Following the Second World War, there were many war crimes trials which took place to
bring perpetrators of atrocities to justice.
But the most high profile set of trials took place at Nuremberg, with the surviving and
remaining members of Hitler’s Nazi government and inner circle being brought in front of
judges.
The most high profile defendant in Nuremberg Trials was Hermann Goring, the charismatic
and powerful senior figure within the Nazi Party.
As Hitler rose to power, Goring amassed a huge amount of power within the military and
within Germany, and he became the second most powerful man in the country behind Hitler.
He was also the Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe, overseeing the German Air Force,
but after the verdicts at nuremberg were announced Goring was sentenced to death.
It was expected that he was to be executed for his crimes against peace, crimes against
humanity and war crimes, but his execution never occured.
Goring had the last laugh over his allied prosecutors, as he took his own life consuming
a capsule of potassium cyanide the very night before he was due to be executed.
But what is the story of Goring’s death and demise?
Join us today as we look at The Absent Execution Of Hermann Goring.
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Hermann Goring had a rich history inside of the military during the First World War, but
within Hitler’s German he rose to dizzying heights inside of the Nazi regime.
During World War One, Goring was a fighter pilot ace and he finished the conflict with
22 victories, and he became the commander of the Flying Circus a fighter detachment,
however after the German defeat he believed that the country had been stabbed in the back.
Goring himself joined the Nazi Party in 1922 following watching Hitler speak, and he then
became in command of an SA group, but he also hosted many meetings of high ranking Nazis
at his house alongside his wife.
Goring was seen as a celebrity within Germany, and he was often with Hitler at huge rallies.
Hitler respected Goring a lot, and he was celebrated for his organisation of his SA
group turning them in some senses from a disorganised group to almost a military group.
Following the Beer Hall Putsch, Goring who was shot in the groin, then went on to recover
but sustained an addiction to morphine which he would later return to.
When Hitler became Chancellor, Goring rose to power with him and he was close by Hitler
at all times.
He was involved in the organisation of the Night of the Long Knives, the purging of the
SA by the SS, and Goring was a leading figure behind the Anschluss of Austria to take their
natural resources.
He was disliked by a number inside of the Nazi Party, and was regarded as arrogant,
but within the German population he was a popular figure.
Rudolf Hess for example was jealous of his popularity, but as the Second World War broke
out he had a pivotal position inside of Hitler’s war effort.
His Luftwaffe were involved in the invasion of Poland which began the conflict, and they
were involved in heavy bombing raids which eventually led to not just Poland, but other
countries to fall to the Nazis.
Following the fall of France, Goring was awarded the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross for his
leadership, and he became the Reichsmarschall, making him the most senior figure in the military,
and someone that all field marshal were inferior to.
He was the highest ranking soldier within Germany, and this lasted until his capture.
He was heavily involved in the Battle of Britain with his Luftwaffe pitted against the RAF,
but he was incredibly confident, some would say over confident about their chances of
winning, but the RAF managed to see off Goring’s forces.
Goring was also key to the Invasion of the Soviet Union and Operation Barbarossa, and
his forces were also involved in bombing campaigns of cities such as Stalingrad.
Goring made promises as the conflict turned against the Germans that supplies would be
delivered daily to soldiers, but these rarely came in sufficient supplies.
This caused thousands to surrender to the Soviets in cities such as Stalingrad.
But his Luftwaffe could also not cope as the allied bombers came towards Germany, often
cities were bombed heavily with very few Luftwaffe fighters being seen defending the skies over
the Third Reich, and ultimately the allied bombing raids crippled German infrastructure
and the war effort.
Goring then was blamed for this, and for the fact he could not protect his homeland, and
he then began to be excluded from Hitler’s war briefings, but remained as the Head of
the Luftwaffe.
But it was clear that by later 1944 that Hitler did not trust Goring, and compared to the
allied air forces, the Luftwaffe had nothing against them, leaving Goring in a weak position.
Hermann Goring was not in the Fuhrerbunker with Hitler, Goebbels and other members of
Hitler’s government and war effort staying inside Berlin until the very end.
