Summary

Hermann Wilhelm Göring (Rosenheim, Jan. 12, 1893 - Nuremberg, Oct. 15, 1946) was a German politician, military leader and a leading member of the NSDAP.

As a pilot in World War I, he shot down 22 enemy aircraft and received the Pour le Mérite award.

Göring took part in the Bierkellerputsch and received a bullet in his groin. He was transported severely wounded to his godfather and doctor in Austria and then to Sweden, the homeland of his then-wife. He was given morphine to ease the pain and would have a lifelong addiction to it.

In 1935 Göring became commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe (air force), a position he held until April 23, 1945. In 1940, Adolf Hitler promoted him to Reich Marshal, making Göring superior to all commanders of the Wehrmacht, and on Sept. 1, 1939, at the time of the German invasion of Poland, Hitler designated him as his successor and deputy of all his powers. By 1942, as the German war effort declined on both fronts, Görings standing in relation to Hitler had greatly diminished. Göring largely withdrew from the army and politics to enjoy the pleasures of a rich and powerful man's life.

After World War II, Göring was sentenced to death by hanging at the Nuremberg Trials for war crimes and crimes against humanity, but he committed suicide by ingesting cyanide the night before the sentence was carried out.

On Jan. 12, 1893, Hermann Wilhelm Göring was born at the Marienbad Sanatorium just outside Rosenheim, a town about sixty-five kilometers south of Munich. His father, Ernst Heinrich Göring, was a chief official in the German consular service. He served in the German War and Franco-German War in the cavalry. In 1885 he married Franziska Tiefenbrunn and a few months later left for Southwest Africa (now Namibia). There he became the first governor general (Kaiserlicher Kommissar) and had to see that the peace agreements between the indigenous peoples among themselves and with the new colonizer were fulfilled. In addition, he was in charge of acquiring exploitation rights for mining and had to organize the arms and liquor trade. In 1888, however, he had to leave Southwest Africa in a hurry after the leader of the Ovaherero, Maharero, cancelled the treaty with the Germans. Göring initially left for British Walvis Bay, only to leave Southwest Africa in August 1890 for Haiti, where he was appointed consul. In 1896, he retired and returned to Germany.

Göring's mother, Franziska "Fanny" Tiefenbrunn came from a farming family from Bavaria. She left for Southwest Africa with Heinrich Göring in 1885. In that country, she gave birth to Olga Therese Sophie Göring with the help of Hermann Epenstein Ritter von Mauternburg, a German physician. In the intervening years, the Görings maintained contact with this doctor, and for the delivery of her fourth child, Hermann, she went to the Marienbad Sanatorium on his advice. Hermann Göring was named after Epenstein, who also became his godfather.

Because his mother left Germany after a few months to rejoin her husband in Haiti, Hermann was placed with a foster family in Fürth for three years. When his father retired in 1896, Hermann returned to his parents. When the Görings returned from the Caribbean, Hermann greeted his mother by biting her. His father he completely ignored. Hermann had a hard time forgiving his parents for leaving him with a foster family. Especially for his father, who became addicted to alcohol after retirement, he could have little respect.

Hermann Göring had two brothers and two older sisters, Olga Therese Sophie and Paula Elisabeth Rosa. Hermann Göring's older brother, Karl-Ernst, emigrated to the United States at an early age. Karl's son, Werner Göring, became a captain in the United States Army Air Forces and fought during World War II against the Luftwaffe, which was led by his uncle. Among other things, he participated in bombing raids on German cities. Görings younger brother, Albert, was an opponent of the Nazi regime and helped many Jews and other dissidents in Germany during the Nazi regime.

A cousin of Göring's, Hans-Joachim, was a Luftwaffe pilot. He was assigned to Zerstörergeschwader 76 and flew a Messerschmitt Bf 110. Hans-Joachim was shot down by Hawker Hurricanes of No. 78 Squadron RAF during a flight on July 11, 1940.

After three years, Hermann was reunited with his family. When they returned to Germany, the Göring family lived in Hermann Epenstein's house at Fregestraße 19 in Berlin-Friedenau. Franziska became Epenstein's mistress. Franziska Göring slept with him when he visited, while her legal husband stayed elsewhere. Epenstein was a wealthy man who often dwelled in aristocratic circles.

Heinrich Göring fell ill in 1899, suffering from bronchitis. At the invitation of Epenstein, the family left for the sake of Heinrich's health to his castle Burg Veldenstein at Neuhaus an der Pegnitz near Nuremberg. The Görings were allowed free use of this castle by Epenstein. An exact date cannot be determined, but it is believed that during the time Heinrich Göring was ill, Franziska Göring had become the mistress of Epenstein.

In 1904, at the age of 11, Hermann Göring attended a boarding school in Ansbach, Franconia, at Epenstein's expense. Göring, who was stubborn, conceited and bossy, came into emphatic contact with other children for the first time. He disliked the school. The discipline there was strict, the food poor, and during music lessons he had to play the violin, an instrument he detested. Outside of school, Göring additionally took some piano lessons. After they had to write an essay about the person they admired most in the world, he had completely had it with school. For Göring had written an essay about Epenstein, while at school the boys were expected to write about their father, Wilhem II, Otto von Bismarck or Frederick the Great. Hermann Göring was taken to task by the rector, who found out that his godfather was of Jewish descent. At that time, Jews were scorned by many citizens. Göring was punished and that was the end of the matter for the school. However, the following day Göring went to school, destroyed his violin and returned home.

Military training

Prompted by his mother, his father and godfather, both former cavalrymen, succeeded in obtaining a place for Hermann at the military academy in Karlsruhe. After four years of military academy, Göring left school at the age of 16 with excellent marks in history, French, English, horseback riding and music. Because of his good grades at the academy in Karlsruhe, it took no effort for him to be admitted to the Preußische Hauptkadettenanstalt, a cadet school for future officers, in Berlin-Lichterfelde.

Göring, an admirer of military uniforms and medieval rituals since childhood, thoroughly enjoyed his stay at the cadet school. The uniforms of the cadets were chic and colorful, and their behavior was grounded in medieval precepts. Hermann Göring passed magna cum laude in almost all subjects at age 19. He was inducted into the Prinz Wilhelm Regiment as a lieutenant and posted to headquarters in Mülhausen. Before taking up residence there, he was allowed a period of leave to return home. Once there, Göring saw that things were considerably worse than before his departure. The relationship between his mother and godfather was over when Epenstein married a 26-year-old in 1913 at 62, and the Göring family was evicted from Veldenstein Castle. They moved to Munich and shortly thereafter Heinrich Göring died.

Hermann, by then serving with his regiment, returned home on special leave and used the day and evening before the funeral to help his mother go through the papers. While going through the papers, Hermann saw what a great career his father had had and has regretted his poor relationship with his father ever since. Heinrich Göring was buried at the Waldfriedhof in Munich.

Hermann Göring was 21 years old when World War I began. He saw the war fulfill his desire to show his courage and manhood. Moreover, he had grown up with the idea of contributing to the "glory of the fatherland" through battle. Göring continued the family's military tradition during the war. He served first in the infantry and then in the air force.

Infantry

Just hours after the outbreak of World War I, the Prinz Wilhelm Regiment was already making contact with the enemy. The regiment's garrison town, Mulhouse lay on the French bank of the Rhine in Alsace-Lorraine, annexed by the Germans after the Franco-German War in 1870. The Prinz Wilhelm Regiment withdrew to the German bank of the Rhine immediately after the French declared war. Immediately after that German retreat, a French outpost led by General Paul Pau settled here. They raised the flag at City Hall and declared that from that moment on, citizens were French. In the midst of the festivities, a platoon of German troops, led by Lieutenant Hermann Göring, drove back across the Rhine in an armored train. The French, weak on the ground, hastily retreated to the main positions. Göring personally seized the French flag and had his troops remove all French posters. Just before nightfall, the Germans drove back to the German shore and they took four French cavalry horses that were left behind.

The next day, the Germans could not repeat their action with the armored train because the French had retaken the city during the night and this time had the railroad guarded. The French flag again flew over the town hall. Göring organized a patrol of seven men. With bicycles they were put across the Rhine and rode to Mulhouse led by Göring. The Germans knew the area better than the French. Shortly after dawn, they overran a French outpost. After this, they cycled to the center of town and tried to get as close as possible to the town square, where a crowd of people were welcoming the French troops. Göring saw that little General Pau was at the center of the festivities. He devised a daring plan and informed his men. Göring would grab the nearest horse and mount it. Then he would ride right through the crowd to General Pau, pick him up and place him cross-legged in front of him on the saddle and ride back with him to the German position. His men were to cover him during this daring action. At the moment Göring wanted to grab the horse's rein, someone in his platoon nervously pulled the trigger and thereby fired a shot. The French raised the alarm and Göring had to retreat with his men. Göring then laid an ambush in front of a French outpost and the Germans captured four French soldiers. For this action, Hermann Göring was first mentioned in the army report and praised for his daring and initiative.

Soon Göring became acquainted with the other side of the war. When the first heavy rain and snow fell on the Western Front and the front began to jam, the Prinz Wilhelm Regiment went into the trenches. Months of tedious, muddy and bloody trench fighting began. Göring had to leave the immobile front after only a few weeks. He struggled with a rheumatic attack and was transported to a hospital in Freiburg im Breisgau. As a result, he missed the battle of the Marne, in which many of his colleagues were killed.

Air Force

While recovering in Freiburg, he was visited by his friend Bruno Loerzer, whom he had met in Mulhouse. This visit would give his military career a drastic turn. Shortly after the outbreak of war, the two were separated. In Freiburg, they met again. Loerzer was there training as a pilot for the newly formed German Air Force. Göring had become disillusioned with infantry warfare during his recovery and feared that little room remained for individual initiative. At the same time, newspapers were full of heroic stories about German pilots flying over the Western Front. Göring was told a great deal about the plans of the Luftstreitkräfte.

Out of his desire for fame, he wrote to his commanding officer to ask for permission and admission to the flying school in Freiburg. When Göring had not received a reply after two weeks, he managed to obtain the necessary papers from a nearby barracks. He filled out the transfer papers, signed them and trusted that he would receive permission. If he still wanted to join Loerzer in battle, he had to start training soon. Göring himself had already taken care of his equipment and had already started as an observer in Loerzer's plane. Suddenly he received word from the regiment; his transfer was refused and Göring was ordered to join his regiment as soon as the medical service declared him healthy.

Göring did not want to return to the regiment. He only communicated to Loerzer the command of his regiment. Meanwhile, he spent every moment a plane was available in the air with his friend to learn the trade he had decided he wanted to do, that of operator-observer. If he wanted to train as a pilot, he would miss the first part of the air war, and that was not an option for Göring. Meanwhile, the regiment had heard that he had discharged himself from the hospital, and he was again ordered to report to his regiment. Göring disregarded this. When his friends told him, that the colonel was furious and threatened to court-martial him, Göring sent a letter to his godfather, Hermann Epenstein, who was a physician and wrote for him a medical certificate of unfitness for further service in trench warfare. In addition, Epenstein secured a permanent place for Göring and Loerzer, in the air force.

The charges against Göring were suddenly reduced, and he got off with the small sentence of 21 days of chamber arrest. Before the sentence could be carried out, higher orders intervened between the two. Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia was an ardent supporter of the new air force, and he wanted Göring to be immediately absorbed into the new unit.

In the spring of 1915 Göring and Loerzer were transferred to Stenay and at first they did mainly reconnaissance work. Göring's work as operator-observer was difficult to perform. He flew in a two-seater Albatross, whose lower wing fell exactly in his field of vision. He therefore had to hang over the side of the plane and meanwhile Loerzer had to tilt the plane so that Göring could take a picture.

