The Chilling True Story Behind Netflix Hit ‘Nuremberg’: Author Jack El-Hai on the Minds of History’s Worst War Criminals

Key Takeaways

• Dr. Kelley first military psychiatrist to interview Nazi war criminals
• Film blends fact and drama; some scenes invented for narrative
• Kelley concluded Nazis were psychologically normal, not uniquely mad
• Nuremberg trials set precedent for modern international criminal courts
• Author warns authoritarianism can reappear in any society

Summary

Netflix’s new drama *Nuremberg* dramatizes the first of the post‑World War II trials, focusing on U.S. Army psychiatrist Douglas M. Kelley, who was the first military doctor to interview Nazi war criminals such as Hermann Göring. Author Jack El‑Hai, whose book *22 Cells in Nuremberg* inspired the film, explains that while the movie takes liberties for storytelling, it retains the core truth that the defendants were psychologically ordinary. The series also highlights the trial’s pioneering international legal framework and Kelley’s unsettling conclusion that ordinary personalities can commit atrocities. El‑Hai hopes viewers will question how evil emerges and how societies can guard against authoritarian resurgence.

Pulse Analysis

The Nuremberg trials marked a watershed in legal history, establishing the principle that individuals, even state leaders, could be held accountable for war crimes. Douglas M. Kelley, a young army psychiatrist, was thrust into an unprecedented role, conducting Rorschach tests and in‑depth interviews with defendants like Hermann Göring. His meticulous notes, preserved in fifteen boxes of personal archives, revealed that these men displayed no distinct psychiatric pathology, challenging the notion that evil stems from madness and prompting a lifelong quest to understand the roots of authoritarian behavior.

Netflix’s adaptation, directed by James Vanderbilt, leverages high‑production values and authentic set design—courtesy of Eve Stewart’s meticulous recreation of the Nuremberg courtroom and prison cells—to immerse viewers in the historical moment. While the film inserts dramatized scenes, such as Justice Jackson’s fictional meeting with the Pope, it succeeds in conveying the trial’s procedural fairness and its symbolic power as the first coordinated international effort to prosecute genocide. Critics praise the series for sparking renewed public interest in a pivotal yet under‑examined chapter of post‑war history, positioning the drama as both entertainment and a catalyst for historical education.

The relevance of *Nuremberg* extends beyond the past. El‑Hai emphasizes that the trial’s lessons about collective responsibility and the fragility of democratic institutions resonate amid today’s rise of extremist movements and waning support for the International Criminal Court. By illustrating how ordinary individuals can become perpetrators under certain conditions, the series invites audiences to reflect on contemporary threats to liberty and the importance of robust, multinational legal mechanisms. For business leaders and policymakers, the film serves as a reminder that vigilance, transparent justice, and international cooperation remain essential tools to deter future atrocities.