Mission at Nuremberg (43 page)

210  
“ . . . I have been submitted . . .”:
Taylor,
Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials,
p. 362.

210  
“ . . . the ugliest defense yet heard . . .”:
Tusa and Tusa,
Nuremberg Trial,
p. 318.

210  
“began to look embarrassed”:
Ibid., p. 319.

210  
ordered Mauthausen to be surrendered:
Davidson,
Trial of the Germans,
p. 321.

211  
“ . . . that I ever saw a gas chamber . . .”:
TMWC, Vol. 11, p. 317.

211  
brought from the bunker:
Ibid.

211  
to build Vienna's sidewalks:
Tusa and Tusa,
Nuremberg Trial,
p. 318.

211  
an armaments factory:
Ibid., and Taylor,
Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials,
p. 361.

212  
killing everyone in it:
Goldensohn,
Nuremberg Interviews,
p. 301.

212  
“He used monoxide gas . . .”:
Harris,
Tyranny on Trial,
p. 336.

212  
The farmhouses:
Goldensohn,
Nuremberg Interviews,
p. 310.

212  
the red house and the white house:
Evans,
Third Reich at War,
p. 298.

212  
could kill about two thousand:
Goldensohn,
Nuremberg Interviews,
p. 311.

212  
They began operations:
Evans,
Third Reich at War,
p. 298.

212  
when the gas killed a cat:
Ibid., p. 297.

212  
four dedicated gas chambers:
Ibid., p. 299.

212  
supplied corpses:
Harris,
Tyranny on Trial,
p. 338.

212  
The heat of the victims' own bodies:
Ibid., and Evans,
Third Reich at War,
pp. 299–300.

212  
“After all of the observations done . . .”:
Goldensohn,
Nuremberg Interviews,
p. 303.

213  
“ . . . the canisters were pulled up again . . .”:
Evans,
Third Reich at War,
p. 300.

213  
special fittings for gaskets:
Goldensohn,
Nuremberg Interviews,
p. 298.

213  
“ . . . always behind in our cremating . . .”:
Ibid., p. 304.

213  
roughly the population of Dayton, Ohio:
2008 U.S. Census.

213  
About 7,000 SS men worked:
Evans,
Third Reich at War,
p. 304.

214  
many burning pits . . . His example cheered morale:
Harris,
Murder by the Millions,
pp. 46–49.

214  
90 percent of those killed were Jews:
Evans,
Third Reich at War,
p. 304.

215  
Hoess went into hiding:
Ibid., p. 743.

215  
Franz Lang:
Harris,
Murder by the Millions,
p. 32.

215  
Within a month he was sent:
Evans,
Third Reich at War,
p. 743.

215  
“short, rather heavy set . . .”:
Harris,
Tyranny on Trial,
p. 334.

215  
“weak, high voice”:
Taylor,
Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials,
p. 363.

215  
“I have no such fantasies”:
Goldensohn,
Nuremberg Interviews,
p. 315.

215  
“ . . .
I led a normal family life . . .”:
Gilbert,
Nuremberg Diary,
p. 237.

215  
his wife's garden:
Evans,
Third Reich at War,
p. 306.

215  
which held concerts and performances:
Ibid., p. 304.

215  
“A big part of the Polish intelligentsia . . .”:
Harris,
Murder by the Millions,
p. 83.

216  
“the order was authoritative . . .”:
Harris,
Tyranny on Trial
, p. 335.

216  
“Not justified . . .”:
Goldensohn,
Nuremberg Interviews,
p. 296.

216  
“it was not always a pleasure . . .”:
Gilbert,
Nuremberg Diary,
p. 238.

217  
“playing or joking with one another . . .”:
Evans,
Third Reich at War,
p. 299.

217  
“had to appear cold and indifferent . . .”:
Ibid., p. 305.

217  
“She was very upset . . .”:
Goldensohn,
Nuremberg Interviews,
p. 308.

217  
“I never struck any internee . . .”:
Ibid., p. 309.