The commander of the Fifth Army, to which Görings' unit belonged, demanded aerial photographs of the fortified city of Verdun every day. However, the concentration of fire in the fortress was so great that cameras or planes were regularly broken. Göring and Loerzer volunteered to take reconnaissance photos over Verdun. They immediately began preparations and spent three days flying low over the fortress. During the flight, Loerzer made the plane take a gliding flight and Göring hung over the side of his cabin and took several pictures with his camera. The photos were so accurate and sharp that Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm rewarded both men with the Iron Cross 1st Class.

During the flights they were shelled by troops from the ground, and Göring had devised a solution to this. On the next reconnaissance flight, he installed a machine gun in his cockpit and shelled the troops on the ground. Göring's action was adopted by the Germans and French, and in the air some planes were now armed with a machine gun. In April there came a turn in the air battle. Frenchman Roland Garros shelled a group of four German planes, all unarmed, and managed to destroy two of them. Garros had aimed his machine gun straight ahead and protected his propeller with metal plates. The Germans were surprised, because up to that point, air warfare had been conducted with respect for other people's pilots. The Germans called in Anthony Fokker, who built an improved version of Garros' invention, in which a steel pin blocked the machine gun when the propeller blade came in front of the barrel. Soon the German air force was lord and master of the skies, and fighter planes were in full use from then on.

Names like Von Richthofen, Immelmann and Boelcke were Germany's heroes at the time. The honorable Göring then also began pilot training in Freiburg in June 1915. He had mastered flying right from the start and passed without any problems. In October 1915, he was assigned to Jagdstaffel 5, a group of twin-engine fighter planes, which were deployed on the Western Front. After three weeks of flying, Göring had an encounter with the new British Handley Page bombers. Göring wanted to attack the bombers, but seemed to have forgotten that the colossal planes were always protected by a group of fighters. Where the rest of his group had already withdrawn, Göring had to face a group of Sopwith fighters alone. Göring was shot at from several sides and his wings, like his gas tank, were pierced with bullets. He himself was also hit by several bullets and briefly lost consciousness. When he recovered, he directed his plane into German territory and made an emergency landing near an emergency hospital. He was immediately operated on, and after the operation he was transferred to a hospital further behind the lines. Göring remained there recovering for several months before being sent home in the summer of 1916. During this time, he became engaged to Marianne Mauser.

On November 3, 1916, Göring reported for duty again and was assigned to Jagdstaffel 26, of which Loerzer was the commander. Göring was a fairly successful pilot and by 1917 he had already shot down several aircraft and, in addition to the Iron Cross, captured two medals. Because of his achievements, he was promoted to commander of the new squadron Jagdstaffel 27, which together with Loerzer's unit had its base in Izegem. Meanwhile, the Allies had also begun to arm themselves better and better and received support from the U.S. Air Force. This brought the air war back into balance.

Göring was a successful squadron commander. The military training he had received served him well in the administrative and strategic side of his work; he led his unit punitively and efficiently. Although his pilots did not always agree with his policies, they did notice their effect during combat. Leading Jagdstaffel 27 did Göring so well that he received the highest German award of the time, the Pour le Mérite. This award was normally given only to pilots who had shot down more than twenty-five enemy aircraft, but Göring had only shot down fifteen at that time. He was personally presented with the award in Berlin by the Kaiser.

Shortly after his return in June 1917, the Germans merged several squadrons into so-called Jagdgeschwaders. The best-known Jagdgeschwader was Jagdgeschwader 1, which was commanded by Manfred von Richthofen. The Red Baron, as von Richthofen was also called, downed a total of eighty enemy aircraft before he himself was hit. Command passed to Wilhelm Reinhard.

On July 3, 1918, several squadron leaders were assembled at Berlin-Adlershof to test a new series of fighter planes. Göring flew the Dornier D.I and did some acrobatics in the air and then landed again. Reinhard then wanted to do a test flight as well. He went into the air almost vertically from takeoff. Because of the pressure, the support of the upper wing broke and that upper wing came off. The plane crashed and Reinhard was instantly dead.

Jagdgeschwader 1, since Von Richthofen's death also called Jagdgeschwader Richthofen 1, had again lost its commander. On July 4, Ernst Udet was temporarily appointed commander of the unit, but a day later this was revoked. On July 7, the unit's men were informed that Hermann Göring was the new commander.

Göring's start at his new unit was difficult, partly due to the fact that the men were initially horrified at having chosen an outsider. Göring complained to headquarters that they had to take to the air five times a day and that neither the men nor the machines could keep this up. Meanwhile, he did let the commanders of various squadrons know that discipline had to be tightened. In Görings eyes, the German commanders were too much competitors of each other rather than colleagues. He decided that the commanders would fly under his direction on the next flight, while handing over the leadership of their squadrons to the second man. After this flight, the Jagdgeschwader was led much more by teamwork.

By early August 1918, Göring was convinced he could go on temporary leave and transferred command to Lothar von Richthofen, Manfred von Richthofen's brother. Göring returned to Munich and spent some time with his godfather. After his return to the front, World War I was approaching its final phase. Göring's unit soon ran out of fuel and pilots. On Oct. 7, the Germans received a proposal for an armistice. The Germans did not immediately want to know about an armistice and hoped that the odds of war were still turning. On the western front, however, the Germans were pressed into defense everywhere. Göring's unit had to retreat a few days after this, since the Allies had already crossed the Meuse River. Göring set up his headquarters at Tellancourt, although the area was unfit for combat. Flying was almost impossible and only a few flights were still being carried out. On Nov. 9, Göring was ordered that all aircraft be grounded. A day later Göring was ordered to surrender with his unit to the nearest Allied unit. Göring, against all orders, withdrew with his unit to Darmstadt. Five men had to voluntarily fly to Strasbourg and destroy the aircraft there and then surrender to the French. Meanwhile, the rest of the unit left for Germany. Arriving in Germany, all the pilots deliberately broke up their aircraft. Shortly after this, the unit was officially disbanded. Göring stayed around Berlin with Udet for some time before leaving for Munich.

In December 1918, after arriving in Munich, he found that much had changed since his last visit to the city, in August 1918. For example, King Louis III of Bavaria had been removed from the throne during the Bavarian Revolution and Kurt Eisner had taken power. However, Eisner's government soon came to an end, and in January 1919 the Socialists won the elections in the Bavarian capital and prepared to take power.

The Socialist Party promised to offer jobs to the returning soldiers, but for Göring, the party's ideas did not match his own. Göring joined one of the Free Corps, which was now springing up all over Germany, in early 1919. These Free Corps consisted of former officers, non-commissioned officers and professional soldiers. When Eisner was assassinated on Feb. 21, the socialists dragged several members of freemen's corps, student groups and the Thule-Gesellschaft (whose members included Rudolf Hess and Alfred Rosenberg), to court. Many were sentenced to death, and Göring also suspected that he was on a death list. He therefore decided to go into hiding with Frank Beaumont, a captain in the RAF. Beaumont enabled Göring to leave Munich and join a free corps sent south from Berlin. This free corps had congregated in the suburb of Dachau and its goal was to destroy the Munich commune. A few days after Görings arrival the attack was launched and within a few days all opposition had been crushed and the main strongholds of the "reds" destroyed. The Free Corps marched in parade pass through Ludwigstrasse to the city center. Then began their raids against the socialists.

Göring, however, did not wait for the battle and purges and was deeply disillusioned with the German people. He wanted to get away from the fratricide that was going on. However, he had no money to leave for another country. He hoped to join the Reichswehr, but that did not happen either. An air force was banned by the Allies, so a career as an air force officer was also out of the question.

However, the Allies had not banned the building of aircraft and a number of manufacturers were still working, most of whom worked for the foreign market. One of these manufacturers was Anthony Fokker, who also had a factory in Amsterdam. Göring and Fokker had met during World War I, and the German had been one of the best demonstrators of Fokker's new aircraft. Fokker therefore asked Göring to demonstrate a new commercial model, a Fokker F.VII, in Denmark. Görings performance was so impressive that Fokker decided to lend Göring the plane permanently, hoping that Görings arts would convince potential buyers.

Sweden

Göring toured Denmark and Sweden with his aircraft, invariably announcing himself at his appearances as the commander of the Jagdgeschwader Richthofen 1. In addition, he pretended that the aircraft in which he was flying was the same one he had flown during the war. Göring was particularly popular in Sweden and he appeared regularly in the media. However, the former Luftwaffe pilot realized that his current job was temporary and dangerous. He had to perform increasingly dangerous stunts to keep the crowds enthralled. This had already cost him the undercarriage once. He therefore decided to seek a job in civil aviation in Sweden. After all, he was still disappointed with the situation in Germany and had no intention of returning. He was told by the company Svensk-Lufttrafik that he had been approved and was placed on the waiting list, awaiting a vacancy.

During that period when he was waiting for a vacancy, something happened that changed his whole life. The season for stunt flying was over, so Göring often used his plane as an air cab. He earned a little extra in this way. In the winter of 1920, the weather was very bad and most people decided to use the old-fashioned methods of travel. However, Count Eric von Rosen, who had missed the train and was looking forward to a quick way to get from Stockholm home to Rockelsta, dared to travel by plane in the harsh winter weather. Von Rosen decided to be flown home on Görings plane. After a long trip, during which they lost their way several times, they arrived at Von Rosen's medieval castle late in the day. Göring was allowed to stay overnight and during his stay there met Carin von Kantzow, sister of the castle lady.

Von Kantzow had married Captain Nils von Kantzow ten years earlier. Together they had had one child, Thomas. During Göring's stay at the castle, Göring and Carin von Kantzow began a relationship. Hermann Göring's mother opposed their relationship, although she herself had had an extramarital affair with Hermann Epenstein. Not long after this, Göring asked her to marry him, but she refused because she knew her husband would not accept the divorce. Moreover, Nils von Kantzow had pointed out to his wife that Göring had no steady job and only a small income. He would wait until the affair ended. However, Carin von Kantzow and Hermann Göring continued to see each other often and lived together in an apartment for some time. Nils von Kantzow continued to send Carin money to ensure her well-being.

In 1921 Göring decided to leave Sweden because he could no longer get a job. At the same time, he thereby put Carin's love to the test. Göring was aware that it would not be much easier for him to get a job abroad because he had no education. Carin therefore decided to take Göring to art dealers and museums. This awakened in him the enthusiasm for art, which would once become the consuming passion of his life. At the same time, Göring had become interested in Germany again, and he read the newspapers from Berlin and Munich to keep abreast of the situation. He also learned that he had been awarded a scholarship to study history and political science at the University of Munich. Göring then left for Germany as soon as possible, but Carin stayed behind in Sweden and would follow him after he bought a house. Within a month, however, Göring received a telegram that she was on her way to Munich.

Soon Carin returned to Sweden to settle the divorce. Nils von Kantzow was even willing to give her alimony and allowed her to visit her son freely. After an emotional goodbye, she returned to Germany. Carin von Kantzow married Hermann Wilhelm Göring at Munich City Hall on Feb. 3, 1923.

Sturmabteilung en Bierkellerputsch

When Göring returned to Munich from Sweden, peace had somewhat returned to Bavaria and its capital. The Communist uprising had been put down and the right-wing repression that followed was over. Most of the war veterans, including Göring, and students believed that Germany had not been defeated, but had been attacked in the back, the so-called dagger punch legend. Various nationalist parties were formed, many of which disappeared again after a short existence.

Three well-organized patriotic groups were now building a private army: the nationalists, who were anti-left but favored a gradual rapprochement. The center ostensibly cooperated with the current government, but had been working on its fall for some time. As a third group of these patriotic parties, there were the National Socialists; a combative group with far-right and racist views consisting of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) and its supporters.

