Did Marlene Dietrich participate in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial 75 years ago?

We're pleased to share this contribution from Horst Zumkley. You can also read it in German at Werner Sudendorf's Alte Filme site. 

I. The first trial before the International Military Tribunal against the main war criminals of the Nazi regime was held in Nuremberg 75 years ago, from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946. The trial, which made legal history, was a major media event from the outset, with some 250 accredited newspaper and radio reporters from around the world [1].

The author Eva Gesine Baur writes in her biography of Marlene Dietrich that Dietrich took part in the Nuremberg Trial on November 27, 1945; the idea of a visit there was suggested to her by Billy Wilder (Baur, 2017, p. 311). Dietrich had been sitting on the guest balcony in American uniform and in the evening she had been smiling and signing autographs in a pompous bar, surrounded by a swarm of people (p. 312).

Six months later, in his double biography about Dietrich and her sister Liesel, Heinrich Thies also writes that in 1945 Dietrich "witnessed for a few hours how things actually happened at the Nuremberg Trials. The Americans had secretly provided her with a seat in the visitors' gallery" (Thies, 2017, p. 303). As source for this he cites the Baur book (Thies, 2017, p. 405).

If this was true, it would be real and not unimportant news in the biography of Marlene Dietrich, which has remained completely unknown so far. 

Except for the Baur biography, I was not aware of any references, reports, testimonies or evidence that mentioned, confirmed, or substantiated this trial visit: Neither in the Dietrich’s autobiography nor in her many interviews, neither in the the Dietrich biography by her daughter Maria Riva nor in the book and documentary by her grandson J.David Riva is there anything about it. And there is no mention of it in the many Dietrich biographies (e.g., by Bach, Higham, Spoto, Sudendorf, Walker); nor in the exhibition catalogue of the "Memorial Hall Oberhausen" (2016), which documents Dietrich's resistance activities against the Nazi regime.

Therefore, the question arises: Can this be true? Because the Baur book is a "fictionalized" biography in which source-related facts are freely supplemented and combined into a new, novel-like whole [2]. One wonders: Is Dietrich's trial visit in November 1945 a fact or a novelistic invention? On what evidence or "sources" does Eva Gesine Baur base her report? And can the true facts of the case be clarified? Is there any reliable evidence?

II. The only source Baur refers to is a book by Boris N. Polewoi, who was then accredited as Pravda correspondent at the 1st Nuremberg Trial [1]. His "Nuremberg Diary" was published in 1971 as a translation from Russian in the former GDR. However, his book is not a diary in the usual sense, but he has "now, more than 20 years after the trial...literally edited the records of that time, trying to preserve the spirit of those days and my view of things at that time" (p. 6). The whole text is written like a novel (and is advertised as a book as well), without any precise or anchoring data of that time.

What Polewoi (1971) writes about the Dietrich visit at the Nuremberg Trial is spread over several pages in short sections. There it says [in English translation]:

"I arrived on the sixth day of the trial [3] and I realized already in the car that I had missed a lot. More than three hundred reporters, photographers, film people and press artists had come from all corners of the world. (p. 13).

"The colonel ... led us to the guest corridor where an honorable audience crowded in. He let me take a seat next to a very pretty, not quite young woman, who wore an American uniform and somehow looked familiar to me" (p. 15).

"My beautiful neighbor asked me something in English, and her melodious voice immediately brought me back...to the large hall lined with oak and green stone. She did not understand my silence, asked again, and I answered with the only sentence I knew in English: “I don't speak English" (p. 17).

At lunchtime, Polewoi and friends "went to the pompous bar, sparkling with marble and chrome, where gorgeous, long-legged girls, as it were emerging from the front pages of New York magazines, served the guests coffee, juice or Coca Cola, this, it seemed, obligatory attribute of the American way of life.

By the way, I rediscovered my neighbour in the bar, who was surrounded by a swarm of people. Smiling, she handed out autographs, in notebooks, on business cards and even on playing cards.

