WASHINGTON (AP) A one-time U.S. Army reporter during World War II donated a never-before-published transcript of radio coverage of the Nuremberg war crimes trials of Nazi leaders to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Tuesday 68 years to the day after he began reporting on the landmark military
Nuremberg transcript donated to Holocaust Museum
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"This is an incredible eyewitness primary source of history," Miller said. "He was witnessing the testimony of Nazi criminals, the captured German photos, the captured German film footage, the captured German documents that were shown at Nuremberg, shown to the world for the first time. He witnessed them become the evidence of the Holocaust."
Burson was 24 when he began reporting on the courtroom scene, the defendants and the key players. He joined about 200 other news reporters covering the first trial.
"To me, it was exhilarating because these were arguably the best news people in the world," Burson told The Associated Press. "My audience was primarily the million or so soldiers who were still in Europe and had fought the war."
Burson said surveys at the time also showed the American military radio network was one of the most trusted sources of news in Germany after the war because people believed the U.S. Army would not lie to its troops. So Burson was under orders to report for English-speaking people in Germany as well.
"General Eisenhower wanted the German people to know exactly what happened and how the war began and how it was prosecuted by the Nazi regime," he said.
The United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain and France all supplied judges and a prosecution team for the trials. Burson reported on efforts to make the trials fair and legitimate for the defendants, including paying for defense lawyers.
"It was, I think, an honest effort to do so," he said. "Of course, I don't think it's possible to overcome the fact that the winner is trying the loser."
Audiobook maker Audible produced a recording of Burson's transcripts with actors reading the scripts. Burson also conducted an oral history interview to leave his vivid memories with the museum.
"This was still new to the world," Miller said of Burson's accounts. "It was fresh and raw."
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U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum: http://www.ushmm.org
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