The last group, the National Socialists, was one of the few groups at this time that turned an incoherent collection of like-minded people into a punitively managed political organization. The Nazis' main spearheads were expelling the "November criminals," getting the people behind the party to build a proud and national Germany, and tearing up the Treaty of Versailles, by force or otherwise. In the winter of 1922, during a demonstration against the Treaty of Versailles, Hermann Göring met the leader of the NSDAP, Adolf Hitler. Göring was impressed by meeting Hitler, and for Hitler, Göring was the World War I hero he needed. The former commander of the Jagdgeschwader Richthofen 1 was an excellent propaganda tool for the Nazi Party. In addition, Hitler believed that Göring's experience and intelligence could mean a lot to the NSDAP. It was therefore not surprising that Göring joined that organization. Soon Hitler appointed him commander of the Sturmabteilung (SA), of which he was to make a strong private army within a short time. Upon Görings appointment, the SA lacked discipline, cohesion and thrust. Görings military past would give the SA the corps spirit it needed.

Göring asked for a two-month postponement after Hitler's request to become SA commander. This was because he first wanted to settle some private matters, including marrying Carin on Feb. 3, 1923. After two months, he went to work as leader of the paramilitary organization. Göring worked hard at first to give the collection of men the proper corps spirit and training. Soon the unregulated gangs, which had previously acted as guards at party meetings, had turned into smooth, efficient groups. In addition, Göring put together groups to continuously protect Hitler and his supporters from attacks by the "reds"; at the same time, Göring thought it a good plan to disrupt the meetings of the Communists and Socialists. A weekly march was organized and all members were given a uniform by Hugo Boss that looked like this: a cap with a flap, brown shirt, riding breeches and boots. Around the arm they wore a band with the Nazi logo, the swastika. Despite this professionalization that Göring had implemented, the SA was not nearly strong enough to stage a coup. Its size was about 11,000 men and only a limited number of rifles were available.

On May 1, 1923, the SA carried out its first major action. That was the day the Munich Socialists held their traditional reunion. Göring gathered the members of the Sturmabteilung and together with Hitler, a large counter-demonstration was staged. Dressed in his military uniform, Göring would lead the demonstration against the Socialists, but also against the humiliations of recent times, including the French occupation of the Ruhr. The counter-demonstration ended in a painful but instructive confrontation with the authorities. Otto von Lossow, commander of the Reichswehr in Bavaria, threatened harsh action if the demonstration continued.

Hitler decided to cancel the demonstration, although this was against Göring's wishes. Hitler then took some time off; he left for the mountains to recharge. Soon Hitler returned and several party conferences were held that summer. During these conferences, which frequently took place at Görings villa in Munich, the Nazi leaders concluded that the time had come to make a grab for power. They also agreed that they could accomplish this only if they had the support of the police and army. To get that support, they had to win over Von Lossow. Although he had "abandoned" the Nazis on May 1, the Nazis approached him again, as they were convinced he would cooperate. Von Lossow turned down the offer, the future position of Reich Minister of Armaments. He did not join the conspiracy.

Göring and Hitler were nevertheless of the opinion, that Von Lossow and the Reichswehr would look the other way in the event of an armed uprising. With this in mind, the Nazi leaders proceeded to the actual preparations. Göring was mainly in charge of preparing the SA. He had to ensure sufficient weapons and the corps spirit had to be good. Privately, things were not going as well for Göring during this period. Carin's health had deteriorated. Yet for Göring, this was no brake on his activities for the party.

Meanwhile, the new government in Berlin announced that resistance in the Ruhr had to end, as the French threatened reprisals. Both the Nazis, and the anti-Berlin government in Bavaria, protested vehemently. Since the Bavarian government now expected an uprising by the nationalists, it appointed Gustav von Kahr as general state commissioner with all powers to maintain order. Von Kahr's separatist movement had received Von Lossow's blessing, and there was an important meeting on Nov. 8 between Von Kahr, Von Lossow and Hans von Seißer, commander of the Bavarian police. This meeting would discuss ways to depose the government in Berlin.

The Nazis decided to use this opportunity for the coup. Hermann Göring went to pay a last visit to the ailing Carin on the evening of November 8 before preparing for the coup. Hitler talked an officer of the police down, after which they cleared the crowded street. Hitler, along with other Nazi leaders, including Rudolf Hess, entered the Bürgerbräukeller. At the same time, trucks of SA officers, including Göring, arrived at the site in front of the beer cellar. The police did not respond to the appearance, leaving the storm troopers free to act. Afterwards, the policemen present reported that because of the Stahlhelmen they thought they were regular Reichswehr soldiers.

Soon the Nazis took the beer cellar and the leaders of the meeting, Von Kahr, Von Lossow and Von Seisser, were captured and forced to cooperate with the coup. In doing so, Hitler did need the support of Erich Ludendorff, a World War I general. Göring was charged with calming and keeping those present in the beer cellar calm. Von Kahr, Von Lossow and Von Seisser decided to cooperate and let all present know this. Soon Von Kahr, Von Lossow and Von Seisser were released at Ludendorff's request, since they had given their word as soldiers. Soon after their release, they withdrew their commitment and orders were sent out to stop the Nazis.

Then the Nazis left the beer cellar and formed a column in the square. After the sign was given, the column was set in motion and in front walked the leaders: Ludendorff in the middle, Hitler on his right and Göring on his left, then Ulrich Graf, Max von Scheubner-Richter and Ludendorff's aide-de-camp, Hans Streck.

A first problem soon arose with the Landespolizei, which had been ordered to obstruct passage on the Ludwigsbrücke. Whereas Hitler and Ludendorff were confident that the column could reach its destination without too much trouble, Hermann Göring was fearful of the Reichwehr's attitude. With the Bavarian Landespolizei he easily managed to deal with them. As the column stopped, Göring went forward and talked to the commander of the unit on the bridge, Georg Köfler. He pointed to the group of ministers and police commanders they had captured the night before and threatened to shoot the hostages dead if the police opened fire. The police retreated and the Nazis were able to march across the bridge into the city. The Nazis were welcomed by the people of Munich, and they quickly moved up Residenzstrasse. The narrow street ended in Odeonsplatz, an open square. There a second police unit blocked the road. Ulrich Graf was ordered to run forward to let the commander know that Ludendorff and Hitler were coming. However, the commander, Michael Freiherr von Godin, had been ordered to obstruct the Nazis' passage at all costs. When the column got close, fire was opened. It is unclear who fired the first shot; presumably it was an SA man. Scheubner-Richter was hit by a bullet and dropped dead in front of Hitler, who in turn tripped over the body. Göring immediately flinched, but suddenly felt a burning pain in his thigh and fell down on the street. The Nazis fired back briefly, but soon the National Socialists retreated to safe territory. Only Ludendorff and his adjutant Streck continued their march. Believing no one would shoot him, he ran straight for the police, who took him into custody.

Göring, who was bleeding heavily because of the bullet that had entered his groin and hip, was carried into the house of a furniture dealer by some SA officers. The lady of the house, Ilse Ballin, and her sister had gained some experience in nursing during World War I. They immediately took off Göring's riding breeches, cleaned the wound as far as possible and stemmed the blood. Ironically, the Ballins were Jews and knew who Göring was and how his party felt about them. Also, they knew Göring was wanted, but nevertheless they tried to take care of him as best they could. At Göring's request, they contacted Alwin Ritter, a Nazi supporter, who worked at a clinic in the center of town. Later that evening, Göring was taken to the clinic, where his wounds were cleaned. During Kristallnacht, the Ballin family was rounded up and imprisoned in a concentration camp. Göring made sure at the time that they were released.

Refuge

The government had begun a raid on participants in the putsch and Göring had to be helped out of the country as quickly as possible. Some SA officers managed to smuggle him out of Munich the very day after the putsch. He was temporarily lodged with Carin's friends in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. He stayed there for two days, but then had to leave because it had become known in the town that Hermann Göring was hiding there. On November 13, 1923, Carin and Göring tried to cross the border into Austria. However, at the border they were arrested by the police and taken back to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Göring was taken back to a police-guarded hospital and his passport was taken away. In the hospital, however, some Nazi policemen and disguised SA officers groomed a false passport for him and worked out an escape plan. A few hours later Göring had still crossed the border into Austria, where he was admitted to the hospital in Innsbruck. The wound recovered slowly, he suffered excruciating pains and was given daily injections of morphine. At Christmas 1923 Göring was finally allowed to leave the hospital, but he still had to walk on crutches for some time. Meanwhile, the von Kahr government was preparing for the trial of Hitler and Ludendorff. Hitler's lawyer had already visited Göring several times to speak with him and receive help for the defense. After Rudolf Hess, who had also fled to Austria, surrendered to the German authorities, Göring felt great urgency to do the same. However, at the request of Hitler, who kept in touch with Göring in prison through smugglers, he remained in hiding in Austria. He stayed at his godfather Hermann Epenstein's castle Burg Mauterndorf in Mauterndorf.

Despite the Nazis' failed attempts to seize power, the Nazis continued to gain popularity in Germany. In some places they were the largest party after the Social Democrats, and they managed to win a few seats in the Reichstag. Despite the disappointment that Göring could not attend this, these reports did him good. Still receiving morphine for pain, he often moved between Innsbruck, Vienna and Salzburg to consult with various Nazis visiting from Germany. After the elections, the party coffers were empty, but money was needed for the trial of Hitler and Ludendorff. Many lawyers offered their services for free, but the Nazis wanted to make propaganda and get the people behind them during the trial. Göring was asked to approach wealthy Austrians, especially those who had interests in German business. However, the Austrian government felt nothing about Austrian money benefiting a foreign party. Soon Göring was visited by investigators and urged to leave the country and return to Germany as soon as he had recovered. Göring first awaited the trial of Hitler, which began on February 23, 1924 and lasted over a month, and then planned to decide whether to return to Germany or to leave for Sweden via Italy. Since it soon became clear that Göring did not obtain political amnesty, the Görings decided not to return to Germany. After the verdict against the Nazi leaders, Hitler and Hess were sentenced to five years in prison, Göring suffered a setback in his health. His leg suddenly ached again and he suffered from depression. The Görings needed money to travel to Sweden via Italy. Carin decided that Göring should stay in the hospital and that there his wound should be re-examined. She herself, although also wanted, went back to Munich in mid-April to collect money for their trip. This succeeded in part through the sale of the Görings' car, on which the attachment had now been lifted.

After Carin's return, Göring was already better on his feet and they quickly left for Italy. On May 4, 1924, they arrived in Venice, from where they left for Rome. There Göring met with the new Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, but the conversation did not help the fleeing Nazi. Meanwhile, Göring was getting fatter and fatter and became addicted to morphine. Carin also ailed with her health and often had to stay in bed for days at a time. If they still wanted to leave for Sweden, it had to be done quickly. They were running out of savings and could not live on Carin's parents' money forever. Göring decided that the party should make him a donation, but just at that moment it suddenly appeared that the connection between Göring and the party had been severed. While Hitler was in captivity, the philosopher Alfred Rosenberg had taken over the leadership. Göring had regularly criticized Rosenberg in the past, whereupon the latter decided almost immediately after his appointment as interim leader that Göring be placed on the list of inactives and later deleted all such "inactives" from the membership list.

It was impossible for Göring himself to return to Germany, and the letters he wrote to the party received no response. Carin, although ill, had to return to Munich to oversee the situation and obtain money for their trip to Sweden. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler had also returned from prison and, after some detours, Carin met him. Hitler was dumbfounded that Göring was no longer on the membership list and immediately reinstated him. Also, he gave Carin a pile of money for their trip to Sweden. Within a month, via Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland, the Görings had arrived in Sweden.

