Hermann Göring

Hermann Wilhelm Göring (also Goering or Goring in English) (January 12, 1893 – October 15, 1946) was an early member of the Nazi party, founder of the Gestapo, and one of the main leaders of Nazi Germany. He was tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946 and sentenced to death, but he avoided execution by committing suicide in his cell, a few hours before the sentence was to be carried out.

Göring's last days

Göring's last days were spent with Gustave Gilbert, a German-speaking intelligence officer and psychologist who was granted free access by the Allies to all the prisoners held in the Nuremberg jail. Gilbert kept a journal of his observations of the proceedings and his conversations with the prisoners, which he later published in the book Nuremberg Diary. The following quotation was a part of a conversation Gilbert held with a dejected Göring in his cell on the evening of 18 April 1946, as the trials were halted for a three-day Easter recess.

Related Topics:
Gustave Gilbert - Psychologist - Nuremberg Diary - 18 April - 1946 - Easter

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Sweating in his cell in the evening, Göring was defensive and deflated and not very happy over the turn the trial was taking. He said that he had no control over the actions or the defense of the others, and that he had never been anti-Semitic himself, had not believed these atrocities, and that several Jews had offered to testify in his behalf.

Related Topics:
Anti-Semitic - Jews

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