklarını psikopat olduklarını ileri sürüyor. O da haksız sayılmaz.
En iyisi kitabı okuyun kendi kararınızı kendiniz verin.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

a disappointing book, too much is about an unknown psychiatrist who committed suicide in 1958, most of us were born after that date.

He did a mental exam of a dozen nazi's and it's clear it was a sham,
he said Robert Ley was sane enough for trial,
then after Ley commited suicide: p 108

"Kelley's reaction to Ley's death equally lacked empathy.
He called the suicide a fortunate turn of events because Ley"

""could never have successfully been tried..
He was too far gone for that.
So Robert Ley did the world a favor when he hung himself
did me personally a particular favor,
because his was the one brain that I suspected would have organic damage""

If he was too far gone, how could he be sane enough for a trial?

The whole premise of the book is wrong, IMO,
they were looking for some trait peculiar to nazi's that caused
them to act as they did.

I believe their behavior is another example of mob behavior,
If MacKay was to write an updated version of
Extraordinary delusions and the madness of crowds,

He'd include the Armenian, nazi, bosnian, hutu/tutu holocausts
as additional examples.

None of those men would have done anything unusual by themselves,
it was acting as a mob that they did what they did.

[Tony Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book (I'd give it 5 stars, but being fairly technical, it may not appeal to a general audience.) If you enjoy reading about histories about WWII in Europe, you may find this a fascinating read. It is about a young US Army psychiatrist who was assigned to the supervise the mental health of key Nazi leaders during their incartitation leading up to their war crime trials in Nuremberg. Much of the story is based on the doctor's own notes as he interviewed such leaders as Hermann Goring, Admiral Donitz, Alfred Jodl among others. Although the book concentrates mostly on these post war interviews, it continues to follow the professional career of the psychiatrist after he left the Army and became a well known criminal psychiatrist working with many police departments and lecturing at universities around the US. However, the most interesting passages that appeared throughout the book related to the interviews with Goring, probably one of the more "colorful" and complicated prisoners who, for the most part, opened up about his wartime activities and his views as to why he felt "justified" in his role as a close follower of Hitler.

[Rafal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ciekawa historia pracy amerykańskiego psychiatry i psychologia (-ów) z nazistami przed i w trakcie procesu w Norymberdze i ciekawe wnioski prowadzące do znanej tezy o banalności zła. Ciekawe (nie przesadnie) dzieje tytułowego bohatera po powrocie do Stanów a szczególnie tego jak skończył. Ale poza tym książka zawodzi. Przez cały czas budowane jest napięcie sugerujące jakiś szczególny związek między psychiatrą a Göringiem, którego konsekwencją będzie dramatyczna kulminacja. Jest rzeczywiście dość dramatyczna kulminacja, jest akcesorium łączące tę kulminację z wydarzeniami w Norymberdze... Ale nie ma w tym wszystkim za grosz sensu. Nie ma żadnego sznurka, który by wiązał te luźne fakty w jakąś tezę. W największym skrócie: dowiadujemy się, że naziści nie byli wariatami, ale nie można tego z całą pewnością wykluczyć; że badający ich psychiatra w pewnym momencie zwariował albo nie zwariował; że był tyranem dla swojej rodziny albo tylko bardzo ambitnym ojcem i że wynikało to z jego pracy z nazistami albo z czegoś zupełnie innego. Całość podlana językiem sensacyjnego reportażu, w którym ostatecznie nic sensacyjnego się nie dzieje. Z dużej chmury - mały deszcz.

[Tami R Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book difficult to put down. It is well written and flows easily in addition to being highly intriguing subject matter. Central to the book is the vying interpretations of the psychology of the minds of Nazi leaders yet this does not overwhelm the excellent story-telling from El-Hai.

At times it is unclear whether this is a biography of Goring or Kelley or an academic contribution to the aforementioned debate. However, as one gets engrossed in the story, it hardly seems to matter that it doesn't necessarily have a defined goal beyond the storytelling itself.

I would certainly recommend this to anyone interested in the history of WW2 or psychiatry in the 20th century. Overall, it is an enjoyable and fascinating read.

*Disclosure - I received a free ARC copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads.

[Heather Ott · Rating 1 out of 5]

The florid prose and unremarkable conclusions did not impress me. The melodramatic and cliched description of the psychiatrist's final act sealed my opinion of this text--- thin and shallow.

[Marko Suomi]

Todella kiinnostava siivu psykiatrian historiaa ja pahuuden tutkimista ja yksittäisen psykiatrin elämää (Douglas Kelley). Spoiler: ei ole mitään erikseen superpahoja ihmisiä, vaan kuka "tavis" vaan pystyy hirveyksiin tietyissä olosuhteissa. Tätä samaa on todettu esim. kirjassa Ihmisyys (Jonathan Glover). Mutta, tämä kirja on äärimmäisen kiehtova ja suositus jos ihmismieli kiinnostaa!

Jack El-Hai: Göring ja psykiatri (2020, suomentanut Päivi Paju, alkuteos ilmestynyt 2013)

[Emily Binkley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, I have to admit it, but this book was extremely disappointing. The whole point was to focus on the Nuremberg trials and Kelley’s experiences with Göring and other Nazis. But instead it became a tiny blip in more of the biography of Douglas Kelley. This book was 223 pages but I STRUGGLED to get through this book. I’m afraid I have to admit I skimmed through the last couple of pages

[Nora Emerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5, non fiction overwhelms me sometimes but i did have a few moments where i contemplated switching to a history phd
(go see nuremberg when it comes out!)

[Judy Frey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was truly a fascinating book. Douglas Kelley was an American psychiatrist chosen by the military to evaluate all of the Nazi prisoners awaiting trial at Nuremberg. Kelley was determined to discover if these men all had some kind of predisposition to be the monsters that imposed the monstrous crimes of the Third Reich. If he could find traits that linked them, perhaps further monstrosities could somehow be avoided. While at Nuremberg, he became especially intrigued by Herman Goring. Goring was an incredible narcissist who believed intensely that he, even moreso than Hitler, was one of Germany’s greatest and most revered heroes. He was quite open to talking with the psychiatrist, as he yearned for attention. Kelley was determined to find out if a “ normal” person could commit such acts or if it required a pathological personality. He was also responsible for determining which of these prisoners might attempt suicide etc. utilizing many assessments, including Rorschach tests of which he was an early proponent. He was constantly confused by Goring who was extremely self- centered and narcissistic and had been horribly brutal, but who was also charming and a devoted father and husband. Kelley assessed others such as Hess, Ley, Ribbentrop, Rosenberg, and Streicher. After all were tried, convicted and sentenced, Goring committed suicide which Kelley never anticipated.
Kelley returned to the United States snd tried to make sense of all he’d done. He came to a frightening conclusion: he could not find a pathology pet se in these men which led him to believe that anyone, in the right circumstances, could commit the same acts. Goring, indeed, had told him that America was poised for the same: if not a war of anti- semitism, then a war against black people.
Upon his return, he started his family of three kids, wrote a book, became a professor of criminology, was a lecturer, assisted police departments, even had a stint as a radio and tv person. And he slowly descended into madness, eventually committing suicide almost exactly as Goring did. Many others questioned his work, doubting the value of Rorschach and finding there was a “ German pathology” common to the prisoners. All in all, a really interesting read.