Soon after arrival, Carin's health continued to deteriorate. Göring, on the other hand, tried to kick his morphine addiction in Sweden. He limited the number of injections to two a day. However, he could not find a job in the country and soon longed to return to Germany. However, his connections to the party were totally severed and everything he learned about the Nazis came from the anti-Nazi Swedish newspapers. Soon the number of morphine injections increased again to six a day. Carin's family had Göring admitted to rehab, which he was only too happy to attend. After all, he was also aware that his addiction would eventually drive him to death. The amount of morphine in that clinic decreased drastically from the beginning, after which Göring assaulted a nurse. He was then put in a straitjacket, examined by doctors who declared him insane and taken to the psychiatric institution Långbro sjukhus. After three months of being completely deprived of morphine, Göring was weaned off. He returned home, but when he found that Carin had become even sicker and again no job was waiting for him, he became addicted again. He went back to the asylum, and two months later he was off rehab again. Göring would never use morphine again. When he returned home and joined his ailing wife in the summer of 1926, he longed more and more to return to Germany. However, he still had no amnesty and thus still had to wait in Sweden before he could return to Germany.

In the fall of 1927, a large-scale demonstration took place in Tannenberg, East Prussia. After the demonstration, President Paul von Hindenburg gave a speech that marked the first step toward amnesty for political persons in exile. Shortly after the demonstration, a petition was submitted by the right-wing parties to grant amnesty and release political prisoners. The petition was supported by the enemy of the right-wing parties, the Communists, since that party also had a lot of prisoners. Soon after, Göring returned to Germany, initially without Carin, who was too ill to travel.

Rise of Nazis

Upon his return, he was not received as a former hero. The party and its leaders had changed considerably, and Hitler had decided that the NSDAP should come to power through a political path. After talks with Hitler, Göring was told that he should first find a job in business and regain his touch with the party. So Göring went looking for a job. Among other things, he worked as a representative for the Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW). When Carin had recovered and returned in the spring of 1928, Hitler also showed renewed interest in Göring to get him back in the party leadership.

Hitler's interest stroked Göring's ego. He went through all the influential relationships he had known during and after the war and used them for his own purposes. For example, he used Paul Körner's car and served Körner himself as driver. Bruno Loerzer was married to a wealthy woman and she paid for lunches for potential buyers of the BMW motorcycles. He also used Prince Philip of Hesse-Kassel as bait for customers. Göring additionally lavished party coffers by warming businessmen from Krupp, BMW and Heinkel to the NSDAP. He had almost completely recovered and in the intoxication he was in, Carin also flourished. Because of his good work in and with the business world and Hitler's regained confidence, the latter decided to put him on the list for the upcoming elections. A place in the Reichstag would earn Göring a good, steady salary and would thus be back in the highest circles of the party at a stroke.

Göring's campaign in Berlin was short, but noisy. Whereas before he spoke calmly to the crowd and was able to convince them well, this election campaign was completely different. The resulting crisis in Germany made the population restless and the Nazis capitalized on it. Göring knew excellently how to stir up the crowd and insulted his opponents. These were turbulent elections with many deaths and injuries. The elections had ended in defeat for the Nazis. The Social Democrats and Communists together won as many as 207 of the 608 seats in the Reichstag. The Nazis obtained only 810,000 votes, or 12 seats. Göring, however, was one of the 12 Nazis who took seats in the Reichstag. For Göring, the results were quite favorable. Along with the other eleven, including Joseph Goebbels and Gregor Strasser, he was now among the top members of the party.

After this, Göring entered a busy period. He moved to Berlin and had a steady job. There were also many party meetings and Göring served as the party's chief speaker after Hitler. His salary of eight hundred marks a month plus expenses was more than enough to live on. In return, Göring did have to travel to all regions of the country to address the people and thus win supporters for the NSDAP. In addition, money came in from various other sources. Fritz Thyssen, the industrialist, also gave the Göring family money and, because of Göring's position in the Reichstag, gave him more influence in commercial matters. In addition, Göring had made a lucrative deal with Erhard Milch of Lufthansa; he was going to earn a thousand marks a month there.

Now that Göring was in the Reichstag, it was his duty to join Goebbels and other party representatives as much as possible in organizing matters that contributed to the disruption of the state system. Göring initially concentrated mainly on the fact that more funds should go to civil aviation. In time, then, Germany could, according to Göring, rebuild an air force. He left Nazi radicalism to persons like Goebbels, and he himself concentrated on the social class, to which he counted himself. This was precisely why Hitler wanted him in the Reichstag: Görings conduct indicated that the NSDAP was a politically correct party.

In the 1930 election period, the Nazis had to deal with the first real internal power struggle. Otto Strasser, against Hitler's orders, had supported a strike and had repeatedly made negative comments about the party and Hitler. He was expelled from the party by Hitler, after repeated urging by Göring and Goebbels, and founded a splinter party called the Die Schwarze Front. Göring was not so much bothered by Strasser as by Ernst Röhm, who had returned from Bolivia. Röhm took command of the Sturmabteilung, which at that time numbered one hundred thousand men. Göring feared that in time the SA would also break away or be used by Röhm to take over power in the party. Hitler, however, needed the SA to make the party's strength in the state highly visible. Göring wanted him to regain control of the SA in order to implement the discipline Hitler desired. Hitler refused, probably because otherwise Göring would gain too much power. There were other tensions surrounding the elections within the party. There was discontent within the SA. In the run-up to the elections, SA members had worked hard for the party, and the SA leader in Prussia and East Prussia, Walther Stennes, demanded that SA members receive more money from the party. Moreover, he agreed with Otto Strasser that a violent uprising could bring the Nazis to power. Stennes remained loyal to the party, however, but there was a perception among the average SA member that some senior Nazis, including Rosenberg and Goebbels led a lazy life. Göring, thanks in part to his past, stayed out of harm's way and was still immensely popular with the SAs.

Meanwhile, Göring was busy organizing the election campaign. He scoured the entire country to address groups of people. The Nazi election campaign, partly due to the situation to the global crisis, was successful this time. On September 14, the Reichstag elections were held and after the votes were counted, it was found that 6,409,600 people had voted for the Nazis. This yielded one hundred and seven seats, making it at once the second largest party in the country. This effectively began the NSDAP's political ascendancy in Germany. The Nazis now had to concentrate on two goals: one was to woo the growing number of unemployed, which had emerged after the Stock Market Crash in the United States, and the other was to woo the bankers, including Hjalmar Schacht, and industrialists, who were not yet affiliated with the Nazis. The latter were the kind of people with whom Göring had to gain trust. Hitler, as party leader, was now forced to enter into neatly dressed conversations with bankers. Through Göring's intervention, he and Göring met Schacht in early 1931. His joining the Nazis was an important step for the National Socialists. He was a skilled economist and had a good understanding of political possibilities. Göring's powers of persuasion were the deciding factor for Schacht in this meeting.

The year 1931 was a difficult one worldwide, but Germany was hit extra hard by the crisis. For the NSDAP, the crisis was a propaganda tool par excellence and it frequently played on the bad situation in which many people were living at that time. Every step forward taken by the party and Göring was overshadowed by Carin's major health problems. In the spring of 1931, she often lay in bed for hours in a kind of coma, and the doctor said she was beyond saving and would soon die. Hard times began for Göring, who was now under constant pressure as leader of the opposition. Although he was a Protestant, Göring was asked by Hitler at this time to travel to Rome to convince the Vatican that the Nazis had good intentions. He reported that, in the event the Nazis came to power, the position of the Church would not change. In return, he said that high-ranking people at the church should not interfere in political affairs.

Upon his return, the struggle in the Reichstag became increasingly fierce. The coalition of Social Democrats had to be destroyed. To speed up this process, Göring led the Nazi delegates out of the Reichstag in February 1931, and they did not return until September 1931. Göring tried to make an alliance with General Kurt von Schleicher to form a coalition. Also, in October 1931, he managed to arrange a meeting between Hitler and Hindenburg, who did not favor each other on a personal level. For Göring, psychologically, this was a difficult time. Because of the meeting between Hitler and Hindenburg, at which he himself was to be present, he had to return from Sweden, where his wife lay deathly ill in bed. Carin had attended her mother's funeral a few days earlier. On Oct. 17, 1931, Göring received word from Sweden that his wife had died. He immediately returned to Sweden and found Carin's body laid out in the small garden chapel of the family residence. He attended his wife's funeral and immediately afterwards he left for Germany again and threw himself into preparations for the elections, which took place in 1932.

Election victory

The year 1932 was an extremely important year for the Nazis. The crisis was felt worse than ever in the country and elections for the Reichstag and the presidency were held. Both consecutive presidential elections took place in March and April, in which Hitler was one of the candidates. Later that year, in July and November, were the elections to the Reichstag. Göring, working hard for the party and thus overcoming his grief, worked hard during the election campaign. He traveled all over Germany making speeches to win votes for the upcoming elections. The Nazi campaign was a success. Although Paul von Hindenburg stayed well ahead of his rival Hitler, still 11 million people had voted for Hitler in the first round of the election. In the second round, Hitler gained an additional two million votes, bringing the total to thirteen million Nazi voters. The Social Democrats feared that the Nazis were planning a new coup with the SA, and thereupon the SA was banned on April 13. Behind the scenes, Göring managed to get Kurt von Schleicher to force Heinrich Brüning, the chancellor, to resign. In a meeting between Franz von Papen, Hitler and Göring, Von Papen was put forward as the new chancellor on the condition that the ban on the SA be lifted. This occurred quite soon after von Papen's appointment in June 1932.

Led by Göring, the Nazis began campaigning for the Reichstag elections. Whereas in the presidential elections the popular Von Hindenburg snatched a lot of votes from Hitler, in the Reichstag elections the National Socialists went for the win. In the July elections, the party won 230 seats, which was almost an absolute majority. Von Hindenburg refused to accept Hitler for ministerial office, but the NSDAP leader knew that the chancellorship was within reach. He ordered Göring to deal with Von Papen as quickly as possible. Göring's position of power increased considerably after the first meeting in August 1932. Indeed, he had amassed enough votes to become president of the Reichstag. This position enabled him to control and manipulate the whole affair in such a way that Von Papen's position became increasingly oppressive. The struggle between Göring and Von Papen became increasingly fierce. Göring's only goal was to remove Von Papen from office, with the support of the Reichstag, forcing Von Hindenburg to look for a new chancellor. He would then automatically end up with Adolf Hitler. Von Papen in turn complained to Von Hindenburg about Görings behavior and plans. He wanted the Reichstag dissolved, allowing him to act freely, without having the support of the Reichstag. Meanwhile, because of Görings repetitive behavior, the Communists had lost confidence in Von Papen and filed a no-confidence motion. The Nazis supported this motion, after which a vote soon took place on whether or not Von Papen should stay on. Even before the vote took place, Von Papen submitted the dissolution decree. Göring, however, ignored it and proceeded to the vote. This vote showed that Göring had performed his task with verve. 513 delegates, an overwhelming majority, voted against Von Papen. Göring, as president of the Reichstag, was able to invalidate the order to dissolve the Reichstag because it bore the signature of a man who was not chancellor. The Nazis had been ahead of the wily Von Papen, who left the Reichstag with his supporters.

Von Hindenburg, however, dissolved the Reichstag anyway. There would be another election in November 1932. In these elections, the Nazis lost two million votes and fell below two hundred seats. Göring was again elected president of the Reichstag. He was convinced that the Nazis should use this period to take over total power in Germany. If that failed, the only remaining option was a coup. This was something Göring absolutely wanted to avoid and he had to stop the Nazi leadership from doing this several times already. To prevent this he put even more time into his work and he even approached Von Hindenburg's son to get Hitler made chancellor. Meanwhile, some tensions had also arisen within the party. Gregor Strasser, the brother of the previously departed Otto Strasser, believed he could become the new Nazi leader. He sought support from Von Schleicher, but Hitler found out about Strasser's plans and forced him out of the party. This also marked the end of the alliance between the NSDAP and Von Schleicher.

