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correct_death_00048	FactBench	0	55	https://myth2.bravesites.com/index	en	Fabricating the Death of Adolf Hitler	http://myth2.bravesites.com/files/packed/1wefik0plzsc607ur60u367vy9b26jeqswym8c1f94dsp6un65xwe0tukyp0trke0a1wiyfg4mzufh5e2g05oo953q1fz45p77uanj61qh40po5nc8rj3re51tuhreqep4bvcvtq2vdlaw7x7kdlt0m6uejns9kt.jpg	http://myth2.bravesites.com/files/packed/1wefik0plzsc607ur60u367vy9b26jeqswym8c1f94dsp6un65xwe0tukyp0trke0a1wiyfg4mzufh5e2g05oo953q1fz45p77uanj61qh40po5nc8rj3re51tuhreqep4bvcvtq2vdlaw7x7kdlt0m6uejns9kt.jpg	[ "https://myth2.bravesites.com/files/resized/370488/400;288;71ba311b9c909a99f293cc5dfa0dadb9965c6a6a.jpg", "http://greyfalcon.us/restored/myPictures/bunker5.jpg", "https://myth2.bravesites.com/files/resized/372830/353;500;e27c86fedc31a323bcade4e0bbf0620920aa52f6.jpg", "http://myth.greyfalcon.us/pictures3/96hitler.bmp", "http://myth.greyfalcon.us/pictures/bunk1.jpg", "http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/ss_officers.gif", "http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/ss.gif", "http://myth.greyfalcon.us/pictures/bunk2.jpg", "http://myth.greyfalcon.us/pictures/bunk3.jpg", "http://myth.greyfalcon.us/pictures7/zhu.jpg", "http://bell.greyfalcon.us/pictures/tt7.jpg", "http://myth.greyfalcon.us/pictures/admiral.jpg", "http://myth.greyfalcon.us/pictures/adam.jpg", "http://myth.greyfalcon.us/pictures/dietrich3.jpg", "http://myth.greyfalcon.us/pictures/dietrich4.jpg", "https://myth2.bravesites.com/files/resized/370585/640;377;27b6ef8336cbb96a8388e30902a910d0358fd1bc.jpg", "http://unusual.bravesites.com/files/resized/367948/649;476;6ec55ff6fae8969d4a4a669d2b55f7a6b50d86c1.jpg", "http://tst.greyfalcon.us/picturesa/april1945.jpg", "http://greyfalcon.us/pictures/Hitler_bunker.jpg", "https://myth2.bravesites.com/files/resized/370652/594;356;f3b111e5b67504e776d2d121db95371166f9b2af.jpg", "http://myth.greyfalcon.us/85hitler.jpg", "https://myth2.bravesites.com/files/resized/397144/250;194;e9c6dfc57455f09cc80befaeed4ba54b61faf1a5.jpg", "https://myth2.bravesites.com/files/resized/397145/1138;597;b892db989450279d883bc0424d09dc45063df248.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null			/favicon.ico?v=1721393275		https://myth2.bravesites.com/index	The only witness to identify "Hitler's body" was a Russian diplomat who had previously met the Führer once. No German witnesses ever saw and identified the body supposed to be Adolf Hitler but it certainly was not because of a shortage of potential witnesses. Zukhov had twenty Germans identify Minister for Propaganda Josef Göbbels! Behind the Soviet troops rolling bloody battles for each Berlin street, SMERSH's special troops advanced. This counter-Intelligence name created in 1943 was short for "spier smiert" or "death to spies". In Berlin, SMERSH was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Klimenko. His task was to find out what happened to Hitler and Eva Braun. Klimenko arranged his quarters in the Plötzensee Prison, where prisoners captured in the Reichstag and the Reich Chancellery were brought. From them, he learned about Hitler's death. This was also testified to by Vice-Admiral Hans-Erich Voss: On 30 April, Voss was among the group of officers whom Hitler informed that he had decided to commit suicide rather than attempt to escape from Berlin, which was surrounded by the Red Army. Johann Rattenhuber, later testified: "In Hitler's reception room at 10 o'clock in the morning there assembled Generals Burgdorf and Krebs, Admiral Voss, Hitler's personal pilot General Hans Baur, Standartenführer Georg Beetz, Obersturmbannführer Peter Högl, his personal servant Sturmbannführer Heinz Linge, Otto Günsche and myself. He came out to us and said: 'I have decided to abandon this life. Thank you for your good and honest service. Try to escape from Berlin with the troops. I am staying here'. Saying goodbye he shook hands with each of us". Voss also stated, "I left Berlin with Führer's adjutant [Günsche], telling me Hitler committed suicide, and his corpse was buried in the garden of the Reich's Chancellery". Klimenko drove to the Bunker later: "We went down into the Bunker, inside it was dark". Voss was acting strangely nervous, muttering something under his breath, and they went out to the surface to the garden near the emergency exit. Voss shouted, "There is Hitler!" pointing to a large empty fire hydrant tank, filled with human corpses, and they came closer. Voss leaned over one corpse. "This is Hitler," he said. After a moment, Voss hesitated, "I can not say that this is Hitler sure". Gustav Weler was a political decoy [Doppelgänger or Body-double] of Adolf Hitler. [1] At the end of the Second World War, he was executed by a gunshot to the forehead in an attempt to confuse the Allied troops when Berlin was taken. He was also used "as a decoy for security reasons". [2] When his corpse was discovered in the Reichs Chancellery garden by Soviet troops, it was mistakenly believed to be that of Hitler because of his identical moustache and haircut. The corpse was also photographed and filmed by the Soviets. One servant from the Bunker declared that the dead man was one of Hitler's cooks. He also believed this man "had been assassinated because of his startling likeness to Hitler, while the latter had escaped from the ruins of Berlin". [3] The picture, however, kept appearing in history books illustrating Hitler's last days for at least fifty years afterwards. The body has a bullet hole in the center of his forehead, rather than the right temple as we are led to believe from numerous re-enactments seen in documentaries and moves when Hitler "shot himself". The body is unburned, which is at complete odds with the account of high ranking German aides burning the bodies of both Hitler and Eva Braun in a shallow grave in the Chancellery garden using gasoline. It was not until days after that the Russian’s found out that they had been fooled by a ruse. Weler was wearing socks with holes in them and his dental records, obviously, did not match Hitler’s teeth. According to Klimenko, "We do not know what he was doing in the Bunker, why he was wearing Hitler's jacket and why he was killed". The cadaver of the look-alike cook lying on scattered debris in the Berlin ruins was an illusory focal point. Of course, the Führer's well-known portrait would also be placed noticeably among the rubble, as a deceptive "clincher" for the Russians to discover. Some historians were convinced that the Berlin decoy chef's corpse was "spruced up" by photo stylists and craftily laid down among the Chancellery ruins. Anton Joachimsthaler ["The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, the Evidence, the Truth," 1996] wrote: "One wonders just who it was who made that poor unfortunate up to look like Hitler, laid him out in the Chancellery, surrounded him with finger-pointing Russian soldiers and allowed him to be filmed and photographed". Weler's body was brought to Moscow for investigations and buried in the yard at Lefortovo prison. [4] However, British surgeon and author W. Hugh Thomas reported in his 1996 book "Doppelgängers: The Truth About the Bodies in the Berlin Bunker" that Gustav Weler was found alive after the war and was interviewed by an Allied commission to establish Adolf Hitler's fate. So that corpse found by the Russians was a further double. Reports now circulate in Russia that an actor, Andreas Kronstädt, was the impersonator who had volunteered to die in Hitler’s place. This was the theme of the 1996 film, "Conversation with the Beast", directed by one of Fassbinder’s followers, Armin Müller-Stahl. References 1. Petrova, Peter Watson. "The Death of Hitler". W. W. Norton & Company. 2. The Houston Chronicle 17 September 1992 3. The New York Times, 9 May 1945 4. The Times. London [UK]: 20 September 1992. When the bodies of Josef and Magda Göbbels were found, they were put on display and photographed from every angle, even on the autopsy table. Only ONE photograph was taken of "Hitler's corpse" - it is a picture of a crate with something unidentifiable in it, and the shot was taken from a distance. Did no one take a decent photograph of the corpse when it was discovered or during the autopsy? Therefore, it is most likely nonsense that the Russians, as they claimed several weeks after his death, ever found Hitler's body/corpse. There was no body, there was no autopsy. To this day the Russians have not presented a single piece of evidence that they found Hitler's corpse. Where are the authentic photographs? Where is the allegedly lead-lined box with Hitler's identifiable corpse? Why was this not shown to the German witnesses the Russians had captured? No other photos of Hitler's body were ever released by the Russians, who insist they discovered his corpse and performed several autopsies to positively identify him. How and why such an extremely important forensic investigation could have been conducted in the 20th century, without extensive photographic evidence, remains one of the great mysteries of modern history. Even though in 1945--and during their reconstruction of the events in 1946--the Russians kept telling Linge, Günsche, Baur, Hofbeck, Henschel and the others that they would be "confronted with Hitler's body" they never showed it to any of these people. Flugkapitän Hans Baur said on 24 November 1995: "After we arrived in Berlin, I was interrogated by a Commissar I already knew called Krause [Klausen], who had come with us from Moscow. This Commissar held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel . He told me that it was now high time to decide what to do with the corpses. We would be shown the bodies and should say whether we recognized any features which could indicate the identity of Hitler or Eva Braun. Up to now the bodies had been preserved. It was now time to decide if this should remain so or whether they should be destroyed. A confrontation with the corpses did not take place, however..." Report by Hermann Karnau, quoted from a sound radio recording of the NWDR: "I was commanded by an SS officer to leave my station . .. I did so and went into the officers' club. After half an hour I returned. The entrance to the Führer's Bunker was locked. I went back and tried to get in through the emergency exit, the one which led to the garden of the Reich Chancellery. As I reached the corner between the tall sentry-post Bunker and the Führer Bunker proper, when I was up there, I suddenly saw what looked like a petrol rag being thrown. The emergency exit to the Bunker [the low square concrete block, left of center], outside the entrance of which the bodies of Hitler and his wife Eva Braun were reportedly cremated and buried. The conical tower was an armored ventilation and guard tower. The Führerbunker was underground, in the area behind and beneath the emergency exit and the conical tower. The earlier Vorbunker was under the dining hall of the Old Chancellery, the low white building in the right rear. -- Bundesarchiv Berlin "In front of me lay Adolf Hitler on his back and Eva Braun on her belly. I definitely established that it was he. I went back and informed my comrade Hilger Poppen, who however didn't believe me. Half an hour later I returned to the spot. I could no longer recognize him because he was pretty charred. I spoke to Erich Mansfeld, who was at this time on sentry duty in the tower, who also confirmed: There lies Adolf Hitler. He is burning. I left this place .. and by the staircase met Sturmbannführer Franz Schädle, who confirmed that the Chief was burning behind the house in the garden of the Reich Chancellery. "At about 13.00 I was at this spot again . .. I saw that Hitler and Eva Braun by now had burnt to the point that the skeletal structure could clearly be seen. Whether during the period from 18.00 to 20.00 petrol was poured over the remains once more, I don't know, but when I was there again at 20:00 cinders were already flying in the wind ..." Long after the war Erich Mansfield and Herman Karnau, two SS guards who had been stationed on guard towers were interviewed regarding the burning of the bodies of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun. They both made the same statement: "When the bodies were ignited the corpse of Eva Braun sat up, her legs raised and bent themselves until her knees were almost touching her chin, and her arms lifted until they were pointing straight before her". One guard said "she contorted as if she was riding a wild horse". Crematoria technicians, detectives from police forensic science laboratories, coroners when interviewed are in agreement that a freshly deceased body or a corpse which has passed the rigor mortis stage will react in this manner. It has something to do with heat tightening and contracting the sinews. However, during the rigor mortis stage which normally occurs forty-five to sixty minutes after death, the body could be expected to remain rigid regardless of applied heat. It took several people to carry "Hitler's" body up the stairs, yet Martin Bormann picked Eva up in his arms "and she hung like a wet dish rag". The description of Eva's limp body is in direct contradiction to Hitler's "rigidly stiff and unbending body". Obviously the body had already gone into a state of rigor mortis and to do that it had to have been dead at least an hour longer than the woman. Karnau was a prisoner of the British in 1945. On 13 November 1953, Karnau recounted: "In November 1945 I was taken from Esterwegen to Berlin. Here I was told by an officer of the Secret Service that I was to lend a hand in the local search for Hitler's remains. However, this did not take place because of the refusal of the Russians". The only person who claimed to have seen Hitler's corpse is Harry Mengershausen. He recalled that, in early June 1945, an inspection of "the place" where Hitler's corpse had allegedly been buried took place. The crater had been dug up. We must remember that the garden of the Chancellory and the area around the Bunker was a huge field of craters. That Mengershausen spoke of a specific crater is already an indication that he was lying. Mengershausen goes on to say that in early July he was taken from the prison in Friedrichshagen to an open pit in woods nearby in order to identify three corpses. Each of the corpses was by itself in a "small wooden casket". The corpses had been those of Hitler and Herr and Frau Göbbels. Mengershausen claims to have "clearly recognized" Hitler by the shape of the head and the distinctive shape of the nose. "From the distance" he had not been able to see if Hitler's jaw had still been there. The whole "viewing of the bodies" had lasted for less than two minutes. Mengershausen is telling a story in great detail that simply does not fit the circumstances. It is impossible that Mengershausen was able to detect the "distinctive shape of Hitler's nose." The nose, like all the other soft tissues of the face, the torso and the extremities, must surely have burned away during the relatively long cremation process. A skull that is exposed to strong heat can preserve its bony shape for quite some time, but not its distinctive features, which it takes from the soft tissue of the face. Even in an open air cremation, all of the soft tissue and cartilage of the body disintegrate quickly so it was not possible for Hitler to be recognizable. Mansfield's and Karnau's testimony makes more sense because after a cremation all that is left is calcified bones. The next most reliable kind of evidence—documentary evidence—also sheds no light on Hitler's fate. Strikingly, no films or photographs exist that would corroborate any aspect of the official narrative of the Third Reich's last days, least of all the claim that Hitler committed suicide. Given his towering importance in the Third Reich, it is hard to believe that, if Hitler had remained in Berlin until the regime fell, a comprehensive photographic record would not have been made of his final stand. Yet there are no known photos or films of Hitler that can securely be dated to April 1945. As for written sources, all we have is an obscure entry dated 30 April 1945 in a document that is purported to be a diary kept by Reichsleiter Martin Bormann from 1 January to 1 May 1945: 30. 4. 45 Adolf Hitler Eva H. [Hitler] Not only is it hard to believe that even in the most cursory entry Bormann would not at least have recorded the precise time of the Führer's demise, but we possess unique testimony that proves the diary to be a fake. Shortly after the war, pilot Hanna Reitsch, who was in the Führerbunker for three days [26–29 April] told American interrogator Robert E. Work that during this period Bormann had been writing an extremely detailed document which he intended to preserve for posterity. Work recorded: "Bormann rarely moved from his writing desk. He was 'putting down events for future generations'. Every word, every action was recorded on paper. Often, he would approach someone and gloomily ask about the exact contents of the Führer's conversation with a person to whom he had just given an audience. He also meticulously wrote down everything that took place with the others in the Bunker. This document was supposed to be removed from the Bunker at the last moment so that, according to the modest Bormann, it could 'take its place among the greatest chapters of German history'. 7 However, the Bormann diary which the Russians subsequently presented to the world is a paltry affair containing entries that are typically only between one and three short lines long. The most substantial entry that for 27 April, runs to a mere eight lines. Clearly, the diary does not provide a complete narrative of the death throes of the Third Reich. Although most historians [including David Irving, the self-described apostle of "Real History"] accept its authenticity without demur, it can only be a fake. In sum, there is no physical evidence nor evidence of a visual or written kind that would shed any light whatsoever on Hitler's fate. Eyewitness Testimony The case for the conventional view that Hitler committed suicide and was cremated on the afternoon of 30 April 1945 therefore depends entirely upon the verbal and written statements furnished immediately after the war by a small group of captured Nazis, most of whom were members of the Schutzstaffel [SS], who claimed to have observed these important historical events with their own eyes. The six most important accounts are those of SS Obersturmbannführer Harry Mengershausen, SS Sturmbannführer Otto Günsche, SS Obergruppenführer Johannes ["Hans"] Rattenhuber, SS Obersturmbannführer Erich Kempka, SS Unterführer Hermann Karnau and SS Hauptscharführer Erich Mansfeld. The first clue to Hitler's alleged fate was obtained by the Canadian Army. A German policeman, and member of the RSD [Reichssicherheitsdienst] Hermann Karnau, gave himself up to a party of troops in Wilhelmshaven, stating as his reason for doing so that he wanted to obtain proper documents from the Allies. This action was curious in view of the fact that he was well known in Wilhelmshaven, where he had been a member of the town's criminal police. Karnau stated that he had been a guard at the Reichs Chancellery in Berlin until 2 May, when he was given permission to leave his post because the Russians were closing in. He passed through the Russian lines in disguise, stating that he was a Dutchman returning home. He said that he had been a member of the second ring of guards round Hitler since I944, when he was at the headquarters in East Prussia and at Berchtesgaden. He came to Berlin in March I945. tin the Interrogation Records Prepared for the War Crimes Proceedings at Nürnberg 1945-1947 [entered in a catalogue of the National Archives and Records Service in 1984] conducted in the Bremen Interrogation Center by a G-2 officer of the 29th Division on 30 July 1945, it was recorded that Erich Mansfeld [alias Skripczyk] he was accepted into the RSD in June of 1944 with a rank of Kriminal Assistant and SS Hauptscharführer. Whether this was a provisional rank or not is not known. The first three eyewitnesses, Mengershausen, Günsche and Rattenhuber, all fell into Soviet hands after Berlin was captured on 2 May 1945. They recounted their respective versions of Hitler's fate to Soviet authorities between 13 and 20 May 1945. The three men's accounts were not available to the public until the 2005 publication of the anthology "Hitler's Death". Although Hitler's valet, SS-Sturmbannführer Heinz Linge, was captured at the same time, his interrogation statements are not included in "Hitler's Death" and, so far as I know, have never been made public. Given that Linge subsequently emerged as one of the central protagonists in the official story of Hitler's demise, this fact obviously raises questions about the pretensions of "Hitler's Death" to constitute virtually the last word on the subject. The three accounts can be supplemented by various other accounts given by German prisoners to the Soviets in May 1945, in particular that given on 7 May by SS-Sturmbannführer Dr Helmut Kunz. Although Dr Kunz did not profess to know anything pertaining directly to the deaths of Adolf and Eva Hitler, his statement contains a highly significant account of Eva's last known conversation The other three eyewitnesses, Kempka, Karnau and Mansfeld, were interrogated by the Americans and the British. Until Hugh Trevor-Roper's "The Last Days of Hitler" was published in 1947, 8 the accounts of Kempka and Karnau were the only ones available to the general public. The other four accounts have subsequently become available, three as recently as 2005. This means that it is possible only now to consider the six earliest eyewitness statements together as an independent body of evidence. Only now is it possible, in effect, to leave "The Last Days of Hitler" behind and concern ourselves with the best available original source material. Strikingly, the information derived from these six individuals represents the bulk of the firsthand evidence that would ever become available. Only two of the persons specifically named by others as having been involved in the final days—Heinz Linge and Reichsjugendleiter Artur Axmann—survived the war and were able to give their own accounts later. However, in both cases, the eyewitnesses appear to have been pressured to conform their testimony to the Trevor-Roper account, which was treated by the Anglo-American establishment from the very beginning as definitive. None of the other individuals identified in the six earliest accounts as having been involved—Jansen, Kruge, Lindloff, Medle, Schädle, Burgdorf, Krebs, Bormann, Göbbels—survived the war [so far as we know]. We therefore find ourselves saddled with the task of trying to make sense of one of modern history's most important events on the basis of a remarkably thin body of evidence. The six accounts describe similar events. If we compare them, we find that there is general agreement on the following four points: 1. A male body was carried from a room in the Bunker to a location just outside the exit door from the Bunker; 2. The male body was wearing black trousers, shoes and socks like those Hitler usually wore; 3. At the same time, a female body was carried out of the Bunker whose face was uncovered and was readily identifiable as Eva Hitler; 4. Heinz Linge carried the body of the male; and the two bodies were laid down on the ground beside each other, doused with Petrol, cremated and buried together in a bomb crater or ditch situated a very short distance from the Bunker exit door. As soon as we look at elements of the story other than those listed above, discrepancies prove to be the rule. If they had been referring to the same event, authentic accounts ought to have agreed on most details as fully as they agreed on the aforementioned five points. It is impossible to distinguish between eyewitnesses who were "telling the truth" and eyewitnesses who were lying. In the absence of material or documentary evidence that would serve as a control, any such distinction is untenable. Indeed, each eyewitness account is as credible as any of the others. The approach that has most widely been followed, therefore, is that taken by Trevor-Roper, which simply involved assimilating all the available accounts into a narrative of a single event and ignoring or explaining away the details that did not fit with it. By this means, to give just one example, Trevor-Roper accepted an account of events which the eyewitness Erich Mansfeld stated had taken place "not later than the 27 of April" but treated it as if it were a description of an event that a different eyewitness, Erich Kempka, claimed to have observed on 30 April 1945. 9 The shortcomings of Trevor-Roper's homogenisation technique are rather obvious, however. If one accepts the overall reliability of Mansfeld's account to the extent that one is willing to make use of the information it contains, by what right does one ignore Mansfeld's statement that he is "positive" that the events he was describing had taken place "not later than" 27 April? Trevor-Roper did the same with the eyewitness testimony of Hermann Karnau, who stated that the events he had observed had taken place on 1 May. Clearly, one cannot simply cherry-pick the evidence in this way. Yet it is by this very method that Trevor- Roper assembled the grand narrative of the fall of the Third Reich which is accepted by most people, including most historians, as essentially correct! "The whole story of the alleged suicides of Hitler and Eva in the Bunker is totally farcical. The testimony of every single witness is badly tainted; not one witness is credible. There is, moreover, a far greater than normal incidence of changed testimony. This could be partially explained by several factors: the need for conformity, media pressure, or monetary gain". -- Thomas, Hugh. Doppelgängers. "The Truth About the Bodies in the Bunker". Fourth Estate, London, 1995 James Preston O'Donnell, in "The Bunker" disputed the reliability of the interrogations of witnesses in 1945, which are used as primary sources by most historian. Many witnesses admitted that they either lied or withheld information during their 1945 interviews, mainly due to pressure from their interrogators [this was especially true of those captured by the Soviets]. In the following sections, I review the six earliest known accounts while resisting the obvious temptations to dismiss certain accounts as wholesale fabrications or resort to the Trevor-Roper "cherry-picking" strategy. As we shall soon learn, the only way to make sense of the six accounts is to treat them as authentic accounts of different events. That said, it is not the case that each account represents a pure or unadulterated version of a particular cremation. The accounts of persons who had apparently observed two or more cremations—above all, Günsche—appear to represent a conflagration of events remembered from different cremations. Evidence of the Western Allies' haste to respond to the claim that Hitler had been murdered is their failure to reconcile the discrepancies between the two alleged eyewitnesses' accounts before presenting them to the press. While Kempka's statement confirmed that a cremation had taken place at around 3.00 pm on 30 April, Karnau's statement referred to a cremation on 1 May. In Berchtesgaden on 20 June 1945, Erich Kempka made a statement for American interrogator George R. Allen, the counter-Intelligence agent of the 101st Airborne Division. 16 In it, Kempka gave the Americans their first eyewitness account of any of the events connected with the death of the Führer. He declared that on 30 April—although he felt unable to say that this was the date "with complete sureness"—at precisely 2.30 pm, SS Sturmbannführer Günsche called him at the Reich Chancellery garage, asking him to bring five cans of Petrol over to the Bunker. There Günsche told him that the Führer was dead and that he had been ordered to burn his corpse "so that he would not be exhibited at a Russian freak-show". Kempka said he then helped carry the corpses. While Linge and an orderly whom he did not remember were carrying the corpse of Adolf Hitler, he carried the corpse of Eva Hitler. Kempka simply assumed that the corpse he had seen Linge carrying was Hitler's, for he noticed "the long black trousers and the black shoes which the Führer usually wore with his field-gray uniform jacket". While Karnau speaks of Hitler wearing a brown uniform, Kempka, correctly states it was "field-gray". Hitler wore a brown uniform until WW2 started in September 1939. He then changed to a grey uniform. In his speech to the Reichstag on 1 September, Hitler stated: "I have now put on the same uniform that was once my dearest and holiest. I will only take it off after the victory, or else I will not live to see that end". The corpses were taken from the Bunker to a spot in the Chancellery garden, "about 4 to 5 m distant from the Bunker exit". At this location, both bodies were cremated: SS Sturmbannführer Günsche poured the complete contents of the five cans over the two corpses and ignited the fuel. Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, Reichsminister Dr Göbbels, SS Sturmbannführer Günsche, SS Sturmbannführer Linge, the orderly and I stood in the Bunker entrance, looked towards the fire and all saluted with raised hands. 17 The evidence of the fifth eyewitness, Hermann Karnau, is interesting because he is the only eyewitness to the alleged cremation of Adolf and Eva Hitler who fell into the hands of the British whose story has ever reached the public. Like Kempka, Karnau escaped from Berlin, but by mid-May he had made his way to his British-occupied hometown, Wilhelmshaven, where he surrendered to Canadian troops. After being interrogated by British intelligence officer Captain K. W. E. Leslie, Karnau related his version of the events he had witnessed to an audience of reporters which included Walter Kerr from "Reuters" and Daniel De Luce of the "Associated Press". Leslie told the reporters: "I am sure that Karnau's report about Hitler's death is authentic. I have interrogated many German prisoners of war and I would call this man a reliable witness." 18 Unfortunately, Karnau's statement clashed with Kempka's in two important respects. First, Karnau claimed to have been certain that one of the bodies was that of Hitler. He told the reporters that he had been able to recognise Hitler "by his brown uniform and his face" 19 and, in particular, by his distinctive moustache. 20 Second, Karnau claimed that the cremation had taken place at 6.30 pm on 1 May. Karnau's account of the events of 1 May is sufficiently detailed that it cannot be said that he was mistaken about either the date or the time at which the cremation occurred. Karnau had seen Adolf Hitler alive and sitting in his favourite wicker chair when he went for breakfast on the morning of 1 May. During that morning, he recalled, four men arrived carrying gasoline cans "for the air conditioning system". Karnau said that as he knew the Bunker's air conditioning system used Diesel oil, he denied them entrance. He only allowed them in after Linge intervened. 21 Karnau, who last saw Hitler alive at around 4.00 pm, believed that Hitler was subsequently poisoned by one of his personal physicians, Dr Ludwig Stumpfegger, and cremated at around 6.30 pm that same day. It should not be concluded that Karnau was wrong about a cremation having taken place on 1 May. On 7 May, Dr Helmut Kunz, who had worked in the Reich Chancellery dental surgery from 23 April 1945 onwards, was interrogated by the Soviets. The evidence he gave on this occasion cannot be lightly dismissed because it was the first account ever given by a Bunker survivor—meaning that it is the least influenced by accounts given by others. It is also the most reliable, in the sense that the events it discusses had taken place only a week before. Dr Kunz explicitly affirmed seeing Eva Hitler alive on at least two occasions on the evening of 30 April. Dr Kunz told his Russian interrogators that he had seen Eva playing with the Göbbels children on that evening and that a little later, between 10.00 and 11.00 pm, he, Professor Werner Haase and two of Hitler's secretaries had joined her for coffee. On the latter occasion, Eva told Dr Kunz that Hitler was not yet dead but he "would die when he received confirmation that [his] will had reached the person it had been sent to". 22 It is very hard to imagine that Dr Kunz could have been confused about the date, that in such circumstances he could have mistaken Eva Hitler for someone else or that Eva did not actually know whether Hitler was yet dead or not. Moreover, since Hitler's will never reached its intended recipient[s], it is entirely plausible that Hitler would not have decided to die until the last possible moment, which is consistent with a time of 6.30 pm on 1 May. Several official documents from the Reich Chancellery suggest that Hitler was still alive on 1 May 1945, and died that day and not on 30 April, although it is convenient for all historians to skirt round the argument. 1. The text of the announcement of Hitler's death by Sender Hamburg at 22.26 hrs on 1 May 1945: "It is announced from Führer-HQ that our Führer Adolf Hitler fell for Germany this afternoon at his command post in the Reich Chancellery...On 30 April the Führer appointed Grossadmiral Dönitz as his successor". Here the radio message distinguishes between 30 April as the date of appointing Dönitz, and 1 May as the date of Hitler's death. Source: Extract from document D-444 /Exhibit GB188 at Nuremberg, also quoted verbatim in "Flensburger Nachrichten", edition 102, 2 May 1945. 2. If Hitler died on 30 April 1945, then Dönitz succeeded him immediately, and not when he was made aware of the fact next day. Also from the Nuremberg documents: "On 1 May 1945 Dönitz became Head of State as Hitler's successor". Source: IMT Vol 1 p.350, Vol XXII p.633. 3. After the alleged time of Hitler's death on 30 April, when Göbbels was Reich Chancellor, and knew he was Reich Chancellor, and had greater authority than Bormann, Bormann sent the following telex to Dönitz: Logged out from Berlin 30.4.1945 1807 hrs, Logged in at Plön 18.35 hrs. "Grossadmiral Dönitz. Instead of former Reichsmarschall Göring, the Führer named you, Herr Grossadmiral, as his successor. Written full powers on way to you. With immediate effect you are authorized to take all measures appropriate to the present situation. Bormann". Dönitz failed to respond to the first telex on the evening of 30 April 1945 giving him plenipotentiary powers. That was the moment for him to abdicate responsibility should he have so wished. But from a reading of the telex Hitler was still alive and who would disobey? Second telex: logged out from Berlin 1.5.1945 07.45 hrs, logged in at Plön 10.53 hrs. "For Grossadmiral Dönitz. Testament in force. I will come to you soonest. Until then, in my opinion, withhold publication. Bormann". Hitler is dead by 07.45 on 1.5.1945. What happened between 30 April and 1 May in Berlin which might account for the delay in Hitler taking his life? The local negotiations with the Russians overnight - when this failed all was finally lost. Late at evening, on 30 April 1945, the Chief of the German General Staff General Hans Krebs went to the Russians to parley for a partial surrender. For obvious reasons, a letter containing certain assertions for use in negotiations with the enemy does not carry much weight. The time of Hitler's death by the clock troubled General Krebs in his talks with the Russians, and eventually after some confusion as to the date, he settled for "3.50", which is later than "3.30". To give the Germans the chance to consider the Soviet terms, the Soviets declared a local cease-fire until 10.15 on the morning of 1 May. Third telex; logged out from Berlin 1.5.1945, 14.46 hrs, logged in at Plön, 1.5.1945, 15.18 hrs. "For Grossadmiral Dönitz! Führer deceased yesterday 15.30. Testament dated 29.4 bestows upon you office of Reich President, on Reich Minister Dr Göbbels the office of Reich Chancellor, on Reichsleiter Bormann the office of Party Minister, on Reich Minister Seyss-Inquart the office of Reich Foreign Minister. By order of the Führer the Testament has been brought out of Berlin to you, to Feldmarschall Schörner and to a safe place for the public. Reichsleiter Bormann is attempting to reach you today to report on the situation. The manner and time of the announcement to the forces and public left to you. Confirm receipt. Göbbels-Bormann". That is, the Führer died for historical purposes and officially at 15.30 hrs on 30 April 1945, and for reasons we can only guess at, the fact that he survived into 1 May is to be kept secret. Dönitz was Head of State from the moment when Hitler died, and not from the time when he was made aware of the fact. The structure of Nazi succession was similar to that of royal succession in Germany, Britain and elsewhere. It was laid down as law by Führer-edict. Dönitz was therefore Head of State from the time of Hitler's demise, and at Nuremberg the IMT considered that he was Head of State from 1 May 1945 and not 30 April. One must accept the Allied declaration at Nuremberg that Dönitz was Head of State as from 1 May 1945. since a document entered as a deposition at Nuremberg is a primary historical document. It states that Dönitz succeeded Hitler on 1 May 1945, whereas if Hitler died on 30 April the document should have stated that Dönitz succeeded Hitler on the afternoon of 30 April 1945. Because there is a period between 15.30 on 30 April 1945 and the morning of 1 May 1945 when Germany had no Head of State and no Reich Chancellor if Hitler were dead, this must be taken to mean that Hitler was not dead until the morning hours of 1 May 1945. Here is a synopsis of events from "Regierung Dönitz". The author, KKpt Walter Lödde-Neurath, was appointed Dönitz' adjutant in September 1944. "On 1 May 1945 Sender Hamburg announced Hitler's death that day and the appointment of Dönitz to succeed him. Dönitz drafted the radio announcement. The same night Dönitz made his proclamation to the German people and explained his military aims. Negotiations were under way with the British almost immediately to surrender Hamburg without resistance and to arrange a disposition with the British to the prejudice of the agreed Alliance with the Soviets. These negotiations were headed by Keitel. The same day Dönitz decided to depoliticize his Cabinet. The first casualty was Seyss-Inquart, appointed in the Testament as Foreign Minister, replaced by Graf Schwerin von Krosigk". Lödde-Neurath now talks about the three telexes: "Dönitz did not consider himself bound by the third telex. This was because [1] he considered that he had been deceived deliberately by the first telex as to the date and time of Hitler's death and [2] in the first telex he had been given full authority 'to pursue forthwith all measures necessary to deal with the situation as arising', and now he was supposed to wait for Bormann to explain to him what the situation was. Because of the lapse of time since Hitler's death and the reporting of it, Dönitz suspected a conspiracy by Bormann and Göbbels. After taking the advice of his trusted colleagues, including Keitel and von Krosigk, Dönitz decided to follow his own course and ordered the immediate arrest of Bormann and Göbbels should they arrive". On 4 May 1945 the German Command agreed to surrender to the British all German forces in Holland, NW Germany, the North Sea islands, Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark at 08.00 on 5 May 1945. A clause in the instrument of surrender allowed all current voyages in the region to be completed, the purpose here being to allow German sea transports to reach Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein with refugees from the East. Where Is Hitler? The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate [NSW] 1 May 1945 LONDON: Speculation as to whether Hitler is alive or dead has been more confused by a statement by the Hamburg Radio that he is still alive. A broadcast from this station at 8 p.m. last night asserted that Hitler awarded an Oak leaf to the Iron Cross to four German officers. The broadcast, however, may be merely Propaganda to buoy what remains of German morale. The doubt existing as to the date when Hitler's life ended is legitimately raised on the basis of protocol and the primary documents. Academic historians prefer to gloss over the problem by postulating a supposed emotional upheaval in the Berlin Bunker on the afternoon of 30 April, but this seems too easy a solution. When Soviet forces examined the Bunker and tested the Bunker telephone system, they got a dialling tone. Communications to and from the Bunker by spoken word remained excellent to the very end. Here is the problem. Hitler supposedly committed suicide just after three on the afternoon of 30 April 1945. On the night of 30 April, Bormann sent a signal to Dönitz which stated: "The Führer has appointed you, Herr Grossadmiral, as his successor. Confirmation in writing follows". This statement was inaccurate. The Führer combined in his person the offices of Reich Chancellor and Reich President, and by Hitler's Last Will and Testament, Dönitz was to be Reich President only. If Adolf Hitler was truly dead on the afternoon of 30 April 1945, Dönitz was already Reich President, a fact which Bormann kept secret from him. Göbbels was already Reich Chancellor by virtue of Hitler's Last Will and Testament, but Dönitz thought that he, Dönitz, was going to be Reich Chancellor and Reich President in personal union because he had been told by Bormann that he had been nominated Hitler's successor. This nonsensical situation regarding who was in charge of Germany on the afternoon of 30 April 1945 indicates an attempt to conceal the identity of the man who was. The only conceivable reason that Bormann would have for refraining to inform Dönitz in his signal, late on 30 April 1945, that Hitler was dead, that Dönitz was Reich President and Göbbels was Reich Chancellor, was that Hitler's Last Will and Testament was not yet in force BECAUSE HITLER WAS NOT YET DEAD. By inference, Hitler did not vacate the office of Führer, either by committing suicide or leaving the jurisdiction of the Reich for exile, until 1 May 1945. Hitler's precipitate decision to marry Eva Braun is unlikely to have been made for a reason not connected with State protocol. The probability is that they married in haste because it was a condition of some agreement. There are a number of possibilities but the most likely case is that the Church of Rome insisted on the marriage as a precondition for its help in arranging sanctuary and later exile. There were suggestions made that Hitler did not commit suicide at all, but was shot by his devoted valet, Heinz Linge. That was the evidence given to SMERSH by the head of Hitler's bodyguard, SS Gruppenführer Hans Rattenhuber, who was in the Bunker at the time and recalled that between 3pm and 4pm on the day of Hitler's death: "Linge came in and confirmed that Hitler was dead, saying that he'd had to carry out the hardest order the Führer had ever given him. I looked at Linge in surprise. He explained to me that before his death, Hitler ordered him to leave the room for ten minutes, then to return, wait ten more minutes and then carry out the order. "Having said that, Linge quickly went to Hitler's room and returned with a Walther pistol, which he placed on the table before me."By its special external finish, I recognised it as the Führer's personal pistol. "Now it was clear to me what Hitler's order had been. Obviously, Hitler, doubting the effectiveness of the poisons after all the injections he had been given for such a long time, ordered Linge to shoot him after he had taken the poison. Linge had shot Hitler". Rattenhuber did not see Hitler's body until after it was wrapped in grey blankets and carried out of the office/sitting room where Hitler died. He was not one of those who took the body up the stairs and outside. Instead, Rattenhuber followed Heinz Linge, Otto Günsche, Peter Högl, Ewald Lindloff and several others outside and watched Hitler's body be burned. New files from the Moscow Archives "Was Hitler Shot by his Butler?" The book, "Hitler's Death: Russia's Last Great Secret from the Files of the KGB", was published in translation in London in 2005. It is loaded with information that was locked up in the KGB's secret archives for decades, particularly statements made by a number of Führerbunker survivors captured by the Red Army and imprisoned and repeatedly interrogated for a decade. One of them was Gruppenführer Hans Rattenhuber, the head of Hitler's personal bodyguard unit from the time the Nazis took power in 1933 until Hitler's death in 1945. Versions of what happened to Hitler's Death Gun 1. According to Rattenhuber, after Heinz Linge, Hitler's valet, led the way into the Führer's quarters in the Bunker and it was verified that he and Eva Braun were dead, he was supposed to shoot Hitler and make sure he was really dead. [Linge did not mention this detail to James P. O'Donnell, who wrote the definitive work on life and death in Hitler's final headquarters, "The Bunker"]. When he left the room where Hitler killed himself, he took Hitler's personal 7.65 Wather PP with him, apparently a special presentation piece Walther had made up for him that he carried whenever he wore a military holster. He went to Rattenhuber and informed him that Hitler was dead, and set the pistol on the table where Rattenhuber was sitting. At that point Artur Axmann, the head of the Hitler Youth, picked up the pistol as if it was a relic and told Rattenhuber that he would "hide it for better times". This is where the speculation begins. Unlike most of the Führerbunker survivors, Axmann successfully evaded capture by the Russians and escaped from Berlin. He made it to the West but was arrested in December 1945 for attempting to organize an underground Nazi resistance. In 1958 the West German government sentenced him to 39 months in jail and a fine for indoctrinating German children in the tenets of Nazism as the head of the Hitler Youth, but had to release him for time served. He became a businessman in the Canary Islands, but eventually returned to Gernany and died there in 1996. However, Axmann was on the loose for seven months before the US Army arrested him. He made it out of Berlin before the city surrendered to the Russians. It is not unreasonable to believe that he took Hitler's Walther PP with him when he left the Bunker to make his escape. Considering he was attempting to organize a Nazi resistance when he was arrested, he would have been able to make good use of that Walther as a Hitler relic to inspire the members of his resistance movement. Is it possible that when Army counter-Intelligence arrested Axmann, the Hitler pistol was booked into evidence and CIC did not realize what they had? In an article "Guns & Ammo" published several years ago, it was stated that Hitler had two pistols he carried. One was a Walther PPK in .25 ACP, that he carried in leather holster pockets sewn into his pants in an inside-the-waistband setup. This was the pistol he habitually carried. He presumably would have used it in his own defense had an assassin managed to get past his bodyguards. The other was a Walther PP in .32 ACP, which he carried on occasions when he wore a brown leather belt outside his greatcoat in a standard holster. The Walther PP was very popular with Nazi Party leaders, who carried them almost as a badge of office. It was this pistol that Hitler used to blow his brains out on 30 April 1945. But while it had a better fit and finish than a typical production gun, it was not gold-plated with ivory grips and sterling inlays. On 20 April 1939, Germany’s Nazi Party celebrated Adolf Hitler’s 50th birthday with an orgy of gift-giving and a display of military firepower unparalleled in the history of the world. For four hours, the dictator stood before a gilded chair upholstered in red reviewing thousands of men and weapons parading down the Avenue of Splendor amidst the cheers of tens of thousands of enthralled onlookers. Fighter planes thundered overhead. Tanks rumbled past. Nearby, in the German Chancellery, tables groaned under the weight of scores of gifts. There were marble statues, a collection of letters of Frederick the Great, tapestries, antiques, paintings and original scores of Hitler’s favorite composer, Richard Wagner. Among these many treasures was a case containing a gold-plated semiautomatic pistol. Hitler’s initials were inlaid with gold on the ivory grips. This was the gift of Carl Walther, whose family made hundreds of thousands of weapons sold worldwide. Of all his gifts, Hitler, who had a fondness for firearms, particularly prized the pistol and, after the day’s festivities, had the pistol shipped to Munich, where he kept it in a desk drawer in his apartment. One of the surprising things about Hitler versus dictators like Idi Amin Dada, Muammar Qaddafi, or Saddam Hussein, is that he did not award himself a chestful of medals and strut around in military uniforms he was not really entitled to wear. He did not go in for flash in his personal appearance, wearing only the Iron Cross Second Class he earned in World War I and his "Golden Pheasant" the gold party badge awarded to members of the Nazi Party whose membership numbers were below 100,000, on his Party Leader's uniform. For Hitler to have carried a presentation piece would be contrary to his character, his lack of personal ostentation. 2.. Hitler Youth Leader Artur Axmann recalls in his book "That Can't Be The End" standing in a room in the Bunker with Göbbels and Martin Borman, with Göbbels saying: "Was that a shot?" Why did everyone in the Bunker hear the shot? The "death room" had concrete walls two feet thick, a reinforced concrete ceiling sixteen feet thick, and there were two four inch thick hermetically gas-proofed doors between the bodies and the witnesses. If the shot was fired in Hitler's sitting room it was an absolute impossibility for those in the map room to have heard it, and the smell had no way to escape. Also, a 7.65 mm Walther makes a sound about equal to bursting a child's party balloon. A shot ringing out at about. 15:30 was stated by Trevor-Rope in his 1946 account, largely based on the testimony of Erich Kempka. However, Kempka was en route with the canisters of petrol at this time and cannot have heard anything - which he later admitted, and no other testimony from individuals, who were present in the immediate vicinity of Hitler's rooms; Günsche, Linge, Misch or others supports that a shot was heard. However if a blank round was fired on the spiral staircase between floors, the sound would have reverberated through both levels of the tomb-like Bunker and would have been heard by all. A Life photographer took this picture inside Hitler's underground Berlin Bunker in July 1945. It had the kind of door that Deborah Lipstadt, Prof. Robert Jan Van Pelt and Mr Justice Gray all agreed was conclusive evidence of a gas chamber. Hitler should have been told.... -- David Irving Why did none of the witnesses mention the smell or cordite or gunpowder in the "death room"? Each and every one of them smelled the cyanide emanating from the mouth of Eva Braun but not a single one reported the equally pungent odour of cordite or gunpowder. If a shot had been fired in this gas proof room, the smell had no way to escape. Why do none of the witnesses report an exit wound on Hitler's head? They appear unanimous on the small "German silver mark" size bullet hole in "Hitler's right temple" but no one makes mention of an exit wound. Representatives of the Walther firm which manufactured the pistol concerned are adamant. If the muzzle was placed against the forehead as it was discharged an exit wound the size of a closed fist should be on the other side of the victim's head. The only way the corpse could be in the condition described by the witnesses was if the shot was fired from a distance of ten or twelve feet. "Otto Günsche came out and said: 'The Führer is dead'. It was 15.30. With Göbbels and Bormann, I followed Günsche into Hitler's living room ... Later Otto Günsche told me Hitler had shot himself in the right temple ... Eva Hitler had poisoned herself. "Otto Günsche gave me the 7.65mm pistol, with which Hitler had shot himself, and also the 6.35mm pistol which in recent times, he had carried always in his pocket". Axmann later revealed he hid them on a railway line but could not find the spot when he returned years later. Heinz Linge was also arrested by the Russians. In "Until The End", he recalls smelling gunpowder outside Hitler's room: "I went into the room where a number of people were standing around Martin Bormann. I did not know what they were talking about. In any case, they did not know what had happened. I signaled to Bormann to come with me to Hitler's study. I opened the door and went in". "Bormann followed me. He was chalk-white and stared helplessly and questioningly at me. On the sofa sat Adolf and Eva Hitler. Both were dead. Hitler had shot himself with the 7.65. The 7.65 and his 6.35 pistol, which he had in reserve should the larger weapon fail, lay near his feet on the ground". 3. German author Ulrich Völklein, "Hitler's Death: The Last Days in the Führer Bunker", has perused the Soviet interrogation records of Otto Günsche, Hitler's adjutant, and Heinz Linge, his valet. Echoing what he exclusively related to British historian David Irving in 1967 -who donated copies of the Soviet interrogation records to German archives later- Günsche said that he, Linge, and Martin Bormann entered the Führer's private rooms in the Berlin Bunker when they smelt gunpowder. Braun was lying on a sofa. Hitler's body was slumped over the right side of a chair. Irving first described this in his book "Hitler's War" [The Viking Press, 1977]: "Blood was dripping from his right temple, a pool of blood was already on the carpet," Günsche testified to the Soviets, "It was immediately apparent that he had shot himself from his own pistol, a PPK 7.65mm which eight days previously after an emotional conference [on 22 April 1945] he had taken out of his bedside table and carried with him constantly, loaded". Linge confirmed that he saw the PPK 7.65 on the floor to the right of Hitler's body, and the 6.35 next to his left foot. Völklein quotes the records as saying Günsche picked up the revolvers and unloaded them. He saw that the shot had come from the 7.65, and put both revolvers into his pocket and gave them later to Axmann's adjutant, Lieutenant Hamann. The lieutenant apparently wished to keep the guns as relics. Günsche retained Hitler's fountain pen [which he still had]. Hamann fell into Soviet hands. Stalin is claimed to have kept the 7.65 in his study. The book "Quest" [Melchior & Brandenberg, 1990] quotes Axmann as stating that he buried Hitler's death gun under the Sandkrug bridge in Berlin. Völklein and others refer to the Commander of Reich Security and head of Hitler's Personal Bodyguards, the SS officer Hans Rattenhuber, who told his Russian jailers in May, 1945: Hitler had poisoned himself with cyanide, and his valet Linge, 10 minutes later, shot him to ensure he was dead. In "The Last Days with Adolf Hitler", Hitler's driver, Erich Kempka, writes: "Bormann, Linge and me heard the shot and stormed into the room. Dr Ludwig Stumpfegger came to examine the body [This is not supported by other accounts]. Göbbels and Axmann were called". One historian has a surprising note here: "There was just time enough for someone to take a flashbulb photograph of the dead Hitler, holding his mother's picture against his chest…" -- Robert Payne, "The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler" Payne is pretty much alone in the world with that idea, confusing the photo of the dead "double" at the Chancellery entrance, taken by the Russians, with an intentional post mortem shot of the dead Führer. Lew Besymenski, the Soviet historian, writes that Kempka, within a matter of days, changed his version of events: First he said Eva Braun had shot herself, then he spoke of poison: first he spoke of two shots in the room, then of one shot. Despite claims made to the contrary during his interrogation, Kempka later admitted that when Hitler and Eva Braun locked themselves in a room to commit suicide, he lost his nerve and ran out of the Führerbunker, returning only after Hitler and Braun were dead. By the time he returned to the Bunker, Hitler and Braun's bodies were already being carried upstairs for cremation. 4. In July 1945 Bill Vandivert, reporter for "Life Magazine", took a picture of the American CIC researchers who, with nothing besides a candle, were examining the living room, Hitler's suicide site. In his typewritten notes to his editors in New York, Vandivert described in detail what he saw. For the above photograph below published in July 1945, he wrote: "Pix of [correspondents] looking at sofa where Hitler and Eva shot themselves. Note bloodstains on arm of sofa [sic] where Eva bled. She was seated at the far end, Hitler sat in the middle and fell forward, did not bleed on sofa. This is in Hitler’s sitting room". The above narration by Vandivert indicates that Eva Braun was also shot. [American researchers exclusively took into account the sofa's bloodstains, overlooking the similar stains that could be seen on Eva Braun's bed, even when by its shape and size it had probably been left by one of the hundred wounded that were found by the Soviets at the time of occupying the Bunker] Creative Dentistry On 8 May 1945, the Soviets set out to identify the corpses they suspected to be those of Adolf and Eva Hitler. That day, two Russians—chief forensic pathologist Dr Faust Sherovsky and anatomical pathologist Major Anna Marantz— autopsied the remains at SMERSH [Soviet military counter-Intelligence] headquarters in the Berlin suburb of Buch. According to their report: "The most important anatomical finding for identification of the person are the teeth, with much bridgework, artificial teeth, crowns and fillings". 38 Indeed, in the pre-DNA-testing era, the only means of obtaining a secure identification of a heavily damaged corpse was by examining the teeth and comparing them with available dental records. Unfortunately, no documents are available that describe the teeth of the two corpses as they were found on 5 May. The earliest information we have concerning their teeth derives from the autopsy report, which was written three days later. If the report can be believed, the mouth of the presumptive Hitler corpse was completely intact: "There are many small cracks in...the upper jawbones. The tongue is charred, its tip firmly locked between the teeth of the upper and lower jaws". 39 The problem was therefore locating Hitler's dental charts. 40 The Soviets' attempt to find them led them into a mire of intrigue and deception which remains unravelled even today. As far as it can be reconstructed from extant sources, the investigation proceeded along the following lines. On 9 May, a Soviet military officer, a female Intelligence officer and a male translator went looking for Hitler's dentist, SS General Professor Dr Johann Hugo Blaschke, at his surgery at Kurfürstendamm 213. When they arrived, they found that Prof. Blaschke was not there and that his practice had been taken over by Dr Fedor Bruck, a Jewish dentist who, in order to evade deportation to the east, had spent two and a half years living underground in Berlin. According to a record Dr Bruck made in 1948, some of Prof. Blaschke's files were still present at the time. But while the visitors were able to take away records for Himmler, Dr Ley, Göring and Dr Göbbels, all of Hitler's had already been removed . 41 However, the search was not a complete failure, for Dr Bruck told the Soviet officers where they could find Prof. Blaschke's assistant, Käthe Heusemann, and his dental technician, Fritz Echtmann. Dr Bruck accompanied the officers to Heusemann's apartment a short distance away in the Pariserstrasse. Heusemann was then taken to the Reich Chancellery, where a fruitless search for Hitler's dental records was conducted. The next day, 10 May, she was taken to SMERSH headquarters and ordered to examine the remains there. By this stage, the jawbones had been removed from the alleged Hitler corpse, for Heusemann was shown them in a cigar box. This would presumably have been done in order to make them easier to study; however, this raises the problem of the chain of evidence, for we have no means of knowing whether the jawbones Heusemann was shown really came from the corpse autopsied on 8 May. Nonetheless, Heusemann affirmed that the teeth were Hitler's. 42 A few days later, she told Dr Bruck that she had been able to identify them immediately. A year later, Dr Bruck told a foreign reporter that Heusemannd recognised "...an upper crown which was an anchor for a bridge on Hitler's upper jaw. The bridge had been cut because the other anchor had been extracted. The operation left surgical traces which Frau Heusermann [sic] recognized at once." 43 According to the record of her 19 May interrogation, Heusemann recognised drill marks left behind by Prof. Blaschke in the autumn of 1944 on the fourth tooth in Hitler's left upper jaw when he had extracted two adjacent teeth. 44 "I was holding a mirror in the mouth and watching the whole procedure with great attention," she declared. 45 But before we discuss Heusemann's evidence concerning Hitler's teeth, a digression is needed in order to evaluate her evidence in regard to the teeth of the alleged corpse of Eva Hitler. As we shall see, her evidence is rather problematic and casts some doubt on her additional claims to have worked on Eva's teeth. A Bridge Too Far Dr Bruck also told the foreign reporter that on the same occasion Heusemann had told him that she had been shown "a female bridge from the lower jaw which contained four teeth". "She identified it as Eva Braun's and said, 'We made it for her only six weeks ago,' he related. She told the Russians the bridge was made by a man named Eichmann [sic], who was a dental mechanic for Dr Blaschke." 46 However, the very information that initially seemed to confirm the identity of the female corpse only ended up disconfirming it. On 11 May, the Soviets questioned Prof. Blaschke's dental technician, Fritz Echtmann. He was interrogated about Eva Hitler's teeth on an unspecified number of other occasions in May 1945, and again on 24 July 1947. 47 On the latter occasion, Echtmann admitted to his interrogator, a Major Vaindorf, that "[a]t the beginning of April 1945" Prof. Blaschke had asked him "to make a small bridge for Eva Braun's right upper jaw". 48 Echtmann seems to have been talking about the bridge which Heusemann told Dr Bruck that the Soviets had shown her the day before. Dr Bruck told the foreign reporter about this in May 1946. He can probably be believed: there is no obvious reason that he could have known about the existence of the bridge requested by Prof Blaschke in early April—"the 1945 bridge", as I shall subsequently refer to it—if Heusemann had not told him about it. There are two problems with this information, however. First, the bridge Heusemann described sounds more like the bridge that had been fitted in Eva's mouth by Prof. Blaschke—Heusemann says with her assistance—in the autumn of 1944. [For simplicity's sake, I shall subsequently refer to this as "the 1944 bridge"]. The 1945 bridge was for only one tooth. The question, therefore, is why Heusemann told the Soviets—and Dr Bruck—that the 1944 bridge was the one that Prof. Blaschke had asked Echtmann to make only six weeks earlier. Second, why did Heusemann say this if she knew that the 1945 bridge had never been inserted in Eva's mouth? At some stage—exactly when is not clear—Echtmann told his Soviet interrogators that Heusemann had told him it had never been fitted: "On 19 April, 1945, I called Professor Blaschke and told him that the small bridge was ready. He told me it would be sent to Berchtesgaden if Eva Braun was there. On the same day, 19 April, I sent the small denture to Professor Blaschke at the Reich Chancellery. Later, in a talk with his assistant Heusemann I learnt that Professor Blaschke had flown to Berchtesgaden on 20 April and had not fitted the small denture in Berlin". 49 The problems identified here do not damn Heusemann's evidence, but they do undermine her credibility. If she knew that Prof. Blaschke had not fitted the 1945 bridge, why did she lead the Soviets to believe that it had been fitted? The problem is compounded by the information that on 19 April, Prof. Blaschke apparently had not known whether Eva was in Berlin or not. On 19 May 1945, Heusemann told the Soviets that "a month ago we extracted one tooth [from Eva] in the upper jaw, the 6th one on the left". 50 Since Eva apparently arrived in Berlin in mid-April—the precise date does not appear to be known—and Prof. Blaschke left the city on 20 April, the extraction must have been performed during the period 15–20 April. In these circumstances, Prof. Blaschke must surely have known that Eva was in Berlin. What's more, since the bridge contained the false tooth to be inserted in the place of the extracted tooth, it made little sense not to have established in advance when and where the bridge was to be fitted. There is something rather slipshod and unlikely about all this. Then there is the problem that Prof. Blaschke already knew in early April that Eva would need a tooth extracted. It is not clear why he therefore did not remove the tooth then, rather than wait until the denture was ready. Perhaps he wanted to replace the tooth with the denture almost immediately. But if he waited a few weeks until the denture was ready, why was it not fitted the day Echtmann sent it over to the Reich Chancellery surgery on 19 April? Since Eva was in Berlin, Prof. Blaschke had ample opportunity to insert the fitting, either the same day or the following day [20 April]. After all, Prof. Blaschke's flight to Berchtesgaden did not actually take place until the early hours of 21 April. We therefore do not know what really happened to the 1945 bridge—whether Prof. Blaschke fitted it in Berlin and Heusemann had lied to [or simply misinformed] Echtmann, whether Prof. Blaschke took it on the plane with him to Berchtesgaden or whether he left it behind in Berlin, perhaps for his replacement, Dr Helmut Kunz, to insert in Eva's mouth. The striking fact is that "Hitler's Death"—the recently published collection of documents from Soviet archives allegedly proving that the human remains which the Soviets found on 5 May had been those of Adolf and Eva Hitler—contains neither Heusemann's 10 May interrogation report nor Echtmann's 11 May interrogation report. What's more, although Dr Kunz took Prof. Blaschke's place on 23 April, his interrogation record yields no information as to whether he worked on Eva Hitler's teeth after that date. Since it is hard to believe that the Soviets would not have asked Dr Kunz whether he had performed any dental work on Adolf or Eva Hitler, it can safely be assumed that the editors of "Hitler's Death" have chosen to suppress this information. Without any more information to go on, it is not possible to say what the real significance of the 1945 bridge was. What can be said is that if, during his first interrogation on 11 May 1945, Echtmann revealed to the Soviets that the small bridge had never been fitted, this would explain why, on or about 15 May, apparently without any advance warning, the Soviets took Heusemann into custody. 51 The fact that Heusemann was repeatedly interrogated by Soviet intelligence agents suggests that information was continually coming to light that rendered her evidence problematic. On 19 May, Lt-General Vadis interrogated her for nearly five hours. 52 A partial record of this interrogation does appear in "Hitler's Death". 53 According to this document, Heusemann said that she had been able to verify that the teeth were Eva's because she recognised a "gold and resin bridge" that, with her assistance, Prof. Blaschke had inserted in the right part of Eva's lower jaw in the "summer of 1944 ". 54 At a later date—no earlier than 23 July 1947— Heusemann was still being pressed for a full description of Eva Hitler's teeth. 55 In this statement, she implied that Eva had a false tooth in her upper right jaw—which she can only have done if the 1945 bridge had been fitted after all! 56 Such prolonged and intensive questioning is inconsistent with the idea that the information Heusemann provided had been sufficient to establish that the teeth were Eva's. If so, why ask her to go over the subject again and again? There are therefore plenty of hints of intrigue, but thanks to the fact that only very brief selections from her interrogations are included in "Hitler's Death", it is not possible to chronicle the development of her story. The same goes for Echtmann's evidence: "Hitler's Death "only contains statements he gave on 24 July 1947, not those he gave in May 1945 during what appear to have been at least four or five interrogations. Heusemann's and Echtmann's fate supports the conclusion that the Soviets found something fishy about their evidence. Within two days of each other in August 1951, Heusemann and Echtmann were arrested by Soviet MGB [Ministry of State Security] officials. Heusemann was charged with "having treated Hitler, Himmler and other Nazi leaders until April 1945", while Echtmann was charged with "assisting Hitler and his circle". Each was sentenced to 10 years in a Soviet labour camp. 57 Neither person appears ever to have been repatriated and it is a fair guess that both vanished in Stalin's vast, impenetrable Gulag. It seems hard to credit the idea that their crimes really consisted of having provided Hitler and other top Nazis with dental treatment; more likely, both paid the ultimate price for trying to deceive Stalin. X-Ray Deception In the above discussion of the forensic issues concerning Eva Hitler's teeth, it became obvious that Heusemann's evidence was problematic to say the least. She told the Soviets and Dr Bruck that the bridge that was shown to her had been made recently, yet it more closely resembles the bridge she claimed to have helped Prof. Blaschke insert in the summer of 1944 than the 1945 bridge. In view of the issues raised in relation to Eva's teeth that undermine her credibility, it is important to ask whether Heusemann was actually competent to assess the evidence concerning the teeth of the presumptive Hitler corpse discovered on 5 May. By 10 May, the jawbones had been removed from the "Hitler" corpse and placed, if we can believe it, in a cigar box and shown to Heusemann. For our purposes it is unimportant whether the cigar box was ferried to Heusemann, as Soviet military reconnaissance interpreter Elena Rzhevskaya claimed, 58 or whether Heusemann was taken to SMERSH headquarters to identify them there, which is what Dr Bruck in his 1948 memoir indicated happened. 59 What is important is that in the record of her 19 May interrogation, Heusemann stated, as established previously, that she had recognised drill marks left behind by Prof. Blaschke on the fourth tooth in Hitler's left upper jaw the time he extracted two adjacent teeth. 60 The problem is, rather, that all of Heusemann's claims to have worked on Hitler's teeth—claims which are iterated on several occasions in "Hitler's Death"—appear to be false. In early 1948, while still in American captivity, Prof. Blaschke gave an interview in which he stated that Heusemann "cannot give a positive identification because she knows only some X-rays of Hitler's teeth". 61 Thus, Heusemann's knowledge of Hitler's teeth derived solely from the X-rays and not from personal experience. She can therefore n e v e r have helped Prof. Blaschke work on Hitler's teeth six times between 1944 and 1945, as she told her Soviet interrogators, and can only have recognised the "drill marks" she told Dr Bruck about from the Xrays she had studied. She therefore had no means of knowing whether the X-rays accurately represented the condition of Hitler's mouth or that of someone else. Once I realised that Heusemann had lied about having worked on Hitler's teeth, I also began to doubt Heusemann's claim to have worked also on the teeth of Eva Hitler and many leading Nazis. According to the testimony she gave the Soviets, she had worked at the Reich Chancellery dental surgery from December 1944 until 20 April 1945. She specifically claimed to have helped Prof. Blaschke extract a tooth from Eva Hitler in April 1945. However, despite the relatively long period involved—around four months—I have found no account that corroborates her presence in the Reich Chancellery surgery, aside from the aforementioned contact between Heusemann and Echtmann that does not prove that she really worked there. [Since Echtmann could have been a participant in the same intrigues as Heusemann, his evidence is far from decisive]. During the period from 20 April to 2 May 1945, Heusemann is also supposed to have remained in the Chancellery. Dr Bruck told reporters that for safety reasons she had remained in the Chancellery "in the last days of Berlin". 62 It is odd, then, that she was not mentioned by Dr Kunz, who took over from Prof. Blaschke at the Chancellery surgery on 23 April. [Dr Kunz apparently had no assistant at all]. My conclusion is that Heusemann was probably nothing more than an opportunist, someone who sought to profit from knowledge of the dental charts she had gained in 1944 [–45?] while working for Prof. Blaschke. To this end, Heusemann appears to have recruited Dr Bruck. According to Dr Bruck himself, he renewed his acquaintanceship with Heusemann on 4 May, when he located her in the Pariserstrasse. It seems likely that this day she drew him into her confidence and explained how she had enjoyed access to Hitler's dental records. It is clear why Dr Bruck, despite being Jewish, was a willing participant in the dental intrigues surrounding the alleged corpses of Adolf and Eva Hitler. Although he had been living underground in Berlin since October 1942—and was reportedly destitute by the time the Soviets entered Steglitz [the quarter of the city in which he had been hiding] on 26 April 1945—Dr Bruck was placed in a position by Heusemann to take over Prof. Blashke's surgery less than a week after they had renewed their association. This was quite a coup, for the surgery was located in Berlin's most fashionable street. Dr Bruck's prior relationship with Heusemann offers the only plausible explanation for this cosy arrangement. Heusemann had worked for Dr Bruck when he was a school dentist in her home town of Liegnitz [Silesia] in the mid-1930s. She moved to Berlin in April 1937 to work for Prof. Blaschke. It is possible that, knowing he would probably never return, Prof. Blaschke gave Heusemann the rights to the surgery after he left Berlin on 20 April; if so, she might have considered it a good idea to secure her right to the practice in the new post-Nazi era by placing it in the care of a Jewish dentist she knew and trusted. What strengthens the likelihood that this scenario accords with the facts is evidence that Dr Bruck was consciously playing a role in a hoax to authenticate the alleged remains of the Führer and his wife. First, it was Dr Bruck who told Soviet investigators about Heusemann and Echtmann. Having established on 4 May where she lived, he was in a position to lead them straight to her when they arrived at the Kurfürstendamm surgery on 9 May. For by that date, Dr Bruck had already taken over the surgery and moved into the apartment connected to it. 63 It was obviously extremely convenient for them that Dr Bruck was on hand to meet them when they arrived. If the surgery had been abandoned altogether, the Soviets would have had to go to a good deal more trouble to track down anyone who apparently possessed the necessary competence to evaluate the alleged Hitler dental evidence. Things couldn't have been made any easier for them. Second, there is a puzzling instance of foreknowledge. When the Soviet investigators arrived at the surgery, Dr Bruck seemed to know why they had come. He asked them if they were seeking to identify some "fragments" they had found. 64 While it would not have taken much by way of brains to guess they were seeking to identify a corpse, Bruck's use of the word Fragmente—which has the exact same meaning in German as it does in English [i.e., fragments]—seems quite a slip. What is sometimes referred to as Hitler's jawbone [i.e. in the singular] is actually a collection of four fragments. 65 Dr Bruck must have known in advance that it was not a question of identifying an intact set of teeth. It was a slip that implies participation in a conspiracy to deceive the Soviets. Third is the striking fact that Dr Bruck was the first person to reveal to Western reporters that the Soviets had called on Heusemann to identify teeth they presumed to be Hitler's. After Heusemann and Echtmann vanished into Soviet prisons in mid-May 1945, Dr Bruck never gave up trying to pass on information to the West that confirmed Western suspicions that the Soviets had found Hitler's body. On 5 July 1945, two days after the Western Allies were allowed to enter Berlin, Dr Bruck began scouting out foreign reporters to ask if they knew anything about Heusemann's fate. Although there is no reason to doubt that he felt genuine concern for her safety, Dr Bruck had the opportunity from such contacts with foreign reporters to ensure that the information which the Soviets had gleaned from Heusemann, but had been withholding, reached the West at last. On 9 July, an article by William Forrest was published in the "British News Chronicle" that incorporated information Dr Bruck had given Forrest on 7 July. 66 Dr Bruck obviously wanted to ensure that Heusemann's information entered circulation, whether the Soviets liked it or not. Fourth, in 1947 Dr Bruck was very nearly arrested by the Soviets. At that time, the Americans warned him that the Soviets had decided to arrest him. Had he not been warned in time, they would surely have succeeded and Dr Bruck would have joined Heusemann and Echtmann in Soviet captivity. Instead, Dr Bruck emigrated to the United States and in 1952 acquired American citizenship. [He spent the last 30 years of his life living in New York under the Anglicised name of Theodor Brooke]. The thesis that best accounts for events, therefore, is that on 4 May Dr Bruck struck a deal with Heusemann to ensure that the Soviets would believe that they had found the remains of Adolf and Eva Hitler. In return for services such as ensuring that the Soviets were able to locate Heusemann and Echtmann without difficulty, Dr Bruck appears to have been rewarded with Prof. Blaschke's Kurfürstendamm surgery. When the Soviets sought to arrest him in 1947—the same year Heusemann and Echtmann were apparently re-interrogated about their claims—the Americans intervened and gave him refuge in the United States. Where the plan went awry, I would suggest, is that it was based on knowledge that Heusemann had only derived from studying Adolf and Eva Hitler's dental charts [or, more likely, charts she had assumed to be those of Adolf and Eva Hitler]. It is easy to see how Heusemann could have been encouraged to examine them. All Prof. Blaschke had to do was leave the charts and X-rays of a man who had been selected to die in Hitler's place lying around in his surgery for Heusemann and Echtmann to inspect. They would have had no idea that he had done so with a view to misleading them. At any point between the date that the X-rays were made—apparently they date from September 1944—and April 1945, the man would have been murdered and his body stored for use when Berlin fell. The charts and X-rays would then have been destroyed—an act that would have reinforced the belief that the charts had been authentic. All this could have been done without Heusemann and Echtmann realising that they were being used. However the intrigue unfolded, there is one fact that cannot be denied: so far as anyone knows, the only person to survive the war who genuinely possessed the expertise to identify Hitler's teeth was Prof. Blaschke himself. Reconstructing the Truth Having run into a brick wall with Heusemann and Echtmann, the Soviets must have been overjoyed when in July 1945 Prof. Blaschke turned up in an American camp for prominent POWs. They promptly sent him a bag containing all the necessary equipment and ordered him to reconstruct, as perfectly as his memory enabled him, the appearance of Hitler's jawbone. The result, we are told, perfectly matched the jawbone Heusemann had identified as Hitler's. 67 But if Prof. Blaschke's evidence corroborated Heusemann's identification, the proof itself has never been published. Although the Americans had Prof. Blaschke in their hands from May 1945, when he was captured, until late 1948, they never made public any of the information he shared with them about Hitler's teeth. On 5 February 1946, for example, he was interrogated by US military intelligence on precisely this subject. However, the report based on the 1946 interview was never released and remains classified by the US Department of Defense even today. 68 Given that by 1946 the Americans were extremely keen to publicise any information which suggested that the Soviets really had discovered Hitler's corpse, it must be the case that, wittingly or otherwise, Prof. Blaschke had given them information that contradicted this position. It is also hard to draw any firm conclusions from an interview Prof. Blaschke gave on the subject of Hitler's teeth while still in American captivity in early 1948. Although on this occasion Prof. Blaschke expressed confidence that the Soviets really did have Hitler's jawbone, he made two remarks that only undermined this view. First, as we saw above, he stated that Heusemann had not been qualified to give a "positive identification". Second, Prof. Blaschke challenged the Soviets to show him the jaw in question: "Why don't the Russians show this jaw to me? I only need one look and can definitely state this is or is not Hitler's jaw". 69 The only obvious answer to this question is that the Soviets knew that it was not really Hitler's. 70 Prof. Blaschke may even have been punished for these indiscretions. Towards the end of 1948, just as the Americans were about to release him, Prof. Blaschke was tried by a German "denazification" court and sentenced to a further three years in prison. 71 It looks suspiciously like he was being punished for more than just having been Hitler's dentist. Prof. Blaschke was released from prison and practised dentistry in Nuremberg until he died in 1959. He never said anything further about Hitler's teeth. His silence on the subject seems almost inexplicable. Information derived from Prof. Blaschke is also conspicuously absent from "Hitler's Death". If it was Prof. Blaschke's reconstruction of Hitler's jawbone that helped clinch the identification of the alleged Hitler remains, there can be no reason for omitting it from the "Hitler's Death" volume. In these circumstances it seems highly likely that Prof. Blaschke's evidence had only confirmed what the Soviets had already suspected—that they had been led down the garden path. Finally, there is an obvious problem with the idea of thinking that Prof. Blaschke could be relied upon to tell the truth: if a dental hoax was perpetrated to mask Hitler's mysterious departure from history, as I allege, then Prof. Blaschke himself, who had been Hitler's dentist since 1932, would have been involved. He would have only needed to reproduce his own work in the mouth of someone who had been selected to die in Hitler's place to pull this off. Endnotes 31. V. K. Vinogradov et al. (eds), "Hitler's Death: Russia's Last Great Secret from the Files of the KGB", Chaucer Press, London, 2005, pp. 53-54 32. Hitler's Death, p. 54 33. Hitler's Death, p. 245 34. D. Marchetti et al., "The death of Adolf Hitler – forensic aspects", Journal of Forensic Sciences 2005 Sept; 50[5], Abstract, p. 1148, http://journalsip.astm.org/JOURNALS/ FORENSIC/PAGES/5060.htm 35. "Did Hitler And Eva Die One Year Ago?” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 May 1946 36. "Yank Intelligence Officer Says He Doesn't Believe Hitler Dead", Charleston Gazette, 9 February 1947 37. Cited in D. Marchetti et al., p. 1150 38. Cited in D. Marchetti et al., p. 1148 39. Cited in D. Marchetti et al., p. 1148 40. Neither Adolf Hitler's nor Eva Hitler's dental charts have ever been found. According to Paul Manning, in Martin Bormann, Nazi in Exile (Lyle Stuart, Secaucus, NJ, 1981, p. 182): "Bormann had removed them from the chancellery files." 41. Kay Lutze, "Von Liegnitz nach New York: Die Lebensgeschichte des jüdischen Zahnarztes Fedor Bruck [1895–1982]" [From Liegnitz to New York: The Life of the Jewish Dentist Fedor Bruck...], Zahnärtzliche Mitteilungen 96[10]:124-27, 16 May 2006, http://www.zm-online.de/m5a. htm?/zm/10_06/pages2/hist1.htm [NB: Lutze is Bruck's grandchild]. 42. Hitler's Death, p. 95 43. Winnipeg Free Press, 3 May 1946, p. 7 44. Hitler's Death, pp. 97-99 45. Hitler's Death, p. 97 46. Winnipeg Free Press, 3 May 1946, p. 7 47. Hitler's Death, pp. 102-7 48. Hitler's Death, p. 106 49. Hitler's Death, pp 106-7 50. Hitler's Death, p. 99. Amazingly, this tooth was in the exact same location as the tooth that Heusemann told the Soviets [Hitler's Death, p. 97]) she had helped extract from Hitler's mouth in 1944 [not the fourth, as Dr Bruck told the Western reporter]. What are the odds of that? 51. Winnipeg Free Press, 3 May 1946, p. 7. Dr Bruck stated: "Two days after she told me the story, a Russian officer and a Russian woman drove up and asked her to prepare a bag for a visit of some days. I have not seen or heard of her nor Eichmann [sic] since." 52. Hitler's Death, pp. 95-100 53. The record of this five-hour-long interrogation is only a few pages long and can account for no more than 10 minutes of the interrogation at best, leaving one to wonder what other matters took up the rest of the time. Another curious fact is that the interrogation record actually combines evidence given on two occasions more than two years apart—on 19 May 1945 and 24 July 1947. No indication is given as to which sections derived from which interrogation. It is therefore impossible to state whether Heusemann gave the evidence I cite in 1945 or in 1947. 54. Hitler's Death, p. 99 55. Hitler's Death, pp. 101-2 56. Hitler's Death, p. 101: "In the upper jaw all natural teeth, except for the 6th." This implies that the sixth was a false tooth, not that there was no tooth in that location at all. 57. Hitler's Death, pp. 96, 102 58. http://www.guardian.co.uk/ Observer/international/story/0,6903,1479109,00.html 59. Lutze, 200660. Hitler's Death, pp. 97-99 61. "Dentist Says Russians Have Hitler's Jaw", Oakland Tribune, 6 May 1948 62. Winnipeg Free Press, 3 May 1946, p. 7 63. Lutze, 2006 64. Bruck recalled: "When I asked whether the documents they were looking for were for the purpose of identifying some sort of fragments that had been discovered, the first lieutenant made a very annoyed official face and put his index finger over his mouth, from which I gathered that my guess had been on the right track." (Lutze, 2006) 65. See photograph, Hitler's Death, p. 97. 66. Lutze, 2006 67. For example: http://www.welt.de/ data/2006/10/25/1085392.html 68. "United States Forces in the European Theater", Military Intelligence Service Center, Final Interrogation Report no. 31 [O1-FIR No. 31], "Hitler's Teeth" [7 pages and annexes], 5 February 1946. A copy of this document is held in the William Russell Philp Collection, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University, Stanford, California. Ronald Bulatoff, archival specialist at the Hoover Institution Archives, recently wrote to an Australian researcher with whom I am in contact confirming that the document remains classified. Oddly enough, Mark Benecke, a German forensic biologist, writes on his website http://www.benecke.com/airhihe.html "The reports of Hitler's dentist, Blaschke [who had formerly studied in the U.S.], and other witnesses clearly show that the teeth in that little cigar box must indeed be the Führer's [see Figure 5]" If Benecke has had access to a report that remains classified, this suggests that he is working in tandem with the US military to keep the hoax alive. It is hard to see any other reason why he should be granted access to a document that members of the general public are not allowed to examine. 69. Oakland Tribune, 6 May 1948 70. The Associated Press [AP] version of the same report evaded the problem of raising this response in the reader's mind by omitting Prof. Blaschke's challenge to the Russians. See "Russians Have Hitler's Jaw, Says Der Führer's Dentist", Indiana Evening Gazette, 5 May 1948 71. Valley Morning Star, 17 September 1948, section 2, p. 5 Operation Trevor-Roper The fact that Hitler's corpse had apparently not been found in Berlin caused considerable consternation in the Western press. A "Toronto Daily Star" editorial commented anxiously on 18 July: "It is becoming apparent that indisputable proof of Hitler's death either during the past ten weeks or at some early future date, if he should still be alive, is highly desirable for psychological as well as for practical reasons. Unless his demise is beyond argument...the world is in for a potentially dangerous Hitler legend. This might become a psychological weapon in the efforts of German leaders eventually to restore the self-confidence and revive the truculence of this people who for so long have been intolerable disturbers of international peace". 28 Indeed, the very title of the editorial, 'To Destroy Hitler, Whether Man or Myth', implies that it was considered as important to destroy Hitler "the myth" as Hitler "the man". By mid-1945, the public was being asked to choose between a proliferating number of escape stories and the suicide theory. Given that the escape stories were outlandish if not often patently ridiculous, the public was given the impression that only the suicide theory had any evidence to support it and deserved to be taken seriously. The British response to the burgeoning Hitler escape stories was not long in coming. In September 1945, Brigadier Dick White, commander of the Intelligence Bureau in the British Zone of Occupation, commissioned Major Hugh Trevor-Roper, a young Oxford-trained historian who, since 1943, had supervised the work of the Secret Intelligence Service's Radio Intelligence Section [RIS], to investigate, at least ostensibly, the circumstances of Hitler's alleged death. This was the opening phase of the British establishment's fabrication of a narrative of the last days of the Third Reich that made short work of "Hitler the myth". Given that his only previous publication was a biography of a 17th-century English archbishop, William Laud, and that he neither read nor spoke German, Trevor-Roper was a curious choice for such a task. What's more, as the world saw in the 1980s, he authenticated the spurious "Hitler Diaries", even though the task of determining the authenticity of a single document would have been much simpler than that of establishing the truth about Hitler's demise. During the last three months of 1945, according to the official story, Trevor-Roper and a team of Intelligence agents travelled through Germany, tracking down and interrogating Bunker survivors. However, this procedure did not bear a great deal of fruit, probably because most survivors were interned in Soviet prisons and concentration camps. In addition to uncovering the alleged diary of Hitler's valet Heinz Linge, Trevor-Roper achieved only one coup: scoring interviews with Gerda Christian, who had been one of Hitler's secretaries, and Else Krüger, who had been Bormann's secretary. Surprisingly, Trevor-Roper seems not to have interviewed any witnesses who had fallen into American hands, which means the better part of those to be found outside Soviet prisons. It appears that instead of allowing him to meet with them, American Intelligence operatives interviewed them and passed copies of their reports to him. In one particularly flagrant case, the Americans furnished Trevor-Roper with partly fabricated testimony; in another, they supplied information that had been obtained in such unusual conditions that it, too, must be considered suspect. The first case was that of the famous German aviatrix Hanna Reitsch. In an interview with Ron Laytner that she authorised for publication only after her death, Reitsch stated explicitly that at least part of the account attributed to her in "The Last Days of Hitler" had been fabricated: "When I was released by the Americans I read historian Trevor-Roper's book, 'The Last Days of Hitler'. Throughout the book like a red line, runs an eyewitness report by Hanna Reitsch about the final days in the Bunker. I never said it. I never wrote it. I never signed it. It was something they invented. Hitler died with total dignity". 29 This report, dated 8 October 1945, was written by Reitsch's interrogator, Captain Robert E. Work [Air Division, Headquarters, United States Forces in Austria, Air Interrogation Unit], and published for the first time in, of all places, "Public Opinion Quarterly" in 1946–47. 30 The second case was that of Nurse Erna Flegel. On 23 November 1945, several American Intelligence agents took Flegel out for a six-course dinner, the result of which was a five-page statement in English which is presented as a summary of the information she allegedly imparted during her "interrogation". However, Flegel neither wrote the statement herself nor signed it. 31 In fact, no one can be said to vouch for this document because, despite its having been declassified, the names of the persons responsible for it, including the name of the agency for which they worked, remain blacked out. Typical, then Trevor-Roper's chief sources were summaries of information that had already been pre-digested for him by American Intelligence operatives—involving what distortions and attempts at ironing out inconsistencies we will probably never know. A four-volume dossier on the Führer, compiled by the US Counter-Intelligence Corps, was made available to Trevor-Roper. This dossier was "a cornucopia of everything that could be gleaned about" Hitler and included his medical condition, his state of mind, his various "inclinations and proclivities." It did not make Hitler out to be a monster. The CIC analysts had found, "to their embarrassment, that the scourge of the human race gave presents to children, hated blood sports, disliked excessively fanatical people and was conservative and fastidious in his habits. Every day at the same hour," according to one informant, "he would go with the same dog to the same corner of the same field and pick up the same piece of wood and throw it in the same direction". The report also contained the conclusions of a long-distance psychiatric examination of the Führer. This concluded that the suicide of Hitler could not be ruled out. Given that there were few Bunker survivors in British hands and that Trevor-Roper had no access to Bunker survivors in Soviet hands, his task basically appears to have been that of creating a coherent narrative out of information that he was being spoon-fed and that he had no means of assessing himself. There is no reason to believe that any of the evidence that reached Trevor-Roper did so with the active consent of the witnesses. My impression is that in 1945, captured Nazis were little more than the puppets of their Allied captors; they could be made to say anything their captors wanted them to say, and if they objected there was nothing they could do about it anyway. Strikingly, Trevor-Roper made his "conclusions" public less than two months after he'd begun investigating the case. At a press conference on 1 November 1945, Trevor-Roper [who remained anonymous at this stage and was referred to in print merely as "a young British Intelligence officer"] presented reporters with a statement that consisted of little more than a narrative of the last week or so of Hitler's life. It described how Hitler had committed suicide, probably by shooting himself in the mouth. 32 Although Trevor-Roper told the reporters that so far he had spoken to about 20 witnesses, the statement did not name even one of them. Nonetheless, reporters probably left the conference under the erroneous impression that the version of Hitler's last days that he had provided was backed up by the testimony of multiple witnesses. Yet he had not found a single new eyewitness to the critical events—Hitler's suicide and cremation; all he had done was take Kempka's testimony as gospel truth and discounted Karnau's. The final section of the Trevor-Roper statement rejected theories that Hitler could have escaped Berlin. In this section, it becomes glaringly obvious that his investigation had been designed to lead to predetermined conclusions. Here we learn, first of all, that Trevor-Roper assumed that Hitler's fate had been entirely determined by last-minute contingencies. According to this line of reasoning, Hitler could not have escaped the Chancellery because this or that avenue of escape had been rendered impossible [or at least difficult, which for Trevor-Roper appeared to mean the very same thing]. Trevor-Roper circumscribed Hitler's exit possibilities by means of generalisations that are all extremely questionable. He wrote, for example, that it would have been impossible for Hitler to have been flown out of Berlin because his "two pilots" [SS Obergruppenführer Hans Baur and SS Standartenführer Georg Beetz] .remained in the Bunker and "took part in the attempted escape on the night of 1 May". 33 This is all very well, so long as you presuppose that Hitler would never have permitted anyone else to fly him out of Berlin or that one of the pilots could not have left the Bunker and returned to it afterwards. Trevor-Roper confined his discussion of Hitler's escape possibilities to planes and cars. However, in January 1946, General Helmuth Weidling, who was interned in a Soviet prison camp, furnished a long statement for the Soviets in which he conceded that he had grown sceptical about the suicide theory. He had meditated on the problem of Hitler's escape possibilities and concluded: "On the night of 29/30 April there were still opportunities to leave— through the Zoo underground station in western Berlin and through the Friedrichstrasse station in the north. One could have escaped relatively safely through the underground tunnels". 3 Can we really believe that this possibility never occurred to Trevor-Roper? Since it's unlikely that he did not know that Berlin possessed an extensive underground railway system, it seems that the only escape possibilities Trevor-Roper was interested in talking about were those he could exclude. Perhaps Trevor-Roper's most conspicuous flaw was his haste to discount the possibility that the eyewitnesses could have put their heads together to work up a coherent story to cover up for Hitler's escape. In his report, he commented: "It is considered quite impossible that the versions of the various eye-witnesses can represent a concerted cover story; they were all too busy planning their own safety to have been able or disposed to learn an elaborate charade, which they could still maintain after five months of isolation from each other, and under detailed and persistent cross-examination". 35 This argument makes about as much sense as the claim that there can be no such thing as an orchestra because there is no way that a large number of people could ever perform a complex piece of music such as a symphony at the same time. In any case, the "charade" was hardly that "elaborate". As we saw in part one, there are many significant differences between the recollections of the various eyewitnesses. The SS orchestra was playing the same tune, to be sure, but not always in the same key. Kempka Unravelled Operation Trevor-Roper is best seen, therefore, not as a bona fide investigation of Hitler's fate but as the major stage in the British plan to enshrine anti-Nazi propaganda as historical fact. As we saw in part one, the first eyewitnesses to go public were Hitler's chauffeur Erich Kempka and RSD bodyguard Hermann Karnau. After Kempka's veracity was called into question by Karnau's claims, Karnau's story virtually disappeared and Kempka's story was extolled as the more authoritative. Indeed, Kempka's evidence not only became the basis for Trevor-Roper's book but Kempka was also endorsed at Nuremberg as the sole source of reliable information concerning Hitler's demise. The primary reason Kempka's story won such a positive reception from the Anglo–American authorities was that Kempka was the sole source of evidence that appeared to support the suicide theory [Karnau simply referred to the cremation he had witnessed]. Kempka also contradicted Soviet claims that Hitler could have escaped. In his 4 July 1945 interview record, he declared: "[With a] statement reported to have been made by the Russian Marshall Chukov [sic] that Hitler and Eva Braun could have es
