Hermann Wilhelm Göring (orGoering;[a]German:[ˈhɛʁmanˈvɪlhɛlmˈɡøːʁɪŋ]ⓘ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a GermanNazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in theNazi Party, which controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945. He also served asOberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe (Supreme Commander of the Air Force), a position he held until the final days of the regime.
Following the establishment of the Nazi state, Göring amassed power and political capital to become the second most powerful man in Germany. Upon being namedPlenipotentiary of theFour Year Plan in 1936, Göring was entrusted with the task of mobilising all sectors of the economy for war, an assignment which brought numerous government agencies under his control. In September 1939, Hitler gave a speech to theReichstag designating him as his successor. After theFall of France in 1940, he was bestowed the specially created rank ofReichsmarschall, which gave him seniority over all officers inGermany's armed forces.
By 1941, Göring was at the peak of his power and influence. As theSecond World War progressed, Göring's standing with Hitler and the German public declined after the Luftwaffe proved incapable ofpreventing the Allied bombing of Germany's cities andresupplying surrounded Axis forces in Stalingrad. Around that time, Göring increasingly withdrew from military and political affairs to devote his attention to collecting property and artwork, much of which was stolen from Jewish victims ofthe Holocaust. Informed on 22 April 1945 that Hitler intended to commit suicide, Göring senta telegram to Hitler requesting his permission to assume leadership of the Reich. Considering his request an act of treason, Hitler removed Göring from all his positions, expelled him from the party and ordered his arrest.
Hermann Wilhelm Göring was born on 12 January 1893[4] at the Marienbad Sanatorium inRosenheim,Bavaria. His father,Heinrich Ernst Göring (31 October 1839 – 7 December 1913), a former cavalry officer, had been the firstgovernor-general of German South West Africa (modern-dayNamibia).[5] Heinrich had three children from a previous marriage. Göring was the fourth of five children by Heinrich's second wife, Franziska Tiefenbrunn (1859–15 July 1943), a Bavarian peasant. Göring's elder siblings were Karl, Olga, and Paula; his younger brother wasAlbert. At the time that Göring was born, his father was serving as consul general inHaiti,[6] and his mother had returned home briefly to give birth. She left the six-week-old baby with a friend in Bavaria and did not see the child again for three years, when she and Heinrich returned to Germany.[7]
Göring's godfather wasHermann Epenstein, a wealthy Jewish physician and businessman his father had met in Africa. Epenstein provided the Göring family, who were surviving on Heinrich's pension, first with a family home in Berlin-Friedenau,[8] and then a small castle called Veldenstein, nearNuremberg. Göring's mother became Epenstein's mistress around this time and remained so for some fifteen years. Epenstein acquired the minor title ofRitter (knight) von Epenstein through service and donations to the Crown.[9]
Interested in a career as a soldier from a very early age, Göring enjoyed playing with toy soldiers and dressing up in aBoer uniform his father had given him. He was sent to boarding school at age eleven, where the food was poor and discipline harsh. He sold a violin to pay for his train ticket home and then took to his bed, feigning illness, until he was told he would not have to return.[10] He continued to enjoy war games, pretending to lay siege to the castle Veldenstein and studying Teutonic legends and sagas. He became a mountain climber, scaling peaks in Germany, at theMont Blanc massif and in theAustrian Alps. At age 16, he was sent to a military academy inBerlin-Lichterfelde, from which he graduated with distinction.[11]
Göring joined the Prince Wilhelm Regiment (112th Infantry, Garrison:Mülhausen) of thePrussian Army in 1912. The next year his mother had a falling-out with Epenstein. The family was forced to leave Veldenstein and moved toMunich; Göring's father died shortly afterwards. It was in Bavaria where Göring developed his "romantic sense of Germanness" that further evolved under Nazism.[6] When World War I began in August 1914, Göring was stationed atMülhausen with his regiment.[11]
Film clip of Göring in aFokker D.VII during World War I (1918)
During the first year of World War I, Göring served with his infantry regiment in the area ofMülhausen, a garrison town less than 2 km from the French frontier. He was hospitalised withrheumatism, a result of the damp oftrench warfare. While he was recovering, his friendBruno Loerzer convinced him to transfer to what would become, by October 1916, theLuftstreitkräfte (transl. air combat forces) of the German army, but his request was turned down. Later that year, Göring flew as Loerzer's observer inFeldflieger Abteilung 25 (FFA 25); Göring had informally transferred himself. He was discovered and sentenced to three weeks' confinement to barracks, but the sentence was never carried out. By the time it was supposed to be imposed, Göring's association with Loerzer had been made official. They were assigned as a team to FFA 25 in theCrown Prince's Fifth Army. They flew reconnaissance and bombing missions, for which the crown prince invested both Göring and Loerzer with theIron Cross, first class.[12]
After completing the pilot's training course, Göring was assigned toJagdstaffel 5. Seriously wounded in the hip in aerial combat, he took nearly a year to recover. He then was transferred toJagdstaffel 26, commanded by Loerzer, in February 1917. He steadily scoredair victories until May, when he was assigned to commandJagdstaffel 27. Serving withJastas 5, 26 and 27, he continued to win victories. In addition to his Iron Crosses (1st and 2nd Class), he received theZähringer Lion with swords, theFriedrich Order, theHouse Order of Hohenzollern with swords third class and, finally, in May 1918, the covetedPour le Mérite.[13] According toHermann Dahlmann, who knew both men, Göring had Loerzer lobby for the award.[14] He finished the war with22 victories.[15] A thorough post-war examination ofAllied loss records showed that only two of his awarded victories were doubtful. Three were possible and 17 were certain, or highly likely.[16]
