Staging Nuremberg

How the United States and the Soviet Union Fought Over the Portrayal of Nazi Crimes
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-0-231-21198-7
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 408 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 235 mm

Reihe: Investigating Visible Evidence: New Challenges for Documentary

As victory in World War II drew near, the Allies decided to hold a major trial of Nazi leaders, which began in Nuremberg in November 1945. Conflict soon broke out between the United States and the Soviet Union over not only how to assess German guilt but also how to depict the trial. The Americans saw it as a judicial and media spectacle that would convey “the greatest moral tale ever told,” illustrated with Hollywood techniques. The Soviets, for their part, drew on extensive experience filming show trials to craft their own narrative of the tribunal.

Sylvie Lindeperg offers a pioneering account of the cinematic stagecraft, storytelling, and imagery of the Nuremberg trials, revealing how film was used both as legal evidence and as a propaganda tool. She follows the American campaign to influence world opinion before, during, and after the trial, on stage and behind the scenes. Lindeberg chronicles how the hope of scripting a Hollywood-style courtroom drama crumbled amid rising geopolitical tensions and the mundane reality of the tribunal. The book interweaves in-depth reconstruction of the filming of the trial with portraits of the colorful characters who played leading or supporting roles. Drawing on American, British, Soviet, French, and German archives as well as analysis of films, newsreels, and photographs, Staging Nuremberg is a revelatory study of the theater of justice.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lindeperg, Sylvie

Weitere Mitwirkende

Gorbman, Claudia

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Besondere Kriege und Kampagnen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Deutsche Geschichte Deutsche Geschichte: Holocaust
• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Filmwissenschaft, Fernsehen, Radio Dokumentarfilme
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Ost-West Beziehungen
• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Filmwissenschaft, Fernsehen, Radio Filmgeschichte

Über Autor(innen)

Sylvie Lindeperg is a historian, emeritus member of the Institut Universitaire de France, and professor at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon–Sorbonne. She is the author of many books in French, and her books in English translation include “Night and Fog”: A Film in History (2014).

Claudia Gorbman is professor emerita of film studies at the University of Washington, Tacoma, and has translated several books by Michel Chion.