218  
“ . . . I never killed anyone”:
Ibid., p. 150.

218  
An estimated sixty million men:
Waller,
Becoming Evil,
p. 15.

218  
“It helps side us . . .”:
Vetlesen,
Evil and Human Agency,
p. 14.

219  
“the greatest catastrophes occur . . .”:
Waller,
Becoming Evil,
p. xv.

219  
“intellectually normal . . .”:
Gilbert,
Nuremberg Diary,
p. 239.

219  
suffering or destruction . . . “the harm we perpetrate . . .”:
Waller,
Becoming Evil,
pp. 12–14.

219  
Hoess's closest friend:
Harris,
Murder by the Millions,
p. 22.

220  
“Evil can only exist . . .”
:
Crowley, “Evil,” p. 495.

220  
“spurn God's goodness . . .”:
Kennedy, “Evil, moral,” p. 497.

220  
“Does disaster befall a city . . .”:
Amos 6:3, NRSV.

220  
“either God cannot abolish evil . . .”:
McCloskey,
God and Evil
, p. 1.

221  
“ . . . growing existential frustration . . .”:
Wray and Mobley,
Birth of Satan,
p. 3.

221  
“I form the light,
. . .”:
Isaiah 45:7, King James Version.

 

CHAPTER 9

222  
“Justice without kindness . . .”:
Zwingli, “An Exposition of the Faith.”

222  
Some, led by Goering:
Gilbert,
Nuremberg Diary,
pp. 346–347.

223  
“I grew up with . . .”:
TMWC, Vol. 16, pp. 235–236.

223  
who translated it for Alma:
Schirach's English translation was not quite faithful to Fritzsche's German original, and he seems to have used his knowledge of American colloquialism for Alma's benefit. Based on a transcription of Fritzsche's original handwriting by Zieghart Rein provided to me by the Concordia Historical Institute in St. Louis at my request in August 2011, and translated by Ingrid Gustin, an accurate English translation of Fritzsche's original wording follows. Rein's transcription of Fritzsche's original follows that. I chose to quote from Schirach's translation in the body of this chapter because that is the version that both Henry and Alma Gerecke read in 1946.

Gustin translation:

Mrs. Gerecke.

Dear honorable Lady!

Your husband Pastor Gerecke looked after the accused in the Nuremberg trials as pastor to the signatories. He held this office for the last six months.

It has come to our attention that you, dear lady, after the absence of your husband for many years, have expressed the wish that he return home. We understand this wish very well because we also have wives and children.

But we have a request of you: delay this wish to gather your family at home. Please consider that we at this time cannot do without your husband. In the past few months he has displayed a steady friendship. He has become indispensable for us. Especially in surroundings in which we find prejudice, cold denial and even hatred.

He is for us indispensable, not only as a pastor, but also as the good person that we probably don't have to describe to his wife.

He simply has become dear to us. It is incomprehensible, that at this juncture of the trial, someone other than him can break through these walls that more than physically surround us spiritually. Please spare him for us. Surely you can bear this sacrifice and we will be grateful.

We wish you and your family the best. God be with you.

Rein transcription:

Frau Gerecke.

Sehr verehrte gnädige Frau!

Ihr Gatte Pastor Gerecke, betreut als Seelsorger die Unterzeichner unter den lutherischen Ange-klagten im Nürnberger Prozess. Er tut dies seit über einem halben Jahr.

Wir haben nun gehört, daß Sie, gnädige Frau, nach der mehr jährigen Abwesenheit Ihres Gatten den Wunsch nach seiner Heimkehr haben. Wir verstehen diesen Wunsch sehr gut, denn auch wir haben frauen und Kinder.

Aber wir haben eine Bitte an Sie: Stellen Sie den Wunsch, ihre Familie wieder zu Haus versammeln, zurück.

Bitte bedenken Sie, daß wir auf ihren Gatten jetzt nicht verzichten können. Er hat uns in den vergangenen Monaten eine so bewegungslose Freundlichkeit gezeigt, daß er für uns unentbehrlich geworden ist, zumal in einer Umgebung in der wir sonst.

