As the opening of the trial approached, Tom Dodd saw his role at Nuremberg coming to a close.  He was finalizing interrogations and making plans to leave Germany.  All that changed in the evening of October 22, 1945.

Portion of a letter, October 22, 1945

“This has been a rather unusual day,” he wrote to Grace.  “About six o’clock I was back in my own office when I got a call from Colonel Storey.  He came down and showed me an order issued by Jackson today reorganizing the whole staff.  I was named with three others to the top of the staff and with full authority over the whole organization!!  I was really amazed.” [pp. 177-178, 10/22/1945]

The following days were filled with activity as Dodd informed those he had been interrogating that he would no longer be meeting with them, reviewing the work done previously and generally “do my best to put this case on its feet” [p. 180, 10/25/1945].  Once that task was completed, Dodd would be content to return to Connecticut and his family.  “You see I have worked on this matter in two capacities. 1. As an interrogator talking with the principal defendants and witnesses.  2. As a member of the legal board of review to prepare the case for trial.  These two make up a substantial contribution to the whole effort and I feel that I can rest at this point.” [p. 184, 10/30/1945]

Portion of a letter, October 30, 1945

–Owen Doremus and Betsy Pittman

[Owen Doremus, a junior at Edwin O. Smith High School, is supporting this blog series with research and writing as part of an independent study.]

The majority of the letters from Tom Dodd to his wife Grace have been published and can be found in Letters from Nuremberg, My father’s narrative of a quest for justice. Senator Christopher J. Dodd with Lary Bloom. New York: Crown Publishing, 2007.

Images available in Thomas J. Dodd Papers.