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	57	https://charts.substack.com/p/this-chart-kills-fascists	en	This Chart Kills Fascists	https://substackcdn.com/…0f_1260x900.jpeg	https://substackcdn.com/…0f_1260x900.jpeg	[ "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_96,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F40757c3d-dc58-430c-a602-4b29d5a05e00_600x600.png", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_120,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F673693fc-33e9-4975-9be3-2db6e057ee0f_1260x900.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_80,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3a7736cd-fc79-4171-9211-e900c7d6e12e_2400x2400.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_120,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F673693fc-33e9-4975-9be3-2db6e057ee0f_1260x900.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F134dff12-0e93-47de-826c-bdba997978eb_2176x1680.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdacd6ffc-bf5b-4295-bd5c-646fec2bf6cd_1485x660.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29424032-8339-4859-a2ad-09e3dc6b8426_2288x1728.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33d04598-8158-44fc-bba1-10216c7b5f4c_1920x1080.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F579cc61d-5d77-487a-bc1c-ee3c59223e55_2400x1872.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb44020fa-875e-44af-82b8-3ab8f7696a2d_2385x2962.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4960a32f-d2fa-4091-9067-c825f1541bc3_2999x2405.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffbac3486-4b33-4f46-8b80-5c79be0f2f7f_2936x2380.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fffa56da2-34bb-4769-846f-58e9ddd67711_2388x2925.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcb176feb-e29e-46e5-a4ca-0b66dc2be9ba_4000x1854.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4e99b6e8-fcb9-4df6-8bfa-7296d818bf8c_1872x2752.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_120,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F673693fc-33e9-4975-9be3-2db6e057ee0f_1260x900.jpeg", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_64,h_64,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack.com%2Fimg%2Favatars%2Flogged-out.png", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_66,h_66,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3fdd908d-2e7c-48c7-8c94-8e91ce23e7ab_144x144.png", "https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_66,h_66,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ecc263-2f20-4672-82f7-a3dd963f7ca4_1170x1170.jpeg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "RJ Andrews" ]	2024-04-12T00:26:44+00:00	Information graphics from the Nuremberg trials	en	https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F916661a5-901e-43e0-808d-6393569a1628%2Ffavicon.ico		https://charts.substack.com/p/this-chart-kills-fascists	Thanks for reading. Chartography is an ad-free newsletter completely supported by readers like you. The best way to support my work is to buy my books and become a paid subscriber. Watching Masters of the Air on Apple TV+ sent me down a rabbit hole reading about the remarkable bomber pilot “Rosie” Rosenthal. After the war, he notably served as an assistant to the U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, interrogating key figures like the former head of the German Air Force, Hermann Göring. The Nuremberg trials, held by the Allies against the remnants of Nazi Germany, were pivotal in establishing legal precedents for prosecuting war crimes and atrocities. The Wikipedia article on the trials includes this sentence (emphasis mine): Besides legal professionals, there were many social-science researchers, psychologists, translators, and interpreters, and graphic designers, the last to make the many charts used during the trial. [Wiki] The mention of graphic designers creating charts for these trials was irresistible catnip for me. I had to see these charts. Data visualization is often at its best when humanity is experiencing the worst. As Covid-19 recently illustrated, many will pause to understand a line-graph tracking the neighborhood death-toll of a raging communicable disease. Likewise, many of the sacred cows of data visualization (Snow’s Cholera, Nightingale’s Mortality, Minard’s Napoleon) display death. The role of information graphics during the Second World War is underappreciated. From influence propaganda to secret plans to battlefield operations to the survival of persecuted peoples—graphics were a consistent element throughout the horrible ordeal. Despite their pervasive use, it's surprising that no single chart or format from this period has become iconic. In exploring archives related to the Nuremberg trials, I uncovered a range of graphics that, while only a fraction of the evidence presented, reveal the immense scope and seriousness of the proceedings. Next you will see a portion of the graphics I found browsing archives related to the Nuremberg trials. Given the most serious nature of the topic, literally crimes against humanity, I must front them with some caveats: I believe most of these photographs originated from the U.S. Army Signal Corps. I found them chiefly via the U.S. National Archives and, to a lesser extent, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum—and have repeated their original captions with some details in brackets. I believe these charts represent only a tiny portion of the immense scope of the trials. I will only provide brief commentary because I do not know enough to give them proper context, nor am I able analyze the value of their impact to the proceedings. The thing that is most striking about many of these graphics is their immense size . . . . . . and prominent central position in the courtroom. Many of the largest charts are org charts, which seem to place defendants and explain Nazi command and responsibility, such as in the below “Position of Kaltenbrunner and the Gestapo and SD in the German Police System.” Ernst Kaltenbrunner was a major perpetrator of the Holocaust. He was the third Chief of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), which included the Gestapo. Kaltenbrunner was the highest-ranking member of the SS to face trial (Himmler having committed suicide in May 1945) at the Nuremberg trials, where he was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, sentenced to death, and executed by hanging on 16 October 1946. The below collage places Dr. Karl Brandt, who was convicted of human experimentation and other war crimes, sentenced to death, and hanged on 2 June 1948. The quantity of summary charts I found paled in comparison to the number of photographic evidence. Below, the two formats are collaged. I find that the graphics are also powerful backgrounds for portraits of the various participants in the trials . . . . . . including staged portraits in various prosecutor’s offices. While many large charts seemed to have been developed for display in the courtroom, there are also many other charts in the evidence archive. I found dozens of thematic maps, line graphs, pie charts, and bar charts in evidence archives. Below are two examples of these evidence. As I relay these graphics, I hope to inspire not only a deeper appreciation for the power of charts during WWII but also an ongoing recognition of their dual capacity to inform or deceive across all areas of society. Charts can be used for good. They’ve rallied abolitionists, suffragettes, healthcare reformers, Nazi-prosecutors, and climate-activists. But charts likewise aid the destruction of our earth and peoples. Charts aren’t good or bad, they’re just tools. I hope that relaying these Nuremberg charts inspires further study of graphics across WWII, and a deeper appreciation for the power of charts. Onward!—RJ Thanks for reading. Chartography is an ad-free newsletter completely supported by readers like you. If this exploration of Nuremberg’s charts has piqued your interest, consider supporting my continued research into the profound impacts of data graphics by purchasing my books or becoming a paid subscriber. About Data storyteller RJ Andrews helps organizations solve high-stakes problems by using visual metaphors and information graphics: charts, diagrams, and maps. His passion is studying the history of information graphics to discover design insights. See more at infoWeTrust.com.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	35	https://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/08-31-46.asp	en	The Avalon Project : Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 22			[ "https://avalon.law.yale.edu/images/avalon_logo2.gif" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null	Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 22 THE PRESIDENT: Article 24 D (j) provides that each defendant may make a statement to the Tribunal. I therefore now can upon the defendants who wish--whether they wish to make statements. Defendant Hermann Wilhelm Goering. HERMANN WILHELM GOERING (Defendant): The Prosecution, in the final speeches, has treated the defendants and their testimony as completely worthless. The statements made under oath by the defendants were accepted as absolutely true when they could serve to support the Indictment, but conversely the statements were characterized as perjury when they refuted the Indictment. That is very elementary, but it is not a convincing basis for demonstration of proof. The Prosecution uses the fact that I was the second man of the State as proof that I must have known everything that happened. But it does not present any documentary or other convincing proof in cases where I have denied under oath that I knew about certain things, much less desired them. Therefore, it is only an allegation and a conjecture when the Prosecution says, "Who should have known that if not Goering, who was the successor of the Fuehrer?" Repeatedly we have heard here how the worst crimes were veiled with the most secrecy. I wish to state expressly that I condemn these terrible mass murders to the utmost, and cannot understand them in the least. But I should like to state clearly once more before the High Tribunal, that I have never decreed the murder of a single individual at any time, and neither did I decree any other atrocities or tolerate them, while I had the power and the knowledge to prevent them. The new allegation presented by Mr. Dodd in his final speech, that I had ordered Heydrich to kill the Jews, lacks every proof and is not true either. There is not a single order signed by me or signed in my behalf that enemy fliers should be shot or turned over to the SD. And not a single case has been established where units of my Luftwaffe carried out things like that. 366 31 Aug. 46 The Prosecution has repeatedly submitted some documents which contain alleged statements, reported and written down at third and fourth hand, without my having previously seen these statements in order to correct erroneous ideas or to preclude misunderstandings. How easily completely distorted reports can arise from third hand notes is also proven, among other things, by the stenographic transcript of these court sessions, which often needed correction when checked. The Prosecution brings forward individual statements over a period of 25 years, which were made under completely different circumstances and without any consequences arising from them at the time, and quotes them as proof of intent and guilt, statements which can easily be made in the excitement of the moment and of the atmosphere that prevailed at the time. There is probably not one leading personage on the opposing side who did not speak or write similarly in the course of a quarter of a century. Out of all the happenings of these 25 years, from conferences, speeches, laws, actions, and decisions, the Prosecution proves that everything was desired and intended from the beginning according to a deliberate sequence and an unbroken connection. This is an erroneous conception which is entirely devoid of logic, and which will be rectified some day by history, after the proceedings here have proved the incorrectness of these allegations. Mr. Jackson in his final speech points, out the fact that the signatory states are still in a state of war with Germany, and that because of the unconditional surrender merely a state of truce prevails now. Now, international law is uniform. The same must apply to both sides. Therefore, if everything which is being done in Germany today on the part of the occupying powers is admissible under international law, then German was formerly in the same position, at least as regards France, Holland, Belgium, Norway, Yugoslavia and Greece. If today the Geneva Convention no longer has any validity so far as Germans are concerned, if today in all parts of Germany industry is being dismantled and other great assets in all spheres can be carried away to the other states, if today the property of millions of Germans is being confiscated and many other serious infringements on freedom and property are taking place, then measures such as those taken by Germany in the countries mentioned above cannot have been criminal according to international law either. Mr. Jackson stated further that one cannot accuse and punish a state, but rather that one must hold the leaders responsible. One seems to forget that Germany was a sovereign state, and that her legislation within the German nation was not subject to the jurisdiction of foreign countries. No state ever gave notice to the Reich 367 31 Aug. 46 at the proper time, pointing out that any activity for National Socialism would be made subject to punishment and persecution. On the other hand, if we, the leaders as individuals, are called to account and condemned--very well; but you cannot punish the German people at the same time. The German people placed their trust in the Fuehrer, and under his authoritarian government they had no influence on events. Without knowledge of the grave crimes which have become known today, the people, loyal, self-sacrificing, and courageous, fought and suffered through the life-and-death struggle which had broken out against their will. The German people are free of guilt. I did not want a war, nor did I bring it about. I did everything to prevent it by negotiations. After it had broken out, I did everything to assure victory. Since the three greatest powers on earth, together with many other nations, were fighting against us, we finally succumbed to their tremendous superiority. I stand up for the things that I have done, but I deny most emphatically that my actions were dictated by the desire to subjugate foreign peoples by wars, to murder them, to rob them, or to enslave them, or to commit atrocities or crimes. The only motive which guided me was my ardent love for my people, its happiness, its freedom, and its life. And for this I call on the Almighty and my German people to witness. THE PRESIDENT: I call on the Defendant Rudolf Hess. RUDOLF HESS (Defendant): First of all, I should like to make a request to the High Tribunal that I may remain seated because of my state of health. THE PRESIDENT: Certainly. HESS: Some of my comrades here can confirm the fact that at the beginning of the proceedings I predicted the following: (1) That witnesses would appear who, under oath, would make untrue statements while, at the same time, these witnesses could create an absolutely reliable impression and enjoy the best possible reputation. (2) That it was to be reckoned with that the Court would receive affidavits containing untrue statements. (3) That the defendants would be astonished and surprised at some German witnesses. (4) That some of the defendants would act rather strangely: they would make shameless utterances about the Fuehrer; they would incriminate their own people; they would partially incriminate each other, and falsely at that. Perhaps they would even incriminate themselves, and also wrongly. 368 31 Aug. 46 All of these predictions have come true, and as far as the witnesses and affidavits are concerned, in dozens of cases; cases in which the unequivocal oath of the defendants stands in opposition to the sworn statements of the former. In this connection I shall only mention the name Messersmith: Mr. Messersmith, who, for example, says that he spoke to Admiral Doenitz at a time when the latter was, to my knowledge, in the Pacific Ocean or the Indian Ocean. I made these predictions, however, not only here at the beginning of the Trial, but had already made them months before the beginning of the Trial in England to, among others, Dr. Johnston, the physician who was with me in Abergavenny. At the same time I put these statements down in writing, as proof. I base my predictions on some events in countries outside of Germany. In this connection I should like to emphasize now that, while I mention these incidents, I was convinced from the beginning that the governments concerned knew nothing about them. Therefore, I am not raising any accusation against these governments. In the years 1936 to 1938 political trials were taking place in one of these countries. These were characterized by the fact that the defendants accused themselves in an astonishing way. For example, they cited great numbers of crimes which they had committed or which they claimed to have committed. At the end, when death sentences were passed upon them, they clapped in frenzied approval to the astonishment of the world. But some foreign press correspondents reported that one had the impression that these defendants, through some means hitherto unknown, had been put into an abnormal state of mind, as a result of which they acted the way they did. These incidents were recalled to my mind by a certain happening in England. There it was not possible for me to get the reports of the trials at that time, any more than here. However, the corresponding years of the Voelkischer Beobachter were at my disposal there. While looking through these numbers I came upon the following passage in the number of 8 March 1933. A report from Paris dated 7 March 1938 reads as follows: "The big Paris newspaper Le Jour made revelations about the means which were apparently used in these trials. These are rather mysterious means." I quote literally what the Voelkischer Beobachter reprinted from Le Jour: "These means make it possible for the selected victims to be made to act and speak according to the orders given them." 369 31 Aug. 46 I emphasize and point out that this report in Le Jour not only says "to make them speak according to orders given them," but also "to make them act according to orders given them." The latter point is of tremendous importance in connection with the actions, the hitherto inexplicable actions of the personnel in the German concentration camps, including the scientists and physicians who made these frightful and atrocious experiments on the prisoners, actions which normal human beings, especially physicians and scientists, could not possibly carry out. But this is also of equally great significance in connection with the actions of the persons who undoubtedly gave the orders and directions for the atrocities in the concentration camps and who gave the orders for shooting prisoners of war and lynchings and other such things, up to the Fuehrer himself. I recall that the witness Field Marshal Milch testified here that he had the impression that the Fuehrer was not normal mentally during the last years, and a number of my comrades here have told me, independently of each other and without having any knowledge of what I am saying here now, that during the last years the Fuehrer's eyes and facial expression had something cruel in them, and even had a tendency towards madness. I can name the comrades in question as witnesses. I said before that a certain incident in England caused me to think of the reports of the earlier trials. The reason was that the people around me during my imprisonment acted towards me in a peculiar and incomprehensible way, in a way which led me to conclude that these people somehow were acting in an abnormal state of mind. Some of them--these persons and people around me were changed from time to time. Some of the new ones who came to me in place of those who had been changed had strange eyes. They were glassy and like eyes in a dream. This symptom, however, lasted only a few days and then they made a completely normal impression. They could no longer be distinguished from normal human beings. Not only I alone noticed these strange eyes, but also the physician who attended me at the time, 15r. Johnston, a British Army doctor, a Scotsman. In the spring of 1942 1 had a visitor, a visitor who quite obviously tried to provoke me and acted towards me in a strange way. This visitor also had these strange eyes. Afterwards, Dr. Johnston asked me what I thought of this visitor. He told me--I told him I had the impression that for some reason or other he was not completely normal mentally, whereupon Dr. Johnston did not protest, as I had expected, but agreed with me and asked me whether I had not noticed those strange eyes, these eyes with a dreamy look. Dr. Johnston did not suspect that he himself had exactly the same eyes when he came to me. 370 31 Aug. 46 The essential point, however, is that in one of the reports of the time, which must still be in the press files on the proceedings--this was in Paris, about the Moscow trial--it said that the defendants had had strange eyes. They had had glazed and dreamy eyes! I have already said that I am convinced that the governments here concerned knew nothing of these happenings. Therefore it would not be in the interest of the British Government either if my statements about what I experienced during my imprisonment were denied publicity in any way, for that would give the impression that something was actually supposed to be concealed here, and that the British Government had actually had a finger in the pie. On the contrary, however, I am convinced that both the Churchill Government and the present Government gave instructions that I was to be treated fairly and according to the rules of the Geneva Convention. I am conscious of the fact that what I have, to say about the treatment which I received will at first glance appear incredible. Fortunately for me, however, prison guards at a very much earlier time had already treated their prisoners in a way which at first appeared absolutely incredible when the first rumors about it reached the outside world. These rumors were to the effect that prisoners had been deliberately allowed to starve to death, that ground glass, among other things, had been put in the meager food which had been given them, that the physicians who attended the prisoners who had been taken sick in this way had added harmful substances to their medicine, which increased their sufferings and at the same time increased the number of victims. As a matter of fact, all of these rumors afterwards proved to be true. It is a historical fact that a monument was erected for 26,370 Boer women and children who died in British concentration camps, and who for the most part died of hunger. Many Englishmen at that time, among others, Lloyd George, protested strongly against these happenings in British concentration camps, and likewise an English eye witness, Miss Emily Hopfords. However, at that time the world was confronted with an insoluble riddle, the same riddle which confronts it today with regard to the happenings in the German concentration camps. At that time the English people were confronted with an incomprehensible riddle, the same riddle which today confronts the German people with regard to the happenings in the German concentration camps. Indeed, at that time, the British Government itself was confronted with a riddle regarding the happenings in the South African concentration camps, with the same riddle which today confronts the members of the Reich Cabinet and the other defendants, here and in other trials, regarding the happenings in the German concentration camps. 371 31 Aug. 16 Obviously, it would have been of the utmost importance if I had stated under oath what I have to say about the happenings during my own imprisonment in England. However, it was impossible for me to persuade my counsel to declare himself willing to put the proper questions to me. It was likewise impossible for me to get another counsel to agree to put these questions to me. But it is of the utmost importance that what I am saying be said under oath. Therefore I now declare once more: I swear by God the Almighty and Omniscient, that I will speak the pure truth, that I shall leave out nothing and add nothing. I ask the High Tribunal, therefore, to consider everything which I shall say from now on as under oath. Concerning my oath, I should also like to say that I am not a churchgoer; I have no spiritual relationship with the Church, but I am a deeply religious person. I am convinced that my belief in God is stronger than that of most other people. I ask the High Tribunal to give all the more weight to everything which I declare under oath, expressly calling God as my witness. In the spring of 1942 ... THE PRESIDENT [interposing]. I must draw the attention of the Defendant Hess to the fact that he has already spoken for 20 minutes, and the Tribunal has indicated to the defendants that it cannot allow them to continue to make statements of great length at this stage of the proceedings. We have to hear all the defendants. The Tribunal, therefore, hopes that the Defendant Hess will conclude his speech. HESS: Mr. President, may I point out that I was taking into account the fact that I am the only defendant who, up to now, has not been able to make a statement here. For what I have to say here, I could only have said as a witness if the proper questions had been put to me. But as I have already stated ... THE PRESIDENT: I do not propose to argue with the defendants. The Tribunal has made its order that the defendants shall only make short statements. The Defendant Hess had full opportunity to go into the witness box and give his evidence upon oath. He chose not to do so. He is now making a statement, and he will be treated like the other defendants and will be confined to a short statement. HESS: Therefore, Mr. President, I shall forego making the statements which I had wanted to make in connection with the things I have just said. I ask you to listen to only a few more concluding words, which are of a more general nature and have nothing to do with the things that I have just stated. The statements which my counsel made in my name before the High Tribunal I permitted to be made for the sake of the future 372 31 Aug. 46 judgment of my people and of history. That is the only thing which matters to me. I do not defend myself against accusers to whom I deny the right to bring charges against me and my fellow-countrymen. I will not discuss accusations which concern things which are purely German matters and therefore of no concern to foreigners. I raise no protest against statements which are aimed at attacking my honor, the honor of the German people. I consider such slanderous attacks by the enemy as a proof of honor. I was permitted to work for many years of my life under the greatest son whom my people has brought forth in its thousand year history. Even if I could, I would not want to erase this period of time from my existence. I am happy to know that I have done my duty, to my people, my duty as a German, as a National Socialist, as a loyal follower of my Fuehrer. I do not regret anything. If I were to begin all over again, I would act just as I have acted, even if I knew that in the end I should meet a fiery death at the stake. No matter what human beings may do, I shall some day stand before the judgment seat of the Eternal. I shall answer to Him, and I know He will judge me innocent. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Joachim von Ribbentrop. JOACHIM VON RIBBENTROP (Defendant): This Trial was to be conducted for the purpose of discovering the historical truth. From the point of view of German foreign policy I can only say: This Trial will go down in history as a model example of how, while appealing to hitherto unknown legal formulas and the spirit of fairness, one can evade the cardinal problems of 25 years of the gravest human history. If the roots of our trouble lie in the Treaty of Versailles--and they do lie there--was it really to the purpose to prevent a discussion about a treaty which the intelligent men even among its authors had characterized as the source of future trouble, while the wisest were already predicting from which of the faults of Versailles a new world war would arise? I have devoted more than twenty years of my life to the elimination of this evil, with the result that foreign statesmen who know about this today write in their affidavits that they did not believe me. They ought to have written that in the interests of their own country they were not prepared to believe me. I am held responsible for the conduct of a foreign policy which was determined by another. I knew only this much of it, that it never concerned itself with plans of a world domination, but rather, for example, with the elimination of the consequences of Versailles and with the food problems of the German people. 373 31 Aug. 46 If I deny that this German foreign policy planned and prepared for a war of aggression, that is not an excuse on my part. The truth of this is proved by the strength that we developed in the course of the second World War and the fact how weak we were at the beginning of this war. History will believe us when I say that we would have prepared a war of aggression immeasurably better if we had actually intended one. What we intended was to look after our elementary necessities of life, in the same way that England looked after her own interests in order to make one-fifth of the world subject to her, and in the same way that the United States brought an entire continent and Russia brought the largest inland territory of the world under their hegemony. The only difference between the policies of these countries as compared with ours is that we demanded parcels of land such as Danzig and the Corridor which were taken from us against all rights, whereas the other powers are accustomed to thinking only in terms of continents. Before the establishment of the Charter of this Tribunal, even the signatory powers of the London Agreement mast have had different views about international law and policy than they have today. When I went to see Marshal Stalin in Moscow in 1939, he did not discuss with me the possibility of a peaceful settlement of the German Polish conflict within the framework of the Kellogg-Briand Pact; but rather he hinted that if in addition to half of Poland and the Baltic countries he did not receive Lithuania and the harbor of Libau, I might as well return home. In 1939 the waging of war was obviously not yet regarded as an international crime against peace, otherwise I could not explain Stalin's telegram at the conclusion of the Polish campaign, which read, I quote: "The friendship of Germany and the Soviet Union, based on the blood which they have shed together, has every prospect of being a firm and lasting one." Here I should like to emphasize and stress the fact that even I ardently desired this friendship at that time. Of this friendship there remains today only the primary problem for Europe and the world: Will Asia dominate Europe, or will the Western Powers be able to stem or even push back the influence of the Soviets at the Elbe, at the Adriatic coast, and at the Dardanelles? In other words, practically speaking: Great Britain and the United States today face the same dilemma as Germany faced at the time when I was carrying on negotiations with Russia. For my country's sake I hope with all my heart that they may be more successful in their results. 374 31 Aug. 46 Now what has actually been proved in this Trial about the criminal character of German foreign policy? That out of more than 300 Defense documents which were submitted 150 were rejected without cogent reasons. That the files of the enemy, and even of the Germans, were inaccessible to the Defense. That Churchill's friendly hint to me that if Germany became too strong she would be destroyed, is declared irrelevant in judging the motives of German foreign policy before this forum. A revolution does not become more comprehensible if it is considered from the point of view of a conspiracy. Fate made me one of the exponents of this revolution. I deplore the atrocious crimes which became known to me here and which besmirch this revolution. But I cannot measure all of them according to puritanical standards, and the less so since I have seen that even the enemy, in spite of their total victory, was neither able nor willing to prevent atrocities of the most extensive kind. One can regard the theory of the conspiracy as one will, but from the point of view of the critical observer it is only a makeshift solution. Anybody who has held a decisive position in the Third Reich knows that it simply represents a historical falsehood, and the author of the Charter of this Tribunal has only proved with his invention from what background he derived his thinking. I might just as well assert that the signatory powers of this Charter had formed a conspiracy for the suppression of the primary needs of a highly developed, capable, and courageous nation. When I look back upon my actions and my desires, then I can conclude only this: The only thing of which I consider myself guilty before my people--not before this Tribunal--is that my aspirations in foreign policy remained without success. THE PRESIDENT: I call on the Defendant Wilhelm Keitel. WILHELM KEITEL (Defendant): I acknowledged on the witness stand my responsibility in connection with my official position, and have explained the significance of this position in the presentation of evidence and in the final plea of my defense counsel. It is far from my intention to minimize my part in what took place. In the interest of historical truth, however, it seems advisable to correct a few errors in the final speeches of the Prosecution. The American chief prosecutor said in his final speech, and I quote: "Keitel, a weak, submissive tool, turned the Wehrmacht, the instrument of aggression, over to the Party." A "turning-over" of the Wehrmacht to the Party by me cannot be reconciled with my functions, either up to 4 February 1938, or after that time, when Hitler made himself Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht and thus ruled the Party and the Wehrmacht absolutely. I do not recall that any sort of evidence was presented in 375 31 Aug. 46 the course of this Trial which could justify this serious allegation by the Prosecution. The presentation of evidence, however, has also shown that the further contention "that Keitel led the Wehrmacht in the execution of its criminal intentions" is wrong. This allegation is in contradiction to the Anglo-American trial brief, which says expressly that I had no authority to issue orders. Consequently, the British chief prosecutor is also mistaken when he speaks of me as--and I quote--"a Field Marshal who issued orders to the Wehrmacht." And when he claims that I said that I "had no idea what practical results were intended by this"--that is the quotation--I believe that this is something quite different from -what I said on the witness stand, which was, and I quote the words I spoke on the witness stand: "But when an order was given, I acted according to my duty as I saw it, without permitting myself to be confused by the possible, but not always foreseeable, consequences." Also, the contention that--and I quote--"Keitel and Jodl cannot deny the responsibility for the operations of the Einsatzkommandos, with which their own commanders co-operated closely and cordially," cannot be reconciled with the results of the testimony. The OKW was eliminated from the Soviet Russian theater of war. There were no troop commanders under its orders. The French chief prosecutor said in his final speech: "Is it necessary to recall the terrible words, of the Defendant Keitel that 'human life was worthless than nothing in the occupied territories."' These terrible words are not my words. I did not think them up, and did not make them the contents of any order either. The fact that my name is connected with the transmission of this Fuehrer order weighs heavily enough upon me. At another point M. Champetier de Ribes says, and I quote: "This order was executed"--it concerned anti-Partisan activities--"by virtue of instructions from the commander of the army group, who in his turn acted according to general instructions of the Defendant Keitel." Here again "instructions of Keitel" are mentioned, although the French Indictment itself states that I, as Chief of the OKW, could not give any direct orders to the branches of the Wehrmacht. In the final speech of the Soviet Russian prosecutor he says, and I quote: "Beginning with the documents on the executions of political persons, Keitel, this 'soldier,' as he likes to call himself, lied shamelessly to the American Prosecution in the preliminary examination--disregarding his oath--by saying that this decree was in the nature of a reprisal and that political persons 376 31 Aug. 46 had been kept separate from the other prisoners of war at the latter's own request. He was exposed before the Court." The document in question is Number 884-PS. The accusation that I lied is unfounded. The Soviet Russian Prosecution overlooked the fact that the transcript of my preliminary examination on this question was not a subject of evidence before this Tribunal. Therefore, its use in the final speech of the Prosecution should not have been allowed. I did not see the transcript of the preliminary interrogation and do not know the wording. If it is complete, it will clarify the error which arose because the document in question had not been shown to me. In the examination by my defense counsel on the witness stand I presented the state of affairs correctly. In the last stage of the Trial, the Prosecution attempted once more to incriminate me severely by connecting my name with an order for the preparation of bacteriological warfare. A witness, the former Generalarzt Dr. Schreiber, had said in his report that: "The chief of the OKW, Field Marshal Keitel, had issued orders to prepare for bacteriological warfare against the Soviet Union." On the witness stand here, to be sure, this witness spoke of a "Fuehrer order." But this is not true, either. The introduction of the testimony of Colonel Buerker, which was approved by the Tribunal in agreement with the Prosecution, indicates that in the autumn of 1943, I, in Buerker's own words, sharply and categorically rejected the suggestion of the Army Medical Inspectorate and the Army Ordnance Branch to begin experiments with bacteria, with the comment that that was completely out of the question and that it was indeed forbidden. This is true. General Jodl also can confirm the fact that no order of the kind alleged by the witness was ever issued; on the contrary, Hitler prohibited bacteriological warfare, which had been suggested by some departments. This proves the allegation to the contrary by the witness Dr. Schreiber to be untrue. I claim to have told the truth in all things, even if they incriminated me; at least to have endeavored, in spite of the great extent of my field of activity, to contribute to the clarification of the true state of affairs to the best of my knowledge. Now, at the end of this Trial I want to present equally frankly the avowal and confession I have to make today. In the course of the Trial my defense counsel submitted two fundamental questions to me, the first one already some months ago. It was: "In case of a victory, would you have refused to participate in any part of the success?" 377 31 Aug. 46 I answered: "No, I should certainly have been proud of it." The second question was: "How would you act if you were in the same position again?" My answer: "Then I would rather choose death than to let myself be drawn into the net of such pernicious methods." From these two answers the High Tribunal may see my viewpoint. I believed, but I erred, and I was not in a position to prevent what ought to have been prevented.. Thai is my guilt. It is tragic to have to realize that the best I had to give as a soldier, obedience and loyalty, was exploited for purposes which could not be recognized at the time, and that I did not see that there is a limit set even for a soldier's performance of his duty. That is my fate. From the clear recognition of the causes, the pernicious methods, and the terrible consequences of this war, may there arise the hope for a new future in the community of nations for the German people. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Ernst Kaltenbrunner. ERNST KALTENBRUNNER (Defendant): The Prosecution holds me responsible for the concentration camps, for the destruction of Jewish life, for Einsatzgruppen and other things. All of this is neither in accord with the evidence nor with the truth. The accusers as well as the accused are exposed to the dangers of a summary proceeding. It is correct that I had to take over the Reich Security Main Office. There was no guilt in that in itself. Such offices exist in governments of other nations too. However, the task and activity assigned to me in 1943 consisted almost exclusively in the reorganization of the German political and military intelligence service, though not as Heydrich's successor. Almost a year after his death I had to accept this post under orders and as an officer at a time when suspicion fell on Admiral Canaris of having collaborated with the enemy for years. In a short time I ascertained the treason of Canaris and his accomplices to the most frightful extent. Offices IV and V of the Reich Security Main Office were subordinate to me only theoretically, not in fact. The chart shown here of the different groups and the chain of command leading from them is wrong and misleading. Himmler, who understood in a masterly way how the SS, which for a long time had ceased to, form an organizational and ideological unit, could be split up into very small groups and brought under his immediate influence, so far as it served his purpose, together with Mueller, the Chief of the Gestapo, committed the crimes which we 378 31 Aug. 46 know about today. I emphatically and vehemently state that, contrary to public opinion, I learned only about a very small fraction of the activities of these offices, which were actually under Himmler and his accomplices, and only insofar as it concerned my own special work. In the Jewish question I was just as much deceived as other high officials. I never approved or tolerated the biological extermination of Jewry. The anti-Semitism found in Party and State laws was still to be considered in time of war as an emergency defense measure. The anti-Semitism of Hitler, as we understand it today, was barbarism. I did not participate in either of these forms and maintain, as I shall show, that the discontinuance of the extermination of the Jews is to be traced to my influence on Hitler. After the presentation of evidence several photographs were submitted which allegedly show my knowledge of crimes in concentration camps, the camp at Mauthausen, and my knowledge of the criminal tools which were used there. I never set foot in Camp Mauthausen, only that part of the labor camps where the stone quarry was located, where hardened criminals were employed according to law, but no Jews or political prisoners. The pictures show an administration building and nothing else. Affidavit USA-909, pictures 894 to 897-F, are therefore factually impossible and wrong. The picture with Hitler shows the visit to a building site in Linz, 35 kilometers away from Camp Mauthausen. The statement of the witness Dr. Morgen seems essentially true, but it needs to be supplemented as far as my person and my reactions to this are concerned. In the emergency of his own arrest and defense the witness is too much concerned with himself and does not say that he was transferred by the chief of the Main Office SS Courts to Office V of the RSHA upon my request, so that as a juridical official he could supplement the special commission which was established there by the chief of the Criminal Police, Nebe, and myself for the investigation of the concentration camps. He cannot testify as to my knowledge of the subsequent events, as to what I--dumbfounded by his report, in contrast to Mueller, who raged like one who had just been unmasked--did after reading his report. On the same day an exact written report was sent to Hitler at headquarters. Days later I was ordered to appear and flew .there. After my long report Hitler agreed to an investigation of Himmler and Pohl. He declared a special court competent for all subsequent investigations and necessary measures. Pohl was to be dismissed from his office at once. In front of me Hitler gave orders to Fegelein, who was liaison officer for Himmler, that Himmler was to be called to him, and he promised me that he would take all possible measures that very day against any further misdeeds. 379 31 Aug. 46 He refused my request to be released and sent to the front, pointing out that I was indispensable in the intelligence service. Eichmann was arrested and detained and reported to me; the decree by Himmler in October of 1944, which confirms and puts in final form that which I have just testified, is in its wording one of Himmler's last devilish actions. Does not the Prosecution even now see any discrepancy in the fact that Amt V of the RSHA exposed the crimes of Amt IV of the RSHA and the secret criminal clique? In this I see the proof of the fact that I never knew what was really going on, and at the moment when I realized what was taking place, I protested in my own office. Should I have shirked responsibility at that time by feigning illness, or was it my duty to fight with all my powers to have this unparalleled barbarity brought to a halt? That is the only thing to be decided here as my guilt. The other defamations raised by the Prosecution against me do not alter that either. The letter written to the Mayor of Vienna, which seems to be so highly incriminating here and which I do not remember having signed, has been explained for me today. All of the 12,000 people who at that time, together with tens of thousands of German men and, women, were used to fortify the region east of Vienna, were, together with an additional 2,000 persons in Gunskirchen in Upper Austria, cared for by the International Red Cross through my mediation and led to freedom The speed and excitement of the cross-examination did not permit me to recall that at the time when the commission of Amt V had long been active in the camps, I could no longer believe that there was any danger to Jewish life. My credibility has been doubted ever since then, but it would have been restored immediately if an enquiry had been made by the Prosecution with the International Red Cross at Geneva in proceedings which were not so summary. If, however, I am asked: "Why did you remain even after you knew that your superiors were committing crimes?" I can answer only that I could not set myself up as their judge, and that indeed not even this Tribunal here will be in a position to ask for expiation of these crimes. In the final days the Prosecution accused me of participating in the murder of a French general. I heard about the murder of a. German, General Brodowski, and the order given by Hitler to investigate the question of reprisals. I heard about the murder for the first time a few days ago. Panzinger was chief of the War Investigation Division in the Reich Criminal Police Office and was subordinate to no one except Himmler in his capacity as chief of the Prisoner-of-War Organization and of the Replacement Army. 380 31 Aug. 46 He was not, as the Prosecution maintains, an official of the Secret State Police. Concerning the teletype message of 30 December 1944, signed with my name, in which the method of carrying out the plan was reported by Berlin to Himmler at the latter's headquarters, I should like to say that from 23 December until 3 January I was in Austria with my family and could not have seen and signed this teletype. In November 1944 I was merely ordered to check the report of Reich Press Chief Dietrich on the murder of a German general in France. The results were sent to headquarters by the offices there. I regretted the fact that Hitler, in a situation such as I found when I assumed office in 1943, did not have a better relation with the Church, which in every state makes for order and cannot be theorized away. My remonstrances had no effect. I made an honest effort, as the presentation of evidence has shown, but even from this the Prosecution has not drawn any conclusions. I know only that in my belief in Adolf Hitler I put all my strength at the disposal of my people. As a German soldier I could only put myself at the service of the defense against those destructive forces which had once brought Germany close to the abyss, and which today, after the collapse of the Reich, are still threatening the world. If I have made mistakes in my work through a false conception of obedience, if I carried out orders, all of which, insofar as they are alleged to be cardinal orders, were issued before my time of office, then they are part of a fate which is stronger than myself and which is carrying me along with it. I am accused here because substitutes are needed for the missing Himmler and other elements which were completely contrary to me. Whether my point of view and explanation are accepted or rejected, I ask you not to connect the fate and honor of hundreds of thousands of the living and dead of the General SS, of the Waffen-SS, and of the civil servants who, believing in their ideal, bravely defended, their Reich to the last, with your just curse against Himmler. Like myself, they believed that they were acting according to law. THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn. [A recess was taken.] THE PRESIDENT: I call on the Defendant Alfred Rosenberg. ALFRED ROSENBERG (Defendant): Besides repeating the old accusations, the prosecutors have raised new ones of the strongest kind; thus they claim that we all attended secret conferences in 381 21 Aug. 46 order to plan a war of aggression. Besides that, we are supposed to have ordered the alleged murder of 12,000,000 people. All these accusations have been collectively described as "genocide"--the murder of peoples. In this connection I have the following to declare in summary. I know my conscience to be completely free from any such guilt, from any complicity in the murder of peoples. Instead of working for the dissolution of the culture and national sentiment of the Eastern European nations, I attempted to improve the physical and spiritual conditions of their existence; instead of destroying their personal security and human dignity, I opposed with all my might, as has been proven, every policy of violent measures, and I rigorously demanded a just attitude on the part of the German officials and a humane treatment of the Eastern Workers. Instead of practising "child slavery," as it is called, I saw to it that young people from territories endangered by combat were granted protection and special care. Instead of exterminating religion, I reinstated the freedom of the Churches in the Eastern territories by a decree of tolerance. In Germany, in pursuance of my ideological convictions, I demanded freedom of conscience, granted it to every opponent, and never instituted a persecution of religion. The thought of a physical annihilation of Slavs and Jews, that is to say, the actual murder of entire peoples, has never entered my mind and I most certainly did not advocate it in any way. I was of the opinion that the existing Jewish question would have to be solved by the creation of a minority right, by emigration, or by settling the Jews in a national territory over a ten-year period of time. The White Paper of the British Government of 24 July 1946 shows how historical developments can bring about measures which were never previously planned. The practice of the German State Leadership in the war, as proven here during the Trial, differed completely from my ideas. To an ever-increasing degree Adolf Hitler drew persons to himself who were not my comrades, but my opponents. With reference to their pernicious deeds I must state that they were not practising the National Socialism for which millions of believing men and women had fought, but rather, shamefully misusing it. It was a degeneration which I, too, very strongly condemned. I frankly welcome the idea that a crime of genocide is to be outlawed by international agreement and placed under the severest penalties, with the natural provision that neither now nor in the future shall genocide be permitted in any way against the German people either. 382 31 Aug. 46 Among other matters, the Soviet prosecutor stated that the entire so-called "ideological activity" had been a "preparation for crime." In that connection I should like to state the following: National Socialism represented the idea of overcoming the class struggle which was disintegrating the people, and uniting all classes in a large national community. Through the Labor Service, for instance, it restored the dignity of manual labor on mother earth, and directed the eyes of all Germans to the necessity of a strong peasantry. By the Winter Relief Work it created a comradely feeling among the entire nation for all fellow-citizens in need, irrespective of their former party membership. It built homes for mothers, youth hostels, and community clubs in factories, and acquainted millions with the yet unknown treasures of art. For all that I served. But along with my love for a free and strong Reich I never forgot my duty towards venerable Europe. In Rome, as early as 1932, 1 appealed for its preservation and peaceful development, and I fought as long as I could for the idea of internal gains for the peoples of Eastern Europe when I became Eastern Minister in 1941. Therefore in the hour of need I cannot renounce the idea of my life, the ideal of a socially peaceful Germany and a Europe conscious of its values, and I will remain true to it. Honest service for this ideology, considering all human shortcomings, was not a conspiracy and my actions were never a crime, but I understood my struggle, just as the struggle of many thousands of my comrades, to be one conducted for the noblest idea, an idea which had been fought for under flying banners for over a hundred years. I ask you to recognize this as the truth. In that case no persecution of beliefs could arise from this Trial; then, in my conviction, a first step would be taken for a new, mutual understanding among nations, without prejudice, without ill-feeling, and without hatred. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Hans Frank. HANS FRANK (Defendant): Your Honors: Adolf Hitler, the chief defendant, left no final statement to the German people and the world. Amid the deepest distress of his people he found no comforting word. He became silent and did not discharge his office as a leader, but went down into darkness, a suicide. Was it stubbornness, despair, or spite against God and man? Perhaps as though he thought: "If I must perish, then let the German people fall into. the abyss also." Who will ever know? We--and if I now use the term "we," then I mean myself and those National Socialists who will agree with me in this confession, 383 31 Aug. 46 and not those fellow-defendants on whose behalf I am not entitled to speak--we do not wish to abandon the German nation to its fate in the same way without a word; we do not wish to say simply, "Now you will just have to see how you can get along with this collapse which we have left you." Even now, perhaps as never before, we still bear a tremendous spiritual responsibility. At the beginning of our way we did not suspect that our turning away from God could have such disastrous deadly consequences and that we would necessarily become more and more deeply involved in guilt. At that time we could not have known that so much loyalty and willingness to sacrifice on the part of the German people could have been so badly directed by us. Thus, by turning away from God, we were overthrown and had to perish. It was not because of technical deficiencies and unfortunate circumstances alone that we lost the war, nor was it misfortune and treason. Before all, God pronounced and executed judgment on Hitler and the system which we served with minds far from God. Therefore, may our people, too, be called back from the road on which Hitler--and we with him--have led them. I beg of our people not to continue in this direction, be it even a single step; because Hitler's road was the way without God, the way of turning from Christ, and, in the last analysis, the way of political foolishness, the way of disaster, and the way of death. His path became more and more that of a frightful adventurer without conscience or honesty, as I know today at the end of this Trial. We call upon the German people, whose rulers we were, to return from this road which, according to the law and justice of God, had to lead us and our system into disaster and which will lead everyone into disaster who tries to walk on it, or continue on it, everywhere in the whole world. Over the graves of the millions of dead of this frightful second World War this state trial was conducted, lasting for many months, as a central, legal' epilogue, and the spirits passed accusingly through this room. I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to prepare a defense and justification against the accusations raised against me. In this connection I am thinking of all the victims of the violence and horror of the dreadful events of war. Millions had to perish unquestioned and unheard. I surrendered my war diary, containing my statements and activities, in the hour when I lost my liberty. If I was really ever severe, then it was above all toward myself, at this moment when my actions in the war were made public. I do not wish to leave any hidden guilt which I have not accounted for behind me in this world. I assumed responsibility on the 384 31 Aug. 415 witness stand for all those things for which I must answer. I have also acknowledged that degree of guilt which attaches to me as a champion of Adolf Hitler, his movement, and his Reich. I have nothing to add to the words of my defense counsel. There is still one statement of mine which I must rectify. On the witness stand I said that a thousand years would not suffice to erase the guilt brought upon our people because of Hitler's conduct in this war. Every possible guilt incurred by our nation has already been, completely wiped out today, not only by the conduct of our war-time enemies towards our nation and its soldiers, which has been carefully kept out of this Trial, but also by the tremendous mass crimes of the most frightful sort which-as I have now learned-have been and still are being committed against Germans by Russians, Poles, and Czechs, especially in East Prussia, Silesia, Pomerania, and Sudetenland. Who shall ever judge these crimes against the German people? I end my final statement in the sure hope that from all the horrors of the war and all the threatening developments which are already appearing everywhere, a peace may perhaps still arise in whose blessings even our nation may be able to participate. But it is God's eternal justice in which I hope our people will be secure and to, which alone I trustfully submit. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Wilhelm Frick. WILHELM FRICK (Defendant): I have a clear conscience with respect to the Indictment. My entire life was spent in the service of my people and my fatherland. To them I have devoted the best of my strength in the loyal fulfilment of my duty. I am convinced that no patriotic American or citizen of any other country would have acted differently in my place, if his country had been in the same position. For to have acted any differently would have been a breach of my oath of allegiance, and high treason. In fulfilling my legal and moral duties, I believe that I have deserved punishment no more than have the tens of thousands of faithful German civil servants and officials in the public service who have already been detained in camps for over a year merely because they did their duty. I feel in duty and honor bound, as a former long-standing public minister, to remember them here in gratitude. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Julius Streicher. JULIUS STREICHER (Defendant): Your Honors: At the beginning of this Trial I was asked by the President whether I pleaded guilty in the sense of the Indictment. I answered that question in the negative. 385 31 Aug. 46 The completed proceedings and the evidence presented have confirmed the correctness of the statement I gave at that time. It has been established that: (1) Mass killings were carried out exclusively upon orders by the Head of the State, Adolf Hitler, without other influence. (2) The mass killings were carried out without the knowledge of the German people and in complete secrecy by the Reichsfuehrer SS, Heinrich Himmler, The Prosecution had asserted that mass killings would not have been possible without Streicher and his Stuermer. The Prosecution neither offered nor submitted any proof of this assertion. It is clearly established that on the occasion of the Anti-Jewish Boycott Day in 1933, which I was ordered to lead, and on the occasion of the demonstration of 1933 ordered by Reich Minister Dr. Goebbels, I, in my capacity as Gauleiter, neither ordered, demanded, nor participated in any acts of violence against Jews. It is further established that in many, articles in my weekly paper, the Stuermer, I advocated the Zionist demand for the creation of a Jewish state as the natural solution of the Jewish problem. These facts prove that I did not want the Jewish problem to be solved by violence. If I or other authors mentioned a destruction or extermination of Jewry in some article of my weekly paper, the Stuermer, then these were strong statements in reply to provoking expressions of opinion by Jewish authors in which the extermination of the German people was demanded. According to his last testament the mass killings ordered by the leader of the State, Adolf Hitler, were supposed to be a reprisal which was only brought about by the course of the war, then recognized as becoming unfavorable. These actions of the leader of the State against the Jews can be explained by his attitude toward the Jewish question, which was thoroughly different from mine. Hitler wanted to punish the Jews because he held them responsible for unleashing the war and for the bombing of the German civilian population. It is deeply regrettable that the mass killings, which can be traced back to the personal decision of the leader of the State, Adolf Hitler, have led to a treatment of the German people which must also be considered as not humane. I repudiate the mass killings which were carried out, in the same way as they are repudiated by every decent German. Your Honors! Neither in my capacity as Gauleiter nor as political author have I committed a crime, and I therefore look forward to your judgment with a good conscience. 386 31 Aug. 46 I have no request to make for myself. I have one for the German people from whom I come. Your Honors, fate has given you the power to pronounce any judgment. Do not pronounce a judgment, Your Honors, which would imprint the stamp of dishonor upon the forehead of an entire nation. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Walter Funk. WALTER FUNK (Defendant): In the days of my nation's greatest need I joined a political movement, the aim of which was the struggle for the freedom and honor of my fatherland and for a true social community of the people. This movement received the leadership of the State in a legal way. I served this State by virtue of my duty as a civil servant engaged in the execution of the German laws. I felt myself to a high degree bound to perform this duty at a time when there was danger of war and during the war itself, when the existence of the fatherland was threatened in the extreme. But in war the state is absolutely dependent on the loyalty and faithfulness of its officials. Now, horrible crimes have become known here, in which the offices under my direction were partly involved. I learned this here in court for the first time. I did not know of these crimes, and I could not have known them. These criminal deeds fill me, like every German, with deep shame. I have examined my conscience and memory with the utmost care, and I have told the Court frankly and honestly everything that I knew and have concealed nothing. As far as the deposits of the SS in the Reichsbank are concerned, I only acted in performance of the official duties incumbent on me as President of the Reichsbank. According to law, the acceptance of gold and foreign currency was one of the business tasks of the Reichsbank. The fact that the confiscation of these assets was taking place through the SS agencies subordinate to Himmler could not arouse any suspicion in me. The entire police system, the border control, and especially the search for foreign currency in the Reich and in all occupied areas were under Himmler, but I was equally deceived and imposed upon by Himmler. Until the time of this Trial, I did not know and did not suspect that among the assets delivered to the Reichsbank there were enormous quantities of pearls, precious stones, jewelry, gold objects, and even spectacle frames, and--horrible to say--gold teeth. That was never reported to me, and I never noticed it either. I never saw these things. But until this Trial I also knew nothing of the fact that millions of Jews were murdered in concentration camps or by the Einsatzkommandos in the East. Never did a single person say even one word to me about these things. 387 31 Aug. 46 The existence of extermination camps of this kind was totally unknown to me. I did not know a single one of these names. I have never set foot in a concentration camp either. I, too, assumed that some of the gold and foreign currency which was deposited in the Reichsbank came from concentration camps, and I frankly stated this fact from the beginning in all of my interrogations. But according to German law everyone was obliged to deliver these assets. Apart from that, the kind and quantity of these shipments from the SS were never made known to me. But how was I even to suspect that the SS had acquired these assets by desecrating corpses? If I had known of these horrible circumstances, my Reichsbank would never have accepted these assets for storage and conversion into money. I would have refused, even risking the danger that it might have cost me my head. If I had known of these crimes, Your Honors, I would not be sitting in the defendant's dock today, you may be convinced of that. In that case the grave would have been better for me than this tormented life, this life full of suspicions, slanders, and vulgar accusations. Not a single human being has ever lost his life because of any measures decreed by me. I have always respected the property of others. I have always tried to help people in need and, as far as it lay within my power, to bring happiness and Joy into their lives. And for that, many will be grateful to me and remain grateful. Human life consists of error and guilt. I, too, have made many mistakes; I, too, have let myself be deceived in many things and I frankly acknowledge, I admit, that I have let myself be deceived all too easily, and in many ways have been too unconcerned and too gullible. Therein I see my guilt, but consider myself free from any criminal guilt which I am supposed to have incurred in discharging my official duties. In that respect, my conscience is just as clear today as on the day when I entered this courtroom 10 months ago for the first time. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Hjalmar Schacht. HJALMAR SCHACHT (Defendant): My sense of justice was deeply wounded by the fact that the final speeches of the Prosecution completely by-passed the evidence resulting from this Trial. The only accusation raised against me under the Charter is that I wanted war. The overwhelming evidence in my case has shown, however, that I was a fanatical opponent of war and tried actively and passively, by protests, sabotage, cunning, and force, to prevent the war. How, then, can the Prosecution assert that I favored war? How can the Russian prosecutor assert that I did not turn from Hitler 388 31 Aug. 46 until 1943, when my first attempt at a coup d'etat had already been undertaken in the autumn of 1938? And now Justice Jackson has raised a new accusation against me in his final speech, which has not been discussed at all in the Trial until now. I am said to have planned to release Jews from Germany in exchange for a ransom in foreign currency. This, too, is untrue. Disgusted by the Jewish pogrom of November 1938, I managed to obtain Hitler's approval to a plan which was to facilitate emigration for the Jews. I intended to place 1,500 million Reichsmarks taken from confiscated Jewish property under the administration of an international committee, and Germany was to undertake the obligation to repay this amount to the committee in 20 yearly instalments, and in foreign currency, which is the exact opposite of what Justice Jackson asserted here. I discussed this plan in December 1938 in London with Lord Berstedt of Samuel and Samuel, with Lord Winterton, and with the American representative, Mr. Rublee. They were all sympathetically disposed towards the plan. But since I was removed from the Reichsbank shortly afterwards by Hitler, the matter was dropped. Had it been carried through, not a single German Jew would have lost his life. My opposition to Hitler's policies was known at home and abroad and was so clear that even in 1940 the United States Charge d'Affaires, Mr. Kirk, sent me his regards before leaving his Berlin post, adding that after the war I could be counted on as a man free from guilt, which is reported in detail by the witness Huelse in his affidavit (37-b in my document book). Instead of that, however, the Prosecution has branded me in the world press for a whole year as a robber, murderer, and betrayer. It is this accusation alone which I have to thank for the fact that in the evening of my life I am without means of subsistence and without a home. But the Prosecution are mistaken if they believe, as was mentioned in one of their first speeches, that they can count me amongst the pitiful and broken characters. To be sure, I erred politically. I never claimed to be a politician, but my economic and financial policy of creating work by assisting credit proved brilliantly successful. The figure of unemployment dropped from 7,000,000 to zero. In the year 1938 the state revenues had risen to such an extent that the repayment of the Reichsbank credits was fully guaranteed. The fact that Hitler refused this repayment, which he had solemnly confirmed, was a tremendous fraud which I could not foresee. My political mistake was not realizing the extent of Hitler's criminal nature at an early enough time. But I did not stain my hands with one single illegal or immoral act. The terrorism of the Gestapo did not frighten me. For 389 31 Aug. 46 terrorism must always fail before the appeal to conscience. In this lies the great source of strength which religion gives us. In spite of that, Justice Jackson considered it proper to accuse me of opportunism and cowardice. And this when the end of the war found me in the Flossenbuerg extermination camp, where I had been imprisoned for 10 months, and where I escaped Hitler's order of murder only by a merciful fate. At the conclusion of this Trial I stand shaken to the very depths of my soul by the unspeakable suffering which I tried to prevent with all my personal efforts and with all attainable means, but which in the end I failed to prevent not through my fault. Therefore, my head is upright and I am unshaken in the belief that the world will recover, not through the power of violence, but only through the strength of the spirit and morality of actions. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Karl Doenitz. KARL DOENITZ (Defendant): I should like to say three things. Firstly, you may judge the legality of German submarine warfare as your conscience dictates. I consider this form of warfare justified and have acted according to my conscience. I would have to do exactly the same all over again. My subordinates however, who carried out my orders, acted with complete confidence in me and without there being a shadow of a doubt about the necessity and legality of these orders. In my eyes no subsequent judgment can deprive them of their belief in the honorable character of a struggle for which they voluntarily made sacrifice after sacrifice up to the last hour. Secondly, there has been much talk here about a conspiracy which is alleged to have existed among the defendants. I consider this allegation a political dogma. As such it cannot be proved, but can only be believed or rejected. Considerable portions of the German people will never believe, however, that such a conspiracy could have been the cause of their misfortune. Let politicians and jurists argue about it; they will only make it harder for the German people to draw a lesson from this Trial, which is of decisive importance for its attitude toward the past and the shaping of its future the acknowledgement that the Fuehrer principle as a political principle is wrong. In the military leadership of all armies in this world, the Fuehrer principle has proved itself in the best possible way. On the strength of this experience I considered it also right with regard to political leadership, particularly in the case of a nation in the hopeless position in which the German people found itself in 1932. The great successes of the new government and a feeling of happiness such as the entire nation had never known before seemed to prove it right. But if, in spite of all the idealism, all the decency, and all the devotion of the great majority of the 390 31 Aug. 46 German people, no other, result has been achieved through the Fuehrer principle, in the last analysis, than the misfortune of this people, then this principle as such must be wrong, wrong because apparently human nature is not in a position to use the power of this principle for good, without falling victim to the temptations of this power. Thirdly, my life was devoted to my profession and thereby to the service of the German people. As the last Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy and as the last Head of the State, I bear the responsibility towards the German people, for everything which I have done and left undone. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Erich Raeder. ERICH RAEDER (Defendant): This Trial, now that the evidence has been concluded, has had a beneficial result for the German nation; but an unexpected one for the Prosecution. Unimpeachable testimony has cleared the German people--and with them all the persons in the same situation as myself--of the most serious charge, the charge that they had known of the killing of millions of Jews and other people, if they had not actually participated in it. The attempt of the Prosecution, who through earlier interrogations had known the truth for a long time, and who nevertheless continued and repeated their accusations--with the raised finger of the preacher of morals--in the trial briefs and during cross-examinations, this attempt to defame the entire people has collapsed upon itself. The second result of this Trial, which is general and therefore of interest for me also, is the fact that on the basis of the evidence the German Navy's cleanness and decency in battle were fundamentally confirmed. The German Navy stands before this Court and before the world with a clean shield and an unstained flag. With a clear conscience we can most emphatically refute Shawcross's attempts in his final speech to place the submarine warfare on the same level with atrocities, because according to the clear results of the evidence they are untenable. In particular, the charge that the German Navy "never had the intention to observe the laws of naval warfare," as Shawcross said, Pages 70 and 71, has been completely invalidated. It has likewise been proved that the Naval Operations Staff and its chief never showed "contempt for international law" (Dubost's final speech), but on the contrary made an honest endeavor from the first to the very last moment to bring the conduct of modern naval warfare into harmony with the requirements of international law and humanity, on the same basis as our opponents. I regret that the Prosecution tried again and again to defame the German Navy, and myself, as was shown by the submission of 391 31 Aug. 46 its second modified trial brief, which differs from the first version only in that the number and severity of insulting statements have been increased. This fact shows that the prosecutors themselves felt that the factual accusations were too weak. But it is also my conviction that the British and American Prosecution have rendered ill service to their own Navies by morally defaming and characterizing as inferior the opponent against whom the Allied naval forces waged hard and honorable naval war over a number of years. I am convinced that the admiralties of the Allied powers understand me and that they know that they have not fought against a criminal. The only way I can explain to myself this attitude adopted by the Prosecution is by assuming that its representatives, as I necessarily perceived again and again, revealed only very little judgment regarding the principles of truly soldier-like conduct and military leadership and that, therefore, they hardly seem qualified to judge soldierly honor. To sum up: I have done my duty as a soldier because it was my conviction that this was the best way for me to serve the German people and fatherland, for which I have lived and for which I am prepared to die at any moment. If I have incurred guilt in any way, then this was chiefly in the sense that in spite of my purely military position I should perhaps have been not only a soldier, but also up to a certain point a politician, which, however, was in contradiction to my entire career and the tradition of the German Armed Forces. But then this would have been a guilt, a moral guilt, towards the German people, and could never at any time brand me as a war criminal. It would not have been guilt before a human criminal court, but rather guilt before God. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Baldur von Schirach. BALDUR VON SCHIRACH (Defendant): On 24 May I made a statement here for which I answer before God and my conscience and which I fully uphold, even today at the end of the Trial, because it is in accordance with my honest innermost conviction. In their final speech the British Prosecution made the following statement: "Schirach corrupted millions of German children so that they became what they really are today, the blind instruments of that policy of murder and domination which these men have carried but." If this charge were justified I would not say a word in my defense. However, it is not justified; it is untrue. Whoever in any way takes into consideration the results of the evidence in this Trial, and honestly appraises it, can never under any circumstances 392 31 Aug. 46 raise the accusation against me that I "had corrupted the youth and poisoned their souls through my educational work." The principles and aims which I set for youth, and which were binding on the community which our youth built up with their own strength under my leadership, were the following: self-sacrificing love of the fatherland, the overcoming of social snobbery and class hatred, planned health supervision, physical training by means of hiking, games and sports, promotion of professional education, and particularly, comradely understanding with the youth of other countries. Ever since my own youth I have kept these principles and aims before my eyes as the ideals of a national German education. These principles and aims were not dictated to me by the Party or by the State, and if Hitler were present here this would be completely unimportant for my defense, because as German Youth Leader I do not appeal to his authority, but to my own. These educational principles, however, which were demonstrated a thousand times in all my speeches, writings, and directives, and to which as Reich Youth Leader I have always remained faithful, are, according to my firm conviction, the principles of every leader of youth who is conscious of his duty toward his people and its youth. The achievements of our youth and its moral attitude have proved me right, and prove that it was never corrupt, and was not corrupted by me either. German youth was and is industrious and decent, honest and idealistic. In peace it contributed honorably toward its higher education, and in war it bravely did its duty towards our nation, for our German fatherland, to the utmost. In this hour, when I can speak for the last time to the Military Tribunal of the four victorious powers, I should like, with a clear conscience, to confirm the following on behalf of our German youth: that it is completely innocent of the abuses and degeneration of the Hitler regime which were established during this Trial, that it never wanted this war, and that neither in peace nor in war did it participate in any crimes. As the leader of German youth for many years, I know the development, the opinions, and the conduct of our younger generation. Who could know it better than I? I always had my friends amongst this youth; in their midst I was always happy and at all times I have been proud of them. I knew that in. all the years when I was Reich Youth Leader, in spite of the fact that its membership counted millions, the youth, as a matter of principle and without exception, kept itself apart from any actions of which it would have to be ashamed today. It knew nothing of the innumerable atrocities which were committed by Germans; and just as it knew of no wrongs, it did not wish any wrong. It cannot and must not be overlooked that even during the greatest embitterment of the period following the war, nobody 393 31 Aug. 46 could consider indicting the organization of German youth and its leaders as criminal. Unselfish comradeship in a youth movement which showed the greatest love for the poorest children of the people, loyalty to the homeland, pleasure in sport, and honest understanding with the youth of other nations, that was the aim of our youth and the content of its training from the first to the last day of my term as Reich Youth Leader. This Youth has not deserved the hard fate which has come upon it. My personal fate is of secondary importance, but youth is the hope of our nation. And if I may express a wish in this last moment, then it is this: Will you, as judges, help to remove the distorted picture of German youth which the world still has today in many places and which cannot stand up under historical investigation? Tell the world in your judgment that the libellous writings of a Gregor Ziemer used by the Prosecution contain nothing but the evil slanders of a man who has extended his hatred against everything German to German youth also. Will you, as judges, also help so that the youth organizations of your nations will once more resume their co-operation with the German youth at the point where, through no fault of the younger generation, it was interrupted in 1939? With a grateful heart our youth has listened to the words of Lord Beveridge who has advocated, with farsightedness and passion, that German youth be declared free of guilt. Joyfully it will grasp the hand which is stretched out to it across the ruins and debris. May you, Gentlemen of the Tribunal, contribute through your judgment towards creating an atmosphere of mutual respect among the younger generation, an atmosphere which is free of hatred and revenge. That is my last request, a heartfelt request on behalf of our German youth! THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal will adjourn. [A recess was taken until 1400 hours.] 394 31 Aug. 46 Afternoon Session THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal has today received a further application from Dr. Seidl for a further examination of the condition of the Defendant Hess. As the Tribunal announced on 20 August, the Tribunal had received and considered the report of Captain G. M. Gilbert, dated 17 August, on the Defendant Hess; and it then considered it was unnecessary to have any further report. The Tribunal remains of that opinion, but will, of course, consider all the matters contained in Dr. Seidl's application, including the medical reports and the statement made by the Defendant Hess today. I now call upon the Defendant ... DR. OTTO NELTE (Counsel for the Defendant Keitel): Mr. President, we have been informed that the High Tribunal considers this time suitable for submitting evidence which has not yet been formally introduced. In the session of 22 August 1946 ... THE PRESIDENT: Very well, yes. The interrogatories which have come to hand, you mean? DR. NELTE: Or affidavits which have been approved. In the court session of 22 August I was given permission to submit two affidavits by the Defendant Keitel and General Reinecke as soon as the translations were ready. In the meantime these translations have been made, and after discussing this matter, and with the agreement of the Prosecution, who have raised no objections and specifically expressed their approval through Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe in the session of 22 August, I shall submit two documents, K-26 and K-27, without reading them; and I ask the Tribunal to accept these two documents in evidence. THE PRESIDENT: Yes, they will be considered. DR. SERVATIUS: Mr. President, I have one more document to submit which has been granted me for the Political Leaders. It is an affidavit by Saqckel, PL-69. Then I also have an excerpt from the book entitled Party Statistics, which is connected with the estimate on the number of members, which I submitted to the Tribunal in a letter of 17 August. I have discussed this matter with the British Prosecution; and I ask permission to submit this page from that book also. DR. KUBUSCHOK: In the case of Von Papen, I have my answer to the interrogatories sent to the Dutch Minister, Visser. It concerns Papen's efforts on behalf of peace in 1939, which the witness confirms. I should like 'to submit the answer as Exhibit Number 107. THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Dr. Kubuschok. DR. GUSTAV STEINBAUER (Counsel for the Defendant Seyss-Inquart): Mr. President, under Number 115 I am submitting the 395 31 Aug. 46 sworn questions and answers which were admitted by the Tribunal, as well as the cross-examination of Dr. Arved Bolle, the harbor construction engineer of Hamburg. I am submitting this in German and in a certified English translation, and with respect to the accusation that Seyss-Inquart was responsible for the catastrophic famine in September 1944, I quote merely one sentence on Page 3 of the translation: "Practically speaking, therefore, as soon as the strike commenced, all inland shipping in Holland was taken over by the military and was thereby withdrawn from the influence of the civil administration and the Ministry of Transportation." Furthermore, under Number 116 I submit the affidavit of the Defendant Seyss-Inquart which was granted me yesterday, and I should like to ask that the entire contents be accepted as evidence. I have only one correction to make: Documents 3640-PS and 3645-PS, which we had not been able to submit to Seyss-Inquart according to the affidavit, were immediately placed at my disposal in photostat form upon my return by the French Delegation in their usual considerate manner, and the French Prosecution is ready to submit both of these documents in the original, as desired by the Tribunal. DR. HANS FLAECHSNER (Counsel for the Defendant Speer): Mr. President, from the interrogatories which were granted me in the spring of this year I have now received three more answers at the finish, which I should like to submit now as Speer Exhibits 47, 48, and 49. These are the interrogatories of the witnesses Von Poser, Malzacher, and Baumbach. THE PRESIDENT: Then I call upon the Defendant Sauckel. FRITZ SAUCKEL (Defendant): Gentlemen of the Tribunal: I have been shaken to the very depths of my soul by the atrocities revealed in this Trial. In all humility and reverence, I bow before the victims and the fallen of all nations, and before the misfortune and suffering of my own people, with whom alone I must measure my fate. I come from a social level completely different from that of my comrades accused with me. In my nature and thinking I remained a sailor and a worker. After the first World War, the course of my life was determined through my own experience of the sorrows and needs of the masses of my people who were struggling for their existence. Inner conflicts forced me into politics. I could be nothing else but a Socialist. But I could not embrace the Communist manifesto. I was never antireligious or even irreligious, but quite the contrary. I fought a hard struggle with myself before I turned to politics. 396 31 Aug. 46 And so I finally dedicated myself to socialist love and justice toward those whose only wealth is their labor and, at the same time, to the destiny of my nation. In this I saw the only possible connection between socialist thinking and true love of one's country. This belief alone determined my life and my actions. I saw here no contradiction to the laws of humanity. I recognized no arbitrary dictatorship or tyranny in the principle of leaders and loyal followers. My error was perhaps the excess of my feelings and my confidence in, as well as my great veneration of, Hitler. I knew him only as the champion of the German poeple's rights to existence and saw him as the man who was kind to workers, women, and children, and who promoted the vital interests of Germany. The Hitler of this Trial I could not recognize. Perhaps my loneliness and submersion in the world of my imagination and my work was a further defect. I hardly ever had social contact with the occupants of high positions in the Reich; what little spare time I had belonged to my family. I was and am happy that my wife is the daughter of a worker, who himself was and remained a Social Democrat. In this, my last word, I solemnly assure you that I was completely surprised by all foreign political events and the beginning of all military actions. Under no circumstances would I have cooperated as a German worker--and for German workers--to help plan the madness of unleashing a war of aggression. I only became a National Socialist because I condemned class struggle, expropriation, and civil war, and because I firmly believed in Hitler's absolute desire for peace and understanding with the rest of the world, and in his work of reconstruction. Because I was a worker, I always did everything possible in my own field of activity to prevent excesses, arbitrary acts, and brutality of any kind. I was sufficiently naive, against the opposition of Himmler and Goebbels, to put through my manifesto and many other decrees for the employment of labor, which prescribed humane and correct treatment of foreign workers as compulsory for all offices. I never would have been able to bear the knowledge of these terrible secrets and crimes without protest, nor, with such knowledge, would I have been able to face my people or my 10 innocent children. I had no part in any conspiracy against peace or against humanity, nor did I tolerate murders or mistreatment. During the war itself I had to do my duty. I received the position of Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of Labor in 1942, at a time of grave military crisis, and it came as a complete surprise to me. I was bound by the existing labor laws, the orders of the Fuehrer, and the decrees of the Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich. 397 31 Aug. 46 I do not know why it was just I who received this task. In my own Gau I had particularly gained the confidence of the workers, farmers, and artisans, and even before 1933, that is, before Hitler assumed power, I had been elected by a large majority in free parliamentary elections as the chief of the state government there. I believe that Providence endowed me with a good talent for organization and practical work, as well as with a capacity for enthusiasm. Perhaps that was the reason why I received my task. It was a heavy burden for me. The soil of Berlin was completely alien to me. Because I am a worker, I never thought of making slaves of foreign human beings. My requirement that people be managed economically does not in any way mean their inhuman exploitation, but rather their economic, rational, and correct employment in labor. It was never my intention to commit crimes against international law, the laws of war, or the laws of humanity. Not for a single moment did I doubt the legality and admissibility of my task, for I thought it completely out of the question that the German Government would break :international law. If, however, you tell me that, in spite of that, German labor laws could not be applied in the occupied territories, then I beg to reply that even high-ranking Frenchmen, Belgians, Poles, and also Russians have told me that they were supporting Germany with labor in order to protect Europe against a threatening Communist system, and in order to prevent unemployment and mass suffering during the war. However, not only did I work for the fulfilment of my task with the greatest zeal, but at the same time I tried with all my might and with all possible means, immediately upon assuming office, to eliminate the critical conditions in the organization and care of foreign laborers, which had developed through the winter catastrophe of 1941 to 1942, and to do away with all shortcomings and abuses. I also believed, as my documents prove, that we could win the foreign workers over to our German cause by giving them the proper treatment I demanded. Perhaps in the eyes of Himmler and Goebbels I was a hopeless Utopian--they were my foes. But I honestly fought to have the foreign workers receive the same rights and conditions as the German workers. This is also attested, to by the numerous documents of my defense counsel and has been confirmed by all the statements of the witnesses before this Tribunal. If my work was incomplete nobody can regret it more deeply and painfully than myself. Unfortunately that was only partly in my power, as my counsel has proved. 398 31 Aug. 46 The evidence has shown that things happened in the occupied territories on which I and the labor employment office, which was civilian-controlled, could exercise no influence whatsoever. However, all German enterprises and agencies requiring labor complained to me that I was always delivering too few workers for the war effort, and that it would be my fault if the war economy and food economy were threatened by dangerous crises. These heavy responsibilities and worries dominated me so much that I found and had no time at all for other developments. This I regret. I assume responsibility for my decrees and for my employees. I never saw the records of the Central Planning Board before this Trial; otherwise I would have corrected false or unclear passages, as, for instance, the passage with reference to the impossible figure of only 200,000 volunteer workers. This also applies to a number of other statements which were incorrectly taken down by third parties and never actually put into practice. Because I am a worker and have personally served on foreign ships, I am grateful to the foreign workers who were in Germany, for they helped us greatly and they worked well. This, perhaps, is proof of the fact that on the whole they were treated decently and humanely. I myself often visited them. Because I was a working man, I spent the Christmas celebrations of 1943 and 1944 with foreign workers in order to show my attitude towards them. My own children worked among foreign workers, under the same working conditions. Could I, or German workers and the German people, consider that as slavery? The necessity for this was our emergency. The German people and the German workers would never have tolerated conditions comparable to slavery around them. My defense counsel has presented the complete truth about my case with extreme objectivity. I thank him for this from the bottom of my heart. For his own part, he was strict and correct in investigating my case. My intentions and conscience are clean. The shortcomings and the necessities of the war, the frightful conditions it produced, have touched my heart deeply. I myself am prepared to meet any fate -which Providence has in store for me, just like my son, who was killed in the war. The Gauleiter whom I employed as plenipotentiaries for the allocation of labor had the sole task of providing for the proper treatment and care of the German and foreign workers. God protect my people, whom I love above all else, and may the Lord God again bless the labor of German workers, to whom my entire life and effort were devoted, and may He give peace to the world! 399 31 Aug. 46 THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Alfred Jodl. ALFRED JODL (Defendant): Mr. President, may it please the Tribunal, it is my unshakable belief that later historians will arrive at a just and objective verdict concerning the higher military leaders and their assistants, for they, and the entire German Wehrmacht with them, were confronted with an insoluble task, namely, to conduct a war which they had not wanted under a commander-in-chief whose confidence they did not possess and whom they themselves only trusted within limits; with methods which frequently were in contradiction to their principles of leadership and their traditional, proved opinions; with troops and police forces which did not come under their full command; and with an intelligence service which in part was working for the enemy. And all this in the complete and clear realization that this war would decide the life or death of our beloved fatherland. They did not serve the powers of Hell and they did not serve a criminal, but rather their people and their fatherland. As far as I am concerned, I believe that no man can do more than to try to reach the highest of the goals which appear attainable to him. That and nothing else has always been the guiding pinciple for my actions, and for that reason, Gentlemen of the Tribunal, no matter what verdict you may pass upon me, I shall leave this courtroom with my head held as high as when I entered it many months ago. But whoever calls me a traitor to the honorable tradition of the German Army, or whoever asserts that I remained at my post for personal and egotistical reasons, him I shall call a traitor to the truth. In a war such as this, in which hundreds of thousands of women and children were annihilated by layers of bombs or killed by low-flying aircraft, and in which partisans used every--yes, every single means of violence which seemed expedient, harsh measures, even though they may appear questionable from the standpoint of international law, are not a crime in morality or in conscience. For I believe and avow that a man's duty toward his people and fatherland stands above every other. To carry out this duty was for me an honor, and the highest law. May this duty be supplanted in some happier future by an even higher one, by the duty toward humanity. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Franz von Papen. FRANZ VON PAPEN (Defendant): Your Lordship, may it please the Tribunal, when I returned home in 1919, I found a people, tom by the political struggles of the parties, which was then attempting to find a new mode of existence after the downfall. In those days of my country's misfortune, I believed as a responsible German that I had no right to stand inactive on the sidelines. 400 31 Aug. 46 It was clear to me that a rebirth of my country was only possible by way of peace and intellectual understanding, an understanding which did not deal only with political forms, but was even more concerned with the solution of the extremely urgent social problems, the first condition for bringing about internal peace. Against the onslaught of radical ideologies it was necessary--and this was my conviction--that Christianity be maintained as the starting point of the new political order. On the issue of this internal understanding the maintenance of European peace would have to depend. The best years of my lifework were devoted to this question, in the community, in Parliament, in the Prussian State, and in the Reich. Anyone who is acquainted with the facts knows that I did not aspire to high office in 1932. Hindenburg's urgent appeal on behalf of the fatherland was to me a command. And when, like countless other Germans in the emergency of 1933, 1 decided to co-operate by occupying a prominent position, then I did so because I considered it to be my duty, because I believed in the possibility of steering National Socialism into responsible channels, and because I hoped that the maintenance of Christian principles would be the best counterweight against ideological and political radicalism and would guarantee peaceful domestic and foreign development. That goal was not reached. The power of evil was stronger than the power of good and drove Germany inevitably into catastrophe. Put should that be a reason to damn those who kept the banner of faith flying in the struggle against disbelief? And does that entitle Justice Jackson to claim that I was nothing but the hypocritical agent of a godless government? Or what gives Sir Hartley Shawcross the right to say, with scorn, ridicule, and contempt: "He preferred to reign in Hell rather than serve in Heaven"? Gentlemen of the Prosecution, it is not for you to judge here, that is for others. But I should like to ask: Is not the question of defending transcendental values more than ever the central issue today in the efforts to rebuild a world? I believe that I can face my responsibility with a clear conscience. Love of country and people was the only decisive factor in all my actions. I spoke without fear of man whenever I had to speak. It was not the Nazi regime but the fatherland which I served when, in spite of the severest disappointments at the failure of my hopes in the field of domestic policy, I attempted, from the vantage point of my diplomatic posts, to save at least the peace. When I examine my conscience, I do not find any guilt where the Prosecution has looked for it and claims to have found it. But where is the man without guilt and without faults? Seen from the historical point of view, this guilt may be found on that dramatic 401 31 Aug. 46 day of 2 December 1932, when I did not attempt to persuade the Reich President with all the means at my disposal to abide by the decision he had made the night before--despite the violation of the Constitution and despite the threat by General von Schleicher to start a civil war. Does the Prosecution want to damn all those who with honest intentions offered to co-operate? Does it claim that the German people elected Hitler in 1933 because they wanted war? Does it really claim that the overwhelming majority of the German people made their tremendous spiritual and material sacrifices-including even the sacrifice of their youth on the battlefields of this war--merely for Hitler's Utopian and criminal aims? This High Tribunal faces this infinitely difficult task without yet having gained sufficient distance in time from the catastrophe to be able to recognize the causes and results of historical developments in their true connections. Only if this High Tribunal recognizes and acknowledges the historic truth will the historical meaning of this Tribunal be fulfilled. Only then will the German people, in spite of the destruction of its Reich, not only come to a realization of its errors, but also find the strength for its future task. THE PRESIDENT: I call upon the Defendant Arthur Seyss-Inquart. ARTHUR SEYSS-INQUART (Defendant): Mr. President, in my final words I want to make one more contribution in my power toward clearing up the matters which have been treated here, by explaining the personal motives and considerations for my actions. I have little to say concerning the Austrian question. I regard the Anschluss, apart from later events, as an exclusively German domestic affair. For every Austrian the Anschluss was a goal in itself and never, even remotely, a preparatory step for a war of aggression. The idea of the Anschluss, was much too important a goal for that; indeed, it was the outstanding goal of the German people. "To the German people I make a report of the greatest success of my life." I believed these words-of the Fuehrer when he spoke on 15 March 1938 in the Hofburg in Vienna. Moreover, they were true. When on 11 March 1938 at about 8 o'clock in the evening, and after the complete breakdown of every other political and state authority, I followed the way prescribed by Berlin, the reason was that the unjustified opposition to the carrying out of orderly elections had opened the doors to radical action, practically as well as psychologically. I asked myself whether I had the right to oppose these methods, after my plan had apparently not been practicable. However, since this procedure appeared justified, I felt it my duty to lend such aid as I could under the circumstances. I am 402 31 Aug. 46 convinced that it is due mainly to my aid that this fundamental revolution, particularly during the night of 12 March, took place so quietly and without bloodshed, although strong hatred was pent up in the hearts of the Austrian National Socialists. I was in favor of the unity of all Germans, no matter what form of government Germany had. I believe that the Prosecution is utilizing documents of the period following the Anschluss in order to deduce my plans for annexation and aggression. These are documents and remarks regarding the Danube area and Czechoslovakia dated later than I October 1938, and after the Munich Agreement, and regarding the Vistula area later than 1 September 1939, after the outbreak of war. I admit these statements, and in the mean time their correctness has been confirmed. As long as the Danube area was incorporated in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy its development was beneficial to all, and the German element did not display any imperialistic activity, but only furthered and contributed to culture and industry. Ever since this area was broken up by the integral success of the nationalistic principle, it has never achieved peace. Remembering this, I thought of reorganizing a common Lebensraum, which, as I openly declared, should give as the most essential requirement such a social order to all, namely, Germans, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, and Romanians, as would make life worth living for every individual. I also thought of Czechoslovakia with this in mind, recalling the co-ordination of languages in Moravia, which I myself had witnessed. If I spoke of the Vistula area after 1 Septembe
