Nuremberg

Nuremberg: The Translator’s Tale follows Howard Triest, a German-Jewish refugee who returned to Europe as an American soldier and became an interpreter in Nuremberg prison. Working with psychiatrists Douglas Kelley and Leon Goldensohn, Triest sat face to face with senior Nazi prisoners awaiting trial, translating interviews and conversations with men whose regime had murdered his own parents at Auschwitz.

Helen Fry reconstructs Triest’s wartime journey and his role inside the prison from research and extensive interviews. The book uses his perspective to illuminate the psychological examinations, prison routine and moral atmosphere surrounding the International Military Tribunal. It is a nonfiction biography and history of the trials rather than a reconstruction of the later dramatic portrayals inspired by Triest.