"Who is she?" I asked the photojournalist of Pravda, Viktor Tjomin. "Ignorant," he scornfully threw down, "and in gala uniform to boot! That is Marlene Dietrich herself!"

As the trial went on, I took my seat in the front row again, next to my famous neighbour. Without taking off her headphones she looked tiredly into the hall. Then she pulled a tin of sweets out of her purse, put one in her mouth and held another one out to me. I took the candy and politely spoke my second English sentence, which I had already learned in Nuremberg: "Thank you." It may have sounded rather funny, like "thank cow", but I was glad that I didn't embarrass myself worse in front of the famous actress" (p. 20).

What's a person to think? Polewoi meets a (bonbon-sucking) woman in uniform in the visitors' gallery of the courtroom, whom he doesn't know, who signs autographs in a bar during the lunch break [for Baur it's "in the evening"] and whose name is then given to him by a colleague: "Marlene Dietrich". 

Is this really serious, or is it rather a joke that his colleague Tjomin has allowed himself to make? 

Or maybe just a fruit of his "literary adaptation" 20 years later, shortly after the film "Judgement at Nuremberg" was released?

III. Dietrich was well known for her films and her involvement in the war, and it is unlikely that her appearance at the trial would have been hidden from the hundreds of journalists and the many prominent writers [1] who reported from there. But there were no reports about it at the time.

One of these journalists accredited at the time was Markus Wolf [4], who later became head of the GDR's foreign secret service. He was the only German correspondent (of “Berlin Radio” of the Soviet Occupation Zone) allowed to report  from the first day of the trial (Krösche, 2009, p. 59). Wolf (2006) contributed to J. David Riva's book on Dietrich’s activities during World War II. In it he extensively honors among other things the "anti-fascist resistance" (p.100) of Dietrich during the war. And he also praises her role in the film "Judgement at Nuremberg". He recalls that he himself experienced practically the entire Nuremberg Trial and that Stanley Kramer's film captured the atmosphere of the trial very authentically. If the journalist Wolf had known of a visit of Dietrich at the trial at that time, he would certainly have mentioned this in his book contribution here.

IV. Inquiries were made to two institutions that had original documents from the time, whether there was any evidence of a visit by Dietrich to the Nuremberg Trial: A) At the "Memorium Nuremberg Trials" in Nuremberg [5] and (B) at the "Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin" (MDCB) [6].

A) Request at the "Memorium": Although the Nuremberg Trial was public, the access of the participants was strictly regulated and was precisely recorded (cf. Krösche, 2009). Polewoi also writes of "American military police officers who checked the admission tickets" (1971, p. 19). It is hard to believe that Dietrich could simply walk into the courtroom. So the question arises whether the name "Marlene Dietrich" appears on an accreditation or visitor list.

The research inquiry at the museum "Memorium", whether a visit of Dietrich on that day is known and on record, resulted in the following answer:

"In any case, she is not on the accreditation list compiled by the Americans and she would have got there through the US delegation. And she probably would have been on the list at that early stage. It is at most possible that she could have been there as a spectator on that day. Perhaps as part of a visit to the troop care centre. Unfortunately, I cannot say anything about that" (Fischer, 2020).

This means that there is no evidence of a visit by Dietrich on that day in the original trial documents.

Concerning a possible visit of Dietrich on November 27, 1945 in Nuremberg in the context of the troop support of the USO Camp Shows (United Service Organizations), this can be excluded, as can be seen on the USO homepage:

“Marlene Dietrich was also a familiar face on the Foxhole Circuit in Europe, making two USO tours there during the war. According to the Library of Congress, ‘The first was to North Africa and Italy, where she became the first entertainer to reach rescued soldiers at Anzio. During her second tour [after D-Day], lasting 11 months, she entertained near the front in France and Germany’” [7].