Vorurteil, kalte Ablehnung oder sogar Hass finden. Er ist uns unentbehrlich nicht nur als Seelsorger, sondern auch als der gute Mensch—als den wir ihn seiner Frau sicher nicht erst zu beschreiben brauchen.

Wir haben ihn einfach lieb gewonnen. Es ist ausgeschlossen, daß im jetzigen Stadium des Prozesses ein anderer als er noch einmal die Mauern durchbricht, die uns seelisch noch mehr als materiell umgeben. Also bitte lassen Sie ihn uns. Sicher werden Sie dies Opfer tragen—und wir werden Ihnen dankbar dafür sein.

Wir wünschen Ihnen und Ihrer Familie alles gute!

223  
“Frau Gerecke”:
Fritzsche et al., Letter to Alma Gerecke, 14 June 1946.

224  
“I had done a little mild griping
. . .”:
Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

224  
“the most incredible letter . . .”:
Ibid.

224  
“My Dear!”:
Henry F. Gerecke, Letter to Alma Gerecke, 18 June 1946.

224  
“Our dear Chaplain Gerecke . . .”:
Fritzsche et al., Letter to Alma Gerecke.

225  
“So I stayed on at Nuremberg . . .”:
Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

225  
“really hadn't written a word . . .”:
“Nuernberg Nazi Leaders Urged St. Louis Chaplain.”

225  
Gerecke had committed:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” December 1945.

225  
“
. . . perhaps closer to them . . .”:
“Nuernberg Nazi Leaders Urged St. Louis Chaplain.”

225  
“became more and more solemn . . .”:
Fritzsche,
Sword in the Scales,
pp. 316–317.

226  
officiated at the wedding:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” August 1946.

226  
inquiries from German clergy:
Ibid.

226  
Goering claimed prosecutors:
TMWC, Vol. 22, p. 364.

226  
“I stand up for the things . . .”:
Ibid., p. 366.

227  
“You most certainly heard . . .”:
Manvell cited by Persico.
Nuremberg,
p. 374.

227  
“glazed and dreamy eyes
. . .”:
TMWC, Vol. 22, p. 370.

227  
“a pitiable exhibition . . .”:
Fritzsche,
Sword in the Scales,
p. 317.

227  
tried to get him to stop:
Neave,
On Trial at Nuremberg,
p. 302.

227  
“ . . . under the greatest son . . .”:
TMWC, Vol. 22, p. 373.

228  
“will go down in history . . .”:
Ibid., pp. 373–375.

228  
“Amid the deepest distress . . .”:
Ibid., p. 383.

228  
“And the reason why I say ‘yes . . .' ”:
Ibid., Vol. 12, p. 13.

229  
“ . . . which I must rectify . . .”:
Ibid., Vol. 22, p. 385.

229  
“ . . . a tremendous spiritual responsibility . . .”:
Ibid., p. 384.

230  
“ . . . I cannot today cry . . .”:
Ibid., p. 405.

230  
“shaken to the very depths . . .”:
Ibid., p. 396.

230  
“
. . . Keitel was used to acting . . .”:
Tusa and Tusa,
Nuremberg Trial,
p. 259.

231  
when Hitler gave him an order:
Ibid., p. 308.

231  
“You have been at this trial too long . . .”:
Ibid., p. 311.

231  
could not think of a single time:
Gilbert,
Nuremberg Diary,
p. 228.

231  
“truthful and decent . . .”:
Tusa and Tusa,
Nuremberg Trial,
p. 310.

231  
“a weak, if not pathetic, instrument . . .”:
Smith,
Reaching Judgment,
p. 186.

231  
“ . . . two fundamental questions . . .”:
TMWC, Vol. 22, pp. 376–377.

232  
something that approximated respect:
Smith,
Reaching Judgment,
p. 186.

232  
“the bravest and most thoughtful . . .”:
Taylor,
Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials,
pp. 537–538.