Witness to Nuremberg

The Many Lives of the Man Who Translated at the Nazi War Trials

By: W. Richard Sonnenfeldt

Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld

In this gripping memoir by the chief American interpreter at the Nuremberg trials, Richard Sonnenfeldt recounts a remarkable life. By the time he was 18, Sonnenfeldt had grown up in Germany, escaped to England, been deported to Australia as a "German enemy alien", arrived in the U.S., and joined the U.S. Army. By age 22 he had fought in the Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp, when he was appointed chief interpreter for the American prosecution of Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg trials.

During his service, he spent pretrial time with Hermann Göering as well as other top Nazi leaders like von Ribbentrop, Rudolph Höss, and Julius Streicher, the infamous editor of the anti-Semitic Der Sturmer.

An engineer in later life, Sonnenfeldt was also a principal developer of color TV and computer technology and a key player in NASA's preparation of the first moon shot.

©2006 Richard W. Sonnenfeldt (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Disappointing

Is there anything you would change about this book?

More about what went on at the trials and less about the author.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

More about what went on at the trials and less about the author.

How could the performance have been better?

Author brags about his American accent and was read by someone with English accent. Reader came across as arrogant.

Riveting

What an extraordinary life this man has lived. His service to the United States was extraordinary. His background was so very interesting along with his education a very good read.

I’m a US Army enlisted veteran. This is Good.

I need to start this review with a disclosure: I have been an attorney for more than 3 decades. I am also a US Army enlisted veteran, and my MOS (military occupational skill) was a linguist. I am too young to have served with all but a few WWII vets, but I had the honor of meeting a lot - but I’d never heard of Richard W. Sonnenfeldt’s “Witness to Nuremberg” (2006).

I’m my defense, Sonnenfeldt’s memoir was published decades after I’d left active duty. Sonnenfeldt would have been legend when I served, if only we had known. He was an E-3 who bumped flag officers on scarce post-war flights, and he ended the up in an actual villa in Nuremberg for a good long time. Sonnenfeldt was the OG of what became the E-4 Mafia (IFYKYK).

I enjoyed this book - but also for reasons that have nothing to do with my service. Sonnenfeldt was a Jew (he died in 2009) and he lived in Germany during the rise of Nazis. His memoir talks about that as a 10 year old; his eventual escape, and his astute parents; his unrequested stay in Australia, and his no-notice US citizenship in connection with his US Army enlisted service. Sonnenfeldt had a viewpoint I did not know existed.

The Audible narration started faster than I liked, but before I decided to slow down the narration using settings, it became more even.

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Not what I expected

I wanted a book about the trials, not about the author, although it was interesting

A Whole Life

The Nuremberg chapter of this man's life was just one of the stories told in this book. It is a very comprehensive story of one Jewish German's experiences in an almost "Forrest Gump", "I was there" scenario. Totally amazing.
Sadly, the narrator gave it a reading that was at once braggaocious and defensive as if a super big chip was on his shoulder. I don't think this is what the author had in mind, as it does not come off this way in the written book.
The endings (that go on and on), become a bit preachy, but all in all this a great story that could have been presented better. Still well worth your credit.