Dr. Douglas M. Kelley papers

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

Douglas McGlashan Kelley (1912-1958) was born on 11 August 1912 in Truckee, California to George and June Kelley. He graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons as a Doctor of Medical Science in 1941. He also worked with the Rorschach Institute as the chairman of the training committee. Douglas married Alice Vivienne Hill (1914-2007) in 1940, and they had three children: Doug, Alicia, and Allen. During World War II he served as chief psychiatrist with the 30th General Hospital. In 1945 he was assigned chief psychiatrist at Nuremberg Prison. Prior to the Nuremberg War Trials, he was charged with completing competency evaluations for the defendants, including the administration of the Rorschach test. Douglas was honorably discharged in 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1947 he published the book 22 Cells in Nuremberg. The book details his psychiatric profiles of high ranking members of the Nazi party, including Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Herman Göring. He was active in numerous medical associations, and was appointed Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Wake Forest College. Douglas died by suicide on 1 January 1958. 

Dr. Douglas M. Kelley papers 

boxes oversize box 5 1 

The collection documents Dr. Douglas M. Kelley’s role as a United States Army psychiatrist examining 22 high-ranking Nazi defendants awaiting trial in the Nuremberg War Trials. Included are case files for each defendant; war trial documents, memorandums, and clippings; Rorschach test results; Nazi Rorschach research papers and correspondence; and manuscript drafts of his book 22 Cells in Nuremberg. Nuremberg War Trials papers include administrative documents and memorandums, a diary and ledger with handwritten notes by Kelley, clippings regarding the trial defendants, and copy prints of photographs depicting the trial. Case files for each defendant include photographs, Rorschach test results, clinical reports, biographical sketches, autobiographies authored by the defendants, letters from the defendants to their families or Kelley. There also some case files for Nazi defendants in other war crime trials including the Ministries Trial and Doctors’ Trial, as well as analysis of Adolf Hitler. The Robert Ley case file also includes glass slides of x-ray images of his brain taken after Ley’s suicide in 1945. There are case files for the following defendants: Ernst Bohle, Walter Buch, Richard Walther Darre, Karl Dönitz, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Hans Fritzsche, Walther Funk, Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler, Miklós Horthy, Alfred Jodl, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm Keitel, Hans Lammers, Robert Ley, Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath, Franz von Papen, Erich Räder, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg, Fritz Sauckel, Hjalmar Schacht, Baldur von Schirach, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Otto Skorzeny, Albert Speer, and Julius Streicher. Nazi Rorschach research includes correspondence, manuscripts sent to Kelley, and writings by Kelley. Kelley’s manuscripts are “Preliminary Studies of the Rorschach records of the Nazi War Criminals” and “The Nazis Talk Before They Die.” Material related to Kelley’s book 22 Cells in Nuremberg consists of a few book reviews and three manuscript drafts of the book. The manuscripts include both handwritten and typed pages. 

No restrictions on access 

Copyright Holder: Mr. Douglas M. Kelley Jr. 

The collection has been arranged as 4 series. Series 1. Nuremberg War Trials papers, 1945-1946 Series 2. Nuremberg War Trials case files, 1945-1947 Series 3. Nazi rorschach research, 1946-1955, undated Series 4. 22 Cells in Nuremberg, 1946-1947