correct_death_00048	FactBench	0	5	https://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_trials	en	Nuremberg trials			[ "https://en.metapedia.org/m/images/9/9f/Nuremberg_Show_Trials_II.jpg", "https://en.metapedia.org/m/images/1/10/Victims_of_the_Nuremberg_Show_Trials.jpg", "https://en.metapedia.org/m/images/7/72/761px-Defendants_in_the_dock_at_nuremberg_trials.jpg", "https://en.metapedia.org/m/images/f/f1/G%C3%B6ring_N%C3%BCrnberg_Farbe.jpg", "https://en.metapedia.org/m/images/a/a5/Rudof_H%C3%B6ss_depondo_no_Tribunal_de_Nuremberg.jpg", "https://en.metapedia.org/m/images/3/36/Buchenwald_Human_Remains_74066.jpg", "https://en.metapedia.org/m/images/8/8b/An_Allied_propaganda_poster_from_1946_with_the_words_Nuremberg_and_Guilty_surrounding_a_skull-like_image_of_Adolf_Hitler.jpg", "https://en.metapedia.org/m/images/d/d4/S%C3%BCddeutsche_Zeitung_zum_N%C3%BCrberger_Proze%C3%9F.jpg", "https://en.metapedia.org/m/images/3/3c/Nuremberg_Show_Trials.jpg", "https://en.metapedia.org/m/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_88x31.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null		en	/favicon.ico		null	The Nuremberg trials (or Nuremberg Show Trials[1]) were a series of military tribunals, held by the Allied Powers after World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of National Socialist Germany. The legality of these trials has been hotly disputed.[2][3] The International Military Tribunal (IMT) delivered its judgment against the leaders of the German Reich on 30 September and 1 October 1946. Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death, three to life imprisonment, four to imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years, and three were acquitted. Following Nuremberg and numerous other trials (including Denazification trials), politically correct historiography has relied heavily on the warped conclusions from the Nuremberg trials. While the Nuremberg military tribunals are today sometimes perceived as being trials only on the Holocaust, they involved many other aspects of National Socialist Germany, and the war. The 1946 Nuremberg Trials of German leaders amounted to a form of show trial, as the judgments were not rendered by disinterested parties [judges], which is a key element of independent judicial integrity.[4] History The Holocaust The Holocaust Anti-Holocaust revisionism Holocaust motivations Holocaust material evidence Holocaust documentary evidence Holocaust testimonial evidence Holocaust demographics Holocaustianity Timelines and alleged origins Allied psychological warfare World War II statements argued to support Holocaust revisionism Timelines of Holocaust historiography and revisionism Alleged methods Holocaust camps Einsatzgruppen Alleged important evidence Nuremberg trials Extraordinary State Commission Posen speeches Wannsee conference Meanings and translations of German words and Holocaust revisionism‎ Holocaust convergence of evidence Alleged statements by Hitler on the Holocaust Holocaust revisionist websites Holocaust revisionist websites Anti-Holocaust revisionism Alleged German conspiracy to hide the Holocaust Anti-Holocaust revisionism Following Germany’s surrender, in June 1945 delegations from the four Allied powers—the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union—met in London to write a charter to establish an international tribunal, or court, that would be responsible for conducting trials of Germany’s leaders. Article 6 of the charter described the "crimes" it would hear: The following acts, or any of them, are crimes coming within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal for which there shall be individual responsibility: CRIMES AGAINST PEACE: namely, planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing; WAR CRIMES: namely, violations of the laws or customs of war. Such violations shall include, but not be limited to . . . murder, ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity; CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY: namely, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war; or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated. Leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices participating in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit any of the forgoing crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any persons in execution of such plan. Indictment INDICTMENT INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, AND THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS -against- HERMANN WILHELM GöRING, RUDOLF HESS, JOACHIM VON RIBBENTROP, ROBERT LEY, WILHELM KEITEL, ERNST KALTENBRUNNER, ALFRED ROSENBERG, HANS FRANK, WILHELM FRICK, JULIUS STREICHER, WALTER FUNK, HJALMAR SCHACHT, GUSTAV KRUPP VON BOHLEN UND HALBACH, KARL DöNITZ, ERICH RAEDER, BALDUR VON SCHIRACH, FRITZ SAUCKEL, ALFRED JODL, MARTIN BORMANN, FRANZ VON PAPEN, ARTHUR SEYSS-INQUART, ALBERT SPEER, CONSTANTIN VON NEURATH, and HANS FRITZSCHE, Individually and as Members of Any of the Following Groups or Organizations to which They Respectively Belonged, Namely: DIE REICHS REGIERUNG (REICH CABINET); DAS KORPS DER POLITISCHEN LEITER DER NATIONALSOZIALISTISCHEN DEUTSCHEN ARBEITERPARTEI (LEADERSHIP CORPS OF THE NAZI PARTY); DIE SCHUTZSTAFFELN DER NATIONALSOZIALISTISCHEN DEUTSCHEN ARBEITERPARTEI (commonly known as the "SS") and including DER SICHERHEITSDIENST (commonly known as the "SD"); DIE GEHEIME STAATSPOLIZEI (SECRET STATE POLICE, commonly known as the "GESTAPO"); DIE STURM ABTEILUNGEN DER NSDAP (commonly known as the "SA"); and the GENERAL STAFF and HIGH COMMAND of the GERMAN ARMED FORCES, all as defined in Appendix B, Defendants. I. The United States of America, the French Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics by the undersigned, Robert H. Jackson, Francois de Menthon, Hartley Shawcross, and R. A. Rudenko, duly appointed to represent their respective Governments in the investigation of the charges against and the prosecution of the major war criminals, pursuant to the Agreement of London dated 8 August 1945, and the Charter of this Tribunal annexed thereto, hereby accuse as guilty, in the respects hereinafter set forth, of Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes against Humanity, and of a Common Plan or Conspiracy to commit those Crimes, all as defined in the Charter of the Tribunal, and accordingly name as defendants in this cause and as indicted on the counts hereinafter set out: HERMANN WILHELM GOERING, RUDOLF HESS, JOACHIM VON RIBBENTROP, ROBERT LEY, WILHELM KEITEL, ERNST KALTENBRUNNER, ALFRED ROSENBERG, HANS FRANK, WILHELM FRICK, JULIUS STREICHER, WALTER FUNK, HJALMAR SCHACHT, GUSTAV KRUPP VON BOHLEN UND HALBACH, KARL Doenitz, ERICH RAEDER, BALDUR VON SCHIRACH, FRITZ SAUCKEL, ALFRED JODL, MARTIN BORMANN, FRANZ VON PAPEN, ARTHUR SEYSS-INQUART, ALBERT SPEER, CONSTANTIN VON NEURATH and HANS FRITZSCHE, individually and as members of any of the groups or organizations next hereinafter named. II. The following are named as groups or organizations (since dissolved) which should be declared criminal by reason of their aims and the means used for the accomplishment thereof and in connection with the conviction of such of the named defendants as were members thereof: DIE REICHSREGIERUNG (REICH CABINET); DAS KORPS DER POLITISCHEN LEITER DER NATIONALSOZIALISTISCHEN DEUTSCHEN ARBEITERPARTEI (LEADERSHIP CORPS OF THE NAZI PARTY); DIE SCHUTZSTAFFELN DER NATIONALSOZIALISTISCHEN DEUTSCHEN ARBEITERPARTEI (commonly known as the "SS") and including DER SICHERHEITSDIENST (commonly known as the "SD"); DIE GEHEIME STAATSPOLIZEI (SECRET STATE POLICE, commonly known as the "GESTAPO"); DIE STURMABTEILUNGEN DER NSDAP (commonly known as the "SA"); and the GENERAL STAFF of the HIGH COMMAND of the GERMAN ARMED FORCES. The identity and membership of the groups or organizations referred to in the foregoing titles are hereinafter in Appendix B more particularly defined. Different trials The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Germany. The first, and best known of these trials, conducted by four major Allied powers (Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States), was the 1945-46 trial of the "major war criminals" before the International Military Tribunal (IMT). Not included were Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels, all of whom had died before the trial started. The most well-known top National Socialist at the trial was Hermann Göring. The IMT in effect made the official view of the so-called Holocaust and various other alleged events official truths that could not be questioned at the later Nuremberg trials: "The determination of the International Military Tribunal in the judgments […] that invasions, aggressive acts, aggressive wars, crimes, atrocities or inhumane acts were planned or occurred, shall be binding on the tribunals established hereunder and shall not be questioned except insofar as the participation therein or knowledge thereof by any particular person may be concerned. Statements of the International Military Tribunal in the judgment […] constitute proof of the facts stated, in the absence of substantial new evidence to the contrary."[9] The IMT also had other legal effect, such as in 1949, when West Germany was established. "The basic treaty establishing the partial sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Germany decreed that the verdicts of the IMT were final and binding for all official and judicial authorities of the Federal Republic. [...] the Allies effectively placed their view of history resulting from their [appalling] post-war quasi-judicial conclusions and verdicts beyond revision even for German courts."[8] The second set of trials, of "lesser war criminals", was conducted by the United States alone, as the Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT), during the 1946-49 period. While these trials are often seen as less important, in relationship to the Holocaust it has been argued that they are possibly more important, since the IMT relied almost exclusively on "confessions" and "testimonies", while the NMT introduced alleged documentary evidence, such as the first Posen speech and the laughable Wannsee protocol.[9] In addition, there were at this time various other trials and commissions, which produced conclusions that were cited as evidence at or otherwise influenced the Nuremberg trials. See later sections in this article on Communist Polish and Soviet commissions, which produced reports cited as evidence during the Nuremberg trials. The British Belsen trial, which included accusations of gassings at Auschwitz (!), concluded already in 1945, at about the time the IMT started. The American Dachau trials, criticized as having been even worse than the Nuremberg trials, started before the IMT and some of the trials concluded before the IMT concluded. (The American Army units which massacred the garrison at Dachau, who had already surrendered and laid down their arms, have never been brought to justice.) Origins The alleged guilt of the German government and future punishment was declared long before the trials started. In April 1940, a joint British-French-Polish (in-exile) declaration protested "the action of the German government whom they must hold responsible for these crimes which cannot remain unpunished."[10] In late 1943, during the Tripartite Dinner Meeting at the Tehran Conference, the Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin, proposed executing 50,000-100,000 German staff officers.[11] According to the minutes of a Roosevelt-Stalin meeting at Yalta, on 4 February 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said "that he had been very much struck by the extent of German destruction [destruction caused in battles rather than wanton destruction] in the Crimea and therefore he was more bloodthirsty in regard to the Germans than he had been a year ago, and he hoped that Marshal Stalin would again propose a toast to the execution of 50,000 officers of the German Army."[12] Secret British War Cabinet documents, released on 2 January 2006, showed that as early as December 1944, the Cabinet had discussed their policy for the punishment of the leading National Socialists if captured. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had then advocated a policy of summary execution in some circumstances, with the use of an Act of Attainder to circumvent legal obstacles (!), being dissuaded from this only by talks with USA and Soviet leaders later in the war.[13] The Jewish U.S. Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, Jr., put forward the Morgenthau Plan which proposed a de-industrialization of Germany, along with forced labour and other draconian measures. It also included summary executions without trials of "Arch Criminals", trials for "Certain Other War Criminals" with sentencing being death except in exceptional cases, and membership in the SS or Gestapo to automatically cause the inclusion into compulsory labor battalions to serve outside Germany.[14] Both Churchill and Roosevelt supported this plan! Later, details were leaked to the public, generating widespread protest. Roosevelt, aware of strong public disapproval, abandoned the plan. The demise of the Morgenthau Plan created the need for an alternative method of dealing with the National Socialist leadership. A plan for the "Trial of European War Criminals" was drafted by the Secretary of War and the USA War Department. Following Roosevelt's death in April 1945, the new president, Harry S. Truman, gave strong approval for a judicial process. A series of negotiations between the Allies worked out details of the trial. Part of the reason for finally deciding on a "fair trial" was that it was perceived that only this could have the desired propaganda effect on the German people.[7] David Irving David Irving has argued that it was actually Stalin who, mindful of his propaganda success with the elaborate show trials used during the Great Purge (which at the time duped at least many foreign Communist supporters), insisted that the German leaders be put on similar trials. Roosevelt and Churchill fell in line, after initially having argued for simply executing most German leaders without a trial! Furthermore, Irving has argued, based partially on access to the private papers of US chief prosecutor Robert H. Jackson, that "Jackson had a serious disagreement about his job with "Wild Bill" Donovan, head of the United States’ OSS intelligence service (predecessor to the CIA): It soon became clear that the OSS had intended all along to manage the whole trial along the lines of an NKVD [Soviet] show-trial, with Jackson little more than a professional actor. As part of the stage-management, they proposed to run a pre-trial propaganda campaign in the United States, with "increasing emphasis on the publication of atrocity stories to keep the public in the proper frame of mind". To this end the OSS devised and scripted for the education of the American public a two-reel film on war crimes, called Crime and Punishment; it was designed to put the case against the leading "Nazis". Jackson declined to participate."[15] Furthermore, the OSS is stated to have had many members on the prosecution staff at the IMT.[9] See also the "Quotes" section regarding views by the chief participants, such as the trials being "a continuation of the war effort of the Allied nations." See also the article on Allied psychological warfare. Location The Soviet Union had wanted the trials to take place in Berlin, but Nuremberg was chosen as the site for the trials because: The "Palace of Justice" was spacious, had a large prison, and was largely undamaged (unusual after the Allied bombings of Germany). Nuremberg was considered the ceremonial birthplace of the NSDAP. The planned "guilty" verdict would therefore have increased propaganda value, with Nuremberg also being the ceremonial deathplace. Criticisms of procedure and evidence A "victors' justice" in which the war victors were the alleged victims, the prosecutors, and the judges/jury, all at the same time. A more neutral trial would have been conducted in a neutral country, with neutral judges, and avoided a largely Jewish prosecution staff with various possible conflicts of interest (see the separate section "Jewish and Zionist influence"). New crimes were defined ("crime against peace" and "crime against humanity"), which earlier did not exist, and they were applied retroactively, but not to the Allies. The Charter of the International Military Tribunal permitted the use of normally inadmissible forms of "evidence". Article 19 specified that "The Tribunal shall not be bound by technical rules of evidence [...] and shall admit any evidence which it deems to have probative value." Article 21 stipulated: "The Tribunal shall not require proof of facts of common knowledge but shall take judicial notice thereof. It shall also take judicial notice of official governmental documents and reports of the United [Allied] Nations, including acts and documents of the committees set up in the various allied countries for the investigation of war crimes, and the records and findings of military and other Tribunals of any of the United [Allied] Nations."[16] On the basis of these articles, the Tribunal accepted as valid the most dubious "evidence" which included hearsay and unsubstantiated reports of Soviet and Polish "investigative" commissions. For example, the Tribunal accepted a Polish government report (submitted by the US) that "proved" killings by steam at Treblinka and Soviet reports about Auschwitz and Majdanek, which explained in detail how the Germans allegedly killed four million at Auschwitz and another one-and-a-half million at Majdanek. Today, even non-revisionist historians reject such figures.[16][17] Another today rejected Soviet claim is that Finland during the war put the whole Soviet population of occupied territories into camps where 40% died.[18] The Soviet Union submitted massive amounts of false evidence, including faked forensic evidence and false testimonies, in an attempt to blame Germany for the Katyn Massacre. However, the other Allies refused to support this particular falsification, possibly because it was already being widely known to be a Soviet massacre, the massacre was not part of the Holocaust narrative, and the massacre was useful as propaganda against the Soviet Union. In 1990, the Russian government acknowledged that the Katyn massacre was carried out, not by Germany, but by the Soviet Union.[19][16] "the Western Allies said not a public word at Nuremberg to challenge the Soviet "evidence" on Katyn (the judges quietly glossed over the Red charges by omitting them from their verdict). [...] It is the special service of Made in Russia: The Holocaust to remind readers that the same Soviet stamp which converted the fake Katyn reports into admissible evidence at Nuremberg also provided proof of the extermination of millions of Jews at Auschwitz, Majdanek, Treblinka, and elsewhere. As Porter emphasizes, physical and forensic evidence for the Holocaust was never introduced, nor is there any reason whatsoever to imagine it ever existed. All we have is a handful of "testimonies," and "confessions," and the reports of a number of Soviet or Soviet-controlled "investigative" commissions. The same Red prosecutors who framed the victims of Stalin's purges at the Moscow show trials, and sent millions of innocents to their deaths in our gallant Soviet ally's Gulag archipelago, are the chief source for the vaunted Nuremberg evidence of the "Holocaust.""[20] See also the article on the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission that produced important such reports. The prosecution sifted through enormous amounts of official and other German documents and archives, in order to find possibly incriminating evidence. Considering the scale of claimed German war crimes, the Allies have been argued to have found very little claimed evidence, despite this massive sifting. The defense was allowed only very limited access and was not allowed to use as evidence some of the material it was given access to. In some cases, the original documents are "lost" but there remain "copies" (which may or may not been altered compared with the original). At the IMT, the Soviet Union was allowed to submit photocopies of documents, promising to produce the originals, but this never occurred. There are also accusations of documents incriminating the Allies and exonerating the accused having disappeared on a large scale. On 22 October 1945, a report was issued titled “Report, German Document Conference”, referring to a conference held prior to the date shown. Issues included "views on documents which should be destroyed, or to which the Germans were to be denied access".[16][21] Well-known documents used as evidence at the Nuremberg trials, such as the 4 October 1943 Posen Speech, the Wannsee protocol, the Hossbach Memorandum, Generalplan Ost, the Gerstein Report, and the Einsatzgruppen reports have been criticized as being incorrectly interpreted, being partly edited, or being complete fabrications. Several other previously important documents introduced at the Nuremberg Trials are now generally admitted to be fraudulent.[16][22] Not only WWII documents are argued to have been fabricated or edited, but also alleged pre-WWII documents, such as several key Crystal Night documents presented at the Nuremberg trial by the Allies in order to incriminate the German leaders.[23] The forgers are argued to have had access to genuine German typewriters, stationary, stamps, and so on, making it no great achievement to fabricate “original” documents looking similar to genuine documents based on only these aspects.[21][24] There are also various other criticisms of the alleged documents, such as "The documents used in evidence at Nuremberg consisted largely of "photocopies" of "copies". Many of these original documents were written entirely on plain paper without handwritten markings of any kind, by unknown persons. Occasionally, there is an illegible initial or signature of a more or less unknown person certifying the document as a 'true copy'. Sometimes there are German stamps, sometimes not. Many have been 'found' by the Russians, or 'certified authentic' by Soviet War Crimes Commissions."[25] A very influential part of the evidence was movies showing heaps of corpses in camps located in Germany, as well as other forms of evidence supposedly supporting genocidal mass murders in these camps, such as statements by inmates and camp personnel in these camps. Also non-revisionists now agree that none of the western Holocaust camps were "extermination camps". The "extermination camps" are now all alleged to have been in eastern areas, such as Poland.[7] See also Holocaust documentary evidence: Movies. See also the article on Sefton Delmer, a British propagandist involved in black propaganda, on Delmar stated to have admitted in an autobiographical book that he and his staff forged a large amount of German documents, including documents having Germans committing a large number of war crimes and used in the Nuremberg trials and history books. The Jewish YIVO organization was involved in stealing documents from German archives, "processing" them, and then submitting claimed authentic documents as evidence at the Nuremberg trials. Revisionists have also stated the existence of sometimes huge forgery workshops at several camps for Jewish displaced persons in the postwar period. These produced forgeries for purposes such as gaining compensations for people already dead, for non-existing people, for people not entitled to receive any, and so on. It was possible to obtain any document or certificate needed, in any language. Large scale fabrications of seals and signatures occurred. It has been suggested that for, example, the controversial Jewish Nuremberg prosecutor Robert Kempner may have obtained claimed authentic documents used as evidence from such forgery workshops.[26][21] Examples of argued absurd and today seldom mentioned claims at the trials include vaporizing 20,000 Jews near Auschwitz with "atomic energy"; killing 840,000 Russian POW's at the Sachsenhausen camp (in one month, with special pedal-driven brain-bashing machines), then disposing of them in mobile [sic] crematoria; torturing and killing Jewish prisoners to the tempo of a specially composed "Tango of Death" in Lvov; steaming Jews to death like lobsters at Treblinka; electrocuting them en masse at Belzec; making not only lampshades and soap but also handbags, driving gloves, book bindings, saddles, riding breeches, gloves, house slippers, etc. from the remains of their victims.[20] Another seldom aspect of the trials is the enormous amount of testimonial evidence presented by the defense against prosecution claims of German "criminal organizations" (such as by involvement in the Holocaust). This included the testimony of 102 witnesses and 312,022 notarized affidavits. Revisionists argue that this enormous amount of testimonial evidence, which supported the defense, was almost completely ignored by the tribunals.[27] Dr. Horst Pelckmann, defense counsel for the SS at the Nuremberg trials, stated that "On the question of whether the SS members recognized the destruction of Jewry as an aim of the leaders, 1,593 out of 1,637 affidavits which mention this problem state that the Jewish problem was not to be solved by killing or the so-called "final solution," and that they had no knowledge of these intentions of the leaders. They point out that the SS members were forbidden to undertake individual acts against Jews. As evidence, numerous members refer to the fact that many death or other severe sentences were passed because of crimes against Jewish persons or Jewish property."[28] See also the article on Konrad Morgen. Defendants: threats and psychological torture; prolonged interrogations; confiscation of personal property.[7] Witnesses for the defense: intimidation, threats, even arrests; withholding of defense witnesses; forced testimony.[7] Evidence: “proof” based on hearsay; documents of arbitrary kinds; disappearance of exonerating evidence; distorted affidavits; twisted documents.[7] Procedure: dishonest simultaneous translations; arbitrarily rejected motions to introduce evidence; confiscation of files; refusal to provide defense access to documents; systematic obstruction of the defense’s efforts by the prosecution, and so on.[7] See the Superior orders article regarding various criticisms related to this. One example is the Allies temporarily changing their own rules regarding this during the Nuremberg trials, in order to prevent the German defense from citing the Allied rules as a defense argument. Physical torture and threats to relatives: The IMT was conducted during international publicity, so the prosecution, for the most part, is argued to have refrained from physical torturing the defendants, with exceptions such as Julius Streicher and Hans Frank. German prosecution witnesses, such as Rudolf Höss, appearing before the IMT or whose written statements were introduced into evidence, are argued to have been physically tortured in order to gain "confessions". The defendant Fritz Sauckel is argued to have signed a self-incriminating statement only after being told that his wife and ten children would otherwise be handed over to the Soviet Union. Defendants at other Nuremberg trials have also been stated to have been tortured or threatened in order to "confess", a prominent example being Oswald Pohl. Torture has been stated to have been used during both the Belsen trials and Dachau trials.[7] The trials were deeply criticized by persons such as the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and even by judges at the Nuremberg trials. See the "Quotes" section. Acquittals An objection to the trials being show trials is that the defendants disagreed with some of the claims of the prosecution and in some cases were acquitted. However, the revisionist book The Hoax of the Twentieth Century argued that the Allies were absolutely politically committed to the trials "proving" that Germany was guilty of committing crimes, such as starting the war and the existence of the Holocaust. But "On the other hand, with only a tiny handful of exceptions, the courts were not a priori committed on questions of personal responsibility of individuals. With respect to individuals the courts were not as greatly constrained, politically speaking. In most cases judgments of absence of personal responsibility were well within the realm of political possibility (as distinct from probability). All defense cases were organized in relation to these undeniably valid observations, and even with those individuals whose cases were hopeless, the lawyers had no choice but to proceed on the assumption that a favorable verdict was within the realm of the possible."[29] See also Holocaust testimonial evidence: The legal strategy of acknowledging the Holocaust while attempting to shift blame. Three of the IMT defendants were acquitted, which has been cited as evidence against the trial being a show trial, as discussed above. A less well-known aspect is that these three individuals were then (despite their "acquittals") re-arrested and sentenced to imprisonment by "denazification" courts. IMT defendants Contrary to popular belief, none of the defendants during the International Military Tribunal used the superior orders defense regarding the Holocaust, but instead stated no personal participation/knowledge. The sentencing of Rudolf Hess (life imprisonment) has been seen as particularly unjust. "Hess came to this country in 1941 as an ambassador of peace. He came with the ... intention of restoring peace between Great Britain and Germany. He acted in good faith. He fell into our hands and was quite unjustly treated as a prisoner of war. After the war, we should have released him. Instead, the British government of the time delivered him for sentencing to the International Tribunal at Nuremberg ... No crime has ever been proved against Hess ... As far as the records show, he was never at even one of the secret discussions at which Hitler explained his war plans."[16] See also the article on Hess on various theories regarding why Hess received such a harsh sentencing. Regarding more specific details on the accused at the IMT, the alleged evidence against them, revisionist arguments, and their fate, see the Category:IMT defendants as well the article "NOT GUILTY AT NUREMBERG: The German Defense Case" in the "External links" section. Holocaust intentionalism and Holocaust functionalism‎ The Nuremberg trials in effect created/supported the mainstream Holocaust "intentionalism" view on the Holocaust. An alternative and more recent mainstream view is Holocaust "functionalism", which as a consequence must explicitly or implicitly criticize various aspects of the Nuremberg trials. One example is that Holocaust functionalism implies that Hermann Göring was falsely convicted of having ordered Reinhard Heydrich to implement the Holocaust on 31 July 1941. See Holocaust intentionalism and Holocaust functionalism‎. Non-trial of the Allies for atrocities and starting wars New crimes were defined ("crime against peace" and "crime against humanity") which earlier did not exist, and they were applied retroactively, but not to the Allies. The Allies were never tried for events such as bombings of civilians (including the only uses of nuclear weapons); mass rapes, mistreatment, and large scale deaths of POWs and civilians in occupied areas; use of Germans for forced labor; plunder of German property and patents; and violent ethnic cleansing of Germans from large areas causing large scale deaths. The Allies were never tried for more controversial historical events, such as various other argued atrocities against Germans during and after the war (see Claimed mass killings of Germans by the WWII Allies) as well as argued deliberate mass starvation of various civilian populations during and after the war (see The World Wars and mass starvation‎). The Allies were never tried for starting wars, such as the Soviet invasions of the Baltic states, Finland, and 40 per cent of Poland; the British and Soviet invasions of neutral Iran; the British invasions of the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Iraq; the American occupations of Greenland and Iceland; the British attack on the neutral French State including the outrageous attack on Mers-el-Kébir murdering over 1000 sailors, various attacks on neutral France and her colonies; the Soviet attack on Manchuria and Japan despite a still valid non-aggression treaty. The Allies were never tried for the planned British and French invasions of Norway and Sweden, or the alleged Soviet planned invasion of Germany and Europe[30], despite that the Allies considered alleged German "conspiracies"/plans for future "aggressive wars" to be crimes. The Jewish organizations Nakam and Tilhas Tizig Gesheften mass killed people whose group members may have been involved in the Holocaust and more generally planned and admitted planning to kill six million Germans. No one seems to have been prosecuted for these crimes. The Allies together agreed on various postwar policies, such as the Communist Soviet Union controlling Eastern Europe and North Korea, in effect agreeing to the implementation of Communist dictatorships and terror in these zones. The plutocratic Western Allies also forcibly deported various non-German groups to Communist states, where many then were killed, such as the Bleiburg Massacres in Communist Yugoslavia, the Soviet POWs who had capitulated to the Germans and who were deported to the Soviet Union where they were treated as traitors and then murdered, and the killings of White Russia emigrés and Cossacks who had fled from the Soviet Union already during the Russian Civil War but who were deported to the Soviet Union.[31][32] Holocaust revisionists argue that one of the primary reasons for the orthodox Holocaust version being created/supported was to justify, cover-up, or distract from the Allied mass killings and other possible crimes. See Holocaust motivations: Argued Exploitation Alleged German guilt for starting the war See: Causes of World War II In contrast to the non-trial of the Allies for possibly starting various wars, the Allies placed great importance on the IMT as definitely "proving" that Germany was absolutely guilty of starting WWII. (This was not unlike Versailles in 1919.) This was then used as a general justification for all questionable Allied actions during and after the war and as a general justification for various punishments and demands for reparations. Regarding revisionist criticisms, see the articles on the Revisionist views on the causes of the World Wars, Gleiwitz incident, and Lebensraum. The revisionist Germar Rudolf has written that "The German amateur historian Gerd Schultz-Rhonhöf, a retired major general of the German army, pointed out in 2014 that the files given back by the Allies to the Germans are riddled with forgeries. These can be recognized, he stated by the fact that these forgeries were not written on original paper which, quite in contrast to authentic German documents, do not turn yellow as they age (Schultz-Rhonhof 2014). But he has only analyzed documents regarding the guilt question of the war". (Criticizing Holocaust documents in Germany may cause severe punishments for the crime of "Holocaust denial".) Rudolf has written that there may also be "forgeries on original paper among the German files. These could not so easily be recognized as such. After all, at war's end the Allies had all the official German stationary at their disposal."[33] The secret protocols of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between National Socialist Germany and the Soviet Union (and that proposed the partition of Poland) was falsely declared to be a forgery by the IMT, in order to place all the guilt on National Socialist Germany. Other alleged crimes and alleged National Socialist ideology The Nuremberg trials also involved various other alleged German crimes. See Claimed mass killings of non-Jews by National Socialist Germany. Also various aspects of alleged National Socialist ideology were parts of the trials. See Lebensraum, Master race, and Subhuman. Judges, lawyers, and prosecutors The main Soviet judge, Iona Nikitchenko, presided over some of the most notorious of Joseph Stalin's show trials during the Great Purge of 1936 to 1938. The Soviet prosecutor, Roman Rudenko, later became commandant of NKVD special camp Nr. 7. By the time the camp closed in the spring of 1950, at least 12,000 prisoners had died due to the catastrophic prison conditions, hunger, and psychological or physical exhaustion.[34][35][36] "The conduct of the American judges at Nuremberg was, to say the very least, of the most questionable propriety. One of the judges, Francis Biddle, reveals in his article on Nuremberg in American Heritage, Vol. XIII, No. 5, August, 1962, that the U.S. judges knowingly permitted the Soviet prosecutor to admit false evidence against the defendants (page 70). Further, Justice Jackson hosted a party for visiting Andrei Vishinsky (notorious Soviet prosecutor in the bloody Soviet purges), at which party the American judges joined in a toast by Vishinsky, ‘To the German prisoners, may they all be hanged!’ (page 71). By any ethical standards of any bar association in the western world, such ‘judges’ should have been disqualified and themselves charged. Further, these ‘judges’ acquiesced in arbitrary and ever-changing ‘rules of evidence,’ accepting written depositions against prisoners charged with capital crimes, thus denying them the right of cross-examination. Section IV, paragraph (e) of the London Agreement of Aug. 8, 1945, provided that, ‘A defendant shall have the right through himself or through his counsel to present evidence at the Trial in support of his defense, and to cross-examine any witness called by the Prosecution.'"[37] "Also, the defense lawyers were picked by the Allies, meaning that if a lawyer was a (former) member of the National Socialist Party (NSdAP), or sympathetic to National Socialism, he was not considered, thus eliminating all lawyers who were active during the years of National Socialism (Seidler, pp.101/02). National Socialism was a movement of the working class, and many of the so-called intellectuals had shunned it, while some, if not many, had joined the resistance. By calling them to defend former NS dignitaries, one left the door wide open for lawyers who had an axe to grind. Some lawyers refused to participate for fear of repercussions, as the press had unleashed a hate campaign against anything “Nazi”(Seidler, p.102). Thus, the accused were defended by people not free of fear or bias. In fact, when reading through the transcripts it becomes clear that most of the defense lawyers believed what was presented by the prosecution, and just tried to deflect guild from their clients onto others."[21] Regarding examples of criticisms of prosecutors, see the articles on Benjamin Ferencz, David Marcus, Robert H. Jackson, Robert Kempner, and Telford Taylor. See above on the Soviet prosecutor Roman Rudenko. Jewish and Zionist influence Jews have been argued to have been influential in the creation of the trials and in the selection of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers. Some Jewish participants are argued to have been Jewish refugees from Germany who hated Germans. Some interrogators accused of using brutal methods have been stated to have been Jewish.[16] Nahum Goldmann, president of both the World Jewish Congress and the World Zionist Organization, stated in his memoir that the World Jewish Congress had an influence on the creation of Nuremberg trials. The organization is stated to have had an influence on the day-to-day proceedings.[16][38] Robert H. Jackson, chief US council when setting up the IMT and chief US prosecutor during the IMT, was a Zionist.[39] See Holocaust demographics: Six million Jews at the Nuremberg trials on stated World Jewish Congress influence on Jackson regarding the claim of six million killed Jews. The Hoax of the Twentieth Century stated that the US “War Crimes Branch” (of the US Army occupying Germany) was the real controlling agency of US activities during trials such as the Dachau trials and the Nuremberg trials (and as noted earlier, the US conducted the later Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT) alone). In charge of setting up the NMT and deciding judges, prosecutors, and lawyers was the Jewish Zionist David Marcus, who would later become Israel's first general and who died in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[9] During the NMT, the most important prosecutor may have been the Jewish Robert Kempner, who is associated with some of the allegedly most important Holocaust documents, such as the first Posen speech and the Wannsee protocol, and who has been accused of numerous crimes (see the article on Robert Kempner).[9] According to a 2005 article, the Jewish Chief Prosecutor of the Einsatzgruppen trial. Benjamin Ferencz, "says it's important to recall that military legal norms at the time permitted a host of flexibilities that wouldn't fly today. "You know how I got witness statements?" he says. "I'd go into a village where, say, an American pilot had parachuted and been beaten to death and line everyone one up against the wall. Then I'd say, 'Anyone who lies will be shot on the spot.' It never occurred to me that statements taken under duress would be invalid." On the practice of taking suspects to DPs (displaced persons, former camp prisoners) for legal "further questioning" (but this possibly being illegal executions): "cautions against making sweeping armchair moral judgments. "Someone who was not there could never really grasp how unreal the situation was," he says. "I once saw DPs beat an SS man and then strap him to the steel gurney of a crematorium. They slid him in the oven, turned on the heat and took him back out. Beat him again, and put him back in until he was burnt alive. I did nothing to stop it. I suppose I could have brandished my weapon or shot in the air, but I was not inclined to do so. Does that make me an accomplice to murder?""[40] Did Six Million Really Die? stated that "the real background of the Nuremberg Trials was exposed by the American judge, Justice Wenersturm, President of one of Tribunals. He was so disgusted by the proceedings that he resigned his appointment and flew home to America, leaving behind a statement to the Chicago Tribune which enumerated point by point his objections to the Trials (cf. Mark Lautern, Das Letzte Wort über Nürnberg, p. 56). Points 3 -8 are as follows: 3. The members of the department of the Public Prosecutor, instead of trying to formulate and reach a new guiding legal principle, were moved only by personal ambition and revenge. 4. The prosecution did its utmost in every way possible to prevent the defence preparing its case and to make it impossible for it to furnish evidence. 5. The prosecution, led by General Taylor, did everything in its power to prevent the unanimous decision of the Military Court being carried out i.e. to ask Washington to furnish and make available to the court further documentary evidence in the possession of the American Government. 6. Ninety per cent of the Nuremberg Court consisted of biased persons who, either on political or racial grounds, furthered the prosecution's case. 7. The prosecution obviously knew how to fill all the administrative posts of the Military Court with "Americans" whose naturalisation certificates were very new indeed, and who, whether in the administrative service or by their translations etc., created an atmosphere hostile to the accused persons. 8. The real aim of the Nuremberg Trials was to show the Germans the crimes of their Führer, and this aim was at the same time the pretext on which the trials were ordered ... Had I known seven months earlier what was happening at Nuremberg, I would never have gone there."[41] Mark Weber testified at the Ernst Zundel's Holocaust trials in 1988 regarding the statements by Justice Wenersturm. "Concerning Point 6, that ninety per cent of the Nuremberg Court consisted of people biased on racial or political grounds, this was a fact confirmed by others present. According to Earl Carrol, an American lawyer, sixty per cent of the staff of the Public Prosecutor's Office were German Jews who had left Germany after the promulgation of Hitler's Race Laws. He observed that not even ten per cent of the Americans employed at the Nuremberg courts were actually Americans by birth. The chief of the Public Prosecutor's Office, who worked behind General Taylor, was Robert M. Kempner, a German-Jewish emigrant. [...] What Harwood wrote about Judge Wennerstrum was essentially accurate, said Weber. Wennerstrum, who was a member of the State Supreme Court from Iowa, was an American judge at one of the secondary Nuremberg trials conducted by the Americans. He was disgusted by what he saw there according to his own statement which was published in the Chicago Tribune. Weber had consulted the Chicago Tribune and confirmed that the statements quoted by Harwood were in fact correct. Wennerstrum felt that the people at Nuremberg were biased on racial or political grounds and Weber shared that belief. Interrogators and interpreters were very often Jewish refugees from Germany and from Central Europe who had taken refuge in the United States before and during the war. Judge Wennerstrum was alarmed and unhappy by the fact that these people, who he felt were biased, were used so extensively by the Americans in prosecuting the Germans at Nuremberg. Weber believed that the figure of 60 percent of the staff being Jewish as stated by Harwood was approximately correct."[41] Quotes National Socialist Germany revisionism Adolf Hitler Allied psychological warfare Book burning/censorship and National Socialist Germany Claimed mass killings of Germans by the WWII Allies Claimed mass killings of non-Jews by National Socialist Germany Clean Wehrmacht Degenerate art Foreign military volunteers and National Socialist Germany Gestapo Kristallnacht Lebensborn Lebensraum Master race Munich Putsch National Socialism and occultism National Socialist Germany and forced labor National Socialist Germany and partisans/resistance movements National Socialist Germany revisionism National Socialist Germany's nuclear weapons program Nazi Night of the Long Knives Nuremberg trials Pre-WWII anti-National Socialist Germany boycott Revisionist views on the causes of the World Wars Soviet offensive plans controversy Subhumans Superior orders The Holocaust The World Wars and mass starvation‎ We are dealing here with the chief war criminals who have already been convicted and whose conviction has been already announced by both the Moscow and Crimea [Yalta] declarations by the heads of the [Allied] governments... The whole idea is to secure quick and just punishment for the crime... The fact that the Nazi leaders are criminals has already been established. The task of the Tribunal is only to determine the measure of guilt of each particular person and mete out the necessary punishment -- the sentences. —Iona Nikitchenko, Soviet judge at an infamous 1936 Moscow show trial during the Great Purge and also the main Soviet Judge at the International Military Tribunal. Stated even before the trial started at a joint planning conference.[16] As a military tribunal, this Tribunal is a continuation of the war effort of the Allied nations. As an International Tribunal, it is not bound by the procedural and substantive refinements of our respective judicial or constitutional systems —Chief U.S. prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson.[7] [Chief U.S. prosecutor] Jackson is away conducting his high-grade lynching party in Nuremberg. I don’t mind what he does to the Nazis, but I hate to see the pretense that he is running a court and proceeding according to common law. This is a little too sanctimonious a fraud to meet my oldfashioned ideas. —Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Harlan Fiske Stone.[7] I thought at the time and still think that the Nuremberg trials were unprincipled. Law was created ex post facto to suit the passion and clamor of the time. —U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.[16] About this whole judgment there is the spirit of vengeance, and vengeance is seldom justice. The hanging of the eleven men convicted will be a blot on the American record which we will long regret. In these trials we have accepted the Russian idea of the purpose of trials -- government policy and not justice -- with little relation to Anglo-Saxon heritage. By clothing policy in the forms of legal procedure, we may discredit the whole idea of justice in Europe for years to come. —U.S. Senator Robert A. Taft.[16] I think the Nuremberg trials are a black page in the history of the world...I discussed the legality of these trials with some of the lawyers and some of the judges who participated therein. They did not attempt to justify their action on any legal ground, but rested their position on the fact that in their opinion, the parties convicted were guilty...This action is contrary to the fundamental laws under which this country has lived for many hundreds of years, and I think cannot be justified by any line of reasoning. I think the Israeli trial of Adolf Eichmann is exactly in the same category as the Nuremberg trials. As a lawyer, it has always been my view that a crime must be defined before you can be guilty of committing it. That has not occurred in either of the trials I refer to herein. —Edgar N. Eisenhower, American Attorney, brother of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.[42] As a representative of the American people I desire to say that what is taking place in Nuremberg, Germany, is a disgrace to the United States... A racial minority, two and a half years after the war closed, are in Nuremberg not only hanging German soldiers but trying German businessmen in the name of the United States. —Congressman, John Rankin.[16] If I had known seven months ago what I know today, I would never have come here. Obviously, the victor in any war is not the best judge of the war crime guilt. […] The prosecution has failed to maintain objectivity aloof from vindictiveness, aloof from personal ambitions for convictions. It has failed to strive to lay down precedents which might help the world to avoid future wars. The entire atmosphere here is unwholesome. […] Lawyers, clerks, interpreters and researchers were employed who became Americans only in recent years, whose backgrounds were imbedded in Europe’s hatreds and prejudices. —Charles F. Wennerstrum, American judge of the Nuremberg Tribunal.[7] One of the most shameful incidents connected with the War Crimes Trials prosecutions has to do with the investigations and the preparation of the cases for trial. The records of trials which our Commission examined disclosed that a great majority of the official investigators, employed by the United States Government to secure evidence and to locate defendants, were persons with a preconceived dislike for these enemy aliens, and their conduct was such that they resorted to a number of illegal, unfair, and cruel methods and duress to secure confessions of guilt and to secure accusations by defendants against other defendants. In fact, in the Malmedy case, the only evidence before the court, upon which the convictions and sentences were based, consisted of the statements and testimony of the defendants themselves. The testimony of one defendant against another was secured by subterfuge, false promises of immunity, and by mock trials and threats. —Edward Leroy Van Roden, President Judge.[42] You will understand when I tell you that this [prosecution] staff is about 75% Jewish. —leading U.S. prosecutor Thomas Dodd.[7] "The [Nuremberg] war-crimes trials were based upon a complete disregard of sound legal precedents, principles and procedures. The court had no real jurisdiction over the accused or their offenses; it invented ex post facto crimes; it permitted the accusers to act as prosecutors, judges, jury and executioners; and it admitted to the group of prosecutors those who had been guilty of crimes as numerous and atrocious as those with which the accused were charged. Hence, it is not surprising that these trials degraded international jurisprudence as never before in human experience." —Professor Harry Elmer Barnes, Ph.D.[43] It was clear from the outset that a death sentence would be pronounced against me, as I have always regarded the trial as a purely political act by the victors, but I wanted to see this trial through for my people's sake and I did at least expect that I should not be denied a soldier's death. Before God, my country, and my conscience I feel myself free of the blame that an enemy tribunal has attached to me. See also Holocaust demographics: Six million Jews at the Nuremberg trials Made in Russia: The Holocaust‎ Further trials (selection) Dachau trials Belsen trials Malmedy trial Further reading Mark Weber: The Nuremberg Trials and the Holocaust Carlos Porter: NOT GUILTY AT NUREMBERG – The German Defense Case NOT GUILTY AT NUREMBERG – The German Defense Case (Introduction) DOCUMENTS USED IN "EVIDENCE" AT THE NUREMBERG "TRIAL" Not Guilty at Nuremberg: The German Defense Case (IHR-Review) General topics The Nuremberg Trials and the Holocaust Documentary Evidence Use of word "Master Race" at First Nuremberg Trial The Value of Testimony and Confessions Concerning the Holocaust Nuremberg - Fair Trial or Show Trial ? Torture The interrogation camp that turned prisoners into living skeletons How Britain tortured Nazi PoWs: The horrifying interrogation methods that belie our proud boast that we fought a clean war British Torture: What Does it Mean for Revisionism? Books MADE IN RUSSIA - THE HOLOCAUST Made in Russia: The Holocaust - Review Free to read WWII books by David Irving - Including "Nuremberg, the Last Battle" Nuremberg: Woe to the Vanquished - Review Article archives Codoh: War Crime Trials + Prosecutions IMT + NMTs Individual Allied Trials in Germany Exposing the Holocaust™ Hoax Archive: Nuremberg Trials
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	62	https://academic.oup.com/book/6769/chapter/150883160	en				[]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	37	https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/XFtmh93sVfW3z8YDW8v1fg/did-hermann-goerings-brother-save-innocent-lives-from-the-nazis	en	Did Hermann Goering's brother save innocent lives from the Nazis?	https://ichef.bbci.co.uk…675/p03ghxyz.jpg	https://ichef.bbci.co.uk…675/p03ghxyz.jpg	[ "https://a1.api.bbc.co.uk/hit.xiti?&col=1&from=p&ptag=js&s=598253&p=article::unknown&x1=[urn:bbc:isite2:28991cf5-917e-407d-9f93-ce2ee4962dc2]&x2=[responsive]&x3=[bbc_website]&x4=[en]&x7=[article-show-related]&x8=[reverb-3.9.2-nojs]&x11=[programmes_ps]&x12=[SOUNDS]", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p03ghwxq.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/256xn/p03gj07l.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p03ghwb6.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02zn49p.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p01j3n8y.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p03fybm0.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p038bnwz.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p037rfhv.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0332j2z.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p032jj4f.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p030b96s.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p03199y8.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02ydfvf.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02xvdfb.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02x1wq0.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02y85bn.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p035mg2d.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p034stth.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p034st0g.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p034skq0.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p034pp3d.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p01qmc22.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p033w1vf.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p033647z.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02zc732.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p032jj4f.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p032135t.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p031gq72.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0302fj3.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p030rh4v.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p020tg54.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02z6yl0.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02ygsrc.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02mr2gd.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02y7swm.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02xrvbh.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02wmr64.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02vngyg.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02szw3c.jpg", "https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p02v39qg.jpg", "https://programmes.files.bbci.co.uk/programmes-frontend/images/logos/svg/bbc_radio_four/service-d2476257d0.svg", "https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=17986528&cs_ucfr=0&cv=2.0&cj=1" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "BBC" ]	2016-01-26T00:00:00	Gavin Esler uncovers the extraordinary story of Hermann Goering's younger brother Albert.	en	https://www.bbc.co.uk/favicon.ico	BBC	https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/XFtmh93sVfW3z8YDW8v1fg/did-hermann-goerings-brother-save-innocent-lives-from-the-nazis	Journalist and broadcaster Gavin Esler uncovers the story of leading Nazi Hermann Goering's lesser known brother Albert, who claimed he saved the lives of those threatened by Nazi persecution. This is the story of two brothers. The older brother, one of the most notorious Nazis of the 20th Century, Hermann Goering, Hitler’s deputy, the Fuehrer’s chosen successor, the man who led the Luftwaffe into the Blitz and the Battle of Britain. His younger brother, Albert, was a mystery, a man who puzzled Allied interrogators after the war with unbelievable tales of anti-Nazi heroism, and who remains an enigma 70 years later. Gavin Esler Now new evidence about Albert Goering has led to a campaign to honour him in Israel, as someone who helped Jewish people while his brother was among those who organised the Holocaust. And in a remarkable BBC interview with his only daughter, Elizabeth, she offers an extraordinary reason why Albert Goering risked his life to help those oppressed by the Nazis, even to the extent of claiming that he was protected from the Gestapo and SS by Hermann Goering himself. “As far as he could, [Hermann] helped me in those things,” Albert would tell his interrogators during the Nuremberg trials. When it came to family, Hermann Goering “had a warm heart”. Not surprisingly the Allied interrogators regarded anyone with the name Goering as suspect, and viewed Albert as just another devious Nazi trying to avoid being hanged for war crimes. Richard Sonnenfeldt, one of the allied interpreters, dismissed Albert’s stories as a fantasy from “a hand-wringing type of witness who would talk too much”. An interrogation report said Albert was guilty of “as clever a piece of rationalization and white wash” as the interrogators had ever seen. It concluded: “Albert Goering’s lack of subtlety is matched only by the bulk of his obese brother.” The idea of a ‘Good Goering’ seemed truly unbelievable, although the two brothers were different from one another in terms of looks, physique and character. Hermann was born in 1893, Albert in 1895. They spent some of their childhood in a prosperous suburb of Berlin, Friedenau, an area Germans call “buergerlich”, meaning bourgeois and middle class. Their house still stands, unmarked by the wars of the 20th Century, solid Prussian red brick. Their father, Heinrich, was often away from home on German government business, particularly in Africa. Meanwhile the Goering boys’ mother, Fanny, took a rich lover, Hermann von Epenstein, who owned the Friedenau house and acted as a guardian for Albert and his brother. By the time of World War One, Hermann was already loud and overbearing. He sought action and became a much decorated fighter pilot, commanding the squadron of the famous Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen. Albert, meanwhile, was in the mud of the trenches, a signal engineer. In the 1920s, amid the chaos and humiliation after the war, Hermann Goering met a failed artist and ambitious political activist, Adolf Hitler, and became one of the early members of the Nazi party. Albert – already with a reputation as a ladies’ man – was on his second marriage, with two step sons, and a humdrum career as an engineer, eventually landing a job in Vienna, Austria’s rather racy multicultural capital. He enjoyed Viennese culture, the wine, and the social life, with a wide circle of Jewish friends. Among them, the part owners of a Viennese film company, the brothers Oskar and Kurt Pilzer. But by 1938 Albert’s bohemian life was coming to an end. Hitler annexed Austria. Hermann Goering was a key player in imposing Nazi order, bullying Austria’s politicians by telephone, demanding Nazis be given government positions, and finally insisting that German troops should invade. The Nazi nightmare of arrests, Gestapo swoops and political opponents being led off to the Dachau concentration camp, had begun. The Pilzer brothers were among those arrested. Seven years later, in 1945 in the interrogation rooms during the Nuremberg trials, Albert Goering stunned his interrogators by giving them a hand written list of 34 people he claimed to have helped escape the Nazis, with the Pilzers at number 24. Two big names stand out from the list – Dr Kurt Schuschnigg, the former Chancellor of Austria, and Archduke Joseph Ferdinand of the royal Habsburg dynasty. Albert claimed that he and his sister lobbied brother Hermann about freeing some Austrian prisoners and Hermann “was very embarrassed” but the next day “the arrested Habsburger was free again”. The Allied interrogators still did not buy Albert’s story, until two bizarre twists of fate helped change their minds. Kurt Pilzer, who with his family had escaped to the United States, wrote to the Nuremberg prosecutors, and pleaded Albert’s case. Then by chance a new interrogator arrived, an American, Victor Parker – a Jewish refugee whose real name was Paschkis. His aunt, Sophie Paschkis had converted to Catholicism and married the composer Franz Lehár – whose music, including The Merry Widow, was admired by Hitler. The Lehárs were at number 15 on Albert Goering’s list of those he had helped save. The interrogator, Victor Parker, had heard from his aunt Sophie that Hermann Goering’s brother Albert had indeed helped Jewish people to escape the concentration camps. The Good Goering’s fantastical stories were suddenly validated by one of the men sent to interrogate him at Nuremberg. Yet Albert’s troubles were not over. The authorities in Prague wanted him on charges of Nazi collaboration. But this time it was members of the Czech resistance who had worked in the Skoda factory where Albert had been a manager, who saved him. They testified that Albert Goering had helped them undermine the Nazi occupiers, passing on information to aid the resistance. By 1947, Albert was finally free, but his life was in ruins. The Goering name did not help him find a job. His womanising undid his four marriages, and he continued to drink prodigiously, dying in obscurity in 1966, his deeds publicly unrecognised. But now, 50 years after his death, the enigma of Hermann Goering’s little brother is slowly being uncovered. One historian, William Hastings Burke, has made a case at Yad Vashem in Israel for Albert to receive Israel’s highest honour for a non-Jewish person. Like Oskar Schindler, Albert could finally be recognised as one of the ‘Righteous Among The Nations’. These are people who ‘risked their life, freedom and safety’ to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. Irena Steinfeldt of the Department of the Righteous told me the request is being seriously considered, although the standards of proof are very high and personal testimony is now extremely difficult to obtain after more than seven decades. But a “Good Goering” recognised by Israel, she agreed, would remind the world that evil is not something we are born with. It is something we choose. Hermann Goering chose that path. Albert chose a different way. And there is one final extraordinary twist which may explain Albert’s motivation in all this. In researching our programme we tracked down Albert Goering’s only daughter, Elizabeth Goering Klasa in Lima, Peru. She told us a family secret. Her father Albert confided in her mother that he was not Hermann Goering’s brother after all. He was his half-brother. They shared the same mother, Fanny Goering. But Elizabeth say Albert Goering told her mother that he was “Hermann von Epenstein’s son”, the son of the rich lover of the Goerings’ mother. Hermann von Epenstein converted to Catholicism. But he was born Jewish. Listen the full story of The Good Goering online now.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	74	https://www.dw.com/en/nuremberg-trials-a-warning-to-war-criminals-and-dictators/a-55634256	en	Nuremberg trials: A warning to war criminals – DW – 11	https://static.dw.com/im…e/55593986_6.jpg	https://static.dw.com/im…e/55593986_6.jpg	[ "https://static.dw.com/image/55593986_600.jpg 78w, https://static.dw.com/image/55593986_601.jpg 201w, https://static.dw.com/image/55593986_602.jpg 379w, https://static.dw.com/image/55593986_603.jpg 545w, https://static.dw.com/image/55593986_604.jpg 767w, https://static.dw.com/image/55593986_605.jpg 1199w" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Ralf Bosen" ]	2020-11-20T05:35:36.510000+00:00	Seventy-five years ago, the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial brought Nazi leaders to justice. It was a long, historic trial that punished monstrous crimes, and still influences international criminal law today.	en	/images/icons/favicon-16x16.png	dw.com	https://www.dw.com/en/nuremberg-trials-a-warning-to-war-criminals-and-dictators/a-55634256	Nuremberg 1945: The second-largest city in Bavaria largely lay in ruins. After almost six years of the Second World War, Germany had surrendered unconditionally on May 8. Now Nuremberg, where the National Socialist German Workers' Party once celebrated pompous rallies, was to become the scene of the party's reckoning before the law: For wars of aggression, mass murders and twelve years of dictatorship. The victorious powers — the USA, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France — are setting up an International Military Tribunal for this purpose. Read more: How Germany confronted its Nazi past The main war crimes trial against 24 close followers of the dictator Adolf Hitler began on November 20. Powerful Nazi leaders who once dreamed of world domination were sitting on the wooden benches in courtroom 600 of the city's Palace of Justice, largely chosen because it was one of the few unscathed buildings large enough, and with its own prison facility, to host such a trial. The defendants included Reich Marshal and Luftwaffe Commander-in-Chief Hermann Göring, Hitler's temporary deputy Rudolf Hess and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. They were accused of crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity and conspiracy. Nazi organizations such as the Schutzstaffel SS or the Gestapo Secret State Police were also indicted — as "criminal organizations." But the worst perpetrators were not on trial: Adolf Hitler, SS chief Heinrich Himmler and Reich propaganda leader Joseph Goebbels had committed suicide at the end of the war. Justice instead of revenge But the significance of the trial was vital: For the first time in human history, states with different forms of government and constitutions were holding leading representatives of a defeated enemy accountable for violations of international law. In his opening speech, the US Chief Prosecutor Robert H. Jackson emphasized the historical dimension: "That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that power has ever paid to reason." The Allies also broke new ground with their definition of the charges. The concept of war crimes had already been established in the Geneva Conventions of 1864, but "crimes against humanity or the crime of war of aggression — crimes against peace, as it was still called in Nuremberg — had not existed before in that sense," Christoph Safferling, professor for international law at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, told DW. "These criminal offenses were born in Nuremberg." A shock for all trial observers There was an oppressive atmosphere during the trial. "Everyone was feeling tense. The atmosphere was very serious, quiet, and oppressive. You could hear the translators, you could feel the atmosphere loaded with shame," said Renate Rönn, who accompanied her father Alfred Thoma, one of the defense attorneys, during the trial as his secretary. Rönn told DW that at first, no one had known the dimension of the atrocities. But the evidence presented changed that. The court showed films of mountains of corpses from concentration camps like Auschwitz. "It was a shock," remembers Rönn. "One could not imagine that such horrible atrocities could be committed in Central Europe and by a cultured people." None of the defendants would admit their personal guilt. Hardly anyone showed remorse or admitted knowing about massacres and extermination camps. Göring even claimed he never ordered a murder, nor ordered or condoned other cruelties where he'd had the power and knowledge to prevent them. Almost all of the defendants denied the court's authority, accusing it of being no more than "victor's justice." Even parts of the German population felt it was unjust, and there was criticism that Allied war crimes remained unpunished. Suicide shortly before the execution But these reservations do not make "the prosecution of German crimes illegitimate," says Safferling. Moreover, would the Germans, liberated as much as they were defeated, have been either practically or morally capable of judging their compatriots? Eyewitness Rönn doubts this since many Nazis had remained in official positions after the war. "I do not know how these trials would have gone in a German court. With these Nazi leaders, who all still knew each other, who had appeared at the Reich Party Congress and had all shouted 'Sieg Heil.' ['Sieg Heil' was a Nazi greeting, Eds.] There was a certain relief: The victorious powers took the responsibility from us." In terms of organization, the trial surpassed everything that had ever been possible before: In 218 trial days, the court heard 240 witnesses and examined more than 300,000 affidavits. The minutes of the hearing comprised 16,000 pages. On October 1, 1946, the mammoth trial ended with the pronouncement of 12 death sentences, seven prison sentences and three acquittals. Sixteen days later, just hours before his execution, Göring committed suicide with poison. Read more: How 100-year-old Ben Ferencz spent a lifetime making legal history Twelve more trials took place before US military tribunals against 185 other selected Nazis. Some 24 of those were sentenced to death. The last trial ended in April 1949. The legacy Verdicts were passed. But was justice done? In the light of the sheer scale of the crimes committed, it's a question that would fundamentally overtax any justice system. But the Nuremberg trial was certainly of groundbreaking significance. Without it, the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia(1993 - 2017), the UN genocide tribunal for Rwanda (1994 - 2016), and the International Criminal Court ICC in The Hague (from 2002) would have hardly been conceivable. Read more: Will the EU stand up for the ICC? Crimes against humanity are currently being prosecuted worldwide by the ICC, an international court serving international law. And UN tribunals have been set up for individual situations, while many international crimes can now be prosecuted at the national level,via authorities such as Germany's federal prosecutor in Karlsruhe. Meanwhile, two of the former organizers of the Nuremberg trials, the US and Russia, still refuse to cooperate with the International Criminal Court, as does China. Nils Melzer, Swiss international law expert and UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, said that he sees a "worldwide erosion of human rights." "If the US of all countries is not prepared to be held responsible for war crimes for which there is evidence that is not even questionable, then we have a big problem," he told DW. On the other hand, Safferling believes that international criminal law has played a thoroughly relevant role in global politics since the establishment of the ICC. "Perhaps sometimes it takes a bit too long. But no dictator in the world can be sure that an international criminal justice system will not strike at some point," says Safferling. "This in turn would not have been possible without the Nuremberg trials of 1945." This article was translated from German.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	21	https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/survival-and-legacy/postwar-trials-and-denazification/the-nuremberg-trial/	en	The Nuremberg Trial – The Holocaust Explained: Designed for schools	https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cl…con128-32x32.png	https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cl…con128-32x32.png	[ "https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/app/themes/holocaust-explained/dist/images/logo.svg", "https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/app/themes/holocaust-explained/dist/images/header-logo-twhl.png", "https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/app/themes/holocaust-explained/dist/images/header-logo-twhl-dark.png", "https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/app/themes/holocaust-explained/dist/images/logo.svg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/X-C-6_0002_WL1812-1_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/OSP1685_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/OSP4033_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/OSP1685_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/OSP4033_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/X-C-1_0005_WL2618_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/1655_2928_0002_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/1655_3047_0004_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/1655_2326_0001_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/X-C-1_0005_WL2618_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/1655_2928_0002_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/1655_3047_0004_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/1655_2326_0001_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/Raphael_Lemkin_Photograph_6_300x300_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/1208_3_1_1_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/1208_3_1_2_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/1208_3_1_1_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/1208_3_1_2_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/X-C-2_0002_WL1671_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/Hannah_Arendt_1933_300x300_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/Vidkun_Quisling_1930-tallet__8615477531_300x300_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/John_Demjanjuk_3_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/66866153-1_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/66866154-1_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/John_Demjanjuk_3_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/66866153-1_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/66866154-1_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2020/09/1208_3_1_1_1200x723_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2019/06/Sterilisation_300x300_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2019/06/II-A-4-a_0011_WL9891_300x300_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2019/06/CC-S_0005_WL5521_300x300_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2019/06/CID0021721_cover-resized_300x300_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2019/06/WL15019_300x300_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cloudfront.net/prod/uploads/2019/06/CC-M_0032_WL6669_300x300_acf_cropped.jpg", "https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/app/themes/holocaust-explained/dist/images/logo_white.svg", "https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/app/themes/holocaust-explained/dist/images/twhl-white-logo.png", "https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/app/themes/holocaust-explained/dist/images/lgfl-logo.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	1933-07-14T00:00:00		en	https://dsvfmvr182ibt.cl…con128-32x32.png		https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/survival-and-legacy/postwar-trials-and-denazification/the-nuremberg-trial/	Denazification is the term used to describe the process of removing Nazis and Nazism from public life in Germany and across occupied Europe following the fall of the Third Reich. After the war, Germany was split into four zones of Allied occupation. These were: North East Germany (controlled by the Soviet Union), South East Germany (controlled by the United States), South West Germany (controlled by France) and North West Germany (controlled by Great Britain). Each zone of occupation carried out the denazification process differently. In October 1946, the Allied Control Council announced five categories of Nazis, each of which were dealt with separately: Major offenders (to be sentenced to life imprisonment/death) Activists, militarists and profiteers (up to ten years imprisonment) Lesser offenders (probation for up to three years) Nazi followers and supporters (surveillance and fine) Exonerated individuals (no punishment) Denazification took place within all layers of German society, government and administration, including in the economic sphere, culture, judiciary and government. For example, libraries were purged of Nazi publications and some former Nazis were removed from public positions. Denazification was difficult and complex, and never fully completed. The developing Cold War meant that Britain and America felt that West Germany was a useful ally against communism and the Soviet Union, and therefore the Nazis that remained in their positions in society were viewed as less of a threat than communism. On top of this, even the process of establishing who was and who was not a Nazi was challenging and often relied on citizens providing information about themselves. The first German chancellor of the new republic, Konrad Adenauer, who came to power in 1949, was opposed to the process of denazification. Adenauer instead opted for a strategy of integration – integrating old Nazis into the new republic in order to move forward. Ultimately, many of those involved in Nazi activities were not punished and retained their personal and professional positions, and much of the wealth plundered by the Nazis was not immediately returned to its rightful owners. In the summer of 1945, legal representatives from the four Allied nations met in London to establish a charter for an International Military Tribunal. The Tribunal was in charge of prosecuting the major Nazi war criminals for their crimes throughout the Second World War, including the Holocaust. The Tribunal decided on four charges: conspiracy against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the waging of aggressive war. The crimes of the Holocaust were included under crimes against humanity. The first trial took place between October and November 1946 in the German city of Nuremberg. The twenty-one defendants were primarily high-ranking Nazis who had been captured by the Allies at the end of the war, such as Hermann Göring , Wilhelm Frick , Hans Frank , Joachim von Ribbentrop , Albert Speer and Julius Streicher . The trial covered the crimes and failures of the Third Reich as a whole, and there was no specific part which focused solely on the persecution and mass murder of Jews. The genocide was revealed bit by bit throughout the trial, in witness statements from extermination camp inmates, in clips from Nazi films, or the account of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, who described the camp’s function and activities. The verdicts were announced on the 1 October 1946. Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death, including Hermann Göring and Julius Streicher, three received life imprisonment, four received prison terms, and three were found innocent and acquitted of all charges. The death sentences were carried out ten days later on 16 October 1946. On 15 October, Hermann Göring took his own life. Adolf Eichmann (19 March 1906 – 1 June 1962) was a leading member of the Nazi Party in charge of organising mass deportations of Jews to ghettos, concentration camps, and extermination camps. At the end of the war, Eichmann was captured by the United States (although his identity remained unknown as he used a false name) and placed in a camp for SS officials in Germany. However, in 1946, after US officials discovered his identity, Eichmann fled the camp using false papers and went into hiding. In 1950, made his way to Argentina. In 1960, Eichmann’s hiding place was discovered by the Israeli Secret Service. He was kidnapped and brought to Israel to stand trial. On 11 April 1961, the trial against Eichmann began in Jerusalem. It drew attention from around the world. Eichmann was charged with crimes against the Jewish people, the first time a high-ranking Nazi had been charged with this crime, crimes against humanity and membership of criminal organisations. 112 witnesses were called to provide evidence. Throughout the trial, Eichmann proclaimed his innocence. He asserted that, as a bureaucrat , he had no responsibility for his actions, and was simply obeying orders from Hitler. In December 1961, Eichmann was found guilty of crimes against the Jewish people and sentenced to death. The Eichmann Trial had a significant impact in raising public awareness of the Holocaust. Although the Nazis crimes against the Jewish people were known about, they were often discussed as part of the larger tragedies of wartime, and not noted for their specificity. Eichmann’s trial and the publicity it received changed this. The Frankfurt-Auschwitz Trials were the trials of twenty-two Nazi personnel who served at the Auschwitz Camp Complex between 1940 and 1945. The trials primarily took place in Frankfurt am Main between 20 December 1963 and 20 August 1965. First Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial Although some of the more high-profile Nazis who had served at Auschwitz, such as Rudolf Höss or Arthur Liebehenschel , had been convicted at trials such as 1947 Auschwitz Trial in Krakow, most of the approximately 8200 camp personnel who survived the war were not tried in the immediate post-war period. In 1958, an inquiry into Auschwitz was launched by the Central Office of the State Justice Administrations for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes (ZS) and the German Supreme Court. The sheer amount of evidence meant that the trial took five years to prepare. In this period, over eight hundred people were investigated, although just twenty-two were officially brought to court and accused. Of these people, two died before the trial began. The trials were based on German state law, rather than the International Law used in the 1945 Nuremberg Proceedings and each of the accused were therefore charged with either murder or accomplice to murder, rather than crimes against humanity (which included genocide ). Two of the twenty defendants were acquitted , twelve received sentences between three and ten years and six received life imprisonment. Most of the trials to punish Nazi perpetrators and collaborators took place as not as large group trials, such as the Nuremberg or Auschwitz trials, but as individual trials. In total, courts across Europe sentenced approximately 100,000 Germans and Austrians for their crimes in wartime. On top of this, Soviet courts convicted approximately 26,000 Germans and Austrians for their actions during the Third Reich. One example of an individual trial was that of Klaus Barbie. Barbie was a German SS and Gestapo officer stationed in France during the war. He was known as ‘The Butcher of Lyon’ for his role in deporting Jews and dismantling the French Resistance. Following the war, he escaped to Bolivia. In 1981, he was extradited to France to face trial. In 1987, he was charged with crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment. He maintained his innocence throughout. In addition to the trials of Germans and Austrians, courts across Europe and the Soviet Union extensively prosecuted local collaborators. For many countries, the prosecution of collaborators was a significant and symbolic task. In Hungary, approximately 26,000 people were convicted for treason , war crimes, or crimes against humanity during the Second World War. Similarly, in Czechoslovakia around 32,000 people were brought to court for their role in collaborating with the Nazis. As a result of the scale of collaboration throughout Europe, it was difficult to punish all collaborators. In the Netherlands, for example, it was calculated that as many as 500,000 people (5% of the population) actively collaborated with the Nazis. Trials for both Nazis and Nazi collaborators have continued to occur in the twenty-first century, albeit in a very small numbers. In 2011, the trial of 91-year-old John (Ivan) Demjanjuk set a new precedent in Germany. Until Demjanjuk’s 2011 trial, former Nazis were charged with individual murders, rather than genocide or mass murder. As a result of this, to convict a former Nazi or collaborator of murder, the courts had to find direct evidence of their role in a specific crime, meaning that it was extremely difficult to charge. However, at Demjanjuk’s 2011 trial, he was, charged and found responsible for the mass murder of 28,060 people at Sobibor, where he served as a camp guard. The prosecution were successful in arguing that Demjanjuk was essential (if replaceable) to the smooth running of the camp, and without people like Demjanjuk, the camp would not have been able to operate. Following the Demjanjuk case, several other former Nazis have been brought to court on accounts of mass murder. In 2015, Oskar Gröning, a former SS officer at Auschwitz, was charged as an accessory to murder of 300,000 people. He was found guilty and sentenced to four years imprisonment. In 2019, Bruno Day, who served as a SS camp guard at the Stutthof Concentration Camp, was brought to trial accused of contributing to the murder of 5230 people at the camp. In July 2020, Dey was found guilty and given a two-year suspended sentence.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	76	https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/04/19/north-coast-rep-to-premiere-play-on-real-life-nuremberg-trials-drama/	en	North Coast Rep to premiere play on real-life Nuremberg trials drama	https://www.sandiegounio…jpg?w=1024&h=670	https://www.sandiegounio…jpg?w=1024&h=670	[ "https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SDUT_logo_black_horizontal.png", "https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2024/04/19/0000018e-ceb0-d882-a7be-deba574e0000.jpg?w=620", "https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2024/04/19/0000018e-ceb4-dd64-a5bf-fffd43e60000.jpg?w=620", "https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2024/04/19/0000018e-ceb5-dd64-a5bf-fffdce730000.jpg?w=620", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/?s=85&d=mm&r=g", "https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DMT-L-CAPTION-1-Auto718.jpg?w=446", "https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DMT-L-hats-071824-01_846dd8.jpg?w=525", "https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DMT-L-delmar-author-071824-01.jpg?w=605", "https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Skyline_Fallback_Image_flat.jpg", "https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SDUT_logo_black_horizontal.png", "https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/themes/wp-mason/static/images/site-logo/socal-logo-sm.png", "https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/wp-content/themes/wp-mason/static/images/site-logo/dfm-logo-sm.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "David L. Coddon", "Migration Temp" ]	2024-04-19T00:00:00	It began with a book — author Jack El-Hai’s 2013 “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII.” The subject was U.S. Army psychiatrist Kelley who in the summer of 1945 was assigned to evaluate the mental fitness o detained Nazi […]	en	https://www.sandiegounio…favicon.png?w=32	San Diego Union-Tribune	https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/04/19/north-coast-rep-to-premiere-play-on-real-life-nuremberg-trials-drama/	It began with a book — author Jack El-Hai’s 2013 “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII.” The subject was U.S. Army psychiatrist Kelley who in the summer of 1945 was assigned to evaluate the mental fitness o detained Nazi leader HermannGöring, among others who were awaiting war crimes trials and sentencing at the Nuremberg prison in post-World War II Germany. More than a decade later, El-Hai’s book is being adapted, just about simultaneously, into both a film and a stage play. The movie adaptation now in production is titled “Nuremberg” and stars Russell Crowe as Göring and Rami Malek as Kelley. El-Hai and director James Vanderbilt are co-writers of the screenplay. Closer to home, playwright/actor Jake Broder has adapted El-Hai’s book into the play “Sense of Decency.” Its world premiere at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach is being co-directed by Broder and David Ellenstein, North Coast Rep’s artistic director. The production, which opens Saturday night, features Frank Corrado as Göring and Brendan Ford as Kelley. Lucy Davenport completes the cast portraying both Kelley’s wife, Dukie, and Göring’s spouse, Emmy. Broder calls “Sense of Decency” a “psychological thriller” that is not just a historical piece. “This is a story that really has a modern resonance,” he said, “because it’s examining the roots of fascism and authoritarianism and about where those things come from in the human psyche. We are in a place in our world where we’re wrestling with those things right in front of our eyes.” A bit of backstory about this project: Broder says he desired to option El-Hai’s book from the moment he’d finished reading it. “I was fascinated with the character of Göring,” he recalled, “because he was amoral, not immoral. Kelley looked into the face of evil and found something you didn’t expect, which was untrammeled narcissism.” To Broder’s disappointment, the rights to El-Hai’s book had already been purchased. But about five years later, around 2020, Broder was talking with Ellenstein, North Coast Rep’s artistic director, about the book. It turned out Ellenstein and El-Hai were longtime friends who’d known each other since seventh grade. Just as fatefully, the rights to the book were again available. “He put us (himself and El-Hai) in touch,” said Broder. “David really is the genesis of this. He commissioned the script and programmed the play, which was a tremendous expression of faith on his part, both in the story and in the partnership.” In crafting his script for “Sense of Decency,” Broder was assisted in doing research by El-Hai himself: “He’s been a source of historical context, a good accuracy check. He’s unbelievably thorough.” Also aiding Broder’s cause was Kelley’s son, Douglas Jr. The play perhaps more than anything else is a study in two powerful forces, “a sort of King Kong vs. Godzilla in a lot of ways,” said Broder. “Kelley is sent to keep Göring fit for trial. But he has big ambitions. He thinks he can find out what the ‘disease’ (the evil) is that made this happen. He thinks ‘If I can find out what the ‘virus’ is I can create the vaccine.” Broder has hopes that the play will be “a roller coaster that the audience can go on. The topic ain’t pretty but that doesn’t matter. I want the audience to have such a good time they won’t realize what a ‘bad time’ they’re having.” ‘Sense of Decency’ When: Preview, 8 p.m. tonight. Opens Saturday and runs through May 12. 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays Where: North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach Tickets: $49-$74 Phone: (858) 481-1055 Online: northcoastrep.org Coddon is a freelance writer.
