ID: 1768
Nuremberg Trials.
WORLD WAR TWO
Category: Autograph Letters/Manuscripts, Second World War
Place/Publisher/Date:
Nuremberg. August 1946.
Description: Three volumes of cyclostyled typescripts; original linen-backed boards with identification labels to upper covers; all folio. The volumes of journalist and head of the Reuters team covering the Trials, Eric Bourne. Volume one records the Opening Statement of USSR Chief of Counsel, Lieutenant General R. A. Rudenko, Crimes Against Peace by Deputy USSR Chief of Counsel, Colonel W. V. Pokrovsky and Aggression Against the USSR by M. D. Zorya. Volume two records the Final Speech by the British prosecutor Maxwell Fyfe, against Nazi Organisations and The Final Argument for the United States of America by Thomas J. Dodd. The third volume records the Closing Statement for the USA by Telford Taylor et al, against the General Staff and High Command and final statement on the Organisations by R. A. Rudenko, on behalf of the USSR and final statement on the organisations by Auguste Champetier de Ribes on behalf of France. A total of approximately 500 leaves, printed to rectos only. The signature of Eric Bourne to five of the part titles, together with sporadic shorthand notes by Bourne in pen or pencil, plus occasional pencil marks and word corrections. It is not clear from Bourne's notes in these three volumes when he made them, or what the shorthand says. At Nuremberg the prosecution entered indictments against 24 major war criminals and six criminal organizations - the leadership of the Nazi party, the Schutzstaffel (SS) and Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the Gestapo, the Sturmabteilung (SA) and the "General Staff and High Command," comprising several categories of senior military officers. Bourne later recorded that when Rudolph Hess, was brought in for sentencing, he produced a 'torrent of gabbled words' - having earlier declined to accept the Court's jurisdiction. Bourne recalled getting the entire rant down in shorthand and sending the story to Reuters with ample direct quotes, skipping the other reporters. Once sure his story was through, he shared his notes with the rest', (Guardian, 18 March 1999). The closing arguments by the prosecutors at the Trial concluded on 30th August 1946 and the following day the defendants were given a chance to make final statements before the Tribunal. All twenty-one defendants elected to address the Court. The Tribunal was adjourned for one month while the Judges considered their verdicts. The first volume is slightly browned and damp stained at front affecting covers and first few leaves and the boards are frayed, the second and third volumes are slightly rubbed.
Price £1,000.00
