Records for U. S. Army Guard at Nurnberg war trials

Question

My wife's uncle PFC William H. Mitchell, Jr. served in the 26th Infantry Regiment during WWII. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge (possibly as part of the 79th Infantry) and was shot one inch below the heart, yet survived. After the war, he re-enlisted so he could stay in Germany as he wanted to marry a German girl. He was assigned to serve as a guard at the Nurnberg war Trials. He guarded many of the war criminals including Rudolph Hess and escorted him to the trial daily. Are there records which could reveal insight into his life as a guard? Have seen numerous websites about the Nurnberg war trials, but have not found anything about him nor do we see a picture of him (We have a picture of him in his WWII uniform to compare faces to.)

Dalton · Answer

There is an entry for a Private Mitchell, but no first or last name as having escorted Speer from the prison to meet with interrogators or his defense counsel. What you describe is too different roles: prison guard and escort guard. There are nearly no records of the soldiers who served as guards at Nuremberg. There are hardly any photos of either prison or escort guards. If you have information about his service, such as letters, would you please email me for a project i'm working on? My uncle was a prison guard, and I'm trying to piece together from personal letters what life was like for these men. I have some of his stories but they're all about his own experience

Textual Reference Branch, Archives II · Answer

MichaelHusman 
 Thank you for posting your request on History Hub! 
 
 A film Clip of Nuremberg guards is displayed in our catalog. Please see 
 MUNICH. [No.] 137,PALACE OF JUSTICE GUARDS, NUREMBERG, GERMANY 
 NAID: 19711 in our catalog at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/19711 
 
 For more information about these records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Motion Pictures (RRSM) at mopix@nara.gov . 
 
 There is a collection of picture passes, Court House Passes of Civilian and Military Personnel (NAID#6256582) For more information about these non-digitized records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RR2R) at archives2reference@nara.gov . 
 
 For other photographs, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures (RRSS) at stillpix@nara.gov . 
 
 We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research! 
 
 Sincerely, 
 
 Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RR) 
 [23-- 57711- REC]

Records for U. S. Army Guard at Nurnberg war trials

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