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]	null	[ "Author richardbrook@bruckfamilyblog.com" ]	2023-12-29T21:03:30+00:00		en		bruckfamilyblog.com	https://bruckfamilyblog.com/category/nuremberg-laws-of-1935/	EDITOR’S NOTE: My childhood friend’s daughter, Melissa Ashner, first moved to San Diego in late 2011, where my wife and I live. We would periodically get together for lunch or dinner, and invariably our discussion would veer towards some of my ancestral research which I had initiated perhaps a year earlier. At the time my discoveries were coming fast on the heels of one another and would culminate in a 13-week vacation to Europe in 2014 when my wife and I visited places from Poland to Spain associated with my Jewish family’s diaspora. As Melissa explains, interest in her own family’s history began in 2018 with an offhand joke by her father. As it happens, both of our families have an ancestral connection to Upper Silesia, more specifically, Ratibor [today: Racibórz, Poland] but also other nearby villages and towns. This post was inspired by my discovery that one of Melissa’s earliest recorded relatives, Joachim Marcus Aschner, was one of the original Jews to receive Prussian citizenship following enactment of the Emancipation Edict of 1812. The Bruck family had a connection to this town for over 100 years and this was where my father was born in 1907. There is no doubt in either of our minds that our families would have interacted with one another, particularly since the Bruck’s “Prinz von Preußen” Hotel in Ratibor was owned by three generations of my family and would have been known to Melissa’s ancestors. Knowing that many of the people I write about in my posts are unrelated to readers, there are three things I strive for to keep readers engaged. First, there is a process I typically follow to analyze the primary source data I find, a process which readers may be able to replicate in doing their own ancestral searches. Second, I try and make people aware of archival documents that may be available to ancestral researchers investigating their family’s history, and where these may be found. Third, I try and describe the social, geographic, and historical context my ancestors lived through, context which is important for any ancestral researcher to understand when studying how such events may have impacted their own family’s lives. In perusing this post, I advise readers not to get caught up in all the family names Melissa cites. Rather, focus instead on her explanation for drawing a lineal connection between herself and Benjamin Moses Aschner (1768-1848) (4th great-grandfather), via Marcus Aschner (1806-1861) (3rd great-grandfather); Moritz Aschner (1831-1890) (2nd great-grandfather); Hugo Aschner (1869-1943) (1st great-grandfather); Martin Aschner (1905-1985) (grandfather); and Harold Ashner (b. 1951) (father). In the absence of existing primary source documents connecting Marcus Aschner and Moritz Aschner, Melissa makes a compelling case by drawing on indirect evidence. Readers can decide for themselves whether her argument is convincing. Related Post: POST 149: A CHILDHOOD FRIEND’S EARLY ANCESTORS FROM UPPER SILESIA & RATIBOR [RACIBÓRZ, POLAND] (PART 1-BACKGROUND) GUEST POST BY MELISSA ASHNER My interest in my family’s history began in 2018. It started with a joke from my father that he needed more family members. I initially set out to uncover the whereabouts of his uncle Paul’s family — the war traumatized and separated this generation. However, the process of research and discovery was intriguing, and I quickly began to dig deeper. Details pertaining to this early generation have been challenging to unravel. However, Joachim Marcus Aschner and Benjamin Moses Aschner were likely brothers. Joachim and Benjamin were both born in Ratibor [today: Racibórz, Poland] — Joachim in 1775, and Benjamin in 1767 or 1768. Their sibling relationship is evidenced by their geographical movements from Ratibor to the Smolna district of Rybnik in the early 1800s, as well as by the timing of their registration with local authorities. Emancipation of Prussian Jews Under Prussian rule, the Jewish communities in Upper Silesia, which included Rybnik, were subject to the General Juden-Reglement für Süd und Neu-Ostpreussen. These regulations gradually led to the Edikt die Burgerlichen Berhaltnisse der Juden, which emancipated Prussian Jews in 1812 (Sobczak, 2023; History, n.d.). Consequently, Jews gained access to various trades and professions previously restricted to them and were eligible to become citizens. Surname adoption became mandatory around this time for Prussian Jews, replacing traditional use of patronymics. In order to obtain citizenship, Jews were required to assume a surname (Jewish Naming Customs, 2023; History, n.d.). The documents below (Figures 1a-c), recorded on May 7, 1814, are civil registrations that are linked with these political and economic shifts. These documents include information pertaining to Joachim’s and Benjamin’s respective families, including names, birthdates, marriage dates, and children’s birth and death dates, where applicable. From the vital information provided in these figures, a generous amount of information can be extracted. Joachim Marcus Aschner married Katel Henriette Jacob in 1803. They had a daughter, Freidel, in 1804, a son, Wilhelm, in 1805, a daughter, Johanna, in 1812, and a daughter, Rebecca, in 1815. Benjamin Moses Aschner married Anna Grossman in 1798, and they had a son, Isaac, in 1799. For unknown reasons, this union did not last, and Benjamin remarried in March of 1800. He and his second wife, Rosalie Sarel “Charlotte” Rosenthal, had ten children together, including three sons, Abraham (1801), Adolf (1803), and Marcus (1806), and seven daughters, Handel Johanna (1804), Rebecca (1810), Jeanette (1812), Zorl (1814), Maria (1816), Verone (1819), and Ester (1820). Maria died in 1820. Now, both Joachim Marcus and Benjamin Moses’s lineages can be traced to present times. However, Benjamin’s lineage has been my primary research focus, as after countless hours of reviewing films, various sources, and considering the possibilities, I am 99% certain that Benjamin is my great-great-great-great-grandfather. I will explain my reasoning as we move through the generations, emphasizing the only instance in which I have been unable to view the primary documents to confirm this with 100% certainty. Records in Figures 1a and 1c also suggest that Benjamin’s second wife, Charlotte, was born in 1773, and her youngest child was born in 1820. While this would imply that she birthed her daughter, Esther, at the very unlikely age of 47, further discoveries would be necessary to refine my understanding. There also appears to be a discrepancy regarding Benjamin’s year of birth, which isn’t entirely uncommon, even in primary documents (Brook, 2020). Typhus Epidemic in Rybnik (1847-1848) Notably, at least three ancestors, including Benjamin, his second wife, and his son with his first wife, passed away between February and March of 1848. Benjamin’s death in Rybnik on February 1, 1848, was documented as Nervenschlage, or nervous system shock. His wife’s records did not mention a cause, but she passed away very shortly after Benjamin, on March 4, 1848 (Figure 2). His first son, Isaac, passed away in Nikolai [today: Mikołów, Poland] on March 19, 1848, from Nervenfieber, or nervous fever. It is worth noting the context in which this occurred. In 1847-1848, a devastating typhus epidemic swept through Upper Silesia, affecting around 80,000 people in the regions of Pleß [today: Pszczyna, Poland] and Rybnik [today: Rybnik, Poland], with a death toll of 16,000. This major epidemic was further aggravated by a widespread famine, which led to many weakened immune systems (Kamusella, 1999). During this era, medical terminology used to describe illnesses often lacked precision due to the evolving understanding of diseases (Virchow, 1848). Given the vague descriptions and the rapid succession of deaths, it seems plausible that some ancestors may have fallen victim to this epidemic, succumbing to the highly prevalent and often fatal typhus fever—or, at the very least, suffered from illnesses compounded by the effects of famine. The cross-referencing of details from various relatives has been instrumental in moving forward my research into this branch of the tree. For example, Benjamin’s own death record ambiguously labeled him as a Jewish tradesman. Yet, a more descriptive account appears in Figure 2, the death record of his wife, Charlotte, which identifies him specifically as a Potaschsieder und Handelsmann, translating to “pot-ash boiler and tradesman.” The Next Generation and Obstacles in Research Marcus Aschner, born in Rybnik in 1806, was a son of Benjamin and Charlotte. Diverging from the pot-ash boiling trade of his father, he became a soap boiler, or a seifenseider. Marcus married Jeanette Königsfeld in Mikołōw and they had six sons and three daughters together between 1826 and 1850. These nine birth records span several administrative regions—Beuthen [today: Bytom, Poland], Kattowitz [today: Katowice, Poland], and Nikolai [today: Mikołōw,Poland] —towns situated within 12 to 19 kilometers of one other and whose governance frequently shifted.[1] One of those sons was Moritz Aschner – my great-great-grandfather – he was born around 1831. Herein lies the sole roadblock I have encountered in tracing my lineage to Benjamin Aschner – I have yet to uncover primary documentation that definitively affirms the paternal relationship between Marcus and Moritz Aschner. However, research involves many steps, many angles, and a multifaceted approach, which I have undertaken in exploring this challenge. As such, there are several reasons why I firmly believe that Marcus is the father of Moritz Aschner, and I have listed most of these reasons below: 1. Geographical proximity, chronology, and profession. These are the most obvious supporting factors. Both father, Marcus, and son, Moritz, were Jewish soap boilers in the same general locality. 2. The tradition of naming Jewish children. Marcus Aschner died in 1861, from what was documented as general dropsy. Moritz named his firstborn son Marcus, in 1863. It is customary in Judaism to name the child after a recently deceased close relative. 3. While Moritz’s parents aren’t directly named in records obtained for Moritz, primary records for his siblings do list Marcus and Jeanette as parents, increasing confidence that they are Moritz’s parents as well. Now, before I get too far ahead of myself with the fourth reason, additional details are necessary. (Figure 3) Moritz Aschner married Rosalie Wachsmann in Beuthen in September 1857. (The marriage index does not mention their parents – that would be too easy, I guess.) Moritz and Rosalie then had two girls followed by five consecutive boys: Auguste (1857), Hannchen (1861), Marcus (1863), Noa (1864), Benjamin (1865), Lev (1867), and Hugo (1869). Their first-born son, the namesake Marcus, sadly died as an infant, with sister Hannchen passing away the same year. Their second son, Noa, eventually became a known fugitive, robbing a German bank. Their youngest son, Hugo, was born in 1869 in Laurahütte [today: Siemianowice Śląskie, Poland] – he was my great-grandfather (Figure 4). As adults, Moritz’s children moved away from the family’s soap-boiling trade and branched out into diverse careers. The transportation options in the late nineteenth century expanded their opportunities, and Hugo relocated to Frankfurt, Germany. There, he joined the textile sector, finding employment in a hat factory located at Kaiserstraße 63. Hugo married Else Stich, my great-grandmother, in Frankfurt in 1899. They had two sons: Phillip Paul Aschner, known as Paul, born in 1900, and Martin Moritz Aschner, known as Martin (and later, “Opa”), born in 1905. Soon after, Hugo and Else relocated to Berlin with their sons, perhaps for business opportunities. Now, for the fourth reason: 4. In 1909, one of Moritz’s nephews died in Berlin. His name was Paul Aschner (a different Paul Aschner). Hugo, his first cousin, was one of the few relatives in Berlin at the time, and he reported this death to the registrar (Figure 5). This further strengthens the evidence of the family relationships, as Hugo’s tie to Paul was through their parents, who were brothers – sons of Marcus Aschner. Aggressive Antisemitism in the Third Reich Both Martin, my grandfather, and Paul, my great-uncle, worked in the clothing industry in Berlin. Martin sold ladies gloves and jackets, and Paul owned a clothing shop. (Figure 6) Berlin telephone directories in the early 20th century revealed that Hugo lived with each of his sons at various intervals. Presumably, Else did as well. Paul Aschner’s business was among many Jewish clothing businesses that were subjected to increasingly aggressive restrictions imposed by the Nazi regime. These challenges included forced sales and liquidation without fair compensation (Fashion and Persecution, 2016). Following the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, Paul could not continue operating his store on Mohrenstraße 37a. Records show transfer of possession in 1935 and liquidation in 1939. Paul temporarily moved his store to Kronenstraße 55, where it operated from 1936-1938. Paul was also named in an antisemitic smear piece by the publication Der Stürmer (Figure 7). This article, published in January 1938, lists Jewish textile companies that were newly founded in Berlin, naming Paul Aschner among others. The article shames the “so-called businessmen” that “are characterless enough to give their orders to the Jews.” The article goes on to threaten these characterless German businessmen and writes that “Der Stürmer will publish their names soon” (Fashion and Persecution, 2016).[2] By this time, the circumstances had become dire, compelling Paul, Martin, and many others in the Jewish community to seek refuge beyond Germany’s borders amidst the escalating persecution of the Holocaust. The Holocaust Unfortunately, it was incredibly difficult to get out of Germany. Martin, Paul’s brother, left in May 1938, arriving and staying in America. Paul strongly hoped to follow. His urgent telegrams to Martin demonstrate the challenges in obtaining necessary affidavits to leave, and his concerns about the window to submit the required forms amidst the limited space left in the German quota. At the time, Paul was married to Gerda Neumann. Paul left ahead of Gerda, though details regarding why they did not travel together remain unclear. It is possible that they seized any opportunity to leave, with Gerda intending to follow closely behind Paul. Just one week after his passport visa was issued, Paul was on his way to America. Details as to the specific reasons are unclear, but my great uncle was not able to stay in America, where he had family. He ended up in Santiago, Chile. Tragically, a few months after Paul’s departure, Gerda was evicted from her residence. She was relocated to Helmstedter Straße 23, a location shared with over 90 other Jewish victims. From there, she and the others were transported to extermination camps where they met a tragic fate (Milgroym, 2023). It is also unclear as to whether Hugo and Else, my great-grandparents, had tried to leave Germany. It is possible that they pooled together resources to help their sons escape, but I am only speculating. Sadly, both Else and Hugo were deported with Transport 29 from Berlin, Germany to Auschwitz Birkenau, Extermination Camp, Poland on February 19, 1943, where they were murdered. (Figures 8-11) Below, a 75-year-old letter, located among my family’s items, is pictured (Figure 12). While I do not claim to be psychic, I can attest that the weight of this letter was immediately sensed, well before transcribing it – it had been read many times, with a very heavy heart. The letter follows up on an inquiry to the American Joint Distribution Committee regarding the whereabouts of Hugo and Else Aschner. The letter states that these individuals were deported with Transport No. 43/25414 on February 19, 1943. It advises that these individuals did not return and are not on their lists and closes by expressing regret for the lack of favorable news. Figure 13, obtained from the Arolsen Archives, presents a letter concerning the transport lists which include Hugo and Else. It outlines that the listed individuals had their property confiscated as part of the deportation process, with the assets being expropriated and transferred to the Reich. Paul Aschner, my great uncle, changed his name to Pablo and eventually remarried in Santiago, where he had three children. I will omit further details to respect the privacy of his relatives. Martin married my grandmother, Margot Rozansky, in 1942, and they remained married until his death in 1985. I will also taper off here to respect the privacy of my family. In coming years, I know that further details will be discovered. Until then, I thank Richard for the opportunity to share my research journey. REFERENCES Brook, R. (2020, September 13). POST 93: GUIDE TO THE MORMON CHURCH’S FAMILIAL MICROFILMS: USING THEM TO UNRAVEL MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER’S LINEAGE. bruckfamilyblog.com. https://bruckfamilyblog.com/category/neisse/ Fashion and Persecution. (2016). Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection. https://www.bmj.de/SharedDocs/Publikationen/DE/Broschueren/Konfektion_und_Repression_engl.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=7 History. (n.d.). Virtual Shtetl. https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/b/419-bytom/99-history/137151-history-of-community Jewish Naming Customs. (2023, December 12). FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Jewish_Naming_Customs Kamusella, T. (1999). The dynamics of the policies of ethnic cleansing in Silesia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/15077/1/TomaszKamusellaPhDThesis1994_Original.pdf Milgroym: Stumbling Stones – Helmstedter Straße. (2023). http://milgroym.org/heritage/photography/stumblingstones-helmestedterstrasse/ Sobczak, A. (2023). Jews in Upper Silesia. Leo Baeck Institute. https://www.lbi.org/collections/jews-upper-silesia/ Virchow, R. (1848). “Report on the Typhus Epidemic in Upper Silesia.” https://www.socialmedicine.info/index.php/socialmedicine/article/download/8/15. [1] The distances between towns were verified using Arcanum Maps. [2] Article was transcribed using Planet AI OCR Free Trial in Historic Mode and Deepl translation. Note: This post is about Renate Bruck, my third cousin once removed, and her long-distance marriage to her first husband, Matthias Eugen Walter Mehne. In my years of doing ancestral research, I have only ever once come across such an arrangement in the case of good friends of my father. Given the uncommonness of such marriage covenants, I became curious about them. I learned as with many social and cultural “protocols” involving the Nazis, there were very specific provisions in law that governed not only long-distance marriages, but also posthumous marriages (i.e., “marriages of convenience”), and even post-mortem divorces. Related Posts: POST 99: THE ASTONISHING DISCOVERY OF SOME OF DR. WALTER WOLFGANG BRUCK’S PERSONAL EFFECTS POST 101: DR. WALTER WOLFGANG BRUCK: HIS DAUGHTER RENATE’S FIRST HUSBAND, A “SILENT HERO” The inspiration for this post came from my 95-year-old friend, Ms. Ina Gräfin von Schaesberg née Weinert (b. 19 March 1926, Breslau [today: Wrocław, Poland]). (Figure 1) Ms. Schaesberg, whom I’ve mentioned to readers in previous posts, was best friends with my third cousin once removed, Renate Bruck (1926-2013), their entire lives. (Figure 2) Over the course of many email exchanges, Ina, with whom I’ve now become friends, mentioned in passing that she had attended Renate’s wedding to her first husband, Matthias Eugen Walter Mehne (1908-1991) (Figure 3), hereafter Matthias Mehne, in around 1943 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Ina emphasized that Matthias had not physically been present at his own wedding, so I became quite curious about this situation. As I alluded to in the introduction to this post, I have only once previously come across such an arrangement involving two of my father’s very close and staunchly anti-Nazi friends, Peter and Lolo Lau. (Figure 4) In their instance, however, Peter’s brother, Rudi Lau, had been his stand-in when he got married to Lolo. While Peter would eventually be captured and held for several years as a prisoner-of-war in Virginia, at the time of his marriage he was still an active German soldier in the Wehrmacht stationed in then-Yugoslavia. Rudi Lau himself would never marry as he later died of injuries sustained during WWII. To the best of Ms. Schaesberg’s recollection, in the case of Renate and Matthias’ marriage, Matthias had no stand-in. As I began to contemplate the circumstances of Renate and Matthias’s marriage, I surmised that as Germany’s fortunes changed as the war progressed, it was not inconceivable that Matthias had been drafted in 1943 into the German Army even though he would have been 35 at the time. Let me briefly digress. Anticipating what will be the subject of an upcoming Blog post, I am in possession of a copy of Renate and her mother Johanna Bruck’s five-year wartime Tagebuch, in essence a diary. (Figure 5) In early 1943, Renate and Johanna Bruck had relocated to Berlin from Breslau [today: Wrocław, Poland], likely as a precautionary measure; since Renate was a mischling of the first degree according to the Nuremberg Race Laws (i.e., her father’s parents were Jewish making her half-Jewish), and in danger of being deported and murdered, the anonymity of a larger city may have afforded her more protection. Suffice it for now to say Renate’s diary entries make numerous mention of her future first husband Matthias during the months of March through April 1943, thereafter which he is rarely mentioned. As a brief aside, Renate and Matthias were both originally from Breslau and likely knew one another from there, but only became involved romantically after they separately moved to Berlin. Matthias was not Jewish so the reason why he moved to Berlin is unknown. I already knew from the German newspaper article I had found among Renate’s father’s personal papers that Matthias was a prisoner-of-war in England in the latter stages of WWII. (Figures 6a-c) Curious as to how and when he was captured by the British, I turned to Ms. Bettina Mehne (Figure 7), Matthias Mehne’s daughter by his second marriage. I presented my theory to Bettina that Germany’s declining fortunes during the war caused them to draft older men. The actual story is more involved. I refer readers to Post 101 in which I discussed at length Matthias Mehne’s courage on Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938, and the role he played protecting a Jewish man named Alfons Lasker that night. The fearlessness Matthias showed that night extended throughout the war, and has, to this day, connected the Mehne and Lasker families. Alfons Lasker’s daughter, Ms. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, was arrested in Breslau, shipped to Auschwitz, and miraculously survived. Anita, who is a world-renowned cellist, wrote a biography in 2000 entitled “Inherit the Truth,” detailing her wartime experiences. In this book she documents Matthias Mehne’s role in protecting her father on Kristallnacht, the passage of which is quoted in Post 101. According to Bettina Mehne, there is one story Anita does not relate in her biography which explains why Matthias Mehne was forced to join the German Army. After Anita Lasker and her sister were arrested in Breslau and held there in a Sammellager, a collection camp for Jewish deportees, they attempted to escape with Matthias Mehne’s rucksack in hand; why this came to be in their possession is not clear. After they were recaptured, the Nazis found Matthias’s name in the rucksack, and he too was arrested and brought before a judge. Already subject to weekly questioning by the Gestapo because Matthias and his father refused to fly the swastika outside their luthier business on various “flag days” and hang a photo of Hitler inside their shop, they wanted him sentenced to death. The judge, however, was a friend of Matthias from the riding stables, and instead forced him to join the army as punishment, telling the Gestapo to let the Italians do their dirty work and kill him. So Matthias was soon sent off to war, though he made prompt work of being captured by the Americans, thereafter which he was handed off to the British. With the benefit of Bettina Mehne’s firsthand account, I now understand the circumstances that lead to her father’s incarceration as a prisoner-of-war. Given Matthias’s status as a POW, I was curious how his marriage could be arranged across enemy lines, so to speak. I turned to Ms. Regina Stein (Figure 8), a provenance researcher, who’d previously and graciously researched at no cost to me address information for Matthias for the years 1943-1990. Regina sent me an interesting article from German Wikipedia on so-called “Ferntrauungen,” long-distance marriages (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsches_Eherecht_im_Zweiten_Weltkrieg#Ferntrauung_im_Zweiten_Weltkrieg). Let me highlight some relevant information. It is clear from this article that German marriages during WWII with an absent groom were not uncommon. Beginning in 1939, various special regulations were enacted by the German Reich. This made it possible for distance marriages, posthumous marriages (“marriages of convenience”), and even death divorces. Post-mortem marriages had already taken place in France during the First World War. Beginning with the enactment of the Nuremberg Laws on the 15th of September 1935, marriages between “Deutschblütigen,” German-blooded people, and Jews was prohibited, and “extramarital sexual intercourse” between Jews and other Germans barred. Different regulations applied to mischlinge, a pejorative term often applied to Jews meaning “hybrid, mongrel or half-breed.” From 1942 onward, however, their applications for marriage permits were no longer processed for the duration of the war. I’ll briefly return to this below, specifically as it relates to Matthias and Renate. The possibility of a remote marriage existed according to “§§ 13 ff. der Dritten Verordnung zur Ausführung des Personenstandsgesetzes (Personenstandsverordnung der Wehrmacht) vom 4. November 1939,” (Third Ordinance for the Implementation of the Personal Status Act (Personal Status Ordinance of the Wehrmacht) of November 4, 1939. Such marriages were possible for Wehrmacht members (i.e., the Wehrmacht was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945) who “took part in a war, a war-like enterprise or a special mission” and left their location, presumably were deployed. For such a remote marriage to take place, the Wehrmacht soldier had to declare his intent to the battalion commander who recorded it; had to provide an affidavit documenting “Aryan descent”; and the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the High Command of the Armed forces, had to submit a marriage license to the bride’s registry office. According to Ina Schaesberg, Matthias Mehne and Renate Bruck‘s remote marriage took place in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1943 or 1944. As I’ve discussed, we know that at the time of Matthias and Renate’s marriage, he was already a POW in England, likely in late 1943 or possibly early 1944. The German regulations accounted for such an eventuality. For POWs, the battalion commander to whom a Wehrmacht soldier declared his intent to marry was replaced by a steward appointed according to the agreement of the treatment of POWs or by the most senior captured officer of the highest rank. The marriage ceremony in the local registry office, as in Renate and Matthias‘ case, had to take place within two months, though this timeline changed at various times during the war. Colloquially, the long-distance marraige was referred to as a “Stahlhelmtrauung,” a “steel helmet wedding,” or as a “Trauung mit dem Stahlhelm,” or “steel helmet wedding ceremony,” because a steel helmet was positioned in the place where the groom would otherwise have stood during the ceremony in the Standesamt, the registry office. The marriage took effect when the woman declared her intent to marry before the registrar, even if the groom had already died by this time. In the latter event, the marriage was deemed to have taken place on the day when the groom had declared his intent to marry. While the free copy of the marriage certificate sent to the Wehrmacht soldier did not indicate it had been a long-distance marriage, the marriage register in the registrar’s office showed the marriage had been concluded in the absence of the husband. The possibility of long-distance marriage excluded those soldiers who had not written down their intent to marry, but in whom it could be proved that they had been willing to marry. However, it seems that on November 6, 1941, Adolf Hitler had signed a secret decree together with Hans Heinrich Lammers, the head of the Reich Chancellery, and Wilhelm Keitel, the head of the Wehrmacht High Command, in which the Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick was empowered to “order the subsequent marriage of women to soldiers who have fallen or died in the field, if it can be proven that there was a serious intention to marry and there are no indications that the intention was given up before death.” For professional soldiers, the approval of the High Command of the Wehrmacht had to be obtained. It was only on the 15th of June 1943 that the Reich Minister of the Interior notified the registry offices “confidentially” of Hitler’s decree and established guidelines for processing posthumous marriage applications. In the case of such “Leichentrauung,” “funeral marriage,” or “Totenehe,” or “death marriage,” it was up to the woman alone to testify to the authorities of the last will of the dead person. The woman who entered such a marriage with a dead man did not become a wife through marriage, but rather a widow. As a war widow, she was eligible to obtain financial benefits and claim an inheritance, and any common children were not considered out-of-wedlock. Parents often objected since they were typically excluded from the inheritance, and claimed the bride was only concerned with obtaining economic advantages, sometimes justifiably. The possibility of abuse, such as legitimizing children conceived by men other than the deceased husband, was another issue. Because of well-founded concerns, in around 1944, the right to inheritance was limited to the children conceived by the fallen bridegroom. In total, there were about 25,000 such marriages with fallen soldiers. In connection with the discussion about entering into marriage with a deceased, the Reich Ministry of Justice discussed whether a marriage that had had already been dissolved due to death could still be divorced. This is referred to as a “Totenscheidung,” “divorce from a deceased.” The impetus here was that supposed “hero widows” were free to lead “dishonorable, carefree lives” and get involved with other men following the deaths of their fallen bridegrooms. To address this concern, the Reich Ministry of Justice issued confidential guidelines which made “war adultery” punishable; the possibility of a “death divorce” was created for women who broke their marriage vows while their husbands were on the front lines or acted “offensively” following their husband’s deaths. Legal proceedings could be initiated, and, if “proven” the wife committed adultery, the divorce was effective retroactive from the day before the husband’s death. A wife culpably divorced lost the right of inheritance and the survivor’s pension. Considering Renate and Matthias’s distance marriage, I became curious whether I could obtain a copy of their marriage certificate from the civil registry office in Wiesbaden where their marriage had supposedly taken place; I wanted to know whether the certificate made any mention of the distance marriage, and who might have been a witness to the ceremony besides Ina Schaesberg. I contacted the Rathaus, City Hall, but they responded I was not closely enough related to obtain the document in question. As an aside, Germany has a period of “privacy” for vital records. Unless you are immediate family, you cannot access birth records until 110 years following the birth of the individual, marriage records for 80 years, and death records for 30 years. Assuming Renate and Matthias married in 1943, their marriage record will not publicly be available until 2023. Consequently, I asked Renate’s twin daughters by her third marriage, Francesca and Michele Newman (Figure 9), to inquire about their mother’s marriage license. The Wiesbaden Rathaus checked marriage records between 1941 and 1946 but regrettably could not find any trace of Renate and Matthias’s wedding certificate. What to make of this is unclear. One final point I would like to make about Renate and Matthias’ distance wedding. As previously mentioned, according to the Nuremberg Laws, Renate was a mischling of the first degree because she was half Jewish. By 1943, the presumed year of her marriage, the Nazi regulations prohibited marriages between German-blooded people and mischlinge. While Matthias could clearly prove he was of “Aryan descent,” is it possible Renate did not have to submit such documentation to the registry office? If so, this seems highly unusual given the Nazis penchant for strictly enforcing discriminatory measures against Jews and mischlinge. Without a copy of Renate and Matthias’ marriage certificate the question remains unanswered. REFERENCE Lasker-Wallfisch, Anita. Inherit the Truth: A Memoir of Survival and the Holocaust. Thomas Dunn Books, 2000. Note: In this post, I examine a previously unknown to me episode of English “enemy aliens” interned in the Australian Outback during WWII. The principal character of this post was born Harro Hans Carl Paul Wundsch, who following his release from detention and his return to England changed his name to Harold John Powell. He is a distant ancestor related by marriage through the Pauly branch of my family. Under the Nuremberg Laws Harro was considered a mischling of the second degree because one of his grandparents was Jewish; his mother, who has appeared in two earlier Blog posts, was half-Jewish. This publication allows me to bring together various strands of family history to make what I consider some fascinating connections that span several continents. Related Posts: POST 25: DEATH IN THE SHANGHAI GHETTO POST 48: DR. ERNST NEISSER’S FINAL DAYS IN 1942 IN THE WORDS OF HIS DAUGHTER POST 49: GUIDE TO THE “LANDESARCHIV BERLIN” (BERLIN STATE ARCHIVE) CIVIL REGISTRY RECORDS POST 50: DR. ADOLF GUTTENTAG’S 1942 DIARY This story is inspired by a reader of my Blog, an English lady by the name of Katherine “Kathy” York née Powell, granddaughter of Dr. Maria Wundsch née Pauly (1891-1978) and Dr. Hans Helmut Wundsch (1887-1972). (Figure 1) Kathy stumbled on my Blog when she found reference to her grandmother. Maria’s name has appeared in two previous Blog posts, Posts 48 and 50, and she is someone I hold in high regard because of her courage during WWII. There are several threads I will follow as I relate a story about Kathy’s father, born Harro Wundsch (1920-2006) (Figure 2), who changed his name to Harold Powell when he returned to England following his internment in Australia. He apparently selected the name Powell because it was easy to remember and sounded like “Pauly,” his mother’s maiden name. Maria Wundsch is the person that links much of the following story together. Let me begin this account on the 22nd of August 1942 in Berlin. In Post 50, I chronicled in his own words Dr. Adolf Guttentag’s (1868-1942) and his wife Helene Guttentag née Pauly’s (1873-1942) (Figure 3) final few months in Berlin before they committed suicide together on the 16th of October 1942 after being told by the Nazis to report to an “old age transport,” effectively, a concentration camp. For context, Helene Pauly was my first cousin twice removed. Having seen many of their friends and family deported or commit suicide, there was no doubt what fate awaited them as the Nazis accelerated their pace of deportation of Jews to extermination camps in 1942. As detailed in Post 50, Dr. Guttentag decided to document those final months and reflect on his life. Beginning on the 22nd of August 1942, Dr. Guttentag recorded the following: “. . . Rather large transports now occur at a rapid pace. A farewell letter to Otto and Dorothee [NOTE: his son and daughter-in-law], which I have deposited with Maria Wundsch, describes in two notebooks, the general development of my family. In addition, I have decided to start making diary-type entries which show how we are, i.e., how our health is, how we spend our time, what else is going on, what we must expect, and what our plans are.” It is clear from this opening paragraph that Dr. Guttentag trusted Dr. Maria Wundsch to do what she could to ensure that his diary got into the hands of his son in America, Otto Guttentag (Figure 4), after he and his wife died. Maria is mentioned several times in Adolf’s diary, as is her husband, Dr. Hans Helmut Wundsch, though he is never identified by name. Because Maria Wundsch’s father, Carl Pauly (1854-1918), was from a Jewish family, according to the Nuremberg Laws Maria was considered a mischling of the first degree (i.e., half-Jewish), though there is no evidence she was raised Jewish. Her husband was not Jewish, and this may have afforded her some level of “protection.” More on this later. On the 23rd of August 1942, Dr. Guttentag noted the following about Hans Helmut Wundsch: “Maria Wundsch’s husband had sent us a number of papers concerning his fishery work. They are of zoological as well as economic importance. I have read them carefully because I had no idea what there is in the world outside of medicine. We have sent those papers to Mutti’s brother [NOTE: Helene Guttentag’s brother, Wilhelm Pauly] who, like another friend, is very much interested in the development and utilization of fish in the lakes of the Havel River in the province of Brandenburg. A few days from now Maria’s husband will inspect a lake there. As for us, we cannot initiate any such contacts because they would endanger others and ourselves.” Dr. Hans Helmut Wundsch was a German fisheries scientist and professor at the Humboldt University in Berlin and director at the Prussian State Institute for Fisheries in Berlin-Friedrichshagen from 1925 until 1937; from 1947 to 1958, he was director at predecessor institutes to today’s Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei (IGB), Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries. (Figure 5) It so happens that my uncle Dr. Franz Müller (1871-1945) (Figure 6), married to my aunt Susanne Müller née Bruck (1904-1942) (Figure 7) who was murdered in Auschwitz, was also a professor at Humboldt University at the same time as Dr. Hans Helmut Wundsch. My uncle, who converted to Christianity on the 25th of November 1901, nonetheless was fired from the university in 1933 because of his Jewish ancestry. Though Franz and Hans Helmut worked in different departments, Kathy and I surmise they may have known one another. According to Kathy, her grandfather lost his job at Humboldt University in 1937 for making jokes about Hitler to his students. On the 22nd of September 1942, Dr. Guttentag again mentions Maria Wundsch giving us some slight insight into her religious convictions: “Yesterday Maria Wundsch was here for almost the entire day in order to help Mutti [NOTE: Helene Guttentag] She is the only person who has been of help and assistance to Mutti in our many moves: 1. From Stettin to Hirschberg; 2. H(irschberg) move from No. 70 to No. 32; 3. From H. to Berlin-Kurfürstendamm; 4. from there to here; and 5. now for the evacuation. What a person! Other friends or relatives had failed us. Her convictions are strange, but one must respect her. Details of her religious point of view perhaps at some later time. Incomprehensible to me: even though she cannot adopt the Christian dogma, she nevertheless does not have to conform to certain rules of the Jewish religion, as for instance the total, 24-hour fasting on their highest holiday, Yom Kippur. So, she had come to discuss with Mutti how best to pack the modest number of authorized articles for the transport.” It is clear from this entry that while other of Adolf and Helene Guttentag’s friends and family had largely abandoned them during the Nazi era, Maria Wundsch continued to stand by them, probably at great personal risk. Her religious views, though not altogether clear to me, seem to meld Christian and Jewish values. Respectively, on the 1st through the 3rd of October, then again on the 10th of October, Dr. Guttentag noted his brother-in-law Dr. Adolf Neisser’s (Figure 8) suicide attempt, eventual death, and memorial service: October 1: “Now fate has caught up with Uncle Ernst [Ernst Neisser]. Yesterday afternoon he was informed that he was to be ready tomorrow morning from 8:00 a.m. on; he would be picked up and evacuated, together with his relative, Miss. Lise Neisser (who has kept house for him). It is never divulged where they are going, probably somewhere in Bohemia. He had always been determined not to go; he wanted to end his life because of his more and more frequent and painful heart troubles that can only be interpreted as angina pectoris.” October 2-3: “Miss Neisser had already died last night, but Uncle Ernst had not. He was taken to the hospital (we may be taken only to the Jewish Hospital) and was still alive this morning. He had injected himself with 2% morphine and taken 5 tablets of Veronal. . . He died on October 3, 1942.” October 10: “Yesterday was the memorial service for Uncle Ernst. As Mutti reported it was very dignified through the music of a quartet, which at first . . .[sentence not finished]. We stayed together for a while: Susel and Hans [NOTE: Dr. Ernst Neisser’s daughter and son-in-law], Uncle Willi [NOTE: Willy Pauly, Dr. Ernst Neisser’s brother-in-law], Maria Wundsch, Mutti and I. . . .(whom the family reached?).” Adolf and Helene Guttentag too committed suicide barely two weeks later, on October 16th. In Post 48, I discussed the final days of Dr. Ernst Neisser (1863-1942). As noted in Dr. Guttentag’s diary, Luise Neisser died immediately, but Ernst Neisser lingered in a coma for three or four days before succumbing to his trauma. Because Luise died immediately her death was recorded in the Charlottenburg borough of Berlin (Figures 9a-b) where she lived with her cousin. Ernst Neisser, however, was taken to the Krankenhaus der Jüdischen Gemeinde, the Hospital of the Jewish Community, the only hospital in Berlin where Jews could be admitted and cured, if possible, during WWII, before once again being thrown into the maws of death. For the Nazis, it was not enough for Jews to die but they had to die on Nazi terms, in extermination camps. Regardless, Ernst Neisser denied the Nazis this satisfaction and he passed away on the 3rd or 4th of October 1942 at the Jüdische Krankenhaus, located in Wedding, a neighborhood in the borough of Berlin-Mitte. His death was therefore recorded here. (Figures 10a-b) So much for the lengthy background which partly covers material discussed in earlier posts. Kathy York initially contacted me through my Blog on the 26th of August 2021, and between this email and ensuing ones, several things she said grabbed my attention. The first was that, according to Kathy, throughout the war, her grandmother Dr. Maria Wundsch worked as a chemist at the Jüdische Krankenhaus, the Jewish Community Hospital, where Dr. Ernst Neisser died. As a related aside, Maria studied for her PhD. in Berlin at the “Royal Friedrich-Wilhelms University” from 1910 to 1914, and was awarded her PhD. in 1915. The title of her thesis “Der Mundwerkzeuge der Caraboidea,” that’s to say, the working mouthparts of caraboides, a group of ground beetles. The concern among family of Jews who attempted suicide and didn’t immediately succumb was that they would be revived only later to be deported to a concentration camp. Dr. Guttentag’s diary entry recorded on the 1st of October 1942 voices this concern: “Since it has been 15 hours since he [NOTE: Dr. Ernst Neisser] took the medicines, it can be assumed the result will be absolutely fatal, and any revival, which everybody fears, is impossible.” The unanswerable question I have is whether Dr. Maria Wundsch, by dint of working at the Jewish Hospital where Dr. Neisser was a dying patient, made sure he was never revived following his suicide attempt since, clearly, they knew one another? Kathy York assures me a letter exists among the family papers in which Maria Wundsch describes her time working at the Jewish Hospital in Berlin, and her efforts trying to protect fellow Jews during WWII. If Kathy can locate this item of family memorabilia, I hope to discuss it in a future post. Kathy theorizes that because her grandfather’s family included Prussian military men this may have saved her grandmother from the fate of some of her relatives. A much more controversial explanation may be that because Maria was married to a non-Jew, this may have contributed to her survival during the Holocaust. The story of how the Jüdische Krankenhaus survived relatively unscathed during the entire war is compelling and fascinating. It has been the subject of a book by Daniel B. Silver, the former general counsel to the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, entitled “Refuge in Hell: How Berlin’s Jewish Hospital Outlasted the Nazis.” I refer any readers interested in the topic to this book. Dr. Hans Helmut Wundsch and Maria Wundsch had four children born between 1919 and 1929, Renate (1919-1997), Harro (1920-2006), Josef (1922-1989) (Figures 11-12), and Stefan (1929-1967). Not wanting the children to grow up under the Nazi regime, and likely also fearing their children’s status as mischlinge of the second degree (i.e., one-quarter Jewish) would endanger them, they sent the three oldest ones to the United Kingdom, respectively, in 1933, 1935, and 1937; the youngest one, Stefan, was sent to Switzerland but sent back to Germany at the outbreak of hostilities. This was a fateful decision. Harro Wundsch, Kathy York’s father, would see his father at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, then not again until 1958 (Figure 13), since his parents were stuck in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) following the war and were unable to emigrate. And, sadly, Stefan, the youngest of Hans Helmut and Maria Wundsch’s children, was never able to join his siblings in the United Kingdom, so grew up apart from them and died relatively young. Maria Wundsch was only able to rejoin her surviving children in England following her husband’s death in 1972 when she was allowed to emigrate from the GDR; Maria died on the 14th of January 1978 and is buried in Leicester, England. (Figure 14) Almost as an afterthought, Kathy mentioned that her father Harro Wundsch had been a “Dunera Boy.” This was the second thing that caught my attention during my conversations with Kathy. Having no idea what Dunera Boys were, I did a Google query, which I will briefly summarize for readers as it represented to me an entirely unknown episode of WWII history. At the time Britain declared war on Germany on the 3rd of September 1939, more than 70,000 Germans and Austrians living there became “enemy aliens.” According to tribunals established to determine the threat these people posed to Britain three classifications of aliens were decided on: “Class C” consisted of approximately 66,000 people who were deemed to pose the least danger and were exempt from internment or restrictions; “Class B” included about 6,600 people, and these people were carefully monitored by the police; and “Class A” was made up of 569 people classified and interned as enemy aliens. By May 1940, with Germany advancing through Belgium and France and the increasing possibility that Britain would be invaded, the British Government reassessed the enemy alien population and incarcerated an additional 12,000 Germans, Austrians, and Italians. The dramatic increase in the number of detainees led to severe overcrowding causing the British Government to ship 7,500 internees to Australia and Canada between the 24th of June and the 10th of July 1940. Tragically, the transport bound for Canada, the Arandora Star, carrying more than 1,000 internees and 300 crew, was torpedoed and sunk, resulting in the death of 835 people. The detainees bound for Australia left England on the 10th of July 1940 aboard the Hired Military Transport (HMT) Dunera; they consisted of 2,542 internees, including Harro Wundsch. While the group included about 450 German and Italian prisoners of war and a few dozen fascist sympathizers, most of the deportees were anti-fascist and two-thirds were Jewish; it also included some survivors from the Arandora Star. Conditions and treatment of the deportees aboard the Dunera were appalling, so much so that that the British Government eventually agreed to pay £35,000 to the group. Harro Wundsch would occasionally joke to his family that he was on the last convict ship to Australia without ever mentioning that it was the Dunera. After a 57-day journey under ghastly conditions, on the 3rd of September, the Dunera docked in Port Melbourne where 344 internees disembarked. The remainder of the detainees were taken to Sydney, arriving there on the 6th of September. (Figure 15) From there they boarded trains bound for the central New South Wales town of Hay, in the Australian Outback. The Hay camp held most of the internees. As many of them consisted of Jewish inmates who’d been forced to leave successful careers in Germany, Austria, and England, the group included a high percentage of professionals, tradesmen, and artists. Remarkably, the internees established an unofficial university, library, and orchestra, and even minted a currency for use inside the camp. Within weeks of the Dunera’s departure, the British Government altered their alien classification system once again. They acknowledged that under the revised system, most of the Dunera deportees would not have been interned. In early 1941, the British Home Office sent Major Julian Layton to Australia to investigate the situation and study possible repatriation; he recommended the internees be reclassified as “refugee aliens,” so that by the end of 1941 most of them had been released. About 900 of the original “Dunera Boys” remained in Australia, many joining the Australian army’s 8th Employment Company. Those who stayed in Australia wound up making enormous contributions to the cultural, academic, and economic life of the country. (Figure 16) Harro Wundsch was among the group of Dunera Boys who decided to return to England. He arrived in the United Kingdom two days before his 21st birthday and was allowed to enlist in the British Army. He had intended to join the Parachute Regiment but broke his ankle so wound up in the Royal Engineers. He was involved in the D-Day landings and spent some time in Japan. According to his wife’s niece, Harold Powell, as he was by then known, was enroute to Japan when the war in the Pacific ended. It turns out he was aboard the SS Missouri in Tokyo Bay with the British Army on the 2nd of September 1945, when Emperor Hirohito signed the peace treaty. Following the war, Harold Powell went on to obtain a degree in Civil Engineering. The final thing Kathy mentioned that attracted my attention was that her grandmother’s sister and brother-in-law, Elisabeth “Lily” Kretschmer née Pauly and Fritz Kretschmer (Figures 17-18), escaped to the Shanghai Ghetto, living in the Jewish community there. (Figures 19a-b, 20-22) Unlike my father’s first cousin, Fritz Goldenring, subject of Post 25, who also escaped to Shanghai but perished there, Kathy’s great-aunt and -uncle survived and wound up in San Francisco after the war. So, it can be no accident that Kathy discovered my family Blog, and we find that our family’s histories overlap across the European, Asian, Australian, and North American continents. REFERENCES National Museum of Australia. “Dunera Boys.” 2006, https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/dunera-boys Sherman, Suzan. “How a Jewish Hospital Survived the Holocaust.” The Forward, October 31, 2003, https://forward.com/articles/6972/how-a-jewish-hospital-survived-the-holocaust/ Silver, Daniel B. Refuge in Hell: How Berlin’s Jewish Hospital Outlasted the Nazis. Houghton Mifflin, 2003. York, Katherine. “Harro Wundsch – Harry Powell.” Dunera News, No. 106, p. 12-15, July 2019. Note: In this Blog post, I discuss Renate Bruck’s two prominent godmothers, images of whom exist among Dr. Walter Bruck’s surviving papers and photographs. Related Posts: POST 68: DR. JULIUS BRUCK AND HIS INFLUENCE ON MODERN ENDOSCOPY POST 68, POSTSCRIPT: DR. JULIUS BRUCK, ENGINEER OF MODERN ENDOSCOPY-TRACKING SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS POST 99: THE ASTONISHING DISCOVERY OF SOME OF DR. WALTER WOLFGANG BRUCK’S PERSONAL EFFECTS POST 100: DR. WALTER WOLFGANG BRUCK, DENTIST TO GERMANY’S LAST IMPERIAL FAMILY POST 101: DR. WALTER WOLFGANG BRUCK: HIS DAUGHTER RENATE’S FIRST HUSBAND, A “SILENT HERO” POST 102: DR. WALTER BRUCK, HIS SECOND WIFE JOHANNA GRÄBSCH & HER FAMILY The Nuremberg Laws consisted of two race-based measures which deprived Jews of their rights. They were designed by Adolf Hitler and approved by the Nazi Party at a convention in Nuremberg on September 15, 1935. The first of these measures, termed the “Reichsbürgergesetz,” the “Reich Citizenship Law,” declared that only those of “German or kindred blood” were eligible to be Reich citizens; the remainder were designated as “subjects of the state” without any citizenship rights. The second provision, the “Gesetz zum Schutze des Deutschen Blutes und der Deutschen Ehre,” the “Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour,” usually simply called the “Blutschutzgesetz” or “Blood Protection Law,” forbade marriage or extramarital intercourse between Jews and Germans. These measures were among the first of the racist Nazi laws that culminated in the Holocaust. Under the Nuremberg laws, Jews could not fly the German flag and were forbidden to employ in domestic service female subjects of German or kindred blood who were under the age of 45 years. The first supplementary decree elaborating upon the Nuremberg Laws was passed on November 14, 1935. It defined Jews as persons with at least one Jewish grandparent and explicitly declared they could not be citizens of the Reich; it further decreed that Jews could not exercise the right to vote nor occupy public office. This was ultimately one of 13 ordinances that completed the process of Jewish segregation. One enactment, passed on November 26, 1935, expanded the provisions of the law to include Roma (Gypsies) and Black people. While exact figures cannot be ascertained, historians estimate that the Germans and their allies killed between 250,000 and 500,000 European Roma during World War II. Although the Nazis did not have an organized program to exterminate African Germans, many of them were persecuted, as were other people of African descent. Black people in Germany and German-occupied territories were often isolated, and an unknown number were sterilized, incarcerated, or murdered. It is important to emphasize that the racial definition of Jews under the Nuremberg Laws meant that Jews were persecuted NOT for their religious beliefs but for their so-called racial identity that was irrevocably transmitted through the blood of their ancestors. Because the Nuremberg Laws did not define a “Jew” nor the phrase “German or kindred blood,” the critical task of defining their meaning fell to bureaucrats because of the criminal provisions for noncompliance contained within the law. Two basic categories of Jews were recognized. A full Jew referred to anyone with three Jewish grandparents, a rather straight-forward definition. Defining part-Jews, who were referred to as “Mischlinge,” a pejorative term meaning “hybrids, mongrels, or half-breeds,” was more challenging. Eventually they were divided into two classes. First-degree Mischlinge were defined as people who had two Jewish grandparents but did not practice Judaism and did not have a Jewish spouse. Second-degree Mischlinge were those who had only one Jewish grandparent. Students of history may find it interesting to learn that out of foreign policy concerns, persecutions under the Nuremberg Laws did not begin until after the conclusion of the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin that year. Also worth noting is one of the effects of the Nuremberg Laws. It gave rise to a horde of purportedly “licensed family researchers” who offered their services to concerned Germans afraid the Nazis would discover Jewish relatives among their ancestors. The Health Ministry as well as church offices were involved in providing birth and baptismal certificates as proof of Aryan origin. I introduce the Nuremberg Laws in the context of talking about Dr. Walter Wolfgang Bruck and his wife Johanna Bruck née Gräbsch’s daughter, Renate Bruck. (Figure 1) While Renate’s mother was Protestant, Dr. Bruck’s parents were Jewish, so according to the Nuremberg Laws, Renate was considered a first-degree Mischling. Evidence suggests Walter converted to Protestantism around 1917, confirmation of which I am still trying to track down. The timing of his conversion may have corresponded with the death of Walter’s mother, Bertha Bruck née Vogelsdorf (1843-1917), in 1917 (Figure 2); Walter may have been reluctant to convert from Judaism until his mother passed away. Unlike his parents and paternal grandparents who are buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery in Breslau [today: Wrocław, Poland], the place of Walter’s burial or cremation is unknown. (Figure 3) What is clear is that Walter was not interred in a Jewish cemetery. As for Renate Bruck, there is no indication she ever set foot in a synagogue or was taught about the Jewish religion, which makes sense if her father converted from Judaism nine years before Renate was even born. On the contrary, a preliminary examination of the five-year Tagebuch, diary, belonging to Renate and her mother covering a critical period from January 1940 through December 1944, makes it clear Renate was attending Confirmation classes throughout 1940 and early 1941, and was confirmed at age 14 in Breslau on the 17th of March 1941. (Figure 4) As far as the Nazis were concerned, however, this would not have altered Renate’s status as a first-degree Mischling. And, in fact, Renate’s lifelong friend Ina Schaesberg (Figure 5) confirms that Renate and the other Jews and half-Jews were expelled from the private school they all attended in Breslau. More will be said in a future Blog post about the contents of Johanna and Renate Bruck’s diary including their attitude towards the Nazis. Among the pictures in Walter Bruck’s photo album are two showing people Renate identified as her godmothers. I was curious that Renate had two godmothers but learned that traditionally Christian children can have three godparents in total, though they can have as many as the parents want. Usually, girls have two godmothers and one godfather while boys gave two godfathers and one godmother, although there is no hard and fast rule about this. Without access to Renate’s baptismal record, it is unclear whether both godmothers were listed on it at the time of her baptism. There is no indication as to who Renate’s godfather may have been. Renate provided information on the captions about each of her godmothers which allowed me to make some interesting connections. Renate’s first godmother was named “Tante ‘Steffa’ Stephanie” (Figure 6); as readers can make out from the caption, her father was identified as “Geheimrat Prof. Erhlich,” and her husband was the “Commerzienrat Schwerin.” There was also a cryptic parenthetical notation after Stephanie’s father’s name, “Salvasan,” the significance of which only become apparent to me later. (Figure 7) A “Geheimrat” is a Privy Counselor, a member of the government or cabinet minister; in the current context, however, “Geheimrat” refers to an honorary title used in Prussia that was bestowed upon Dr. Erhlich as an accomplished doctor (see below). A “Kommerzienrat,” a Commercial Counselor, also called a commercial attaché, is a commercial expert on the diplomatic staff of a country´s embassy or large consulate. Based on Renate’s captions, I correctly concluded that Tante Steffa was Stephanie Schwerin née Erhlich. I discovered a substantial amount of information about her on ancestry.com, including her birth certificate. Her birth name was August Josephine Stephanie Erhlich, and she was born on the 19th of October 1884 in Berlin. Her parents’ names are listed on her birth certificate as Paul Simon Erhlich and Hedwig Erhlich née Pinkus. (Figures 8a-b) I very quickly realized that Tante Steffa’s father was none other than Dr. Paul Erhlich (1854-1915) (Figure 9), the Nobel Prize-winning German Jewish physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology, and antimicrobial chemotherapy. In 1908, Dr. Paul Erhlich was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his contributions to immunology. His foremost achievements were discovering a cure for syphilis in 1909 (The First Syphilis Cure Was the First ‘Magic Bullet’ \| Smart News \| Smithsonian Magazine) and inventing the precursor to Gram staining bacteria. The techniques Dr. Erhlich developed for staining tissues made it possible to distinguish between different types of blood cells, which in turn made it possible to diagnose various blood disorders. Dr. Erhlich’s laboratory discovered Arsphenamine, the drug introduced in the early 1910s as the first effective treatment against syphilis and African sleeping sickness. Renate Bruck’s cryptic parenthetical reference to “Salvasan” was the mistakenly spelled name for “Salvarsan,” the name under which Arsphenamine was marketed, also known as “compound 606.” A biographical sketch on Dr. Erhlich to which I link here (Paul Ehrlich – Biographical – NobelPrize.org) makes mention of his two daughters, including Stephanie (Mrs. Ernst Schwerin) and Marianne (Mrs. Edmund Landau). Both were the result of his marriage in 1883 to Hedwig Pinkus (1864-1948). According to their marriage certificate, Stephanie and Ernst Schwerin got married in Frankfurt, Germany on the 20th of February 1904. Along with the picture of Stephanie Schwerin née Erhlich among Dr. Walter Bruck’s papers are two showing the elegant homes she and her husband, Ernst Schwerin, owned, a large estate in Breslau, as well as a mountain retreat probably located in the Riesengebirge [today: Krkonoše, Karkonosze, or Giant Mountains in northern Czech Republic and south-west Poland]. (see Figure 7) There can be little doubt Stephanie and Ernst were wealthy, and, likely, lost much of their fortune when they fled Germany after the ascendancy of the Nazis. Primary source documents prove that in accordance with the Nuremberg Laws, both Ernst and Stephanie Schwerin had their German nationalities annulled sometime between 1935 and 1944. (Figures 10-11) Other primary source documents show that Stephanie and her husband made their way to New York City via Switzerland. They emigrated from Switzerland in October 1938. (Figures 12-13) The Social Security Death Index indicated Stephanie died in New York in June 1966 (Figure 14) and her husband Ernst passed away on the 25th of November 1946. (Figure 15) I asked a friend with a subscription to Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank if he could track down their obituaries, hoping I might find a living descendant. My friend was unable to locate an obituary for Ernst Schwerin, but his wife’s obituary shows she died a most gruesome death on the 7th of June 1966 at the age of 81 by plunging from her 10th floor apartment at the Hotel Croydon. (Figure 16) According to the obituary, she left two notes in German, confirming she committed suicide. Likely, these notes were intended for her two sons, Hans Wolfgang Schwerin (1906-1987) and Guenther Karl-Joseph Schwerin (1910-1997), neither of whom ever appears to have ever been married. Hans Schwerin, who was an author, lawyer, and psychoanalyst, was a regular fixture on the Society pages during the 1950s. (Figure 17) The second of Renate Bruck’s godmothers, Elfriede Reichelt, turns out to have been another prominent personage. As readers can make out for themselves, Renate Bruck identified her second godmother as a photographer. (Figure 18) Operating under the assumption she was well-known, a Google query confirmed this. She was born Elfriede Klara Emma Reichelt on the 30th of January 1883 in Breslau, and died of bladder cancer on the 22nd of August 1953 in Grünwald , outside Munich. She was a German art photographer, who in her time was one of the best-known professional photographers in Germany. The photograph of Elfriede Reichelt appears to have been taken in April 1927 in Brioni, Yugoslavia [today: Brijuni, Croatia], when Elfriede and her unidentified husband were vacationing there with Walter and Johanna Bruck. Her unnamed husband I was later able to determine was Hans Wieland, an industrialist from Ulm, Germany, whom Elfriede married in 1927 and separated from in 1936. In the Deutsche Fotothek 743 of Elfriede Reichelt’s portrait photos are inventoried (Deutsche Fotothek), including multiple self-portraits. Because of copyright issues, I cannot illustrate these images here, but readers are encouraged to peruse them. Allow me to make a few observations about her photos. Reichelt had unprecedented access to Germany’s last Kaiser, Wilhelm II, and his family while they lived in exile in Doorn, Netherlands following WWI, and often photographed them. It is possible that Elfriede also photographed the Kaiser’s wife, Hermine Reuß, when she visited Dr. Walter Bruck in Breslau for dental treatments. It is even conceivable Dr. Bruck introduced the Kaiserin to Elfriede. Not surprisingly, given the friendship that existed between Walter Bruck and Elfriede Reichelt, her images include one of my renowned ancestor. Oddly, the photograph is incorrectly captioned. It is most curious that Walter Bruck’s picture is labeled as Dr. Fedor Bruck, which happens to have been my uncle’s name who was also a Breslau-trained dentist. Could Elfriede have known my uncle? The period my Uncle Fedor Bruck (1895-1982) spent in Breslau following WWI suggests this is possible. (Figure 19) Regular readers may remember I have written multiple Blog posts about the Neisser branch of my extended family. Among Elfriede’s pictures are a few she took of Dr. Albert Neisser (1855-1916) (Figure 20) and his wife, Toni Neisser, a patron of the arts. Dr. Neisser was a German physician who discovered the pathogen that caused gonorrhea, a strain of bacteria that was named in his honor (Neisseria gonorrhoeae). Part of the pleasure I derive in doing forensic genealogy are finding connections among the people I research and write about even when the people are not blood relatives. Often these connections are trivial but nonetheless interesting. Case in point. After elementary school, Dr. Paul Erhlich attended the secondary school Maria-Magdalenen-Gymnasium (high school) in Breslau where he became friends with Dr. Alfred Neisser, who would later become a professional colleague. Coincidentally, Dr. Albert Neisser is a remote “link” between both of Renate Bruck’s two godmothers, though there is no evidence to suggest either knew Dr. Neisser. Since Elfriede Reichelt and Stephanie Erhlich were born, respectively, in 1883 and 1884, and Renate’s mother was born in 1884, it seems more likely all were schoolmates and friends growing up. Note: In this post, I discuss what I’ve been unable to discover about the fate of Therese “Thussy” Sandler née Pauly, the youngest of my great-great-uncle and aunt Josef and Rosalie Pauly’s children, and how I came upon this information. In recent posts, I’ve systematically presented what I’ve been able to learn about my great-great-uncle and aunt Dr. Josef and Rosalie Pauly’s nine children, siblings who would effectively be my first cousins twice-removed. The destiny of the last of Dr. Josef and Rosalie Pauly’s children, Therese Charlotte Thusnelda “Thussy” Pauly (Figures 1a-d), would likely have remained shrouded in mystery if not for an email I received through my Blog in April 2019, from Therese’s grandson and great-grandson, Pedro Sandler (Figure 2) and Daniel Alejandro Sandler. This contact opened a portal to uncovering some new and somewhat surprising information. Andi Pauly, one of Josef and Rosalie Pauly’s great-grandchildren, has been, as I’ve explained in recent posts, the source of much of the information and visual images I’ve obtained on his grandfather Wilhelm “Willy” Pauly and his eight sisters. In many instances, I’ve been able to supplement what Andi’s provided by accessing historic documents and data on ancestry.com; the Yad Vashem Victims’ database; and residential registration cards for Posen, Germany [today: Poznan, Poland], the town where Josef and Rosalie Pauly lived and where all nine of their children were born. Naturally, this is where I began my investigation into Therese Pauly. In ancestry.com, I discovered a passenger manifest listing Therese’s name and that of her husband, Ernst Sandler, showing that on the 21st of August 1937, they travelled from London on a ship bound for Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Figure 3) Another passenger manifest shows them returning from Argentina bound for London on the 18th of November 1937 (Figure 4), thus, slightly less than three months later. Given the increasingly restrictive environment German Jews were confronted by on account of the Nuremburg Laws, I was surprised they returned to Europe. Initially, I thought they might have stayed in England, but I found Ernst Sandler, a retired judge, listed almost continuously from 1919 through 1937 in Berlin Address books (Figure 5), suggesting they had in fact returned to Berlin. I found a third passenger manifest for Ernst and Therese Sandler, dated the 24th of September 1938, again departing London by ship bound for Buenos Aires, Argentina (Figure 6), presumably for good this time. This indicated the Sandlers had survived the Holocaust, and a quick check of Yad Vashem, confirmed they indeed were not listed as victims. The discovery of this 1938 passenger manifest is where the trail of the Sandlers ran cold. I’ve explained in earlier posts I’ve had little success in unearthing ancestral documents for Jews who wound up in South America. As I’ve discovered for some European countries with a history of fascism, this is a function of present-day privacy concerns, though the paucity of ancestral records from South America may also reflect the likelihood this information has not yet been digitized. The last place I was able to find “hard” evidence related to Ernst and Therese Sandler prior to being contacted by their descendants, Pedro and Daniel Sandler, was in the on-line Posen “Einwohnermeldekarte,” residential registration cards, or “Einwohnermeldezettel,” residential registration forms. To remind readers about these resident cards, in Post 45 I explained that each city historically kept track of their citizens using these forms. With recent changes in European laws, these police records must be digitized for individuals born at least 120 years ago and made available at no cost to all comers. Poznan, Poland, where Josef and Rosalie Pauly’s children were born, happens to be one of the jurisdictions where these police registration records have been automated and are available on-line. Among the information found on the Einwohnermeldekarte for the Pauly children are their dates of birth; the names, dates and places of birth of their spouses; and the dates and places where they were married. In the previous Post 57 dealing with the sixth-born child of Josef and Rosalie Pauly, Maria Pohlmann née Pauly, I explained to readers it was on her residential registration card where I discovered she was married to Alexander Pohlmann on the 30th of September 1901. Similarly, the registration form revealed that Therese Pauly was married to Ernst Sandler on the 31st of August 1912 (Figure 7), in a place I could not initially read but later learned was Tremessen, located in the former German province of Posen and today known as Trzemeszno, Poland. Thus, the city registration forms are a tremendous source of data on vital statistics if they are available to readers for towns where their European relatives may once have lived. My knowledge of Ernst and Therese Sandler’s fates might well have ended here had her great-grandson Daniel Alejandro Sandler not stumbled upon my Blog while doing research on multiple branches of his family tree and reached out to me in April 2019. In one of my posts, Danny found the same picture of his great-great-grandfather Dr. Josef Pauly that his father Pedro has a copy of. Danny and Pedro told me the family left Argentina in 1999 and relocated to Florida, although Pedro’s brother Enrique “Tito” Miguel moved to Israel in 1970. It came as a surprise to learn that Ernst and Therese Sandler were practicing Jews. Regular readers may recall that in Post 56 I discussed Dr. Josef Pauly’s recollections of his life as he recorded them in 1894 on his 25th wedding anniversary. While open to interpretation, Josef’s memoirs seem to indicate he was a practicing Protestant though he may have been raised Jewish and converted at some point; direct evidence of Jewish conversions is extremely hard to come by as I explained in Post 38 with regard to my own father. There’s nothing in the memoir to indicate Josef and Rosalie Pauly’s household was Jewish, nor that any of their children practiced Jewish traditions. Nonetheless, as discussed in earlier posts, Josef and Rosalie’s descendants were considered “racially Jewish” in the eyes of the Nazis and many were thus murdered in the Holocaust. And, the fact remains that Therese and her husband were devout Jews who were forced to flee Germany in the 1930’s. Armed with new names and dates following my discussions with Danny and Pedro Sandler, I returned to ancestry.com to track down a few more ancestral documents related to Therese’s descendants. (Figure 8) In recent weeks I’ve also updated my family tree, as well as obtained some vital statistics about the Sandler family and clarified some facts for this current Blog post. According to Pedro Sandler, Ernst and Therese Sandler’s two sons, Alfred and Heinz Sandler quit Berlin in 1933 and 1934, respectively, in favor of Holland. By 1937, the sons were in Argentina where, as previously mentioned, passenger manifests show their parents spent three months between August and November before returning to Germany; by then, the situation in Germany had so dramatically deteriorated for Jews, they decided to leave for good. Pedro sent me a copy of his grandmother’s Reisepass, essentially a German travel passport, issued on the 29th of August 1938 in Berlin (Figures 9a-b), indicating that Ernst and Therese Sandler were still in Berlin at the time. Again, as previously mentioned, a passenger manifest I discovered in ancestry.com confirms that Ernst and Therese Sandler departed London for Argentina less than a month later the 24th of September 1938. Their departure came none too soon, as Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, the Nazi pogrom against Jews, took place on the 9th and 10th of November 1938. I notice one interesting thing on Therese Sandler’s Reisepass. According to historical information found on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s website, the Nazis’ Reich Ministry of the Interior invalidated all German passports held by Jews on October 5, 1938. Jews were required to surrender their old passports, which became valid again only after the letter “J” (for Jude or Jew) had been stamped on them. Readers will notice that on the cover of Therese’s passport, in the upper left-hand corner, is handwritten the red letter “J” with the date of 9th of January 1939. (Figure 9a) Presumably, this change in policy with respect to the invalidation and reissuance of passports to Jews with a stamped “J” was already anticipated at the time that Therese’s passport was issued in late August. The Sandlers escape from Germany came in the nick of time. Pedro and Daniel Sandler shared one group picture of Ernst and Therese Sandler, taken in Germany, likely in the 1910’s. (Figures 10a-c) They also sent a photo montage that had once included individual pictures of all nine of Josef and Rosalie’s Pauly’s children as adolescents (Figure 11a-b); the images of Therese’s oldest sisters Anna and Paula have been lost. In updating my family tree, I asked Pedro for the dates and location of his grandparents’ deaths, which he graciously provided. Ernst Sandler passed away in Buenos Aires on the 20th of October 1945, while Therese died on the 25th of November 1969. Pedro mentioned in passing they are buried in the Jewish cemetery in Buenos Aires called “Cementerio Israelita de la Tablada.” Thinking I might find a photo of their headstone online, I Googled the cemetery’s website; while I was unsuccessful finding such a photo, I stumbled upon a database of names listing people interred in the various cemeteries across Argentina (Figures 12a-b), often including birth and death dates. As regular readers know, I frequently bemoan the lack of ancestral data available for South American countries, so it came as a pleasant surprise to come across this index specifically for Argentina, a frequent destination for Jews escaping Nazi Germany. With respect to the Sandlers interred in Argentina that Pedro had told me about, I was able to locate five of his relatives, including Ernst and Therese Sandler. (Figures 13a-b) A brief footnote. In Argentina, unlike many other South American and Spanish-speaking countries, individuals are given only one surname, that of their father. This post concludes my detailed examination of Josef and Rosalie Pauly’s nine children, although I likely will return to this branch of the family if or when I uncover more information about them. Note: In this post, I discuss Wilhelm Pauly, the only son of Josef and Rosalie Pauly. The account of his survival during WWII provides some insight into the relationship between Germans of Jewish heritage and the German nation. I’ve recently been writing about the fate of some of my great-great-uncle and aunt Josef Pauly and Rosalie Pauly née Mockrauer’s nine children, several of whom were victims of the Holocaust. Their only son, Wilhelm “Willy” Pauly (Figure 1), eighth born, survived the war and I became curious how he managed this. I asked one of his grandchildren, Andi Pauly, whose name readers may recall, and his response led in an unexpected direction. Willy Pauly (Figure 2) was a trained agronomist, and a veteran of WWI. Apparently, when it became clear his Jewish ancestry might eventually lead to his deportation to a concentration camp, he sought the help of his military comrades from WWI; they were instrumental in having him assigned to an agricultural research facility near the small town of Felgentreu, 34 miles SW of Berlin, that for inexplicable reasons was off-limits to the Gestapo. Felgentreu (Figure 3) is only a short distance northwest of the military training ground once located at Jüterbog, referred to in German as Truppenübungsplatz Jüterborg. Beginning in the 1860’s, the German military began acquiring property around Jüterbog so that by the 1930’s this was the largest military training facility in Germany, more than 27,000 acres in size. By 1936, most inhabitants of Felgentreu had been displaced by the military facility and forced to relinquish their homes. Following the reunification of Germany in 1989, this military training ground, which had been used by the Soviet and German militaries after WWII, was converted to civilian use. Today, it is a nature reserve, although contaminated remains abound. Whether the intercession of Willy Pauly’s military colleagues was enough to have him stationed in Felgentreu is unclear. It was suggested that a man named Erhard Milch may also have played a role in protecting Willy Pauly. Suffice it for now to say the Pauly and Milch families are related by marriage, a topic I’ll return to below. However, the mention of Erhard Milch’s name is where this story takes an unexpected twist. Erhard Milch (Figure 4), I learned, was a German field marshal who oversaw the development of the Luftwaffe as part of the re-armament of Nazi Germany following WWI. He was supposedly the son of Anton Milch, a Jewish pharmacist, and a Clara Milch née Vetter, and was investigated in 1935 by the Gestapo on account of his Jewish heritage. When Hermann Wilhelm Göring, who was Erhard Milch’s mentor and personal friend, got wind of this ongoing investigation, he put a halt to it; Göring produced a signed affidavit he’d apparently forced Milch’s mother to sign stating that his actual father was her uncle, making her guilty of adultery and incest. Regardless, with the signed affidavit in hand Hitler then issued Milch a “German Blood Certificate” (German: Deutschblütigkeitserklärung). Basically, this was a document provided by Hitler to people with partial Jewish heritage, termed Mischlinge, declaring them deutschblütig, of German blood, and exempting them from most of Germany’s racial laws. Such events were apparently the backdrop for Göring’s cynical claim, “I decide who is a Jew.” Though widely attributed to him, the statement apparently originated with Karl Lueger (Figure 5), Mayor of Vienna, Austria from 1897 until his death in 1910. Karl Lueger, founder of Austria’s Christian Social Party, exploited prevalent antisemitic and nationalistic currents for political gain. This is particularly interesting because Hitler moved to Vienna in 1908 when Lueger was at the apex of his power there; Hitler clearly approved of Lueger’s methods and praised his charisma and popular appeal in Mein Kampf and elsewhere. Some claim the populist and antisemitic politics of Lueger’s Christian Social Party were the model for Adolf Hitler’s Nazism, though their brands of anti-Semitism differed. In any case, the issue of Jews serving in the German military during the Nazi era is what I found intriguing. I discovered a 2002 book on the subject by Cambridge University researcher Bryan Mark Rigg, entitled “Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers, the Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military.” Rigg’s book was the first study of its kind to document the history of Jews and Mischlinge who fought in the German armed forces during WWII, a number estimated to have been as high as 150,000 that included more than 1,200 officers; the author provides demonstrable evidence that Hitler played a central role in allowing Mischlinge to serve in the armed forces. The “half-Jew” Field Marshall Erhard Milch was the highest-ranking officer found to be of Jewish parentage. Willy Pauly may also have wanted his two sons, Klaus and Peter (Figure 6), to pursue a military career to increase their odds of survival and facilitate upward mobility. According to a story Andi’s father told him, Willy enrolled his two sons in an elite military training school in Potsdam, a town bordering Berlin. When Hitler came to power, the school was transformed into a “NaPolA,” Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten, officially abbreviated NPEA, or a National Political Institute of Education, a secondary boarding school for the elite in Nazi Germany. Students were required to provide proof of their Aryan descent, something Willy could not provide for his sons, so both were forced to leave the academy. Interestingly, they ended up in a boarding school in Niesky, Germany, which was run by the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeinde, a Christian fraternity. Some brief history. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were the anti-Semitic laws introduced in Germany following the takeover of power by Hitler in 1933. It defined a “Jew” not as someone with specific religious beliefs but, instead, as anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents regardless of whether the person self-identified as a Jew or belonged to the Jewish religious community. Germans who had long ago given up practicing Judaism or converted, or even those whose grandparents had converted to Christianity, were nonetheless “racially” categorized as Jewish and victimized by the Nazis. Two additional “racial” categories were created with the passage of the Nuremberg Laws: the “half-Jew” (Jewish Mischling first degree), and the “quarter-Jew” (Jewish Mischling second degree); a half-Jew had two Jewish grandparents, and a quarter-Jew one. The sudden grouping of Mischlinge with Jews, seemingly, should have created a bond and mutual sympathy. It did not. Most Mischlinge did not consider themselves to be Jewish, and many had grown up as baptized Christians. And, in some cases, the Mischlinge were themselves deeply anti-Semitic. Ethnically, Mischlinge thought of themselves as Germans based on their language, their culture, and their schooling which had all been in German. Speaking to this issue, Bryan Rigg quotes from a letter written in 1940 by the “half-Jew,” Unteroffizier (Sergeant or Staff Sergeant) W. Dieter Bergman (Figure 7), to his Jewish grandmother, Elly Landsberg née Mockrauer, interestingly one of my relatives: “Don’t you realize how much I’m with my whole being rooted in Germany. My life would be very sad without my homeland, without the wonderful German art, without the belief in Germany’s powerful past and the powerful future that awaits Germany. Do you think that I can tear that all out of my heart?. . .Don’t I also have an obligation to my parents, to my brother who showed his love to our Fatherland by dying a hero’s death on the battlefield. . .Someday, I want to be a German amongst Germans and no longer a second-class citizen only because my wonderful mother is Jewish.” (Rigg, p. 28) To remind readers, Elly Landsberg née Mockrauer (Figure 8) was the niece of Rosalie Pauly née Mockrauer; Elly Landsberg’s father was Josef Mockrauer (Figure 9), brother of Rosalie Pauly née Mockrauer. (Figure 10) Historically, one way for Jews to prove themselves to be good, loyal Germans was to fight for their country. Many Jews served in the German army during WWI, as this provided a way for them to gain greater acceptance and opportunity and prove their loyalty to the Vaterland. With Germany’s rearmament following Hitler’s ascension to power, Mischlinge faced a paradox, join the military to regain some of their lost pride and protect their families with the realization they would be serving Hitler. For those who were able to join, knowing they were trying to convince their comrades, officers and Nazi overlords to accept them as “normal” Germans, many fought with unparalleled bravery. The last thing a Mischling wanted was to be considered a “feiger Jude,” a cowardly Jew. Because Mischlinge status obviously impeded upward mobility in German society and the army, such individuals sought to be recognized as German; one method was to obtain a legal waiver, Genehmigung, an official toleration of their standing as Mischling on account of their service and benefit to the Reich. The most sought-after designation was the one conferred on Field Marshall Erhard Milch, Deutschblütigkeitserklärung, a determination of pure German blood. Contrary to Göring’s assertion that he decided who was a Jew or not, in reality, this decision could only be granted by Hitler. Germany’s defeat was a fortunate outcome for Mischlinge because Hitler had planned to exterminate them all had Germany prevailed, completely cleansing the German blood line. Josef and Rosalie Pauly’s only son, Willy Pauly, was born in 1883, and, as mentioned, served in the German army during WWI. Erhard Milch, born nine years later in 1892, also fought for Germany during the first world war. While I was able to find Erhard Milch’s WWI Personnel Register (Figure 11) on ancestry.com, I was unable to track down a similar document for Willy Pauly. Though both Willy and Erhard fought for Germany in WWI, likely on the Eastern Front, I can’t place them in the same theater during the war proving they met then. Knowing that Pauly and Milch family members are related by marriage, I turned to ancestry.com to try and ascertain the possible relationship between Willy Pauly and Erhard Milch. Unfortunately, none of the ancestral documents nor family trees I located there contained enough detail to establish a connection. Then, I remembered a Stammbaum, a family tree, for the Milch family Andi Pauly had found among his father’s surviving papers and sent me. Given the enormous detail in the Pauly Stammbaum, it was clear Klaus Pauly, Andi’s father, had communicated with an extensive network of near and distant relatives to create his tree. One such person was Dr. H.P. Kent from Saskatoon, Canada, who’d asked himself the same question developing his family tree in 1990 I was now asking myself, namely, “how exactly is Erhard Milch related to the Pauly family?” I found the answer in Dr. Kent’s tree (Figures 12a-b)—Erhard Milch is the second cousin once removed of a Ludwig Milch (Figure 13), the husband of one of Rosalie Pauly’s nieces. Theoretically, Erhard and Willy could have known or been aware of one another and their ancestral ties. Whether this would have been reason enough for Erhard to intercede on Willy’s behalf to shield him during WWII may never be known. In addition to Erhard Milch’s WWI Personnel Register, I was also able to find in ancestry.com a copy of his certificate of marriage to Käthe Patschke (Figures 14a-b), showing they were married on the 8th March 1917 in Berlin-Grunewald. The significance of these documents is that both specifically name Erhard Milch’s “racially” Jewish father, Anton Milch; obviously, at the time there was no anticipating the coming of Hitler barely 15 years later that would require “masking” one’s Jewish ancestry. The major takeaway is that because of the existence of such historic documents, the only sure way Göring could conceal his protégé’s “half-Jewish” status, make it go away that is, was to force Erhard’s mother to “claim” that his true father was her Aryan uncle, even if that made her guilty of incest and adultery. One final note of interest. While I’ve been unable to uncover the specific name of the agricultural research station in Felgentreu to which Willy Pauly was assigned during WWII, Andi provided a copy of one letter sent to his grandfather dated the 6th October 1945 (Figure 15); Felgentreu would eventually become part of the German Democratic Republic, but at the time was administered by the Soviet Military Administration. The Soviets approved the action outlined in this letter. It ordered Willy Pauly to hand over control of the research station to a Dr. Reinhold von Sengbusch, who was being transferred from the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science, later the Max Planck Society, to take over Willy’s responsibilities. Following his dismissal, Willy turned to a man he knew, Mr. Rudolf Ersterer, who was the Director of the Bayerischen Verwaltung der staatlichen Schlösser, Bavarian Administration of State Castles; Mr Ersterer would eventually play an important role in rebuilding Munich after WWII. Following the war, it was difficult to find able German administrators who had not been members of the Nazi Party, but because Willy had not Ersterer appointed him to manage the world-renowned castle of Ludwig II, Herrenchiemsee (Figure 16), located on Herreninsel, the largest island in the Chiemsee lake, in southern Bavaria. During Willy’s time on Herreninsel, the Constitutional Convention at Herrenchiemsee (German: Verfassungskonvent auf Herrenchiemsee) convened there. This was a meeting of constitutional experts nominated by the minister-presidents of the Western States of Germany, held in August 1948, as part of the process of drafting and adopting the current German constitution. Ms. Anita Bunyan, a fellow at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, referencing Bryan Rigg’s book “Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers,” concludes that a significant number of Mischlinge appear to have been protected by fellow soldiers and superiors. While Rigg found many Aryan officers clearly motivated by racist ideology and ambition to turn them in, “. . .the discovery of a significant number of ‘sympathetic’ soldiers in the German army casts an interesting light on the relationship between ‘ordinary Germans’ and the Third Reich.” And, the apparent large number of Mischlinge and Jews in the German army would seem to support the notion the military may have afforded them some level of protection. Perhaps, this was the German army’s version of “Don’t ask, don’t tell”? REFERENCES Bergman, W. Dieter 1995 Between Two Benches. California Publishing Co., San Francisco Bunyan, Anita 2003 Half-Shadows of the Reich, Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers. Queen’s University, Belfast Klinger, Jerry 2011 Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers. The Jewish Magazine, September 2011 Rigg, Bryan Mark 2002 Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers, the Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military. U. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