He had been there visiting Hitler on his last birthday on the 20th April 1945, but then
he left to escape Berlin before it was too late.
Goring’s country hunting lodge at the time Carinhall had been destroyed, and his art
treasures were moved to Berchtesgarden, the mountain retreat of the Nazis, and Goring
arrived there on the 22nd April.
He believed he was in a better place to negotiate peace than Hitler who was losing his mind
inside the Bunker, and Hitler had issued a decree calling Goring his successor.
But he did fear being labelled a traitor if he took power, but also was torn between this
and not doing anything for Germany.
Goring said that Hitler had become incapacitated, and with this he tried to take power from
the fuhrer, feating that Martin Bormann, Hitler’s secretary would do this himself.
Goring asked for Hitler’s permission to take over as leader, saying he would merely
be acting as a deputy, but this was intercepted by Bormann who convinced Hitler that Goring
was acting treasonous.
Hitler sent a reply threatening him with execution if he did not resign from all his roles, and
Goring was forced to do so.
But within 4 days, the Obersalzberg estate was attacked by the Allies, and Goring fled
to Mautendorf Castle.
He was briefly taken into custody by German officials for his attempted seizure of control
of Germany, but was then freed by a passing Luftwaffe detachment.
After this, Goring went towards American lines to surrender to them rather than the soviets,
and was captured near to Radstadt.
Following this, Goring was sent to a prominent POW camp in Luxembourg, and he underwent a
significant change.
He was weaned off a morphine addiction and was forced to exercise along with being placed
on a strict diet, and he lost 60 pounds in weight.
Goring was seen to have been very intelligent, and as his war crimes trial approached he
seemed to become sharper with his change in health.
Goring was placed on trial and was the second highest ranking official tried at Nuremberg,
behind Karl Donitz, Hitler’s successor, but he was undoubtedly the most famous of
those placed on trial.
He was accused of conspiracy, waging wars of aggression, war crimes which involved the
seizure and theft of thousands of peices of art stolen from other people such as jews,
and also crimes against humanity.
The list of accusations against Goring were endless, including the murder of civilians
and being complicit in the murder of over 6 million Jews.
Goring said he was not guilty, but he was skilled when he was called to testify at Nuremberg.
He was seen as a slippery customer at the dock, and despite emphasising his loyalty
to Hitler, he claimed he did not know about the concentration camps, and blamed the SS
and those such as Heinrich Himmler about the genocide against the Jews.
He tried to present himself as a peacemaker and as someone who was simply just involved
in the military and the Air Force, and he gave evasive answers about many questions
involving war crimes, but ultimately key evidence had been found against him.
He was presented with evidence of him stealing property from Jews following pogroms, and
also that he must have been informed about the extermination of Hungarian Jews.
IT was also said how he must have known about the shooting of 50 allied airmen involved
in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III.
Whilst also in the courtroom, Goring also would connote his displeasure and disappointment
with the legal proceedings, showing that he disregarded the legal procedure at the trial
by shaking his head, and also by laughing at times.
He took notes during the proceedings, and also tried to overpower other defendants in
conversation during breaks in the trial and he was seen as trying to influence the testimony
of others.
Because of this he was forced into solitary confinement, and he also tried to control
Rudolf Hess who was sat next to him at most times during the trial, as Hess’ behaviour
was erratic and some claimed he was suffering from many issues at the time.
Goring was taken on by Chief Prosecutor Robert H Jackson, and the battles between the two
were facsinating, with both men trying to get the upper hand over each other.
But ultimately during the judgement of Hermann Goring, he was found guilty of all four counts
of which he was accused, and because of this was sentenced to death.
It was said in his judgement, ‘There is nothing to be said in mitigation.
For Göring was often, indeed almost always, the moving force, second only to his leader.
He was the leading war aggressor, both as political and as military leader; he was the
director of the slave labour programme and the creator of the oppressive programme against
the Jews and other races, at home and abroad.
All of these crimes he has frankly admitted.
On some specific cases there may be conflict of testimony, but in terms of the broad outline,
his own admissions are more than sufficiently wide to be conclusive of his guilt.
His guilt is unique in its enormity.
The record discloses no excuses for this man.’
