US Army patch acquired by a US soldier attending the War Crimes Trials

Carter E. Ruby papers

Document

The collection consists of documents, publications, photographs, and correspondence that document the service of Lieutenant Carter E. Ruby, U.S. Army, at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, April-May 1946. Included are letters that Ruby sent to his parents from Nuremberg, during the period when he served as a guard at the International Military Tribunal, describing his experiences there and what he had witnessed. Personal identification documents include a card issued by the Department of War in 1945, the identification card issued to him during his service at Nuremberg, and his discharge documents from 1946. While at Nuremberg, Ruby took a printed booklet titled “International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946,” and as a number of other guards did, asked the main Nazi defendants to sign the booklet, which most did, and in some cases, handwritten notes from the defendants are tipped into the booklet (in folder 5). Such items include a note from Rudolf Hess asking for a piece of bread with marmalade in place of ice cream, a note from Karl Dönitz asking for a red sleeping pill, and one from Julius Streicher, asking to speak with the officer on duty due to an incident that had taken place in the courtyard. In addition, Ruby pasted onto the inside cover of this booklet the cloth shoulder patch worn by soldiers assigned as guards to the 6850th Internal Security Detachment, consisting of the scales of justice, balanced above a smashed German eagle in a field of flames, and beneath broken staff with a smashed swastika on one of it. This item has been removed from the Carter E. Ruby papers and is cataloged separately as an artifact, under the accession number 2015.163.3. Ruby also kept a decal of the same insignia, along with shoulder patches for other units that he served with in the U.S.Army, the 69th Infantry Division and the 98th Infantry Division, and these are also housed separately as artifacts, under the accession numbers 2015.163.4, 2015.163.5, and 2015.163.6. Other items collected or created by Ruby while at Nuremberg include a sketched diagram of the prison cells where the main Nazi defendants were housed, and photographs of the courtroom proceedings, including ones that may show Ruby guarding the defendants. Ruby maintained an interest in the Nuremberg trials throughout his life, and the collection also contains newspaper clippings and magazine articles that he saved in later years. Two interviews conducted with Ruby, one in 2005, and another that was conducted by a grandson in 2010, are also included in the larger collection, under the accession number 2015.163.2.

Booklet

Object

IMT pamphlet describing the defendants and the trial acquired by Lieutenant Carter E. Ruby, U.S. Army, at the Proceedings of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, April-May 1946. The booklet has signatures collected by Ruby while attending the War Crimes Trials.

Nuremberg trial decals acquired by a US soldier attending the War Crimes Trials

Object

Two decals acquired by Lieutenant Carter E. Ruby, U.S. Army, at the Proceedings of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, April-May 1946, War Crimes Trials.

US Army patch acquired by a US soldier attending the War Crimes Trials

Object

US Army patch acquired by Lieutenant Carter E. Ruby, U.S. Army, at the Proceedings of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, April-May 1946, War Crimes Trials.

Oral history interview with Carter Ruby

Oral History