Afterwards, orders were issued that Göring be placed under house arrest with his staff and Lammers at Obersalzberg, Hitler’s Bavarian mountainside retreat. Hitler told Martin Bormann to make an official announcement that Göring had resigned for health reasons. Göring’s stay at Obersalzberg was short-lived due to heavy enemy bombing and he was moved to his castle at Mauterndorf. While he was there, he received news of Hitler’s suicide on 30 April. In Hitler’s last will and testament, Göring was removed from the party and the decree that made him his successor was rescinded. He upbraided Göring for ‘illegally attempting to seize control of the state’. A few days later, on 5 May, Göring was released from house arrest by a passing Luftwaffe unit and he made his way to the US lines in the hope of surrendering to them rather than to the Red Army. The following day, he was taken into custody near Radstadt by a section of the 36th Infantry Division of the US Army. Falling into enemy hands had actually saved his life, as Bormann had ordered him executed if Berlin fell.

  Commemoration of the heroes for 21 March 1943. The photo shows Hitler, Göring, Keitel, Dönitz, Himmler and Speer at the front. This was a ‘Day of Commemoration of Heroes’ in the Zeughaus courtyard Innenhof, in Berlin. A recording of the first movement of Bruckner’s 7th Symphony is played at the beginning of the ceremony to honour the heroic death of Nazi soldiers.

  Hitler with Göring and Albert Speer, walking in the grounds of Security Zone 1 at Wolfsschanze, 6 August 1943.

  A photograph taken at Wolfsschanze in 1943. From the left: Captain zur Lippe-Weissenfeld, Major Helmut Lent, Göring, Major Fritz Hermann, Captain Maurer.

  Göring at Wolfsschanze, speaking to Dönitz.

  A newly decorated young Luftwaffe airman standing to attention speaks to Göring.

  Hitler, Göring and Mussolini together at Wolfsschanze following a visit to the headquarters by the Italian dictator.

  The conference hut following the failed assassination attempt on Hitler.

  Two photographs taken on 22 July 1944, showing the devastation caused by the assassination attempt on Hitler’s life. Here Goring is shown the aftermath. Apparently, the conference had only just begun, with General Heusinger outlining operations to his Führer when General Fromm’s chief of staff, Colonel Schenk von Stauffenberg, arrived in order to brief him on some new divisions. Minutes later, as Heusinger was concluding his brief, there was a blinding flash followed by an enormous explosion, which ripped through the hut, sending Hitler flying into a door, and killing and badly injuring a number of those who were standing around the map table.

  Two photographs taken on 22 July 1944, two days after the assassination attempt on Hitler at Wolfsschanze. The photos show Hitler, Göring, Mussolini, Himmler, Hermann Fegelein, and other headquarters staff and aides. Note the visible plaster on Hitler’s left hand.

  A photograph taken of Hitler two days after the assassination attempt, clearly showing him holding his trembling arm as he walks along a path with Göring, Keitel and Bormann.

  Göring speaking with Hitler on 22 July 1944. Hitler looks visibly tired and shaken by the assassination attempt. During this time, Göring and other equally faithful members did what they could to restore Hitler’s trust. A staff stenographer noted in his diary that before the noon conference, the Reichsmarschall delivered a short speech to the Führer and proposed that the entire Wehrmacht, as a form of allegiance after the assassination attempt, should adopt the Hitler salute.

  Hitler bids farewell to his friend Mussolini departing from the Wolfsschanze headquarters platform in July 1944. Göring is in attendance. Following the assassination attempt, Hitler had finally reduced his generals into a sad group of frightened and anxious men. Göring could now see that there was no more opposition to his Führer whatsoever, not even any criticism. Over the days and months that followed, the Reichsmarschall and his war staff were lectured repeatedly on how the war on all fronts would be conducted. At the conferences they would have to sit there and listen while Hitler moved the fate of entire armies from one part of the map to another. The General Staff did continue to voice their own opinions on strategy, movement of forces and supply, but never criticised the Führer if he overrode their decisions or ideas. However, as the war front deteriorated, Hitler’s bitterness towards Göring and his staff increased.

  An interesting series of nine photographs taken in 1944 showing the new Fallschirm Hermann Göring Panzerkorps being visited by General Field Marshal Albert Kesselring and other members of Göring’s staff prior to its shipment to the Eastern Front. This elite Panzerkorps fought the Soviet offensive in East Prussia in October 1944 and later took part in the static fighting from November 1944 to January 1945.