In the last days of the war, Göring was repeatedly ordered to withdraw his squadron, first toTellancourt airdrome, then toDarmstadt. At one point, he was ordered to surrender the aircraft to the Allies; he refused. Many of his pilots intentionally crash-landed their planes to keep them from falling into enemy hands.[20]
Like many other German veterans, Göring was a proponent of thestab-in-the-back myth, the belief which held that the German Army had not really lost the war, but instead was betrayed by the civilian leadership: Marxists, Jews and especially therepublicans, who had overthrown the German monarchy.[21] Atop the frustration of military defeat, Göring also experienced the personal disappointment of being snubbed by his fiancée's upper-class family, who broke off the engagement when he returned penniless from the front.[22]
Göring remained in aviation after the war. He triedbarnstorming and briefly worked atFokker. After spending most of 1919 living inDenmark, he moved to Sweden and joinedSvensk Lufttrafik, a Swedish airline. Göring was often hired for private flights. During the winter of 1920–1921, he was hired byCount Eric von Rosen to fly him to his castle from Stockholm. Invited to spend the night, Göring may at this time have first seen theswastika emblem, which Rosen had set in the chimney piece as a family badge.[23][b]
This was also the first time that Göring saw his future wife; the count introduced his sister-in-law, BaronessCarin von Kantzow (née Freiin von Fock). Estranged from her husband of 10 years, she had an eight-year-old son. Göring was immediately infatuated and asked her to meet him in Stockholm. They arranged a visit at the home of her parents and spent much time together through 1921, when Göring left to study political science at theUniversity of Munich. Carin obtained a divorce, followed Göring to Munich and married him on 3 February 1922.[24] Their first home together was a hunting lodge at Hochkreuth in theBavarian Alps, nearBayrischzell, some 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Munich.[25] Later in 1922, they moved toObermenzing [de], a suburb of Munich.[26]
Through the early years, Carin—who liked Hitler—often played hostess to meetings of leading Nazis, including her husband as well as Hitler,Rudolf Hess,Alfred Rosenberg andErnst Röhm.[31] Hitler later recalled his early association with Göring:
I liked him. I made him the head of my SA. He is the only one of its heads that ran the SA properly. I gave him a dishevelled rabble. In a very short time he had organised a division of 11,000 men.[32]
Hitler and the Nazi Party held mass meetings and rallies in Munich and elsewhere during the early 1920s, attempting to gain supporters in a bid for political power.[33] Inspired byBenito Mussolini'sMarch on Rome, the Nazis attempted to seize power on 8–9 November 1923 in a failed coup known as theBeer Hall Putsch. Göring, who was with Hitler leading the march to the War Ministry, was shot in the groin.[34] Fourteen Nazis and four policemen were killed; many top Nazis, including Hitler, were arrested.[35] With Carin's help, Göring was smuggled toInnsbruck, where he received surgery and was given morphine for the pain. He remained in hospital until 24 December.[36] This was the beginning of his morphine addiction, which lasted until his imprisonment at Nuremberg.[37] Meanwhile, the authorities in Munich declared Göring a wanted man. The Görings—acutely short of funds and reliant on the good will of Nazi sympathisers abroad—moved from Austria toVenice. In May 1924 they visited Rome, viaFlorence andSiena. Sometime in 1924, Göring met Mussolini through his contacts with members of Italy's Fascist Party;[38] Mussolini had also expressed an interest in meeting Hitler, who was by then in prison.[39] Hitler pennedMein Kampf while incarcerated, before being released in December 1924.[40]
Meanwhile, personal problems continued to multiply for Göring. By 1925, Carin's mother was ill. The Görings—with difficulty—raised the money in the spring of 1925 for a journey to Sweden via Austria,Czechoslovakia, Poland andDanzig (now Gdańsk). Göring had become a violent morphine addict; Carin's family were shocked by his deterioration. Carin, who was ill withepilepsy and a weak heart, had to allow the doctors to take charge of Göring; her son was taken by his father. Göring was certified a dangerous drug addict and was placed inLångbro Asylum on 1 September 1925 after he had violently attacked a nurse who had refused his request for morphine.[41] He was violent to the point where he had to be confined in astraitjacket, but his psychiatrist felt he was sane; the condition was caused solely by the morphine.[42] Weaned off the drug, he left the facility briefly, but had to return for further treatment. He returned to Germany when an amnesty was declared in 1927 and resumed working in the aircraft industry.[43] Carin Göring, ill with epilepsy andtuberculosis,[44] died of heart failure on 17 October 1931.[45]
