Goering(CR)

Hermann Goering(Left) was born in Bavaria in 1893 and joined the German army in 1912. He fought in World War 1 for a short time, but was wounded; he was then transferred to the air force for the remainder of the war. He joined the Nazi party in 1923 after hearing a speech from Hitler. After hearing the speech he said “It was political love at first sight”. Goering was involved in Hitler’s attempt to take over Germany in 1923; he was wounded during the march on Berlin and fled to Sweden after the revolution failed. He returned to Germany four years later after being pardoned by President Hindenburg.

He was elected president of the Reichstag in 1932, and was made a cabinet minister once Hitler came to power. As one of Hitler’s greatest men he was given several roles throughout his serving in the government. He was made prime minister of Prussia, commander of the Luftwaffe, president of the Reichstag, and was designated Hitler’s successor right before his suicide. Goering began his reign of terror in 1933; following the Reichstag fire Goering put the blame on the communists and other political opponents. Soon afterwards he was involved in setting up some of the first concentration camps. Goering created the Gestapo later in the year, but left Heinrich Himmler in charge of it. He had also been in charge of the SA, since 1923. In 1934 Goering and Himmler were able to convince Hitler that the SA was no longer of any use to him, this lead to “The night of long knives” where hundreds of SA leaders were captured and executed with no trial.

Goering became very wealthy from all of his positions and power. He began to buy expensive jewels, custom suits, he bought an old palace in Berlin to convert to his home, and he even made the greatest restaurant in Berlin a restricted bistro to anyone not inside the Luftwaffe. All of these luxuries eventually caused him a weight problem, and he gained the nickname “Fat Hermann”.

When World War 2 began, Goering was given control of the Luftwaffe. He became popular after the great success of the Luftwaffe during the conquest of France and the Low countries. He was later blamed for the Luftwaffe’s failure to win the battle of Britain; he lost nearly all of his power in respect when the Luftwaffe failed to supply Stalingrad, like he had promised. He kept his titles, but lost a lot of respect and influence. In 1941 Goering signed “The final solution of the Jewish problem”. This was a Nazi plan that caused the murder of nearly 6 million Jews, homosexuals, handicaps, and other races the Nazis hated. "I herewith commission you to carry out all preparations with regard to... a total solution of the Jewish question in those territories of Europe which are under German influence". (Herman Goering Quotes, Brainy Quotes) When Hitler committed suicide Goering took Hitler’s place. He surrendered to the United States, on April 8th 1945. He was sentenced to death during the Nuremburg trials. He was condemned to be hanged, but repeatedly asked for a gun to shoot himself. He never got one, but was able to kill himself by ingesting cyonie before his execution.