Hermann Göring

Hermann Göring
Charles Alexander, Office of the United States Chief of Counsel · Public domain · source
Name	Hermann Göring
Birth date	12 January 1893
Birth place	Rosenheim, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Death date	15 October 1946
Death place	Nuremberg, American occupation zone, Germany
Occupation	Politician, military officer, aviator
Nationality	German
Party	Nazi Party

Hermann Göring was a leading German political and military figure during the early 20th century who became one of the most powerful officials in the National Socialist regime. A decorated World War I aviator and recipient of high military honors, he later held multiple top offices in the Third Reich and played central roles in rearmament, political repression, and economic plunder. Captured at the end of World War II, he was tried at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and sentenced to death.

Early life and military service

Born in Rosenheim in the Kingdom of Bavaria, he came from a family connected to the German Empire's bureaucracy and culture, with early education shared between Bavarian institutions and Munich-area schools. He joined the Luftstreitkräfte during World War I and became a fighter ace with the Jagdstaffel squadrons, serving alongside notable aviators such as Rudolf Berthold and within the milieu of contemporaries like Manfred von Richthofen and Ernst Udet. He was awarded the Pour le Mérite and other decorations for aerial victories. After the armistice of 1918 and amid the political upheavals including the Spartacist uprising and the formation of paramilitary Freikorps units, he transitioned into postwar aviation and police roles in the unstable Weimar Republic.

Rise in the Nazi Party

In the early 1920s he became associated with nationalist circles and participated in events connected to the Beer Hall Putsch and the early development of the National Socialist German Workers' Party network. He was introduced to the party leadership and rose rapidly under the patronage of figures such as Adolf Hitler and Alfred Rosenberg, taking leadership positions in Sturmabteilung-adjacent structures and later becoming Reichsleiter and a principal party representative. He was appointed to high-profile ceremonial and organizational roles that tied him to the consolidation of Nazi control after the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, interacting with institutions such as the Reichstag and Reich-level ministries.

Role in the Nazi government and policies

Göring was designated as Minister-President of Prussia and gained authority over police and security forces, linking him to policies enforced by organizations like the Gestapo and SS. He was named Reichsmarschall and held the portfolio of the Four Year Plan, coordinating rearmament with agencies including the Reichswehr and industrial leaders from firms such as Krupp, IG Farben, and Thyssen. His offices intersected with the Reich Air Ministry and bureaucracies involved in legislation such as the Nuremberg Laws and actions against political opponents, collaborating with figures including Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Wilhelm Göring contemporaries in administration like Wilhelm Frick and economic operatives like Hjalmar Schacht.

World War II leadership and military activities

During World War II he held supreme rank in the air arm and had oversight interactions with commanders of the Luftwaffe such as Hugo Sperrle, Erhard Milch, and field leaders like Werner Mölders. He was involved in strategic decisions affecting campaigns including the Battle of Britain, the Invasion of Poland, and operations on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa. Göring’s rivalry with other wartime leaders—Wilhelm Keitel, Erwin Rommel, Alfred Jodl—and his disputes with Nazi economic planners and military committees shaped air strategy, production priorities, and coordination with Axis partners including Benito Mussolini's Italy. As the war turned against Germany, his authority and perceived competence were increasingly questioned by Hitler and other senior figures such as Joseph Goebbels.

Involvement in economic exploitation and art looting

As head of economic and aviation planning, he directed exploitation policies involving occupied territories and resources, working with administrators like Hanns Ludin and industrialists such as Friedrich Flick. He established bodies that requisitioned materiel and forced labor from territories including France, Poland, and the Soviet Union, intersecting with organizations such as the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories. He personally amassed a large collection of looted art, coordinating acquisitions through agents like Bruno Lohse and institutions tied to the Monuments Men recovery efforts, impacting collections in museums such as the Louvre and private holdings across Europe.

Arrest, Nuremberg Trials and conviction

Captured by Allied forces at the end of hostilities, he was detained by the United States Army and subsequently prosecuted at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. Indicted on counts including crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, he faced prosecutors and judges connected to the tribunal such as Robert H. Jackson and Iona Nikitchenko. Convicted on multiple counts, he received a sentence of death by hanging, which was not carried out after he committed suicide by cyanide the night before his scheduled execution while imprisoned in Nuremberg.

Legacy and historical assessment

Historians evaluate him as a central architect of Nazi power who combined personal ambition, bureaucratic maneuvering, and complicity in genocidal and exploitative policies. Scholarly treatments link his career to studies of the Holocaust, Nazi economy, and the transformation of modern aerial warfare, with analyses by historians including Ian Kershaw, Richard J. Evans, Michael Burleigh, and Christopher Browning. His role in looting and the Four Year Plan continues to inform restitution debates involving institutions such as the Allied Commission and postwar legal frameworks like the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal. Public memory confronts his profile in exhibitions and trials documented by archives such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the German Historical Museum.

Category:1893 births Category:1946 deaths Category:Nazi Party politicians