Meanwhile, the Nazi Party was in a period of rebuilding and waiting. The economy had recovered, which meant fewer opportunities for the Nazis to agitate. The SA was reorganised, but withFranz Pfeffer von Salomon as its head rather than Göring, and theSchutzstaffel (SS) was founded in 1925, initially as a bodyguard for Hitler. Membership in the party increased from 27,000 in 1925 to 108,000 in 1928 and 178,000 in 1929. Inthe May 1928 elections the Nazi Party only obtained 12 seats out of an available 491 in theReichstag.[46] Göring was elected as a representative from Bavaria.[47] Having secured a seat in theReichstag, Göring gained a more prominent place in the Nazi movement, since Hitler saw him as a public relations officer for Nazism in this capacity.[48] Göring continued to be elected to the Reichstag in all subsequent elections during the Weimar and Nazi regimes.[49] Electoral success also afforded Göring with access to powerful sympathisers to the Nazi cause, such asPrince August Wilhelm of Prussia and the conservative-minded businessmen,Fritz Thyssen andHjalmar Schacht.[50] TheGreat Depression led to a disastrous downturn in the German economy, andin the 1930 election, the Nazi Party won 6,409,600 votes and 107 seats.[51][c] In May 1931, Hitler sent Göring on a mission to theVatican, where he met the futurePope Pius XII.[53] He was appointed anSA-Gruppenführer on 18 December 1931. On 1 January 1933, he was among the first to be promoted to the recently created rank ofSA-Obergruppenführer and he held this rank on the SA rolls until 1945.[29][30]
In theJuly 1932 election, the Nazis won 230 seats to become far and away the largest party in theReichstag. By longstanding tradition, the Nazis were thus entitled to select the President of theReichstag, and elected Göring to the post.[54] He would retain this position until 23 April 1945.[55]
TheReichstag fire occurred on the night of 27 February 1933. Göring was one of the first to arrive on the scene.Marinus van der Lubbe, aCommunist radical, was arrested and claimed sole responsibility for the fire. Göring immediately called for a crackdown on Communists.[56]
The Nazis took advantage of the fire to advance their own political aims. TheReichstag Fire Decree, passed the next day on Hitler's urging, suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. Activities of theGerman Communist Party were suppressed and some 4,000 Party members arrested.[57] Göring demanded that the prisoners should be shot, butRudolf Diels, head of the Prussian political police, ignored the order.[58] Some researchers, includingWilliam L. Shirer andAlan Bullock, are of the opinion that the Nazi Party itself was responsible for starting the fire.[59][60]
At theNuremberg trials, GeneralFranz Halder testified that Göring admitted responsibility for starting the fire. He said that, at a luncheon held on Hitler's birthday in 1942, Göring said, "The only one who really knows about the Reichstag is I, because I set it on fire!"[61] In his own Nuremberg testimony, Göring denied this story.[62]
During the early 1930s, Göring was often in the company ofEmmy Sonnemann, an actress fromHamburg.[63] They were married on 10 April 1935, in Berlin. The wedding was celebrated on a huge scale. A large reception was held the night before at theBerlin Opera House. Fighter aircraft flew overhead on the night of the reception and the day of the ceremony,[64] at which Hitler was best man.[65] Göring's daughter,Edda, was born on 2 June 1938.[66]
Using this authority, on 8 July 1933 Göring enacted a law abolishing thePrussian State Council, the second chamber of the Prussian legislature that represented the interests of the Prussian provinces. In its place, he created a revised non-legislativePrussian State Council to serve merely as a body of advisors to him. Göring would serve as President of the council. It would consist,ex officio, of the Prussian cabinet ministers and state secretaries, as well as hand-picked Nazi Party officials and other industry and society leaders selected solely by Göring.[70] In October 1933, Göring was made a member ofHans Frank'sAcademy for German Law at its inaugural meeting.[71] In July 1934, he was appointedReichforstmeister, with the rank of aReichsminister, as the head of the newly createdReich Forestry Office.[72]
Wilhelm Frick, the Reich interior minister, and the head of the SS,Heinrich Himmler, hoped to create a unified police force for all of Germany, but Göring on 26 April 1933 established a special Prussian police force, withRudolf Diels at its head. The force was called theGeheime Staatspolizei (transl. Secret State Police), orGestapo. Göring, thinking that Diels was not ruthless enough to use the Gestapo effectively to counteract the power of the SA, handed over control of the Gestapo to Himmler on 20 April 1934.[73] By this time, the SA numbered over two million men.[74]
Hitler was deeply concerned thatErnst Röhm, the chief of the SA, was planning a coup. Himmler andReinhard Heydrich plotted with Göring to use the Gestapo and SS to crush the SA.[75] Members of the SA got wind of the proposed action and thousands of them took to the streets in violent demonstrations on the night of 29 June 1934. Enraged, Hitler ordered the arrest of the SA leadership. Röhm was shot dead in his cell when he refused to commit suicide; Göring personally went over the lists of prisoners—numbering in the thousands—and determined who else should be shot. At least 85 people were killed in the period of 30 June to 2 July, which is now known as theNight of the Long Knives.[76] Hitler admitted in the Reichstag on 13 July that the killings had been entirely illegal but claimed a plot had been under way to overthrow the Reich. A retroactive law was passed making the action legal. Any criticism was met with arrests.[77]
One of the terms of theTreaty of Versailles, which had been in place since the end of World War I, stated that Germany was not allowed to maintain an air force. After the 1928 signing of theKellogg–Briand Pact, police aircraft were permitted. Göring was appointed Air Traffic Minister in May 1933. Germany began to accumulate aircraft in violation of the Treaty, and in 1935 the existence of theLuftwaffe was formally acknowledged,[78] with Göring as Reich Aviation Minister.[79]