Because D-Day (the beginning of the landing of Allied troops in Normandy) was June 6, 1944, this means that in November 1945, her second USO tour had ended months earlier. Sudendorf (2001, p. 137) dates her second USO tour from September 1944 to July 1945.

B) Request to the "MDCB”: In 1993 the State of Berlin took over the estate of Marlene Dietrich. The extensive holdings of this personal archive of the “Deutsche Kinemathek” document almost completely the biography of the actress and singer. The inquiry there concerning the trial visit of Dietrich in Nuremberg resulted in the following answer:

"According to the material in the estate and to my knowledge, there is nothing that supports or proves the claim of the visit to the Nuremberg Trials.

In November 1945, Marlene Dietrich was first in Paris. On November 4 she learned that her mother had died the day before. She was not able to reach Berlin until November 9; in addition to the formalities, there was hardly any or no flying for several days due to very heavy fog.

After the "night and fog" burial of her mother, Marlene is said to have left for Paris again. There is no proof of this; it seems plausible, especially since Jean Gabin was also in Paris.

If she had travelled to Nuremberg again in November '45 (she was there with the US troops for a few days in April/May 1945), there would certainly have been a corresponding indication somewhere. But neither in the letters to Rudi Sieber, nor in his diary there are any such indications. She herself never referred to it; not even when she talked to Maximilian Schell again much later about the film "Judgement at Nuremberg ". She would certainly have mentioned it, if not even pointed it out, if she had been there herself.

On what occasion? Private, at her own request? At that time it was not possible to get from A to B without further ado. There is no pass or any other document that refers to it. Nor is there any indication that she might have gone there accompanied by others. As far as I know, none of the prominent rapporteurs (Kästner, Hemingway, Erika Mann, John Dos Passos, etc.) has ever mentioned in passing that Marlene had been there. Of course, the rapporteurs did not focus on who else was "seen" there.

The only source seems to be this "Nuremberg Diary", written by a front reporter of the Pravda - who did not recognize the woman herself and who learns from a Pravda colleague of all people that it is Marlene Dietrich.

So there is hardly anything in favour, but a lot against it. On the basis of the facts, however, it cannot be completely ruled out"(Ronneburg, 2018).

Conclusion: As a result of these explanations, the question asked at the beginning must probably be answered with "no". According to the current state of affairs, there are no reliable indications or facts that prove that Marlene Dietrich visited the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial 75 years ago (unless new evidence has surfaced).

The only proven connection to the Nuremberg trial is probably Marlene Dietrich's appearance in the film "Judgement at Nuremberg". The world premiere of the film took place in the Berlin Congress Hall on December 14, 1961.

Literature:

     Baur, Eva Gesine (2017). Einsame Klasse - Das Leben der Marlene Dietrich.       München: Verlag C. H. Beck. 

     Fischer, A. (2020). E-Mail vom 02.06.2020 von Axel Fischer, Memorium Nürnberger Prozesse, Nürnberg.

     Gedenkhalle Oberhausen (Hrsg.).(2016). Marlene Dietrich. Die Diva. Ihre Haltung. Und die Nazis. Oberhausen: Verlag Karl Maria Laufen. [Katalogbuch zur Ausstellung in der Gedenkhalle Oberhausen vom 12.6.2016 bis 11.12.2016].

     Krösche, Heike (2009). Zwischen Vergangenheitsdiskurs und Wiederaufbau. Die Reaktion der deutschen Öffentlichkeit auf den Nürnberger Prozess gegen die Hauptkriegsverbrecher 1945/46, den Ulmer Einsatzgruppenprozess und den Sommer-Prozess 1958. Phil. Diss., Universität Oldenburg [http://oops.uni-oldenburg.de/1913/1/krozwi09.pdf]. 

     Polewoi, Boris (1971). Nürnberger Tagebuch. Berlin: Verlag Volk und Welt.