It was now a matter for Göring, together with Hitler, to re-engage Von Papen in a political alliance with the Nazis. On January 4, 1933, the political leaders met and Von Papen decided to support Hitler. The exhausted Von Hindenburg was convinced by Von Papen to appoint Hitler as chancellor after Von Schleicher, having failed to garner sufficient support in the Reichstag, resigned. Hitler's position was not yet so strong that he could demand that the entire cabinet consist of Nazis. Quite the contrary, in fact. Von Papen decided to support the Nazis, on the condition that he himself become vice chancellor and that two-thirds of the cabinet members consisted of non-party individuals. This meant that Hitler could choose only two party members as ministers. Hitler agreed, provided Göring was one of these two and he was given the posts of "Minister of the Interior in Prussia" and "Minister without Portfolio." This would give the Nazis enough power on the way to dictatorial power. The Nazis' third cabinet member was Wilhelm Frick. Von Papen and Von Hindenburg thought that the limited number of Nazi members put them in charge and not the Nazis.

Period 1933 - 1935

Hitler and Göring soon came to the conclusion that quick action was desirable. A majority had to be obtained in the Reichstag, otherwise there was a possibility that Hitler would be voted out as chancellor. The day after Hitler's appointment, the Reichstag was dissolved and elections were called for March 5, 1933. Göring was a powerful man within Germany at this time. In addition to his job as president of the Reichstag, he held three other offices, namely: in the Hitler Cabinet, he was minister without portfolio; in the Reich, minister for Aviation Affairs; in the powerful Prussian state, minister of the interior. This last post was the most important, because Göring had control of the police in this important state. Since Prussia covered much of Germany, this office was essential to the Nazis. Göring, therefore, made quite a few changes to the Prussian police staff to ensure that Nazi control of the police was guaranteed.

Meanwhile, a new woman had also crept into Hermann Göring's life. The actress Emmy Sonnemann and Göring had met in 1931, and a love affair had slowly developed after Carin's death.

The question for Göring and Hitler was how to achieve a landslide election victory in March. Göring was busy making speeches all over the country. At a party organized by Göring, the party coffers were lavished by industrialists.

The Communists, but certainly also the Social Democrats, found that they were not protected by the police when their meetings were disrupted. In addition, the regular police were not allowed to take hostile action against the SA, SS and Stahlhelm. On February 22, 1933, Göring established so-called auxiliary police corps, consisting of members of the SA and SS. According to official reports, this was because the police needed reinforcement in these dangerous times. In fact, what it came down to was that the SA and SS were more fanatical and cracked down harder on opponents' party rallies. Göring had the Communists' headquarters raided in the run-up to the elections and reported that documents for an uprising had been found. He prohibited the Communists from holding further party meetings. This was decisive in the election campaign. He thus eliminated the Communists for victory in one fell swoop.

On Feb. 27, 1933, the Nazis received what Hitler called a "gift from heaven." On this day, after nine in the evening, the Reichstag fire took place. Göring hurriedly rushed to the fire. He was at the Prussian Ministry of the Interior at the time of the outbreak. Upon Göring's arrival, it turned out that his office was already completely destroyed, including his many memories of Carin and some heirlooms. While the fire was still raging, the twenty-four-year-old Dutchman, Marinus van der Lubbe, was arrested. He immediately confessed to setting the fire. It turned out that he belonged to a Trotskyist group. The Nazis immediately thought of a Communist conspiracy and an attack on the new government. They were convinced that Van der Lubbe had not acted alone. It was notable that Göring was ordered to arrest the Communists immediately after Hitler's arrival, and he already had the lists of names ready for that purpose. Three others were arrested in addition to Van der Lubbe, namely: Georgi Dimitrov, Blagoi Popov, Wassil Tanev (all Bulgarian). A fourth, Ernst Torgler, the German Communist Party leader, turned himself in after hearing the news that he was wanted for being the last to leave the building. Their trial was to take place in September 1933, and Göring wanted to make a show of it, giving the name of the Communists in Germany the final blow. However, it became his first major political blunder of his career. Göring shouted and ranted at the trial against the defendants, but Dimitrov rebuked him. After that, Göring stayed away from the trial. At this trial, only Van der Lubbe was found guilty, because the others could simply prove that they were in another place at the time of the fire. Van der Lubbe received the death penalty and was beheaded on January 10, 1934.

The Reichstag fire was met with dismay in Germany and abroad. Many were convinced that this was an action of the Nazis themselves, with Göring as the mastermind. After all, Göring's presidential palace was connected to the Reichstag by an underground passage, and he is said to have ordered some SA men to set fire to the Reichstag, leave Van der Lubbe there with the burning torch, and disappear again himself through the underground passage. Göring, however, always swore that he knew nothing about the fire. Loerzer stated on February 28, 1933, in a conversation with Albrecht Freiherr von Freyberg-Eisenberg-Allmendingen:

I don't understand all the nonsense people are spreading about the Reichstag fire. I was ordered by my friend Goering, together with a group of SA men, to set fire to the Reichstag.

General Franz Halder testified under oath at the Nuremberg trials that Göring had said at Hitler's birthday party on April 20, 1942:

The only one who really knows what happened in the Reichstag is me, because I set it on fire.

Göring denied that. Immediately after the Reichstag fire, countless Communists were rounded up all over Germany and put into the disciplinary camps, the precursor to the later concentration camps, established by Göring. This made the Communists hopeless in the elections in advance. The elections were won by the Nazis with 43.9% of the vote. The Nazis and their allies gained 340 seats, a majority. Göring was again elected president of the Reichstag. When Hitler also gained dictatorial power legally on March 23, 1933 - because of the Enabling Act - nothing stood in the way of the Nazis' absolute power anymore.

Göring felt the pressure on his person eased slightly and had a friendly meeting with the fascist Mussolini, who told him that he was not fond of the extreme anti-Semitism of the Nazis. Upon his return, it turned out that Göring had taken over the office of prime minister, or Kommissar, of Prussia from Von Papen, whom they had persuaded to resign. On April 26, 1933, Göring renamed Germany's security police the "Geheime Staatspolizei," or Gestapo. During this time Göring was persuaded several times by Emmy Sonnemann to release prisoners from concentration camps. This he continued to do for quite some time, something that later earned him a reprimand from Hitler. On Göring's orders, however, some camps, so-called "wild camps," established by the SA were closed. Even an SS camp in Osnabrück Göring wanted to close, but Himmler denied the police access and the SS officers actually opened fire on them. Göring was furious with Himmler and went stampeding to Hitler. The latter decided to close the camp, thus preventing a personal war between Göring and Himmler, his two greatest followers. Göring believed that the concentration camps did not serve as horrific places where people should be mistreated, but he ordered the leaders of the SA and SS, Röhm and Himmler, to re-educate the prisoners and apply rehabilitation: the prisoners should return to society as good Germans. In practice, it turned out that the leaders of the paramilitary movements cared little for this.

When Hitler formed his first coalition cabinet, Göring was assigned the post of "Reichskommissar für die Luftfahrt." He retained this position even after Hitler's total seizure of power, following the death of President Hindenburg. No one except Göring and Hitler took this job seriously at first. After all, according to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was not allowed to build up an air force. However, despite the ban, Göring planned to build up a strong air force again in time. Not for nothing had he advocated since 1929 for more financial support for Lufthansa, from which he would later take many of his pilots.

Meanwhile, Göring had his large estate north of Berlin built from party funds. This estate bore the name of his late first wife Carin Göring, the Carinhall. At the same time, he built a large chalet on the Obersalzberg, the Nazi stronghold near Berchtesgaden. His drive for property would only increase in the years to come.

In April 1934, Hitler instructed Göring to transfer command of the police to Heinrich Himmler, who was thereby put in charge of the police, Gestapo and SS. In May, his post as "Reichskommissar für die Luftfahrt" was upgraded to a ministerial post. He immediately began making propaganda for the establishment of an air force. Stories of Russian aircraft over German territory soon circulated at home and abroad. The British themselves sent an envoy to Göring to talk about selling some military planes. Meanwhile, Göring had approached Erhard Milch and Karl-Heinrich Bodenschatz, his former comrades in the air force, about a position in his ministry. Milch, a half-Jew, something that never bothered Göring, became secretary of state. Bruno Loerzer, also an old acquaintance of Göring, was made head of the "Air Sports Club." This organization was a secret training group for German pilots. Ernst Udet was brought in by Göring as an advisor.

Soon after his appointment, Göring informed some aircraft manufacturers that he was providing hefty credits for the aircraft industry, and production of Junkers Ju-52, Focke-Wulf Fw 200, Heinkel He 70 and Dornier flying boats could begin fairly soon. To train the air force, Göring removed several non-commissioned officers from the Reichswehr. They were to teach pilots the discipline of an armed force.

In 1934 Göring was given another ministry. Namely, he was appointed Reichsjägermeister and Reichsforstmeister. These two offices were transformed into one ministry in 1934. Görings reforms, especially those of the hunting laws, were very helpful for the balance of nature. Among other things, he banned vivisection and cruel trapping.

In 1934, all the senior Nazis, Göring, Röhm and Goebbels, as well as Himmler and Heydrich, were amassing power. In the struggle for power, all but SA leader Röhm were too busy conspiring against Hitler. The SA believed they should be rewarded for supporting Hitler, but the latter had more important things on his mind. He had to win over the Reichswehr. Under Göring's leadership, a plot was hatched against Röhm. Other key players in this were Himmler and Goebbels. They believed that Röhm was out for power. He would want to merge the SA with the army and stage a coup as commander-in-chief of the army. Hitler, who included Röhm in his cabinet, was aware of the danger but saw no immediate reason to eliminate Röhm. Göring, however, did see that. Together with the other Nazi leaders, they complemented Röhm's dossier. Göring played a major role in the plot against the SA leader. In particular, he played an important role in convincing Hitler that Röhm was planning a coup in the near future. Through Göring's powers of persuasion and the files that had been compiled, the Führer was convinced that it was necessary to eliminate Röhm and the other SA leaders. This took place on the night of June 30, 1934. This night is better known as the "Night of the Long Knives." During this night, 1124 people were taken into preventive custody by order of Göring. Röhm and other SA leaders were murdered, leaving the brown shirts decapitated and no longer a danger to the Nazi leadership. Kurt von Schleicher was also put to death, as he had tried to sow discord in the NSDAP in previous years. Hitler also wanted Vice Chancellor von Papen killed, as he had spoken negatively about the Nazis two weeks earlier. However, Göring managed to convince Hitler that it would cause unrest among the population and President Von Hindenburg.

During the "purges," 74 deaths were officially reported. Almost the entire population supported the measures taken by the Nazis. Göring received personal compliments from President Paul von Hindenburg. The telegram he sent stated:

Herrn Ministerpräsident Göring Berlin088 Teleg. 4012Accept my approval and congratulations for your successful action in suppressing treasonWith comradely thanks and greetings.Hindenburg

Partly because of his actions during this event, Göring rose further in Hitler's esteem. This caused Hitler to issue a secret decree on Dec. 7, 1934, making Göring "his deputy for all matters of national administration," should he himself be unable to fulfill duties. Göring's position as second-in-command of the Third Reich was ratified a few days later, on Dec. 13, by another law in which Hitler appointed Göring his successor and ordered the civil service, the army, the SA and the SS, immediately upon his death, to swear an oath of personal loyalty to Göring.

By 1935 it was clear to Göring: the existence of the Luftwaffe had to be made public. The Deutscher Luftsportverband had by now grown into a sizable organization. On February 26, 1935, at Göring's request, Reichsverteidigungsminister Von Blomberg hinted that an air force had been built up in secret, against the Versailles Treaty. By March 1935, the Luftwaffe had at its disposal 1888 aircraft and over 20,000 officers and men. Under Göring's watchful eye, all the highly disciplined "flying clubs" and "police formations" were transferred to the new Luftwaffe. Göring was assigned supreme command of the Luftwaffe as agreed.