During a cabinet meeting in September 1936, Göring and Hitler announced that theGerman rearmament programme must be sped up. On 18 October, Hitler named Göring asPlenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan to undertake this task. Göring created a new organisation to administer the Plan and drew the ministries of labour and agriculture under its umbrella. He bypassed the Economics Ministry in his policy-making decisions, to the chagrin ofHjalmar Schacht, the minister in charge. Huge expenditures were made on rearmament, in spite of growing deficits.[80] Schacht resigned on 26 November 1937, and Göring took over the Economics Ministry on an interim basis until January 1938.[81] He then managed to installWalther Funk in the position, who also took control of theReichsbank when Schacht was forced out of that post as well in January 1939. In this way, both of these institutions effectively were brought under Göring's control under the auspices of the Four Year Plan.[82] In July 1937, theReichswerke Hermann Göring was established under state ownership – though led by Göring – with the aim of boosting steel production beyond the level which private enterprise could economically provide.[83]
Göring with British War SecretaryLord Halifax at Schorfheide, 20 November 1937Hitler with Göring on balcony of the Chancellery, Berlin, 16 March 1938
In 1938, Göring was involved in theBlomberg–Fritsch Affair, which led to the resignations of the War Minister,GeneralfeldmarschallWerner von Blomberg, and the army commander, GeneralWerner von Fritsch. Göring had acted as witness at Blomberg's wedding to Margarethe Gruhn, a 26-year-old typist, on 12 January 1938. Information received from the police showed that the young bride was a prostitute.[84] Göring felt obligated to tell Hitler, but also saw this event as an opportunity to dispose of Blomberg. Blomberg was forced to resign. Göring did not want Fritsch to be appointed to that position and thus be his superior. Several days later, Heydrich revealed a file on Fritsch that contained allegations of homosexual activity and blackmail. The charges were later proven to be false, but Fritsch had lost Hitler's trust and was forced to resign.[85] Hitler used the dismissals as an opportunity to reshuffle the leadership of the military. Göring asked for the post of War Minister but was turned down; he was appointed to the rank ofGeneralfeldmarschall. Hitler took over assupreme commander of the armed forces and created subordinate posts to head the three main branches of service.[86]
As minister in charge of the Four-Year Plan, Göring became concerned with the lack of natural resources in Germany and began pushing for Austria to be incorporated into the Reich. The province ofStyria had rich iron ore deposits, and the country as a whole was home to many skilled labourers who would also be useful. Hitler had always been in favour of a takeover of Austria, his native country. He met the Austrian ChancellorKurt Schuschnigg on 12 February 1938, threatening invasion if peaceful unification was not forthcoming. The Nazi Party was made legal in Austria to gain a power base, and a referendum on reunification was scheduled for March. When Hitler did not approve of the wording of the plebiscite, Göring telephoned Schuschnigg and Austrian head of stateWilhelm Miklas to demand Schuschnigg's resignation, threatening invasion by German troops and civil unrest by the Austrian Nazi Party members. Schuschnigg resigned on 11 March and the plebiscite was cancelled. By 5:30 the next morning, German troops that had been massing on the border marched into Austria, meeting no resistance.[87]
AlthoughJoachim von Ribbentrop had been named Foreign Minister in February 1938, Göring continued to involve himself in foreign affairs.[66] That July, he contacted the British government with the idea that he should make an official visit to discuss Germany's intentions for Czechoslovakia.Neville Chamberlain was in favour of a meeting and there was talk of a pact being signed between Britain and Germany. In February 1938, Göring visited Warsaw to quell rumours about the upcominginvasion of Poland. He had conversations with the Hungarian government that summer as well, discussing their potential role in an invasion of Czechoslovakia. At theNuremberg Rally that September, Göring and other speakers denounced the Czechs as an inferior race that must be conquered.[88] Chamberlain and Hitler had a series of meetings that led to the signing of theMunich Agreement (29 September 1938), which turned over control of theSudetenland to Germany.[89] In March 1939, Göring threatened Czechoslovak presidentEmil Hácha with the bombing ofPrague. Hácha then agreed to sign a communique acceptingthe German occupation of the remainder ofBohemia andMoravia.[90]
Although many in the party disliked him,[91] before the war Göring enjoyed widespread personal popularity among the German public because of his perceived sociability, colour and humour.[92][93] As the Nazi leader most responsible for economic matters, he presented himself as a champion of national interests over allegedly corrupt big business and the old German elite. The Nazi press was on Göring's side. Other leaders, such as Hess and Ribbentrop, were envious of his popularity.[92] In Britain and the United States, some viewed Göring as more acceptable than the other Nazis and as a possible mediator between the western democracies and Hitler.[93]
Göring and other senior officers were concerned that Germany was not yet ready for war, but Hitler insisted on pushing ahead as soon as possible.[94] On 30 August 1939, immediately prior to the outbreak of theSecond World War, Hitler appointed Göring as the chairman of a new six-personCouncil of Ministers for the Defense of the Reich which was set up to operate as a war cabinet.[95] The invasion of Poland, the opening action of World War II, began at dawn on 1 September 1939.[96] Later in the day, speaking to theReichstag, Hitler designated Göring as his successor as Führer of all Germany, "If anything should befall me",[97] with Hess as the second alternate.[91] Major German victories followed one after the other in quick succession. With the help of the Luftwaffe, thePolish Air Force was defeated within a week.[98][d] TheFallschirmjäger seized vital airfields inNorway (Operation Weserübung) and capturedFort Eben-Emael in Belgium on 10 May 1940, the first day of theBattle of France. Göring's Luftwaffe played critical roles in theBattles of the Netherlands,of Belgium and of France in May 1940.[101]