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https://www.history.com/editorial/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.editorial.aetnd.com%2Fhistory-article-default.desktop.jpg&w=1920&q=75 1920w, https://www.history.com/editorial/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.editorial.aetnd.com%2Fhistory-article-default.desktop.jpg&w=2048&q=75 2048w, https://www.history.com/editorial/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.editorial.aetnd.com%2Fhistory-article-default.desktop.jpg&w=3840&q=75 3840w" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Matt Mullen" ]	2009-11-05T11:34:18+00:00	On October 15, 1946, Hermann Göring, commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, president of the Reichstag, head of the Gestapo, prime minister of Prussia, chief forester of the Reich, chief liquidator of sequestered estates, supreme head of the National Weather Bureau, and Hitler’s designated successor dies by his own hand. Göring was an early member of […]	en	https://www.history.com/…e-touch-icon.png	HISTORY	https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hermann-goering-dies	On October 15, 1946, Hermann Göring, commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, president of the Reichstag, head of the Gestapo, prime minister of Prussia, chief forester of the Reich, chief liquidator of sequestered estates, supreme head of the National Weather Bureau, and Hitler’s designated successor dies by his own hand. Göring was an early member of the Nazi Party and was wounded in the failed Munich Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. That wound would have long-term effects, as Göring became increasingly addicted to painkillers. Not long after Hitler’s accession to power, Göring was instrumental in creating concentration camps for political enemies. Ostentatious and self-indulgent, he changed his uniform five times a day and was notorious for flaunting his decorations, jewelry, and stolen artwork. It was Göring who ordered the purging of German Jews from the economy following the Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, initiating an “Aryanization” policy that confiscated Jewish property and businesses. Göring's failure to win the Battle of Britain and prevent the Allied bombing of Germany led to his loss of stature within the Party, aggravated by the low esteem with which he was always held by fellow officers because of his egocentrism and position as Hitler’s right-hand man. As the war progressed, he dropped into depressions and continued to battle drug addiction.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	40	https://en.nuremberg.media/affiants/20211016/279215/Herman-Gring-Never-Taken-Alive.html	en	Herman Göring, Never Taken Alive	https://nuremberg.media/…0a/10/279229.jpg	https://nuremberg.media/…0a/10/279229.jpg	[ "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279236.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279266.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279295.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279324.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279360.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279390.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279419.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279466.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279497.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279527.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279558.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279588.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279616.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279647.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/0a/10/279676.jpg", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/rgaspi_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/mamm_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/gff_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/rsl_w_en.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/bmm_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/tvzavr_w_en.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/rgaspi_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/mamm_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/gff_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/rsl_w_en.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/bmm_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/tvzavr_w_en.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_1_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_2_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_3_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_4_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_5_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_6_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_7_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/grey_1_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/grey_2_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/grey_3_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_1_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_2_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_3_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_4_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_5_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_6_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_7_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_8_b.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	2021-10-16T14:02:21+03:00	On 15 October 1946, the world received the sensational news – Hermann Göring who was sentenced to death by hanging, had committed suicide on the eve of his execution. He had escaped the disgrace of the “rope” and left this world on his terms. The defendant, known in the Third Reich as “Nazi No 2”, aspired to be “Number One” at the Nuremberg Trials. He was the only defendant who openly fought the International Military Tribunal, giving no quarter and never repenting for a moment. Göring was strikingly different from the other defendants, whom he despised for their "softness", "betrayal of ideals", "cowardice" and "treason against the fatherland". He was indeed a true Enemy, a personified Evil - and the prosecution had to fight him in a long, exhausting battle. Göring was a unique opponent. Despite his hatred, everyone around the proud “Nazi No 2” at Nuremberg 1945-46 recognised his bravery, steadfastness, and tough uncompromising character as a combat officer, an ace pilot. His behaviour at the trials was a chronicle of a diving bomber, right down to the ramming in the final act.	en	/i/favicons/apple-touch-icon.png	Nuremberg. Casus pacis	https://en.nuremberg.media/affiants/20211016/279215/Herman-Gring-Never-Taken-Alive.html	‘Martyr’ In his final statement at the trials, Hermann Göring said: “The victor will always be the judge and the vanquished the accused… I do not recognise the judgment of this court... I am glad that I have been sentenced to execution... because those who are sentenced to life imprisonment never become martyrs.” His conduct at the process at first had the understandable purpose of getting off with prison. Then he realised that he would certainly not get away with it. He greeted the verdict with bravado: “Capital punishment means nothing to me. I stopped being afraid of punishment when I was twelve years old.” In a suicide letter from 10 October 1946 to Churchill, he wrote: “You think that you have arranged things cleverly by throwing this historical truth on the dissecting table for the legal sophistries of a handful of ambitious juridical subordinates, and allowing it to be turned into a dialectal treatise of paragraph-quibbling, although you as a Briton and a statesman know all too well that, by such means, the vital problems of the peoples could not in the past be solved or judged, and that they will not be so solved in the future. I have a too-well-founded opinion of your strength and of the cunning of your intelligence for me to think you capable of believing the vulgar catchwords which you sustain the war against us and seek to glorify your victory over us in a circus-like spectacle.” Göring was worried but still felt fit. Failed Hope Most likely, he was driven by...ambition. Once he and no one else could be called "Nazi No 2". Then Reichsminister Hess, Reichsführer Himmler, Reichsleiter Bormann, even Reichspropagandist Goebbels began to claim this accolade... Now three of them were dead, and Hess had lost face before, due to his ill-fated solo trip to the UK. But most importantly, there was no more Hitler. Which meant... ...It meant that at the historic International Military Tribunal, at the main Nuremberg Trials, he, Reichsmarshal Göring, was finally no longer Number 2. He was automatically elevated to Nazi Number One. As the trials went on, Göring's tactics were perhaps the most fascinating spectacle. He would mock the charges, then outright lie, then provoke the participants in the session. He was playing his part on the great stage of history - so it seemed to him. However, the end was simple and mundane. On the day of the announcement of the verdict, they spoke first about the others, and after the lunch break, at 2:50 p.m., they finally said: “The International Military Tribunal sentences you to death by hanging.” The judge added: “The guilt of this man is unprecedented and the crimes are so monstrous that there can be no justification.” The last words were delivered, the letters written. Churchill did not reply. All that was left was to become a martyr. Göring would have had the guts to go to the gallows for such a prospect. But perhaps he was indeed morally broken. He had ceased to believe in his impending martyrdom. Or perhaps his pride prompted him to take a different path - to get there first and do it his own way, not to fall into the hands of the victors. The “Nuremberg: Casus Pacis” project has previously published a biographical sketch of Nazi No 2 (link). Let us recall the main milestones of Göring's journey – from a brave heroic aviator to a “downed pilot”. Young Veteran In 1914, the twenty-year-old infantryman Hermann Göring demanded to be transferred to aviation. In the air squadron he became a mechanic, an observer, and within a year was promoted to reconnaissance pilot, then a bomber pilot and finally a fighter pilot. He was a truly fearless young man. He shot down 22 enemy planes. The holder of three orders, he rose to the rank of a commander of a fighter squadron and became a captain. After the war, he stayed on as an aviator, performing demonstration flights, went to university and married Carin von Kantzow, whom he took by storm from her Swedish husband. He was tall (178 cm was considered tall at the time), unquestionably handsome, charming, courageous and ambitious... His life could have turned out very differently. Brother-in-Arms In 1922, he met Hitler in Munich, and immediately believed in him. But there was another circumstance - Karin believed in Hitler. She became almost more of a Nazi than Göring. The Führer badly needed war heroes in his party. Göring was the most brilliant of them all. Hitler immediately appointed him the supreme leader of the Storm Units – Ernst Röhm and Göring would hate each other forever. And it was Göring who turned these gangs into a semblance of an army and imposed discipline. On 9 November 1923, he took part in the “Beer Hall Putsch”, marched hand in hand with Hitler, and was seriously wounded. His wife took him abroad for treatment. He recovered, but after that, he began to gain weight rapidly... He was eager to go to Germany, but the flustered Führer asked him to refrain and “keep himself for National Socialism”. While Hitler was in prison, Carin visited him and received confirmation – Göring remained his main and closest brother-in-arms. No. 2 In 1927, he returned to Germany. His party career went like clockwork. As a war hero and ace pilot, he was a standard-bearer, even if his outward attractiveness suffered from the extra kilos. It was he who became President of the Reichstag and dismissed von Papen's government, clearing Hitler's path to power. It was he who created the secret state police, the Gestapo, and was the first to head it. It was he who initiated the Night of the Long Knives and rid Hitler of the Storm Units and himself of Röhm. In 1935, he achieved a unique position in the Reich: he was declared a hero and Hitler's closest ally on several occasions and was given immunity and unlimited rights. He wanted to become the Reichsforstermeister – the country's forester – and so he did. He wanted to be a general – and jumped to the rank of captain. He became a field marshal of aviation and headed the Luftwaffe. And in June 1941, he was officially appointed Hitler's successor in case of his death or other misfortune. On 30 July 1941 Göring signed a document on the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question”, providing for the extermination of some 20 million people. And then Hitler began to doubt Göring: the latter was increasingly showing his second nature. ‘Pocket Money’ A curious excerpt from Goering's interrogation: Where did you get the cash money from? I was the second man in the country and always provided with money in abundance. I signed the allowance myself. And this is the same way you received foreign funds, foreign exchange? Yes. I myself was the final authority on this. Did it have any correct procedure or were there any records made about it at all? All that was needed – permission, but in my case, that was not even a question. If you were travelling abroad and needed a large amount of currency, how did you get it? I have never needed for too much money. If I was planning a trip abroad, I would calculate how much money I would need and then ask for the currency. How did you get money before the war? Like any private person who went abroad. I carried the cash needed in the first few days in my pocket, and for the rest, I got a letter of credit. How did you pay for the purchase of the paintings? Always in cash. What is your yearly income? As Reichsmarshal I received 20,000 marks a month, as Commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe I received 3,600 marks a month, tax deducted. As President of the Reichstag – 1600 marks. Furthermore, there were royalties for my literary works. The income from my books is about 1 million marks. Did your lifestyle cost more than these sums? Some of my expenses were covered by other funds; my residences in Berlin and Carinhall were financed by the state. A Lifestyle and Its Cost Göring's “executive flat” was built 60 km from Berlin by two architects: Werner March, who also designed Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, and Friedrich Hetzelt, who designed the Gestapo building in Prinz-Albert-Straße. The main country residence of Nazi No 2 was called “Carinhall”, in honour of his wife (when Carin died in 1931, her ashes were buried in a magnificent mausoleum on the grounds of the manor). The result was somewhere between a palace and a castle. Located nearby, there were hunting grounds in the Schorfheide Forest and two lakes, the Grossdöllner and Wuckersee. There were magnificent seven-metre high gates made of expensive stone, a gym, a menagerie, even a Russian bath. And in the attic and basement – a toy railway. After the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, Göring celebrated his birthday by playing “trains” with his guests. On a whim, he would fly to Paris - often alone. Of course, a squadron of fighter jets accompanied him. He also had his own museum. He did not buy paintings: masterpieces of world art were seized as “trophies” from conquered cities. Most of all Göring liked statues, especially lions. In 1945, he attempted to hide his collection in a mine or in tunnels near Hitler's residence, where he also had another "house", but failed. Those responsible for the delivery stole the valuable cargo, and individual works of art would “resurface” over the decades. Did the purchases of paintings not exceed your income? I had other sources of income... Not only did the Göring family enjoy lions in the form of statues, but they also kept seven domesticated 'feline' carnivores, and the pets would occasionally roam freely in the house. A lioness named Bubi escaped from the estate in May 1945 and continued to scare people in the forest where she lived and hunted for a long time. In short, Hitler said it best... about Carinhall. “My Berghof (the Führer's not-at-all small or cheap estate in the Bavarian Alps - author's note) certainly can't be compared with this. Perhaps, it could become a garden lodge here?” The Führer began to ponder, as he looked at all this luxury. Other Sources of Income If one were to ask any German at the time which company in Germany was the most important, the richest and the most powerful, he would answer without a doubt: Reichswerke Hermann Göring. This gigantic financial-industrial corporation was created at Göring’s initiative. It was established using state funds; the goal was to merge into a single cycle the production of steel, from iron ore mining to military production. German bankers and industrial bosses tried to resist, but Göring had an effective tool readily available for resolving economic disputes – the Gestapo. After a week of telephone tapping, the author of the “German economic miracle”, Hjalmar Schacht, resigned and the steel tycoons were nailed. Incidentally, the organisation that technically controlled the radio and telephone networks in the Reich was called the “Hermann Göring Research Institute”. Once industrialists and financiers had trusted Schacht's entreaties, Hitler's speeches, Göring's charms and invested in Nazism in the hope of consolidating the position of their enterprises and assets. Now they were subjected to the planned economy, their profits were limited to a maximum of 6 percent, and the Anschluss of Austria added another interesting detail: German banks and private investors owned many Austrian enterprises, but now it all went to the Reichswerke Hermann Göring. The same thing happened with the industrial property in other occupied countries – Skoda factories in Czechoslovakia, Renault in France... By the end of 1941, Reichswerke Hermann Göring had a capitalisation of 2.4 billion marks and it was the largest industrial conglomerate in Europe. However, Göring did not own this corporation. He chose the status of “trustee for the German state”, receiving dividends as manager and observer. Naturally, the corporation exploited the slave labour of concentration camp prisoners and “displaced persons” deported from all over Europe. The Stahlwerke Braunschweig plant employed 10,000 slaves and the mining operation – 47,000. Göring's corporation kept growing, devouring new shipbuilding, construction, steel, iron-cast and transport facilities. The most accurate definition of Hermann Göring's position under the Nazi regime is that of the chief beneficiary. And the chief corruptor. The Untouchable The cooling on Hitler's part towards the favourite coincided with the outbreak of war with the Soviet Union. In 1941, sensible strategists and economists had the darkest forebodings about the outcome and consequences of the campaign; in 1942, Hitler began to push Göring away from real power. The influence and power of Nazi No 2 narrowed considerably with the appointment of the architect Albert Speer as Reichsminister of Armaments and War Production. Göring took a sharp dislike to Speer and actively opposed him, and it was to this staunch opponent that he said at the end of 1942: “We shall yet rejoice if after this war Germany maintains its 1933 borders.” At the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, Göring had to give Hitler his word that he would provide provisions, ammunition and medical supplies to the surrounded units by air. However, this was no longer possible. Soviet soldiers won the field war; the war on the home front was lost by the German economy. And the Soviet Pokryshkins and Kozhedubs became the masters of the air. It was still impossible to touch Göring, although he was clearly losing ground and gradually stopped even appearing in Berlin. At his pompous estate, he divided his leisure time between hunting, bathing, toy trains, a wine cellar and... Morphine in unlimited quantities. In order to bring Göring before the International Military Tribunal, the Allies had to treat him for this drug addiction. It resulted in polarised mood swings, outbursts of rage and prolonged apathy. He became addicted to morphine after the “Beer Hall Putsch”, when he was seriously wounded, resulting in inflammation in the groin and other unpleasant consequences. Since then, he always had a supply of pills and ampoules with him. He progressed to the point of an almost complete breakdown of his personality, accompanied by eccentric provocations. He painted his nails and lips. He ordered new outfits from tailors almost every day, such as red boots with gold spurs, blue trousers with stripes, overcoats with fox and beaver collars, white coats with blue and red lapels... Albert Speer recalled: “I still remember being struck by his red, polished nails and powdered face. By then I had gotten used to the fact that his green brocade gown always had a huge brooch on it.” The Third Reich's claim to have inherited Ancient Rome was also evident at this almost-caricature level: Göring fully embodied the image of a debauched Roman patrician during the decline of the empire. A curious detail: albeit ruthless and indifferent to the outside world, Nazi No 2 was an excellent family man. His marriage to his second wife was certainly a happy one. He married the actress Emmy Sonnemann in 1935, and she unofficially became First Lady of the Third Reich. His daughter Edda idolised her father. Not only that, he saved his brother Albert from arrest many times - who in turn saved several dozen Jews from death, which was no secret to Nazi No 2. He was almost forgotten. And suddenly, on 23 April 1945, Hitler, who had just called everybody around him cowards and traitors and who had decided to remain in Berlin to the very end, received a radiogram: “My Führer! In view of your decision to remain in Berlin, do you agree that I should immediately assume as your successor according to the law of 29 June 1941; the general leadership of the Reich with full freedom of action at home and abroad? If I do not receive a reply by 10 p.m., I shall take it as confirmation that you have no freedom of action and that the conditions demanded in your decree are in place, and I shall act for the good of our country and our people. You know how I feel about you in this most difficult hour of my life. I am unable to put it into words. May God protect you and bring you here quickly, no matter what. Your ever devoted Göring”. Hitler regarded this defiant ultimatum as proof of his treacherous intention to seize power. On the same day, Göring was arrested on charges of high treason and on 29 April Hitler stripped him of his ranks, decorations and posts and expelled him from the party. He was on the way to being put before a firing squad. However, Göring’s personal pilots freed him, and a week later, he was in Allied hands, and they had to take care of his health. However, in the end, he had time to give the final order to blow up Carinhall. On 8 May, he proudly went to meet an American lieutenant and identified himself. He introduced himself: “Lieutenant Shapiro”. Göring sighed heavily: “Of course, a Jew”. The Final Battle The prison psychologist Gustave Gilbert and the psychiatrist Douglas Kelley recorded in detail Göring's behaviour at the Nuremberg trials, his reactions, and communication patterns with other defendants. Kelley, as it later became clear, was unable to resist the charisma of his patient. He became the messenger between Göring and his wife and daughter, delivering their letters, and was staggered by the contrast: the deep tenderness of the family man Göring, and the utter callousness and lack of remorse of Goring the Reichsmarschall. Subsequently, Kelley was never freed from the charms of his chief patient, and would commit suicide. Gustave Gilbert, in The Nuremberg Diary, recorded his regular conversations with Göring as well as his observations. According to him, Nazi Number 2 differed significantly from the other figures: he was characterised by consistency and an integrity of views, which he was adamantly unwilling to reconsider. His IQ was an impressive 138. “He reacted with keen interest to the challenge of an intelligence test, and by the end of the first subtest (memory-span), he was acting like a bright and egotistical schoolboy, anxious to show off before the teacher. He chuckled with glee as I showed surprise at his accomplishment in the increasingly difficult digit series. He slapped his thighs and pounded his bed impatiently when he failed on 9 forward and 7 backward, and pleaded for a third and a fourth try at it. ‘Oh, come on, give me another crack at it; I can do it!’ When he finally succeeded, to my expressed amazement, he could hardly contain his joy, and swelled with pride. This pattern of rapport was maintained throughout the entire test, the examiner encouraging him with remarks of how few people are able to do the next problem, and Göring responding like a show-off schoolboy. Göring was given to understand that he had the highest rating so far. He decided the American psychologists really had something there. ‘The method is good—much better than the stuff our psychologists were fooling around with’.” He considered the films shown at the trial about Nazi atrocities to be propaganda forgeries. He defiantly took off his headphones so as not to listen to the testimony. In prison, he tried to take a leadership position over the rest of the defendants, scheming on walks and at dinner, creating small situational coalitions, and in the end, turned even the most loyal ones against him – it came down to a boycott. He used remnants of influence, down to intimidation, to create a general line of opposition to the court. He provoked the judges with defiant, cynical “gallows humour” and impertinent remarks from the bench. He became enraged at sessions, accusing those confessed of criminal acts of complicity in treason. Paradoxically he remained loyal to Hitler, stating that his suicide was not an act of cowardice and weakness but of fortitude and heroism (“I do not exonerate him, but the oath I swore to him will endure both bad and good times. (...) After all, he was the Führer of the German Reich. And it is absolutely inconceivable to me to imagine Hitler in a prison cell like this, awaiting his trial as a war criminal, to be judged by foreign judges. Even if he hated me just before the end, it does not change anything. He was a symbol of Germany. No matter how hard it may be for me, I am prepared to take it all on myself just to avoid seeing a living Hitler on trial, no, no, such a thing is completely unthinkable to me.”) Commenting on the potential outcome of the process and the behaviour of his "colleagues", he boasted of the bravery of a doomed man: “How could one do such a cowardly thing just to save his own rotten neck from the noose! To think a German would do such a cowardly thing for a few years of miserable life, for the sake of spending a few more years eating bread to make shit, pardon my frankness! Do you think I would do such a thing to prolong my life? I don't give a shit whether I'm going to be hanged, drowned, die in a plane crash, or drink myself to death! But there must be some idea of honour in this bloody world! (...) I don't give a damn what the enemy does to us, but I do feel bad when I see how the Germans betray each other!” Göring pushed his agenda to the very end, refusing to give in, even to the smallest detail, and refusing to accept the irrefutable facts. Gustave Gilbert wrote: “In our conversations in his cell, Göring tried to give the impression of a jovial realist who had played for big stakes and lost, and was taking it all like a good sport. Any question of guilt was adequately covered by his cynical attitude toward the ‘justice of the victors’. He had abundant rationalisations for the conduct of the war, his alleged ignorance of the atrocities, the ‘guilt’ of the Allies, and a ready humour which was always calculated to give the impression that such an amiable character could have meant no harm. Nevertheless, he could not conceal a pathological egotism and inability to stand anything but flattery and admiration for his leadership, while freely expressing scorn for other Nazi leaders”. “The night before the executions, Göring asked the chaplain for the rites of the Last Supper and the blessing of the Lutheran Church. Chaplain Gerecke, sensing another theatrical gesture, declined to administer the rites, telling Göring that since he had never shown the slightest sign of repentance, he would not put on a show for someone who did not usually mean it. The next night, when Goering showed that he had intended to make a mockery of the Last Supper by committing suicide right after it, the chaplain realised how right he was about Göring. So did I. – For Göring died as he had lived, a psychopath trying to make a mockery of all human values and to distract attention from his guilt by a dramatic gesture.” The Last Night The date and time of the execution were kept a closely guarded secret from everyone, including those sentenced. However, apparently, someone in the know was talkative. The execution was scheduled for 2:00 a.m. on 16 October 1946. On 15 October, Commandant of the Nuremberg Prison Colonel Burton C. Andrus informed the sentenced prisoners that their petitions for clemency had been rejected. At 9:30 pm, the prison doctor, Dr. Ludwig Pflücker, accompanied by Lieutenant McLinden, a member of the prison guard, came to see Göring, who was held in cell number 5. McLinden did not understand what Pflücker and Goering were talking about, as he did not speak German. Pflücker handed the prisoner a sleeping pill, which he took in the presence of McLinden and the doctor. After the announcement of the judgment, all the prisoners were monitored with great care and constant checks were carried out. The observers recorded that Göring was lying on his back, not moving, with his hands over the blanket (prisoners were required to exercise discipline in this matter as well). In the records of the military investigation, the guard Bingham testified: “When I looked into the cell I saw that Göring was lying in bed on his back, wearing boots, trousers and a jacket and holding a book. He had been lying motionless for about fifteen minutes, and then he began to move his hands restlessly and put his right hand to his forehead, rubbing it.” The guard Johnson replaced him on the duty: “It was precisely 22 hours and 44 minutes, as I looked at my watch at that moment. After about two or three minutes he (Göring) seemed to go numb and a strangled sigh escaped his lips.” When the doctor and an officer arrived, Göring was already dead. They found shards of glass in his mouth and an envelope by his bedside. It contained a letter to his second wife, Emma, an address to the German people, and a note to Commandant Andrus. “Nuremberg, 11 October 1946 To the Commandant Since my imprisonment, I have always kept the poison capsule on my person. I had three capsules when I was committed to prison in Mondorf. The first one I left in my clothing, so that it would be found in the search. The second I left under the coatstand while undressing and took it again when I dressed. I hid this in Mondorf and here in the cell so well that, in spite of the frequent and very thorough searches, it could not be found. During the trial, I kept it in my high riding boots. The third capsule is still in my little toilet case in the round container of skin cream (hidden in the cream). I had two opportunities to take the capsule in Mondorf, had I needed it. No one in charge of the searches was at fault, since it was almost impossible to find the capsule. It would have been purely by chance. Hermann Göring PS: Doctor Gilbert told me that the Control Council rejected the change in the manner of execution to death by firing squad”. It is still unknown whether Göring wrote the truth or not. From time to time, sensational new information would break the world, such as that Lieutenant Jack Willis, who had the keys to the prison storage room, had allowed Göring to enter and take the poison stored there, in return for his watch and other items. In February 2005, Herbert Lee Stivers, a 78-year-old former American guard, said that he had met a German girl named Mona while serving in Nuremberg prison, twice handed notes from her to Göring and on the third time he passed ’medicine’, and that she hid all of the “deliveries” in a fountain pen. The corpse of Göring was cremated along with the bodies of the other executed, and the ashes were scattered in the wind. The letter was, of course, given to his wife. “An appeal to the German people” lies somewhere in the American archives.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	15	https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/topics/nuremberg-trials	en	The Nuremberg Trials	https://www.nationalww2m…on_Nuremberg.jpg	https://www.nationalww2m…on_Nuremberg.jpg	[ "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2023-06/3Q9A2879.jpg?h=1dd3cf61", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2021-11/expressions-of-america-act-5-scene-1-USO-tour_0.jpeg?h=d5b7ebc5", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2017-06/distancelearning-home_front-vft.jpg?h=af3cde7e", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2023-02/research-header-updated.jpg?h=c12fc1b4", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2022-09/stem.jpeg?h=4cd29779", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2017-05/10_us_freedom_pavilion-the_boeing_center_ext_0.jpg?h=d420901f", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2017-06/Sv-N9ePbWXMxjol4tPxIoDLC-lbF-FCXBBQqFvBldf0.jpg?h=6ff83453", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_medium/public/2020-11/Jackson_Nuremberg.jpg", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/narrow_medium/public/2020-11/Admiral%20Karl%20Donitz%20is%20arrested%20in%20Flensberg%20on%20May%2023%201945%20by%20British%20authorities%20Courtesy%20IWM%20-%20Tyler%20Bamford.jpg", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/narrow_medium/public/2020-11/portrait%20of%20HImmler%20USHMM%20-%20Connie%20Gentry.jpg", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2021-09/Opening%20Day%20of%20Case%208%20-%20RuSHA%20Trial%2C%20October%2020%2C%201947%20-%20National%20Archives.jpg?h=dec22bcf", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2021-09/Judges%20of%20the%20International%20Military%20Tribunal%20-%20Truman%20Library.jpg?h=dec22bcf", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2020-11/nuremberg2%20-%20Kimberly%20Guise.jpg", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2020-11/Curriculum_Nuremberg.jpg", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2020-11/jackson%20at%20nuremberg%20-%20Collin%20Makamson.jpg", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/themes/nwwiim/images/loaders/placeholder.gif", "https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/styles/wide_small/public/2020-11/Cover%20Image%20-%20Defendants%20at%20IMT%20Nov%2045%20Courtesy%20National%20Archives%20and%20Records%20Administration%20-%20Tyler%20Bamford.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	After the war, Allied powers—United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union—came together to form the International Military Tribunal (IMT). From 1945 to 1946, Nazi Germany leaders stood trial for crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit any of the foregoing crimes.	en	/themes/nwwiim/favicon.ico	The National WWII Museum \| New Orleans	https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/topics/nuremberg-trials	Appointing the Court In the days before Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, President Harry S Truman appointed Associate Supreme Court Justice Robert H Jackson to be the chief prosecutor representing the United States in the proposed trials for the European Axis powers. Jackson helped lead the Allies—American, British, French, and Soviet governments—to an agreement called the London Charter, setting the procedures for the Nuremberg Trials. The London Agreement created the International Military Tribunal (IMT) on August 8, 1945, where each of the four Allied nations appointed a judge and a prosecution team. Nuremberg, Germany During the Moscow Conference on October 30, 1943, the Declaration of Atrocities was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin stating: "The United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union have received from many quarters evidence of atrocities, massacres and cold-blooded mass executions which are being perpetrated by Hitlerite forces in many of the countries they have overrun . . . those German officers and men and members of the Nazi party who have been responsible for or have taken a consenting part in the above atrocities, massacres and executions will be sent back to the countries in which their abominable deeds were done in order that they may be judged and punished according to the laws of these liberated countries and of free governments which will be erected therein..." Nuremberg, Germany was chosen as the location of the trials for being a focal point of Nazi propaganda rallies leading up to the war. The Allies wanted Nuremberg to symbolize the death of Nazi Germany. The court convened in the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg that was previously expanded by German prisoners to fit up to 1,200 detainees. Indictment The indictment of 24 Nazi government officials and organizations was filed on October 18, 1945 by the four chief prosecutors of the International Military Tribunal: Robert H Jackson of the United States, Sir Hartley Shawcross of Great Britain, Francois de Menthon of France, and Roman A Rudenko of the Soviet Union. The jurisdiction of the Tribunal included crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The IMT defined crimes against humanity as "murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation...or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds." The Trial Between November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946, the Tribunal tried 24 of the most important military and political leaders of the Third Reich and heard evidence against 21 of the defendants. During the trial, the Tribunal—and the world—learned about the the Nazi Party and its "planning, initiating and waging of aggressive war" from the beginning. Footage of Nazi concentration camps taken by Allied military photographers during liberation was shown to the court. The graphic scenes of what had taken place in Europe were the most powerful evidence presented at the trial. Other memorable moments of the trial were the screenings of the Nazi Concentration and Prison Camps and The Nazi Plan films, the detailed description of the Final Solution, the murders of prisoners of war, atrocities in extermination camps, and countless cruel acts to prosecute Jews. Verdict and Executions On October 1, 1946, the Tribunal convicted 19 of the defendants and acquitted three. Of those convicted, 12 were sentenced to death. Three defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment and four to prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years. On October 16, executions were carried out by hanging in the gymnasium of the courthouse. Hermann Göring committed suicide the night before his execution. In 1947, the prisoners sentenced to incarceration were sent to Spandau Prison in Berlin. Subsequent Nuremberg Trials From December 1946 to April 1949, a series of twelve additional military tribunals for war crimes against Nazi Germany leaders were held by the United States in the Palace of Justice. The defendants were 177 high-ranking physicians, judges, industrialists, SS commanders and police commanders, military personnel, civil servants, and diplomats. The trials uncovered the German leadership that supported the Nazi dictatorship. Of the 177 defendants, 24 were sentenced to death, 20 to lifelong imprisonment, and 98 other prison sentences. Twenty five defendants were found not guilty. Many of the prisoners were released early in the 1950s as a result of pardons. Thirteen of the 24 death sentences were executed.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	0	9	https://bruckfamilyblog.com/category/i-decide-who-is-a-jew/	en	"I decide who is a Jew" Archives	https://i0.wp.com/bruckf…=640%2C512&ssl=1		[ "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Post-1091-Figure-1..jpg?resize=640%2C512&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Post-1091-Figure-2..jpg?resize=619%2C464&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Post-1091-Figure-3..jpg?resize=584%2C730&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Post-1091-Figure-4..png?resize=263%2C265&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Post-1091-Figure-5..jpg?resize=209%2C211&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Post-1091-Figure-6..jpg?resize=679%2C507&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Post-1091-Figure-7..jpg?resize=762%2C528&ssl=1", 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"https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-7..jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-8..jpg?resize=214%2C357&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-9..jpg?resize=214%2C361&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-10..jpg?resize=264%2C413&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-11..jpg?resize=551%2C171&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-12a.-e1557777160455-300x216.jpg?resize=414%2C298&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-12b.-e1557777177189-300x217.jpg?resize=405%2C293&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-13..jpg?resize=330%2C418&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-14a..jpg?resize=252%2C166&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-14b..jpg?resize=194%2C300&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-15..jpg?resize=528%2C390&ssl=1", "https://i0.wp.com/bruckfamilyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Figure-16..jpg?resize=556%2C352&ssl=1", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/506c3dbafd2b17b143dc3cf62580f09d?s=49&d=mm&r=g" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Author richardbrook@bruckfamilyblog.com" ]	2021-11-23T21:07:07+00:00		en		bruckfamilyblog.com	https://bruckfamilyblog.com/category/i-decide-who-is-a-jew/	Note: This is the first of a two-part story about the wartime “journal” or “diary” written by Johanna and Renate Bruck, the widow and daughter of my esteemed ancestor from Breslau, Germany [today: Wrocław, Poland], Dr. Walter Wolfgang Bruck (1872-1937), a second cousin twice removed. The German word “Tagebuch” strictly speaking translates as a diary or journal but in effect is more of a record or log of the extensive daily activities Johanna and Renate were engaged in between January 1940 and December 1944. What could have been an extremely absorbing account of the daily lives of an Aryan woman and her “mischling” daughter during WWII, within the context of global events and the impact of National Socialism on Jews, half-Jews, Germans, and others in Europe, instead turns into a mundane and drab account of their rather “ordinary” existences. The Tagebuch is often more remarkable for what it omits than what it says about the ongoing events of the tragic period in which it was written. It is difficult to make sense of many of the entries, which would in any case be of little or no interest to readers. For this reason I explain some of the war-related references and discuss a few specific people I’ve been able to identify. Related Posts: POST 54: “I DECIDE WHO IS A JEW” POST 99: THE ASTONISHING DISCOVERY OF SOME OF DR. WALTER WOLFGANG BRUCK’S PERSONAL EFFECTS POST 100: DR. WALTER WOLFGANG BRUCK, DENTIST TO GERMANY’S LAST IMPERIAL FAMILY POST 101: DR. WALTER WOLFGANG BRUCK: HIS DAUGHTER RENATE’S FIRST HUSBAND, A “SILENT HERO” POST 102: DR. WALTER BRUCK, HIS SECOND WIFE JOHANNA GRÄBSCH & HER FAMILY POST 103: RENATE BRUCK: A TALE OF TWO GODMOTHERS Regular followers of my Blog are aware of the multiple posts I have recently written about Dr. Walter Wolfgang Bruck (1872-1937) and his extended family. This sequence of posts was prompted by a contact earlier this year from a Berlin doctor, Dr. Tilo Wahl, who in around 2013 purchased at auction the commemorative medals, personal effects, private papers, and photos that once belonged to Dr. Bruck. The seller of these items was Nicholas Newman, Dr. Bruck’s grandson, who sadly committed suicide in 2015 in London. As Ms. Madeleine Isenberg, my friend affiliated with the Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles, has been wont to tell me, there is no such thing as coincidence but rather as her uncle impressed upon her, its “beshert,” fate or predestination. Not only was it providential Dr. Wahl would stumble upon my Blog and contact me, but that he would also share copies of Dr. Bruck’s personal papers and photos. This was magnified when Nicholas Newman’s twin sisters from Sydney, Australia, similarly chanced upon my Blog while researching their deceased brother and contacted me. Nicholas’s twin siblings, Francesca and Michele Newman (Figure 1), are the offspring of Renate Bruck’s third marriage. Since our initial encounter, we have developed a warm relationship and have had several Zoom calls. The twins have been able to fill in a few holes in my understanding of their mother and grandmother’s lives following their grandfather’s death in 1937, but most astoundingly, while examining their family memorabilia, they happened upon a so-called “Tagebuch,” written between January 1940 and December 1944 by their grandmother and mother, Johanna and Renate Bruck. (Figure 2) Technically a diary or journal, it can more accurately be characterized as a record or log of daily events the writers were engaged in. Knowing the numerous questions I had about Dr. Bruck’s wife and daughter following his death, they offered to send me the original Tagebuch. While hesitant to risk losing this valuable document, I accepted their gracious offer and fortunately it arrived safely. The twins have since generously donated their mother and grandmother’s diary to the Museum of Cemetery Art (Old Jewish Cemetery), a Branch of the City Museum of Wroclaw, where their great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather are interred. Since Dr. Walter Bruck is well-known to staff of the museum, they were thrilled beyond measure to receive this donation. Briefly, let me explain to readers how I was able to learn the contents of the Tagebuch. For much longer than I have been in contact with Francesca and Michele Newman, I have known one of their cousins from the Berlin neighborhood of Köpenick, Dr. Frank Thomas Koch (Figure 3); as another instance of serendipity, Dr. Tilo Wahl is a practicing dentist in this same district of Berlin. In any case, whereas Thomas and I are fourth cousins, Thomas and the twins are third cousins, so a generation more closely related. Over the years, Thomas and I have collaborated in tracking Johanna and Renate Bruck to England following their emigration from Germany, without specifically uncovering the intermediate steps that led to them arriving there. Given Thomas’ interest in this branch of our family, upon learning of the existence of the Tagebuch, he offered to transcribe it. I sent Thomas a high-quality PDF of the journal, which he systematically transcribed over a roughly two-month period. Then, using the best of the known online translators, DeepL, he translated the log. But Thomas went beyond a cursory perusal of the “journal.” He provided some context for events taking place in Nazi Germany that ought to have been touched on by Johanna Bruck but were not. As one additional step, I put Thomas in touch with Renate Bruck’s lifelong still-living 95-year-old friend, Ina Schaesberg (Figure 4), who was able to recall specific people named in the Tagebuch and identify their role in Johanna and Renate’s lives. Since Ina speaks little English, Thomas was more effectively able to extract information about these people from her than I could. Finally, yet another source of information was Bettina Mehne (Figure 5), daughter of Renate Bruck’s first husband, Matthias Eugen Walter Mehne, by Matthias’ second wife; Bettina was able to recognize the diminutive names of some of her ancestors. Briefly, let me give readers an impression of the Tagebuch. It is a five-year diary, of a type that still exists today, with some peculiarities. It covers the span from January 1, 1940, through December 24, 1944, although not chronologically. That’s to say, January 31, 1940, is not followed by February 1, 1940, but rather by January 1, 1941, then January 1, 1942, etc. While this may make sense, it prevents the reader from following the flow of events. Thus, Thomas, in transcribing and translating the diary, did so chronologically. The diary has two authors, Dr. Walter Wolfgang Bruck’s widow, Johanna Bruck née Gräbsch, and his daughter, Renate Bruck. (Figure 6) Most of the entries are recorded by Johanna, whose writing is Old German Script in vogue around the 1900’s (known as “die Kurrentschrift” or “Kurrent” for short in German); Renate’s handwriting is more typical of today’s German cursive. The Tagebuch is written in a telegraphic style, meaning in a clipped way of writing that abbreviates words and packs as much information into the fewest number of words or characters. At times, this means that certain terms or turns of phrases are not well understood or are indecipherable. Rarely is the Tagebuch introspective or self-analyzing. Comparatively intimate, confidential, or personal messages are rarely recorded. The diary does not give us a sense of the broader events going on in the war during the Nazi era. For Johanna and Renate life seems to go on as normal, notwithstanding the fact that as a half-Jew Renate was considered a mischling of the first degree. The war, the aftermath of its destruction, hunger, and repression are rarely mentioned. If Renate as a mischling or her mother were ever under observation by the Nazis and their informants is never made clear. However, as the author James F. Tent asserts in his seminal book about German mischlinge, “In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Persecution of Jewish-Christian Germans,” the intensity of persecution, discrimination, and harassment of mischlinge in the Third Reich varied greatly. Tent reports that in certain areas and regions, there was little distinction between “Jews” and “Mischlinge” in terms of persecution, while in other parts of the Reich virtually nothing happened to them, and they were not treated as outsiders. There were at least two areas where Renate’s status as a mischling affected her life. Until 1938, Renate attended the “Oberlyzeum von Zawadzky,” the Upper Lyceum in the Zawadskie district of Breslau, which was a private school for daughters from upper class families. After 1938, all “non-Aryan” girls were forced to leave. Following her expulsion from the Lyceum, until Renate relocated with her mother to Berlin in February-March of 1942, she attended the “Kloster-Schule der Ursulinen,” the Ursuline Convent School. Then, beginning in 1942 upon her arrival in Berlin, she attended the “Kunstgewerbeschule,” the School of Arts and Crafts. The second area where Renate’s life was affected by her status as a mischling of the first degree was in her desire to be a fully recognized member of the “deutschen Volksgemeinschaft,” wanting “to belong” and not be an outsider; the Volksgemeinschaft is a German expression meaning “people’s community” that originally became popular during WWI as Germans rallied in support of the war. It appealed to the idea of breaking down elitism, and uniting people across class divides to achieve a national purpose. During the Nazi era, the wanting “to belong” among children and young people was expressed, among other ways, in their membership in the Hitlerjugend (HJ), Hitler Youth, or the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM), League of German Girls or Band of German Maidens. However, anyone who was “non-Aryan” could not become a member of the Hitler Youth or BDM. Ina Schaesberg, Renate’s lifelong friend, relates an uncomfortable situation Renate put her in on account of her desire to belong to the BDM. So the story goes that Renate forced Ina to get her a BDM uniform so they could play together as “German Maidens” privately at home wearing their outfits. Jumping ahead to January 1942 which will be discussed in Part 2 of this post, Renate was denounced for this act by an informer that required Johanna to report to the police, although the incident appears to have had no serious consequences. Johanna resolved to address the matter of Renate’s exclusion from the BDM. She makes the following entry on January 29, 1941. “I received first a call from Norbert Pohl about BDM application to Hess.” Let me attempt to put this in context for readers and tell readers about the players, acknowledging that I do not have a copy of Renate’s BDM application so can only surmise what it may have included. Johanna Bruck seemingly appealed the issue of Renate’s application to join the BDM to a high, if not the highest, authority, namely to Hitler’s deputy in the Nazi Party, Rudolf Hess (1874-1987). The quote above makes this evident. Hess had been the highest-ranking member after Hitler of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), National Socialist German Workers’ Party, and Reich Minister without portfolio since 1933 when the Nazis seized power. Johanna could have justified her request that Renate be accepted into the BDM in one of two ways. Purely hypothetically, Johanna could have argued that Dr. Walter Wolfgang Bruck was not the biological father of Renate and that she was the daughter of an affair Johanna had had with an “Aryan.” It’s conceivable Johanna was aware of a similar argument that had been made in the case of the German field marshal general Erhard Milch (Figure 7) by his mother, distant relatives of both Renate and me. To remind readers, I wrote about Erhard Milch (1892-1972) in a post entitled “I Decide Who is a Jew” (Post 54), a saying widely attributed to Hermann Wilhelm Göring, one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party between 1933 to 1945. Erhard Milch was a German field marshal general (Generalfeldmarschall) who oversaw the development of the German air force (Luftwaffe) as part of the re-armament of Nazi Germany following WWI. He was State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Aviation and Inspector General of the Air Force. During most of WWII, he oversaw all aircraft production and supply. In other words, Milch was important to the Nazis. Based on his mother’s disclosure that Erhard was not the son of her Jewish husband but supposedly born of an incestuous relationship with her uncle, an “Aryan,” he was declared a so-called “Honorary Aryan” (i.e., a person with Jewish roots who was appointed an honorary Aryan). Thus, one way Johanna hypothetically could have argued that Renate be accepted into the BDM was by professing she was not the child of a Jew. Alternatively, Johanna could have argued that while Renate was regrettably a “mischling of the first degree,” her enthusiasm for the Nazis, their movement, and their ideals more than made up for this “flaw.” Which option Johanna chose is unknown to us. Probably her request was not supported by Hess or was delayed and put on the backburner. Regardless, several months after Johanna’s request, Hess flew to England in May 1941, ostensibly to make peace with the Allies. He was interned in England, and following Germany’s defeat, at Nuremberg he was sentenced to many years in prison as a Nazi and war criminal. Who then was the Norbert Pohl who called Johanna Bruck on January 29, 1941? According to my cousin Thomas Koch, Norbert Pohl (1910-1968) was probably already a big shot in the SS (Schutzstaffel, or Protection Squads) at the time of Johanna’s BDM request. He was the chief judge of the SS at the Police Court VI in Krakow from July 1940 until March 1942. Johanna makes a remarkable entry on February 12, 1941, recording that she received a call from Frau Pohl, presumably the wife of the SS grandee Norbert Pohl, urging haste with the written request. On February 20th, Johanna delivered the application to the Obergau, a division of the National Socialist state, specifically to the “Obergau 4, Obergaubehörde Niederschlesien der Nazipartei NSDAP,” which was headquartered in Breslau. Pohl may subsequently have forwarded Johanna’s letter and documentation to Rudolf Hess and kept her informed about developments. Because of the clipped style in which the Tagebuch is written, we are left to wonder about some of the brief entries recorded by Johanna that may have been related to the application submission. For example, on February 28, 1941, so eight days after submitting the petition to the NSDAP, Johanna writes that she sent a letter to Mackensen. This is undoubtedly Anton Ludwig Friedrich August Mackensen (1949-1945), Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshall General, Dr. Walter Wolfgang Bruck’s military superior during WWI (Figure 8) and someone who stood up for him in 1933 after he was dismissed from his academic position. (Figure 9) Could the letter have had anything to do with Renate’s application to the NSDAP and a request for his support? It seems likely, but we may never know. As it relates to the formal written request Johanna submitted for Renate to the Nazi authorities on February 20, 1941, Thomas figured out the German designation for this application was called “Gesuch über die Gleichstellung mit Deutschblütigen,” an “application for equality with German-blooded people.” The relevant literature indicates about 10,000 such applications were presented, but that only about 500 of them were ever approved. Of particular interest is that Hitler himself approved or denied these requests. Hitler’s allies were apparently more lenient in ratifying them. What is clear from the journal and what we now know was an “application for equality with German-blooded people” submitted by Johanna is that she knew many people, including influential Nazis. Unfortunately, the Tagebuch contains no mention as to what transpired after Renate’s application was submitted. However, based on an entry recorded on the 16th of September 1941, apparently Johanna suspects that her “request” for Renate to be treated “as an equal to German-blooded people” has been or will be rejected. Let me turn now to log entries having to do with the Nazi regime and wartime events that may be of interest to readers. On January 30, 1940, Johanna mentions the hustle and bustle going on that week on account of “Führerwoche,” Führer Week, in honor of the seventh anniversary of Hitler becoming Chancellor of the Reich on January 30, 1933. On February 23, 1940, schools other than Renate’s were closed on account of a so-called “coal vacation,” days schools were closed during severe winters to save coal and heating oil to be used in support of the war effort. On February 25, 1940, Johanna records that “Klaus,” one of Renate’s friends, had his National Socialist youth initiation ceremony as school graduation ceremonies and initiation rituals into the Hitler Youth and BDM were referred to at the time. May 1st was a National Holiday, “Tag der Arbeit,” Labor Day, interestingly appropriating a tradition from the Labor movement. On June 2nd, 1940, Johanna mentions listening to the radio, without specifically indicating that the broadcast presumably celebrated the Wehrmacht’s victory over France. Then, on June 25th, there was a school vacation because of “the acceptance of the peace terms imposed on the French.” Interestingly, on November 23, 1940, the day of Hitler’s failed “Beer Hall Putsch” in 1923, in Munich, the Führer delivered a radio broadcast. In several places, Johanna merely records “Führer speech,” so we are left to peruse the history books to identify what major speech Hitler delivered on these dates. The first instance is on February 24, 1941, which corresponds with a celebration at the Münchener Hofbräuhaus on the announcement of the NSDAP platform when Hitler declared an intensification of submarine warfare. On April 9, 1941, Johanna remarks on the “great political events in the Balkans,” which coincided with the Wehrmacht’s campaign against then-Yugoslavia and Greece, resulting in Salonika’s capture on that date. On May 4, 1941, Johanna again merely records, “Führer speech.” This coincides with an address Hitler made before the German Reichstag, in which he invoked the alleged desire for peace on the part of Nazi Germany, which had always been thwarted and now led once again to the defeat of then-Yugoslavia and Greece in the Balkans. On June 22, 1941, Johanna records that Adolf Hitler declared war on the Soviet Union. No further embellishment is provided. Then, on October 3rd, there is another entry, “Führer speech.” This day it turns out marked the start of the Kriegswinter-Hilfswerks, War Winter Relief Fund, and Hitler’s declaration that the Soviet Union had already been defeated and would never rise again. Barely two weeks later, the German Wehrmacht, accustomed to victory, took its first major defeat during the Battle of Moscow. Relatedly, jumping ahead to January 3, 1942, Johanna makes another clipped entry that requires explanation: “. . .sweater and jacket donated for the soldiers.” Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion plan, called for the capture of Moscow within four months of the Axis forces invasion of the Soviet Union on the 22nd of June 1941. Hitler and his generals were convinced they would defeat the Soviet Union before the onset of winter 1941. Therefore, the German soldiers were ill-equipped for the severe winter when the Red Army counter-attacked during the Battle of Moscow, and they were largely without winter clothes. The donations of clothing from the German population were intended to compensate for this lack of winter equipment; Johanna was among the donors. Let me turn now to some entries in the Tagebuch that give us insight into aspects of Johanna and Renate’s personal lives and their circle of friends and acquaintances. While of lesser interest than the terse war-related notes, they are still noteworthy. According to a note recorded on the 24th of March 1940, Johanna and Renate were members of the “Christengemeinschaft.” The “Christengemeinschaft, Movement for Religious Renewal” is a Christian church that is close to anthroposophy but is regarded as an independent cult community. It was founded in Switzerland in 1922 following the suggestions of Rudolf Steiner and had followers in Breslau. Today, there are 140 congregations in Germany though the church exists worldwide. From the point of view of the mainstream churches, it represents, among other things, a different understanding of baptism. It was through the Christengemeinschaft that Johanna sought to have Renate accepted for confirmation classes. Judging from the somewhat vague notes in the Tagebuch, there were discussions and a dispute with Church Pastor Müller about this, but Johanna eventually prevailed seemingly with the help of other members of the congregation. In any case, Renate was eventually confirmed on the 17th of March 1941. Relatedly, on June 19, 1941, Johanna makes a point of mentioning the ban of eurythmy in schools, and the great joy it elicited; whether this was personal joy or more widespread elation is unclear. Eurythmy is an expressive movement art originated by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Marie von Sivers in the early 20th century. Primarily a performance art, it was also used in education, especially in Waldorf schools, and – as part of anthroposophic medicine – for claimed therapeutic purposes. The ban of eurythmy was probably connected with the flight of Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s Deputy, to England on May 10, 1941. With his departure, anthroposophy lost its most important promoter among the Nazi hierarchy. Ten days prior to the ban on eurythmy, the Christengemeinschaft to which Johanna and Renate belonged had been banned, and its priests and leading community members jailed. While Johanna makes mention of the eurythmy ban, she is silent on the ban of the church. What effect the ban had on Johanna and Renate is unknown, but, regardless, by this time Renate had already been confirmed. A brief entry from July10, 1941, “letter to . . .Lettehaus” was explained to me by my cousin. “Letteverein” and “Lettehaus” were institutions founded in 1866 to “promote the gainful employment of women.” Johanna was faced with the problem that her daughter was basically barred from higher education and university studies in Nazi Germany for “racial” reasons. But even though higher education was not attainable for Renate, economic independence was a goal for Johanna, who had to remember she would not live forever and that her assets might not be transferable to Renate. Therefore, these institutions offered options. In clarifying this entry, Thomas explained that his mother, also a mischling of the first degree, availed herself of the Letteverein and Lettehaus. As to Johanna and Renate’s financial situation, let me say a few words. As I have alluded to and discussed in earlier posts, Dr. Walter Wolfgang Bruck was an eminent dentist. He was the personal dentist to the last German Kaiser’s family and other members of the nobility. Judging from the lavish social events he hosted and the lifestyle he led, it can be assumed he was well-to-do. According to Breslau address books of the time, during the late 1920’s and the early 1930’s Dr. Bruck and his family lived in a luxurious home at Reichspräsidentenplatz 17 (Figure 10), with the owner of record at the time being Walter Bruck. Following the death of Paul von Hindenburg, the German general and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany from 1925 until his death in 1934, Reichspräsidentenplatz was renamed by the Nazis to Hindenburgplatz. The renaming of the square was reflected in Breslau address books only in 1935. By 1937, however, his wife Johanna Bruck was now shown as the owner of record even though Walter continued to live at Hindenburgplatz 17. The change in ownership from Walter to Johanna Bruck was a measure to avoid expropriation of the estate by the Nazis as Walter was considered “Jewish,” whereas his wife was deemed to be “Aryan.” We know from elsewhere that Walter converted from Judaism in about 1917, around the time his mother died, and that, unlike his accomplished father and grandfather, respectively Dr. Julius Bruck and Dr. Jonas Julius Bruck, he was not interred in Breslau’s Jewish Cemetery. Obviously, as far as the Nazis were concerned, Walter’s conversion from Judaism was of no consequence and he was still deemed Jewish. On multiple occasions, Johanna mentions that she and Renate visited her deceased husband’s grave, regrettably never mentioning which cemetery he was interred in. This is a mystery to be resolved. Dr. Walter Bruck died in Breslau on the 31st of March 1937, whether by his own hand or not is unknown. Following Walter’s death, Johanna is presumed to have sold the house around that time because when in 1939, the “racial” census takes place (Figure 11), the widow Johanna Bruck and her daughter Renate Bruck are no longer living at Hindenburgplatz 17, but at Oranienstrasse 4. (Figure 12) The latter house does not belong to Johanna but to a retired banker by the name of “E. Bucher.” Johanna and Renate apparently lived there in a large stately apartment, from which they sublet rooms. Apart from the income this generated, Johanna undoubtedly received a significant sum of money from the sale of the house at Hindenburgplatz 17 as well as an inheritance from her husband. At various points in the Tagebuch, Johanna bemoans the expenditure of money on certain things, but rarely do we get the impression that she is lacking for money, nor does her active social life or the multiple activities she and Renate are enrolled in suggest otherwise. There are scores upon scores of names mentioned in the journal. An unusually large number of them are referred to as “Tante,” aunt, or “Onkel,” uncle, with most presumed to be close friends rather than blood relatives. Several, however, “Tante Leni,” “Tante Irene” or “Tante I.,” and “Onkel Willy” are known to the writer and are unquestionably Johanna and Renate’s kin. In some instances mention is made of celebrating this or that person’s birthday on a particular day or week; given my familiarity with the dates of birth of family members, I was able to work out how some of the people were referred to. Thus “Tante I.” was Johanna’s sister-in-law, Irene Elisabeth Gräbsch née Klar who was married to Johanna’s brother, Paul Karl Hermann Gräbsch. Tante Irene was often accompanied by her son “Ebi,” a cousin and frequent playmate of Renate’s. (Figure 13) “Tante Leni” was Johanna’s sister, Helene Emma Clara Steinberg née Gräbsch. (Figure 14) “Onkel Willy” was Willy Gräbsch, a merchant from Breslau, probably unmarried or widowed, whose relationship to Johanna is unclear. Personally intriguing is the mention made on March 30, 1940, that Renate went to visit “Tante Margarethe” to wish her a happy birthday. The quotation marks indicate that while she was not a relative, she was still referred to as an aunt. There is no doubt this is Dr. Walter Wolfgang Bruck’s first wife who was Jewish, Margarethe Bruck née Skutsch. (Figure 15) She was born on March 30, 1872, in Breslau [Wrocław, Poland], and murdered in the Theresienstadt Ghetto on the 22nd of September 1942. (Figure 16) It is surprising that Johanna and Renate were in touch with Walter’s first wife, although, as this was certainly the case, it’s astonishing that Johanna made no mention in the diary when Margarethe was deported. Perhaps Johanna had already distanced herself from this Jewish “aunt” by then? Among the names mentioned are a coterie I surmise are people who provided professional services to Johanna, such as housecleaners, cooks, seamstresses, teachers, clergy, etc. This includes “Fräulein Anna,” Miss Anna. According to Ina Schaesberg, she was the cook in the Bruck household for many years, during Dr. Bruck’s lifetime and after his death. She was considered “Aryan.” According to the 1935 “Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor,” Jews were forbidden to employ “Aryan maids” under the age of 45. However, since Anna exceeded this age limit, she could remain employed in the house of Walter Bruck even after 1935. Following the death of Walter in 1937, she continued to work for Johanna and even followed her to Berlin (more on this in Part 2 of the post). Johanna’s and Renate’s beloved long-haired dachshund, “Resi,” is often mentioned, though it took me some time to figure out that this was a dog and not a person. (Figure 17) Because Renate was an exceptionally cute young girl who blossomed into a very attractive young woman, she had droves of admirers whom she frequently saw and skillfully manipulated. The fate of most are unknown, but in at least two instances Johanna tells us precisely the dates they were killed while serving in the Wehrmacht. The death of “Hans Roth,” often mentioned in the diary, is noted on October 26, 1941, though he was killed on the 21st of September 1941 on the Eastern Front as his death certificate confirms. (Figures 18a-b) Similarly, an even closer friend of Renate’s, “Christoph von Kospoth,” was killed-in-action on the 4th of April 1944 near Dresden, Germany. (Figures 19a-b) Other names and deaths are recorded by Johanna, but I’ve been unable to match them with historic documents which might have been able to tell me more about them. Many names in the Tagebuch include only forenames or surnames, so it’s impossible to precisely identify these individuals. However, in several instances, with surnames and professions given I was able with certainty to discover the identities or people. While these rarely add much to the narrative of Johanna’s and Renate’s lives, I will discuss a few only because I was able to learn something about them. A name that frequently appears in Johanna’s entries is called “Hella Goossens.” She appears to have been a friend. This represents the sole instance where I was able to find a picture of someone named in Johanna’s and Renate’s diary who was not a family member. A vivacious looking woman born on the 21st of May 1884 in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, a Rio de Janeiro Immigration Card shows she immigrated to Brazil in 1950 (Figure 20); she is identified as a domestic worker. Seemingly, she was joining her son, Herbert Goossens, who had immigrated there in 1939. (Figure 21) As I alluded to earlier when talking about Johanna and Renate’s financial situation, both were involved in numerous extracurricular activities, particularly Renate. For her part, Johanna was taking Italian lessons with a Frau Koesel at the home of a Frau Conberti. Mrs. Conberti is listed in Breslau Address Books between 1934 and 1941 and shows she was an interpreter and language teacher. (Figures 22a-b) One is left to wonder whether Johanna was merely taking Italian for self-improvement, or envisioned emigrating to Italy? In the case of Renate, she was taking piano lessons, violin classes, tap classes, confirmation classes, and more. She would meet her future first husband, Matthias Mehne, in late 1941 in Breslau at his luthier shop, and immediately be “smitten” by him, but there is no indication they got involved romantically until they met again in Berlin in 1942. Readers may wonder, as I did, whether any of Johanna’s and Renate’s acquaintances and friends are directly or indirectly acknowledged as Jewish. In one instance the name “Grete Stomberg or Sternberg” is noted, who can be presumed to have been Jewish because her apartment was confiscated by the Nazis. Another named individual was “Ferdinand Abramczyk,” later identified through a Breslau Address Book as a Justizrat, a member of the Judicial Council, who’d had “Israel” added as his middle name by the Nazis to mark him as Jewish. Johanna frequently mentions bouts of “biliary pain,” most frequently caused by obstruction of the common bile duct or the cystic duct by a gallstone. This would eventually lead to hospitalization. There is one final topic I want to discuss before ending the rather lengthy first part of Post 109. As previously mentioned, it appears that by September of 1941, Johanna is aware that Renate’s application for her to be treated “as an equal to German-blooded people” has been or will be rejected. This may have been the impetus for Johanna to relocate to Berlin. However, rather than simply move there, Johanna sought to swap apartments with someone from Berlin. She hosted a couple, the Günthers, with whom she would eventually exchange apartments. In February-March 1942, Johanna and Renate would move to Xantener Straße 24, in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. More will be said on this in Part 2 of Post 109. Among the more popular posts I have published in my Blog are veritable wartime diaries I have managed to get a hold of from various branches of my Jewish family. In all these instances, there is clearly an effort on the part of the author to write names in code or designate Jewish or “righteous” individuals by single letters or initials to conceal their identities. At no time do I detect a similar intent by Johanna or Renate. Literally, with the hundreds of entries in Johanna’s and Renate’s Tagebuch, it is difficult to do justice to the diary. However, as I’ve indicated multiple times, the clipped style of writing associated with a telegraphic style makes it unlikely I would have been able to decipher the names of most of their acquaintances and friends nor the role they played in their lives. More importantly, it’s improbable this would have added much to the narrative since so many of the entries focused not on the political and current events of the time but rather on the social and amorous activities of the writers. In closing I will quote from Ms. Renata Wilkoszewska-Krakowska’s observations of Johanna and Renate’s diary. Renate is my friend and Branch Manager, Museum of Cemetery Art (Old Jewish Cemetery) which is a Branch of the City Museum of Wroclaw, the institute where the Tagebuch was donated. Sadly, Renata’s thoughts mirror my own: “I am amazed that in the era of mass deportations of Breslau and Silesian Jews from 1941 to 1944, there is nothing in the diary on this subject. On November 21, 1941, over a thousand people were arrested, held for four days at the Odertorbahnhof train station, then deported to Kaunas, Lithuania, and shot on November 29th. Among them were many famous and influential inhabitants of Breslau, including Willy Cohn and his family, author of the famous diary/journal entitled “Kein Recht. Nirgends” (“No Law. Nowhere.”), published in German and Polish. In the context of the war, the everyday life of Johanna and Renate seems quite banal and normal. It’s hard for me to believe it, because as early as 1942, mischlinge were also deported to the occupied part of Poland and East.” REFERENCES Schwarzmüller, Theo. Zwischen Kaiser und Führer: Generalfeldmarschall August von Mackensen. Paderborn, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, 1995. Tent, James F. In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Persecution of Jewish-Christian Germans. Lawrence, University Press of Kansas, 2003. Note: In this post, I discuss Wilhelm Pauly, the only son of Josef and Rosalie Pauly. The account of his survival during WWII provides some insight into the relationship between Germans of Jewish heritage and the German nation. I’ve recently been writing about the fate of some of my great-great-uncle and aunt Josef Pauly and Rosalie Pauly née Mockrauer’s nine children, several of whom were victims of the Holocaust. Their only son, Wilhelm “Willy” Pauly (Figure 1), eighth born, survived the war and I became curious how he managed this. I asked one of his grandchildren, Andi Pauly, whose name readers may recall, and his response led in an unexpected direction. Willy Pauly (Figure 2) was a trained agronomist, and a veteran of WWI. Apparently, when it became clear his Jewish ancestry might eventually lead to his deportation to a concentration camp, he sought the help of his military comrades from WWI; they were instrumental in having him assigned to an agricultural research facility near the small town of Felgentreu, 34 miles SW of Berlin, that for inexplicable reasons was off-limits to the Gestapo. Felgentreu (Figure 3) is only a short distance northwest of the military training ground once located at Jüterbog, referred to in German as Truppenübungsplatz Jüterborg. Beginning in the 1860’s, the German military began acquiring property around Jüterbog so that by the 1930’s this was the largest military training facility in Germany, more than 27,000 acres in size. By 1936, most inhabitants of Felgentreu had been displaced by the military facility and forced to relinquish their homes. Following the reunification of Germany in 1989, this military training ground, which had been used by the Soviet and German militaries after WWII, was converted to civilian use. Today, it is a nature reserve, although contaminated remains abound. Whether the intercession of Willy Pauly’s military colleagues was enough to have him stationed in Felgentreu is unclear. It was suggested that a man named Erhard Milch may also have played a role in protecting Willy Pauly. Suffice it for now to say the Pauly and Milch families are related by marriage, a topic I’ll return to below. However, the mention of Erhard Milch’s name is where this story takes an unexpected twist. Erhard Milch (Figure 4), I learned, was a German field marshal who oversaw the development of the Luftwaffe as part of the re-armament of Nazi Germany following WWI. He was supposedly the son of Anton Milch, a Jewish pharmacist, and a Clara Milch née Vetter, and was investigated in 1935 by the Gestapo on account of his Jewish heritage. When Hermann Wilhelm Göring, who was Erhard Milch’s mentor and personal friend, got wind of this ongoing investigation, he put a halt to it; Göring produced a signed affidavit he’d apparently forced Milch’s mother to sign stating that his actual father was her uncle, making her guilty of adultery and incest. Regardless, with the signed affidavit in hand Hitler then issued Milch a “German Blood Certificate” (German: Deutschblütigkeitserklärung). Basically, this was a document provided by Hitler to people with partial Jewish heritage, termed Mischlinge, declaring them deutschblütig, of German blood, and exempting them from most of Germany’s racial laws. Such events were apparently the backdrop for Göring’s cynical claim, “I decide who is a Jew.” Though widely attributed to him, the statement apparently originated with Karl Lueger (Figure 5), Mayor of Vienna, Austria from 1897 until his death in 1910. Karl Lueger, founder of Austria’s Christian Social Party, exploited prevalent antisemitic and nationalistic currents for political gain. This is particularly interesting because Hitler moved to Vienna in 1908 when Lueger was at the apex of his power there; Hitler clearly approved of Lueger’s methods and praised his charisma and popular appeal in Mein Kampf and elsewhere. Some claim the populist and antisemitic politics of Lueger’s Christian Social Party were the model for Adolf Hitler’s Nazism, though their brands of anti-Semitism differed. In any case, the issue of Jews serving in the German military during the Nazi era is what I found intriguing. I discovered a 2002 book on the subject by Cambridge University researcher Bryan Mark Rigg, entitled “Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers, the Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military.” Rigg’s book was the first study of its kind to document the history of Jews and Mischlinge who fought in the German armed forces during WWII, a number estimated to have been as high as 150,000 that included more than 1,200 officers; the author provides demonstrable evidence that Hitler played a central role in allowing Mischlinge to serve in the armed forces. The “half-Jew” Field Marshall Erhard Milch was the highest-ranking officer found to be of Jewish parentage. Willy Pauly may also have wanted his two sons, Klaus and Peter (Figure 6), to pursue a military career to increase their odds of survival and facilitate upward mobility. According to a story Andi’s father told him, Willy enrolled his two sons in an elite military training school in Potsdam, a town bordering Berlin. When Hitler came to power, the school was transformed into a “NaPolA,” Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalten, officially abbreviated NPEA, or a National Political Institute of Education, a secondary boarding school for the elite in Nazi Germany. Students were required to provide proof of their Aryan descent, something Willy could not provide for his sons, so both were forced to leave the academy. Interestingly, they ended up in a boarding school in Niesky, Germany, which was run by the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeinde, a Christian fraternity. Some brief history. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were the anti-Semitic laws introduced in Germany following the takeover of power by Hitler in 1933. It defined a “Jew” not as someone with specific religious beliefs but, instead, as anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents regardless of whether the person self-identified as a Jew or belonged to the Jewish religious community. Germans who had long ago given up practicing Judaism or converted, or even those whose grandparents had converted to Christianity, were nonetheless “racially” categorized as Jewish and victimized by the Nazis. Two additional “racial” categories were created with the passage of the Nuremberg Laws: the “half-Jew” (Jewish Mischling first degree), and the “quarter-Jew” (Jewish Mischling second degree); a half-Jew had two Jewish grandparents, and a quarter-Jew one. The sudden grouping of Mischlinge with Jews, seemingly, should have created a bond and mutual sympathy. It did not. Most Mischlinge did not consider themselves to be Jewish, and many had grown up as baptized Christians. And, in some cases, the Mischlinge were themselves deeply anti-Semitic. Ethnically, Mischlinge thought of themselves as Germans based on their language, their culture, and their schooling which had all been in German. Speaking to this issue, Bryan Rigg quotes from a letter written in 1940 by the “half-Jew,” Unteroffizier (Sergeant or Staff Sergeant) W. Dieter Bergman (Figure 7), to his Jewish grandmother, Elly Landsberg née Mockrauer, interestingly one of my relatives: “Don’t you realize how much I’m with my whole being rooted in Germany. My life would be very sad without my homeland, without the wonderful German art, without the belief in Germany’s powerful past and the powerful future that awaits Germany. Do you think that I can tear that all out of my heart?. . .Don’t I also have an obligation to my parents, to my brother who showed his love to our Fatherland by dying a hero’s death on the battlefield. . .Someday, I want to be a German amongst Germans and no longer a second-class citizen only because my wonderful mother is Jewish.” (Rigg, p. 28) To remind readers, Elly Landsberg née Mockrauer (Figure 8) was the niece of Rosalie Pauly née Mockrauer; Elly Landsberg’s father was Josef Mockrauer (Figure 9), brother of Rosalie Pauly née Mockrauer. (Figure 10) Historically, one way for Jews to prove themselves to be good, loyal Germans was to fight for their country. Many Jews served in the German army during WWI, as this provided a way for them to gain greater acceptance and opportunity and prove their loyalty to the Vaterland. With Germany’s rearmament following Hitler’s ascension to power, Mischlinge faced a paradox, join the military to regain some of their lost pride and protect their families with the realization they would be serving Hitler. For those who were able to join, knowing they were trying to convince their comrades, officers and Nazi overlords to accept them as “normal” Germans, many fought with unparalleled bravery. The last thing a Mischling wanted was to be considered a “feiger Jude,” a cowardly Jew. Because Mischlinge status obviously impeded upward mobility in German society and the army, such individuals sought to be recognized as German; one method was to obtain a legal waiver, Genehmigung, an official toleration of their standing as Mischling on account of their service and benefit to the Reich. The most sought-after designation was the one conferred on Field Marshall Erhard Milch, Deutschblütigkeitserklärung, a determination of pure German blood. Contrary to Göring’s assertion that he decided who was a Jew or not, in reality, this decision could only be granted by Hitler. Germany’s defeat was a fortunate outcome for Mischlinge because Hitler had planned to exterminate them all had Germany prevailed, completely cleansing the German blood line. Josef and Rosalie Pauly’s only son, Willy Pauly, was born in 1883, and, as mentioned, served in the German army during WWI. Erhard Milch, born nine years later in 1892, also fought for Germany during the first world war. While I was able to find Erhard Milch’s WWI Personnel Register (Figure 11) on ancestry.com, I was unable to track down a similar document for Willy Pauly. Though both Willy and Erhard fought for Germany in WWI, likely on the Eastern Front, I can’t place them in the same theater during the war proving they met then. Knowing that Pauly and Milch family members are related by marriage, I turned to ancestry.com to try and ascertain the possible relationship between Willy Pauly and Erhard Milch. Unfortunately, none of the ancestral documents nor family trees I located there contained enough detail to establish a connection. Then, I remembered a Stammbaum, a family tree, for the Milch family Andi Pauly had found among his father’s surviving papers and sent me. Given the enormous detail in the Pauly Stammbaum, it was clear Klaus Pauly, Andi’s father, had communicated with an extensive network of near and distant relatives to create his tree. One such person was Dr. H.P. Kent from Saskatoon, Canada, who’d asked himself the same question developing his family tree in 1990 I was now asking myself, namely, “how exactly is Erhard Milch related to the Pauly family?” I found the answer in Dr. Kent’s tree (Figures 12a-b)—Erhard Milch is the second cousin once removed of a Ludwig Milch (Figure 13), the husband of one of Rosalie Pauly’s nieces. Theoretically, Erhard and Willy could have known or been aware of one another and their ancestral ties. Whether this would have been reason enough for Erhard to intercede on Willy’s behalf to shield him during WWII may never be known. In addition to Erhard Milch’s WWI Personnel Register, I was also able to find in ancestry.com a copy of his certificate of marriage to Käthe Patschke (Figures 14a-b), showing they were married on the 8th March 1917 in Berlin-Grunewald. The significance of these documents is that both specifically name Erhard Milch’s “racially” Jewish father, Anton Milch; obviously, at the time there was no anticipating the coming of Hitler barely 15 years later that would require “masking” one’s Jewish ancestry. The major takeaway is that because of the existence of such historic documents, the only sure way Göring could conceal his protégé’s “half-Jewish” status, make it go away that is, was to force Erhard’s mother to “claim” that his true father was her Aryan uncle, even if that made her guilty of incest and adultery. One final note of interest. While I’ve been unable to uncover the specific name of the agricultural research station in Felgentreu to which Willy Pauly was assigned during WWII, Andi provided a copy of one letter sent to his grandfather dated the 6th October 1945 (Figure 15); Felgentreu would eventually become part of the German Democratic Republic, but at the time was administered by the Soviet Military Administration. The Soviets approved the action outlined in this letter. It ordered Willy Pauly to hand over control of the research station to a Dr. Reinhold von Sengbusch, who was being transferred from the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science, later the Max Planck Society, to take over Willy’s responsibilities. Following his dismissal, Willy turned to a man he knew, Mr. Rudolf Ersterer, who was the Director of the Bayerischen Verwaltung der staatlichen Schlösser, Bavarian Administration of State Castles; Mr Ersterer would eventually play an important role in rebuilding Munich after WWII. Following the war, it was difficult to find able German administrators who had not been members of the Nazi Party, but because Willy had not Ersterer appointed him to manage the world-renowned castle of Ludwig II, Herrenchiemsee (Figure 16), located on Herreninsel, the largest island in the Chiemsee lake, in southern Bavaria. During Willy’s time on Herreninsel, the Constitutional Convention at Herrenchiemsee (German: Verfassungskonvent auf Herrenchiemsee) convened there. This was a meeting of constitutional experts nominated by the minister-presidents of the Western States of Germany, held in August 1948, as part of the process of drafting and adopting the current German constitution. Ms. Anita Bunyan, a fellow at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, referencing Bryan Rigg’s book “Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers,” concludes that a significant number of Mischlinge appear to have been protected by fellow soldiers and superiors. While Rigg found many Aryan officers clearly motivated by racist ideology and ambition to turn them in, “. . .the discovery of a significant number of ‘sympathetic’ soldiers in the German army casts an interesting light on the relationship between ‘ordinary Germans’ and the Third Reich.” And, the apparent large number of Mischlinge and Jews in the German army would seem to support the notion the military may have afforded them some level of protection. Perhaps, this was the German army’s version of “Don’t ask, don’t tell”? REFERENCES Bergman, W. Dieter 1995 Between Two Benches. California Publishing Co., San Francisco Bunyan, Anita 2003 Half-Shadows of the Reich, Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers. Queen’s University, Belfast Klinger, Jerry 2011 Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers. The Jewish Magazine, September 2011 Rigg, Bryan Mark 2002 Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers, the Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military. U. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	83	https://legionmagazine.com/skeletons-found-buried-inside-hermann-gorings-former-residence/	en	Skeletons found buried inside Hermann Göring’s former residence	https://legionmagazine.c…24/05/grave3.jpg	https://legionmagazine.c…24/05/grave3.jpg	[ "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Legion_LestWeForget_EN_1920x292.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Scheldt_horizontal-1-scaled.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Calendar_PocketPlanner_mobile.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/1944_mobile-1.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/legion-black-logo-1.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/f2f-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Bedford_Magazine_Explosion_Nova_Scotia_Canada_July_18_1945-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/those-damn-women-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/car1-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/uk1-400x400.webp", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/beach-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Frame-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/those-damn-women-social-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Tinker-Tailor-Soldier-CSIS-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSC_2810-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/20231111-1549axx-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/borders-22985-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MHM-2.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSC_2810-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/legion-black-logo-1.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/legion-black-logo-1.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/mags-prize-500x312.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/mags-prize.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/stephen_thorne_avatar.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave1.webp", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave2.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave5.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave6.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave7.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave3.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave4.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/stephen_thorne_avatar.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/blackwater-300x200.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/legion-logo-300x200.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/HallidayInset11-230x300.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Last-post-Ad-3.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Member-benefits-package.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Apple-Podcasts.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Spotify.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Google-Podcasts.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/legion-white-logo-1.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/CANADAS-WAR-STORIES@2x.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ipad-static.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ebook-logo.png" ]	[ "https://www.youtube.com/embed/Et-JBA1GzUg?si=YsTaoyNZYfExykmY" ]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Stephen J. Thorne" ]	2024-05-08T15:12:31+00:00	Amateur archeologists have found five skeletons buried at Hermann Göring’s former residence in the remote Wolf’s Lair, the Nazis’ Eastern Front headquarters where German military officers failed in a 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Missing hands and feet, the otherwise complete skeletons of three adults, a teenager and a newborn baby were uncovered Feb. 24, 2024, […]	en	https://legionmagazine.c…con-LM-32x32.jpg	Legion Magazine	https://legionmagazine.com/skeletons-found-buried-inside-hermann-gorings-former-residence/	Amateur archeologists have found five skeletons buried at Hermann Göring’s former residence in the remote Wolf’s Lair, the Nazis’ Eastern Front headquarters where German military officers failed in a 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Missing hands and feet, the otherwise complete skeletons of three adults, a teenager and a newborn baby were uncovered Feb. 24, 2024, along with a skull underneath the brick building that served as the Luftwaffe chief’s on-site living quarters. Fundacja Latebra, a Poland-based historical organization, said the remains were arranged together, oriented in the same direction, at the bunker complex deep in a forest near Gierloz in northeastern Poland. Retreating Wehrmacht troops had burned the 6.5-square-kilometre site to keep it from falling into Red Army hands in January 1945. Part of East Prussia at the time, the now-largely overgrown area has been heavily searched and researched since, so the finds by amateur history buffs came as a particular surprise. The German and Polish archeologists thought they were digging up an old bathroom when they discovered buried pipes, charred boards, a burned key and a skull fragment. Police were called and further excavation uncovered more remains. There were no signs of clothing, and no personal objects were recovered. “The sight shocked us,” said the foundation’s Piotrek Banaszkiewicz. “Initially, we thought they were animal bones, and we weren’t sure what we were dealing with until a delicate skull emerged at one point.” It’s not known when the remains—possibly a family—were deposited there, though Oktavian Bartoszewski, publisher of the magazine Relikte der Geschichte (Relics of History) and an excavation participant, said it wouldn’t have been possible for workers laying the pipes to miss them if they had been there when the house was built in 1940. Police have launched a full-scale investigation and have already said they found no evidence of a recent crime at the site. Authorities plan to carbon-date the remains. Hitler used the Wolfsschanze, or Wolf’s Lair, and its 200-some buildings as a part-time base between 1941 and 1943. He launched Operation Barbarossa, the June 22, 1941, invasion of the Soviet Union, from there. And the Wolf’s Lair was where Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg executed Operation Valkyrie, the July 20, 1944, plot by a group of Hitler’s senior army officers to assassinate him, overthrow the Nazi regime, and make peace with the Allies. The leader of the conspiracy, von Stauffenberg attempted to kill the top Nazi during a meeting by detonating a timed bomb hidden in a briefcase. But Major-General Heinz Brandt, unaware of the plot, inadvertently saved Hitler’s life when he casually moved the briefcase next to a heavy oak table leg standing between it and the Nazi leader. The subsequent blast killed Brandt and three other officers, but only wounded Hitler and the others. The chancellor’s pants were singed and shredded, his eardrum perforated, and he was beset by conjunctivitis. The coinciding coup attempt in Berlin was foiled and more than 200 conspirators and other suspected Hitler opponents were rounded up, given show trials and executed, some of them tortured and strung up by piano wire. Stauffenberg got no trial. He was shot by a hastily assembled firing squad at 1 a.m. on July 21, speaking his last words, “Es lebe das heilige Deutschland!” (long live sacred Germany) or “Es lebe das geheime Deutschland!” (long live secret Germany), the latter an apparent reference to his co-collaborators. His eldest brother, Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, a central figure in the plot, was tried in the Volksgerichtshof, or special “people’s court” for political offences, on Aug. 10. Berthold was one of eight conspirators executed by slow strangulation at Plötzensee Prison, Berlin, later that day. Before he was killed, Berthold was throttled (choked to the point of passing out) and revived multiple times. The entire execution process was filmed for Hitler to view at his leisure. German general Erwin Rommel, the legendary Desert Fox, knew of the plot but was not a direct participant, nor did he inform Nazi authorities of it. He was found out and given a choice between suicide with honour and without repercussions for his family, or a trial bringing him disgrace and inevitably execution. He chose the former. A First World War flying ace, Göring headed the German air force throughout WW II, ascending to the No. 2 position in the Nazi hierarchy before he fell out of favour following his failures to resupply surrounded and starving Wehrmacht troops at Stalingrad and stem the tide of Allied bombers over German cities. As Nazi fortunes turned, Göring increasingly stepped back from military and political affairs to devote his attention to collecting property and artwork, much of it stolen from Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Informed on April 22, 1945, that Hitler planned to commit suicide in his Berlin bunker, Göring sent the Nazi leader a telegram requesting his permission to assume leadership of the Reich. Hitler considered the request an act of treason and removed Göring from all his positions, expelled him from the party and ordered his arrest. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz ultimately succeeded Hitler as chancellor. Göring escaped Hitler’s wrath, but after the war was convicted of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was the highest Nazi official tried at the Nuremberg trials in 1946. He was sentenced to be hanged, but died by suicide with cyanide the night before his scheduled execution. Fundacja Latebra is one of the few organizations permitted to conduct archeological research at the Wolf’s Lair, which was turned into a tourist attraction in 1959 and brings in more than 200,000 visitors annually. How and why the remains ended up there, who they were and why they were unclothed without hands and feet is still a mystery. Speculation is rampant over whether Göring was aware the remains were buried below his living quarters. German media said they could have belonged to victims of a mass killing, possibly but not necessarily carried out by the Nazis. Besides Hitler and Göring, senior Nazis such as Martin Bormann, Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl used the Wolf’s Lair as an isolated, well-protected complex where they could plan military campaigns, as well as Holocaust atrocities. Hitler spent a total of 800 days at the wartime site, more than anywhere else during the entire conflict. Fundacja Latebra has spent years searching the Wolf’s Lair, for the most part uncovering everyday items such as dishware and tools. Said a group statement: “The uniqueness of this discovery lies in the fact that the bodies were found on the premises of the most heavily guarded complex of the Third Reich.”
