In August 1945, as preparations were underway for the Nuremberg Trials, American psychiatrist and Army officer Douglas Maclagan Kelly was tasked with assessing the mental states of war criminals to ensure they were fit for trial. His non-fiction work, 'Nuremberg: Nazis and the Psychiatrists,' follows Kelly’s exploration of the psychological traits shared by 22 former Nazi leaders. His aim was to identify common mental deficiencies that could inform future prevention of regimes similar to the Nazis.

Surprisingly, Kelly found that many of the war criminals, including Hermann Göring, appeared relatively normal and even charming, possessing only a few shared traits: uncontrolled ambition, weak moral compass, and an excessive patriarchy that justified even immoral actions. This revelation led him to conclude that many individuals across the globe, including Americans, harbor similar potentials for wrongdoing, highlighting a disturbing universality in the capacity for moral failure.

Kelly's observations raise critical alarms regarding the nature of power and ambition. He warned that the same anti-minority sentiments prevalent in America mirror those of Nazi Germany, asserting that many politicians exploit racial myths akin to those used by Hitler. He cautioned that without vigilance from the public, the specter of fascism could easily rise again, as the roots of such ideologies are deeply embedded within societies, urging a collective consciousness to remain aware and resist complacency against the resurgence of these dangerous ideologies.