The UK had declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, the third day of the invasion of Poland.[103] In July 1940, Hitler began preparations for an invasion of Britain. As part of the plan, theRoyal Air Force (RAF) had to be neutralised. Bombing raids commenced on British air installations and on cities and centres of industry.[104] Göring had by then already announced in a radio speech, "If as much as a single enemy aircraft flies over German soil, my name is Meier!",[105] something that would return to haunt him, when the RAF began bombing German cities on 11 May 1940.[106] Though he was confident the Luftwaffe could defeat the RAF within days, Göring, like AdmiralErich Raeder,commander-in-chief of theKriegsmarine (navy),[107] was pessimistic about the chance of success of the planned invasion (codenamedOperation Sea Lion).[108] Göring hoped that a victory in the air would be enough to force peace without an invasion. The campaign failed and Sealion was postponed indefinitely on 17 September 1940.[109] After their defeat in theBattle of Britain, the Luftwaffe attempted to defeat Britain viastrategic bombing. On 12 October 1940 Hitler cancelled Sea Lion due to the onset of winter.[110] By the end of the year, it was clear that British morale was not being shaken bythe Blitz, though the bombings continued through May 1941.[111]
In spite of theMolotov–Ribbentrop Pact, signed in 1939, Nazi Germany beganOperation Barbarossa—the invasion of the Soviet Union—on 22 June 1941. Initially, the Luftwaffe was at an advantage, destroying thousands of Soviet aircraft in the first month of fighting.[112] Hitler and his top staff were sure that the campaign would be over by Christmas, and no provisions were made for reserves of men or equipment.[113] But, by July, the Germans had only 1,000 planes remaining in operation and their troop losses were over 213,000 men. The choice was made to concentrate the attack on only one part of the vast front; efforts would be directed at capturing Moscow.[114] After the long, but successful,Battle of Smolensk, Hitler orderedArmy Group Centre to halt its advance to Moscow and temporarily diverted its Panzer groups north and south to aid in the encirclement ofLeningrad andKiev.[115] The pause provided theRed Army with an opportunity to mobilise fresh reserves; historianRussel Stolfi considers it to be one of the major factors that caused the failure of the Moscow offensive, which was resumed in October 1941 with theBattle of Moscow.[115] Poor weather conditions, fuel shortages, a delay in building aircraft bases in Eastern Europe and overstretched supply lines were also factors. Hitler did not give permission for even a partial retreat until mid-January 1942; by this time the losses were comparable to those of theFrench invasion of Russia in 1812.[116]
In late October or early November 1941, Hitler and Göring decided on the mass deportation ofSoviet prisoners of war—and a larger number of Soviet civilians—to Germany forforced labor, but epidemics soon caused the halting of prisoner-of-war transports.[117][118] Those who were deported to Germany faced conditions not necessarily any better than existed in theoccupied Soviet Union.[119] By the end of the war, at least 1.3 million Soviet prisoners of war had been deported to Germany or its annexed territories.[120] Of these, 400,000 did not survive and most of thesedeaths occurred in the winter of 1941/1942.[120]
Hitler decided that the summer 1942 campaign would be concentrated in the south; efforts would be made to capture the oilfields in theCaucasus.[122] TheBattle of Stalingrad, a major turning point of the war,[123] began on 23 August 1942 with a bombing campaign by the Luftwaffe.[124] The GermanSixth Army entered the city, but because of its location on the front line, it was still possible for the Soviets to encircle and trap it there without reinforcements or supplies. When the Sixth Army was surrounded by the end of November inOperation Uranus, Göring promised that the Luftwaffe would be able to deliver a minimum of 300 tons of supplies to the trapped men every day. On the basis of these assurances, Hitler demanded that there be no retreat; they were to fight to the last man. Though some airlifts were able to get through, supplies delivered never exceeded 120 tons per day.[125][126] The remnants of the Sixth Army—some 91,000 men out of an army of 285,000—surrendered in early February 1943; only 5,000 of these captives survived theSoviet prisoner of war camps to see Germany again.[127]
Göring with Hitler andAlbert Speer, 10 August 1943
Meanwhile, the strength of the US and British bomber fleets had increased. Based in Britain, they beganoperations against German targets. The first thousand-bomber raid was stagedon Cologne on 30 May 1942.[128] Air raids continued on targets farther from England after auxiliary fuel tanks were installed on USfighter aircraft. Göring refused to believe reports that American fighters had been shot down as far east asAachen in winter 1942–1943. His reputation began to decline.[129]
The AmericanP-51 Mustang, with acombat radius of over 1,800 miles (2,900 km) when using underwingdrop tanks, began to escort the bombers in large formations to and from the target area in early 1944. From that point onwards, the Luftwaffe began to suffer casualties in aircrews it could not sufficiently replace. By targeting oil refineries and rail communications,Allied bombers crippled the German war effort by late 1944.[130] German civilians blamed Göring for his failure to protect the homeland.[131] Hitler began excluding him from conferences but retained him in his positions at the head of the Luftwaffe and as plenipotentiary of the Four-Year Plan.[132] As he lost Hitler's trust, Göring began to spend more time at his various residences.[133] OnD-Day (6 June 1944), the Luftwaffe only had some 300 fighters and a small number of bombers in the area of the landings; the Allies had a total strength of 11,000 aircraft.[134]