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	20	https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/winter/nuremberg.html	en	The Nuremberg Laws	https://www.archives.gov…/naralogo-og.png	https://www.archives.gov…/naralogo-og.png	[ "https://www.archives.gov/sites/all/themes/nara/images/nara-print-logo.jpg", "https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2010/winter/images/nuremberg-blood1-l.jpg", "https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2010/winter/images/nuremberg-blood2-l.jpg", "https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2010/winter/images/nuremberg-citizen-l.jpg", "https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2010/winter/images/nuremberg-flag-l.jpg", "https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2010/winter/images/nuremberg-court-l.jpg", "https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2010/winter/images/nuremberg-patton-l.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	2016-08-15T17:40:20-04:00	Archives Receives Original Nazi Documents That “Legalized” Persecution of Jews Winter 2010, Vol. 42, No. 4 By Greg Bradsher Enlarge Law for the Safeguard of German Blood and German Honor barred marriage between Jews and other Germans.	en	https://www.archives.gov…s/apple-icon.png	National Archives	https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/winter/nuremberg.html	Archives Receives Original Nazi Documents That “Legalized” Persecution of Jews Winter 2010, Vol. 42, No. 4 By Greg Bradsher It was in Nuremberg, officially designated as the "City of the Reich Party Rallies," in the province of Bavaria, where Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party in 1935 changed the status of German Jews to that of Jews in Germany, thus "legally" establishing the framework that eventually led to the Holocaust. Ten years later, it would also be in Nuremberg, now nearly destroyed by British and American heavy bombing, where surviving prominent Nazi leaders were put on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The war in Europe ended in May 1945, and soon the attention of the Allies turned to prosecuting those Third Reich leaders who had been responsible for, among other things, the persecution of the Jews and the Holocaust. The trials began November 20, 1945, in Nuremberg's Palace of Justice, which had somehow survived the intense Allied bombings of 1944 and 1945. The next day, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, named by President Harry S. Truman as the U.S. chief counsel for the prosecution of Axis criminality, made his opening statement to the International Military Tribunal. "The most serious actions against Jews were outside of any law, but the law itself was employed to some extent. They were the infamous Nuremberg decrees of September 15, 1935," Jackson said. The so-called "Nuremberg Laws"— a crucial step in Nazi racial laws that led to the marginalization of German Jews and ultimately to their segregation, confinement, and extermination—were key pieces of evidence in the trials, which resulted in 12 death sentences and life or long sentences for other Third Reich leaders. But the prosecution was forced to use images of the laws from the official printed version, for the original copies were nowhere to be found. However, they had been found earlier, by U.S. counter-intelligence troops, who passed them up the line until they came to the Third Army's commander, Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. The general took them home to California. There, they remained for decades, their existence not revealed until 1999. Finally, this past summer, the original copies of the laws, signed by Hitler and other Nazi leaders, were transferred to the National Archives. Third Reich Began Persecutions Years Before Laws Enacted in 1935 The Nuremberg Laws made official the Nazi persecution of the Jews, but the “legal” attack on the Jews actually began two years earlier. After the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933, they became increasingly engaged in activities involving the persecution of the Jewish and other minority populations. They did it under the color of law, using official decrees as a weapon against the Jews. In 1933 Jews were denied the right to hold public office or civil service positions; Jewish immigrants were denaturalized; Jews were denied employment by the press and radio; and Jews were excluded from farming. The following year, Jews were excluded from stock exchanges and stock brokerage. During these years, when the Nazi regime was still rather shaky and the Nazis feared opposition from within and resistance from without, they did nothing drastic, and the first measures appeared, in relative terms, rather mild. After Germany publicly announced in May 1935 its rearmament in violation of the Versailles Treaty, Nazi party radicals began more forcibly demanding that Hitler, the party, and the government take more drastic measures against the Jews. They wanted to completely segregate them from the social, political, and economic life of Germany. These demands increased as the summer progressed. On August 20, 1935, the U.S. embassy in Berlin reported to the secretary of state: To sum up the Jewish situation at the moment, it may be said that the whole movement of the Party is one of preparing itself and the people for general drastic and so-called legal action to be announced in the near future probably following the Party Congress to be held in Nuremberg beginning on September 10th. One has only to review the statements made by important leaders since the end of the Party's summer solstice to realize the trend of affairs. James G. McDonald, high commissioner for refugees under the League of Nations, then in Berlin, wrote in his diary August 22 that "New legislation is imminent, but it is difficult to tell exactly what the provisions will be. Certainly, they will tend further to differentiate the Jews from the mass of Germans and to disadvantage them in new ways." William E. Dodd, the American ambassador to Germany, on September 7 sent a long dispatch to the secretary of state regarding current development in the "Jewish Situation." He reported "it appears that even now discussions are still continuing in the highest circles respecting the policy to be evolved at the Nuremberg party Congress." He added: It is believed that a declaration respecting the Jews will be made at Nuremberg which will be followed by the announcement at the Congress itself, or shortly thereafter, or a body of legislation whose ultimate character will depend upon the result of the discussions now in progress. Either one or the other will probably contain drastic features to appease the radicals but may be offset by certain appearances of moderation to be emphasized later to facilitate such dealing abroad. . . . An idea that may influence policy at Nuremberg, and in any case now seems to be uppermost in the minds of Party extremists, is that, however drastic the measures adopted, they will be formally rooted in law, and that the sanctity with which law is regarded, and the discipline with which it is observed in Germany, may impress foreign opinion favorably. On September 9, McDonald wrote Felix Warburg, a major American Jewish leader, that he was unable to get a clear picture what may be expected in the threatened new legislation, but "One can only be certain that the result will be to penalize the Jews in various ways and on the basis of pseudo-legality, which causes grim forebodings." Nazi Rally in Nuremberg Hailed Passage of the Laws At their annual rally held in Nuremberg on September 15, Nazi party leaders announced, after the Reichstag had adopted them, new laws that institutionalized many of the racial theories underpinning Nazi ideology. The so-called Nuremberg Laws, signed by Hitler and several other Nazi officials, were the cornerstone of the legalized persecution of Jews in Germany. They stripped German Jews of their German citizenship, barred marriage and "extramarital sexual intercourse" between Jews and other Germans, and barred Jews from flying the German flag, which would now be the swastika. On September 16, Ambassador Dodd sent a cable to the secretary of state about the Nuremberg Laws. He wrote: So far it is only possible to say that main trend of Nuremberg congress was to cater to radical sentiment within the Party. The laws passed last night concerning citizenship, the swastika as national flag and for protection of German blood and honor (by means of preventing marriage and sexual intercourse between Aryan and Jews and flying of the German flag by the latter) obviously need further definition and Foreign Office advised waiting for executive supplementary regulations. [These, issued on November 14, provided specific definitions of who a Jew was.] Dodd followed up the next day with a dispatch to the secretary of state regarding the Nuremberg Party Congress: "Race propaganda and psychology ran through practically all the speeches like a scarlet thread, obviously in preparation for the laws that were to be adopted by the Reichstag." He added: "The new laws against the Jews deceive very few people that the last word has been said on that question or that new discriminatory measures will not eventually follow within the limit of what is possible without bringing about too great a disturbance in business." On September 19, Dodd sent the secretary of state two copies of the Reichsgestzblatt [Reich Law Gazette] of September 16, which contained the Nuremberg Laws and also included translations of them. In transmitting them, Dodd wrote: "The anti-Jewish legislation should be sufficiently severe to please Party extremists for some time." They were not. More persecutions followed in the years before World War II began in 1939. The extermination of the Jews and others followed, not only in Germany, but through most of Europe. Original Nuremberg Documents Are Found, But Then Disappear The Moscow Declaration of 1943, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Marshal Josef Stalin, took note of the atrocities perpetrated by the Germans and laid down the policy that the major criminals would “be punished by the joint decision of the Governments of the Allies." But first the war had to be concluded before the Moscow Declaration could be implemented. As the Allied forces overran Germany in April 1945, on April 20 (Hitler's birthday), elements of the Third and 45th Infantry divisions of the U.S. Seventh Army entered Nuremberg and after hard fighting effectively secured the town. A week later, Hitler committed suicide in Berlin, and the week after that, the Germans surrendered. Now the Moscow Declaration could be put into effect. Meanwhile, in late April 1945, M.Sgt. Martin Dannenberg, leading the 203rd U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) Detachment, working with the U.S. Third Army, was roaming through Bavaria with two other men, carrying out various CIC assignments. An informant led him and his team to a bank vault in the town of Eichstaett, about 45 miles due south of Nuremberg. There, a German financial official who had a key opened the vault, then handed over to the American soldiers some documents in a yellow envelope, sealed with red wax swastikas. Dannenberg slit the top of the envelope and pulled the documents out. The first thing he saw was the signature "Adolf Hitler." Sgt. Frank Perls, a German-born Jew (though baptized as a Protestant) who joined the U.S. Army in 1943 after fleeing his homeland in 1933, was one of two men accompanying Dannenberg. Translating the documents, Perls quickly realized they were the infamous Nuremberg Laws. Dannenberg turned them over to his commanding officer, who ordered Dannenberg and Perls to deliver them to the U.S. Third Army commander, Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. War Crimes Trials Begin —Without Original Copies On May 2, less than a week after the CIC special agents found the Nuremberg Laws and a few days before the war in Europe ended, Truman appointed Associate Justice Jackson as chief of counsel for the United States in its prosecution of the Allied case against the major Axis war criminals. During the next three months, Jackson spent most of the time in London negotiating with the British, French, and Soviet representatives over an agreement to prosecute the major Nazi war criminals before an international tribunal. They would reach agreement on August 8. Meanwhile, immediately after Jackson's appointment, the staff of the Office of the United States Chief of Counsel, which grew to more than 600 personnel, started collecting documentary evidence that could be used by the prosecutors. Among the evidence gathered were volumes of the Reichsgestzblatt, which contained various German laws, decrees, and regulations, including those relating to the persecution of the Jews. In the September 16, 1935, edition were the Nuremberg Laws, which had been adopted by the Reichstag the previous day and promulgated by its president, Hermann Goering. Photostats and translations of them were placed in the U.S. evidence file and eventually made available to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. The prosecutors may have wished they had the original laws themselves, as they would have made for dramatic evidence since two of the defendants, Wilhelm Frick and Rudolf Hess, had signed them. But, unfortunately, they did not. General Patton had them. Patton Ignores Orders,Takes Original Copies To California Patton, like so many of his soldiers, was a souvenir hunter. Rather than ensuring the copies of the Nuremberg Laws that he received from Dannenberg and Perls were delivered to the appropriate authorities, he took them home to California after the war in Europe was over. In doing so, Patton was violating Supreme Headquarters Allied Expedition Forces (SHAEF) and 12th Army Group directives of November 9 and 23, 1944, issued by Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar N. Bradley, respectively, regarding seizing and holding Nazi party and German government records. Six months after Patton took the Nuremberg Laws to California, the trial began. Justice Jackson, in his opening statement to the court on November 21, as noted earlier, referenced the Nuremberg Laws, citing the version published in the Reichsgestzblatt of 1935. During the tribunal's December 13 session, an assistant trial counsel for the United States addressed the court about the Nazi persecution of the Jews. In making his presentation, he said: "When the Nazi Party gained control of the German State, a new and terrible weapon against the Jews was placed within their grasp, the power to apply the force of the state against them. This was done by the issuance of decrees." He then proceeded to list them, including the Nuremberg Laws as published in the 1935 Reichsgestzblatt. After discussing them, he asked the court to take judicial notice of the published decrees. From a legal perspective, theReichsgestzblatt was certainly authoritative and acceptable to the tribunal under its charter regarding rules of evidence, but it certainly would have been more dramatic and effective to have confronted the defendants with the originals, as the prosecutors did with other documents. The trial would go on another 10 months, with references often made to the Nuremberg Laws. On September 30 and October 1, 1946, the tribunal rendered judgment. Of the three defendants most closely associated with the Nuremberg Laws, Herman Goering and Wilhelm Frick were sentenced to death, and Rudolf Hess was sentenced to life imprisonment. Missing Documents Reemerge. Now in the National Archives A week later, with his work over, Justice Jackson sent President Truman a final report about his activities and noted that the war crimes documentation, including captured records, was the property of the United States and that an agency should take custody of it on behalf of the United States. "The matter," he wrote, "is of such importance as to warrant calling it to your attention." Two months later, the records of the U.S. Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality were offered to the National Archives, and in 1947 the National Archives accessioned them. Within the records are photostatic and translated copies of the Nuremberg Laws as published in the Reichsgestzblatt and referred to during the trial. General Patton had deposited the original Nuremberg Laws at the Huntington Library, near his home in the Los Angeles area in June 1945; Patton died as a result of injuries received in an auto accident in Germany in December 1945 and had left no instructions regarding the laws. Their existence at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens was not revealed until 1999, when they went on display for 10 years at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles until late 2009. In the summer of 2010, the National Archives accepted donation from the Huntington Library of the original Nuremberg Laws—63 years later than they would have if Patton had turned them over to the appropriate authorities. Greg Bradsher, an archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration, specializes in World War II intelligence, looted assets, and war crimes. His previous contributions to Prologue have included articles the discovery of Nazi gold in the Merkers Mine (Spring 1999); the story of Fritz Kolbe, 1900–1943 (Spring 2002); Japan's secret "Z Plan" in 1944 (Fall 2005); Founding Father Elbridge Gerry (Spring 2006); the third Archivist of the United States, Wayne Grover (Winter 2009); and Operation Blissful, a World War II diversionary attack on an island in the Pacific (Fall 2010). Note on Sources Published in 42 volumes, the Trial of the Major War Criminals before The International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg 14 November 1945–1 October 1946 (Nuremberg: International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 1947–1949), contains the day-to-day proceedings of the tribunal and documents offered in evidence by the prosecution and defense. Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946), vol. I, Chapter 12, contains information about documents, including those not introduced as evidence during the International Military Tribunal, relating to the persecution of the Jews in Germany. The State Department's Central Decimal File, 1930–1939 (General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59), under decimals 862.00 and 862.4016, contains reports on political developments in Germany and the persecution of German Jews. Also useful regarding the persecution of the Jews in Germany beginning in 1935 is Richard Breitman, Barbara McDonald Stewart, and Severin Hochberg, eds., Refugees and Rescue: The Diaries and Papers of James G. McDonald 1935–1945 (Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana University Press, in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, 2009). Useful for understanding the adoption of the Nuremberg Laws, their discovery by the Counterintelligence Corps team in 1945, General Patton's acquisition and disposition of them in 1945, their custody by the Huntington Library (1945–1999), and their subsequent exhibition at the Skirball Cultural Center is Anthony M. Platt with Cecilia E. O'Leary, Bloodlines: Recovering Hitler's Nuremberg Laws, From Patton's Trophy to Public Memorial (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2006). Articles published in Prologue do not necessarily represent the views of NARA or of any other agency of the United States Government.
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https://www.history.com/editorial/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.editorial.aetnd.com%2Fhistory-article-default.desktop.jpg&w=828&q=75 828w, https://www.history.com/editorial/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.editorial.aetnd.com%2Fhistory-article-default.desktop.jpg&w=1080&q=75 1080w, https://www.history.com/editorial/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.editorial.aetnd.com%2Fhistory-article-default.desktop.jpg&w=1248&q=75 1248w, https://www.history.com/editorial/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.editorial.aetnd.com%2Fhistory-article-default.desktop.jpg&w=1920&q=75 1920w, https://www.history.com/editorial/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.editorial.aetnd.com%2Fhistory-article-default.desktop.jpg&w=2048&q=75 2048w, https://www.history.com/editorial/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.editorial.aetnd.com%2Fhistory-article-default.desktop.jpg&w=3840&q=75 3840w" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Missy Sullivan" ]	2009-11-24T18:02:54+00:00	Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces	en	https://www.history.com/…e-touch-icon.png	HISTORY	https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/adolf-hitler-commits-suicide	On April 30, 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler’s dreams of a “1,000-year” Reich. Since at least 1943, it was becoming increasingly clear that Germany would fold under the pressure of the Allied forces. In February of that year, the German 6th Army, lured deep into the Soviet Union, was annihilated at the Battle of Stalingrad, and German hopes for a sustained offensive on both fronts evaporated. Then, in June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed at Normandy, France, and began systematically to push the Germans back toward Berlin. By July 1944, several German military commanders acknowledged their imminent defeat and plotted to remove Hitler from power so as to negotiate a more favorable peace. Their attempts to assassinate Hitler failed, however, and in his reprisals, Hitler executed over 4,000 fellow countrymen. In January 1945, facing a siege of Berlin by the Soviets, Hitler withdrew to his bunker to live out his final days. Located 55 feet under the chancellery, the shelter contained 18 rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply. Though he was growing increasingly mad, Hitler continued to give orders and meet with such close subordinates as Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler and Josef Goebbels. He also married his long-time mistress Eva Braun just one day before his suicide. In his last will and testament, Hitler appointed Admiral Karl Donitz as head of state and Goebbels as chancellor. He then retired to his private quarters with Braun, where he and Braun poisoned themselves and their dogs, before Hitler then also shot himself with his service pistol. 1 / 18 : Keystone/Getty Images Hitler and Braun’s bodies were hastily cremated in the chancellery garden, as Soviet forces closed in on the building. When the Soviets reached the chancellery, they removed Hitler’s ashes, continually changing their location so as to prevent Hitler devotees from creating a memorial at his final resting place. Only eight days later, on May 8, 1945, the German forces issued an unconditional surrender, leaving Germany to be carved up by the four Allied powers. HISTORY Vault: World War II Stream World War II series and specials commercial-free in HISTORY Vault.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	77	https://historyhub.history.gov/military-records/b/military-records-blog/posts/records-of-the-international-military-tribunal-imt-at-nuremberg-in-the-national-archives-collection-of-world-war-ii-war-crimes-records-record-group-238	en	Records of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg in the National Archives Collection of World War II War Crimes Records (Record Group 238)	https://historyhub.histo…ub-faviconV2.png	https://historyhub.histo…ub-faviconV2.png	[ "https://historyhub.history.gov/cfs-filesystemfile/__key/communityserver-components-imagefileviewer/widgetcontainerfiles-3fc3f82483d14ec485ef92e206116d49-s-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-header-header-vyBzvLOFq06_2D00_Eg0UE1shBg-logo/simpleNavLogoImage_2D00_1636131680858_2D00_HistoryHubLogoNEW.png_2D00_125x44.png?_=638130242519547181", "https://historyhub.history.gov/cfs-filesystemfile/__key/communityserver-components-imagefileviewer/communityserver-components-groupavatars-00-00-00-00-10/4UIM5UHSR4JD.png_2D00_68x68x2.png?_=638062172978964698", "https://historyhub.history.gov/cfs-filesystemfile/__key/communityserver-components-imagefileviewer/communityserver-components-avatars-00-00-01-52-71/4UJDX7BA1K9R.png_2D00_80x80x2.png?_=638140536875962137" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	2021-06-21T14:56:30.047000+00:00	The National Archives Collection of World War II War Crimes Records (Record Group (RG) 238) includes records of World War II war crimes trials in Europe and the Far East. In Europe, the United States participated in war crimes trials under three juri...	en	https://historyhub.histo…ub-faviconV2.png		https://historyhub.history.gov/military-records/b/military-records-blog/posts/records-of-the-international-military-tribunal-imt-at-nuremberg-in-the-national-archives-collection-of-world-war-ii-war-crimes-records-record-group-238	The National Archives Collection of World War II War Crimes Records (Record Group (RG) 238) includes records of World War II war crimes trials in Europe and the Far East. In Europe, the United States participated in war crimes trials under three jurisdictions: the International Military Tribunal, the U.S. military tribunals at Nuremberg, and the U.S. Army courts. General authority for the proceedings of all three jurisdictions was derived from the Declaration of German Atrocities (Moscow Declaration), released November 1, 1943, which expressed Allied determination to arrest and bring to justice Axis war criminals. This blog post provides a background of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg, Germany and an overview of the most relevant series of records relating to the IMT that are located in Record Group 238. By executive order in May 1945, President Truman appointed Justice Robert H. Jackson as Representative and Chief of Counsel for the United States in preparing and prosecuting the Allied case against the major Axis war criminals. On August 8, 1945, Justice Jackson signed the London Agreement, along with French, British and Soviet representatives to establish an International Military Tribunal to fulfill this task. The initial indictments were filed with the IMT against 24 German defendants: Hermann Wilhelm Göring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Robert Ley, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Walter Funk, Hjalmar Schacht, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, Karl Dönitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Martin Bormann, Franz von Papen, Artur Seyß-Inquart, Albert Speer, Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath, and Hans Fritzsche. The defendants were tried individually and as members of the following groups or organizations to which they respectively belonged: Die Reichsregierung (Reich Cabinet); das Korps der Politischen Leiter der Nationalsozialistischen Deutschen Arbeiterpartei (Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party); die Schutzstaffel (commonly known as the "SS") and including der Sicherheitsdienst (commonly known as the "SD" ); die Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police, commonly known as the "Gestapo"); die Sturmabteilung (commonly known as the "SA" ); and the General Staff and the High Command of the German Armed Forces. The trial began on November 20, 1945 and concluded on October 1, 1946. Individually and collectively the defendants faced criminal accusations on four counts: (I) the Common Plan or Conspiracy; (II) Crimes Against Peace; (III) War Crimes; and (IV) Crimes Against Humanity. The United States was responsible for the presentation of Count I, Great Britain for Count II, and the Soviet Union and France for Counts III and IV. The Soviet Union directed the prosecution of Counts III and IV for the crimes committed in the East, and France directed the case for crimes committed in the West. Justice Jackson led a staff organization, named the Office of the United States Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality (OCCPAC), to prepare for the prosecution and trial of the case. They were tasked with collecting documentary evidence to support the accusations contained in the indictment. This process had already been started during the war when special investigative teams attached to the American and British Armies collected documentary evidence of the various crimes allegedly committed by Nazi Germany. The OCCPAC grew significantly as it examined and analyzed large quantities of captured documents and interrogations of prisoners and witnesses. At the height of its activities, the main components of the OCCPAC included an Interrogation Division, Documentation Division, Special Projects Unit, four Committees that specialized in compiling evidence relating to specific parts of the indictment, and an Administration Division. The OCCPC ceased to exist in 1946 when the IMT concluded. The records of the OCCPAC at NARA include original and photostatic copies of documents collected for use as evidence, records of the proceedings, background and reference files prepared in connection with the trial, a record copy and working papers produced in connection with the publication titled Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, as well as sound recordings, motion pictures, and photographs related to the IMT. The most relevant textual records comprise several series of captured documents collected and evaluated by American and other Allied investigating teams. Together, they comprise the United States Evidence Files, 1945-1946. These documents were collected, assembled, arranged and described as independent documentary series for judicial purposes and used for the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and later on for the twelve war crimes tribunals conducted there. These files are arranged in numbered series that reflect their subject matter or location of exploitation, regardless of original German provenance. Each document in these series is usually accompanied by a complete or partial English-language translation and a Staff Evidence Analysis (SEA) form that indicates the significance of the documents. The PS (Paris-Storey)-Documents series of evidentiary documents is the earliest and most sustained collection of war crimes documentation prepared in Paris under Col. Robert Storey. It also represents the most extensive collection of original German records in RG 238. Records in this series document Adolf Hitler's rise to power, the development of the Nazi plan of aggression, and the commission of acts of aggression. The work compiling these records began in Paris in 1944 and later continued in Nuremberg as the war crimes trials started. The PS-series ultimately numbered 4,080 record items, and it is estimated that over 1,000 represent original German documents. Several hundred additional PS-documents were subsequently introduced as USA- , GB- (British), or (French) RF-Exhibits with a photocopy placed in the PS-series. In the PS-series, each numbered ‘document’ may consist of a single page, a complete file, a published pamphlet or book, or a set of albums. In some cases a single original PS-document was divided among more than one exhibit for different countries. Examples of some of the PS-documents include: 1749-PS relates to Alfred Rosenberg. It includes a photostatic copy of his diary for the January 2 - May 7, 1940 time period, the original diary for the May 14, 1934-March 18, 1935 time period, and essays, draft speeches, and other material. 141-PS is an order by Hermann Göring concerning the seizure of Jewish art treasures in France by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR), November 1940. 406-PS is a memorandum by Julius Streicher accompanied by several reports by different NSDAP members, concerning the “Kristallnacht” pogrom of 9-10 November 1938 and its aftermath. 438-PS is Führer Directive (Weisung) No. 2 for the conduct of operations against France and Great Britain, September 1939. 439-PS is Führer Directive No. 5 concerning administration of occupied Poland, Sep 1939. 1417-PS is a printed copy of “Reichsgesetzblatt,” Teil I, 1935 Nr. 125, publishing a decree that excluded Jews from German citizenship. Other evidentiary documents series include: C1 to C460 (“C” is an abbreviation for “Crimes”), which relate to activities of the German Navy that were collected and screened by a joint British-American team. D37 - D976 were collected by the British and deal largely with the use of slave labor in German industry. EC1 - EC620 (“EC” is a symbol for “Economic Case” as designated by OCCPAC), which relate mostly to the development of economic policies in Germany and the exploitation of the economy of occupied countries. ECR14 - ECR197, which primarily concern the German occupation of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. L1 - L361 (“L” stands for London”), which include copies of Nazi war plans, affidavits of former concentration camp prisoners, and reports on the progress of the war that were screened by British and American investigators in London. M1 - M229, which are documents consisting largely of excerpts from German newspapers, magazines, and other publications and document anit-Semitism. Another series of evidentiary documents is titled United States Exhibits, 1945-1946. It is arranged numerically, by U.S. exhibit number (USA-1 through USA-930) and consists of documents introduced in evidence before the IMT by U.S. representatives. Some of the USA exhibits include: USA Exhibit 275, a report titled “Es gibt keinen jüdischen Wohnbezirk in Warschau mehr!”. Commonly known as the Stroop Report, it is the official Schutzstaffel (SS) report prepared by SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop which documents the suppression of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, and the deportation of the last surviving Jews of Warsaw. USA Exhibit 251, Mauthausen Death Books. USA-388 consisting of 39 leather-bound photographic albums depicting cultural works that the ERR seized. USA-134, Oberkommando der Wehrmacht/Wehrmachtführungsstab (OKW/WFSt) conference including Adolf Hitler and Army leaders planning for the invasion of the USSR (“Fall Barbarossa”) and operations in North Africa (“Sonnenblume”). USA-329 containing a Circular letter from Martin Bormann to the Party leaders encouraging “lynch-justice” against downed British and American airmen. USA-332, a report by NSDAP/Der Oberste Parteirichter to Hermann Göring regarding punishments and exemptions of Party members for killings of Jews and other actions during the night of 9-10 November 1938 (“Kristallnacht”), including Hermann Göring’s acknowledgment of receipt. USA-368 containing Hermann Göring’s instructions concerning distribution and transfer to Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, German museums, and others of Jewish art treasures seized by the ERR in France, November 1940. USA-463 consists of letters of Luftwaffe General Erhard Milch to SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff and Heinrich Himmler concerning high-altitude medical experiments carried out on inmates in Dachau, May-August 1942. The exhibits introduced by the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union have been microfilmed as National Archives Microfilm Publication T988, titled “Prosecution Exhibits Submitted to the International Military Tribunal.” They may be viewed in the Microfilm Reading Room at the National Archives at College Park, MD. When researching the IMT records at NARA, one should consider looking into theStaff Evidence Analysis Forms (SEA’s)that consist of the analysis sheets prepared for each document collected for use by the prosecution. Each SEA lists the source of the original document, the persons implicated, a summary of relevant content of the document, and cross references to related records. Further, there are considerable reference and background materials that can be found in the series titled Main Office Files, 1945-1946 and Personal Files, 1945-1946 maintained by Justice Robert H. Jackson, as well as in the series Reference Documents Received from American and Foreign Sources, 1945-1947. Justice Jackson maintained the Main Office Files, 1945-1946 in his Nuremberg office. They include background studies, reference materials, interrogations and affidavits, copies and translations of German documents, and other records covering subjects such as concentration and extermination camps, and organizational data on Nazi Party, police, and security organizations. Included are Jackson’s opening and closing addresses, and descriptions of the physical arrangements of the Nuremberg courtrooms. The Personal Files, 1945-1946 also known as “Lindenstrasse Files'' consist of personal working papers maintained by Justice Jackson in his billet at No. 33 Lindenstrasse, Nuremberg. The materials relate to the cross examination of defendants Hermann Göring and Hjalmar Schacht, arguments used in prosecuting organizations, and some of the minutes and reports of the United Nations War Crimes Commission. Reference Documents Received from American and Foreign Sources, 1945-1947 include correspondence, reports, memoranda, booklets, affidavits, handbooks, booklets, photographs, and charts covering economic, military, financial and other subjects. There are also copies of interrogations and statements of German officials in this series. During 1945-1946 the Interrogation Division of the OCCPAC questioned nearly 200 individuals, including all the defendants before the IMT, others later brought to trial, as well as friendly and unfriendly witnesses. These records are located in Interrogations, Summaries of Interrogations, and Related Records, 1945-1946 which is arranged in three sections (originals, duplicates, and duplicates of interrogation summaries) and thereunder alphabetically by last name of individual interrogated. These records constitute detailed interrogations, most of which are in English. The original interrogations, together with other interrogation reports originated by other agencies and forwarded to OCCPAC for reference information, have been microfilmed as National Archives Microfilm Publication M1270, “Interrogation Records Prepared for War Crimes Proceedings at Nuernberg, 1945-1947.” This microfilm publication has been subsequently digitized and digital images have been placed in the National Archives Catalog. In addition to the records mentioned above, there are also records that directly relate to the conduct of the trial. These records include: Transcripts of Proceedings of the International Military Tribunal, November 1945-October 1946 Transcripts of Hearings in Defense of Indicted Organizations, May-August 1946; United States Trial Briefs and Document Books, 1945-1946 (National Archives Microfilm Publication T991) British Documents, 1945-1946 British Exhibits, 1945-1945 British Document Books, ca. 1945-ca.1946 French Documents, 1945-1946 French Exhibits, 1945-1946 French Document Books and Trial Briefs, 1946-1946 Soviet Document Books, 1945-1946 Soviet Exhibits, 1945-1946 Translations of Soviet Exhibits, 1945-1946 Defense Document Books, 1945-194; Defense Closing Arguments, 1946-1946 There are also two series of records titled Security-Classified General Correspondence, 1945-1946. These series are arranged according to the War Department decimal scheme and are useful for researching administrative and organizational data such as the employment of personnel (Classification 200) or the transmittal of documents (Classification 312.2). Further, IMT publications Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression and Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal are also included in our holdings. These publications have been digitized and may be viewed on the website of the Library of Congresshere and here respectively. Finally, I have listed below some other significant records relating to the IMT that have been microfilmed and, in some cases, digitized: War Diaries and Correspondence of General Alfred Jodl (National Archives Microfilm Publication T989) Diary of Hans Frank, 1939-1945 (National Archives Microfilm Publication T992) Concentration Camp Dachau Entry Registers (Zugangsbücher), 1933-1945 (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1938). Records reproduced on this microfilm publication have been digitized and the digital images may be viewed in the National Archives Catalog. This overview covers the most important series relating to the International Military Tribunal that are available at the National Archives at College Park, MD. Where available, I provided links to digitized images of the records in the National Archives Catalog. I will continue to provide updates as other records are digitized and made available online.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	2	https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hermann-goering-key-dates	en	Hermann Göring: Timeline	https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/favicon.ico	https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/favicon.ico	[ "https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/USHMM_WhiteWhite.png", "https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/nav-logos/mobile/en.png", "https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/c40ee2fa-2333-4436-9a3b-fd853494c743.jpg", "https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/narrative/4146/thumb", "https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/asset/3809/thumb", "https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/thumb/be5818b2-44d6-4cdc-9b02-ca13dd8d8b01.jpg", "https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/USHMM_WhiteWhite.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	Hermann Göring held many positions of power and leadership within the Nazi state. Learn about key dates in the life of Hermann Göring.	en	/favicon.ico		https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hermann-goering-key-dates	January 12, 1893 Hermann Göring is born in Marienbad, in the German state of Bavaria. 1905–1911 Göring attends military academy. 1915–1918 Göring serves in the German air force as a fighter pilot. Both wounded and decorated, by the end of the war, he is one of the best-known German air force war heroes. Summer 1921 Göring begins university studies in history and political science in Munich. November 1922 Göring meets Adolf Hitler at a Nazi Party rally and will subsequently join the Nazi Party. November 9, 1923 Göring marches with Hitler during the Beer Hall Putsch against the German government. He is seriously wounded in the hip during the putsch. 1923–1927 Göring's wife, Carin, smuggles the wounded Göring out of Germany via Austria to Italy. In 1925, Göring and his wife go to Sweden to live with her family. After the German government declares a general amnesty for political refugees in 1927, Göring will return to Germany. 1928 Göring becomes one of 11 Nazis to obtain a parliamentary seat in the Reichstag (German Parliament) after the Nazis receive 2.6% of the vote in the parliamentary elections. September 1930 Hitler appoints Göring as his political representative in Berlin, choosing him to lead the Nazi Party Reichstag delegation. October 1931 Göring's wife, Carin, dies of a heart attack. July 1932 Göring becomes president of the Reichstag after the second Nazi electoral surge makes the Nazi Party the largest in Germany. January 1933 The Nazis obtain control of the German state with the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor. Göring receives a cabinet post (Minister without Portfolio) in the Nazi-Nationalist coalition government). Göring is also appointed acting commissar for the Prussian Ministry of the Interior. February 1933 Göring authorizes the appointment of SA (Sturmabteilungen; Assault Detachments) and SS (Schutzstaffel; Protection Squadrons) personnel as auxiliary police personnel. April 11, 1933 Göring persuades Hitler to confirm him as permanent Minister-President and Minister of the Interior of Prussia. April 26, 1933 Göring announces the formation of the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei; Secret State Police). May 5, 1933 Hitler appoints Göring Reich Minister for Aviation. April 1934 Göring negotiates an alliance with Reichsführer-SS (SS chief) Heinrich Himmler. Göring gives up control over the Gestapo and supports SS independence from the SA in July 1934, in return for SS help in removing SA chief of staff Ernst Röhm. May 1934 The Prussian Ministry of the Interior is incorporated into the Reich Ministry of the Interior. December 1934 A secret Hitler decree secures Göring's position as successor to Hitler in the event of Hitler's death or inability to carry out his duties. March 1935 Göring becomes commander-in-chief of the new German Air Force (Luftwaffe). Göring will hold this position until April 29, 1945. April 10, 1935 Göring marries the theater actress Emmy Sonnemann. April 4, 1936 Hitler appoints Göring Commissar for Raw Materials and Foreign Currency. October 18, 1936 Göring becomes Commissioner for the Four-Year Plan. This appointment, as well as that of Commissar for Raw Materials and Foreign Currency, gives Göring a great deal of influence over the German economy. Between 1937 and 1941, Göring exercises nearly absolute power over the country's economy. March 1, 1938 Hitler promotes Göring to Field Marshal General (Generalfeldmarschall). November 9-10, 1938 The Nazi Party leadership uses the excuse of the murder of a German diplomat in Paris by a Jewish youth to unleash a nationwide pogrom (Kristallnacht; Night of Broken Glass) against Jews in the German Reich. During the pogrom, the Nazis and some of their followers burn synagogues, loot Jewish homes and businesses, and kill at least 91 Jews. November 12, 1938 Göring calls a conference of Nazi government officials and SS and police leaders in the Air Force Ministry. Subjects discussed include the imposition of a one billion Reichsmark fine on the Jewish communities of the Reich as "punishment" for the murder of the German diplomat and the future course of legislation aimed at removing the Jews from the German economy. January 24, 1939 Göring, acting in his capacity as chief of the Four-Year Plan, authorizes Reinhard Heydrich to establish a national and central Agency for Jewish Emigration in Berlin to accelerate the "solution" to the Jewish "question" in the Reich through emigration and expulsion. August 30, 1939 Hitler appoints Göring Chairman of the Reich Defense Council. July 19, 1940 After the German victory in France, Hitler names Göring Reich Marshal of the Greater German Reich (Reishmarschall des großdeutschen Reiches). Summer 1940 Göring's reputation with his colleagues in the Nazi regime is tarnished after the German Air Force fails to defeat the British Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain. July 31, 1941 Göring authorizes Reinhard Heydrich to coordinate resources of the Reich for a "solution of the Jewish Question" throughout Europe. November 1941 Hitler begins to harshly criticize the German Air Force's failure to completely eliminate the Soviet air force and to adequately supply troops engaged deep in the Soviet Union. December 19, 1941 Hitler takes direct control over the German Armed Forces. The German Air Force is subsequently reduced to a support service for the Army. March 1943 Hitler blames Göring when the British offensive creates extensive damage and destruction in the Ruhr industrial region of Germany. April 23, 1945 When Hitler is cut off in Berlin as Soviet troops encircle the capital, Göring sends a telegram to Hitler requesting authorization to take over as Hitler's successor. Hitler denounces Göring as a traitor, strips him of all his offices, and orders his arrest. May 7, 1945 Germany surrenders to the Allies. Göring is arrested by US troops southeast of Salzburg, Austria. October 1, 1946 The judges of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg sentence Göring to death by hanging.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	81	https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna10098223	en	At 60, Nuremberg trials still send a message	https://media-cldnry.s-n…remberg_hmed.jpg	https://media-cldnry.s-n…remberg_hmed.jpg	[ "https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best/msnbc/Components/Photos/051118/051118_nuremberg_hmed.jpg", "https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best/msnbc/Components/Photos/051118/051118_nuremberg_bcol.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Andy Eckardt" ]	2005-11-18T21:07:16+00:00	The 60th anniversary of the start of the Nuremberg trials against leading Nazis sheds light on the influence they had on international justice. NBC News' Andy Eckardt reports from Germany.	en	https://nodeassets.nbcnews.com/cdnassets/projects/ramen/favicon/nbcnews/all-other-sizes-PNG.ico/favicon.ico	NBC News	https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna10098223	NUREMBERG, GERMANY — There is little physical evidence of the world-reverberating events that happened at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice 60 years ago. Lawyers clutch their papers. Anxious defendants await their trials. The comings and goings have all the hallmarks of a local court in a regional city. But the wooden benches in Courtroom 600 creak under the weight of history. That's because few trials can compare in importance and historical impact to the International Military Tribunal which started here on Dec. 20, 1945, and convicted 18 leading Nazis of war crimes and crimes against humanity. For Germany, the Nuremberg trials marked the end of the darkest chapter of its history and the beginning of a long process in which the country struggled to come to terms with its Nazi past. For the rest of the world, it set the example for every succeeding effort to bring justice to perpetrators of war crimes, from Rwanda to the current prosecution of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. A chance to achieve justice By the time the six-month tribunal began on November 20, 1945, Adolf Hitler and several other high-ranking Nazis had already committed suicide or disappeared, leaving 21 of the original 24 defendants identified by the allies to face charges. (One was deemed too ill to appear in court, resulting in 20 on the court’s benches.) At the end of the remarkably rapid judicial process — which began just six months after the end of the war — 18 defendants were found guilty and three acquitted. Eleven of the guilty were sentenced to death and seven jailed. The most senior of them, Herman Goering, the founder of the widely feared Gestapo, Hitler's secret police, committed suicide with a cyanide capsule just hours before he was due to be executed in 1946. The other ten were hanged. In the wake of the trials, more than 5,000 people faced charges in so-called successor trials, which were lead by U.S. prosecutors. More than 800 people were sentenced to death in the tribunals; however, a total of only 469 war criminals were eventually executed. In what became later East Germany, the Soviet occupiers were more ruthless in their de-Nazification process. Historians believe that up to 45,000 people were convicted, often without a proper trial. The Russians established camps where more than 120,000 Germans were detained and where some 756 executions took place. Beginning so quickly after the end of the war, the prosecutions were invisible to most in the general German population, many of whom were still struggling to survive in cities, including Nuremberg, that were almost completely destroyed by Allied bombing. (In fact, Nuremberg was chosen as the site for the trials in part because its court building, located at the edge of the city, was one of the few undamaged legal facilities in the country.) One who was aware was Arno Hamburger, a Jewish man who worked as an interpreter for the office of the chief counsel of war crimes in Nuremberg between 1946 and 1949 and lost many family members in the Holocaust. Now 82, he remembers the proceedings with mixed feelings. "I did not feel satisfaction when I saw the Nazi doctors, Wehrmacht members and sympathizers stand trial," he said. "Instead, it was this momentum of achieving justice which prevailed," said Hamburger. First international tribunal And it was a form of justice that has continued, for the Nuremberg Trials were a milestone in judicial history. "Nuremberg did not prevent other wars or war crimes, but it marked the birth of the practice of international law," said Professor Klaus Kastner from the University of Erlangen in Bavaria. Perhaps the most important outgrowth of Nuremberg was the establishment in 1998 of the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands, created to ensure that the gravest international crimes do not go unpunished. Most experts see Nuremberg as the initiation of international human rights trials, from the prosecution of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague to the Saddam Hussein trial which opened in Baghdad in October this year. However, there are critical voices who say that today's war crime trials have not lived up to expectations, and do not achieve justice for millions affected by tyranny. "The danger is that such trials become standalone spectacles that blame all crimes on one man and neither assign the guilt correctly nor cleanse the future," Simon Montefiore wrote in Britain's The Times newspaper. In the trials, former dictators often rant at judges and ridicule the court. Others, such as former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic and Serb general Ratko Mladic, indicted in 1993, are still at large. But, for Kastner, that’s all an important part of the process. "Because today's international tribunals strictly apply the rule of law, they are often long and complicated trials," he explained. Dark chapter Today, sixty years after the war, the ghosts of the country's Nazi history are still kept alive in Nuremberg, which is located north of Munich in the south-central part of the country and for most Germans is better known for its picturesque Christmas market. "Nuremberg is the only German city which has persistently dealt with its Nazi past by establishing education centers and presenting human rights awards regularly," said Hamburger, who has been heading the local Jewish community since 1966. In part, that may be due to Nuremberg’s dark legacy. In 1935, Hitler proclaimed his so called “Race Laws” in the city. The laws deprived German Jews of their rights of citizenship, giving them the status of "subjects" in Hitler's Third Reich, and opening the door to the systematic killing of millions of Jews. Nuremberg also was the site where Hitler's National Socialist Party choreographed numerous rallies with up to 50,000 participants at a gigantic parade field between 1933 and 1938. Rembering the trials The Nuremberg ceremonies are among many 60th anniversaries marked this year, including end of World War II and the liberation of the deadly Nazi concentration camps. At a panel discussion earlier this week, Arno Hamburger presented original documents from German archives which show how Nazi doctors conducted fiendish medical experiments on tens of thousand of Jews. "Forget the history books," he argued. “Teachers must read from the original reports, which describe the indescribable — the full detail of Nazi atrocities and inhumanity." On Sunday, historians and eyewitnesses will meet in Nuremberg to commemorate the trials that brought the culprits to justice. Participants know that this will probably be the last anniversary at which eyewitnesses will be able to give a first-hand account of their experiences. "It is important to keep the memories alive," said Benjamin Ferencz, 85, an American who was chief prosecutor at the follow-up trials. "Important because we have not yet achieved the goal of making this world more humane and more peaceful," Ferencz said.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	98	https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/what-exactly-was-hermann-goering-found-guilty-of.305510/page-2	en				[ "https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/_fs-ch-1T1wmsGaOgGaSxcX/assets/fastlyLogoError.svg", "https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/_fs-ch-1T1wmsGaOgGaSxcX/assets/errorIcon.svg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null
correct_death_00048	FactBench	0	34	https://github.com/ajesujoba/UNIQORN/blob/main/Results/KG/LC-QuAD2.0.json	en	UNIQORN/Results/KG/LC-QuAD2.0.json at main · ajesujoba/UNIQORN	https://opengraph.githubassets.com/fbc8b5efa4f6962d86df418482e7cd9eded7b14fa713b0d0bb3c35db1b510ade/ajesujoba/UNIQORN	https://opengraph.githubassets.com/fbc8b5efa4f6962d86df418482e7cd9eded7b14fa713b0d0bb3c35db1b510ade/ajesujoba/UNIQORN	[]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	Contribute to ajesujoba/UNIQORN development by creating an account on GitHub.	en	https://github.com/fluidicon.png	GitHub	https://github.com/ajesujoba/UNIQORN/blob/main/Results/KG/LC-QuAD2.0.json	Skip to content Navigation Menu
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correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	61	https://museums.nuernberg.de/documentation-center/topics/national-socialism/the-beginnings-of-the-nazi-dictatorship/the-nazis-seize-power	en	The Nazis seize power	https://museums.nuernberg.de/favicon.ico	https://museums.nuernberg.de/favicon.ico	[ "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/media/images/logos/logo_nuernberg.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/media/images/logos/logo_nuernberg_mobile.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/_migrated/media/doku_Themen_02.jpg", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/_migrated/media/Logo_23.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/mdsn/images/content/Dokuzentrum/Themen/Nationalsozialismus/Anfaenge/hitler-reichskanzler.jpg", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/typo3conf/ext/museenprovider/Resources/Public/img/google_arts_culture.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/typo3conf/ext/museenprovider/Resources/Public/img/facebook.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/mdsn/images/basic/mdsn_twitter_logo.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/mdsn/images/basic/mdsn_instagram_logo.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/mdsn/images/basic/mdsn_youtube_logo.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	Museen	en	/favicon.ico		https://museums.nuernberg.de/documentation-center/topics/national-socialism/the-beginnings-of-the-nazi-dictatorship/the-nazis-seize-power	January 30, 1933: President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler as Chancellor. That evening, his adherents celebrate in Berlin. In a quickly organized torchlight parade, the SA and SS join members of the "Stahlhelm" paramilitary organization of World War I veterans in marching through the government district. The National Socialists do not hold a majority in the new government. Adolf Hitler, Wilhelm Frick and Hermann Göring are the only three of the cabinet’s twelve members that belong to the Nazi party. Hitler’s national conservative partners plan to "hedge in" and "tame" the party's "Führer" – its "leader." They expect to exploit his party's mass base for their own purposes. But as events later show, they are only clearing the way for Hitler and the National Socialists. Nor does either the Nazi party or the government parties together hold a majority in parliament, the Reichstag. Like every cabinet since March 1930, Hitler's government instead draws its power from the special emergency authority granted by the constitution to the President. Hitler's predecessors had already attempted to establish an authoritarian system of government with the aid of this executive cabinet. So when Hitler comes to power, anti-democratic forces and ideas have already gained a great deal of ground. Continue reading: "The path to dictatorship"
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	78	https://deadline.com/2024/05/nuremberg-rami-malek-russell-crowe-rami-malek-movie-interview-1235905328/	en	‘Nuremberg’ Set Report: Inside James Vanderbilt’s Nazi Thriller Starring Russell Crowe And Rami Malek + Exclusive First-Look Images	https://deadline.com/wp-…21652.jpg?w=1024	https://deadline.com/wp-…21652.jpg?w=1024	[ "https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=6035310&c4=&cv=3.9&cj=1", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/o-united-airlines-jet-facebook.jpeg?w=380&h=212&crop=1", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/russell_121652.jpg?w=1280&h=720&crop=1", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://deadline.com/wp-content/themes/pmc-deadline-2019/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.jpg", "https://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel?a.1=p-0f0nSqEQ_DwA6&a.2=p-31f3D02tYU8zY" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Joe Utichi" ]	2024-05-13T14:00:00+00:00	'Nuremberg' from writer-director James Vanderbilt tells the untold story of the Nazi trials with Russell Crowe and Rami Malek in starring roles.	en	https://deadline.com/wp-…e-touch-icon.png	Deadline	https://deadline.com/2024/05/nuremberg-rami-malek-russell-crowe-rami-malek-movie-interview-1235905328/	In the fuselage of a C-47 transport plane, a group of high-ranking Nazis in uniforms stripped of their insignia are facing their captors. Among them, Hermann Göring strikes up a conversation with a U.S. military psychiatrist, Lt. Colonel Douglas Kelley. “Howie here tells me you do magic,” Göring says to Kelley. Kelley nods and shows him a quick coin trick. “Very good,” Göring responds. “But I am going to show you a real magic trick someday. I am going to escape the hangman’s noose.” It is then that Robert Ley, the Nazi head of the German Labour Front, spots something out of the window. “Nürnberg,” he announces. As the rest of the group takes in the sight of the bombed city, their destination is clear. The Palace of Justice is one of the few buildings that remain standing. Their trial will soon begin. It is an uncanny scene to watch play out on a soundstage in Budapest in 2024. There’s anticipation from both sides in this plane, as each tries to work out whether the Allies’ gamble, to try the defeated Nazi regime for its war crimes, will pay off. And that electricity never leaves the air in the two days Deadline spends on the set of James Vanderbilt’s new thriller Nuremberg, which comes to the Cannes market as surely one of the year’s hottest acquisition titles. Based on Jack El-Hai’s book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, Nuremberg tells the story of Kelley’s interactions with the group of Nazi criminals tried at the end of the war. As well as Göring and Ley, Kelley was the first Allied psychiatrist to evaluate Nazi leaders like Rudolf Hess, Julius Streicher and Karl Dönitz. And while the trials themselves have been adapted to film before — notably in Stanley Kramer’s 1961 epic Judgment at Nuremberg — Kelley’s particular take on what he witnessed has been largely ignored. Kelley was young and eager to prove himself, but as he faced the men that had brought the world into its deadliest war, he came to understand the ease with which evil can pervade society. He returned from the trials determined to sound a warning that such a malignant slide would be possible again if it weren’t properly guarded against. But in the immediate relief of the war’s end, few were prepared to listen. The Nuremberg trials exposed the dark secrets of the Nazi regime, but they also reassured people that the monsters had been dealt with. Kelley’s book about his experiences, and the warnings it contained, failed; overshadowed by the work of Gustave Gilbert, the psychologist brought in to reevaluate his findings. Kelley ultimately died by suicide in 1958 having taken potassium cyanide, the very same drug that Göring had indeed used to “escape the hangman’s noose” after his conviction. Vanderbilt had started thinking about this story even before El-Hai’s book had been published in 2013. “I read his book proposal, which was about the relationship between Kelley and Göring,” the writer and director tells Deadline during a break in shooting. “I learned about the Nuremberg trials in school, so I knew the basic facts. But as soon as I read about the relationship between these two men, I was really attracted to the idea of telling a personal story between them and how they collided at this crossroads in history.” What also fascinated Vanderbilt was a generational shift he saw in understanding about the events of World War II. “I took it all on faith, that of course the Nuremberg trials had happened, that justice was done. Both my grandfathers fought in the war. I had many friends whose grandparents were in the camps. But when I talked to my kids about World War II, it was like talking to them about the American Revolution. It is so much further removed from their generation. It felt like a great opportunity to tell a story that brings these events back to life and says, ‘This wasn’t at all a fait accompli.’” Though Vanderbilt’s work may have started more than a decade ago, the lessons Kelley tried to teach seem as pertinent now as they’ve ever been. “Unfortunately, the film has become timelier rather than less timely,” says Vanderbilt. “But the thing I always loved about this story is that it’s actually timeless. It’s the old adage that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The easiest way to for us to do harm to other people is to look at them as other; as different from us. We assume they’ll dress like Nazis and announce themselves as bad guys, but that’s not the way the world works. That’s not how terrible things can happen.” Vanderbilt did research of his own, too, into the machinations that went into building the unprecedented trials, in which justices from the Soviet Union, the UK, the U.S. and France sat in judgment. It was at Nuremberg, where proceedings were diligently recorded and dispersed in newsreels, that the world first saw footage from inside the Nazi concentration camps; irrefutable evidence of the horror of the Holocaust. Into his script for Nuremberg, Vanderbilt weaved the story of U.S. prosecutor Robert Jackson, who along with his British counterpart Sir David Maxwell Fyfe questioned Hermann Göring on the stand. While other actors had attached themselves to Nuremberg’s vision of Göring over the years, when the script landed on Russell Crowe’s desk, he couldn’t resist the prospect. “For the most part, the things that attract me are the things that terrify me,” Crowe tells Deadline. “I responded to the script straight away, but in a funny way I was also emotionally exhausted by it. How would you even attempt to play that guy? When that kind of question comes up, that’s usually what I’m attracted to.” He laughs. “It’s also why you haven’t seen me do 15 variations on Gladiator. And to this day, I still haven’t done a sequel, which I consider a rare badge of honor.” Crowe, too, responded to how prescient the story was. “Kelley wouldn’t acquiesce to the common story of Nazism at the time, which was the story that the Allies wanted to push, that this was a group of madmen. These people were involved in some very dark things that came out of situations that shouldn’t have directed them in that way. We see a lot of this type of politics of circumstance going on now, where in order to hold power, people are willing to go beyond established rules. Göring was willing to get into bed with people he ordinarily might not have, because of the circumstances he was in.” He adds: “We were brought up to believe that the guy talking to us has a passion, and that he’s chosen public life to serve people. The time period we’re living through now, over the last 10 years maybe, we’ve seen a completely different kind of animal coming out of the jungle: a person that just wants to be in power. They’ll say anything, do anything, if it keeps them in that privileged position. It’s very, very dangerous. Here we are again with the same kind of tubs being thumped and drums being banged that could lead us to incredible darkness.” Crowe’s clarion call, and Vanderbilt’s gripping script, attracted the attention of producer Richard Saperstein, whose Bluestone Entertainment has teamed with Walden Media and Széchenyi Funds to finance the production. He’d read the script for Nuremberg in 2016 when it was in other hands, and when it came back around, the company leapt at the chance to make it. In short order, an all-star cast assembled including Rami Malek as Kelley, Michael Shannon as Jackson, Richard E. Grant as Fyfe, and Colin Hanks as Gilbert. John Slattery plays Colonel Andrus, who kept the Nazi prisoners, and Leo Woodall plays Sgt. Howie Triest, a German Jew who had fled to New York at the outbreak of the war, and who was drafted by Andrus to translate. There are heavyweights behind the camera too, including cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, production designer Eve Stewart, and hair and makeup designer Jan Sewell. “Everybody here is a top person,” says Saperstein, “and it’s because there’s something about this script and subject matter that brings passion out in them.” “It was one of those rare scripts where you don’t want to touch a single beat; there’s not one word out of place,” says Malek. “James has got such a good sense of rhythm and pacing, and you feel there’s a motor to the script — some driving force behind it — and it propels you from scene to scene.” In addition to reading El-Hai’s book, Malek was able to unearth a copy of Kelley’s 22 Cells in Nuremberg, the long out-of-print book he had written about his time with the prisoners. He also shared the books and the script with a psychiatrist, who was able to help him home in on Kelley’s obsessive nature. “I always find myself drawn to characters who are still tethered to events in their life, who are acting now in an attempt to reconcile their past,” Malek explains. “So, for Kelley, he has this need, an obsessive need, to prove his worth, to do something ‘great’.” In Göring, Kelley found a subject who could be as charming, humorous and devoted to his family as he was ruthlessly unrepentant about the having conspired to commit the greatest atrocities in history. “He couldn’t help but empathize with [Göring],” Malek says. “For Kelley to be so convinced that he was there to ‘dissect evil,’ as he explains in his book, and then to discover there’s nothing uniquely evil about Göring; in fact there’s humanity in there. He realized that anyone at any moment in any political landscape could be capable of an atrocity like that. How jarring, and how absolutely terrifying that must have been.” In numerous moments throughout the film, Kelley and Göring spar as the young American comes to grips with this larger-than-life tyrant. As Malek and Crowe bring their interplay to life in the cramped jail-cell set Stewart and her team meticulously re-created to match the real location the Nazi criminals were held, the dynamic between them is charged. “To say the hair stands up on the back of my neck doesn’t quite cover it,” says Walden Media’s Cherilyn Hawrysh. “This is what it’s like to watch two Academy Award-winning actors at their fullest.” “It has been an incredible learning experience for me, watching these two titans go toe-to-toe,” says Woodall, who has found himself in the room for numerous scenes between the two ready to translate, although Göring spoke good English. He recalls a scene in which the two of them extended the dialogue past the point the take should have cut; just kept their back-and-forth going. “At one point Rami turned to me and said, ‘Howie, what do you think?’ And I just said, ‘What?’” He laughs. “I nearly responded in my British accent, because I was so immersed, and I’d completely come out of character.” But it’s not as though the degree of difficulty hasn’t been there for Woodall too. Howie isn’t just a German speaker, but a native German speaker, and Woodall … isn’t. “I didn’t speak a lick of German, and in the first scene I shot I was translating heavily between Rami and Russell. I was thrown in at the deep end, but Howie is such a complex, fascinating person. I think you want to feel like the work you do matters, and with this, it really does.” Can art change the world? It’s a lofty question to put on any piece of work. Nuremberg has clearly assembled a cast and crew hellbent on keeping this story alive, and Vanderbilt’s script has been the glue holding them here. As for that bigger question … “Well, it might be a slim hope, but it’s the only one I’ve got,” says Crowe. “This has been a great shoot and I’ve really enjoyed it, purely from an acting perspective. But it has been a mentally pressurized shoot just because of the subject matter. The reminder that these are human beings, and they made these decisions as a collective because it’s what they could get away with. It’s a very scary thing.” Says Malek, “I was apprehensive about whether I could have the conviction on who this guy was to go toe-to-toe with Russell, and Michael, and the rest of the cast. But, in this particular case, the legend happens to be the film, and it isn’t legend; it’s truth. There’s a reason everyone has been drawn to this, and we’re all reaching to do our best work. When you find a gem like this that not only entertains, but also reveals something about humanity, reminds us of our faults, and perhaps allows us to question how we walk through the world, that’s powerful.”
