Letters from Nuremburg

Sen. Chris Dodd's book of his father's letters home

Anne Reardon

Most of us don’t waste a great deal of time learning the biographies of our local politicians. However, on some occasions, knowing a background can lead us to worthwhile insights into the character of that person. In the case of Senator Christopher Dodd, we can learn a lot by knowing a little of the history of his father, Sen. Thomas Dodd.

We have heard little of Christopher Dodd’s early background in the years since he has been a senator from Connecticut; it really has not been particularly pertinent. However, Christopher Dodd has put together a book entitled, “Letters From Nuremberg: My Father’s Narrative Of A Quest For Justice,” which is a collection of Thomas J. Dodd’s letters written home to his wife, Grace, in the year that he worked as a prosecutor in the Nuremberg Trials, from 1945-46. The book was put together by Christopher, with assistance from Lary Bloom.

According to Chris, Thomas Dodd had not discussed the Nuremberg Trials with his children in any great length while he was alive, and they didn’t ask. However, after his death, they found a cache of letters that Thomas had written to his wife, Grace, while he was in Europe working on the Nuremberg Trials. The letters, which were written almost every day, provide a comprehensive, yet succinct, glimpse into the background activities at the Trials, including the backroom politicking, the devastation that had wrought Europe, and the nature of Dodd’s relationship with each of the Nazi defendants.

Thomas Dodd was an eloquent, if blunt-speaking, Irish American, and certainly no less so when he was speaking to his wife. He elaborates on his schedule for the day to Grace, complements or criticizes his colleagues, and describes the qualities that distinguish the better Nazi defendants from the worse.

Although the book is loaded with history, it reads relatively quickly. It is an enjoyable read, and gives the reader a very real glimpse of an era and a way of looking at things that has long since vanished from the earth.

It should be of particular value to Connecticut residents, past or present, as it conveys the concerns and atmosphere of this state just after the war, and adds to our understanding of the Dodd family and their legacy.

The only beef I had with this book is that it was too short. My knowledge of the post-war era is rather limited, and it seems to me that I could have gotten a great deal more out of the book if I had understood more of the historical context, and known more about the various characters and luminaries that are mentioned, and in particular what their post-war activities were.

And then there is the veritable elephant in the room, which in Thomas Dodd’s case revolves around what happened when he was (subsequently) censured in the U.S. senate years later. Chris Dodd barely mentions this at all, but it seems to me that this story is incomplete without more information on what exactly happened. Am I reading the letters and story of an honest man who later became jaded in the House and Senate, of an honest man who got done in by political rivals, at no fault of his own, or of someone who was just pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes all along?

Contemporaries of Thomas Dodd have expressed widely differing opinions of him, to some degree colored by their political leanings. I can only hope, then, that Chris Dodd will decide to come out with a future edition, either with more commentary or with more footnotes.