As theSoviets approached Berlin, Hitler's efforts to organise the defence of the city became ever more meaningless and futile.[135] His last birthday, celebrated at theFührerbunker in Berlin on 20 April 1945, was the occasion for leave-taking by many top Nazis, Göring included. By this time, Göring's hunting lodgeCarinhall had been evacuated, the building destroyed,[136] and its art treasures moved toBerchtesgaden and elsewhere.[137] Göring arrived at his estate at Obersalzberg on 22 April, the same day that Hitler, in a lengthy diatribe against his generals, first publicly admitted that the war was lost and that he intended to remain in Berlin to the end and then commit suicide.[138] He also stated that Göring was in a better position to negotiate a peace settlement.[139]
OKW operations chiefAlfred Jodl was present for Hitler's rant and notified Göring's chief of staff,Karl Koller, at a meeting a few hours later. Sensing its implications, Koller immediately flew to Berchtesgaden to notify Göring of this development. A week after the start of the Soviet invasion, Hitler had issued a decree naming Göring his successor in the event of his death, thus codifying the declaration he had made soon after the beginning of the war. The decree also gave Göring full authority to act as Hitler's deputy if Hitler ever lost his freedom of action.[139]
Göring feared being branded a traitor if he tried to take power, but also feared being accused of dereliction of duty if he did nothing. After some hesitation, Göring reviewed his copy of the 1941 decree naming him Hitler's successor. After conferring with Koller andHans Lammers (the state secretary of the Reich Chancellery), Göring concluded that by remaining in Berlin to face certain death, Hitler had incapacitated himself from governing. All agreed that under the terms of the decree, it was incumbent upon Göring to take power in Hitler's stead.[140] He was also motivated by fears that his rival,Martin Bormann, would seize power upon Hitler's death and would have him killed as a traitor. With this in mind, Göring sent a carefully worded telegram asking Hitler for permission to take over as the leader of Germany, stressing that he would be acting as Hitler's deputy. He added that, if Hitler did not reply by 22:00 that night (23 April), he would assume that Hitler had indeed lost his freedom of action and would assume leadership of the Reich.[141]
Göring after his capture (15 May 1945)
The telegram was intercepted by Bormann, who convinced Hitler that Göring was attempting a coup. Bormann argued that Göring's telegram was not a request for permission to act as Hitler's deputy, but a demand to resign or be overthrown.[142] Bormann also intercepted another telegram in which Göring directed Ribbentrop to report to him if there was no further communication from Hitler or Göring before midnight.[143] Hitler sent a reply to Göring—prepared with Bormann's help—rescinding the 1941 decree and threatening him with execution for high treason unless he immediately resigned from all of his offices. Realising his situation was untenable, Göring duly resigned. Afterwards, Hitler (or Bormann, depending on the source) ordered the SS to place Göring, his staff and Lammers under house arrest at Obersalzberg.[142][144] Bormann made an announcement over the radio that Göring had resigned for health reasons.[145]
By 26 April, the complex at Obersalzbergwas under attack by the Allies, so Göring was moved tohis castle at Mauterndorf. In hislast will and testament, Hitler expelled Göring from the party, formally rescinded the decree making him his successor and upbraided Göring for "illegally attempting to seize control of the state".[146] He then appointedKarl Dönitz, the Navy's commander-in-chief, as president of the Reich and supreme commander of thearmed forces. Hitler and his wife,Eva Braun,committed suicide on 30 April 1945, a few hours after a hastily arranged wedding. Göring was freed on 5 May by a passing Luftwaffe unit and made his way to the U.S. lines in hopes of surrendering to them rather than to the Soviets. He was taken into custody nearRadstadt on 9 May by elements of the36th Infantry Division of theUS Army.[147][148][e] This move likely saved Göring's life; Bormann had ordered him executed if Berlin had fallen.[150] On 10 May, US Air Forces commanderCarl Spaatz, along with Lieutenant GeneralHoyt Vandenberg and Spaatz'sspecial consultantBruce Campbell Hopper, conducted an interrogation of Göring at the Ritter School inAugsburg, Germany.[151]
Göring (first row, far left) at the Nuremberg trial
Göring was flown toCamp Ashcan, a temporary prisoner-of-war camp housed in the Palace Hotel atMondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg. Here he was weaned offdihydrocodeine (a mild morphine derivative)—he had been taking the equivalent of three or four grains (260 to 320 mg) of morphine a day—and was put on a strict diet; he lost 60 pounds (27 kg). HisIQ was tested while in custody and found to be 138.[152] Top Nazi officials were transferred in September to Nuremberg, which was to be the location of a series of military tribunals beginning in November.[153] At Nuremberg, Göring was examined by Chief Medical Officer Lt. Col.Rene Juchli, who reported that Göring was "still suffering from heart disease and excess fat, both due to glandular disturbance."[154]