  Winter-clad Grenadiers belonging to the Fallschirm Hermann Göring Panzerkorps operating on the Eastern Front. The Korps was eventually encircled in East Prussia with the rest of the German troops at the end of January 1945. It was evacuated by the Kriegsmarine on 25 March and shipped to Swinemünde and Denmark. It was then transferred to Berlin and later to Silesia, where it continued to fight strong Russian formations.

  A photograph, purportedly to have been taken of Hitler late in the war, with Göring. It would be on 20 April, Hitler’s birthday, that Göring would last see his Führer in Berlin, entombed in his bunker 50 feet beneath the Reich Chancellery.

  Chapter Five

  Retribution

  Following Göring’s capture, he was flown under armed guard to Camp Ashcan, a makeshift prison camp in the Palace Hotel at Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg. His months of imprisonment he found depressing, and he missed his family. Yet, despite his feelings of utter dejection and isolation, he still thought he was there unjustly. He showed no remorse to his captors, and never displayed a feeling of responsibility. After all, he was the second-highest ranking Nazi behind the Reich President and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Karl Dönitz, whom Hitler had appointed in his last will and testament. In his eyes, he had followed orders and sought peace.

  When in September 1946 Göring was transferred to Nuremberg to answer for his war crimes, he arrived in a city that still bore the marks of conflict, with many of the buildings gutted or flattened. It had been home of the mass Nazi Party rallies of the 1930s; now the Americans had chosen it to stage the international military tribunals. In the Nuremberg prison, Göring was housed along with other chief Nazi criminals, including Rudolf Höss, former commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Hess, Albert Speer, and Julius Streicher. During his first few days there, he was left strictly alone in a dark ground cell. He saw no one except the mess attendants, who brought a tray of food three times a day. The food was basic but good. For endless hours on end, he sat on his bed or paced the cell. Eventually, he was moved and given another cell with a clean bed, table, chair and, most importantly, a window. Wearing army fatigues he was also able to walk around the prison courtyard with other prisoners, but they had to walk one behind the other at a distance of 4 feet. Surprisingly, he found the Americans polite, and although mentally worn and dejected, in front of his jailers he was outspoken, jovial and respectful.

  At the Nuremberg trials, the prosecution read out an indictment of four charges against the former Reichsmarschall of conspiracy, waging a war of aggression, and committing war crimes, including the plundering and removal to Germany of works of art and other property. It also included crimes against humanity, along with the disappearance of political and other opponents under the Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) decree, the torture and ill treatment of prisoners of war, and murder and enslavement of civilians, including what was at the time estimated to be in the region of 5,700,000 Jews. He was not allowed to present a proper defence against these charges, and declared himself ‘not guilty’.

  The trial lasted 218 days. The prosecution presented its case from November through to March, and Göring’s defence, which was the first to be presented, lasted from 8 to 22 March. He always gave precise answers to questions by the judges, the defence counsel and the prosecution. He even corrected statements and various figures he thought were untrue. He protected no one nor did he evade any of his responsibilities. Throughout his interrogation he spoke calmly and candidly, and even exchanged numerous smiles with the court prosecution. And yet he had the total inability to grasp the enormity of what he had done or show any remorse. Those who witnessed him being questioned were surprised by his character. They had expected to meet an austere and arrogant individual. Instead, they were greeted by someone who appeared calm and collected. However, in the dock listening to the proceedings, Göring was seen to use gestures in reaction to some of the statements being read out, often shaking his head or laughing, and sometimes trying to communicate with other defendants. His behaviour was unpredictable and during breaks, he tried to control and dominate the other defendants. It was quite evident during the proceedings that Göring was the driving force. As Reichsmarschall, he had been the leading war aggressor, both as a political and a military leader. He had been the director of the slave labour programme and the creator of the oppressive programme against the Jews and other races across Europe. And yet, he was quite open about what he had done. He admitted his total loyalty to Hitler, but claimed to know nothing about what had happened in the concentration camps, which he declared were under Heinrich Himmler’s control. When the court spoke about the concentration camps, he became more evasive, giving complicated answers to direct questions. With reports of mass murders and the killing of millions of Russian civilians, he often found reasonable excuses for all of his actions during the war. He even presented himself as having been a peacemaker and diplomat before the outbreak of the war and during the final days of the conflict.

  At the end of his trial, standing up in front of the tribunal, Göring candidly absolved the German people of any guilt: ‘The German people placed their trust in the Führer, and under his authoritarian government they had no influence on events.’ When he was found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to death, he made an appeal asking to be shot as a soldier instead of hanged as a common criminal. The court refused. He was then escorted back to his cell.

