12 January 1893 A.D. Hermann
Goering Born—Commander of Luftwaffe; Poland, France, & Britain; He Comitted
Suicide 15 Oct 1946
1893 – Hermann Goering,
Nazi leader, commander of the Luftwaffe, is born. The son of a judge who had
been sent by Bismarck to South-West Africa as the first Resident Minister
Plenipotentiary, Goering entered the army in 1914 as an Infantry Lieutenant,
before being transferred to the air force as a combat pilot. Goering
distinguished himself as an air ace, credited with shooting down twenty-two
Allied aircraft. Awarded the Pour le Merite and the Iron Cross (First Class),
he ended the war with the romantic aura of a much decorated pilot and war hero.
After World War I he was employed as a showflier. Goering’s aristocratic
background and his prestige as a war hero made him a prize recruit to the
infant Nazi Party and Hitler appointed him to command the SA Brownshirts in
December 1922. In 1923 he took part in the Munich Beer-Hall putsch, in which he
was seriously wounded and forced to flee from Germany for four years until a
general amnesty was declared. Returning to Germany in 1927, he rejoined the
NSDAP and was elected as one of its first deputies to the Reichstag a year
later. Following Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor on 30 January 1933, Goering
was made Prussian Minister of the Interior, Commander-in-Chief of the Prussian
Police and Gestapo and Commissioner for Aviation. As the creator of the secret
police, Goering, together with Himmler (q.v.) and Heydrich (q.v.), set up the
early concentration camps forpolitical opponents, showing formidable energy in
terrorizing and crushing all resistance. On 1 March 1935 he was appointed
Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force and was responsible for organizing the rapid
build-up of the aircraft industry and training of pilots. Goering identified
with Hitler’s territorial aspirations, playing a key role in bringing about the
Anschluss in 1938 and the bludgeoning of the Czechs into submission. Appointed
Reich Council Chairman for National Defence on 30 August 1939 and officially
designated as Hitler’s successor on 1 September, Goering directed the Luftwaffe
campaigns against Poland and France, and on 19 June 1940 was promoted to Reich
Marshal. In August 1940 he confidently threw himself into the great offensive
against Great Britain, Operation Eagle, convinced that he would drive the RAF
from the skies and secure the surrender of the British by means of the
Luftwaffe alone. Goering, however, lost control of the Battle of Britain and
made a fatal, tactical error when he switched to massive night bombings of
London. This move saved the RAF sector control stations from destruction and
gave the British fighter defences precious time to recover. The failure of the
Luftwaffe caused the abandonment of Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of
England, and began the political eclipse of Goering. 9 May 1945, Goering was
captured by forces of the American Seventh Army and put on trial at Nuremberg
in 1946. Goering was found guilty on all four counts: of conspiracy to wage
war, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. No
mitigating circumstances were found and Goering was sentenced to death by
hanging. On 15 October 1946, two hours before his execution was due to take
place, Goering committed suicide in his Nuremberg cell.
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