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	95	https://thechaplainkit.com/history/stories/chaplain-henry-gerecke-nuremberg-chaplain/	en	Chaplain Henry Gerecke-Nuremberg Chaplain	https://thechaplainkit.c…ropped.jpg?w=219	https://thechaplainkit.c…ropped.jpg?w=219	[ "https://thechaplainkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/chaplain-gerecke-cropped.jpg?w=219&h=300", "https://thechaplainkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/img_20151210_115051053.jpg?w=604", "https://thechaplainkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/henry-hank-gerecke.jpg?w=604", "https://i0.wp.com/thechaplainkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/tck-logo-earth-lg.png?w=600&h=600&crop=1&ssl=1", "https://thechaplainkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/twj_instagram_6.jpg?w=1080", "https://thechaplainkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/reboot.png", "https://thechaplainkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/sample-prayers.png?w=352", "http://s11.flagcounter.com/count/v1je/bg_FFFFFF/txt_000000/border_CCCCCC/columns_3/maxflags_250/viewers_3/labels_1/pageviews_1/flags_1/", "https://thechaplainkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cropped-the-chaplain-kit-logo.jpg?w=50", "https://thechaplainkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cropped-the-chaplain-kit-logo.jpg?w=50", "https://pixel.wp.com/b.gif?v=noscript" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Tyler Graef ~ Southeast Missourian", "Henry “Hank” Gerecke", "Henry Gerecke", "a Lutheran minister", "Army chaplain during WWII", "Germany. (Laura Simon)", "he blinks slowly", "their crimes", "his wrinkles", "a man of principle" ]	2016-04-12T11:47:50+00:00	Chaplain Henry F. Gerecke served as a chaplain in the Army during WW2. Following the war he was selected to be the chaplain to the Nazi prisoners during the Nuremberg war trials. The U.S. Army Chaplain Museum has on display Hermann Göring's gloves that he gave to Chaplain Gerecke. Also on display is the communion…	en	https://thechaplainkit.c…it-logo.jpg?w=32	The Chaplain Kit	https://thechaplainkit.com/history/stories/chaplain-henry-gerecke-nuremberg-chaplain/
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	36	https://nuremberg.law.harvard.edu/	en	Explore the Nuremberg Trials!			[ "https://nuremberg.law.harvard.edu/static/images/trials/imt.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null		en			null	Document Analyst's Report During February I analyzed the defense documents for Arthur Seyss-Inquart and went through his defense case in the transcript, and began work on the documents of Franz von Papen. Seyss-Inquart was an Austrian Nazi who played a middle-man role in the German occupation of Austria in 1938, briefly assisted Hans Frank in occupied Poland, and then became the governor of the Netherlands from 1940 to the end of the war. The pawn in the game: … Continue Reading During January I worked through the documents and corresponding trial transcript for the defense of Alfred Jodl, the head of the military operations staff, and began work on the documents of Artur Seyss-Inquart, the Austrian Nazi who played a role in the German takeover in 1938 and served as the German governor of the Netherlands during the war. Strategy, or lack of it: Jodl argued that he had no role in setting military strategy during … Continue Reading During December I completed the analysis of the prosecution documents on the "slave labor" program (the prosecution's term for the use of conscripted civilians from occupied territories and POWs in Germany's war economy) and the supplemental prosecution evidence used when Fritz Sauckel and Albert Speer presented their defense cases. Speer apparently made a good impression on several of the IMT judges (and much of the public then and later) as a very intelligent and talented … Continue Reading During November I completed the analysis of Fritz Sauckel's defense documents and began work on the prosecution's documents on what it called the "slave labor" program (this falls under the "forced labor" heading in our database list of trial issues). Sauckel's background, as he testified, included a major fact that affected his approach to the use of several million foreign workers in Germany's war economy: During World War I he had been a POW in … Continue Reading During October I completed the analysis for Baldur von Schirach's defense documents and worked through the corresponding part of the trial transcript, and started work on the defense documents of Fritz Sauckel, who led the labor procurement operation during the war. Schirach's defense included some surprising material. Fighting words? The prosecution tried to portray Schirach's Hitler Youth program as a premilitary organization preparing boys to fight wars of conquest, which would make Schirach complicit in … Continue Reading During August I analyzed the defense documents in five of Admiral Raeder's six document books. In the middle of the month I reached and then passed one round number: 5000 IMT trial documents organized and analyzed. In slightly rounded numbers we now have: 100 pre-trial and administrative documents 3710 prosecution documents 1235 defense documents (so far) The final total for the full trial can't be predicted; we won't know until we're done. Good information, bad … Continue Reading During July I finished the analysis of the IMT defense documents for Admiral Doenitz, and most but not all of the corresponding transcript work. The transcript is slow going for Doenitz's material because it went through four steps once the four document books were assembled: the prosecution objected to many of the documents, the defense argued for their inclusion, the tribunal ruled on which documents were rejected or accepted, and finally the defense presented those … Continue Reading During June I analyzed the defense documents of Walther Funk and one-third of the documents of Admiral Doentiz. This ended one year's work on the IMT following the COVID related "pause," and also one year with the defense material. During the year I worked through the documents of defendants Frank, Frick, Funk, Goering, Hess, Kaltenbrunner, Keitel, Ribbentrop, Rosenberg, Schacht, and Streicher, amounting to slightly more than 1000 documents. One discovery was that it takes considerably … Continue Reading During May I analyzed the defense documents of Julius Streicher, the antisemitic propagandist, and Hjalmar Schacht, the regime's banker in the 1930s. Streicher was the most repulsive of the defendants and Schacht the most sympathetic. I expected Streicher's material would be difficult to deal with and Schacht's to be dull (considering his role as a banker), but Streicher's documents were dull and Schacht's were surprisingly interesting. Defense of a terrible client: Streicher hoped to argue … Continue Reading During April I finished the analysis of Hans Frank's fourth and fifth document books, and then analyzed Wilhelm Frick's defense documents. Frick, the Interior Minister, presented a more compact defense than the other high-level defendants, relying on his record as a bureaucrat who had no role in the planning of the war and no control over the activities of the SS. The occupier as dairy farmer: As governor of occupied Poland, Frank described his strategy … Continue Reading During March I began work on the defense documents of Hans Frank, who was prosecuted mostly for his activities as governor of occupied Poland (the Government General). I worked through three of his five document books. Pluribus aut unum (many or one): On 24 April 1946 Frank's attorney formally introduced his exhibits, most notably this one (paraphrased): "Exhibit ten is a set of extracts from Frank's official diary, assigned evidence code number PS 2233 by … Continue Reading During February I spent the first third of the month catching up on the transcript work for Keitel's and Kaltenbrunner's defense presentations, noting when new documents were entered and documents presented earlier were discussed. Even though these defendants presented few documents themselves compared to Ribbentrop (1/10th as many for Keitel and 1/20th for Kaltenbrunner), they testified at length and many documents came up for review. Among them were the prosecution exhibits on the killing of … Continue Reading During January I worked through the IMT prosecution's rebuttal to Ribbentrop's defense, Keitel's defense documents, and Kaltenbrunner's defense documents. Kaltenbrunner's document book supplement included a bonus of sorts: a set of 15 prosecution documents concerning the killing of captured Allied airmen in mid-1944 (either by the "lynch law" of civilians or by the security police). This is the first time that a group of prosecution documents has turned up in a defense file and not … Continue Reading December is a short work-month at HLS, so this is early. During the month I finished analyzing Ribbentrop's last three defense document books, his attorney's final argument, and the affidavit he prepared just before his execution for a Japanese diplomat facing trial at the IMT Far East. His documents covered 1940-41 with a now-familiar theme: how Germany was flanked by enemies (the USSR and America) and had to fight a defensive war on all sides. … Continue Reading During November I worked through three of Ribbentrop's nine defense document books, two of them on Poland, to pin the blame for the war on the Poles, and one on the expansion of the war in 1940, blaming the "encirclement" strategy of Britain and France. In a literal sense Poland provided considerable evidence for Ribbentrop's case, as there was no shortage of hostility on both sides. One sign appeared in my geographical dictionary when I … Continue Reading During October I worked through Ribbentrop's evidence document books three and four and began the fifth book, placing me roughly at the half-way point in Ribbentrop's defense case. Most of the documents offered were rejected as evidence by the tribunal as being irrelevant to the issues in the trial, but they still provide a sense of how Ribbentrop viewed his case. The exhibit errant: During Hess's defense presentation his attorney wanted to submit evidence from … Continue Reading In September I completed analysis of the defense documents for Rudolf Hess and began those for Joachim von Ribbentrop, the foreign minister. We now have just over 4000 documents in the system for the IMT, ca 3800 for the prosecution and 200 for the defendants so far. A variety of strategies: Goering, the lead defendant, offered few documents and instead took the stand to argue his case-or at least to secure his reputation as a … Continue Reading After a somewhat prolonged pause, document analysis for the International Military Tribunal (IMT, 1945-46) resumed in July. Once the computer system was set up and the trial transcript delivered from storage, I picked up from where I had left off in the transcript and found it had been the perfect place to pause-the completion of the Soviet prosecution case in late February 1946, for which I had analyzed the English language documents in the collection. … Continue Reading During February I analyzed the documents of the second half of the prosecution case against Frick, the French presentation on forced labor, and the case against Hans Fritzsche, a senior official in the propaganda ministry. This amounted to 110 documents and 544 pages of material. The political bureaucrat: The first half of the prosecution case on Frick presented his work as an architect of the Nazi legal and institutional regime, as he was a master … Continue Reading During January I analyzed the IMT prosecution documents concerning Artur Seyss-Inquart and the first half of the case against Wilhelm Frick. This amounted to 157 documents and 796 pages of material. (I also added a new task, connecting the code numbers for the scanned images of the documents to the corresponding database entries, so that the images will go up on the website connected to the corresponding analysis.) Seyss-Inquart was an Austrian Nazi who helped … Continue Reading In December 2019, I analyzed the prosecution documents on two of the IMT defendants, Schirach and Bormann, amounting to 137 documents and 774 pages of material. This brought the total for the IMT to 3200 documents so far, in just under two years of analysis work. (Many more to follow.) Bormann was tried in absentia; he had in fact died at the end of the war but this had not been definitely established at the … Continue Reading In November I analyzed the prosecution documents against Admiral Raeder, the commander of the navy in the 1930s and the first half of the war; this amounted to 129 documents and 645 pages of material. The initial case against Raeder was compact, as he was primarily charged with violations of the laws of naval warfare, but in his defense he made the tactical mistake of claiming he was only a naval officer and had no … Continue Reading During October, I analyzed the IMT prosecution files concerning defendants Funk (the banker) and Admiral Doenitz; this amounted to 119 documents and 693 pages of material. The Funk case extended that of his predecessor, Schacht, with a few marginal additions, while the Doenitz material covered the preparation for the war, which the prosecution considered to be the central crime of the regime, and the details of crimes committed in the war at sea, particularly the … Continue Reading During September I analyzed the remaining documents of the prosecution case against Streicher and all of the case against Hjalmar Schacht, the regime's banker; this amounted to 175 documents and 751 pages of material. Extermination declared: In December 1942, the "United Nations" (the Allied nations) issued a declaration on reports that Germans "are now carrying into effect Hitler's oft repeated intention to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe." Adults were being worked to death, others … Continue Reading During August I completed the IMT prosecution documents on Hans Frank, the occupation governor of Poland, and began the documents on Julius Streicher, the Nazi propagandist. This amounted to 174 documents and 551 pages of material. For the IMT as a whole, we passed the 2500-document mark early in the month and now have more than 2600 documents analyzed. The case against Frank was covered in the last report, and the final file did not … Continue Reading During July I completed work on the prosecution documents on Goering and began work on the documents on Hans Frank. This amounted to 155 documents and 722 pages of material. One of the document books, for the cross-examination of Frank, was prepared by the USSR; this is the first Soviet file (in the English language) that has appeared in the collection. In terms of the collection, the two sets occur in opposite forms: the Goering … Continue Reading During June I analyzed the IMT prosecution documents concerning Alfred Rosenberg and four of the document books on Hermann Goering, the lead defendant. This amounted to 141 documents and 700 pages of material. As it turned out, Rosenberg and Goering form a study in contrast. Labels (problem of): When I began work on the prosecution case against the individual defendants (the third phase of the prosecution), the first file was a presentation on "the lead … Continue Reading During May I finished the analysis of the IMT prosecution documents on generals Keitel and Jodl, and began work on the documents about Alfred Rosenberg; this amounted to 128 documents and 873 pages of material. Old concepts and new: In September 1941 Admiral Canaris circulated a commentary on the new policy to treat Soviet POWs as criminals, noting that it violated traditional international law. Keitel commented that "The objections arise from the military concept of … Continue Reading During April I began work on the IMT prosecution's case against the individual defendants (the third major phase of the prosecution), including the opening statement, then briefs and documents on Goering, Ribbentrop, Keitel, and Jodl. This amounted to 160 documents and 655 pages of material. We also passed the 2000 mark in the number of IMT documents analyzed. Making it personal: When the prosecutor (Ralph Albrecht) opened the argument on the lead defendants, he concentrated … Continue Reading During March I analyzed the remaining prosecution document books about Kaltenbrunner, which supplemented the case against the Gestapo, and then the case against the military high command (OKW) and general staff; this amounted to 157 documents and 800 pages of material. This completed my work on the prosecution documents on the six accused "criminal organizations." Transactional loyalty: General Blomberg reviewed the military commanders' allegiance to Hitler as largely a quid-pro-quo. Rearmament and the reunification of … Continue Reading During February, I completed the prosecution evidence on the Gestapo and SD and began the documents on Ernst Kaltenbrunner, whose case overlapped because he was chief of the security police; this amounted to 170 documents and 597 pages of material. The final two files on the Gestapo and SD were used to rebut defense arguments at the end of the trial, and the rush to finish is reflected in the documents. While US document files … Continue Reading During January I completed the prosecution documents on the SS as a criminal organization and began the documents on the Gestapo and the Security Service (SD), amounting to 136 documents and 903 pages of material. The prosecution's separate treatment of these overlapping organizations was part historical and part functional. The SS (including the SD) was first charged as a multifaceted institution that originated in the party, and then later took over the police system. The … Continue Reading During November and December I worked on the prosecution documents concerning four institutions charged as being criminal organization (the party leadership, the cabinet, the SA, and the SS), with the documents on the plundering of artworks added as an illustration. This amounted to 232 documents and 996 pages of material. The totals for the year on the IMT (not including the final work on NMT 9) are 1420 documents and 8439 pages. IMT and NMT … Continue Reading During October I covered the IMT prosecution documents on the persecution of the Jews (a phrase that the prosecutors noted was far short of the reality), Germanization, and the first material on the Leadership Corps of the NSDAP, amounting to 157 documents and 663 pages of material. The prosecution detoured from counts 3 and 4 (war crimes and crimes against humanity) to the criminal organizations without any explanation, and will detour back to the plundering … Continue Reading During September I worked through the final IMT prosecution documents covering count 2 (aggression), including the war against the US, and began the documents for counts 3 and 4 (war crimes and crimes against humanity, which were presented together), skipping forced labor (those documents are missing from our set), covering the concentration camp system, and the beginning of the persecution and extermination of the Jews (about which, more next month). The document analysis covered 88 … Continue Reading During August I continued with the IMT prosecution documents for Crimes against Peace (Count 2), following the expansion of the war after the attack on Poland and the beginning of the war with Britain and France. This covered, in succession, the Nazi attacks on Norway and Denmark; Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg; Yugoslavia and Greece; and the Soviet Union. (The files on the war with the United States will complete the set.) This covered 116 … Continue Reading During June and July I worked on the prosecution case under count 2 of the indictment, crimes against peace (or, wars of aggression), amounting to 196 documents and 1584 pages of material. The case includes the British prosecutor's opening address on aggression, a review of the treaties Germany had signed and then violated, the planning (conspiracy) and execution (aggression) of the conquests of Czechoslovakia and Austria, and a detailed record of Germany's conflict with Poland, … Continue Reading During May I analyzed the contents of seven IMT prosecution document books, covering 205 documents and 758 pages of material. The documents completed the evidence for count 1 of the indictment, the Nazi leaders' "common plan" or conspiracy to seize power, consolidate control, militarize the society, and prepare for a war of aggression, with the latter subject overlapping with count 2 (crimes against peace). This material was presented in the first ten days of the … Continue Reading During April I analyzed the documents in seven IMT prosecution document books, covering 245 documents and 770 pages of material. The subjects covered diverse elements of the "Common plan or conspiracy" charge (count 1), including totalitarian control, education and youth, propaganda, purges and terrorization, labor, and suppression of Christian churches. The material reflects the prosecution's central argument, that the war crimes and crimes against humanity (counts 3 and 4) were derivative of the primary crime-the … Continue Reading During March I completed the work on the IMT prosecution notes and memos, then covered the initial trial proceedings, the eleven prosecution briefs on count 1 (the "common plan" or conspiracy of the Nazi leaders), and finally began the document books of evidence for count 1. This covered 104 documents and 1124 pages of material. In order to begin adding the evidence documents, the analysis paused for a week to allow the revision of the … Continue Reading After I finished the analysis of the trial documents in the Einsatzgruppen case, NMT 9, in early January, I split my time between two tasks. The first was to scan the last 1500 pages of the trial transcript for any document-related information I had not previously found. My earlier work proved to be sufficient, as no new documents turned up. The transcript did offer some interesting dialogue, however, including an exchange between a judge and … Continue Reading In December and early January, I worked through the papers of six Case 9 defendants, covering 169 documents and 895 pages of material. The sixth, Strauch, was the last defendant to present his case, so, subject to some double-checking, all the Case 9 trial documents have now been identified and analyzed-1129 documents and ca. 6700 pages. The remaining task is to finish the review of the transcript, 1800 pages to go, to find additional information … Continue Reading During November, I worked through the papers of five defendants, amounting to 157 documents and 724 pages. For those tracking the numbers, the document and page numbers are lower than in previous months, for two reasons: several work days "lost" to holidays, and diseconomies of scale. Some of the defendants offered few documents but spent several days testifying on the stand, so that I had to spend a lot of time skimming through the transcript … Continue Reading During October I analyzed 197 documents (1045 pages) spanning five of the NMT Case 9 defendants (it helped that one defendant offered only one document before his case was severed due to illness). Documentary infallibility? When the prosecutor cross-examined Sandberger about a promotion recorded in his SS personnel file, Sandberger claimed that the record was inaccurate in several respects. The prosecutor responded: "The memory of man might fail. Records, if they are not destroyed, stand." … Continue Reading During September I analyzed 171 defense documents in the Einsatzgruppen Case (NMT 9), amounting to 1299 pages of material, finishing the papers of one defendant I had started in August, completing three other defendants, and starting the documents of another. The numbers are adding up: with more than 600 documents done, I am now half-way through the NMT 9 trial documents. On a larger scale, given our estimated total of 40,000 trial documents in the … Continue Reading During August I completed the analysis of the tribunal judgment and began work on the defendants' documents, amounting to 165 documents and 1063 pages of material. I have now completed the documents of three of the defendants, in the order they presented their cases in the trial. One challenge in the process is that, so far, none of the defendants had their evidence ready to offer as exhibits when they testified (as was usual in … Continue Reading During July I completed the analysis of the prosecution documents in the Einsatzgruppen trial (NMT 9), amounting to 155 documents and 1070 pages of material, including document books, briefs against individual defendants, and the closing argument. Some time was spent enriching the analysis of the previous documents (analyzed in June) with information about two trial issues that were not identified in the indictment but that emerged from the evidence: the execution of the mentally ill, … Continue Reading In June the trial document analysis work resumed, with NMT 9, the Einsatzgruppen Case, on the agenda. I chose this trial because it presents a subject the other cases have not so far covered: genocide. The Einstazgruppen (groups A, B, C, and D) were created by the SS in the summer of 1941 to proceed into eastern Europe along with the army on the Russian front in order to assist the military, secure territory behind … Continue Reading During May I worked through the nine document books of Field Marshal List and the entire defense set of General Rendulic, for a total of 226 documents and 1260 pages of material. General Rendulic takes the case out of the Balkans for charges related to the scorched-earth withdrawal from northern Norway, but the issues and events are like those already presented by other defendants. Since List was the highest-ranking defendant, the stakes were higher, the … Continue Reading During April I finished the paper of one defendant (Lanz), covered all the documents of another (von Leyser), and started those of Field Marshal List, the commander in chief in southeastern Europe in 1941. This amounted to 229 documents and 1037 pages of material. Given the number of defendants already covered, not many new subjects appeared, but some vivid examples of familiar points were found. Objection to the court: This was the seventh trial heard … Continue Reading During March I completed the final papers for one defendant (Geitner), all of the papers for a second (Kuntze), and roughly half for a third (Lanz). This amounted to 249 documents and 899 pages of material. The Lanz case gets us to the fifth box in the Case 7 set, passing the two-thirds mark. The defense evidence shed some light on the German strategy in Yugoslavia, the complexities of the Nazi system, and the hazards … Continue Reading During February I completed the documents for one defendant in the Hostages Case, Foertsch, and most of the documents for another, von Geitner. These amounted to 193 documents and 895 pages of material. Both defendants were staff officers rather than commanding officers, which was a major point for them and a key distinction for the tribunal, but staff officers still had an overview of events and also a major responsibility that was relevant in the … Continue Reading The plan for December was to complete the Hostage Case prosecution documents, but I finished those in November, so we had a project's dream come true: free time. I split the time, spending 10 days working through the defense portion of the trial transcript and the final proceedings, and then started the defendants' papers. By the end of January I had finished the documents of two defendants (Dehner and Felmy) and half of the next … Continue Reading The task for November was to finish the second box of trial documents, amounting to 150 documents and 973 pages. This completed work on the Hostage Case prosecution documents, a month sooner than planned. The question of what's not there: The collection of prosecution documents includes virtually all of the primary case that was prepared at the beginning of the trial, except, unfortunately, the movies that were shown, and some evidence provided by outside authorities … Continue Reading In October I worked through the second half of the records of the German war in Yugoslavia, covering the years 1943-44. This amounted to 214 documents analyzed, with 1256 pages of material. The basic story remained the same as for the early war-the capture and killing of hostages as a deterrent and punishment for guerrilla attacks, hence the name The Hostage Case-but some interesting strategic and tactical shifts occurred. In mid-1943 the focus of the … Continue Reading The task for September was to begin the analysis of documents for Case 7, the Hostage Case, which concerns (primarily) the extraordinarily dirty war between the Germans and the partisans in Yugoslavia, with the execution of captured fighters, the arrest and killing of hostages in reprisal measures, and the use of concentration camps and forced labor. Since I began the work in late August after finishing the Justice Case, and the early prosecution files are … Continue Reading The task in August was to complete the documents for Franz Schlegelberger, the most important defendant in the trial and the last one in the set. The Justice Case was thus completed, with some clean-up work to follow later, with 2379 documents and 12,190 pages of material analyzed. While the movie version of the trial, Judgment of Nuremberg, has its dramatic climax when the leading defendant (Schlegelberger by another name, played by Burt Lancaster) rises … Continue Reading My agenda for July was to complete the analysis of the defense documents for Rothaug and Rothenberger, and begin the documents for Schlegelberger, the final defendant in Case 3. This material covered 20 files, 234 documents, and 1105 pages of text. Blue Grapes, again: Given the suspicion that Judge Rothaug plotted judicial crimes at the Blaue Traube restaurant, one of his colleagues admitted in an affidavit that the place was owned by a Nazi leader … Continue Reading The June agenda was the defense case of Petersen and the majority of the case for Rothaug (one of the bulky sets); this covered 13 files, 309 documents, and 997 pages analyzed. These defendants were opposites in their roles, as Petersen was a minor figure as a lay-judge while Oswald Rothaug was notorious as a "blood judge" presiding at the Special Court at Nuremberg, with a reputation as a politically-connected Nazi. Even other defendants claimed … Continue Reading The agenda for May was analyzing the defense material for Mettgenberg, Nebelung, and Oeschey; this covered 23 files, 259 documents, and approximately 1200 pages. Compared to recent months, the document count went down but the page count went up, as a number of long documents from Oeschey's court cases gave us economies of scale. Mettgenberg and Nebelung made the now-familiar bureaucratic argument that they simply did office work; Oeschey was a Special Court judge, with … Continue Reading The task for April was to analyze the defense documents of Ernst Lautz, who had a lot to answer for as the chief prosecutor of the notorious People's Court. He answered at great length. In April I worked through 17 files, 287 documents, and approximately 900 pages. The document count set a monthly record but the page count was below average as Lautz's attorney submitted many 1 or 2 page exhibits and the economies of … Continue Reading During March I finished the Cuhorst files and covered 2 more defendants, Joel and Klemm, so 6 of the 14 have been completed. The work covered 33 files, 286 documents and ca. 1160 pages. For those calculating the numbers, in the defense files the number of documents has gone up while the number of pages has not, as many of them are very short, often 1 or 2 pages. The bureaucratic defense: After Cuhorst's colorful … Continue Reading The task for the month was to begin the analysis of the defendants' trial documents, beginning with Altstoetter. I worked through 3.5 defense cases, including 3 small ones and half of one of the biggest (Cuhorst), covering 20 files, 242 documents, and 1076 pages. Transcript work: Finding where each defendant presented his case is difficult, as they did not go in any apparent order. Flipping through the volumes is time-consuming, but most of the defendants … Continue Reading Like the mail, project news is subject to storm delays. My task for January was to finish analysis of the Case 3 prosecution material, and I did that, working through 11 files, 144 documents, and 1112 pages. The material covered a wide range of subjects. The Night and Fog program had the most material. In this operation, western European Resistance members were "disappeared" into Germany, prosecuted there, and imprisoned, with no word given to the … Continue Reading The December operation was to work through 12 prosecution document books, containing 140 documents and approximately 990 pages of material. The transcript required more attention (and much more time) as the prosecution case began to wind down, with documents being entered almost randomly. I needed to work far ahead in the transcript to find where the evidence came in-and whether it was accepted as exhibits. Beyond that key fact, the transcript-document correlation provides other important … Continue Reading The task for November was 12 files of prosecution evidence (document books 2 - 3L), holding 164 items and approximately 1410 pages. The theme of the material is the increasing ferocity of the courts as the war progressed, with expanding jurisdiction of the People's Courts and Special Courts and growing demands for detah sentences to terrorize opponents of the regime. At the end of the war even this was considered inadequate, as political cases were … Continue Reading NMT 3, The Justice Case When I began the trial analysis work at the beginning of October, all of the key materials were already in place-the Case 3 trial documents boxes, the trial transcript, and the "Green Set" of NMT trial reports-so I was able to start quickly, re-ordering some of the material, assembling basic information about Case 3 (the defendants, prosecutors, judges, main issues, etc.). I was able to begin document analysis after only … Continue Reading
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https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/__sized__/poster_images/TheGreatFamine_490x720-resize-400x0-50.jpg 400w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/__sized__/poster_images/TheGreatFamine_490x720-resize-300x0-50.jpg 300w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/__sized__/poster_images/TheGreatFamine_490x720-resize-200x0-50.jpg 200w,", "https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/icons/Scotts_H60.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	The story of the dramatic post-World War II tribunal that brought Nazi leaders to justice and defines trial procedure for state criminals to this day.	en			https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/nuremberg/	The Nuremberg Trials Robert Jackson (archival): "The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilization can not tolerate their being ignored, because it can not survive their being repeated." Narrator: The year World War II finally ended, a courtroom in Nuremberg, Germany, became the scene of what would be called the greatest trial in history. For the first time, leaders of a nation would be tried for war crimes. Chief prosecutor Robert Jackson declared, "We will show these men to be the living symbols of racial hatred, terrorism and violence, and of the arrogance and cruelty of power." The highest ranking Nazi to survive the war, Hermann Göring, was the lead defendant. "Everybody knows this is not a trial," Göring proclaimed. "This is just an arrangement where the victors will take revenge on the defeated." Six years of war had left 55 million dead. Now, in Nuremberg, before the eyes of the world, the victorious Allies would attempt to stay the hand of vengeance, and follow a difficult and uncertain path to justice. On November 20, 1945, the elevator in Nuremberg's Hall of Justice rose slowly from the cellblock to the courtroom. Hermann Göring, founder of the Gestapo and heir apparent to Hitler, strode confidently into the prisoners' dock, followed by the Commander of the German Navy, Admiral Karl Doenitz, Nazi party secretary Rudolf Hess and 18 other leaders of Adolph Hitler's Third Reich. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson would lead the American prosecution team. Jackson was determined that the Nazis pay for their crimes, yet fearful that Hitler's henchmen could use this high-profile forum to re-ignite Nazism in Germany. In a courtroom flooded by lights for the newsreel cameras, five hundred spectators and 21 defendants -- some shielding their eyes from the glare behind dark glasses -- waited for the unprecedented trial to begin. Walter Cronkite, Journalist: Sitting there for the first time and seeing these 21 men who had caused such horror in the world I actually felt sick, kind of. They had come into the dock as if this was not a fair proceeding, as if they knew they were going to hang already, why go through this whole thing. Narrator: As the eight judges, led by Lord Geoffrey Lawrence of England -- took their places on the bench, the air was thick with anticipation. The international tribunal was empowered to decide the fate of each defendant -- including a sentence of death. The first to enter his plea was Hermann Göring. Hermann Göring (archival) (translation): "Before I answer the question of the court, whether I plead guilty or not guilty..." William Jackson, Son and prosecutor: The tribunal cut him short and he said: 炭ou are here to plead guilty, not guilty or guilty with an explanation' and that remonstrance he shouted: 'nicht schuldig.' G&oml;ring (archival) (translation): "Responding to the indictment I plead not guilty." William Jackson: That was an indication of his ability of try to find an opening to present what he wanted to say rather then what he was being asked. Narrator: Each defendant pleaded "not guilty." Robert Jackson then made his way to the podium. He had labored over his opening statement for weeks. Robert Jackson (archival): "The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. ... The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilization can not tolerate their being ignored, because it can not survive their being repeated." Whitney Harris, Prosecutor: That set the tone not only for the speech which followed but for the entire trial. This was not a trial of Germans alone. This was a trial for humanity. This was a trial to prevent tyranny from raising its head again in any place in the world. Narrator: The trial unfolding in Nuremberg was not without controversy. In the months leading up to Allied victory, voices calling for vengeance had been numerous and forceful. As the long and bloody war in Europe was winding down, Allied leaders began to address what should be done with the Nazis. When the Allies met in Yalta in February 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill favored swift executions of top Nazi leaders. Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin preferred show trials, followed quickly by mass executions. President Franklin Roosevelt -- his health failing badly -- was hearing conflicting opinions from his cabinet. Roosevelt's influential Treasury Secretary, Henry Morganthau -- Jewish, and enraged by Nazi atrocities -- argued for summary executions of those he called "the arch criminals of this war." Secretary of War Henry Stimson was adamant that Nazi leaders be put on trial. "The punishment of these men in a dignified manner," Stimson wrote, "will have all the greater effect upon posterity."Stimson advanced a plan developed by a young Jewish lawyer on his staff, Murray Bernays, to try the Nazi leaders as a criminal conspiracy -- like an organized crime syndicate. "The atrocities were not single or unconnected", wrote Bernays, "but were the inevitable outcome of a conspiracy based on the Nazi doctrine of racism and totalitarianism." Whitney Harris: That was the concept that we would charge these leading defendants with conspiring, getting together and plotting to seize control of the German government and subjecting the German people to its dictatorial control, making the German people themselves victims if you like and eliminating freedom in Germany, eliminating democracy, establishing a ruthless dictatorship and then, having done that -- that's the conspiracy -- then committing the crimes that they did in the name of the German people. Martha Minow, Professor of Law: It was difficult for the political figures to come to the view that after this rather brutal and longout war that something as refined and patient as a legal process should be pursued, but if someone is a prisoner of war, they are not supposed to be executed and, indeed, they are supposed to be given considerable protection. So it would have violated at least the best versions of American law and British law to have summary executions. Narrator: Roosevelt came to favor the Stimson/Bernays plan, but in April, he died. His successor, Harry Truman, asked Robert Jackson, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, to serve as chief U.S. prosecutor for the war crimes trials. Jackson was wary. The trials would explore uncharted legal territory; convictions were by no means certain. "You must put no man on trial," Jackson warned, "if you are not willing to see him freed if not proved guilty. If we want to shoot Germans as a matter of policy, let it be done as such. But don't hide the deed behind a court." John Barrett, Jackson's Biographer: Jackson hears from collegues at the Supreme Court and friends and contacts in the government, and he encounters a lot of skepticism about the time and difficulty of accomplishing this, skepticism about the benefits at the end of the process in terms of justice, in terms of deterrence. Narrator: Still, Jackson was drawn to the challenge. The son of a small town businessman, Jackson never attended college. He had risen to become attorney general, then a Supreme Court justice. John Barrett: Robert Jackson was a lawyer's lawyer at each stage of his career. For twenty years in private practice, trials and appeals and tremendous success. And then Jackson on the bench of the Supreme Court being a very active and witty and colorful speaker in the courtroom and thinker and writer in his opinions ... so this was an enormous legal figure. Narrator: Now, at age fifty-three, Jackson exuded self-confidence and ambition, and was frustrated at being on the sidelines during World War Two, the century's great drama. On May 2, he accepted Truman's offer. ALT: having been on the sidelines... . Robert Jackson: "I am convinced that we have an opportunity to bring to a just judgement those who have thought it safe to wage aggressive and ruthless war." Narrator: The Supreme Court would soon adjourn for the summer. Jackson was sure he'd be back in time for the fall session. But he also knew that the trials would be controversial, and might hurt his chances of one day being named Chief Justice. As Jackson assembled his legal team in Washington, the U.S. Army was gathering evidence of Nazi atrocities-the extent of which were finally being understood: the use of slave labor; the horrific extermination camps; the millions of murdered Jews. Benjamin Ferencz, U.S. Army Investigator: I was coming in there to prove the crimes. We would come in. We would prepare a list of the evidence, proof of what transports had come into the camp, how many people had been registered as being killed on the various dates, the supposed cause of death -- which was obviously fictitious, such as "Auf der Flucht erschossen," shot while trying to escape ... listing some disease page after page." My mind just refused to grasp what my eyes saw, these people who were lying in the dirt -- mostly you couldn't tell whether they were dead or alive. They didn't look like human beings, many of them; they looked animal-like, almost. Or like skeletons. Narrator: On May 6, 1945, Reichsmarshall Hermann Göring surrendered to American troops. He had brought his prized possessions -- 17 truckloads worth -- and expected to be treated like a dignitary. "War is like a football game," he remarked, "whoever loses gives his opponent his hand, and everything is forgotten." Göring had been one of the most conspicuous and notorious figures in Germany. A flying ace in WWI, he had taken over command of Hitler's bodyguards, the SA, in 1922. The following year, he became addicted to morphine while recovering from injuries sustained during a failed Nazi coup. His addiction led to manic-depressive behavior that twice forced him to be hospitalized. After Hitler seized power in 1933, Göring was at the center of everything. He established the secret police, the Gestapo, instituted concentration camps for political opponents and commanded the Luftwaffe, Germany's air force. Some in Hitler's inner circle thought Göring mentally unstable, but he soon became the Fuhrer's second-in-command. He was cunning, ostentatious, larger-than-life- regarded by many as the "Sun King" of the Third Reich. He changed clothes several times a day, favoring brightly colored jackets, gaudy jewelry, and archaic Bavarian hunting outfits. In his estate outside Berlin, Göring lived a life of luxury, surrounded by exotic pets and stolen art treasures, as he spearheaded the build-up of the Nazi war machine. Now he was the highest ranking Nazi prisoner of war. Hitler and his propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels, had killed themselves. When the Nazis were put on trial, Hermann Göring would be defendant number one. The day after Göring turned himself in, Germany surrendered. Now, Robert Jackson could send in civilian investigators to search for a paper trail of Nazi crimes. The results were stunning. Whitney Harris: I visited many Gestapo offices and I found documents lying around on the floor, saying "this man should be executed." and I picked them up off the floor. There were many many documents that were not destroyed that we obtained and were incriminating. Narrator: "I did not think men would ever be so foolish," Jackson wrote, "as to put in writing some of the things the Germans did. ... The stupidity and the brutality of it would simply appall you." In June, Jackson flew to London to establish the ground rules for the International Tribunal, joining counterparts from France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. He was unsure how difficult the negotiations would be, but expected them to be brief. The Allies quickly came to agreement on a key point: the tribunal would not allow the Nazis to defend their actions by claiming the Allies had also committed crimes, such as killing civilians by carpet bombing German cities. Martha Minow: They just came up with kind of a blanket rule: we will find it no defense to say 'but you did it too.' It is no defense to murder to say that other people have murdered. Narrator: But the talks soon bogged down. The Soviets wanted speedy trials; prosecutors would simply outline charges and judges hand down sentences. Jackson insisted there be time for the accused to defend themselves, and that judges be free to determine guilt or innocence. He reminded everyone the United States held most of the Nazis to be tried -- and the evidence to be used against them. After a month of tough negotiations, he prevailed. The trials would be conducted on Jackson's terms. In July, Jackson flew to the Army's choice of a location for the trials, the ancient southern German city of Nuremberg. William Jackson: It was devastated, totally devastated. The rubble was everywhere, the buildings were down. Those that were standing were gutted, the stench of bodies was in the air. However, the Palace of Justice was standing and was relatively undamaged. Narrator: Though the largest courtroom was in disarray, Jackson was sure it could be restored to its former grandeur in time. And the symbolic value of this place was undeniable: Nuremberg had been the cradle of Nazism. Between 1933 and 1938 the Nazis had held massive Party Rallies in Nuremberg every September. It was here that Hitler displayed his growing power. The city's history appealed to Jackson. Where it all began, it was to end. Newsreel Announcer: In bombed out Nuremberg preparations go forward for the trials of Germany's major war criminals... Narrator: In August newsreels brought the unfolding story of the Nuremberg trials to movie screens across America. Newsreel Announcer: ...and the shrine of Hitler's Nazism becomes its tomb. In Nuremberg's court building, were the trials will be held, German prisoners work on enlarging and rebuilding the courtroom. Under American supervision they install broadcasting booths and press facilities to carry the proceedings throughout the world. Robert H. Jackson, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, made preliminary arrangements for the trial. From the jail to the courtroom a covered corridor has been erected. The war criminals will be screened from site exept in the courtroom, protected and safe for the disposition of United Nations justice. The big names of Hitler's Third Reich are kept under heavy guard. Narrator: Behind the palace of justice loomed a massive prison, capable of holding 1200 detainees. The first group of Nazi defendants was brought to the prison on August 12. Each prisoner was housed in a separate cell and not permitted to speak except during interrogations. Göring's cell was tiny and barren. He was allowed only a few books to pass the time. His garish clothing and jewelry were now in the hands of the U.S. Army. Jackson met with him briefly that September. He found that Göring was no longer addicted to morphine. The Nazi warlord was fit, focussed, lucid and fiercely unapologetic. Jackson knew he was up against a formidable adversary. John Barrett: Jackson's concern was that the defendants and Göring first among them would use it as a platform to stimulate some resurgence of Nazism in Germany, that this was a virus that was not dead, that the defeat and the death of Hitler did not mean forever the end of Nazism, and that Jackson was dealing with a very volatile dangerous prospect of the Nazi future as he dealt with these defendants. Narrator: Since accepting his assignment, two things had become clear to Robert Jackson. He would not get back to the Supreme Court for its fall session. And the trial that lay before him would be the most difficult of his life. On October 19 , 1945, the German leaders held in the cellblock of Nuremberg were indicted for the crimes the Allies had agreed upon: conspiracy to wage aggressive war; the waging of aggressive war, known as "crimes against peace;" war crimes, such as mistreatment of prisoners; and "crimes against humanity," which included what later would come to be called "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing." Göring was indicted on all four counts. Richard Sonnenfeldt: Göring was very businesslike. He was not visibly upset. He still radiated this feeling this is nothing but a charade but a show, a victory of the victors. Some of the others were shocked, but Göring showed no obvious sign of shock at all. Robert Jackson, opening speech: "The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilization can not tolerate their being ignored, because it can not survive their being repeated." Narrator: On November 21, the packed courtroom in Nuremberg fell silent as Robert Jackson opened the case against the Nazis with a speech of nearly four-hours. Robert Jackson: "That four great nations flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgement of the law is one of the most significant tributes that power has ever paid to reason." John Barrett: The power of it was immediate and enormous. The defendants were sort of knocked back in the box and were very depressed lot as they returned to their lunch room in the middle of it and to their cells at the end of the day, because this was really their first experience of Jackson in action in the courtroom and in a new way they understood that they were up against it. Narrator: "My spine throbbed," William Shirer of CBS News noted, "as Jackson used the power of language to build up his masterly case against the Nazi barbarism. We have heard today one of the great trial addresses of history." The next day, prosecutors began introducing evidence contained in the stacks of documents now filling several store rooms in the Palace of Justice. They cited the darkest and most incriminating of the thousands of orders issued by the Nazis. The process was tedious. Jackson feared the trial would get bogged down. Each document had to be read in its entirety and translated into four languages. John Barrett: Jackson is sitting there through it and the tribunal's requirement about how the documents have to be read before they can be accepted into evidence, the delay caused by the translation system is a kind of numbing that he is experiencing too. He is quickly persuaded that other types of evidence, particularly film evidence should be played sooner rather than later as a way of dramatizing and pumping up the proceedings a little bit. Narrator: One day early in the trial, Jackson projected a film made from clips of German propaganda. It showed how the Nazis had systematically violated treaties, rearmed Germany, and attacked neighboring countries with the criminal intent to subjugate and pillage them. When the lights came up, Göring was ecstatic: "They don't have to show films to prove that we rearmed for war," he boasted, "Of course we rearmed! I rearmed Germany until we bristled!" The film had been so rousing, Göring declared, that prosecutor Jackson would now surely want to join the Nazi party. Göring's mood was noticeably different when another film was shown as evidence of crimes against humanity." Original sound (archival): "Dachau -- factory of horrors. Dachau near Munchen, one of the oldest of the Nazi prison camps. The Nazis said it was a prison for political dissenters, habitual criminals, and religious enthusiasts. This is the Brausebad, the shower bath. Inside the shower bath: the gas vents. On the ceiling: the dummy shower heads. Cyanide powder was used. This was Bergen-Belsen." Walter Cronkite, Journalist: As soon as the defendants saw the pictures, the film of the concentration camps, they began to wither. As a matter of fact several of them cried. They weren't crying, I don't think, for the Jewish people that were lost. They were crying because they knew that, when those pictures were seen in the world they had no way to escape execution. Narrator: One member of the prosecution team who had urged Jackson to use films was Thomas Dodd. An experienced lawyer from Connecticut, Dodd was a former FBI man with a flair for the dramatic. What he had learned while preparing for the trials horrified him. Senator Christopher Dodd, Son: The inhumanity just stunned him. My father talked a lot, the lessons of it. He felt very strongly that we ought to be well informed as a generation of what can happen, and well educated, sophisticated people, when things go wrong and people can do things they never could think about doing and they did, and he wanted us to be very conscious of that. Narrator: On December 13, Dodd presented shocking evidence of Nazi crimes against humanity. Thomas Dodd (archival): "The Nazi conspirators were generally meticulous record keepers, but the records which they kept about concentration camps appeared to have been quite incomplete. Perhaps the character of the records resulted from the indifference which the Nazis felt for the lives of their victims, but occasionally we find a death book or a set of index cards" Narrator: As Dodd spoke, all eyes were riveted on a small table covered with a white sheet that he'd placed in the front of the room. Dodd (archival): "For the most part, nevertheless, the victims apparently faded into an unrecorded death." Narrator: Finally the shroud was lifted. Dodd (archival): "This exhibit which is on the table is a human head with its skull bone removed, shrunken, stuffed and preserved. The Nazis had one of their many victims decapitated after having him hanged apparently for fraternizing with a German woman." Narrator: The shrunken head had been used as a paperweight by the commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp. The courtroom was aghast. Dodd: When we are talking statistics nobody pays much attention, but if I can show you one person who gets murdered you're more apt to pay attention to that. And my father by boiling this stuff down to in that particular case, one of the atrocities, one individual. If I talked about thousands who lost their lives in Buchenwald, your eyes might glaze over. I hold this up in my hand and say 稚his is what happened, even for a seasoned judge it's hard to ignore that. Narrator: One of the biggest challenges for Jackson and his team was linking individual defendants to Nazi crimes. "It would be relieving to hear one of them admit some blame for something," Dodd wrote to his wife. "They blame everything on the dead or the missing." Zeroing in on Nazi leaders, the prosecution called General Erwin Lahousen, an officer in the German intelligence unit who'd participated in a key meeting with Hitler to plot the invasion of Poland. Audio archive of Lahousen interrogation: "Do you also see Keitel in the courtroom?" "Ja, er ist neben Ribbentrop." "Yes, he is next to Ribbentrop." "Now to the best of your knowledge and recollection, will you please explain what took place at this conference in the Fuehrer's train?" Narrator: Lahousen recalled a meeting in September 1939 when the destruction of Warsaw was planned. Hitler and Göring called for the German air force to bomb the Polish capital on the heels of the invasion. Lahousen's testimony connected Göring explicitly to the launching of a war of aggression -- a crime against peace. Narrator: Jackson's team then began to lay out its case that Göring had committed crimes against humanity over the course of a decade. In September 1935, the organized persecution of Jews in Germany intensified with Göring's proclamation of the "Nuremberg Laws." Göring, (archival): Eheschlieﾟungen zwischen Juden und staatsangehigen deutschen oder artverwandten Blutes sind verboten!" Translation Marriages of Jews and persons of German or German-related blood are prohibited!" Werner H. Von Rosenstiel, U.S. Army Investigator: Göring did many many things that nobody else would dare do because he was an enormous power in Germany. Göring made also the decision that I say who is Jewish. Narrator: Prosecutors described how Hitler and Göring began excluding Jews from the economic activity of Germany, driving many out of the country, stripping them of their belongings. Narrator: On November 9, 1938 -- Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass -- raging mobs burned synagogues across Germany. Over 8,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed, and at least 91 Jews killed. Narrator: Following Kristallnacht, Hitler made Göring the coordinator for the "the Jewish question." He disallowed insurance claims by Jews who'd lost property to arson and looting. The victims themselves must pay for the damages, he declared. Arno Hamburger: The Jews had to pay for the value that was destroyed. They had to pay one billion Reichsmark in order to atone for their sins for having permitted those values to be destroyed. That was Göring's order. Narrator: The most damning evidence against Göring was a document from July 1941 authorizing the "final solution of the Jewish question" -- the systematic murder of all European Jews. Richard Sonnenfeldt, Interpreter: We said to Göring: 'Did you issue this and did you sign it?' And he said: 'How do you expect me to know anything about a little old document out of Wurzburg?' And we said: 'well, it happens to have your name on it. Narrator: On January 3, 1946, prosecutors called S.S. officer Dieter Wisliceny to the stand. Wisliceny described how - in the wake of Göring's order -- he had helped to organize the deportation of Jews to extermination camps. Prosecutor Smith Brookhart, questioning: "What became of the Jews to whom you already referred, the approximately 450.000?" "They were all brought to Auschwitz and were part of the final solution." "You mean they were killed?" "Yes, except about 25 to 30 percent, that were used for labor purposes." Narrator: Göring was infuriated that his countrymen had testified against him. "It is sickening," he raged, "to see how Germans sell their souls to the enemy." During the first two months of 1946, French, British, and Soviet prosecutors added to the case the Americans had laid out. Then, in March, the defense phase of the trial began. Göring was called to the stand by his German defense attorney on the 13. Jackson feared that the judges wouldn't rein Göring in, giving him a stage from which to defend and glorify Nazism. Walter Cronkite: He was arrogant, considerably arrogant. There was no attempt to placate the courtroom. He was telling his story his way, and of course in telling the story he was justifying what had happened as best he could. Pretty hard to justify that, but he was skipping over the worst, and defending the need for the Third Reich at the time it came. G&oml;ring, testimony (translation): "Me personally, and I can only speak for myself, did everything, that was within the limits of my power, to strengthen und enlarge the national socialist movement, and worked relentlessly, to bring it into power, meaning the sole and unlimited power." Narrator: Göring testified on his own behalf-that he'd only been serving the best interests of Germany, that all his actions had been to protect his homeland. For five days, he held the courtroom in thrall. Jackson knew he needed to regain control. John Barrett: Jackson is not very worried about carrying his burden of proof on the crimes charged. He doesn't need confessions from Hermann Göring. They have an extensive documentary record including many things Göring had signed. But Jackson is very concerned about not letting Göring rally the German people to a renewed enthusiasm for Nazism. With hindsight I think that was greatly exaggerated, it wasn't the danger that they thought, the German people were not poised to fight again or somehow elevate Herman Göring as a future leader. It was a depressed, beaten, desperate, starving country without a government, is really what the situation was outside the courtroom.But in the courtroom they didn't fully understand that. They had an exaggerated sense of the danger, politically, that Göring posed as a witness. 59 Narrator: The Palace of Justice was jam-packed when, on March 18, Robert Jackson began his cross-examination. Jackson, cross-examining G&oml;ring: "I want to get what's necessary to run the kind of a system that you set up in Germany and concentration camps was one of the things you found immediately necessary upon coming to power, was it not? And you set them up as a matter of necessity as you saw it?" G&oml;ring (translation): "You asked me if I considered it necessary to establish concentration camps immediately in order to eliminate opposition. That is correct." Whitney Harris: As Jackson pressed him Göring saw what was going on and he became very wordy and evasive. His answers were long explanations. He would say well, you do the same thing in the United States, in Great Britain and so forth, and there is no difference and so forth. Archival footage of trial Jackson, question: "But all of these things were necessary things, as I understood you, to protect...?" Göring, answer (translation): "Yes, these things were necessary because of the opponents that existed." Jackson, question: "I assume that is the only kind of government that you think can function in Germany under present conditions?" Göring, answer (translation): "Under the conditions existing at the time, it was, in my opinion, the only possible form, and it also demonstrated that Germany could be raised in a short time from the depths of misery, poverty, and unemployment to relative prosperity." John Barrett: The press, like Jackson himself, has a sort of prize fight mentality about the event that they were watching. They expected another knockout, a crushing blow, a collapse, a confession, something of that dramatic order. Instead what they saw was a great lawyer running into a great powerful and brilliant witness and a combative examination that was something of a draw whenever they tried to talk about the great topics of the ultimate questions. Archival footage of trial Jackson, question: "Let's omit that, I haven't asked for that. If you will just answer my questions we shall save a great deal of time. You did prohibit all court review and considered it necessary to prohibit court review of the causes for taking people into what you called protective custody? That is right, isn't it?" Göring, answer (translation): "That I answered very clearly, but I should like to make an explanation in connection with my answer ..." Whitney Harris: Justice Jackson then sought the help of Chief Justice Lawrence in restricting Göring to making direct answers to Jackson's questions. Jackson (archival) "The difficulty is: the tribunal looses control of these proceedings, if the defendant in a case of this kind, where we all know that propaganda is one of the purposes of the defendant, is permitted to put his propaganda in, and then we have to meet it afterwards." Whitney Harris: Unfortunately it happened Lord Lawrence, who was the Chief Judge, sensitive to history itself elected to allow Göring pretty much unlimited freedom in his responses. Narrator: "Göring obviously enjoyed himself" a reporter for Life Magazine wrote. A judge observed that "Göring quickly saw the elements of the situation, and as his confidence grew, his mastery became more apparent. Jackson looks beaten and dead tired." The first day of cross-examination ended triumphantly for Göring. He had answered the chief prosecutor's questions calmly and directly, and the tribunal had allowed him to launch into several self-serving orations. Jackson was furious. But as the second and third days of cross-examination unfolded, Jackson gradually gained the upper hand as, point by point, he listed Göring's crimes, and verified each with evidence. Whitney Harris: When we got Göring into the matter of the specific crimes that he committed such as the persecution of the Jews, well, then he collapsed, then he collapsed. He was a done witness, I'll tell you, because we had him so devastated on the Jewish issue that he had nothing so say. Archival footage of trial Jackson, question: "You, Hermann Göring, published a decree, imposing a fine of a billion marks for atonement on all Jews?" Göring (translation): "I have already explained that all these decrees at that time were signed by me and I assume responsibility for them." Jackson: "It was you, was it not, who signed a decree to make the plans for a complete solution of the Jewish question. That document is signed by you, is it not?" Göring: "That is correct." John Barrett: Göring then leaves the stand not the next Fuehrer, which had been Jackson's fear, and he leaves the stand convicted by his own admissions, which was Jackson's immediate objective. So, with a sort of sober endpoint assessment an observer, I think, could understand that this had not been a good day, a good series of days for Göring. Narrator: Over the next four months, most of the other Nazi leaders testified in their own defense. Some claimed they had merely been following orders; a few admitted responsibility for crimes. The defense finally rested on July 25, 1946. The next day, Robert Jackson delivered his long-anticipated closing argument. Jackson's Closing Speech "Mr. President and members of the tribunal. It is impossible in summation to do more than outline with full strokes the vitals of this trial's mad and melancholy record, which will live as a historical text of the twentieth century's shame and depravity. It is against such a background that these defendants now ask this tribunal to say, that they are not guilty of planning, executing or conspiring to commit this long list of crimes and wrongs. They stand before the record of this tribunal as bloodstained Gloucester stood by the body of his slain king. He begged of the widow, as they beg of you: 痴ay I slew them not!' And the queen replied: 稚hen say they were not slain, but dead they are.' If you were to say of these men that they are not guilty it would be as true to say, that there has been no war, that there are no slain, that there has been no crime." Narrator: On September 2, after 216 days in court, the international tribunal retired to deliberate the fate of the accused. Four weeks later, the defendants were brought up to the courtroom for the last time. The overflow crowd hushed in anticipation as Lord Lawrence read out the judgements the tribunal had reached. Verdict being read: "Defendant Hermann Wilhelm Göring, on the counts of the indictment on which you have been convicted the International Military tribunal sentences you to death by hanging. Defendant Rudolf Hëss, on the counts of the indictment ..." Narrator: Göring and ten others were to hang. Seven defendants received prison sentences. Three were acquitted. Göring's wife and daughter were allowed a final visit. Emmy Göring believed that they would never hang her husband but intern him on an island, like Napoleon. Göring demanded a firing squad -- an execution, he thought, more befitting his rank. "They will not hang me", he vowed. His request was denied. At 10:45 p.m. on October 15 -- two hours before Göring was to hang -- a guard noticed him put an arm to his face and begin to choke. He had managed to get hold of a capsule of potassium cyanide. Within a few minutes the Nazi warlord was dead. "I decided to take my own life," Hermann Göring had confided in a letter to his wife, "lest I be executed in so terrible a fashion by my enemies". Narrator: His body was taken secretly to Munich and burned. His ashes scattered in a local river. Over the next two and a half years the courtroom in Nuremberg saw twelve more trials of another 184 Nazi officials, including physicians, judges, bankers and industrialists. Twenty-four were sentenced to death. Robert Jackson returned to the U.S. Supreme Court after the first trial, where he served until his death in 1954. He was never appointed chief justice. Jackson's hope that an international system of justice would deter war crimes and crimes against humanity has yet to be realized. But Nuremberg did establish an important precedent: those responsible for atrocities -- even heads of state -- could be brought to trial. And if the hand of vengeance were stayed, justice could prevail over evil.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	94	https://www.15minutehistorypodcast.org/episodes/adjj95l7vsrc6bvznzjlymot8iazv8	en	“Say I Slew Them Not” — 15-Minute History Podcast	http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5edd4e39e451f275e3ba35c4/5ee67e17dfef8d5c73b594f6/607ca84e0342536be3598e99/1618805565529/16777-1000x745.jpg?format=1500w	http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5edd4e39e451f275e3ba35c4/5ee67e17dfef8d5c73b594f6/607ca84e0342536be3598e99/1618805565529/16777-1000x745.jpg?format=1500w	[ "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5edd4e39e451f275e3ba35c4/1618782580109-HDER90GML8NGJ48CNW5E/16777-1000x745.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Jonathan Streeter" ]	2021-04-18T23:12:00-05:00	May it please Your Honors: The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate thei	en	https://assets.squarespace.com/universal/default-favicon.ico	15-Minute History Podcast	https://www.15minutehistorypodcast.org/episodes/adjj95l7vsrc6bvznzjlymot8iazv8	May it please Your Honors: The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated. That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason. - Justice Robert Jackson, opening statement at the Nuremberg trials - Twenty-one men sat in the dock awaiting their fate. Once the leaders of Europe's mightiest nation who had strutted proudly across the world stage arrogantly proclaiming the supremacy of the Aryan race, their faces remained defiant as their empire lay in ruins outside. Some showed open contempt for the victors who now sat in judgment over them. Others sat quietly, their faces frozen and their eyes fixed forward. Some even looked surprised at having been charged with crimes against humanity, since they were "just following orders." Their leader, now dead, had commanded them to murder millions, and as good Germans, they had done just that. Now, with the world's most terrible war at an end, they would face justice. The Nuremberg trials originated in a 1943 declaration by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. It stated that on their victory, the Allied Powers would prosecute the leaders of Nazi Germany who had started the Second World War. Over the next two years, as the German Reich crumbled in the face of the Allied onslaught, officials began to plan how exactly to prosecute the criminals who had unleashed this storm of war on the world. Some believed the Nazi leaders should be summarily executed and others hoped to destroy Germany physically so that it could never again threaten world peace. Eventually, President Franklin Roosevelt managed to convince Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin to back the creation of an International Military Tribunal to try leading Nazis in an open court and lay their crimes before the world. After Roosevelt's death in April 1945, Harry Truman followed his predecessor's plan and spearheaded the creation of the IMT. It would be made up of four main judges and four alternates from the leading Allied Powers in the European theater—the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union—and each country also sent prosecutors to try the defendants. The site for the trial was the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, once the "spiritual heart" of Nazism in Germany famous for its annual party rallies, and its Hall of Justice, where the 1935 Nuremberg Laws had stripped German Jews of their citizenship and begun the process that led ultimately to the Holocaust. The prosecution, led by the American Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, spent the summer and early fall of 1945 gathering evidence and preparing the cases, and the Trial of Major War Criminals opened on November 20th. The Defendants at Nuremberg Many of the Third Reich's leaders had died during the war or committed suicide during its turbulent final days, including Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, and Joseph Goebbels. A total of 24 men who had survived were selected by the prosecutors as a representative sample of Germany's wartime leaders. Nazi Party Secretary Martin Bormann, who had been a leading architect of Germany's persecution of Jews and Christians, was tried in absentia as he had disappeared in Berlin during the Third Reich's last days. Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, head of Krupp AG and a leading figure in German rearmament, was too ill to be present at Nuremberg. And Robert Ley, chief of the German Labor Front, hanged himself in his cell before the trial began. The remaining 21 stood in the dock on November 20, 1945, and heard charges against them: conspiracy against peace, waging aggressive war, committing war crimes, and committing crimes against humanity. Each man rose when his name was called to enter his plea—and every one replied simply, "Nicht schuldig," "not guilty." In the front row were Reichsmarshall Hermann Göring, the senior surviving Nazi; Rudolf Hess, deputy Führer until his 1941 flight to England; Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler's foreign minister; General Wilhelm Keitel, chief of the High Command of the Army; Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the highest-ranking SS officer who had survived the war; Alfred Rosenberg, the party's racial philosopher and Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories; Hans Frank, Governor-General of Occupied Poland; Wilhelm Frick, an early supporter of Hitler and Germany's Interior Minister; Julius Streicher, party leader in Nuremberg and the worst antisemite in the dock; Walther Funk, president of the Reichsbank who had funded the war effort; and Hjalmar Schacht, another Reichsbank president who had become an opponent of the regime. In the back sat Admiral Karl Dönitz, head of the submarine force; Admiral Erich Raeder, head of the entire German Navy; Baldur von Schirach, leader of the Hitler Youth; Fritz Sauckel, chief of Germany's slave labor program; General Alfred Jodl, operations chief at Army High Command; Franz von Papen, Hitler's vice-chancellor and later ambassador to Austria; Artur Seyss-Inquart, Nazi ruler of Austria; Albert Speer, Hitler's personal friend, private architect, and Minister of Armaments; Konstantin von Neurath, former Foreign Minister and Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia; and Hans Fritzsche, a popular radio commentator and deputy Propaganda Minister under Joseph Goebbels. Prosecution and Defense The prosecution opened its case by presenting a vast trove of documents to the court and showing a series of films either captured in Nazi archives or taken by Allied photojournalists at the concentration camps. Witnesses for the prosecution also testified to their experiences in the camps or in forced labor factories. The world press covering the trial was horrified at the tales of brutality and murder, and accounts exist of observers breaking down into tears or becoming physically ill at the sight of dead bodies and emaciated survivors captured on film. Justice Jackson and the British prosecutor David Maxwell-Fyfe took the lead in examining the witnesses and drawing from them a complete picture of the horrors endured by the victims of Nazi Germany. When the prosecution rested its case in late February 1946, the world wondered what defense the accused could present to refute the stunning evidence against them. Each defendant at Nuremberg had a German attorney to represent him before the court. The first to take the stand was Hermann Göring, who openly admitted his role in Nazi tyranny and managed to get the better of Justice Jackson during the first day of his cross-examination. Jackson was not a skilled interrogator and tended to cut the Nazi leader off while he made long statements, but David Maxwell-Fyfe took over and treated him, in the prosecutor's words, "like the Nazi bastard he was." Other defendants were less articulate, especially Hess, who claimed to have suffered a psychotic break, and Ribbentrop, who had compensated for his lack of intelligence with a brutal character and fanatical devotion to his Führer. Three incidents during the defense stage of the trial stood out to observers and are of interest to historians of this period. In 1940, the Soviet Red Army had murdered over twenty thousand Polish officers and civilians near the forest of Katyn, and the Nazis had discovered their remains two years later during the invasion of the Soviet Union. At Nuremberg, the Soviet prosecutors tried to blame the Germans for these murders, and in July 1946 eyewitnesses testifying for the defense told the world that they had seen Russian soldiers carry out this crime. Barbarism, it turned out, was not confined to the Third Reich. One of the defendants, the SS thug Ernst Kaltenbrunner, insisted that he had not been part of the Holocaust because he had never visited the Auschwitz death camp. This single bit of evidence was certainly not enough to earn him an acquittal, but his lawyer brought the Auschwitz commander Rudolf Höss to Nuremberg to testify to this fact. After a single question from the German attorney about Kaltenbrunner's whereabouts, Justice Jackson then rose to cross-examine Höss. Over the next hour, the Nazi murderer explained in cold, calculating language that he had made Auschwitz into the most efficient death camp in the world and had murdered about 2.5 million people in three years. He showed no remorse for his actions, commenting that rat-catchers do not think it is wrong to kill rats. This was a clear example of the first of two attitudes taken by the defendants at Nuremberg and other trials held after the war—the Jews were not humans, and thus their murders were not murder. The soldiers tried at Nuremberg attempted to justify their crimes, especially the "Night and Fog" decree to murder civilians accused of helping the Allies and the "Commissar Order" to kill Soviet political officers during the invasion of Russia, by insisting that they were "just following orders." "Befehl ist Befehl," or "orders are orders," is how one of the defendants put it during his testimony. The Germans tried to place the full blame for their war crimes and the murders of the Holocaust squarely on the leaders of the Third Reich, all of whom—except for Göring—were now dead. The judges rejected this defense, now known as "superior orders," but it has returned on occasion when the soldiers of other nations faced justice for their crimes committed during war. The statute established at Nuremberg, that soldiers are responsible for their actions if an order is illegal or immoral, has not always been applied universally, and there is still considerable debate in legal circles about whether or not "just following orders" is an acceptable defense for war crimes. During the trial, the U.S. Army psychologist Gustave Gilbert spoke with each defendant and documented his conversations. He also gave each Nazi official an I.Q. test to determine their intelligence level and see if there was a correlation between one's mental abilities and their willingness to commit mass murder. The results were surprising. Of the five top-scoring Nazis, three of them (Seyss-Inquart, Dönitz, and Göring) had been fanatical supporters of the regime, and the same was true of four of the five bottom-scoring ones (Funk, Sauckel, Kaltenbrunner, and Streicher). The Allies conducted other tests on former Nazi officials during the late 1940s to try to assess how and why so many Germans had embraced Adolf Hitler. Unfortunately there isn't time in this podcast to address them, but I'm hoping Joe will ask me about them in our discussion. Gilbert's lasting contribution to the Nuremberg trials came in his work defining the nature of evil. In his 1950 book The Psychology of Dictatorship, Gilbert wrote, "In my work with the defendants, I was searching for the nature of evil and I now think I have come close to defining it. A lack of empathy. It’s the one characteristic that connects all the defendants, a genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow men. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy.” Judgements and Criticism Justice Jackson's closing statement at Nuremberg recounted the prosecution's case against each defendant. After laying once again the crimes of Nazi Germany before the judges and the world, he ended his argument with these words: "It is against such a background that these defendants now ask this Tribunal to say that they are not guilty of planning, executing, or conspiring to commit this long list of crimes and wrongs." Jackson then recalled William Shakespeare's play Richard III, a story of villainy and murder. "They stand before the record of this trial as blood-stained Gloucester stood by the body of his slain King. He begged of the widow, as they beg of you: 'Say I slew them not.' And the Queen replied, 'Then say they were not slain. But dead they are,' If you were to say of these men that they are not guilty, it would be as true to say there has been no war, there are no slain, there has been no crime." The court adjourned on September 1, 1946, and spent the month deliberating on the sentences to be handed out. The Soviet judge, Iona Nikitchenko, insisted that all 21 defendants be sentenced to death. The Frenchman Henri Donnedieu de Vabres wished to allow military officers to be shot by firing squad, but Nikitchenko refused to allow the "fascist criminals" to die honorably. Ultimately, the American judge Francis Biddle and the British head of the court Geoffrey Lawrence convinced their counterparts to base the judgments on the evidence and sentence the guilty to death by hanging. Eleven defendants were given the death sentence: Göring, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl, and Seyss-Inquart. Three were sentenced to life imprisonment: Funk, Hess, and Raeder. Funk and Raeder were released because of ill health during the 1950s, and Hess remained in prison until his death by suicide in 1987. Schirach and Speer got twenty years for their crimes and served their full sentences, Neurath received fifteen for his but was released for health reasons only nine years later, and Dönitz got ten years and served his sentence. The last three—Papen, Schacht, and Fritzsche—were acquitted of all charges because the prosecution had failed make their case. Of those sentenced to death, ten were ultimately hanged in the Nuremberg jail by Master Sergeant John Woods on October 16, 1946. The executions were botched because Woods had miscalculated the length of rope needed and the size of the trap door. Each man made a final statement, most protesting their innocence or blessing Germany and its army, and then the sentence was carried out. One man, Hermann Göring, escaped the hangman's noose by committing suicide with a cyanide capsule he had hidden in his luggage. But in the end, all met their eternal fate and received the justice they had denied to millions of their victims. Several legal scholars criticized the Nuremberg Trials at the time and continue to do so today. Some are deep and complicated legal critiques too involved to be discussed here, but the most common claim is that what happened at Nuremberg was not a fulfillment of justice but a travesty. The defendants' statements were not accepted as true unless they backed up the prosecution's case (which was true in some cases), and those defendants like Speer and Schirach who expressed remorse for their crimes were given lenient sentences despite their horrific crimes (which was also true). The families of several defendants later sued to have their relatives' names and property restored by the West German government, and General Alfred Jodl's widow actually got a statement from Konrad Adenauer's ministry in Bonn that declared him innocent of the charges—which the Allied Control Council then reversed. No matter the criticisms, valid or otherwise, the Nuremberg Trials established an important precedent in international law: that some crimes, such as genocide, are so great that only humanity itself can judge their perpetrators through world institutions like the International Criminal Court of the United Nations. Whether this precedent would be followed after 1945 was an open question, and sadly the subsequent history of the world shows that it was not. Learning from History As I close my last full episode of this season, I first want to say that I hope you have enjoyed these podcasts and have learned many lessons from the history I have presented to you, our wonderful audience. It has not always been easy to summarize the many pieces of information and warnings from the past into fifteen-minute segments. The Nuremberg Trials is such a topic, and there are more lessons than I can possibly share with you in our closing moments. So with apologies again to my fellow historians, I hope to synthesize the trials' many lessons into two overarching themes. The first is something that Joe and I have talked about a lot over the past two seasons on "15-Minute History," that the road to oppression and murder does not start with gas chambers or mass graves. The men at Nuremberg described how Adolf Hitler and his henchmen convinced them, and their nation, to embrace a philosophy of death and then unleash it on the world. The road to Auschwitz started slowly, was fueled by propaganda and small acts of evil, and then culminated on the steps of its gas chambers. It took a nation to commit the crimes of the Third Reich, but it began with one man and a small cabal of demented minds who listened to him without asking themselves if what he required of them was right. The first lesson of Nuremberg is one we have referenced in the book Good Men, that decent people will do terrible things if driven forward by propaganda, a desire to keep their jobs (which was Hans Frank's defense of his many murders), and a belief that they were "just following orders." Adolf Hitler corrupted not just his followers and the nation they led, but also the long-established institutions of Germany: the government, the courts, the schools, the churches, and much more. As I hope we'll discuss in the next segment, the education system was a key component of the Nazification of German society, and as illustrated by Gustave Gilbert's conversations with the Nuremberg defendants, these institutional pillars must be protected from those who would tear them down or infest them with dangerous ideologies. Right or left, conservative or progressive, those who seek to transform a society will not simply hold a gun to your head and say, "submit." Rather, they will do what Hitler and many other dictators before and since have done. They will turn society into a weapon against their enemies, real or perceived, and then unleash those who have failed to notice the transformation and embraced their leaders' new agenda upon an unsuspecting nation. The greatest lesson of the Nuremberg trials, and indeed of this season of "15-Minute History" is this: each one of us must be ever-vigilant against those who promote radicalism in the guise of transformation, reform, and progress.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	96	https://en.nuremberg.media/defendants/20210329/141963/Gring-Descends-to-Hell.html	en	Göring Descends to Hell	https://nuremberg.media/…03/1a/140525.jpg	https://nuremberg.media/…03/1a/140525.jpg	[ "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/03/1a/140532.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/03/1a/141031.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/03/1a/140763.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/03/1a/140706.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images//07e5/03/1a/140837.jpg", "https://nuremberg.media/images/07e5/03/1a/140680.jpg", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/rgaspi_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/mamm_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/gff_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/rsl_w_en.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/bmm_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/tvzavr_w_en.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/rgaspi_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/mamm_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/gff_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/rsl_w_en.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/bmm_w.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/partners/tvzavr_w_en.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_1_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_2_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_3_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_4_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_5_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_6_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/black_7_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/grey_1_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/grey_2_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/grey_3_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_1_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_2_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_3_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_4_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_5_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_6_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_7_b.png", "https://en.nuremberg.media/i/static/infographic/red_8_b.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	2021-03-29T00:15:00+03:00	Hermann Göring - "Nazi no.2", the creator of the Luftwaffe, Gestapo and concentration camps, the successor to the Fuehrer - was the only one in Hitler's inner circle who lived to see the Nuremberg Trials (not counting Rudolf Hess, who left the Reich in 1941). Anti-fascist propaganda portrayed him as a fat, ornery taskmaster. But even in the dock, Göring proved himself to be exceptionally intelligent; he attempted to control the audience, and his interrogation made the prosecution really nervous. Peter Romanov talks about why such a person deliberately followed Hitler and became one of the main Nazi criminals.	en	/i/favicons/apple-touch-icon.png	Nuremberg. Casus pacis	https://en.nuremberg.media/defendants/20210329/141963/Gring-Descends-to-Hell.html	Star on the Wings We are not encouraged to talk much about criminals like Hermann Göring. He played a major role in the Anschluss of Austria and recreated the Luftwaffe (air force), which made a vital contribution to the first victories of Nazi Germany. Back in 1933, after Göring became the head of the newly-created Reich Ministry for Aviation, he began a secret revival of the Air Force that had been prohibited to the Germans under the Versailles Treaty. After the Polish campaign was successfully completed with the help of the Luftwaffe, Göring was awarded a Knightly Order of the Iron Cross. After the defeat of France, he received the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (he was the only one who had the award in the Third Reich). The title of Reichsmarshal of the Greater German Reich (the German equivalent of Generalissimo) was created especially for him. On 29 June 1941, Hermann Göring was officially appointed Hitler's political successor. It would be all fine taking account of the Junkers and Messerschmitts in the Soviet sky as well as the grief that they brought on their wings to the Russian people. Nevertheless, I will venture to say a couple of words about this person, since this is the only way to explain how the ace pilot fell into a tailspin and crashed in the black hole of Nazism. In the First World War, Göring became one of the heroes of this universal slaughter. He himself shot down 22 aircraft, and then at the very end of the war, when the Allies already had undeniable superiority in the air, he successfully led a squadron named after Manfred von Richthofen, the legendary "Red Baron". Nonetheless, there is one important detail: many Germans called the "red baron" a "murderer" (he shot even survivors who made emergency landings), while Göring`s reputation was completely different at that time. He was born into an aristocratic family (his father was a governor-general and a personal friend of Bismarck). From childhood he had been surrounded by tin soldiers; he got a decent military education, and dreamed of being a soldier. During the First World War, he showed an emphatically noble attitude towards the enemy. He was the opposite not only of the "red baron", but also the man he would later become. Following Hitler`s Descent Into the Black Hole Like many military men in Germany, Göring was disappointed with the “unfair” defeat in the war, and that's where his descent into the black hole of National Socialism began. German soldiers believed that it were not them who’d lost the war, but the politicians in the rear. They were outraged by the harsh conditions of the Versailles Treaty. All this initially gave rise to a desire for revenge. And, of course, Göring was really impressed by his meeting with Adolf Hitler, who could skilfully play on this prevalent feeling of national grievance. Like many others, once he’d heard Hitler (the Fuhrer was undoubtedly charismatic), Göring followed him, believing in him as in a visionary and an indomitable leader. For Hitler, the emotional and decisive Göring was a lucky find. There were many former soldiers among the admirers of the front-line soldier Hitler, but a generally recognised national hero was another matter. Furthermore, Göring really possessed considerable organisational skills, although he was lazy by nature. His swings from a burst of energy to a breakdown, passion for bragging and propensity for making impossible promises accompanied him all his life. Francois Kersaudy, professor at the Sorbonne and researcher of Göring 's biography wrote: "Being in the Fuhrer`s shadow, Hermann Göring played a variety of roles: the leader of strike teams, amateurish putschist, itinerant Nazi party activist, (...) puffy dandy, resounding orator, corrupt deputy, conqueror of the presidency of the Reichstag, (...) complete schemer, brilliant minister of aviation, rich parvenu, smart diplomat, excellent hunter, carpet strategist, amateur economist, ecologist ahead of his time, passionate art collector, official successor to Hitler, and his partner in crimes. He was a very sentimental person who did not hesitate to remove everyone who stood in his way; an anti-Semite in words, who ruled the imperial administration for Jewish emigration; a boastful battler who made peacekeeping efforts; a hyperactive person sticking his nose everywhere and completely weak-willed at the same time (...) Göring 's nature consisted of many contradictory qualities”. In general, the description is accurate; however, it needs to be corrected in several places. For example, it seems hardly appropriate to laud a "collector of works of art" who shamelessly robbed the best museums of invaded countries to compile his collection. The Fuhrer`s Favourite Usually, any biography of Göring begins with a list of numerous positions that he held in the Reich. In fact, he received positions and regalia gradually, and the frequent change of areas in which Hitler used Göring may indicate that he did not always successfully attend to his responsibilities. Keeping in mind the role played by Göring in the formation of the Reich, Hitler, unwilling to let his pride suffer, would entrusted him with a new position, while formally leaving to him in the old position as well. In reality, however, someone else was a "driving force". As a result, his impressive list of positions, titles and regalia was assembled. Hitler did not forget that in 1923, it was Göring who had become the supreme leader of the SA, the storm troopers of the NSDAP, and turned them into a powerful paramilitary force. During the so-called "Beer Hall Putsch" of 1923 in Munich (an attempt to seize power in Bavaria), Göring walked alongside Hitler and was seriously wounded (his endocrine system was disrupted - as a result, Göring put on a lot of weight, making him a favourite character of cartoonists). The wounded airman was saved by the owner of a neighbouring home, a Jew named Robert Ballin. Later, Göring freed his saviour and his wife from the concentration camp. Hitler knew how hard Göring had suffered from his injury, which rendered him disabled for a long time. He began to take morphine to ease the pain, and then got hooked on it; he received treatment from foreign psychiatrists. After the Fuhrer confirmed once again that Hermann was no.2 Nazi in the party and that he was his successor, Göring calmed down. It was during the party’s formative stage, as well as while seizing of power in Germany and during the beginning of the war, that Hitler highly valued the discovery he had made in Göring. Besides his "aviation positions", Göring became the SA Obergruppenfuehrer, Honorary SS Obergruppenfuehrer, General of the Infantry and General of the Land Police, and head of the Reichstag. Additionally, he was responsible for the implementation of the country’s four-year economic plan. Opinions differ regarding the last assignment. On the one hand, in July 1937, when the huge state holding Hermann Göring Werke was created, numerous factories confiscated from Jews came under its jurisdiction, later to be joined by factories in the occupied territories. In reality, however, this huge conglomerate, like the entire German wartime economy, was still managed by other people, principally another Hitler favourite - the architect Albert Speer. Nonetheless, Göring was appointed the "Imperial Jaeger of Germany". Being an avid hunter, Göring was really enthusiastic about this position. All the other positions were mostly formal for him: as the second-highest-ranking person in the state, he only signed the papers that had been laid on his table. From the Burning of the Reichstag to the Holocaust These were scary signatures. On 30 July 1941, Göring signed a document presented to him by Reinhard Heydrich on the "final solution" of the Jewish issue that implied the murder of almost 20 million people. Göring was also present at the meeting where Operation Barbarossa was approved: the invasion of the USSR. According to some memoirs, however, he considered the war against the USSR as well as "the final solution of the Jewish issue" to be a mistake. As Speer recalls, back in 1942, Göring told him: "We will be grateful if Germany maintains its 1933 borders after this war." Regarding the document of Heydrich, he testified in Nuremberg that the translation is incorrect, the "complete solution" meant emigration only. At meetings with Hitler, if he harboured these concerns, he hardly ever expressed them. It wasn’t that he feared arguing with the leader, as he believed in his righteousness, and in divine providence. That`s why he followed Fuhrer's decisions. There are a number of criminal orders for which Göring is directly responsible. As a general of the police and infantry, he allowed the police to use their weapons freely to suppress the opposition in his "decree on shooting", and it was he who sent 30,000 storm troopers to help the police, thus giving them official status. There are many corpses attributable to this decree. It was he who created the Gestapo in 1933. There is no need to explain what kind of institution it was. The role of Göring in the burning of the Reichstag is still not entirely clear. At the Nuremberg Trials, he denied his involvement in those events, and despite the evidence available, the prosecutors could not fully prove it. It's not a surprise, since the Nazis thoroughly cleaned out the truth about that dark story. However, the confirmed accusations against Göring were already more than enough. He deserved his place in the dock. Loyal "Traitor" Hitler's discontent with Göring grew as the war was being lost. Many of the initial promises of the Reichsmarschall were impossible to fulfil. However, Hitler truly believed in his luck, since he agreed with Göring that the Luftwaffe could provide Paulus's army, surrounded at Stalingrad, with everything it needed. Later Göring promised the Fuhrer that the German Air Force would not allow the enemy to reach German soil. Doubts were growing; the Fuhrer was repeatedly furious after hearing about new allied raids. Göring was gradually losing his position at the pinnacle of power. By the end of the war, Bormann, Himmler, and even Goebbels were vying to claim “Nazi No. 2” status. Nevertheless, even after Göring had gone dark, he was formally considered Hitler’s successor. Only on 23 April 1945 did Hitler furiously strip his former favourite of all his titles and positions. The reason was Göring's proposal to take over the functions of head of government (Reichsfuehrer Hitler was both prime minister and head of state). According to some researchers, this was the last desperate attempt to negotiate peace with the Americans and the British. Hitler's reaction was immediate. Göring not only lost all his titles and regalia, he was even expelled from the party, which he had once created together with the Fuhrer. Moreover, Göring was taken into custody by the SS. There was a rumour that Hitler had ordered to have Göring’s family murdered, including his little daughter. However, his guards were soon replaced by people from the Luftwaffe, who released their former boss, and Göring immediately surrendered to the Americans with his family. It doesn’t matter if Hermann Göring considered the "trial of the victors over the vanquished" in Nuremberg unauthorised, or did not plead guilty of crimes against humanity – it couldn`t change anything. Long before the trial, he called himself a murderer. In his book “Germany reborn”, published in 1934, he said: "…every bullet fired from the barrel of a police pistol was my bullet. If you call that murder, then I am the murderer". Peter Romanov
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	60	https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/war_crimes_trials_01.shtml	en	World Wars: Making Justice at Nuremberg, 1945	http://www.bbc.co.uk/favicon.ico	http://www.bbc.co.uk/favicon.ico	[ "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/2e00d1d53e9c3bd91993196aa19a1d88589969f0.png", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/4b3d79e119a089c09c9e484999b67f7579ab3acd.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/4ad8d7a59780d56c9c09b57c543eabe47a34508b.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/1f81bb1d27528afcfe0401a1bec005765f0a2946.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/408de4b089294a482a8b89698d407f4fe6f7cac1.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/b83623508ad5dc6b7d615989b4b3e89cd6946136.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/d1d0b631292a97387706beece67a69e09cc02e46.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/9b1760771dcda419dea0ffa09da7bd9e3b0040cf.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/a8e42f8fe987b7cc9bf2d43b74b2c74b2448d2e3.png", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/56d45f8a17f5078a20af9962c992ca4678450765.gif" ]	[]	[]	[ "World War Two", "Justice", "Nuremberg", "execution", "Goring", "war criminal", "prosecution", "Jackson" ]	null	[]	null	Explore the trials that tried to bring justice to Nazi war criminals.	en	http://www.bbc.co.uk/favicon.ico		null	Victors and judges When Hermann Goering, the most senior of the National Socialist politicians captured by the Allies at the end of World War Two, was handed a copy of the statement indicting him of war crimes and crimes against humanity, he scribbled on the margins: 'The victor will always be the judge and the vanquished the accused'. The guilt of such individuals ... is so black that they fall outside ... any judicial process. He was not the only person to express this thought. The idea that the war crimes trials at the end of World War Two were expressions of a legally dubious 'victors' justice' was not confined only to those who were its victims. Even on the Allied side there were senior legal experts who doubted the legality of the whole process. The four victorious Allies themselves argued for months over the vexed question of who to put on trial and on what charges. The origin of these arguments lay much earlier in the war years, when the western Allies first began to think about the treatment to be meted out to Adolf Hitler and the rest of the German leadership if the Allies won the war. The inclination of the British government and of the prime minister, Winston Churchill, in particular, was simply to shoot Axis leaders out-of-hand, as outlaws, once they were caught. The plan was to allow senior officers in the field to confirm the identity of the prisoner, and then to execute them by firing squad within six hours. A long list was drawn up of those deemed to be 'war criminals'. No attempt was made to identify their specific crimes. 'The guilt of such individuals,' announced Britain's foreign secretary, Anthony Eden, in 1942, 'is so black that they fall outside ... any judicial process.' At the end of the war in Europe, in May 1945, the firing-squad plan was still the preferred option of British leaders, including Churchill. Neither the Soviet nor the American government was happy with the British suggestion. Though both states shared the view that they faced an evil regime, they both favoured some formal process of law, the Soviet Union because it was felt necessary to display publicly the guilt of the accused, the United States because there existed powerful voices in Washington decrying the idea that democratic states should simply murder their enemies. Wrangling When the one-time judge, Harry Truman, became US president on the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945, he insisted that enemy leaders should be given a formal trial based on western practice, with clear charges and the right to a defence. When the three wartime partners - the British, Americans and Russians - met in San Francisco in May 1945 to thrash out the basis for what became the United Nations, the British delegates were outmanoeuvred, and a decision was taken to establish a military tribunal to try the cases of those senior politicians and soldiers captured following Germany's defeat. No military commanders had been put in the dock alongside their civilian masters before. There then followed six months of wrangling over who should be put on trial, and on what charges, and where. There was no precedent. No other civilian government had ever been put on trial by the authorities of other states. No military commanders had been put in the dock alongside their civilian masters before. The category of war crime, defined under international agreements made earlier in the century, covered specific violations of the rules of war (such as the murder of prisoners of war, or the shooting of hostages), but these were enforced against the immediate perpetrators - who were in most cases junior officers and regular soldiers. What the Allied powers had in mind was a tribunal that would make the waging of aggressive war, the violation of sovereignty and the perpetration of what came to be known in 1945 as 'crimes against humanity' internationally recognised offences. Unfortunately these had not previously been defined as crimes in international law, which left the Allies in the legally dubious position of having to execute retrospective justice - to punish actions that were not regarded as crimes at the time they were committed. The Tribunal During the summer of 1945 the Allies literally devised a new body of international law to cope with the unique situation they faced. The International Military Tribunal was finally constituted on 8 August, by which time a compromise had been reached on the charges to be applied. The major war criminals were to be tried for crimes against peace, conspiracy to wage aggressive war, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the deliberate murder of populations on grounds of race. ... the western Allies decided not to include the bombing of London, Warsaw and Rotterdam as a war crime ... This was a compromise of several kinds. Conspiracy was preferred by American lawyers, but it had no basis in French or Soviet or German law. The Soviet side was not much interested in western legal traditions (including the presumption of innocence) but had to accept them to give the trial the semblance of legal propriety. Most difficult of all, the western states had to accept Soviet insistence that only Axis aggression was covered by the new legal instruments. Otherwise the Soviet government would have been in the dock as well, for carving up Poland in September 1939 and attacking Finland three months later. The western powers also knew that Stalin's regime was guilty of many of the crimes against humanity laid out against the German prisoners, but were forced to keep silent in order to maintain a public face of collaboration. For their part, the western Allies decided not to include the bombing of London, Warsaw and Rotterdam as a war crime, since they had engaged in massively destructive bombing campaigns of their own. War criminals The most controversial issue concerned the criminals themselves. By June 1945 it had been decided not to prosecute surviving Italian Fascist leaders, who were later tried by Italian courts. It was very uncertain which among the large cohort of prisoners ought to be treated as a major war criminal. The Allies' poor understanding of the nature of the Third Reich meant that the preliminary lists drawn up left out key figures (Heinrich Müller, head of the Gestapo - Adolf Eichmann, head of the Gestapo Jewish Affairs office - Otto Thierack, the vengeful SS Minister of the Interior - and so on) while focusing on individuals who had played along with Hitler, but had clearly had little or no influence on foreign policy or waging war. One of those eventually arraigned at Nuremberg was Hitler's former economics minister, Hjlamar Schacht, who had actually been liberated by Allied forces in a German concentration camp. He was put on trial because he had been a well-known figure in the 1930s, and one who conformed to the Allies' stereotype of the scheming Prussian capitalist. In the end the Allies chose defendants in ways that can be regarded as nothing other than arbitrary. So poorly informed were the prosecution teams that General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, the man who led the atrocious Einsatzgruppen (special action groups) on the Eastern Front, not only avoided an appearance in an Allied court but was actually found to be a helpful witness, incriminating others. He was eventually tried by a West German court. In the end the Allies chose defendants in ways that can be regarded as nothing other than arbitrary. The suicides of Hitler, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels, and the death of Martin Bormann, meant that the central criminal group evaded justice. The only major party politician to be charged was Hermann Goering. Others appeared in the dock because they had fallen into Allied hands, or because they were made to represent a wider constituency - Schacht stood for the economy, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel the armed forces, the anti-Semite Julius Streicher for the racist circles in the party. At least one of those indicted, the armaments minister Albert Speer, had explored the possibility of assassinating Hitler in 1945, a fact that may explain why he was eventually sentenced to prison rather than executed. Justice of a kind Once the charges and the criminals had been fixed, the trial opened on 20 November 1945. There were hopes that it would last for no more than a few weeks so that it would maintain public interest and show Allied justice to be swift and inexorable. In practice the trial lasted until October 1946, by which time popular interest had waned. ... three of the 22 defendants were acquitted ... and 12 were sentenced to death ... The long time-span exposed many of the problems inherent in the whole process. The right to defence produced endless arguments about jurisdiction and responsibility in the governing structures of the Third Reich. The legal squabbles, while in themselves an indication that the Tribunal was no kangaroo court, tried public patience. In the end, three of the 22 defendants were acquitted, including Schacht, who had volubly protested his innocence throughout, and 12 were sentenced to death by hanging. Over the next three years a whole series of lesser trials were held of soldiers, officials and industrialists accused of complicity with the actions deemed by the first trial to be criminal. By 1949, when a new German state was reconstituted, the German authorities themselves took over the task of prosecuting those who had so far eluded the courts. Legacy Though the trial of the major war criminals in 1945 was legally flawed, its primary purpose was political. Justice Robert Jackson, who led the American prosecution team, saw the trial as an opportunity to lay down clear lines of conduct in international affairs and in the acceptable treatment of a population by its own government. The fact that these rules had to be laid down in collusion with the Soviet Union, which had violated most of them in the previous ten years, was glossed over. There is little sense, either then or now, that justice of a kind was not done at Nuremberg. The evidently arbitrary character of the Tribunal was overlooked by the accumulating evidence that the National Socialist regime had been responsible for crimes of exceptional proportions. There is little sense, either then or now, that justice of a kind was not done at Nuremberg. The international rules manufactured in the course of the trial preparations formed the basis for the Convention on Human Rights and the Genocide Convention which followed a few years later. Condemnation of aggressive war was inscribed in the constitution of the United Nations. The legacy of the trials was nevertheless ambiguous. None of the new legal instruments has prevented the abuse of human rights, racial killing or aggressive war since 1945, though they have provided a legal framework against which the behaviour of modern states can be measured. Many perpetrators evaded justice entirely, thanks to the often chaotic and improvisatory nature of the whole process of investigation and trial. Crimes committed on the Allied side were simply ignored, because their publicity might poison inter-Allied relations. Goering was right to see international judgement as a function of Allied power and German helplessness. But for all that, the trials reflected legal norms that were embedded in the natural law tradition, and were not mere expressions of vengeance. It has been better for the history of the last 60 years that Churchill did not get his way. About the author Richard Overy is professor of history at the University of Exeter. His publications include Russia's War (1998) , The Battle (2000) and Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands (2001). For a lifetime's contribution to military history, Professor Overy was awarded the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize by the Society for Military History in 2001.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	79	https://www.army.mil/article/227297/the_92_year_old_army_veteran_who_translated_at_nuremberg	en	The 92-year-old Army veteran who translated at Nuremberg	https://api.army.mil/e2/…5021/max1200.jpg	https://api.army.mil/e2/…5021/max1200.jpg	[ "https://api.army.mil/e2/c/images/2019/09/17/565021/size0-full.jpg", "https://api.army.mil/e2/c/images/2019/09/17/565022/size0-full.jpg", "https://api.army.mil/e2/c/images/2019/09/17/565023/size0-full.jpg", "https://api.army.mil/e2/c/images/2019/09/17/565024/size0-full.jpg", "https://api.army.mil/e2/c/images/2019/09/17/565025/size0-full.jpg", "https://api.army.mil/e2/c/images/2019/09/17/565021/original.jpg", "https://api.army.mil/e2/c/images/2019/09/17/565022/original.jpg", "https://api.army.mil/e2/c/images/2019/09/17/565023/original.jpg", "https://api.army.mil/e2/c/images/2019/09/17/565024/original.jpg", "https://api.army.mil/e2/c/images/2019/09/17/565025/original.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	2019-09-27T10:24:06-05:00	A World War II veteran who translated the testimony of Nazi war criminals during the Nuremburg trials visited the Presidio of Monterey, Aug 29.	en	/e2/images/rv7/army_star_icon_60.png	www.army.mil	https://www.army.mil/article/227297/the_92_year_old_army_veteran_who_translated_at_nuremberg	PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -- A World War II veteran who translated the testimony of Nazi war criminals during the Nuremberg trials visited the Presidio of Monterey, Aug 29. Alfred Loikits of Santa Cruz, now 92 years old, met with Defense Language Institute Commandant Col. Gary Hausman, Assistant Commandant Col. Stephanie Kelley, Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Donehue and Command Historian Cameron Binkley. Loikits told stories about serving in the Army in France and Germany, as well as his later experiences in the Air Force while serving in Korea. Several of his stories were reflections on his time in Germany after victory was declared. German-speaking American troops in Nuremberg were recruited as translators for the historic war trials. "Every day we had to look at the bulletin board," said Loikits. A communal bulletin board detailed not only who would attend the trials each day, but also who would translate the trials. Every few weeks Loikits was designated to translate several hours of courtroom testimony. During his time, he witnessed a review of photographs depicting the horrors of the concentration camps. "Hermann Göring and Rudolph Hess were sitting in front of me," Loikits remembered. During the review of the photos, Göring put his hand on Hess's head he said, "Don't believe it." This private comment was not recorded by the court, but Loikits overhead it because of his proximity. Hess had been captured by British forces during a secret mission to the United Kingdom in 1941. He was attempting to negotiate peace with the British government without Hitler's knowledge, and his capture resulted in him being absent for the remainder of the war. Göring was attempting to keep the truth of the atrocities committed in the intervening years from Hess. In the end both men were convicted of war crimes. Months earlier, while en route to Nuremberg, Loikits made his way through Germany in a train box car. Along this journey he learned for himself that Göring's denial to Hess was a lie. Even before reaching the concentration camps, the devastation was apparent. "You could smell the concentration camps - we got there and I couldn't stand the smell," said Loikits. "I could see the people. They were dead. There (were) piles of them." On another occasion, Loikits translated the testimony of a wealthy German factory owner who produced the gas canisters for the concentration camps that resulted in countless deaths. "Don't you know what you've made?" Loikits translated for the prosecution. Reflecting on the general indifference displayed by many of the witnesses, Loikits added, "He could have refused to make it, but he didn't." In addition to translating, Loikits also managed a group of eight German citizens in manufacturing tank shells for allied forces. He carried out all of his duties at Nuremberg while living in a building that had been blown open by ordnance. Born and raised in eastern Pennsylvania, Loikits grew up speaking German at home with his parents. He was drafted into the Army in 1945 when he was 18 years old. Initially he was sent to Ft. Bragg for tank destroyer training. But upon arriving in Europe his German language skills contributed to documenting one of the defining moments in world history. As the heroes and first-hand witnesses of the Second World War fade into history, these opportunities to meet with them and listen to their experiences become more and more important. The mission of the Defense Language Institute and the work of translators like Loikits are vital to conveying our words, ideas, and humanity with others around the world.
