The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII

In 1945, after his capture at the end of World War II, Hermann Göring arrived at an American-run detention center in Luxembourg with sixteen suitcases and a red hatbox containing personal items, cash equivalent to 1 million dollars, and hidden potassium cyanide. He was held alongside fifty-two other senior Nazi officials, including Grand Admiral Dönitz, Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Jodl, Robert Ley, Hans Frank, and Julius Streicher. The U.S. Army sent Captain Douglas M. Kelley, an ambitious psychiatrist, to monitor the mental health of the detainees before their trial at Nuremberg. Kelley sought to identify psychological traits that would distinguish these Nazi leaders from ordinary people. Using Kelley's previously hidden papers and medical records, this account describes the relationship that developed between the psychiatrist and his subjects, particularly Göring. Despite his intentions, Kelley found himself developing an appreciation and understanding of some of the Nazi captives.