Nuremberg Remembered Biography: Richard Sonnenfeldt

Richard Sonnenfeldt grew up in Germany as a Jew. He escaped Nazi tyranny in the 1930s and made his way out of Germany. In England he was mistakenly taken for a German enemy alien and deported by the British to Australia. After protesting his imprisonment, he was released by Australian authorities and eventually made his way to Baltimore, Maryland. At age 20, the new American citizen served in the American army at the Battle of the Bulge and was a combat soldier in Germany in the American front lines.

While serving in the U.S. Army at the end of World War II, Sonnenfeldt was recruited by General William Donovan to go to Nuremberg and assist the chief American prosecutor, Robert Jackson, in the interrogation of Nazi defendants before trial. In the position of interrogator, Sonnenfeldt heard Hermann Goering firsthand and was able to see the films of the camps taken by Allied liberation forces. He firmly believes in the significance of the trials for three reasons: the trials maintained respect for the rule of law; they served as a deterrent for future war criminals to commit atrocities and genocide; and they served as a precedent for international law, which must continue to govern relationships among states in the modern world.

Sonnenfeldt collected mementos of his experience at Nuremberg. In Nuremberg Remembered he shows one of his mementos-a Christmas card picturing the Nuremberg courtroom in December 1945.

Considering the legacies of the trials, he emphasizes how important it is for a democracy to preserve its freedoms against the encroachments of dictators such as Hitler and more recently Hussein and Milosevic.

Following Nuremberg, Sonnenfeldt developed a successful career in the development of color television and computer technology. He has served on many corporate boards and served as vice president of National Broadcasting Company between 1982 and 1998. He continues to share his Nuremberg experiences with audiences throughout the United States and Germany. His recent autobiography, More Than One Life, incorporates his reflections on Nuremberg and its significance for his personal development, as well as the development of international law.