     Riva, J. David (Ed.) (2006). A woman at war: Marlene Dietrich Remembered (Painted Turtle Books). Wayne St. Univ. Press.

     Ronneburg, S. (2018). E-Mail vom 18.04.2018 von Silke Ronneburg, MDCB der Deutschen Kinemathek, Berlin. 

     Sudendorf, W. (2001). Marlene Dietrich. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag.

     Thies, Heinrich (2017). Fesche Lola, brave Liesel. Marlene Dietrich und ihre verleugnete Schwester. Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe. 

     Wolf, M. (2006). Chapter pp. 95-101. In: Riva, J. David (Ed.) (2006). A woman at war: Marlene Dietrich Remembered (Painted Turtle Books). Wayne St. Univ. Press.

Notes:

[1]https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BCrnberger_Prozess_gegen_die_Hauptkriegsverbrecher  

[2] http://lastgoddess.blogspot.com/2017/07/einsame-klasse-by-eva-gesine-baur-review.html

[3] Aus der Angabe „sechster Prozesstag“ rekonstruierte Baur das genaue Datum, den 27.11.1945 / Baur reconstructed the exact date from the information "sixth process day“:

http://www.zeno.org/Geschichte/M/Der+N%C3%BCrnberger+Proze%C3%9F/Hauptverhandlungen

[4] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Wolf 

[5] https://museen.nuernberg.de/memorium-nuernberger-prozesse/

[6] https://www.deutsche-kinemathek.de/de/sammlungen-archive/sammlung-digital/marlene-dietrich-collection-berlin

[7] https://www.uso.org/stories/2368-uso-camp-shows-d-day-and-entertaining-troops-on-the-european-front-lines-in-wwii

Marti, Marlene and Mother

In her memoir, singer Eileen Farrell remembers the time she and a friend, Shirley Cowell, were invited by Marti Stevens' mother, Pansy Schenck, to catch Marlene's show in Miami .

[Marti Stevens]

(Pansy's husband was one-time 20th Century-Fox executive, Joe Schenck.):

"Now, I don't think Pansy had much of a clue about what any of her children were up to, but I thought she must have heard the rumours that Marti was having an affair with Marlene Dietrich, because it was fairly common gossip in show business circles.

The show was absolutely fabulous, even though Marlene couldn't sing worth a damn. Afterward, the three went backstage to meet Dietrich. Pansy introduced herself:

'Hello,' she said, 'I'm Mrs Joe Schenck. I think you know my daughter, Marti.'

There was a perfectly timed pause. Then Marlene said with a knowing smile, 'Oh yes. I do.'

Shirley and I wanted to die right then and there. Pansy just kept chattering away, and I don't think she ever figured out  why Shirley and I were so tongue-tied."

 (From: Can't Help Singing: The Life of Eileen Farrell, by Eileen Farrell and Brian Kellow. UPNE, 1999.)

Pin(terest)heads

How many times must one repeat a fallacy for it to become reality? I ask myself this question whenever I browse the supposed "Marlene Dietrich" photos on Flickr, Tumblr, and Pinterest. Then, I remember a tune from Sesame Street: 

One of these things is not like the others.
One of these things doesn't belong.
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
Before I finish my song?

Even if we put that song on a loop, I bet some folks on Pinterest would still be stumped. How about you? Are you as sharp as a tack or a Pinterest user? Tell me which of the below photos tagged "Marlene Dietrich" just don't belong!

Source: thehairpin.com via Melanie on Pinterest

L'chaim, Higham!

Over the weekend, I read about Marlene Dietrich biographer Charles Higham's demise and two thoughts immediately came to mind. First, "Why did it take the papers two weeks to publish his obituary? They must have just realized he was 'somebody.'" Second, "Don't write about it! You've written enough death-posts this year!" After one of our readers, Paul, mentioned Higham, I changed my tune because I considered the possibility that some of you might be interested in discussing him.