At his wedding to Emmy Sonneman, on April 10, 1935, the Luftwaffe made its first public appearance. At least two hundred military planes hovered over the couple. Later that year, in September 1935, the Luftwaffe was shown openly at the Party Day, and developments were viewed with suspicion elsewhere in Europe. The Western Allies, France and Britain, were also beginning to modernize the army. In addition to Milch, Göring also appointed General Walther Wever to a leadership position. Göring believed that the experienced Wever could instill in the officer corps the proper National Socialist mentality.

In late 1935 and early 1936, the first test flights of the second generation of German fighter aircraft, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Messerschmitt Bf 110, began. Göring was very pleased with the first test results and had quite a few produced. After the death of General Wever - he was killed in a plane crash - Göring appointed Albert Kesselring as the new commander. The Luftwaffe expanded considerably over the next few years and would soon be in action for the first time.

Period 1936 - 1939

Since the existence of the Luftwaffe had been publicly announced and Göring had been appointed commander-in-chief, he dreamed of having the most powerful air force in Europe. Göring was busy expanding the Luftwaffe, and although he had Hitler's support, resources and finances were limited. He wanted a larger share of spending to be devoted to the Luftwaffe.

Hitler had informed Göring that in 1936 the Rhineland was to be occupied and that in doing so the Luftwaffe had to make a strong impression. Göring thought it was a bit early for that, since his air force had not yet been modernized. To obtain more funds, he had to venture into economic territory. To do so, he contacted Hjalmar Schacht, the minister of economic affairs. However, Schacht soon informed him that the people had already made great sacrifices and the proverbial lemon had by now been completely squeezed. Göring told Schacht that he was convinced that the people were ready to make even greater sacrifices in favor of rearmament. By means of a speech he managed to get the people behind him and thereupon the Führer ordered that more monies should go to rearmament; Schacht reluctantly gave in. Partly because of this, Göring was recommended by Schacht on April 16, 1936, to assume the post of Reichskommissar für Rohstoffe und Devisen. Schacht thought this would solve the disagreements in the armaments sector and have more time himself for the "important" economic affairs. However, Schacht did not take into account the fact that the economy in the Third Reich was largely focused on armaments.

Soon after his appointment, Göring began expanding his powers. Göring had Hitler's full support and established a new, independent authority on May 1, 1936 and gave himself the title Ministerpräsident Generaloberst Göring, Rohstoffe und Devisen. Schacht protested in vain to Hitler against this unauthorized exercise of office. Instead of limiting Göring's powers, Hitler greatly expanded them over the next few months.

In October 1936, during a walk with Hitler, Göring was told that he was given the position of Beauftragter für den Vierjahresplan. As leader of the four-year plan, he became at once Germany's most powerful man in the economic sphere. He had control over all agencies involved in the (war) economy. His duties included ensuring "food freedom for the German people" and more raw materials and foreign exchange for armaments. He was also charged with conducting a "war during peace. According to a secret memorandum issued by Hitler in 1936, only the conquest of new Lebensraum could permanently eliminate resource shortages. To achieve this goal, Göring had to have the economy and army ready for war within four years.

This "war during peace" method also affected everyday life. Göring put all the money into armaments at the expense of housing and food supplies. So much pressure was put on Göring that there were soon acute shortages of raw materials and labor. The iron ore program caused particular problems. Starting in 1937, iron and steel became increasingly scarce, and at the same time the private economy threatened to be unable to cope with the crisis. To avert an economic crisis, Göring accelerated the nazification of industry in the Ruhr region. At the same time, he founded a steel concern in Salzgitter under the name Reichswerke Hermann Göring, which soon became the largest in Europe. He had an associated city built with the name Hermann Göring Stadt.

In November 1937, Schacht stepped down as Minister of Economic Affairs; he could no longer stand the armament frenzy. His resignation was accepted on Dec. 8, and Göring was temporarily appointed his successor. Because of Göring's power grab within the economic sector, speculation was rife, especially about his position within the Third Reich. Numerous observers, including from abroad, saw in Göring the de facto Reich Chancellor of Germany, working under Hitler's sovereignty. Since Hitler rarely called the Reich Government together - after all, all decisions were made by the Nazis - Göring, as Prime Minister of Prussia, took over many of its assignments. During the meetings of the Prussian Council of Ministers, relatively many laws were prepared. Often ministers of the Reich Government, such as Gürtner (Justice) and Von Neurath (Foreign Affairs) also took part in discussions, when topics from their areas of expertise were discussed.

Göring also used his newly acquired position of power for personal purposes. Many industrialists tried to obtain lucrative armament contracts through donations. In this way Göring diverted millions of Reichsmark to his private account. Clearly, Göring had worked his way up to become the Reich's second-in-command.

After the presentation of the Luftwaffe and the silence of the Allies, the German air force had expanded considerably in the following months. The first "victory" over the Allies was in. At a meeting between General Von Blomberg, Hitler and Göring, it was decided that Germany would help the Spanish rebel forces, led by General Francisco Franco, with arms, troops and aircraft. Göring insisted on a large-scale deployment of the Luftwaffe so that it would undergo a proper test and, on that basis, any defects would be revealed.

Starting in June 1936, Germany provided support to Franco, who was fighting against the socialist government of Spain. Soon the first fighters and bombing aircraft came into action. Göring wanted to try all possible weapons and attack tactics, which led to the bombing of Guernica on April 26, 1937. Göring had ordered that some bridges and important intersections be attacked, but instead the bombs were released right over the city center; ninety inhabitants were killed. Göring, as leader of the Luftwaffe, was held responsible. It led to criticism especially from the British parliament. Consequently, Göring was not invited - as initially intended - to the coronation of King George VI. Instead of Göring, the Minister of War, Von Blomberg was invited. This was not to Göring's liking and he now wanted to quickly carry out what he had long planned: overthrow Von Blomberg and take his place himself.

Soon after von Blomberg's return from London, Göring began bringing down his reputation. Werner von Blomberg, sixty years old, was about to remarry. Since it was known to Göring that von Blomberg's wife-to-be had been in prison for pornographic photographs and she was thirty years younger, he immediately said there was no point in remarrying. He would even, along with Hitler, be a witness. Soon after Von Blomberg married, his wife's true nature was widely publicized by the media. Von Blomberg's good reputation was gone overnight, and he submitted his resignation. Göring wanted to assume the supreme command of the armed forces, but among the officers there was a lobby for Werner von Fritsch. However, through quick work by Göring and Himmler, von Fritsch also became involved in a scandal. He allegedly had a homosexual relationship. Although he was rightly acquitted - the Nazis had planned this - his name was heavily tarnished and he could forget the position as commander-in-chief.

The stage was set for placing a Nazi at the top of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. Göring was convinced that because of his great war record, he was the right person to take charge. Hitler found himself in a dilemma. On the one hand, Hitler knew that if he appointed a land force general to succeed Von Blomberg, Göring, as commander-in-chief of the air force, would not agree to be subordinate to a land force general. On the other hand, Hitler felt reluctant to yield to Göring's thirst for power. To circumvent both situations, Hitler announced on Feb. 4 that not Göring, but himself, would become commander-in-chief of the armed forces. There was not even a place for Göring as second-in-command in the army, as Hitler placed the docile Walther von Brauchitsch in that position. Göring was, however, appointed Generalfeldmarschall.

Since the Germans wanted to add Austria to the Reich, they were waiting for an opportune moment. On March 9, 1938, that moment had arrived. Austrian Chancellor von Schuschnigg announced a referendum, asking whether Austria should be annexed to Germany. Göring was now charged with organizing the Anschluss. First, he wrote a letter to von Schussnigg, demanding his resignation. At the same time, he informed Austrian Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart that he should be part of the new Austrian government. This new government, according to Göring, had to ask for the entry of German troops.

On March 11, Göring arranged the course of the annexation via twenty-seven telephone calls between Berlin and Vienna. Austrian President Miklas, however, refused to install a National Socialist in Von Schuschnigg's place. Göring then threatened to invade Austria through Seyss-Inquart, but again the president did not allow himself to be intimidated. From this point on, Göring took over the initiative. It ordered the invasion of Austria in the name of the führer and tough action where necessary. At 9 p.m., word reached Göring that President Miklas had received his message well and ordered the Austrian troops to offer no resistance. The annexation was a fact.

After the annexation of Austria, Hitler immediately focused on the next objective: Sudetenland. On April 20, the Wehrmacht was ordered to prepare for Fall Grün, an invasion of Czechoslovakia. Göring was much more cautious in this matter. He believed that the Wehrmacht was not yet ready for such actions. He did know through his own intelligence service that France and Britain did not favor a war, but still he was not comfortable with it. That is why Göring urged Hitler to solve the Czechoslovakia issue by force like Austria. Göring wanted to divide Czechoslovakia between Germany, Poland and Hungary. A violent solution, according to Göring, could draw the Western powers onto the battlefield.

Hitler, however, wanted to know nothing of these plans. In a secret conference of the Reich Chancellery, Hitler announced that he was going to attack. Göring still raised the objection that the Westwall was not sufficient to stop the French troops, but Hitler again dismissed his reservations. From this point on, Göring distanced himself from Hitler's race to war. Göring decided, however, that going against Hitler would not strengthen his position, so he sought other solutions to prevent the almost inevitable war. He contacted the governments in London and Paris and expressed his willingness to negotiate. He tried to use coercion and seduction to get the Western powers to remain calm.

When it came to foreign policy, Göring quickly lost his position of power to Joachim von Ribbentrop, who had succeeded Konstantin von Neurath as foreign minister in early 1938. Von Ribbentrop was an extremely docile person and that was what Hitler needed at the time. The Sudeten Germans were called upon to distance themselves from the Prague government, and the Wehrmacht was put into a state of readiness on Oct. 1, 1938. Göring, who frequently negotiated with British and French diplomats, tried in many ways to prevent a war. Göring invited British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to discuss the Sudeten question. The meeting, which took place on Sept. 15, only made the situation more grim. Chamberlain and Göring did want peace, but Hitler demanded the return of the Sudetenland.

Göring continued to try in many ways to reach an agreement that would keep the peace. Eventually Mussolini offered to mediate in the matter and this led to the Munich Conference. Göring had little part in the conference itself, but had carefully prepared everything in advance. It soon became clear that France and Britain did not want to risk war on behalf of Czechoslovakia. They therefore agreed to virtually all German demands. Indeed, in the months before, Göring had shown a member of the French embassy, Paul Stehlin, the strength of the current German army. Édouard Daladier had been convinced by Paul Stehlin, who was shown only the army's strengths, that a war against Germany would be very tough. Thereupon he decided to offer hardly any resistance to the Germans. Although Görings' part in the conference itself was minimal, he had to a large extent predetermined the outcome. Although the outcome was extremely positive for the Germans, by Oct. 10 the Sudetenland was to be handed over to Germany, Hitler appeared dissatisfied with Göring's "cowardly" attitude. In the months that followed, relations between Germany's first and second in command cooled sharply.

In March 1939, Göring was appointed by Hitler to annex the remaining part of the Czech Republic. Czechoslovak President Emil Hácha would not voluntarily hand over his country to the Germans, and thereupon Göring threatened to bomb Prague heavily. The president succumbed to the pressure and agreed to a German occupation, and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was created.

In the evening Nov. 9, 1938, two days after the attack on German diplomat Ernst vom Rath, it was announced that Vom Rath had died of his injuries. Led by Joseph Goebbels, riots broke out throughout Germany, initiated by SA members. Göring and Himmler had been told by Hitler not to interfere with anything. Yet Himmler deployed SS units in Berlin, Bremen, Hanover and Vienna to protect Jewish life and property. Göring also later ordered units of the police and members of the Allgemeine-SS to act against the violence.

