Jack El-Hai on Psychiatry, Nuremberg and Trying to Figure Out Nazis
Murder Sheet
MurderSheet
3.8 • 3K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2026
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Author Jack El-Hai shares the story of Dr. Douglas Kelley, a psychiatrist who got a unique opportunity to try to understand what made certain people become Nazi's. Jack's book- The Nazi and the Psychiatrist- was also the basis of the recent film Nuremberg, which starred Russell Crowe.
Buy Jack El-Hai's The Nazi and the Psychiatrist at https://www.amazon.com/Nazi-Psychiatrist-Hermann-Douglas-Meeting-ebook/dp/B00BVTSBU0/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YZ27DTB16JSO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ymKK0RcaWzCjZHGFIJIg1EvFevJEdPh_F4YxquzTyRIkqrkGWSdqzv2m-odOQs0AZFkXFIrlEUJHi4h0uWQ_OQ.dodg_EqhwsntuHZGB0n53B9zLBWyojKuya1DQF30vwM&dib_tag=se&keywords=jack+el-hai+the+nazi+and+the+psychiatrist&qid=1777927326&sprefix=jack+el%2Caps%2C143&sr=8-1
Find discounts for Murder Sheet listeners here: https://murdersheetpodcast.com/discounts
Check out our upcoming book events and get links to buy tickets here: https://murdersheetpodcast.com/events
Order our book on Delphi here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shadow-of-the-bridge-the-delphi-murders-and-the-dark-side-of-the-american-heartland-aine-cain/21866881?ean=9781639369232
Or here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Shadow-of-the-Bridge/Aine-Cain/9781639369232
Or here: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Bridge-Murders-American-Heartland/dp/1639369236
Join our Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/c/murdersheet
Support The Murder Sheet by buying a t-shirt here: https://www.murdersheetshop.com/
Check out more inclusive sizing and t-shirt and merchandising options here: https://themurdersheet.dashery.com/
Send tips to murdersheet@gmail.com.
The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I'm Kevin, and today we will be hearing the story of a man who got the opportunity to speak face to face with some of the most notorious Nazis in history in an effort to try to figure out what made them what they became. |
| 0:17.5 | Content warning. This episode includes discussion of genocide, war crimes, murder, and pretty much every crime you could probably think of. |
| 0:27.6 | Why? That's the question a lot of us have when we look at all of the violent and terrible crimes that happen in the world. Why does this happen? What sort of person does these things? |
| 0:40.8 | How can we stop them from happening again? Douglas Kelly asked all those questions when he looked |
| 0:47.6 | at all the evil the Nazis were responsible for during World War II. Dr. Kelly was a psychiatrist, |
| 0:54.0 | and the army sent him to Nuremberg after the |
| 0:56.2 | war to work with the Nazis who faced trial for their war crimes. Dr. Kelly was determined to use |
| 1:02.5 | this opportunity to get some answers. What an earth could prompt a group of people to try to |
| 1:08.0 | perpetuate something as evil, heinous, and awful as the Holocaust. |
| 1:12.9 | These Nazis murdered 6 million Jewish people across Europe. |
| 1:16.8 | They also targeted other groups for mass murder and persecution, including Roma people, people |
| 1:23.8 | with disabilities, prisoners of war from the Soviet Union, and ethnic polls. |
| 1:28.9 | The scope of their crimes cannot be overstated. |
| 1:32.3 | When we're talking about just the Jewish victims, we're talking about 2.7 million people |
| 1:37.9 | murdered in killing centers like Auschwitz. |
| 1:41.3 | We're talking about 2 million people murdered in mass shooting operations. |
| 1:46.6 | Massacres perpetuated by the Germans and their allies. And we're talking about somewhere |
| 1:51.4 | around a million Jewish people murdered in labor camps, concentration camps, and ghettos. |
| 1:57.6 | Again, this is murder at an industrial, unfathomable scale. Why did this happen? What could |
| 2:04.0 | prompt a human being to do this to other people? Kelly's story was told in the recent movie |
| 2:09.7 | Nuremberg, which was based on the Nazi and the psychiatrist, a book by Jack L. High. It is a |
| 2:15.9 | terrific book, a fascinating story very well told. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 10 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from MurderSheet, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of MurderSheet and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.