Character Relationship Map: Nuremberg

Characters

• Hermann Göring (played by Russell Crowe) — protagonist

  Former Nazi Reichsmarshall and Hitler's second-in-command. Arrested by US forces and put on trial for war crimes. Initially arrogant and narcissistic, he denies knowledge of the Holocaust and manipula...

• Douglas Kelley (played by Rami Malek) — protagonist

  US Army psychiatrist assigned to evaluate Nazi detainees. Develops a complex rapport with Göring while intending to profit from a tell-all book. After leaking private conversations and facing discipli...

• Rudolf Hess (played by Andreas Pietschmann) — minor
• Julius Streicher (played by Dieter Riesle) — cameo

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Douglas Kelley → Julius Streicher (Professional Examiner) — Their contact is shaped by Kelley's clinical assignment and Streicher's hostility.

  Kelley begins evaluating the mental health of detained Nazi leaders, while Julius Streicher is identified as one of the prisoners who reacts with cont...

• Douglas Kelley → Rudolf Hess (Professional Clinical Examiner) — Hess becomes one of the detainees included in Kelley's psychiatric work.

  Kelley is assigned to assess detained Nazi leaders, and Göring specifically helps him examine Hess.

• Douglas Kelley → Hermann Göring (Professional Psychiatrist And Subject) — Kelley evaluates Göring and studies his intelligence, narcissism, and courtroom strategy.

  Douglas Kelley is assigned to evaluate Hermann Göring's mental health while Göring is held in Allied custody. Kelley records their private interaction...

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Hermann Göring → Rudolf Hess (Alliance Prisoner Collaborator) — Göring cooperates in Hess's examination to secure limited personal privileges.

  Göring helps Kelley examine Rudolf Hess in exchange for permission to write to his wife and daughter.

Story Analysis

The story examines how legal accountability confronts denial, narcissism, and public indifference to organized evil.

Plot Progression

1. The Tribunal Takes Shape — Göring's surrender prompts a plan for an international tribunal. Legal uncertainty and political resistance surround the effort, but support is gradually secured.
2. Inside the Prison Cells — Kelley begins psychiatric evaluations in Bad Mondorf and develops an unusually warm rapport with Göring. Göring cooperates selectively when personal privileges are at stake.
3. Evidence Against Denial — The tribunal opens, but the proceedings are shaken by suicide, hostile prisoners, and devastating footage of concentration-camp atrocities. Kelley's trust in Göring collapses.
4. The Mind Behind The Defense — After losing his position, Kelley chooses to submit his notes to the prosecution. Göring then uses the courtroom to deny or redefine the regime's crimes.
5. Judgment And Aftermath — Göring receives a death sentence but avoids the gallows through suicide, while other executions proceed. Kelley returns home traumatized and spends the rest of his life warning against political indif...