DARK HISTORY BONUS: The Nazi and the Psychiatrist

Ninetoes has a bonus Dark History lesson for us today, on the Nazi and the Psychiatrist.

TITLE: The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII

AUTHOR: Jack El-Hai

GENRE: History

PAGES: 295

FORMAT: Ebook

PRICE: $11.99

Hey there, book lovers! It’s your old pal, Ninetoes, coming to you from Ninetoes Loves Books Headquarters. Today, I am looking at Jack El-Hai’s The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII. I have coffee in my system and my thinking cap on, so let’s get to it!

A little while ago, I watched the movie Nuremberg starring Russell Crowe and Rami Malek. After watching it, I wanted to learn more and got my hands on the book it was based on. Well, I have to tell y’all, I went down a rabbit hole on this one, but in the best possible sense.

This book tells the story of Dr. Douglas M. Kelley and the twenty-two Nazi officers he treated at Nuremberg before their trial. What started out as a psychiatric evaluation to see if they were fit to stand trial became an odyssey to discover the roots of evil. Kelley thought that if he could unlock the key to what makes men evil, he could make a name for himself and a lot of money in the process.

The first half of the book focuses on Dr. Kelley’s interactions with the jailed Nazis, especially Reichmarshall Hermann Goring. He did not treat these men like subjects; he treated them like human beings, and that served him well to get these men to open up to him. Among the tests administered was the Rorschach Ink Blot test, and this gave Kelley insight into their mind.

Dr. Kelley left Nuremberg of his own free will and went home to his wife, Dukie. The second half of the book focuses on Dr. Kelley’s life after Nuremberg, and I wish I could say it was a storybook ending for him, but it is far from it. Dr Douglas Kelley was a dynamic personality. When he walked into a room, people gravitated to him and hung on his every word. His home life was…complicated. He did all of the cooking and disciplining of the children. He was very hard on his firstborn son, Douglas Jr. He wanted his son to become curious and excel at things the way that he had. Of course, this caused a lot of stress.

He published a book about his time in Nuremberg titled 22 Cells in Nuremberg: In the Nazi Mind. It did not sell well, especially given that at the time of its publication, Americans were sick and tired of hearing about Nazis. He went on the talk radio circuit to promote the book and gave a very dire warning that what happened in Germany when the Nazis rose to power could happen anywhere, even in the United States.

Two things caught my attention as I got to the end of this book. 1)What happened to the executed Nazis at Nuremberg (you will have to read it to find out, but trust me, it is worth it), and 2) How very similar Dr. Douglas Kelley and Reichmarshall Hermann Goring were in terms of drive to achieve their ambitions.

This book is a heavy read, but a very necessary one.

This is a perfect read for anyone who is interested in history and how the human mind works.

I give this 5 bookmarks out of 5!

Darren “Ninetoes” Perdue is a book and media reviewer. When he is not reading, he is watching true crime shows, cooking for his family, or working on a plan for universal domination. If you see him on his porch, say hi. He does not bite…much.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.