Fred Reitler papers

Fred Reitler was born in Vienna, Austria, on 7 Aug. 1906. Because of the dangerous situation for Jews in Austria, Reitler fled to Antwerp, Belgium, in 1938. He later emigrated to the United States and became a citizen in 1944. He volunteered for service when he learned of the war crimes trials to be held after the war. Because of his knowledge of German and German shorthand, he was hired as a court reported by the U.S. Civil Service. He attended all of the trial sessions and was chosen to record the last words of the defendant who received death sentences. Reitler continued to work for the U.S. Civil Service during subsequent war crime trials and remained in Germany until his death on 15 Aug. 1978 at Nuremberg. Consists of the press pass card used by Fred Reitler during the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, the "Last words of the ten Nazi main war criminals, executed on 16 October 1946" recorded by Fred Reitler, and the personal notebook (some segments in shorthand) kept by Fred Reitler during the IMT and subsequent US-administered war crimes trials. The notebook contains the "Last word..." of the ten main war criminals written in German shorthand.