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WWII Diaries Found in Dallas

WWII diaries
The diaries are now in the care of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. | Image by 5 NBC DFW

Two handwritten diaries from the post-World War II Nuremberg Trials were recently discovered by a local family and are now in the care of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.

The previously unseen diaries were written by Robert G. Storey, a Dallas attorney who served as executive counsel for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson — America’s lead prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials.

The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials held against Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949.

One journal is from 1945, while the other one is from 1946. In them, Storey writes about his thoughts, observations, and experiences as he traveled across Europe and collected evidence of the Holocaust to be used in the trials.

“He’s out there gathering evidence of one of the greatest genocides in history, and that’s what this museum’s about,” said archivist Felicia Williamson. “He talks very compellingly about interviewing some of the highest-ranking Nazis in history.”

Storey’s diaries were discovered in “a suitcase at the bottom of a closet” by his family. His grandson, Harry, said, “At a time when some people question the Holocaust, I think our family felt it was very important to do whatever we could do to safeguard his records.”

The artifacts were subsequently donated to the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, where they will be on a rotating public display as part of the museum’s Nuremberg Trial exhibit.

“Someone can walk through a museum or read a book and say, ‘I don’t believe that history,’ but an artifact is much more permanent evidence of that history,” explained museum president Mary Pat Higgins.

In one excerpt, Storey describes finally going home after the trials were concluded.

“We are going home now for keeps,” he wrote. “Nearly four years — lots of work, heartaches, and grief.”

Both diaries have been digitized by the museum and can be viewed here.

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