QB VII by Leon Uris

QB VII stands for Queen's Bench courtroom number 7 in a London Court. The story starts with a doctor being accused of being a war criminal in the Nazi camps during World War II. He spends two years in jail until his name is cleared and he is released, seeing his son for the first time. The first portion of the book creates the background for the Plaintiff and how he lived his life in the furthest reaches of the earth hoping to remain anonymous. This portion serves to show that the doctor is a good man and seeks betterment. The second portion is dedicated to an author who decides to write a story about the atrocities of the holocaust and stumbles across information against the doctor. He includes it in his book even though he is not sure that the doctor actually committed the crimes. The book is brought to the doctor's attention from a boy he considers a son and want to give his business to after retirement. To save face he presses charges and both men's lives are changed (the doctor and the author). The Defendant's attorney brings witnesses to the stands that testify to the treatment in the camps, but no one can actually attest that the doctor was the one responsible. There are stories of "shock therapy" and castration and the focus appeared to be on the lack of pain killer used and the Whys to the happenings. Nothing seems to be relevant to the doctor's guilt, but the fact that conditions in the holocaust were unspeakable. In the end the Defendant brings in a witness that holds a medical log indicating how operations by the doctor were preformed and ties all the patient that gave testimonies to the victims operated on by doctor Kelno. The plaintiff's closing speech states "We have learned that Adam Kelno was not a madman, but an ordinary man in an insane situation. He is the tragedy of us all, suddenly trapped in the most horrendous circumstances." But doctor Kelno loses the respect of his family and community. He tried to redeem himself through acts of kindness postwar, but lived in paranoia because of the horrible things he had done. This book shows that even the aftermath continues to destroy people.
After doing more research on QB VII, I learned Uris wrote it about his own experience writing about Dr Wladislaw Dering in his book exodus. The Doctor was also awared the half penny.