On the afternoon of Nov. 10, Hitler ordered Göring to ban all Jews from business. Göring, who did not agree with these measures, then entered into a personal conversation with Hitler. During this conversation, Hitler made it clear that the Jews were also barred from participating in cultural events and from entering the "German forests. In addition, he demanded that the Jews compensate for the damages of Kristallnacht and set the amount to be paid at 1 billion Reichsmark.

Two days after Kristallnacht, on Nov. 12, 1938, Göring convened a meeting for about a hundred people in the Reichsluftfahrtsministerium. Göring wanted to take stock of the November Progrom, as Kristallnacht was also called. The extensive damage that had been inflicted on stores and the like had resulted in many insurance claims, which in turn had major implications for Göring's economic plan. He made the following statement about this:

I would have preferred that you had slain 200 Jews and not destroyed such values.

At the end of the meeting, Göring reported on the measures to be taken: the Jews had to pay a fine of one billion Reichsmark, were excluded from business, and were responsible for the damage done to their own property.

Seven weeks after these decrees were issued, Göring again tried to spare the Jews some harassment. Among other things, he prevented the complete abolition of rent protection for Jews and, just under nine months before the outbreak of World War II, he demanded that the emigration of Jews be supported, especially helping those less fortunate in their efforts.

On Sept. 1, the day the Germans opened the attack on Poland, Göring was publicly named by Hitler as his successor.

Göring held the following public offices:

Much ado was caused by Göring as Reich hunter master. Göring was the chief of all hunters in the German Reich. He organized large drive hunts and, as Minister of Forestry, ensured exemplary hunting laws.

The height of his power came after Britain and France declared war on Germany in 1939, when Hitler created the post of Reich Marshal especially for him. Because the Air Force had successfully contributed to the Blitzkrieg against Holland, Belgium and the armies of Britain and France, Göring was awarded the "Grand Cross of the Iron Cross" specially created for him in 1940.

After the annexation of Austria, Göring was satisfied with the result achieved. He did prepare the economy and his air force for a war in 1940, but was primarily interested in consolidating the - primarily conceived by himself and - achieved in the winter of 1939-1940 statehood. He was therefore one of the driving forces behind finding a diplomatic solution in the Sudeten crisis. According to some readings, although Mussolini had proposed a conference, the idea came from Göring. In a sense, the outcome was a triumph for Göring, but this was the last time Hitler would listen to him on foreign policy.

During the crisis following the declaration of independence of the First Slovak Republic in March 1939, Göring participated with Ribbentrop in the intimidation of Czechoslovak President Dr. Emil Hácha. Göring's threat to have his air force bomb Prague caused the 67-year-old president, suffering from a heart condition, to faint; an injection by Dr. Morell revived him after which he signed the surrender.

As Hitler prepared to attack Poland, Göring, who balked at this and pointed out to Hitler the dangers of war against France and the United Kingdom, was sent on vacation to the Italian Riviera. By 1939, the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine and the German economy were insufficiently prepared for a prolonged war, and Göring realized this. Nevertheless, Hitler appointed Göring as his deputy should anything happen to him. On September 3, 1939, when Göring learned that Britain and France had declared war on Germany, he spoke the following words:

"If we lose this war, may God have mercy on us."

Despite all these reservations, he ended up fully supporting Hitler's wars.

Göring nevertheless contributed to the downfall of Nazi Germany by being:

Göring promised the German people that "if even one bomb fell on Germany, they could call him Meier. In early September 1940, some British planes bombed Berlin, to which some cynical Berliners "wondered where Meier was anyway. Göring was taken to task by an angry Hitler (who had Molotov visiting at the time) and had to deploy his Luftwaffe in a retaliatory bombing of an English city. This strategic blunder gave the British the dreamed-of excuse to supplement their pressing pilot shortage and cause the Luftwaffe to suffer losses over England and the North Sea. After the American participation in the war, bombing raids on Germany and occupied territory increased in intensity, in raids sometimes involving more than 1,000 aircraft, and eventually killing 1 million Germans, most of whom would be women, children and the elderly. Görings Luftwaffe fought back bravely and doggedly, but was no match for this supremacy and so its image suffered heavy damage.

Nevertheless, Göring, as head of the Luftwaffe, was responsible for the terror bombings that had been carried out by Germany including:

Since 1936, Göring had been director of the "Four Year Plan for Armament" in order to prepare Germany for war. As a result, he came into conflict with Hjalmar Schacht who wanted less emphasis on autarchy and the military. Göring eventually managed to win the argument. Finally, he controlled much of the German economy and became the boss of the so-called "Hermann Göring Werke" which were larger than Krupp and through corrupt practices one of the richest people in the Third Reich. He owned several castles and country estates. During the war his urge to own was inhibited by nothing more; thus Göring confiscated a gigantic amount of art objects, mostly from wealthy Jews and museums in German-occupied countries, including part of the trading stock of the Jewish millionaire and art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. Of all the Nazis at the top, however, Hermann Göring was the one who saved most of the Jews who appealed to him, and in the summer of 1939 he sighed to an employee

"I wouldn't like to be a Jew in this country anyway."

And when someone from the Gestapo made it clear to him that Field Marshal Milch had a Jewish father, he snapped at the man

"Who is Jew in this country I decide, you have no business interfering with that!"

However, the loss of the Battle of Britain and other losses such as at Stalingrad in which the Luftwaffe played a leading role deprived him of much of his prestige, not least with Hitler himself. From 1943, Göring was no longer prominent in the foreground and was still mainly occupied with his private affairs. Toward the end of the war, Göring had much of his looted treasures stored in caves with the plan to drag them to a safer place or sell them after the war. Soon these caves were discovered by the Allies. Thus, these artifacts were preserved for posterity. In prison in Nuremberg, he hummed to a fellow inmate:

"What, You are complaining? You've had nothing, think of all I've lost..."

Nevertheless, Göring was one of the Nazis who possessed great popularity among the population alongside Hitler. This was probably due to the fact that he was a brave and very famous war hero and to his handsome and later good-natured appearance. He was therefore affectionately called Der Eiserne or Der Dicke, and it was often said that the very jovial Dicke did not mean it so badly.

Although Göring had been a fighter pilot himself, he lived at odds with his pilots. When the British bombed Berlin, Hitler was furious, especially since a bombing coincided with Molotov's visit to Berlin. Göring carried Hitler's wrath onto his pilots, scolding them for cowards. In the summer of 1943, USAAF fighters first appeared in German airspace. Adolf Galland and Erhard Milch called for more fighter planes to maintain a superiority over the attackers. Göring preferred more bombers until the fall of 1943 to maintain the initiative on all fronts. On Jan. 13, 1945, Göring relieved Adolf Galland of his position as general of fighter pilots. On Jan. 17, a group of decorated pilots including Johannes Steinhoff and Günther Lützow went to Göring to present their demands. Göring shouted and ranted about this mutiny and threatened the firing squadron. Göring suspected Galland as the instigator. Heinrich Himmler wanted to court-martial him for treason. The SS and Gestapo launched an investigation. Galland retreated to the Harz Mountains under house arrest. Hitler learned of this from Albert Speer and ordered that "all this nonsense" must stop immediately. Göring invited Galland to Carinhall and offered him command of the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters.

The end of the war was fast approaching. The Western Allies had already crossed the Rhine and Soviet troops had already penetrated the outskirts of Berlin. On April 20, 1945, Göring left his beloved Carinhall for the last time. Göring had the house guarded by a unit of the Luftwaffe, and his art treasures were transferred by train to his residence in Berchtesgaden. The moment the Red Army was to approach, the unit had to blow up the building with eighty aerial bombs. Göring went from the Carinhall directly to Berlin to attend Hitler's fifty-sixth birthday celebration.

This was the last time the leaders of the Third Reich were together. Hitler had come from the führerbunker to the damaged Reich Chancellery especially for this occasion. Hitler had determined the night before that he would remain in the capital. During Hitler's long speech, Göring realized that he was still formally the second-in-command of the German Reich. Göring quickly went to Hitler after the speech and still tried to convince the führer for an "escape" to Berchtesgaden. When the latter declined, Göring said he had some pressing business to attend to in southern Germany. Göring still left at night along the increasingly narrow escape route.

On his march from Berlin, Göring was hampered several times by enemy bombing raids. Several times he had to take cover in public air-raid shelters. Whereas the other Nazi leaders were now unpopular, Göring remained a popular figure among the people. The Reich Marshal even went into some bunkers to support the people. Göring arrived with some delay at the Luftwaffe Wildpark-Werder headquarters. From there Göring flew to southern Germany. Arriving in Berchtesgaden, Göring moved into his home on the Obersalzberg.

On April 22, 1945, Adolf Hitler announced in the führerbunker, that he would stay in Berlin and shoot himself. News that Hitler had collapsed quickly circulated, and in the evening it also reached Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe Karl Koller. Koller flew to Berchtesgaden that same night to inform Göring of this. On the afternoon of April 23, he arrived and broke the news to the Reich Marshal. Hitler had also said that when it came to negotiating with the Allies, Göring was better able to do so than himself.

Göring doubted, whether he could still assume leadership of Germany. His main concern was whether Hitler had not appointed his arch-rival Bormann as his successor in the meantime. Göring retrieved the decree of June 29, 1941, from a steel case, read it again and had it checked by the chief of the presidential chancellery, who declared it valid. Göring was convinced after this that he should take charge of Germany. Later that afternoon Göring sent the following telegram to Hitler:

My Fuehrer, do you agree that after your decision to remain in the command post of Fortress Berlin, I, in accordance with your decree of 29.6.1941, as your deputy, immediately assume the overall leadership of the Reich with full freedom of action internally and externally? If there is no reply by 10 p.m., I shall assume that you have been deprived of your freedom of action. I will then consider the conditions of your decree to be fulfilled and act for the good of the people and the fatherland. What I feel for you in these difficult hours of my life, you know, and I cannot express through words. God bless you and let you come here as soon as possible in spite of everything. Your faithful Hermann Göring.

To ensure proper transmission, Göring appointed a major as marconist. In the führerbunker, Von Below, Hitler's Luftwaffe adjutant, was instructed to ensure personally that the führer received the telegram verbatim. In addition to his telegram to Hitler, Göring also sent messages to Wilhelm Keitel and Joachim von Ribbentrop. In it he mentioned that if they had not received a direct message from Hitler by midnight, they should come to Göring immediately by plane. He also sent a telegram to Bormann, in which he mentioned that by means of a message to the Führer he was making a last attempt to convince him to leave Berlin.

Göring immediately began to put his plans on paper after this. He was forming a new cabinet, in which there was no longer a place for Von Ribbentrop and in which he himself assumed the position of the foreign minister. In addition, Göring wanted to talk to Eisenhower "man to man" about peace with the Western Allies, while in the East he wanted the battle to continue unabated.

Meanwhile, the telegram had arrived in the führerbunker. It was Göring's enemy Bormann who had gotten his hands on the telegram. Göring had already been afraid of this, and Bormann took the telegram directly to Hitler and gave his own interpretation of it. Hitler, however, was immune to the prodding of Bormann, who accused Göring of high treason. The führer reacted apathetically, saying there was no disloyalty. However, when Bormann arrived with another telegram from Göring, ordering von Ribbentrop to come to see him immediately if he had not received orders from the führer or Göring by midnight, Hitler's mood completely changed. Hitler accused Göring of being responsible for the defeat of the Luftwaffe, called him corrupt and fumed about Göring's drug addiction. When Hitler lapsed back into his listlessness, he said that Göring should just arrange the surrender, since it no longer mattered who did it anyway and he was probably the best at it.

