The Psychiatrist at Nuremberg

May 19, 2026 in Library Corner

By Robin Jacobson

The recent Nuremberg movie spotlights a fascinating, behind-the-scenes relationship at the historic Nuremberg Trials that followed World War II. Over many months, U.S. Army psychiatrist Dr. Douglas Kelley examined and evaluated Hermann Göring, who had been Hitler’s second-in-command. Kelley’s assignment was to determine the mental competency of Göring, as well as other high-ranking prisoners, and ensure that they remained fit to stand trial.

But Kelley was consumed with a more personal goal. He wanted to understand Göring and the other Nazis. They were among the most notorious criminals in human history. What motivated their heinous acts? Was there a psychiatric disorder or mental flaw underlying their brutal behavior? If so, could identifying it help prevent a future Nazi-like regime? Kelley’s determination to discover these answers lies at the heart of The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai, the engrossing non-fiction book on which the Nuremberg movie was based.

The Nuremberg Trials

When World War II ended, the Allies – the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union – needed to decide what to do with 22 captured senior Nazi officials. The Soviets initially favored summary executions, but the Allies ultimately agreed on a public trial to take place in Nuremberg, Germany.

Nuremberg offered both practical and symbolic advantages. Located within the American occupation zone in Germany, the city had a mostly intact courthouse and prison complex. The infamous site of enormous Nazi Party congresses, Nuremberg had also been the place where the Nuremberg Laws, legislation that stripped German Jews of their citizenship, were announced.

The flamboyant Hermann Göring was the top-ranking Nazi official tried at Nuremberg. Besides being a brutal Nazi overlord, Göring was a rapacious plunderer of art works; he arrived in prison with suitcases stuffed with priceless jewelry and other valuables.

Göring and Kelley

El-Hai’s book narrates Kelley’s immediate fascination with Göring. In his medical notes, Kelley wrote that Göring was “the most outstanding personality in the jail” because of his powerful intelligence. Kelley established a close rapport with him, partly because of his success in improving Göring’s health. He helped Göring break his narcotic addiction and lose weight.

Hungry for company, Göring talked readily to Kelley about his beloved wife and daughter; he kept framed photos of them in his cell and wrote them frequent letters. He also spoke of his love for animals and his work in reforming German laws and regulations to treat them humanely. These endearing aspects of Göring’s personality puzzled Kelley. He observed that for those within Göring’s circle of concern, “nothing was too good,” but that Göring had an “almost total disregard” for any other living being.

After rigorous mental assessments and hundreds of hours spent talking to the prisoners, Kelley was unable to identity a distinctive “Nazi mind” – a common psychiatric flaw or specific mental illness. In his book, 22 Cells in Nuremberg (1947), Kelley wrote that the Nazis –

“were not spectacular types . . . They simply had three quite unremarkable characteristics in common—and the opportunity to seize power. These three characteristics were: overweening ambition, low ethical standards, [and] a strongly developed nationalism which justified anything done in the name of Germandom.”

He told a reporter, “Their personality patterns indicate that, while they are not socially desirable individuals, their like could very easily be found in America.”

Kelley’s chilling conclusion—that many people had the potential to act as evilly as the Nazis —haunted him for the rest of his life. Hours before Göring’s scheduled execution, the prisoner connived to die by suicide. Twelve years later, Kelley also died by suicide, in full view of his horrified family at their home in California. Kelley ingested potassium cyanide, just as Göring did in his Nuremberg cell.