Nuremberg (2025)
Director: James Vanderbilt
In James Vanderbilt’s 2025 historical drama Nuremberg, the narrative focus shifts from the well-documented courtroom spectacle to the claustrophobic, high-stakes psychological warfare waged inside the prison cells. At the center of this battle of wills is the relationship between Dr. Douglas Kelley (played by Rami Malek), the ambitious American psychiatrist tasked with uncovering the psychological roots of the “Nazi mind,” and Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe), the charismatic, unrepentant, and highly manipulative de facto leader of the accused.
This specific scene represents a crucial pivot in their dynamic, marking the moment Göring ceases to be merely a subject of study and begins to actively dismantle his evaluator. The interaction begins with Kelley pressing Göring on the concept of suicide—a standard psychiatric inquiry given the recent suicide of fellow prisoner Robert Ley. However, Göring deflects the clinical approach by turning the lens back onto Kelley, exploiting the doctor’s own precarious position within the American military bureaucracy. When Göring notes that “they no longer trust you,” he creates an opening to dispense unsolicited advice, positioning himself as a wise mentor rather than a criminal defendant.
The monologue that follows is a masterclass in manipulation. Göring recounts the story of his childhood and his godfather, Hermann von Epenstein—a wealthy man of Jewish heritage who housed the Göring family in the luxurious Veldenstein Castle. On the surface, it is a colorful biographical detail about Göring’s upbringing. However, Göring twists the nostalgia into a dark parable about the nature of power. He vividly describes the spatial reality of his childhood: the wealthy “ally” in the master suite with Göring’s mother, while his own father was relegated to a small room on the ground floor, bought and paid for.
The story serves a dual purpose in the film. Historically, it acknowledges the ironic reality that a primary architect of the Holocaust was named after and raised by a Jewish man. Dramatically, it serves as a jagged warning to Kelley. By illustrating how his father was cuckolded by a “friend,” Göring delivers the scene’s thematic thesis: “Just because a man is your ally does not mean he is on your side.” It is a calculated attempt to sow paranoia in Kelley’s mind, forcing the psychiatrist to question his own chain of command and proving that, even in chains, Göring is still playing a game of dominance.
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The transcript
[Kelley] How do you feel about suicide?
[Göring] It’s the last refuge of cowards, yeah.
[Kelley] And the last act of a desperate man?
[Göring] So all his exceptions, of course. You are in trouble.
[Kelley] Why would you say that?
[Göring] A new doctor, new tests. Since Ley died, they no longer trust you.
[Kelley] Your own?
[Göring] Oh, Douglas, when you are in a position of power, they will always come after you. You have to protect yourself.
[Kelley] Why would I have to protect myself from my allies?
[Göring] Just because a man is your ally does not mean he is on your side. My father was a diplomat, did I tell you this?
[Kelley] Nah.
[Göring] Yeah. He was posted to Africa. And it was there he was to meet his best friend, a man named Hermann von Epstein. I was named after him. Yeah. I was named for a Jew. We loved Uncle Hermann so much, he was very rich. He lived in Veldenstein Castle. And when I was six years old, he moved my entire family in with him. Can you imagine? It was a child’s dream to live in such a castle. I would run down the halls, pretending I was a knight. I would stare down from the battlements, envisioning armies forming to attack. Uncle Hermann, he lived in the largest and most beautiful room on the top floor. Down the hall, my mother had a bedroom, also beautiful. My father… he lived in a small bedroom on the ground floor. And I was to realize just how rich Uncle Hermann was. So rich that he could move my family in. So rich that he could put my father on the ground floor. So rich that whenever he wanted, he could walk down the hall and enjoy my mother. Just because a man is your ally does not mean he is on your side.
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Is the Tale of Fictional Göring Historically True?
The short answer is yes. The shocking anecdote told by Russell Crowe’s Göring in Nuremberg (2025) regarding his childhood is based on well-documented historical facts.
Hermann Göring was indeed named after his godfather, Hermann von Epenstein, a wealthy physician and businessman of Jewish descent. As depicted in the film, Epenstein provided a financial lifeline to the Göring family, moving them into his luxurious properties, including Veldenstein Castle near Nuremberg and Mauterndorf Castle in Austria.
The specific humiliation of Göring’s father described in the scene is also rooted in reality. Historians confirm that Göring’s mother, Franziska, and Epenstein carried on an open affair for roughly 15 years. While Epenstein and Franziska shared connected quarters on the upper floors, Göring’s father, Heinrich—an aging former colonial diplomat—was relegated to sleeping alone, often on the ground floor or in a separate cottage on the estate.
While the film utilizes this story to highlight Göring’s cynical worldview (“Just because a man is your ally does not mean he is on your side”), the details of the “ménage à trois” and the supreme irony of a top Nazi leader being raised by a Jewish surrogate father are entirely factual.