Hitler did, however, have Bormann send a telegram. This stated that Göring's action was high treason and was actually punishable by death. Because of his past merits, this would be waived, provided Göring renounced all his functions. Also, all actions in the direction indicated were prohibited. Bormann, without Hitler's knowledge, sent a second telegram to the SS commanders on the Obersalzberg, Bernhard Frank and Kurt von Bredow. In it he ordered them to immediately arrest Göring for high treason.

Immediately after receiving Bormann's telegram, Göring took some steps, which indicated that he was still loyal to Hitler. He immediately telegraphed to all the other Nazi leaders, with whom he was in contact, that Hitler still had freedom of action, and he rescinded the telegram he had sent to them this afternoon.

Shortly after this, Göring was arrested. The Reich Marshal did not want to believe it and was convinced that it was a misunderstanding. He was immediately forbidden contact with his wife Emmy and his daughter Edda. The next morning - Göring still could not believe it at the time - the Obersalzberg was bombed. Görings residence was also hit and they were taken to a large air raid shelter deep in the mountain. SS-Obersturmbannführer Frank, meanwhile, had received a new telegram from Berlin saying that if Berlin fell, Göring would have to be executed. Frank was stunned and came to the decision that if Hitler and the other Nazi leaders were killed in Berlin, Hermann Göring was the only Nazi who could still help them in negotiations with the Allies. Frank therefore refused to carry out the order, should it come to that. At his own request, Göring was transferred by the SS to Mauterndorf, the castle where he grew up as a child.

On April 29, 1945, Hitler had his last will drawn up, in which he expelled Göring from the party and also stripped him of all state functions. It also invalidated the decree of June 29, 1941. He accused him of having made unlawful attempts to seize power for himself.

From his castle in Mauterndorf, Göring tried to contact the Americans to arrange a meeting with Eisenhower. When this failed, he surrendered to American troops on May 9, 1945.

At the postwar Nuremberg Trial, Göring, like all the other prisoners, took an IQ test where he came in third behind Hjalmar Schacht and Seyss-Inquart with a score of 138. Here Göring cast himself as the captain of the accused. Göring was prosecuted on all four counts. The evidence shows that, after Hitler, he was the most important man in the Nazi regime. He was commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, creator and executor of the four-year plan and had a great influence on Hitler, at least until 1943, after which the relationship between the two diminished and ended with his arrest in 1945. He stated that Hitler kept him informed of all important military and political problems.

In cross-examination, Göring, cured of his morphine addiction, lost a lot of weight and was now much fitter, managed to defend himself excellently. Among other things, when the issue of German terror bombing of defenseless cities came up, he claimed that his Luftwaffe had followed the same strategy as the RAF and USAAF. In contrast, his part in the planning and execution of Nazi Germany's wars of aggression, his personal blatant rapacity and also his participation in the organization of the Holocaust were so obvious that he was found guilty on all counts of the indictment. For example, an order signed by him personally in 1941 to Reinhard Heydrich to begin the Final Solution of the Jewish Question surfaced as evidence. Consequently, Göring was sentenced to death by hanging. His judges declared that his guilt was "unique, just by its magnitude.

Immediately after hearing the verdict, Göring petitioned to be allowed to die like a soldier before the firing squad and not suffer the libel of death by noose. He was soon told that his request was not granted and that he would be hanged like the other death row inmates.

On Oct. 7, Emmy Göring received a phone call informing her that she could pay a final visit to her husband. Through glass and ironwork, Göring and his wife and daughter were kept apart. He promised Emmy that the Americans would not hang him because they had no right to judge him.

The Allies decided that the execution would take place on Oct. 16 at two in the morning. This time was chosen to keep it hidden from the press, but already in the evening groups of reporters and photographers began to gather in front of the prison. On that same evening, there was the sound of hammering from the gymnasium and noise from approaching cars, and many lights were visible. These factors alerted the prisoners that this would be the night of the execution.

Göring seemed to be more down in the dumps this day than in the entire process before. Once again he criticized the execution method, but to no avail. His entire cell was searched once more that day, but nothing was found that would allow Göring to commit suicide. As the day progressed, however, Göring's mood improved, and in the evening he was even cheerful. In his cell Göring lay tossing and turning from about ten o'clock. He waited for the guard's change at 10:30. After this, he waited another fifteen minutes to give the impression that he was not planning anything. At exactly 10:46 p.m. Göring took a pill containing cyanide. Soon he began to stiffen and an oppressive sound came over his lips. Johnson, his guard, immediately alerted the corporal of the guard, who arrived with Lieutenant Cromer, the prison officer, and Reverend Gerecke. Görings left hand hung over the side of the bed. Reverend Gerecke felt the pulse and concluded that Göring had died.

After the others were executed, the bodies of Göring and the other Nazi leaders were transferred to Munich at four o'clock. Under heavy guard, the bodies were cremated there. After Göring's cremation, his ashes were scattered in a narrow Munich river that flows into the Isar.

Suicide Pill

The question of how Göring had managed, despite numerous searches, to withhold the poison capsule containing cyanide that all top members of the Nazis carried with them was solved only after many years. Different readings initially circulated about the origin of the poison.

The pill would have been under a gold crown in his mouth, in a hollow molar, hidden in the folds of skin above his navel, or in his anus. Others suggested that the German doctor who examined him regularly had given him the pill, or that it might have been hidden in a bar of soap given to him by a German officer. It was also long suspected that Görings wife Emmy had given him the pill during her last visit, via a so-called "kiss of death." The investigation into Hermann Göring's death concluded that he had been in possession of a pill containing cyanide throughout the period of his detention.

Colonel Andrus, the U.S. Army governor of Nuremberg Prison, published in September 1967 the letter Göring wrote just before his death. It read:

Nuremberg October 11, 1946

In 2005, however, the then 78-year-old Lee Stivers claimed that he had delivered Göring the suicide pill via a ballpoint pen. According to Stivers, Göring eventually escaped the gallows because, as a 19-year-old guard at the Nuremberg trial, he smuggled the "medicine" in a pen to the Nazi. This was done at the request of an unknown, nice, young girl he had just met. Later it dawned on him that he had been framed. That Stivers disclosed it only after all possible witnesses of the time died, and therefore the story can no longer be proven, is said to stem from fear of still being prosecuted by the U.S. military. Stivers' story is therefore questioned. Most historians hold to the situation described by Göring.

According to several historians who studied his life, Göring would not have been a convinced Nazi like Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler, although he pretended to be one, but was the epitome of a purebred opportunist.

Göring, by his own admission, did believe that there were two exalted peoples: the Germans and the Jews, but that there was room in Europe for only one of them. The combination of Göring's extraordinary intelligence with his opportunism and vain lust for wealth made him a war criminal, even if he was not convinced of the "sense" of the persecution of the Jews, and more specifically, not convinced of the usefulness of declaring war on the United States.

Furthermore, Göring was vehemently opposed to a pre-emptive war against the Soviet Union. However, the considerations for this were not merely humanitarian, but merely motivated by the fear that Germany would be drawn into an unwinnable protracted war and Göring would eventually lose everything. Göring himself is said to have expressed numerous concerns about Hitler's plans to launch Operation Barbarossa. However, Hitler was supported in his Lebensraum views by Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda, and Von Ribbentrop, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Evidently these two could exert a more decisive influence on Hitler than Göring himself: they generally agreed with Hitler in everything. Moreover, Göring had already lost much credit early in the war due to the disappointing performance of the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain.

Göring was an ambitious and talented young man. After World War I, he worked as a stunt pilot and civil aviation pilot in Sweden from 1919 to 1921 where he seduced the wealthy, married and aristocratic Carin von Kantzow (born Baronesse von Fock) and married her after her divorce. The couple remained childless. Von Kantzow died of tuberculosis in 1931, leaving behind a deeply saddened widower. Even in his second marriage, Göring surrounded himself with paintings of his first wife, named his country house Carinhall, and his luxury yacht Carin II.

Hermann Göring met Emmy Sonnemann (1893-1973) in 1931. He was still married to Carin at the time. When Carin died in 1931, Emmy and Hermann saw each other more and more often and a love affair developed. In 1934 Göring granted her the title Staatsschauspieler, the highest attainable for a stage actor. She stopped acting in 1935. Her last play was Minna von Barnhelm oder das Soldatenglück. In 1935, they married in Berlin Cathedral. Hitler was one of the witnesses. The wedding on April 10, 1935, was a great celebration. The streets were decorated, downtown Berlin was closed to traffic and more than two hundred planes of the newly established Luftwaffe circled over the couple.

From their marriage, a daughter, Edda Göring (the same first name as Benito Mussolini's daughter), was born on June 2, 1938. Edda's birth was remarkable because her mother was already 45 and Hermann Göring had suffered a gunshot wound to the groin during the Bierkellerputsch. Der Spiegel wrote of an immaculate conception. In 1940, Julius Streicher wrote in Der Stürmer that Edda had been conceived by artificial insemination. Hermann Göring asked Chief Justice of the Party Walter Buch for action, but Hitler intervened and Streicher was allowed to continue publishing Der Stürmer from his place of exile, Cadolzburg near Nuremberg. Edda figures, among other things, in the 1990 book Hitler's children: Sons and daughters of leaders of the Third Reich talk about their fathers and themselves, in which she indicates many fond memories of her father.

Hermann Göring acquired a number of honors during World War I. During his tenure in the Third Reich, German and numerous other governments granted the vain Prime Minister of Prussia and later Reich Marshal their knighthoods and other decorations. Often leaving Göring to "ask" for decorations, when he received them he ignored the legal rule that every German had to ask the Reich Chancellor for permission before accepting decorations from foreign governments.

In some science fiction books whose story is set in a world with an alternate history, Göring makes an appearance:

Sources

1. Hermann Göring
2. Hermann Göring
3. https://www.tracesofwar.nl/articles/1174/G%C3%B6ring-Hermann.htm
4. Knopp, Göring. De biografie, Manteau, 2009, p. 12
5. a b Manvell & Fraenkel, Hermann Göring. Van oorlogsheld tot oorlogsmisdader, Just Publishers, 2007, p. 11
6. Hermann Weiß, Personenlexikon 1933 – 1945 (heruitgave), 1998/2002, p. 156
7. ^ Göring is the German spelling, but the name is commonly transliterated Goering in English and other languages, using ⟨oe⟩ the alternative German spelling for umlauts in general.
8. Las atribuciones del presidente fueron fusionadas con las del canciller (Reichskanzler).[1]​
9. Albert despreciaba el nazismo y ofreció una resistencia activa al régimen, como ayudar a los prisioneros a escapar de los campos de concentración. Fue arrestado cuatro veces, pero su hermano aseguró su liberación. Edda Göring dijo a The Guardian que su tío Albert «ciertamente pudo ayudar a las personas que lo necesitaban económicamente y con su influencia personal, pero tan pronto como era necesario involucrar a autoridades o funcionarios superiores, tenía que contar con el apoyo de mi padre, algo que conseguía».[11]​
10. La esvástica era una insignia que el conde y algunos amigos habían adoptado en la escuela; después la incorporó como un emblema familiar.[29]​
11. Das Marienbad. In: stadtarchiv.de. Stadtarchiv Rosenheim, abgerufen am 21. September 2018.
12. Edwin Palmer Hoyt: Goering’s War. Hale, London 1990, ISBN 0-7090-3928-X, S. 13 (englisch).
13. Freiheit und Glaube. Die Geschichte der Evangelischen im Rosenheimer Land. Ausstellung des Dekanats Rosenheim und der Stadt Rosenheim. In: Michael Grabow (Hrsg.): Freiheit und Glaube. Die Geschichte der Evangelischen im Rosenheimer Land. Dokumentation. Evangelisch-Lutherisches Dekanat Rosenheim, Rosenheim 2008, S. 151–185, hier S. 164.