Nuremberg, the documentary film based on the 1945 World War II Nazi trials in Nuremberg directed by Stuart Schulberg and completed in 1948 is the official document of the 1945 Nuremberg Trial as commissioned by the United States. It’s a sin that Nuremberg has never been released until now.
Unlike sentimental tear-jerker interpretations most famously the documentaries produced by Steven Spielberg, there is no manipulation here, no tugging on the heartstrings. Schulberg understood that the greatest horrors our world had really ever known did not need any kind of contrived storytelling mechanisms to affect emotion. The film is sparse and relies on the facts and the actual voices of those involved to tell the story.
This is actually a practice that Sandra Schulberg, his daughter who oversaw the preparation for its restoration and release this time around and has been a producer for the past three decades, describes as actually a principle that comes not from the artists behind the film, but the prosecutors on the trial. They made the conscious decision before the trial to not include any of the testimonies from its victims. Instead they wanted to rely on facts, which they had many of. They did not want to risk the defense being able to qualify any of the testimonials or evidence as biased in any way.
They understood that the presentation of facts not people would lead to a more boring trial, losing much of the American press’ interest, however, this was not their priority. It did turn out that: the trial was barely covered in the US press because everyone ended up tuning it out for lack of excitement. Arguably, this contributed to the delayed release along with a number of other infuriating factors.
Nuremberg, the documentary, does not fall victim to the same pitfalls though, as the film is gripping from beginning to end. It unfolds like a case from beginning to end, while also using narration to intertwine the history of the Holocaust. Unlike many other Holocaust documentaries, it does not focus on pounding the audience several times over with sad personal accounts. This film is completely concerned with letting us know how this happened, and teaches us a lesson on how to prevent war crimes from happening again.
That this was obviously the first film of its kind contributes so much to the form. The filmmakers were not affected by the associations that the American press have since manipulatively manufactured in us about the Holocaust. This was a story told completely raw, with the telling coming from first hand, primary and contemporary sources.
It lives now without peer, for literally everything that came after it has been highly affected by sentiment. There are lines drawn in sand that say exactly how we are meant to present the Holocaust and what facts, stories, and opinions can be brought up now. Nuremberg is not the rebellious son in this conversation, but rather just the one who got out before anyone decided that somebody needed to protect our virgin ears.
Nuremberg is currently playing at the Film Forum in NYC. Look for our interview with Sandra Schulberg in the near future.