The trial lasted 218 days. The prosecution presented its case from November to March, and Göring's defence—the first to be presented—lasted from 8 to 22 March. The sentences were read on 30 September 1946.[157] Göring, forced to remain silent while seated in the dock, communicated his opinions about the proceedings using gestures, shaking his head, or laughing. He constantly took notes, whispered with the other defendants and tried to control the erratic behaviour of Hess, who was seated beside him.[158] During breaks in the proceedings, Göring tried to dominate the other defendants, and he was eventually placed in solitary confinement when he attempted to influence their testimony.[159] Göring told American psychiatristLeon Goldensohn that the court was "stupid" to try "little fellows" like Funk andKaltenbrunner instead of letting Göring take all the blame on himself.[160] He also claimed that he had never heard of most of the other defendants before the trial.[160]
Göring at the Nuremberg trials
On several occasions over the course of the trial, the prosecution showed films of theconcentration camps and other atrocities. Everyone present, including Göring, found the contents of the films shocking; he said that the films must have been faked. Witnesses, includingPaul Körner andErhard Milch, tried to portray Göring as a peaceful moderate. Milch stated that it had been impossible to oppose Hitler or disobey his orders; to do so would likely have meant death for oneself and one's family.[161] When testifying on his own behalf, Göring emphasised his loyalty to Hitler and claimed to know nothing about what had happened in the concentration camps, which were under Himmler's control. He provided evasive, convoluted answers to direct questions and had plausible excuses for all of his actions during the war. He used the witness stand as a venue to expound at great length on his own role in the Reich, attempting to present himself as a peacemaker and diplomat before the outbreak of the war.[162] During cross-examination, chief prosecutorRobert H. Jackson read the minutes of a meeting that had been held shortly afterKristallnacht, a majorpogrom in November 1938. At the meeting, Göring had plotted to confiscate Jewish property in the wake of the pogrom.[163] Later,David Maxwell-Fyfe presented evidence that Göring must have known aboutthe killing of 50 airmen who had been recaptured after escaping fromStalag Luft III in time to have saved them.[164] He also presented evidence that Göring knew about the extermination of theHungarian Jews.[165]
Göring was found guilty on all four counts and was sentenced to death by hanging. The judgment stated:
There is nothing to be said in mitigation. For Göring was often, indeed almost always, the moving force, second only to his leader. He was the leading war aggressor, both as political and as military leader; he was the director of the slave labour programme and the creator of the oppressive programme against the Jews and other races, at home and abroad. All of these crimes he has frankly admitted. On some specific cases there may be conflict of testimony, but in terms of the broad outline, his own admissions are more than sufficiently wide to be conclusive of his guilt. His guilt is unique in its enormity. The record discloses no excuses for this man.[166]
Göring's corpse
Göring made an appeal asking to be shot as a soldier instead of hanged as a common criminal, but the court refused.[167]
The night before he was to be hanged, however, Göring committed suicide with apotassium cyanide capsule.[168] Since he was guarded around the clock, it was not clear how Göring obtained the poison. At the time, speculation centered on whether he had access to a jar of his hair cream where another cyanide capsule was later found. Decades later, another theory focused on a U.S. Army lieutenant, Jack G. Wheelis, who had been stationed at the trials but who had since died. Göring had given Wheelis his gold watch, pen and cigarette case,[169] and so it was theorised that Wheelis had retrieved the capsules from their hiding place among Göring's confiscated personal effects and then passed them along.[170]
In 2005, former U.S. Army private Herbert Lee Stivers, who served in the1st Infantry Division's26th Infantry Regiment—the honour guard for the Nuremberg Trials—claimed he gave Göring "medicine" hidden inside a fountain pen that a young German woman, Mona, had asked him to smuggle into the prison. In explaining his decision to speak out 60 years later, Stivers said that he was convinced to come forward by his daughter. He wanted to set the record straight: He thought that he was just offering medicine; he said that he did not know what was in the pill until after Göring's suicide.[171]
Göring's body, as with those of the men whowere executed, was displayed at the execution ground for witnesses. The bodies were cremated atOstfriedhof, Munich, and the ashes scattered in theIsar River.[172][173][174]
The confiscation of Jewish property gave Göring the opportunity to amass a personal fortune. Some properties he seized himself or acquired for a nominal price. In other cases, he collected bribes for allowing others to steal Jewish property. He tookkickbacks from industrialists for favourable decisions as Four-Year Plan director and money for supplying arms to the Spanish Republicans in theSpanish Civil War viaPyrkal in Greece (although Germany was supporting Franco and the Nationalists).[177]
Göring was appointed Reich Master of the Hunt in 1933 and Master of the German Forests in 1934. He instituted reforms to the forestry laws and acted to protect endangered species. Around this time, he became interested inSchorfheide Forest, where he set aside 100,000 acres (400 km2) as a state park, which is still extant. There he built an elaborate hunting lodge, Carinhall, in memory of his first wife, Carin. By 1934, her body had been transported to the site and placed in a vault on the estate.[178] Through most of the 1930s, Göring kept pet lion cubs, borrowed from theBerlin Zoo, both at Carinhall and at his house atObersalzberg.[179] The main lodge at Carinhall had a large art gallery where Göring displayed works that had been plundered from private collections and museums around Europe from 1939 onward.[180][181] Göring worked closely with theEinsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (transl.Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce), an organisation tasked with the looting of artwork and cultural material from Jewish collections, libraries and museums throughout Europe.[182] Headed by Alfred Rosenberg, the task force set up a collection centre and headquarters in Paris. Some 26,000 railroad cars full of art treasures, furniture and other looted items were sent to Germany from France alone. Göring repeatedly visited the Paris headquarters to review the incoming stolen goods and to select items to be sent on a special train to Carinhall and his other homes.[183] The estimated value of his collection, which numbered some 1,500 pieces, was $200 million.[184]