Why Is Maria Riva Still A Punching Bag?

I haven't heard of Richard "Bugs" Burnett, a columnist at Montreal Gazette's blogs whose bio touts him as a maple-flavored Michael Musto. I don't know of John Banks either, one of Dietrich's boys during the '60s and '70s--figuratively and literally, apparently beginning his service to Dietrich at the tender age of 15. Burnett, however, gave me a thorough introduction to Banks in an article just published called "How one night in Montreal changed the life of Marlene Dietrich." Clearly, the presumptuous title should have been "How one night in Montreal changed the life of John Banks," but Dietrich's name naturally has more SEO clout.

Misleading title aside, Burnett extracts a lot of details from Banks, including a beautiful photo of Dietrich and Banks together, who remind me of Catherine Deneuve and Pierre Clementi in Belle de jour. More intriguing are Burnett's choice of authoritative biographers, Charlotte Chandler and David Bret. I've covered Chandler a bit after having read her Dietrich bio and still have yet to read Bret's, who has at least made his presence known, but I'm well aware that both biographers are of ill-repute if you take Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin's newsletters as gospel (Bret here; Chandler here). Of course, those who read enough of my shtick must know that I enjoy the apocrypha as much as the torah and welcome all. In fact, I still have hopes of writing about Dean Goodman and Erik Hanut's books, which I read many months ago.

Back to Burnett, while I find his favored biographers a surprising choice, his silence on Maria Riva's book--the Song of Songs as far as Dietrich tomes are concerned--strikes me as strange. Instead of citing Maria's book, Burnett quotes Banks' recollection of Maria enabling Dietrich's alcoholism. Maria admitted to being Dietrich's handmaiden but never her Hebe! Sometimes, I wonder whether some Dietrich fans still have it out for Maria. Burnett expresses his fandom throughout his article--especially the introduction--and in an earlier article he wrote that mentioned Banks. I've been meaning to post a lengthy look at all the times Dietrich fanboy Steven Bach poked fun of Maria's weight in his book, and I have been keeping my eye on the vitriol that some (or one?) DataLounge poster(s) spew(s) Maria's way, too. Do any of you still have these kinds of feelings about Maria? Feel free to air them out here!

I'll just request that if any of you know more about John Banks, please educate us in the comments section in between your rants. So far, I've learned that he was a bartender at Le Mystique, the oldest gay bar in Montreal until it closed in 2009. As least its Angelfire site remains, which may very well be the last Angelfire site standing. Seriously, I hope someone salvaged its NOSTALGAY exhibit. Establishments like Le Mystique remind me of the Hollywood gay dive that I never had a chance to visit--Spotlight, which looked like Skid Row on poppers from the street but must have been brimming with history within its doors.

Mecha-Streisand on Marlene

I just read on one of my favorite gossip blogs, Dlisted, that long-time 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace died. Dlisted eulogized Wallace by showing him hold his own against Mecha-Streisand. In this clip, Barbra also jokes that "in the good old days," Marlene Dietrich and "all those real movie stars" would have a spotlight follow them everywhere.



I expect journalists and presenters to invent and spread celebrity myths because they carry the bardic torch as professional storytellers. A legendary celebrity like Streisand telling tales of a fellow icon surprises me, though, because Streisand would know better than anyone that anecdotes hyperbolize celebrities' qualities, leading to fabrication. Despite superstar insight, the tendency toward minstrelsy (in a medieval sense) can subdue even Streisand. Mythmaking is simply irresistible!

Fact or Fiction? Part I

I've been remiss about posting here, and I wish to apologize to anyone who has sent me news links because I haven't been polite enough to at least thank you. A Garbo incarnate, however, has recently emailed me with a tidbit that I must share here:

Marlene Dietrich hosted a dinner party for Marilyn Monroe, where psychologists invited by Dietrich ambushed Monroe.

