The memoirs of Hans Jacob Kind meiner Zeit (1962), Paul Schmidt Statist auf diplomatischer Bühne (1952), Eugen Dollmann Dolmetscher der Diktatoren (1963) and Hermann Küsterer Der Kanzler und der General (1995) are compared, contrasted and analysed in order to shed light on their personalities and on how these interpreters saw themselves, how they perceived their role and how they exercised their profession. The issue of what motivates interpreters to publish their memoirs is also explored and followed by a discussion of professional ethics which opens with a quote from Hermann Kusterer in Der Kanzler und der Genera, " Pray tell interpreter, where do you stand on conscience "