Reitler, Fred.

Fred Reitler was born in Vienna, Austria, on 07 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 US 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 US Civil Service during subsequent war crime trials and remained in Germany until his death on 15 Aug 1978 at Nuremberg.