Leon Goldensohn

Leon N. Goldensohn (October 19, 1911 – October 24, 1961), was an American psychiatrist charged with caring for the mental health of the twenty-one Nazi defendants awaiting trial at Nuremberg in 1946. He joined the United States Army in 1943 and was posted to France and Germany, where he served in battles. Between his arrival at Nuremberg in January 1946 and his departure in late July of that year, he formally interviewed most of the defendants in his capacity as a mental healthcare professional. The detailed notes he took survive.

Goldensohn conducted his interviews in English with the aid of a translator. Some of his subjects, notably foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, were partially or fully fluent in English, and conducted their interviews in that language. He also interviewed many defense and prosecution witnesses, some of whom were Nazi officials.

References

*Goldensohn, Leon N., and Gellately, Robert (ed.): "The Nuremberg Interviews", Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2004 ISBN 0-375-41469-X