Ultima ratio interpretum: the verbal weapon at the Nuremberg Trial

Abstract

The article describes the uncompromising verbal struggle against Nazism that simultaneous interpreters waged at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial (1945–46) regardless of considerable emotional strain and the psychological pressure exerted on them by some defendants and the counsel every so often. The interpreters defied the odds and emerged victorious. Excerpts from the memoirs authored by some of the key participants in the Trial of Six Million Words are provided.

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