That Justice Be Seen the American Prosecution's Use of Film at The

A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details i T HAT J U S T I C E B E S EEN THE AM E RIC AN P ROSECUTION ’S USE OF F ILM AT THE NU REM BE RG I NTERNATIONAL MI LIT ARY TRIBUNAL A thesis submitted to the Department of History at the University of Sussex for the Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy Image from E.R. Kellogg (Dir.), That Justice Be Done , (USA: OSS, 1945) KEVIN PATRICK REYNOLDS September 201 1 i Statement I hereby declare that this thesis has not been, and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another university for the award of any other degree. Signature ………………………………. Kevin Patrick Reynolds University of Sussex THAT JUSTICE BE SEEN THE AMERICAN PROSECUTION’S USE OF FILM AT THE NUREMBERG INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL SUMMARY This dissertation examines the use of motion-picture film by the American Prosecution before and during the „Trial of the Major War Criminals‟ at the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Germany, 1945-1946. My research is based on never before used material including newly discovered film, official papers, and private letters. I argue that investigating the use of film, more than any other medium, enables us to comprehend the American Prosecution‟s vision of justice after the Second World War. I focus on three crucial themes: the political, juridical and moral concerns of the American planners and prosecutors. Although much historical scholarship focuses on American designs to „re-educate‟ Germans, I show that the American planners of Nuremberg felt that the education of Americans was also essential. The trial was designed to draw a distinction between Nazi „barbarism‟ and „Western civilization‟ and presented an opportunity that Americans used to promote their political values at home as well as abroad. They used film to affirm and showcase – to millions of their fellow citizens – some of the values and methods of liberal democracy. The American planners and prosecutors viewed the Nazi defendants as responsible representatives of the German people and used the controversial doctrine of „conspiracy‟ to facilitate the new principle of individual accountability in international law. Additionally, they also proclaimed that planning and waging „aggressive‟ war had constituted, years before the Nazis came to power, criminal activity. Yet representing „conspiracy‟ and „aggression‟ with film graphically exposed the limits of law in dealing with unprecedented injustice. The particular form of spectacle arising from the American use of film at Nuremberg has remained overlooked by scholarship in a variety of relevant fields. The American Prosecution staged a form of morality play with film. The aim, however, was not the redemption of the Nazi defendants; it was, rather, only to condemn and punish them. The Americans confronted the defendants with images of atrocity, as well as images of themselves. This technique functioned as a theatrical device in which onlookers felt that they could examine the defendants for signs (or the absence) of remorse. This spectacle enabled the presentation of a particularly powerful moral case against the defendants and the Nazi ideology they had espoused. This dissertation, therefore, offers a new contribution to our understanding of the visual culture of legal procedure by using an historical case-study of transitional justice after the Second World War. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, many thanks to Professor Paul Betts for his patience and relentlessly upbeat approach. Paul first inspired me with undergraduate German history at the University of Sussex and further encouraged me to pursue postgraduate research there as well. As my main supervisor, he has been extremely generous with his time and advice. Next, many thanks to Professor Clive Webb, my „secondary‟ supervisor, who was kind enough to come on board at a relatively late stage. His supervision also helped enormously with both content and style (although, of course, I am entirely responsible for any deficiencies). For a variety of other services well beyond the call of duty (rendered throughout my entire time at Sussex), I would like to express my thanks, in particular, to six other faculty members of the History Department: Prof. Ian Gazeley, Prof. Alun Howkins, Dr. Uffa Jensen, Dr. Eugene Michail, Dr. Lucy Robinson and Prof. James Thomson. Thanks also to Margaret Reynolds for a fine example of administrative competence, and to Dr. Christian Wiese for help in quickly deciphering Robert H. Jackson‟s hand- written notes. I was very fortunate to have my research funded by the AHRC (see below) in the form of a „Collaborative Doctoral Award‟ which, in my case, entailed working with the Imperial War Museum (IWM). I am very grateful to the many staff I came into contact with, not all of whom, unfortunately, can I mention here. The first I wish to mention, however, is Stephen Walton, Archivist at Duxford. As my IWM supervisor, Stephen went out of his way to be helpful and make me feel welcome among the initially overwhelmingly large collections of foreign documents held at Building 6. Many thanks to Pamela Wright and Brenda Collings who were also extremely helpful and welcoming there. Thanks also to the many helpful IWM staff based in London, especially Suzanne Bardgett, Kay Gladstone, Richard Golland and Hilary Roberts. Thanks to the staff of the British Library and the National Archives in the UK. It was a real pleasure to visit the National Archives & Records Administration in Washington D.C. and receive advice and help from Amy Schmidt, Ken Schlessinger, John Taylor, and Robert Wolfe. Thank you very much to the staff at Myron Taylor Hall, Cornell University, including Thomas Mills, Brian Eden, Kathy Hartman, Claire Germaine & students Eugene & Vivian who photocopied an enormous amount from the William J, Donovan collection. Many thanks to the staff at Special Collections, Harvard Law Library, including Margaret Peachy, Ed Moloy and especially Lesley Schoenfeld. Thanks to all the staff in the Manuscript Reading Room of the Library of Congress and, in particular, Frederick J. Augustyn, Jr. Thanks also to Nicola Shayer at the Thomas J. Dodd Center, University of Connecticut, Ronald Bulatoff at the Hoover institution archives and Bruce Levy at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Of all those I met during my travels in the US, the most helpful assistance with my research was provided by Sandra Schulberg who, like her father Stuart and uncle Budd (who both worked for the O.S.S./American Prosecution), demon- strated an incredible and inspirational spirit of generosity and kindness. Thank you iv for the spare room, the access to your father‟s papers, and the conversations. Thanks also to Fred Whitehead for some information on the O.S.S. For the encouragement that only friends can provide (i.e., wild optimism with no appreciation of the difficulties involved), I must thank the following happy campers: Matt Allen, Phil Corran, Becca & Dan Connolly, Michael Lindsay and Kedysha Sassi. Thanks to all for the roasts, the drinkable wines, and the finest humour available to humanity. For the encouragement of friends (first) who also happen to be academic historians (and thus do understand); for their comradeship and lashings of ginger-beer, thanks especially to Dr. Becca Searle and Dr. Ben Jones. Thank you Annie Sturge for arranging, and Gregory Fried & Christina Hardway for providing, a place to stay in Boston. Thanks to Gitti Daldrup, Dorit Hannig, Andre Pohlmann, and Little Lina for encouragement, entertainment, meat and (copious amounts of) fine German beer. Thanks to Manfred Hannig for more of the same and his intimate knowledge of German roof-rabbits during the Second World War. For the many pleasant and fruitful evenings spent discussing jurisprudential, ethical and historiographical topics, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Archie Reynolds, without whom I would probably have finished a lot sooner. Thanks so much to Mum & Dad – for everything that would take too long to mention here. Most of all, thank you my dearest Elena Hannig for the love, support, friendship and everything else. This research would not have been possible without funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Many thanks to the helpful staff there. I am also very grateful to the German Historical Society for helping with travel costs at a time when it was crucial. v CONTENTS Statement ..................................................................................................... i Summary ....................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ...................................................................................... iii Acronyms and Abbreviations .................................................................... vii Some Notes on the Text ............................................................................. viii 1. INTRODUCTION

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