  The night before Göring was to be executed, he took a potassium cyanide capsule, which had probably been hidden in his belongings or smuggled into the prison by a visitor. His dead body, and those of the other Nazis who had been hanged, was displayed for witnesses in the execution ground. They were then cremated at Ostfriedhof cemetery in Munich, and the ashes poured into the Isar River.

  Göring poses for the camera with two American soldiers shortly after his capture.

  A photograph of Göring following his capture, standing in front of a US Army vehicle. (NARA)

  Göring poses in front of the flag of the US 36th Division at a castle near Kitzbühel, Austria, just after his capture.

  View of the prison where Göring and other defendants were confined during the International Military Tribunal of war criminals at Nuremberg.

  The main cell block in the Nuremberg prison. One guard has been posted to watch each of the defendants’ cells in order to prevent suicide attempts.

  Göring consults with his lawyer, Dr Otto Stahmer, in the Nuremberg prison at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.

  German labourers were forced to dig in the courtyard of Veldenstein Castle, formerly owned by Göring, in search of property looted by the Nazi regime. All this proof would be used at the trials against the defendant, Göring.

  American military policeman Sergeant Peter Misko peers into the cell of defendant Göring at Nuremberg.

  Göring eats breakfast in his cell while awaiting the opening of the day’s court proceedings at Nuremberg.

  Göring lies in his bunk in his cell at Nuremberg. On his writing table are pictures of his family, which he objected having photographed.

  Göring enters the defendants’ dock at Nuremberg.

  Lawyers for the prosecution (bottom), the defendants (left), and the International Military Tribunal (right), at the trial of war criminals at Nuremberg.

  The defendants and their lawyers at the International Military Tribunal trial of war criminals at Nuremberg.

  Göring testifies from the witness box.

  Defendants, including Göring, eat lunch during a pause in the trial.

  Defendants Constantin von Neurath and Göring talk during a recess at the trials.

  Former Luftwaffe commander General Field Marshal Albert Kesselring testifies as a witness for defendant Göring during the court proceedings in Nuremberg.

  Two photographs taken in sequence showing the defendants, including Göring, conferring during a recess at the Nuremberg trials.

  A resigned look: Göring glares at the photographer during the trial. In spite of his arrogance and bravado during the trial, he quickly became aware that the prosecution would find him guilty and sentence him to death by hanging.

  Letter of indictment against Göring and other chief defendants tried by the International Military Tribunal. It was signed by General Secretary Harold B. Willey.

  Epilogue

  Although Hermann Göring had escaped the hangman’s noose, he did receive retribution for all those who perished because of his direct or indirect orders.

  He had gone to the grave quite publicly making a statement about what he had done, but did not consider himself guilty of war crimes because he had simply been following orders from his Führer. He escaped the gallows never truly regretting his position in the Nazi hierarchy, and always appeared arrogantly satisfied. Ultimately, his only regret was not his death sentence for appalling crimes against humanity but that the Fatherland had lost the war. In his mind, whatever had been done in his name had nothing directly to do with him. In his view, he had done his job to the best of his ability and acted in accordance with orders.

  Unbeknown to Göring, he left an indelible mark on the twentieth century. His capture, trial and suicide reminded millions of people about what the Nazis inflicted on Europe and the Jewish community. The ‘Final Solution’ had touched every country in Europe, and each one bears the ineradicable stain of Göring and his hierarchy. His plans and orders certainly made him an extreme example, and during his incarceration, he was placed among the top Nazi killers. What made him a more sinister figure was that he appeared outwardly flamboyant, funny and calm, even normal. Underneath that fac¸ade he could be callous, self-obsessed, greedy, arrogant, obstinate and controlling, and was ideologically and racially motivated. Throughout his career, Göring had worked with enthusiasm and taken pride in his achievements. Like many other Nazis, he was able to bury his emotions and the revulsion at committing atrocities because ‘people like the Jews’ were regarded as ‘the enemy’ and had no intrinsic claim to life. Unravelling the complex motivation of a person like Göring lies not in the man but in the ideas that possessed him. Although he never admitted it, he was educated to consider genocide a legitimate act, which he went on to support and enable. He had chosen to put what he had learned into operation, with devastating results. Not only was he a willing accomplice to mass murder, but also to the enslavement of millions of civilians, waging a war of aggression, and to the plundering and removal to Germany of works of art and other property. His position as the second-highest ranking official to be tried at Nuremberg clearly showed his guilt was unique in its enormity, and for that very reason, no excuses can be made for Göring.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6