This sounds like the best Intervention episode to never air, but did it truly ever happen? Let me know whether you've got evidence to support this tale. At the very least, let me know whether and where you've heard or read about this. In the meantime, I'll conduct my own investigation.

Dietrich's First Rolls Royce--A Barn Find?

This unrestored 1929 (or was it 1930?) Rolls Royce Phantom, which was on display at the Saratoga Automobile Museum in 2007, was reportedly Marlene Dietrich's first set of wheels in Hollywood. Like many Dietrichian legends, this one is shrouded in conflicting details that may frustrate the fact-finders among you. Simply identifying who gave Dietrich this vehicle will make one's head spin. Was it her movie studio Paramount? Was it her "producer" Josef von Sternberg? Or was it inexplicably Warner Bros. exec Jack Warner? Clearly, it was Mr. Warner, consoling Dietrich over a decade in advance for having to play Edward G. Robinson's wife (image from Film Noir Photos) in Manpower. If it were Dietrich's "producer" von Sternberg, we need to get the facts straight. Gregory Peck was not the lead actor in Morocco--everyone knows Paul Robeson played opposite Dietrich! Read more about this vehicle's "history" below, and you will learn a new nickname for Maria Riva (no, not Heidede or The Child!):



According to the above, the vehicle was most recently owned by Kansas-based Roger Morrison, and this link suggests that Morrison (or whoever the current proprietor is) has taken efforts to restore the Phantom to its former green glory. In that link, you should also note that the two Dietrich photos appear to feature different cars; compare the convertible tops, the tires, and--most significantly--the metalwork around the tires.

If reading the above tortured you, be relieved the know that a more likely back-story regarding this vehicle appears here. Furthermore, you can read about other cars associated with Dietrich here.

EDITED TO ADD: I just skimmed through Morocco and noticed the car in 3 scenes.

First, when Dietrich bids Gary Cooper farewell...

Second, after Dietrich and Adolphe Menjou ditch a dinner party to see whether Cooper has been injured...

Finally, when Dietrich leaves Menjou to follow Cooper into the desert...

EDIT AGAIN: Thanks, Daily Mail, for showing your love for these screen caps!

Incidentally, this car sold for a jaw-dropping figure.

Welcome to Marlene Dietrich: The Last Goddess

The first rule of Marlene Dietrich: The Last Goddess is you do not talk about Marlene Dietrich: The Last Goddess. The second rule of Marlene Dietrich: The Last Goddess is you do not talk about Marlene Dietrich: The Last Goddess!

IMDB, get your act together!

In other news, check out some Dietrich-inspired photos by Mexican photographer Ivan Aguirre of model Sofia Monaco here. Nice work, but why the ghastly Desire-era eyebrows? Her chola name must be La German.

Don't forget to pick up Shirley MacLaine's latest memoirs, I'm Over All That: And Other Confessions, too. You can read an excerpt here, in which MacLaine credits Dietrich for teaching her the art of lighting and costume fittings during the production of Around the World in 80 Days. Want your audience to think there's a draft onstage? Strategically affix two pearls on your bra. MacLaine also praises the Dietrich facelift and divulges that Mike Todd left Dietrich for Elizabeth Taylor (R.I.P.). Scroll through this page to see a photo of Dietrich with Mike Todd at the Los Angeles premiere of Oklahoma!

How about this cream in your coffee?

I wouldn't expect Page Six of The New York Post to uphold the Sabbath. Nevertheless, its Dietrich item today is quite blasphemous. She truly was just a gigolo.

The Frau With the Pearl Earring

The latest legend involves a recently discovered pearl earring that Marlene Dietrich supposedly lost while riding The Big Dipper roller coaster at the British amusement park, Blackpool Pleasure Beach. You can see the original article here. Regarding the Dietrich photo at that site, no way did she look that old in 1934! I suspect foul Photoshop play. Either that or the midday sun wasn't a high enough key light for her.