Fred Reitler papers

Fred Reitler was born in Vienna, Austria, on 7 Aug. 1906. Because of the dangerous situation for Jews in Austria, Reitler fled to Antwerp, Belgium, in 1938. He later emigrated to the United States and became a citizen in 1944. He volunteered for service when he learned of the war crimes trials to be held after the war. Because of his knowledge of German and German shorthand, he was hired as a court reported by the U.S. Civil Service. He attended all of the trial sessions and was chosen to record the last words of the defendant who received death sentences. Reitler continued to work for the U.S. Civil Service during subsequent war crime trials and remained in Germany until his death on 15 Aug. 1978 at Nuremberg.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Original accession form completed and accession number assigned by archives intern, Scott Krumholz, on 15 June 1988. After the death of Fred Reitler in 1978, the notebook and other materials became the property of his wife, Cilla Reitler. They were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in May 1988 via Dr. John Caruso of Western Connecticut State University.