Standard, on display at theMusée de la Guerre inLes Invalides, Paris
Göring was known for his extravagant tastes and garish clothing. He had various special uniforms made for the many posts he held;[185] hisReichsmarschall uniform included a jewel-encrusted baton.Hans-Ulrich Rudel, the topStuka pilot of the war, recalled twice meeting Göring dressed in outlandish costumes: first, a medieval hunting costume, practicing archery with his doctor; and second, dressed in a redtoga fastened with a golden clasp, smoking an unusually large pipe.Italian Foreign MinisterGaleazzo Ciano once noted Göring wearing a fur coat that looked like what "a high-grade prostitute wears to the opera".[186] He threw lavish housewarming parties each time a round of construction was completed at Carinhall and changed costumes several times throughout the evenings.[187]
Göring was noted for his patronage of music, especially opera. He entertained frequently and sumptuously and hosted elaborate birthday parties for himself.[188] Armaments ministerAlbert Speer recalled that guests brought expensive gifts, such as gold bars, Dutch cigars and valuable artwork. For his birthday in 1944, Speer gave Göring an oversized marble bust of Hitler.[189] As a member of the Prussian Council of State, Speer was required to donate a considerable portion of his salary towards the council's birthday gift to Göring without even being asked.Generalfeldmarschall Milch told Speer that similar donations were required out of the Air Ministry's general fund.[190] For his birthday in 1940, Ciano decorated Göring with the covetedCollar of Annunziata. The award reduced him to tears.[191]
Joseph Goebbels and Himmler were far more antisemitic than Göring, who mainly adopted that attitude because party politics required him to do so.[195] His deputyErhard Milch had a Jewish parent. However, Göring supported theNuremberg Laws of 1935 and later initiated economic measures unfavourable to Jews.[195] He required the registration of all Jewish property as part of the Four-Year Plan, and at a meeting held afterKristallnacht was livid that the financial burden for the Jewish losses would have to be made good by German-owned insurance companies. He proposed that the Jews be fined one billionmarks.[196]
At the same meeting, options for the disposition of the Jews and their property were discussed. Jews would be segregated into ghettos or encouraged to emigrate, and their property would be seized in a programme ofAryanisation. Compensation for seized property would be low, if any was given at all.[196] Detailed minutes of this meeting and other documents were read out at the Nuremberg trial, proving his knowledge of and complicity with the persecution of the Jews.[163]
On 24 January 1939, Göring established in Berlin the head office of theCentral Office for Jewish Emigration,[197] modelled on the similar organisation established in Vienna in August 1938.[198] Under the direction of Heydrich, it was tasked with using any means necessary to prompt Jews to leave the Reich, and with creating a Jewish organisation that would co-ordinate emigration from the Jewish side.[199]
In July 1941, Göring issued a memo to Heydrich ordering him to organise the practical details of theFinal Solution to the "Jewish Question". By the time that this letter was written, many Jews and others had already been killed in Poland,Russia and elsewhere. At theWannsee Conference, held six months later, Heydrich formally announced that genocide of the Jews was now official Reich policy. Göring did not attend the conference, but he was present at other meetings where the number of people killed was discussed.[200][201]
Göring directedanti-partisan operations by Luftwaffe security battalions in theBiałowieża Forest between 1942 and 1944 that resulted in the murder of thousands of Jews and Polish civilians.[202]
At the Nuremberg trial, Göring toldfirst lieutenant and U.S. Army psychologistGustave Gilbert that he would never have supported the anti-Jewish measures if he had known what was going to happen. "I only thought we would eliminate Jews from positions in big business and government", he claimed.[203][204]
Grand Cross of the Iron Cross for "the victories of the Luftwaffe in 1940 during the French campaign" (the only award of this decoration during World War II – 19 August 1940)[206]
^Göring is the German spelling, but the name iscommonly transliteratedGoering in English and other languages, using⟨oe⟩, an alternative German spelling for ö (o with anumlaut) in general.
^The swastika was a badge that the count and some friends had adopted at school, and he adopted it as a family emblem. SeeManvell & Fraenkel 2011, pp. 403–404.
^By 1930, the Nazi party claimed upwards of 293,000 members.[52]
^Confident that the Luftwaffe was without peer and practically invincible in the wake of these victories, Göring commented to the German press that should the enemy ever penetrate German airspace, they could call him "Meyer".[99][100]
^Upon being captured by American soldiers, Göring immediately asked to be taken before Eisenhower. He hoped to be treated as a "spokesman for Germany".[149]
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