Originally written in 1947, this was the first comprehensive account to the trial of the major Nazi leaders after World War II. The desire to create some type of trial (there was no international precedent) in a speedy manner (the beginning of the Cold War and the normal desire of the average citizen to get on with life) were two of the major challenges facing the judges and attorneys who had their own motives and goals. Although the Nazi regime kept efficient records, the sheer volume of those records and the seemingly complex relationships between departments and organizations made errors unavoidable. No one even within the Nazi regime could always explain the power differentials between the State and Party organizations, for example, responsible for the administration of any given area (the SD was a party organization while the Reich Foreign Ministry was a State organ but they each had administrative duties in some of the occupied territories). Add in the duties of the Wehrmacht, the SS, the Todt labor organization, etc., and the judge’s confusion is understandable.