But what would have been the expected fate of Hermann Goring should he have been executed?
Those defendants sentenced to death after Nuremberg, including Joachim von Ribbentrop,
Hans Frank, Wilhelm Keitel and others were executed on the 16th October 1946.
Ten prominent Nazis were hanged on gallows that had been created inside of the gymnasium
of Nuremberg Prison by US Army soldiers.
The method of execution was by standard drop rather than the long drop, and it was infamous
and notorious executioner John C Woods who the executioner.
During the proceedings, Woods botched a number of the executions, and had not allegedly calculated
correctly the drop needed to kill the men instantly.
The result of this was that many of the men executed took a significant time to be killed
and be declared dead.
For example, some executions took over 14 minutes, and as long as 28 minutes from the
moment that the lever was pulled.
Also many of the defendants smashed their heads on the trapdoor as they fell through
the hole as the gallows did not allow a big enough drop, and things were much bloodier
than they could have been.
Woods was even noted to have gone behind the curtain during one execution to pull down
on the body to kill one of the Nazis.
This is the fate that Goring would have underwent, he was also noted to have been condemned defendant
number 1 to be executed.
He would have been the first of the men to be killed that day, but Goring’s execution
never took place.
It’s assumed that probably Woods would have bungled his killing, but Goring did not meet
his death on the scaffold.
On the day of the Nuremberg Executions instead, his body was wheeled into the execution chamber
to show the witnesses that Goring had died, but the night before he had taken his own
life, having the last laugh against the Allies.
Goring whilst he was alive did try to change his death sentence, and appealed to be shot
as a soldier rather than to be hanged as a war criminal.
As he had arrived at Nuremberg, his uniform had been stripped of their insignia, and because
of this he was deemed placed on trial as a criminal and not a soldier.
The court refused his request to be shot and it was confirmed he would be hanged, but outraged
about this, Goring wished to have things he own way.
Two and a quarter hours before his execution, guards rushed into Goring’s cell and found
him dead.
Under the watchful eyes of the American guards, he had somehow consumed a capsule of cyanide
which had allegedly been hid inside of a Nivea cream tub inside a bullet.
He had crushed this with his teeth, and within moments of him consuming the poison he was
dead.
The guards regularly checked on their prisoners, but Goring’s death had slipped their watchful
eyes.
The question of how he obtained the poison has puzzled historians for decades, and a
number of suspects point towards American guards who were friendly to Goring being responsible.
One former Guard Herbert Lee Stivers stated how a German girl he met outside an officers
club said Goring was very sick, and how he needed some medicine that she passed to Stivers.
The woman Mona was never traced, and when Stivers took a note and medicine hidden in
a pen to Goring, he was actually passing across cyanide capsules.
Suspicion also fell on a US Army Leftenant Jack G Wheelis who was based inside the prison
and was there at the trials.
It was considered how as an officer, he had the power to go and access the private possessions
and confiscated artefacts of the prisoners.
Wheelis was close with Goring, and the two bonded and Goring even gave Wheelis his gold
watch, pen and cigarette case.
But in exchange for this, it’s considered that Wheelis could have fetched the cream
tub with the hidden cyanide capsule in.
These possessions as the men were simply guards at the prison would not have been checked
either, so it’s assumed that Goring could have come into his incarceration with cyanide
on his possession.
But after his death, his body was displayed to those witnesses who were there to see the
executions of the nazis.
Following the executions his body along with the others killed was created in Munich, before
the ashes were scattered in the Isar River.
So Hermann Goring’s scheduled execution never took place, but he would have been the
first defendant to take to the gallows in the Nuremberg executions.
He was the most recognised figure placed on trial at Nuremberg, but ultimately he could
not deny the mounting evidence against him that he was involved in war crimes and crimes
against humanity.
He was involved in the huge seizure of property and art from jewish people and art dealers,
and he was also was involved closely with the German War effort, especially with regards
to the Luftwaffe and Air Force.
The fact Goring escaped the hangman’s noose following the Nuremberg trials left a bad
taste in the mouths of those prosecutors, as he was seen as one of the key aggressors
in the Second World War.
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