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[Doctor of Engineering] Hans Kammler, now little known to popular history, architect of the infamous Auschwitz death camps, responsible for the demolition of the Warsaw ghetto, and by the end of the war, the Third Reich's plenipotentiary for all secret weapons research, answered directly to Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler and to Adolf Hitler himself……..... Heinrich Himmler, who was responsible for the new racial order in Hitler’s conquered territories, showed signs of uncertainty about the development of events. "In a report to Hitler of May 1940 he totally ruled out the 'Bolshevistic method of physical annihilation of a people and that such a policy could not even be imagined, because it is completely un-Germanic. "Hitler noted on the document’s border: 'Absolutely right', and told Himmler he could show it to the other Nazi leaders as being congruent with his 'line of thinking'. -- Yehuda Bauer, Professor of Holocaust Studies and Director of the Holocaust Museum of Yad Vashem [Jerusalem] in his book "Buying Jews Freedom?" Jewish Publishing House, Frankfurt 1996 "The Wannsee conference of 20 January 1942, where, it was claimed for over a third of a century, the decision to "exterminate" European Jews, disappeared from 1984 on from the writings of even the most ferocious enemies of the 'revisionists'. On this point, they too had to 'revise' their history: Iit was at the Stuttgart Congress of May 1984, where that "interpretation" was dropped. Source: Eberhard Jäckel and Jürgen Rohwer."Der Mord an der Juden im Zweiten Weltkrieg" [The murder of Jews during the Second World War] Source : DVA. 1985 "In thousands of newspaper articles, books, textbooks, radio broadcasts, memorial speeches and television shows, the claim has been advanced that the mass murder of the Jews was decided on at the Wannsee Conference, or at the least, that the plan to carry out Adolf Hitler's order in this respect had been worked out there. "As well, it is claimed, the means of killing had been discussed and the establishment of extermination camps was decided on. "This is not in the protocol, and leading Holocaust historians are now repudiating it". -- Eberhard Jäckel, "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung", 22 June 1992 The most recent spokesman for the orthodox anti-Revisionist historians, the chemist Claude Pressac, confirmed this new revision of orthodoxy. He wrote in his book, "Les crematoires d'Auschwitz" [CNRS editions, 1993]:: "The Wannsee conference was held in Berlin on 20 January. "An action of 'driving back' the Jews towards the East was planned, with the evocation of a 'natural' elimination through work'; nobody then spoke of liquidation on an industrial scale. "During the days and the weeks that followed, the Auschwitz Bauleitung received neither a call, a telegram or a letter demanding the study of an installation adapted to that end". And even, in his "recapitulative chronology", he indicates on 20 January, 1942: "Wannsee Conference on the driving back of the Jews towards the East". The "extermination" was revised: It was a question of 'driving back'. It is equally remarkable that, in this book setting itself the goal of "proving" the thesis of extermination, there was no question either of the document which, after that of Wannsee, was supposedly the most decisive: Hermann Göring's letter to Reinhard Heydrich of 31 July 1941, in which it was asserted that the "final solution" meant "extermination", and not the transfer out of Europe. Göring protested against the English translation of the German word "Gesamtlösung", meaning general solution, as "Final Solution", which is "Endlösung" Tthis led Chief US Prosecutor Robert H. Jackson, at the Nuremberg Trials, to acknowledge the falsification and to reestablish the true meaning. Charles Bewley, in "Hermann Göring" [Göttingen, 1956] has pointed out that no evidence was found at Nuremberg to substantiate the charge that Göring was involved in the extermination program. Kammler boasted almost the perfect "corporate resume" and a documentable record of "whole person management" as a "team player": A modern day management consultant who was talent hunting for a "total professional with total involvement" would certainly have been fascinated by the bizarre curriculum vitae Kammler could have submitted. He could demonstrate a "track record" in "very senior appointments," with skill in putting across "aggressive growth plans" In the Third Reich, within a span of a few years, the number of positions he had held in turn was phenomenal. Among these "senior appointments" Kammler once commanded were: Operational control of the V-l and V-2 terror bombardments of London, Liege, Brussels, Antwerp and Paris; Operational control of all missile production and research, including the V-2 and the intercontinental ballistic missile. the A9/10; Design and construction oversight of the world's "first bombproof underground aircraft and missile factory sites", including sites for the production of jet engines and the Messerschmitt 262; Command of the SS Building and Words Division, the department which handled all large construction projects for the Reich, including death camps, "Buna factories," and supply roads for invading German legions in Russia; Design and construction of the world's first underground testing and proving range for missiles; Command, control and coordination of all of the Third Reich's secret weapons research by the war's end. This warped and twisted administrative genius first came to the attention of Himmler and Hitler "with a brilliant hand-colored design for the Auschwitz concentration camp, which he subsequently built. Later he was called in to advice on the modalities for boosting the daily output of its gas chambers from 10,000 to 60,000". All this is to say that not only was Kammler a butcher, but that by the war's end, Hitler had "concentrated more power in Kammler's hands than he had ever entrusted to a single person". If one were to compare Kammler's position to a similar hypothetical position in the former Soviet Union, such a position would mean that the general who [commanded] the SS-20 rockets in Europe and Asia [the Commander in Chief of Strategic Rocket Forces] would also head research, development, and production of missiles. In addition, he would be in charge of producing all modern aircraft for the Red Air Force and have overall command of the mammoth civil engineering projects or the production centers in Siberia's sub-zero climate. Last, but very much not least, he would lead the national grid of Gulags. To match Kammler's position in the SS, the Soviet general holding all these variegated commands would also be third in the KGB pecking order. Indeed, one would have to add to Agoston's list, for such a Soviet general would also have had to be in charge of the coordination of all the most post-nuclear and super secret advanced scientific research and black projects in the entire Soviet Union It is thus in the person of SS Obergruppenführer Hans Kammler that all the lines meet: The Buna factory and slave labor of the camps, exploited for grizzly medical experimentation and labor in the secret underground laboratories and production facilities, the atom bomb project, and even more horrendous and monstrous aircraft and weapons development. If there was a gold mine of information, then it was available in the blueprints and files that were locked in Kammler's vaults, or even more securely in his brain. It is this fact and Kammler's extraordinary dossier that make his post-war fate even more problematical. The Four Deaths of SS Obergruppenführer Dr. Ing. Hans Kammler General Kammler, in addition to his "accomplishments" in streamlining death camp efficiency, his methodical and efficient leveling of the ruined Warsaw Ghetto and meticulous accounting of every last brick and stone removed, his co-ordination of the most arcane, and perhaps the biggest, secret weapons black projects program in human history, has also another odd distinction to his credit. He of all the high-ranking Nazis indicted and tried at Nuremberg either post-humously or in absentia, was never formally indicted, much less brought to trial. He is altogether missing from the docket, and altogether just simply missing. Kammler has yet another distinction. He appears to have been not only a very accomplished messenger of death for others, but also appears to have achieved the astonishing feat of having died himself no less than four times, each under different circumstances. Agoston commented at length on the odd assortment of "facts" surrounding Kammler's fate: Brainchild of none other than Martin Bormann. The purpose of this special command was to evacuate... something. Cook reports that one of the enormous Ju 390s simply went missing at the end of the war. Analysis of the voluminous documentation as has accrued, shows crude discrepancies, the inconsistencies of which grow with almost every addition to the mosaic of information that enters the picture Basically three major facts stand out: Thus, in spite of "the proliferation of unsubstantiated evidence that permeates all four versions of Kammler's death, the shell of the case contains sufficient facts to suggest a more than coincidental pattern of seemingly targeted and organized disinformation". The origin of this disinformation, according to Agoston, was probably within the SS itself, a program necessitated by Kammler's disappearance and likely treason to one of the victorious Allied powers. The "first death of General Hans Kammler" is recounted by Albert Speer himself, in his last book. In this most simple version, Kammler ordered his adjutant to shoot him. The "suicide" allegedly took place in Prague as Kammler realized the war was lost and, according to Speer, "acted in elitist SS loyalty". As Agoston quips, "even the most ardent worshipper of Teutonic creed could not possibly suggest that elitist SS loyalty can be demonstrated three times, in three locations, and all on the same day.". The second version of the story, related to Agoston by Kammler's "civilian" aide Dr. Wilhelm Voss, was that the general took cyanide somewhere "on the road between Pilsen and Prague on 9 May" The third version of Kammler's death was doled out by V-2 rocket expert, General Walter Dornberger, subsequently employed by the American firm of Bell Aerospace. According to Dornberger, Kammler's mental and emotional state had quickly deteriorated in the final days of the war, and the general overheard Kammler ordering his aide to shoot him if things became "hopeless". But this does not square with Dornberger's close associate, Dr. Wernher Von Braun's own recollection of a conversation he overheard between Kammler and his aide Starck fully two weeks later. According to von Braun, Kammler and Starck discussed the possibility of "going underground" before the Americans arrived, disguising themselves as monks in a nearby abbey. This report, if true, is perhaps the most interesting, since it indicates that Kammler had no intentions of surrendering himself to any of the Allied powers, but rather, intended to survive, perhaps independently continuing his oversight of secret weapons development. The suggestion has been frequently made that the UFOs first reported in the late 1940s were the products of experimental aircraft designs that were developed towards the end of the Second World War. Most [if not all] serious historians would throw up their hands in horror at the very mention of such a seemingly ludicrous idea, particularly when one considers the associated claims: That, since sightings of UFOs are still reported today by thousands of people around the world, these radical aircraft designs must have been captured, copied and further developed by the victorious powers; and, what is more, that some UFOs may even be piloted by escaped Nazis operating out of one or more hidden bases. If the Germans did succeed in producing a piloted flying disc, what became of it? As several researchers have noted, the answer may lie with SS Obergruppenführer Dr Hans Kammler, who towards the end of the war had access to all areas of secret air-armaments projects. Kammler worked on the V-2 rocket project, along with Wernher von Braun [who would later head NASA’s Apollo Moon programme] and Luftwaffe Major General Walter Dornberger [who would later become vice-president of the Bell Aircraft Company in the United States]. Heinrich Himmler planned to separate the SS from Nazi Party and state control through the establishment of a number of business and industrial fronts, making it independent of the state budget. Hitler approved this proposal early in 1944. [As Jim Marrs notes, this strategy would subsequently be copied by the CIA in America] By the end of the war, Hans Kammler had decided to use V-2 rocket technology and scientists as bargaining chips with the Allies. On 2 April 1945, 500 technicians and engineers were placed on a train along with 100 SS troops and sent to a secret Alpine location in Bavaria. Two days later, von Braun requested permission from Kammler to resume rocket research, to which Kammler replied that he was about to disappear for an indefinite length of time. This was the last anyone saw of Hans Kammler. In view of the undoubted advantage he held when it came to negotiating for his life with the Allies, Kammler’s disappearance is something of a puzzle, until we pause to consider the possibility that he possessed plans for a technology even more advanced than the V-2. Did the Reich, or an extension of it, have the capability to produce a UFO or the clout to deal from a position of strength with one of the Allied nations? Although it is assumed that Kammler committed suicide when about to be apprehended by the Czech resistance in Prague, there is no proof of this. What really happened to Kammler? -- Alan Baker, "Invisible Eagle" Another version of Kammler's death has him giving a speech to his assembled aides in Prague in early May 1945, dismissing them from their duties and advising them to return home, and then walking into a woods where he then shot himself. And lastly, there is a version of Kammler's death that has him dying a typical SS hero's death, fighting and going down in a blaze of "glory" in the face of rebelling and revolting Czechs. What emerges from all this is that no one, no where can advance anything like a consistent account of the date, location, time, or even method of Kammler's death. Now it is suicide by poison, then suicide by gunshot, suicide by ordering an aide to shoot him, a fighting death, or disappearance into a Roman Catholic monastery. Now he is in Prague, now he isn't; now he's with people, now he isn't; now he's suffering mental and emotional collapse, now he isn't. In all likelihood, therefore, Kammler did not die at all: He disappeared. The important question is, where? In March 1945, as US forces were advancing through Germany, the slave workers housed in the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp were to be executed as security risks. It is believed that the order for their murder was received by Kammler, but he did not comply with it. On 1 April 1945, Kammler ordered the evacuation of 500 missile technicians to the Alps. Since the last V-2 on the western front had been launched in late March, on 5 April Kammler was charged by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht to command the defence of the Nordhausen area. However, rather than defend the missile construction works, he immediately ordered the destruction of all the "special V-1 equipment" at the Syke storage site. What exactly this order implied is unclear. Preuk statement On 9 July 1945, Kammler's widow petitioned to have him declared dead as of 9 May 1945. She provided a statement by Kammler's driver, Kurt Preuk, according to which Preuk had personally seen "the corpse of Kammler and been present at his burial" on 9 May 1945. The District Court of Berlin-Charlottenburg ruled on 7 September 1948 that his death was officially established as 9 May 1945. In a later sworn statement on 16 October 1959, Preuk stated that Kammler's date of death was "about 10 May 1945", but that he did not know the cause of death. On 7 September 1965, Heinz Zeuner [a wartime aide of Kammler's], stated that Kammler had died on 7 May 1945 and that his corpse had been observed by Zeuner, Preuk and others. All the eyewitnesses consulted were certain that the cause of death was cyanide poisoning. In their accounts of Kammler's movements Preuk and Zeuner claimed that he left Linderhof near Oberammergau on 28 April 1945 for a tank conference at Salzburg and then went to Ebensee [where tank tracks were manufactured]. According to Preuk and Zeuner he then travelled back from Ebensee to visit his wife in the Tyrol region, when he gave her two cyanide tablets. The next day, 5 May, at around 4 am, he is said to have departed Tyrol for Prague. Wernher von Braun, also at the time at Oberammergau, later reported having overheard a discussion between Kammler and his aide-de-camp in which Kammler said he planned to hide in nearby Ettal Abbey. Kammler and his followers then left town, according to Braun. Further evidence of Kammler's activities is a telegraph from Kammler to Speer, Himmler and Göring of 16 April, informing them of the creation of a "message centre" at Munich and the appointment of a chief representative for the construction of the Messerschmitt Me 262. On 20 April, he reportedly arrived with a group of technicians at Himmler’s Kommandostelle near Salzburg. On 23 April, Kammler sent a radio message to his office manager at Berlin, ordering him to organize the immediate destruction of the "V-1 equipment near Berlin" and then to go to Munich. In late April/early May, Kammler was reportedly at the Villa Mendelssohn at Ebensee, site of one of the projects assigned to him. On 4 May, he ordered the immediate transfer of the Ebensee office to Prague. Preuk and Zeuner maintained their version of events through the 1990s, when interviewed by the journalist Kristian Knaack. Some support for this version of events came from letters written by Ingeborg Alix Prinzessin zu Schaumburg-Lippe, a female member of the SS-Helferinnenkorps to Kammler’s wife in 1951 and 1955. In these, she affirmed that Kammler had said goodbye to her on 7 May 1945 in Prague, stating that the Americans were after him, had made him offers but that he had refused and that they would not "get him alive". On the surface, the sworn testimony provided by SS Oberscharführer Kurt Preuk in 1948 certainly seems confirm that Kammler committed suicide on 9 May 1945. Preuk was a driver in Kammler’s entourage and knew him well. When he produced his sworn statement in 1948 Preuk claimed that he had been present on 9 May 1945 when Kammler shot himself during a break in the journey from Prague. However, in another sworn statement by Preuk made in 1959 as part of a death benefits case, he claimed that Kammler’s death had occurred “on or around 10 May 1945” and that he was not sure of the cause of death. The situation was made even less clear when in 1965 Heinz Zeuner, a former SS SS Obersturmführer and another driver in the Kammler entourage, claimed to have been present when Kammler died and stated that his death occurred on 7th May 1945 and that Kammler killed himself by taking cyanide. In 2012, German researchers using government records uncovered further fascinating information about Kammler, his alleged death and the drivers in his entourage. It appears that in the Kammler group there was a third driver and one of Kammler’s longest serving aides, thirty-five year-old Oberscharführer Friedrich Baum. However, Baum had been badly wounded while driving one of Kammler’s staff cars when the partisan uprising in Prague erupted on 6 May 1945. Interviewed after the war, Heinz Zeuner claimed that he was present when the car was attacked [though Kammler was not] and described how Baum was shot in the left knee while driving, meaning that he was unable to use the accelerator. Zeuner was able to reach over with his own left leg and operate the accelerator while Baum steered the car to safety. Zeuner went to explain that Baum was taken to hospital in Prague but was later killed by partisans when the hospital was over-run a few days later. However, records show that on 23 May 1945 a thirty-five year old Army Oberfeldwebel [Sergeant] Friedrich Baum from the Berlin Motor Pool was admitted to a makeshift hospital in the lakeside town of Gmunden in Lower Austria. Hospital records show that Baum had been wounded in the knee in Prague on 4 May, but that his leg had become infected during the long journey to Austria. His leg was amputated in hospital but he died there on 29 May and was buried in grave No. 112 at the nearby military cemetery. There are a number of problems with this story. First, Oberfeldwebel Friedrich Baum of the Berlin Motor Pool does not exist according to German Army records. Given the reported date and location of Baum’s wound, it seems very likely that this was actually Oberscharführer Friedrich Baum of the SS. It was certainly very common for SS troops at the end of the war to adopt army identification in order to avoid arrest, imprisonment and retribution. However, the wound to Baum’s leg is also a problem. Accounts from Prague are very clear that Baum was wounded in the left knee. But hospital records from Gmunden state that Oberfeldwebel Baum’s right knee was injured and that his right leg was subsequently amputated. Things got even more confused in 1967 when the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge [German War Graves Commission] reviewed the military cemetery in Gmunden as part of a national review and consolidation of war graves. The plan was to erect uniform markers on graves and to consolidate the many small cemeteries into larger plots. When grave No. 112 was opened to exhume Baum’s body, it was found to be empty. When the cemetery was re-dedicated in 1987 the marker over grave 112 read “I.M. FELDW. FRIEDRICH BAUM, 06.21.1906 – 29.5.1945”. The “I. M.” Stands for “In Memorium” and is generally used on a grave which is intended as a memorial but in which the body is not actually present. The mystery surrounding the identity and death of Friedrich Baum has generated speculation that Kammler had adopted the papers and identity of his dead driver, that hospital records of his wound and death were falsified and that he escaped from Gmunden by adopting yet another false identity. There have also been reports of sightings of Kammler in Argentina after the war and suggestions that he actually surrendered to American forces much later than the date of his supposed death, though none of these have ever been confirmed. Author Bernd Ruland, in his 1969 book "Wernher von Braun: Mein Leben für die Raumfahrt", reports an altogether different account of Kammler's death. According to Ruland, Kammler arrived in Prague by aircraft on 4 May 1945, following which he and 21 SS men defended a Bunker against an attack by more than 500 Czech resistance fighters on 9 May. During the attack, Kammler's aide-de-camp Sturmbannführer Starck shot Kammler to prevent him from falling into enemy hands. This version can reportedly be traced to Walter Dornberger, who in turn is said to have heard it from eyewitnesses. Post-war search for Kammler US occupation forces conducted various inquiries into Kammler’s whereabouts, beginning with the headquarters of 12th Army ordering a complete inventory of all personnel involved in missile production on 21 May 1945. This resulted in the creation of a file for Kammler, stating that he was possibly in Munich. The CIC noted that he had been seen shortly prior to the arrival of US troops in Oberjoch. The Combined Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee [CIOS] in London ordered a search for him in early July 1945. 12th Army replied that he was last seen on 8 or 9 April in the Harz region. In August, Kammler's name made "List 13" of the UN for Nazi war criminals. Only in 1948 did the CIOS receive the information that Kammler reportedly fled to Prague and had committed suicide. Original blueprints of Kammler’s major projects were later found in the personal property of Samuel Goudsmit, the scientific leader of the Alsos Mission. In 1949 a report written by one Oskar Packe on Kammler was filed by the US Denazification office in Hesse. The report stated that Kammler had been arrested by US troops on 9 May 1945 at the Messerschmitt works at Oberammergau. However, Kammler and some other senior SS personnel had managed to escape in the direction of Austria or Italy. Packe disbelieved the reports about a suicide, as these were "refuted by the detailed information from the CIC" about arrest and escape. A CIC report from April 1946 listed Kammler among SS officers known to be outside Germany and considered to be of special interest to the CIC. In mid-July 1945, the head of the Gmunden CIC office, Major Morrisson interviewed an unnamed German on the issue of a numbered account associated with construction sites for plane and missile production formerly run by the SS. A report published years later, in late 1947 or early 1948, stated that only Kammler and two other persons had access to the account. The report also said that "shortly after the occupation, Hans Kammler appeared at CIC Gmunden and gave a statement on operations at Ebensee". The CIC notes on the interview give no name, but the interviewee must have been one of the three people with access to the account. Aside from Kammler, one was known to have left Austria in May 1945, the other was in a POW camp during July. Finally, Donald W. Richardson, a former OSS special agent involved in the Alsos Mission, claimed to be "the man who brought Kammler to the US". Shortly before he died, Richardson reportedly told his sons about his experience during and after the war, including Operation Paperclip. According to them, Richardson claimed to have supervised Kammler until 1947. Kammler was supposedly "interned at a place of maximum security, with no hope, no mercy and without seeing the light of day until he hanged himself". Possible last documented independent testimonies A purported section of a wartime diary, relating to the surrender of the mountain resort town Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Allied troops, mentions Kammler and his staff. According to this account, Kammler and what the author refers to as his staff of some 600 people, with "good quality" cars and trucks arrived in Oberammergau [north of Garmisch-Partenkirchen] on 22 April 1945. This arrival had been badly received and the local authorities had several arguments with Kammler himself. These conflicts are mentioned in the entries for 23 and 25 April. The last reference, implicating only Kammler's "staff", comes on the night of 28 April – an Oberleutnant Burger reports that they had gone on the same night that American forces began storming Oberammergau, forcing their way to Garmisch and Austria. Agoston had established what no other researcher has managed to before or since The unique information Agoston had came directly from SS Colonel Wilhelm Voss who had become "Kammler's alter ego in the administration of the special projects group". As Kammler was in charge of all the secret weapons operations, Voss was certainly in position to know deep secrets known only to the Nazi elite in the highly compartmentalized military system. Agoston, who worked as an air photo interpreter and foreign correspondent during wartime, "ran into Voss" when he was in Germany to cover the Nuremberg war crimes trials. Voss then took shelter in Agoston's house, where he would tell the reporter everything. From those interviews conducted in 1949, Agoston learned of the deep black projects, the secrecy of which was beyond any other secret military project. This was the "most advanced high-technology research and development center within the Third Reich": While Kammler [in charge of Nazi secret weapons projects] carried out his job to the letter, churning out the rockets and jet aircraft that Hitler hoped would turn the tide against the Allies in the closing weeks of the war, he also set up, unbeknownst to anyone connected with those projects, a top secret research center tasked with the development of follow-on technology, a place where work on "second-generation" secret weapons was already well advanced. What Kammler had established was a "special projects office" a forerunner of the entity that had been run by the bright young colonels of the USAF's stealth program in the 1970s and 1980s: A place of vision, where imagination could run free, unfettered by the restraints of accountability. Exactly the kind of place, in fact, you'd expect to find anti-gravity technology, if such an impossible thing existed. Voss described the activities of the scientists [in this secret operation] as beyond any technology that had appeared by the end of the war - working on weapon systems that made the V-1 and the V-2 look pedestrian. On 23 March 1942, Heinrich Himmler issued a letter which approved the establishment of a research and development center of the Waffen SS at the Skoda Works and the weapons plants Brno according to Hitler's orders. This was the beginning of the activities of the so-called SS-think tank, also called the Kammler Group. There, it developed a variety of activities and secret projects, many of which have remained largely unknown. It is well known, however, that one of the tasks of the Kammler Group included a missile test program in an SS-led research center in Pilsen. Some of these activities were related to the order from Hitler to Kammler, to accomplish the construction of an underground launch site for testing a smaller long-range rocket, which was intended as a prototype of an intercontinental ballistic weapon. This missile, may have been the V-101. Under this designation Dr. Büdewald and Dr. Teichmann 1944 began in Branch Příbram of the Skoda company with the development of a solid-propellant rocket. This three-stage rocket had a length of 30 m and 2.8 m diameter and weighed 140 tons. It is known that the first-stage powder engine was designed for a thrust of 100 tons and its theoretical range was 1,800 km at a maximum altitude of 200 km. to ensure that all European destinations would fall within the range of V-101. Apparently, this performance was much greater than specified in Fritz Hahn's book "Weapons and Secret Weapons of the German Army". We know virtually nothing about the true performance of this V-101 solid rocket because the project documents for this development were seized by the Americans, and have not shown up to date, and there are no documents or pictures of the V-101, although in a document from the former GDR, it is stated that the V-101 has been fully developed in the Skoda plant in Pribran, and tested successfully in Rudisleben, on 16 March 1945 in a launch towards northern Norway. With a 12-kilogram homing system from Siemens, the target was missed by only 6 meters, at a distance of over 2000 kilometers. Due to its solid drive, the V-101 was also better suitable, as opposed to the V2, for use in launching silos. , Further proof of the V-101's existence is an American secret report of 19 January 1945 dealing with an estimate of the expected German weapons development in that year. Among other things, it is mentioned, that it was known that there were larger rockets than the V2, and that these might show up in smaller numbers during the following year. They would, however, have a much larger warhead than the V2. The size of the new rocket was estimated as 68 feet [compared to 45 feet for the V2] indicated, however, the A-a9/A-10 also can not have been indicated. The "Amerika" rocket could only carry the same 1 ton explosive charge as the V2 and had a length of 84.7 feet [25.8 m]. It must therefore be asked whether besides the A-9 / A-10 "'Amerika" rocket, at EMW Peenemünde there was also the V-101 "Europa" rocket, at the SS Skoda works in Pilsen. Czech Episode of Nazi Rocket Science Uncovered by Historian Chris Johnstoner Radio Praha 29 June 2015 Germany’s use of long range rockets towards the end of WWII in a desperate but vain attempt to turn around the tide of the war, is a well known episode in history. So is the fact that many of the German experts were drafted in by the victors to help with the United States and Soviet rocket programmes. But a late Czech chapter in the attempt to develop new super weapons and rockets is little known and still shrouded with questions. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Nazi Germany could congratulate itself when it marched into what remained of the Czech Republic in March 1939. As well as a large booty of arms and munitions from what was regarded as one of the best prepared armies in Europe, the Nazis also took possession of some impressive weapons producers, notably Škoda Plzeň and Zbrojovka Brno. But while using the arms production capacity now on hand for the new wars on the horizon, the Nazis appeared slow to take advantage of the technical knowledge and research facilities that had been developed in Bohemia and Moravia. But as WWII began to turn against the Nazis in the key year of 1943, they decided to try and get the most out of the Czech researchers, technicians, and scientists at their disposal and decided to group them together in a new research facility that would be set up at Příbram in buildings that had been used by the national mining authority. Michal Plavec, curator of the aviation collection at the National Technical Museum in Prague, has scoured archives in several countries to piece together the history of the research facility. He takes up the story: “The Germans decided that it could be very bad to leave unused the capacity of Czech technicians and scientists and that is why they tried to renew the research institute which was under Škoda Plzeň. "And that is why this was such a conglomerate of three factories Škoda Plzeň, and Zbrojovka Brno Explosia Semtín. "And they were involved in mainly rocket research, artillery, and the production of armoured vehicles". Co-operation How willing the Czech co-operation was in this small part of the vast Hermann Göring armaments empire is difficult to tell. It appears likely that Czech technicians and researchers were given small parts of larger projects to work on so that they did not have a full picture of the development work that they were working on. One prominent Czech mathematician, František Čuřík, committed suicide in June 1944, according to some reports because he had been asked to work at the new institute on the ballistic computation of the V-2 missiles for the Nazi war effort. Čuřík’s friends and colleagues said he saw no other way out to prevent himself from taking part in what he regarded as treason. Others have questioned this interpretations of Čuřík’s death saying it was unlikely that he would be trusted by the Germans with such sensitive work and that they already had sufficient German experts of their own. In any case, the real change in the Waffen-Union Skoda-Brunn establishment, as it was know in German, did not come until August 1944 when a 38-strong team of German rocket scientists and researchers were evacuated from West Prussia to Příbram to prevent their capture from the advancing Red Army. They joined the existing staff which numbered just over 300. The head of the German team was one of Germany’s top rocket scientists, Rolf Engel, an enthusiastic Nazi who also had the SS rank of Hauptsturmführer. Engel, together with a young and eventually more famous Wernher Von Braun, had been among a small group to develop German rocket science in the early 1930s. One of his top assistants was the Swede Nils Werner Larsson. The end of the war was fast approaching and by the Russians had already overrun the Germans’ main rocket research facilities at Peenemünde in early 1945 and most of their fixed launch sites. But the research in Příbram continued. Michal Plavec continues: "It was really at the end of the war and a lot of projects were left only on paper. "But the significance was that when the war would be ended later then some of the projects on paper could be put into practice. "I think that one of the most influential projects was the so-called V-101 rocket.. "It was a long distance rocket - its weight was 140 tons of which 100 tons were fuel. "Its velocity was around 2,000 kilometers per hour with an altitude of some 200 kilometres and range of 1,800 kilometers". Cutting edge However megalomaniac the projects seemed in the background of the crumbling and shrinking Third Reich, Germany had invested massive resources in rocket science. It is estimated that the sums far exceeded the US spending on developing the atomic bomb. And the scientists had become world leaders in a domain whose strategic significance was to become all too clear with the dawning of the nuclear era. The Soviets and Allies by the end of the war were frantically seeking to grab all the documents and research and rocket equipment they could. Most of the German scientists faced the question of whom they should surrender to and divulge their secrets. One worry widely shared was that fanatic Nazis might order all the scientists to be killed so that their secrets would die with them. Michal Plavec says many questions still remain unanswered. "I suppose that much is still left. But we know for sure about two leading people in Versuchsamstalt Pribrams. "Rolf Engel, who co-operated with the German professor Hermann Oberth who was the pioneer of German rocket science. Rolf Engel was involved in rocket science after WWII in France and then Egypt. "And his Deputy Nils Werner Larsson, a Swede by nationality. He was probably involved in Soviet space rocket development and his life is still largely unknown for us". ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Rolf Engel enjoyed a colourful career after the war. He went on to become a consultant for the French national office for aeronautic studies and research from 1946 to 1952. There followed a five year stint as a consultant with the Egyptian Airforce. He then went to work in Rome to help develop guided missile systems. And after 15 years abroad he returned to West Germany to head up the new space division of MBB, a company formed in part from the remains of the Messerschmitt plane maker. He authored a book on the history of rockets and missiles and was an outspoken critic of détente. He frequently warned of Soviet plans to take over the whole of Europe and specifically to get a lead in space from the construction of an orbiting battle station. Nils Werner Larsson appears to be like a character from a Graham Greene novel. He was arrested by Swedish police when he returned to the country he quit in 1943. He was put on trial for first offering Swedish secrets to the Nazis, apparently the designs of a machine pistol, to gain credibility with them. And he was also charged with handing over Nazi secrets to the Allies at the end of the war. Larsson popped up again in 1960 at a press conference in Hamburg, Germany, sayng he had worked with Soviet and Warsaw Pact rocket science specialists between 1953 and 1959. He claimed to have been a double agent for the West. He appeared to disappear soon afterwards. And the Czech scientists who co-operated on the original German programmes, however reluctantly? Plavec says that none of them appeared before the courts after the war whatever might have been the questions about their collaboration and they do not appear to have been tracked down to help with the US or Soviet rocket race either. They were probably happy to get back to their past work and close the painful chapter on their Pribram war service. During the final phase of the war, Kammler was reportedly scheming to make a deal with the Americans, using his advanced weapons and specialists as leverage. By 18 April 1945, Kammler had disappeared without trace. Did Kammler negotiate successfully with the U.S. to realize his escape from justice? The fact that the U.S. official documents had virtually nothing on this central figure in the technological world of the Reich certainly hinted conversely that Kammler was very important to the U.S. and that the latter had something to hide about him. Adding to this suspicion was what Voss said about his interview with the U.S. Counter-Intelligence Corps. When Voss told the agents about Kammler's secret weapons program, he saw that the Americans were not surprised by it and therefore had to conclude that they somehow already had this information. Voss also noted that the agents were simply not interested in finding Kammler. Additionally, it was found that "there were dozens of high-ranking former SS or Party members that had never been called to account. They had simply disappeared. Many of them shared the distinction of having had access to highly advanced technology". Kammler was a ruthless and powerful SS officer who had committed numerous war crimes. Even Operation Paperclip would have had great trouble importing him into the United States. It probably could have been done under extreme secrecy, but the operation would have been too risky and extensive to appear manageable to U.S. agents - unless, Kammler had something so spectacular that the Americans just had to have, perhaps some exotic technology developed in one of his top-secret projects. Dr-Ing Hans Kammler had a bargaining chip with the Allies in "Operation Sunrise", the secret surrender negotiated by the OSS with elements of the SS. Generalleutnant Walter Dornberger stated to General Johannes Fink that Kammler had been ordered by the Führer not to let Braun, Dornberger and the 450 scientists and technicians at Peenemünde fall into Anglo-American hands but to liquidate them all beforehand. It was a huge risk to Kammler's own personal safety to evacuate all the Peenemünde staff in April 1945 to Oberammergau, Bavaria, contrary to Hitler's orders. Why else would Kammler do so unless it was a bargaining chip for negotiations with the OSS [Operation Sunrise]. Members of Kammler's staff claimed he was still alive at Jacin in Czechoslovakia late in April 1945. Enter into the picture a Junkers Ju-290 A-5 aircraft with constructor's number 110178. This aircraft was withdrawn from Luftwaffe service and rebuilt at Tempelhof into a civil aircraft in September 1944. It was given Deutsche Lufthansa markings and civil serial as D-AITR "Bayern". Conversion was completed October 1944. Flughauptman Paul Sluzalek flew this aircraft from Prag to exile in Barcelona on 26 April 1945. It had a number of SS personnel aboard whom the Spanish have always refused to identify. Was Kammler a passenger with the blessings of the OSS? Both SS Lt Gen Hans Kammler and Adolf Eichmann were close to Prag about this same time and both disappeared. Although Eichmann is supposed to have escaped overland to Genoa, there is a very clear possibility that Kammler could have flown out of Prague and just maybe Eichman was with him on that Ju-290. While everybody has speculated on the fate of Martin Bormann, the real scandal must be OSS dealings with Kammler.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	3	https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/nuremberg-trials	en	Definition, Dates & Purpose	https://assets.editorial…ges-84065338.jpg	https://assets.editorial…ges-84065338.jpg	[ "https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=3005002&cs_ucfr=1&cv=3.6&cj=1", "https://www.history.com/assets/images/history/logo.svg", "https://www.history.com/assets/images/history/logo.svg", "https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/01/nuremberg-trials-gettyimages-84065338.jpg?width=640&height=426.66666666666663&crop=640%3A426.66666666666663%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 640w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/01/nuremberg-trials-gettyimages-84065338.jpg?width=750&height=500&crop=750%3A500%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 750w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/01/nuremberg-trials-gettyimages-84065338.jpg?width=828&height=552&crop=828%3A552%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 828w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/01/nuremberg-trials-gettyimages-84065338.jpg?width=1080&height=540&crop=1080%3A540%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 1080w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/01/nuremberg-trials-gettyimages-84065338.jpg?width=1248&height=624&crop=1248%3A624%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 1248w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/01/nuremberg-trials-gettyimages-84065338.jpg?width=1920&height=960&crop=1920%3A960%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 1920w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/01/nuremberg-trials-gettyimages-84065338.jpg?width=2048&height=1024&crop=2048%3A1024%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 2048w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/01/nuremberg-trials-gettyimages-84065338.jpg?width=3840&height=1920&crop=3840%3A1920%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 3840w", "https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=16&quality=75&auto=webp 16w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=32&quality=75&auto=webp 32w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=48&quality=75&auto=webp 48w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=64&quality=75&auto=webp 64w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=96&quality=75&auto=webp 96w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=128&quality=75&auto=webp 128w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=256&quality=75&auto=webp 256w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=392&quality=75&auto=webp 392w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=640&quality=75&auto=webp 640w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=750&quality=75&auto=webp 750w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=828&quality=75&auto=webp 828w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp 1080w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=1248&quality=75&auto=webp 1248w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp 1920w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=2048&quality=75&auto=webp 2048w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp 3840w" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Nuremberg Trials - Definition, Dates & Purpose", "History.com Editors" ]	2010-01-29T16:08:07+00:00	The Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949 to try those accused of Nazi war crimes. The defendants, who included Nazi Party officials and high-ranking military officers, etc., were indicted on such charges as crimes against peace and crimes against humanity.	en	https://www.history.com/…e-touch-icon.png	HISTORY	https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/nuremberg-trials	The Road to the Nuremberg Trials Shortly after Adolf Hitler came to power as chancellor of Germany in 1933, he and his Nazi government began implementing policies designed to persecute German-Jewish people and other perceived enemies of the Nazi state. Over the next decade, these policies grew increasingly repressive and violent and resulted, by the end of World War II (1939-45), in the systematic, state-sponsored murder of some 6 million European Jews (along with an estimated 4 million to 6 million non-Jews). In December 1942, the Allied leaders of Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union “issued the first joint declaration officially noting the mass murder of European Jewry and resolving to prosecute those responsible for violence against civilian populations,” according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). Joseph Stalin (1878-1953), the Soviet leader, initially proposed the execution of 50,000 to 100,000 German staff officers. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965) discussed the possibility of summary execution (execution without a trial) of high-ranking Nazis, but was persuaded by American leaders that a criminal trial would be more effective. Among other advantages, criminal proceedings would require documentation of the crimes charged against the defendants and prevent later accusations that the defendants had been condemned without evidence. There were many legal and procedural difficulties to overcome in setting up the Nuremberg trials. First, there was no precedent for an international trial of war criminals. There were earlier instances of prosecution for war crimes, such as the execution of Confederate army officer Henry Wirz (1823-65) for his maltreatment of Union prisoners of war during the American Civil War (1861-65); and the courts-martial held by Turkey in 1919-20 to punish those responsible for the Armenian genocide of 1915-16. However, these were trials conducted according to the laws of a single nation rather than, as in the case of the Nuremberg trials, a group of four powers (France, Britain, the Soviet Union and the U.S.) with different legal traditions and practices. The Allies eventually established the laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials with the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal (IMT), issued on August 8, 1945. Among other things, the charter defined three categories of crimes: crimes against peace (including planning, preparing, starting or waging wars of aggression or wars in violation of international agreements), war crimes (including violations of customs or laws of war, including improper treatment of civilians and prisoners of war) and crimes against humanity (including murder, enslavement or deportation of civilians or persecution on political, religious or racial grounds). It was determined that civilian officials as well as military officers could be accused of war crimes. The city of Nuremberg (also known as Nurnberg) in the German state of Bavaria was selected as the location for the trials because its Palace of Justice was relatively undamaged by the war and included a large prison area. Additionally, Nuremberg had been the site of annual Nazi propaganda rallies; holding the postwar trials there marked the symbolic end of Hitler’s government, the Third Reich. The Major War Criminals’ Trial: 1945-46 The best-known of the Nuremberg trials was the Trial of Major War Criminals, held from November 20, 1945, to October 1, 1946. The format of the trial was a mix of legal traditions: There were prosecutors and defense attorneys according to British and American law, but the decisions and sentences were imposed by a tribunal (panel of judges) rather than a single judge and a jury. The chief American prosecutor was Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954), an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Each of the four Allied powers supplied two judges–a main judge and an alternate. Twenty-four individuals were indicted, along with six Nazi organizations determined to be criminal (such as the “Gestapo,” or secret state police). One of the indicted men was deemed medically unfit to stand trial, while a second man killed himself before the trial began. Hitler and two of his top associates, Heinrich Himmler (1900-45) and Joseph Goebbels (1897-45), had each committed suicide in the spring of 1945 before they could be brought to trial. The defendants were allowed to choose their own lawyers, and the most common defense strategy was that the crimes defined in the London Charter were examples of ex post facto law; that is, they were laws that criminalized actions committed before the laws were drafted. Another defense was that the trial was a form of victor’s justice–the Allies were applying a harsh standard to crimes committed by Germans and leniency to crimes committed by their own soldiers. As the accused men and judges spoke four different languages, the trial saw the introduction of a technological innovation taken for granted today: instantaneous translation. IBM provided the technology and recruited men and women from international telephone exchanges to provide on-the-spot translations through headphones in English, French, German and Russian. In the end, the international tribunal found all but three of the defendants guilty. Twelve were sentenced to death, one in absentia, and the rest were given prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life behind bars. Ten of the condemned were executed by hanging on October 16, 1946. Hermann Göring (1893-1946), Hitler’s designated successor and head of the “Luftwaffe” (German air force), committed suicide the night before his execution with a cyanide capsule he had hidden in a jar of skin medication. Subsequent Trials: 1946-49 Following the Trial of Major War Criminals, there were 12 additional trials held at Nuremberg. These proceedings, lasting from December 1946 to April 1949, are grouped together as the Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings. They differed from the first trial in that they were conducted before U.S. military tribunals rather than the international tribunal that decided the fate of the major Nazi leaders. The reason for the change was that growing differences among the four Allied powers had made other joint trials impossible. The subsequent trials were held in the same location at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. These proceedings included the Doctors Trial (December 9, 1946-August 20, 1947), in which 23 defendants were accused of crimes against humanity, including medical experiments on prisoners of war. In the Judges Trial (March 5-December 4, 1947), 16 lawyers and judges were charged with furthering the Nazi plan for racial purity by implementing the eugenics laws of the Third Reich. Other subsequent trials dealt with German industrialists accused of using slave labor and plundering occupied countries; high-ranking army officers accused of atrocities against prisoners of war; and SS officers accused of violence against concentration-camp inmates. Of the 185 people indicted in the subsequent Nuremberg trials, 12 defendants received death sentences, 8 others were given life in prison and an additional 77 people received prison terms of varying lengths, according to the USHMM. Authorities later reduced a number of the sentences. Aftermath The Nuremberg trials were controversial even among those who wanted the major criminals punished. Harlan Stone (1872-1946), chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court at the time, described the proceedings as a “sanctimonious fraud” and a “high-grade lynching party.” William O. Douglas (1898-1980), then an associate U.S. Supreme Court justice, said the Allies “substituted power for principle” at Nuremberg.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	76	https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/fr/document/general-chronology-nazi-violence.html	en	Sciences Po Violence de masse et Résistance - Réseau de recherche	https://www.sciencespo.f…avicon-32x32.png	https://www.sciencespo.f…avicon-32x32.png	[ "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/facebook.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/twitter.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/in.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/youtube.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/instagram.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/scpo.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/newsletter.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/sites/all/themes/k2sResp/logo-new.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/facebook.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/twitter.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/rss.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/sites/all/themes/k2sResp/images/croix.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/fleche-menu-deroulant-corp-black.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/facebook.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/twitter.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/in.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/youtube.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/instagram.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/scpo.png", "https://www.sciencespo.fr/sites/all/themes/SPresponsive/images/newsletter.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	2008-03-14T00:00:00	It is difficult to begin a chronological index, a matrix – as it were – for a massive event. In fact, Nazi Germany generated several policies of planned mass killing, a practice which culminated in the attempt to completely destroy European Jewry in a planned way, which will be the focal point of this index.	fr	../../sites/bo-k2s.sciences-po.fr.mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/themes/montheme/favicon.ico		https://www.sciencespo.fr/general-chronology-nazi-violence.html	It is difficult to begin a chronological index, a matrix – as it were – for a massive event. In fact, Nazi Germany generated several policies of planned mass killing, a practice which culminated in the attempt to completely destroy European Jewry in a planned way, which will be the focal point of this index. The beginning of these mass killing practices has been clearly identified: the first massacres took place in the context of the total ideological war against the USSR. However, the warning signs preceding these practices, without which the latter remain mostly difficult to understand, are still being discussed (Burrin, 1989; Gerlach, 1998; Browning, 1992 and 2003; Brayard, 2004). With a few rare exceptions, the factual information about these phenomena has been well documented and analyzed, which justifies attributing four stars to all of the facts and events detailed below, except when indicated otherwise. Should one link Hitler directly to Luther, as some U.S. authors did in the 1950s? The approach chosen here will not. The first manifestations of discrimination against Jews began in Germany during the First World War, then were eclipsed on the institutional level during the Weimar Republic; afterward, they grew steadily from 1933 to 1941. However, one cannot trace a direct line from discrimination to persecution and killing. Thus, we must begin by focusing on Germany, even though murder practices (in the strictest sense) did not take place there at the time, in order to explain a process which blazed across the whole of Europe and led to the participation of a very broad part of European societies, and the killing of over 5 million Jews from all the countries involved (Hilberg, 1961). We shall also present a detailed account of the local implementation procedures of violent impulses, which were sometimes decided locally, but were more frequently inspired by the Berlin-based decision-making centers, through a general matrix, and four geographically-based indexes. Based on the general matrix, which will concentrate on the central (i.e., German) point of view, we shall: show how discrimination practices were exported, radicalized and spread to the fringe of territories that were occupied early on – Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Actually, these countries initially served as laboratories for Nazi Germany’s Final Solution, and then – in the case of Poland – as a vanguard in this process. Observe how killing practices began differently, and followed specific procedures in Yugoslavia, and especially in Russia. Describe how the Nazis implemented the decision to eradicate European Jewry, which had been taken between December 1941 and the end of January 1942, and adapted it to particular local conditions in Western Europe. 1. The beginning: World War I and ethno-nationalism This chronology begins in 1916, an important date which corresponds to the great battles of Verdun and the Somme, which were dependant on military equipment, and indicated the adaptation of European societies to industrial warfare and its consequence, mass death. Thus, this year was marked by a first climax of destruction, but also by the first open and institutional manifestation of identified German anti-Semitism. May 1916: Census of the Jews drafted into the German armed forces, officially to put an end to rumors that they were not sent to the Front as much as other troops. The census results were not publicized; this added to the rumors, which grew after 1918 (Kruse, 1997). 1918-1924: At the end of the war, Germany experienced a series of different kinds of unrest and conflict: friction in its border areas due to inter-community clashes in Silesia and in the Posen area, several coup attempts, revolutionary movements and the Spartakist crisis in Berlin, Max Hoelz’s Communist insurrection in Thuringia and Saxony (Schumann, 2001), as well as Kapp’s separatist coup in Bavaria. Germans experienced the occupation of the Rhineland and the Ruhr region by Franco-Belgian forces as the peak of the crisis, as this occupation was perceived as an invasion, coupled with an internal betrayal, due to the activitives of the Rhinelander separatists (Krumeich, Schröder (eds.), 2004). The idea of a “World of enemies” in league with one another against Germany, which had emerged during World War I, came back to the fore at this time. The imagined conjunction of the action of internal and external enemies, some of which were seen as marked by a biological difference, constitutes a mental structure born of war culture, and of its preservation as a framework of thought by völkische activists throughout this period. The DAP (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, or German Workers’ Party) was created in 1919 and became the NSDAP (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, or National-Socialist German Workers’ Party) in 1920. It was just one of the many elements of the ethno-nationalist völkisch network, in which groups appeared and disappeared in a metastatic and rapid manner, in the local contexts of evolution in Germany during that period (Herbert, 1996; Kampe, 1987). Adolf Hitler, who had been active on the nationalist scene since Germany’s defeat in the war, quickly took control of the NSDAP. In 1923-1924, the NSDAP was actually marginalized in this movement due to its wait-and-see position during the Rhineland crisis. It was criticized for not having reacted to this event, perceived by certain activists as the ultimate invasion by the world of enemies (Herbert, 1996: 101-102). 1921-1924: At the Erlangen congress, the student representatives’ organizations set up a new collegiate leadership body, and a social program comprising financial support and incentives to travel abroad, as the völkisch organizations – represented by the Deutscher Hochschulring, or DHR (a central organization of student unions) were growing more powerful. In the end, at the 1924 Würzburg congress, access to the pragmatic social program and membership in the unions was restrictied to students who could prove their “Aryan ancestry” through their family tree. In local student representative bodies, the power of the ethnonationalist organizations grouped together in the DHR was confirmed as they obtained an absolute majority in elections throughout all German-speaking universities. Thus, not merely an activist minority, but a majority of German students – the future elite of the Republic – opted for an anti-republican, elitist, anti-democratic and anti-Semitic line (Herbert, 1996: 56; Kampe, 1987). November 9, 1923: A coup organized by the NSDAP in Munich was suppressed by the police. The main Nazi leaders were arrested and jailed, or forced to flee. The party was banned throughout Germany and it seemed to have been dismantled; it appeared to have failed to gain more than a regional following in Bavaria. At the end of the February 1924 trial, Hitler was sentenced to four years in prison; however, he used the hearing as a nation-wide grandstand, in order to impose his standing among the important members of the radical right (Kershaw, 1998). 1924-27: The NSDAP and its affililate organizations, such as the Sturmabteilung or SA (literally “Storm division”), its paramilitary organization, also known as the “Brownshirts,” were partially banned. 1925-1930: This was a period of apparent normalization of Weimar Germany. The disturbances caused by the revolutionary left and the ethno-nationalist right waned as Paul von Hindenburg took office as President of the Republic, and various centrist or left-wing, social-democratic governments were formed. Among various political leaders, Gustav Stresemann stood out for his foreign policy which allowed him to break Germany’s isolation on the international level and reschedule the payment of its war reparations, and to accelerate France and Belgium’s evacuation of the Ruhr region, while deliberately leaving the issue of the border with Poland open. Though Stresemann’s policy met with considerable success, in 1928, the right-wing nationalist opposition took advantage of the debate on the referendum on the Dawes plan for rescheduling the reparation payments, to unite. The NSDAP, which had been authorized again the previous year, used this means to access a nation-wide audience and make itself a particular place within the so-called “national” faction. At this point, the NSDAP gave up its strategy of taking power by force, in order to play the democratic game against democracy itself, and win power through the ballot boxes… The 1929 worldwide credit deflation crisis had a particularly momentous impact in Germany. Indeed, the country’s economy had recovered from the 1924 hyperinflation crisis thanks to an influx of foreign capital invested over the short term. Hence, in 1929, deflation spread immediately from the United States to Germany, leading to a series of bankruptcies, the collapse of the banking system, and spiralling unemployment (Peukert, 1992). September 1930: In the context of the economic crisis and the dissemination of Nazi rhetoric, the German legislative elections led to a severe defeat of the democratic parties and the emergence of the NSDAP as the second political force in the country; the latter won 107 seats in parliament. It began to produce a discourse of normalization, which eschewed the use of anti-Semitism as a main theme in political campaigns. The Weimar republic entered a period of endemic instability, as no parliamentary majority emerged to form a government. Thus began the period of the Presidential Cabinets, during which German Chancellors could only govern with the approval of President Hindenburg, who approved governmental decisions using his prerogative to issue emergency decrees and dissolve the German parliament, the Reichstag (Bracher, 1971; Mommsen, 1989). 1931: Reinhard Heydrich created the Sicherheitsdienst, which was the intelligence service of the SS (Schutzstaffel, an elite Nazi paramilitary organization). A discreet campaign began to recruit young literature, humanities and social science graduates; it picked up speed in the following years, peaking between 1933 and 1936. From 1933 on, the SD was used as a “Brain Trust” for all of the Third Reich’s repression policies (Aronson, 1967; Herbert, 1996; Wildt, 2002). July 31, 1932: New legislative elections were held; the NSDAP received 37% of the vote. The Nazi party was by far the leading German political group. Nonetheless, Hindenburg refused to name Hitler Chancellor. In January 1933, as the conservatives found it impossible to form a stable parliamentary majority without the NSDAP, they proposed a cabinet in which the Nazis would be represented, but strictly under control of the rest of the government. January 30, 1933: Hitler was nominated Chancellor. The Nazis were a minority within the government but Göring, the second most powerful member of the party leadership, was also appointed Minister-President of Prussia and thus, took charge of the executive police force of the biggest Land (federal State) of Germany. This nomination had been intended as a fool’s bargain, but it actually opened the door to an eighteen-month period during which the main political and union forces in the country were either repressed or disbanded, and ceased to exist (Broszat, 1985; Ayçoberry, 1998). 2. The NSDAP, its practice of power, and its repressive policies (on all of these dates, see Frei, 1994 and Pohl, 2003) It was not a foregone conclusion in German history that Adolf Hitler, a back-room orator of the 1920s Munich beer halls, would take power some ten years later. His nomination to the position of Chancellor on January 30, 1933, was the result of particular circumstances, but also of a miscalculation of the part of the conservatives, who thought they could use and control him. Indeed, the leaders of these conservative elites were deeply mistaken about the personality and ambition of this extraordinary, unpredictable and violent man, who quicky escaped their control. In fact, the NSDAP proved adept at making the most of the crisis situation the country had become mired in. Voters who supported the party were mostly recruited amongst craftsmen, farmers, shopkeepers, civil servants and white-collar workers. They voted for the Nazis first and foremost because they believed the party would allow a return to order and stability. Though Hitler did play on anti-Semitism outrageously, it is not clear, however, that this theme played a decisive role in his electoral successes. His nationalism, anti-Bolshevism and militarism are more likely to have been the factors that seduced the German people. Nonetheless, the hatred of Jews was one of the fundamental personality traits of the Reich’s new master, and he immediately made it a cornerstone of his regime. A talented orator, Hitler also had a remarkable ability to react and to improvise. For example, he took advantage of the massive shock to public opinion caused by the Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933, in order to obtain the promulgation of the decree on the “protection of the people and the State” – which set up the first legal basis of the Nazi dictatorship – the very next day. Changes then took place at a startling pace, from mass arrests of Communists and the creation of the first concentration camps to intern them, to the dissolution of trade unions and of all political organizations (except the Nazi party). Thus, though he took pains to appease the political elites, Hitler also used violence right from his first months in power, including against his former friends: during the “Night of the Long Knives,” (June 29-30, 1934), he had Röhm and the main leaders of the SA assassinated in order to get rid of potential political rivals. Thus, in barely eighteen months, Hitler managed to establish an absolute regime of personal dictatorship, and a general system to police the population. February 1, 1933: Hitler dissolved the Reichstag after the failure of negotiations with the centrist parties. February 2, 1933: Through the decree for the protection of the German people, freedom of assembly and the freedom of the press were restricted. Göring, the Interior minister of Prussia, mobilized the SA as an auxiliary police force. February 17, 1933: Göring issued a decree allowing policemen to use their weapons. February 27, 1933: After the Reichstag fire, the Communist party was banned by what was known as the “Reichstag fire” decree, which suspended fundamental civil rights in Germany. This edict constituted the legal framework justifying repression of all opponents to Nazism, from Communists to the conspirators of the July 20, 1944 plot (to assassinate Hitler). March 5, 1933: The NSDAP won 44% of the vote in the German legislative elections. The DNVP (a right-wing, nationalist conservative party, allied to the NSDAP) received 8%. The electoral campaign had been very brief, and marred by countless violent incidents against the left-wing parties. March 21 (31?), 1933: A decree called Heimtückenverordnung created special courts to judge political opponents of the regime, implementing the first judicial arsenal against members of the opposition. In the same period, the Dachau concentration camp was built on the site of a chemical factory in Munich, and that of Oranienburg in the Berlin suburbs; this signalled the emergence of extra-legal repression practices against opponents to Nazism. March 23, 1933: The Reichstag, convened in Potsdam, voted to give full powers to Hitler. Members of the NSDAP formed an absolute majority of the parliamentarians present, as those from the Communist KPD had been barred from the session. Those from the SPD (the Social Democratic party) voted against the decree, but it was still adopted, thanks to the votes of those from all other parties present. March 31 and April 7, 1933: Laws were voted to reorganize the Länder (federal states of Germany), reforming their governments and creating the position of Reichsstatthalter, a representative of the federal State in each Land. The latter was given the responsibility of taking the initiative to form the state government and determine the composition of the state parliament. The Länder parliaments virtually became rubber-stamp assemblies that followed orders from Berlin. In practical terms, this was the end of the Länder’s autonomy and of the German federal system (Broszat, 1985). The “reorganization of the civil service” law voted the same day provided a legal framework for the purging of State civil servants ; the main targets were political adversaries of the regime (Communists and Social Democrats), but also Jews. April 1, 1933: The first boycott of Jewish-owned shops was implemented. May 1, 1933: Trade unions were banned and the Deutsche Arbeitsfront (the “German Labour Front,” a general Nazi trade union organization) was created. June-July 1933: Under pressure from Hitler and the NSDAP, the SPD was outlawed and the remaining parties, including Alfred Hugenberg’s ethno-nationalist DNVP, dissolved themselves. The NSDAP became the single party in Germany. June 21-26, 1933: The SA, acting as an auxiliary police force, instigated a week of riots in Köpenick, a predominantly working-class, southeastern suburb of Berlin. Many political opponents to the regime, as well as some Jews, were kidnapped and detained in the SA sections’ premises, where they were mistreated. 23 people lost their lives. (Bessel, 1984) July 14 (19?), 1933: A law for the prevention of hereditary illnesses was voted, allowing people to request the sterilization of persons suffering from hereditary diseases. The wording of the law mentioned cases of mental illness, “idiocy,” and “antisocial behavior.” November 1933: New legislative elections were held with single candidates from the NSDAP. November 24, 1933: A law on “criminals by habit” was voted, establishing the legal framework for the treatment of criminals by the police. It also served to organize the legal vacuum necessary to send criminals regarded as dangerous, repeat offenders or persons whose sentence was deemed insufficiently long by administrative officials, to concentration camps. This was the end of a period of acute instability and of rapid expansion of the NSDAP’s power. It remained the sole party in power and found itself faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, the left-wing opposition and the democratic forces had been stifled; on the other, the conservative forces and the traditional mainstays of power aspired to a return to peace and order. But the NSDAP’s grassroots support base, represented by Röhm’s SA, was calling for a second revolution – a socialist one this time – to follow the “national revolution” that was now finished. Against the backdrop of a public opinion crisis and an increase of right-wing criticism of Nazi policy, Hitler was faced with a double front of criticism. The internal front, inside the party, was embodied by the exceedingly powerful SA with its one million members, which regarded itself as nationalist, socialist and revolutionary; it was not hostile to Hitler, but rather to the right wing of the party and to the conservative elites. The external front was close to the government (Von Papen, the vice-Chancellor, was its leader), and defined itself as conservative. June 30, 1934: The crisis was “resolved” by the combined elimination of both opposition forces: the SD and the SS eliminated the conservative right-wing opposition by a series of targeted assassinations, and proceeded to arrest and execute most of the SA leaders throughout Germany. The “Night of the Long Knives,” also known amongst the Nazis as “Röhm’s Putsch,” put an end to the period of instability fueled by the SA since January 1933, which probably caused the deaths of between 600 and 1,000 of the 100,000 persons detained at one point or another. The “Putsch against Röhm” of June 30, 1934 probably cost 200 lives (Frei, 1995), mostly those of Nazi cadres, whereas around ten were from the conservative opposition. The rise of the Schutzstaffeln (SS) The spring 1934 crisis was also a sign of the rise of the SS’s power, as well as that of Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich. They were implementing a strategy involving the takeover of the political police forces of the different Länder, and instrumentalization of the SD to establish their control of the repressive apparatuses. Heydrich and Himmler, who were initially only in charge of the Bay Po Po (Bavarian Political Police), acquired command of the Gestapo, the Prussian political police, following the “Röhm’s Putsch,” gaining de facto control of almost all the German political and criminal police forces. During the same period, the SS took control of all the concentration camps in Germany, and Himmler appointed the Dachau camp commander, Theodor Eicke, as Inspector of the concentration camps (Orth et alii, 1998). The SS then controlled the police and the concentration camps, and established itself as the main protagonist of Nazi repression policies (Frei, 1994; Herbert, 1996; Bessel, 1984). August 3, 1934: Hindenburg died and Hitler took the position of President, and the title of Führer and Chancellor of the Reich. January 1935: As of January, circumstances became much more difficult for the Jews: they were barred from practising an increasing number of professions; the “Law for the reconstruction of the civil service” was one of the first measures in this direction. The most significant were all the legal professions, from that of tax advisor to that of lawyer or notary, but Jews were also barred from other apparently more trivial occupations such as that of swimming instructor, household servant, Church musician, art dealer, or antique dealer (Adam, 1972; Friedländer (Saul), 1997). September 15, 1935: The “Nuremberg Laws,” also known as the “Blutschutzgesetz” (“Blood Protection Law”) were edicted (the full text is available in German at http://www.documentarchiv.de/ns/nbgesetze01.html). These laws served to define the Jews as a targeted category. The definition thus chosen, which was characteristic of the Sicherheitsdienst, left the issue of persons of mixed origin open. Any person with three Jewish grandparents out of the four was considered Jewish. The Nuremberg laws were based on the “racial and cultural expertise” of the SD sections in charge of the “Jewish question.” They indicated the growing influence of the SS and the SD on this issue. The entire Nazi policy against Jews was the result of a power struggle between Nazi anti-Semites with Socialist tendancies (Streicher and Goebbels), and the proponents of a more elitist anti-Semitism “based” on “reason” and “scientificity.” The Nuremberg laws came soon after “spontaneous” pogroms instigated by Goebbels and Streicher. These dynamics can be analyzed in terms of polycracy and the escalation of competition between different pressure groups, and are similar to those of the November 1938 events (ibid. and Wildt, 1995 and 2002). 1936: This was a relatively quiet year in the Nazi policies of repression. The Berlin Olympic games, and the necessary preparation for them, required that unrest be kept to a minimum in Germany, and the Nazis did not undertake anything of note that year in terms of anti-Jewish policy or political repression. However, the repressive apparatus’ structures were reinforced: Himmler became head of all the German police forces and created two main departments within the SS, in charge of running the Security Police and the Security Service. The Sipo-HA (Sicherheitspolizei-Hauptamt, or Security Police headquarters) and the SDHA (headquarters of the Sicherheitsdienst, or "security department," the Nazi Party security service, also in charge of intelligence-gathering and counter-espionage) were both managed by Heydrich, seconded by Werner Best. They implemented a systematic policy of recruitment of young völkische graduates, mostly law specialists for the Gestapo and the KRIPO (criminal police), and humanities specialists for the SD (Wildt, 2002). However, beyond anti-Jewish policy, two other dates in 1936 are also significant: January 3, 1936: The scope of the Nuremburg “Blood Protection Law” was extended to include Gypsies, Sinti and Roma (Zimmerman, 1989). July 12, 1936: The construction of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp began (Orth et alii, 1998). March 9, 1937: A massive lockup operation was directed against people who had been found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences. Several thousands were arrested throughout the Reich. They were sent to the concentration camps, where they formed the first Kapo (concentration camp guards) squads (Wagner, 1996). July 15, 1937: The Buchenwald construction concentration camp was built in Weimar (Orth et alii, 1998). December 14, 1937: The directive for the “preventive struggle against crime” legalized the arrests carried out earlier in the year a posteriori, and formed the legal framework for sending multiple offender criminals to concentration camps (Wagner; 1996). March 12-13, 1938: Anschluß (annexation) of Austria. Austria was annexed; the police forces then created their first Einsatzgruppen. These were mobile groups of policemen in charge of taking control of public buildings, seizing archives and the files of the main security and State organizations, as well as carrying out arrests of political opponents or persons identified as dangerous. Barely two weeks after the invasion, the arrests carried out in Austria ranged into the thousands. Following the annexation of Austria, new Jewish communities found themselves under Nazi domination. Their treatment was initially modeled on the repression that had gradually been implemented inside the Reich; then, Austria was used as a sort of laboratory to experiment different measures taken by the Nazis (Aly and Heim, 1991). 13-18 June, 1938: A wave of arrests of “antisocial persons” took place. This was a catch-all category comprising persons who had remained unemployed for a long time, misfits, individuals allegedly suffering from mental illnesses, alcoholics and drug addicts (Wagner 1996). Gypsies were also targeted in this wave of arrests (Zimmermann, 1995). July 6-15, 1938: International conference at Evian. During this conference, which had been called by the president of the United States, Roosevelt, most states expressed sympathy toward the Jews being persecuted, but nonetheless claimed that the social and economic situation in their countries prevented them from increasing immigration quotas. This conference had no concrete results, and gave the Nazi leaders new evidence that in spite of their indignant objections, these states would do nothing for the German and Austrian Jewish refugees. July 1938: Austria became a laboratory for the Nazis’ anti-Jewish policies. Adolf Eichmann, who had been put in charge of “Jewish Affairs” for the “Danube” district of the SD (Austria), created the Central Office for Jewish Emigration, a police body responsible for issuing travel documents to Jews who “wished” to emigrate. In practice, this Office had two duties: -* on one hand, radicalizing humiliating measures against Jews, to force them to emigrate: -* on the other, rationalizing the emigration process by inducing Jewish elites to fund the emigration of working-class Jews. At the same time, the procedures of “Aryanization” (expropriation of Jewish goods, in order to transfer them to non-Jews) and confiscation of Jewish property were rationalized further, and used to systematically plunder the resources of the Austrian economy and escape the constraints of the increasingly autarchic economic policy being implemented inside the Reich (Aly and Heim, 1991). Thus, 150,000 Jews emigrated “freely,” under pressure from Eichmann’s authorities (Lozowick, 2001). August 1938: The Mauthausen camp was built in occupied Austria (Orth et alii, 1998). August 17, 1938: A decree set up a special legal system for wartime. This was the legal basis the Nazis used to legitimize most crimes committed during the war inside the Reich, against all opponents. September 29, 1938: The Munich conference was held. Germany invaded the Sudetenland (western regions of Czechoslovakia whose population was mostly composed of ethnic Germans). October 26-28, 1938: Hearing of Polish plans to deprive Polish Jews that had emigrated to Germany of their nationality, the German police authorities arrested 17,000 Polish Jews and brutally expelled them toward the Polish border. Among them was the Grynszpan family, whose son Herschel was studying in . To avenge his family, he killed the German legate in , provoking a reaction from anti-Semitic activists (Adam, 1972). November 9, 1938: Kristallnacht (“Night of the Broken Glass”). With help from the Gauleitung of Franconia and its leader Julius Streicher, who was editor-in-chief of Der Stürmer newspaper, as well as from Goebbels, who was Gauleiter of Berlin and Minister of Propaganda, the SA instigated huge pogroms throughout Germany. This was the last and biggest manifestation of what has been called Radauantisemitismus (rowdy, disorderly anti-Semitism). Around one hundred people were killed directly in the pogrom, but several hundred others committed suicide out of sheer terror. Also, 27,000 Jews were temporarily sent to concentration camps. The German authorities used Kristallnacht to levy huge fines upon Jewish communities, and began implementing a mass emigation policy that was less and less “voluntary,” along then lines of the “Austrian” model developed by Eichmann, in parallel with an increasingly organized and complete “Aryanization” (Aly and Heim, 1991; Friedländer (Saul), 1997; Wildt, 1995). December 8, 1938: Himmler issued orders to organize a census of the Gypsies in the Reich (Zimmerman, 1995). January 30, 1939: During a speech before the Reichstag the day of the anniversary of his rise to power, Hitler predicted that in the event that a world war was declared, it would not lead to a “Bolshevization” of Europe, but rather to the extermination of European Jewry. All authors who have analyzed the genesis of the decision-making process of the extermination of the Jews see this prediction as a discursive source of the decisions that were taken between September and December 1941 and led to the definition of a Europe-wide program for the “final solution to the Jewish question,” during the Wannsee conference. March 15, 1939: Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. This was the first time the Third Reich invaded territories which were not inhabited by a majority of Germans. Thus, it became an occupying power. Between 1938 and this point, it had acquired all of the territories in which the Nazi authorities were later to “test” the measures of the “final solution to the Jewish question” – a laboratory of sorts. This invasion was associated with a very large wave of arrests (Brandes, 1975). March 1939: The Einsatzkommandos formed for the conquest of Czechoslovakia and the Memel territory arrested hundreds of people (Krausnick, Wilhelm, 1981). May 15, 1939: The Ravensbrück concentration camp was built (Orth et alii, 1998). 3. Reorganization and elimination On September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland. The Polish question was essential in the Nazi mind-set and practices. From a racial point of view, Poles were seen as a mixed race, partially German in origin; this made them dangerous. Therefore, the Nazi memory of German-Polish relations in the past was characterized by a high level of conflictuality, the last significant episode of which was the end of World War I, and the troubled period Germany experienced until 1924. The peace settlement, through which broad eastern fringes of German territory were attributed to the new Polish state, constituted a long-term threat to the “biological” and geographical integrity of the German State, in the view of the leaders of the Third Reich. Indeed, in the areas annexed in 1918 by Poland, the German population was perceived as having been put through a cultural “Polification” policy, which endangered their identity. This was behind what “motivated” the Nazi aggression of Poland. To Hitler and his entourage, the objective was both to erase one of the most painful consequences of the November 1918 defeat, and to rescue volksdeutsch communities undergoing racial and identity dilution. It was also a further preparatory step toward the conquest of Lebensraum (literally “living space,” meaning extra space for the development of the German population and of a Greater Germany), after Austria and Czechoslovakia. Hitler used an attack upon a radio station at Gleiwitz, on the German border (a ploy which had been fabricated by the Gestapo), as a pretext in order to attack Poland. The invasion had been carefully planned and was directed from the Reich territory and from Pomerania by two armored forces, which carried out a pincer movement in order to surround the insufficiently armed Polish troops. The German combat techniques and strategic choices made this first campaign a deadly war. Civilians were a potential target from the beginning, either through the bombing of urban and industrial centers, or though the aggressive practices of the German infantry. For example, it was in this context that the Einsatzgruppen carried out their first killings. These mobile groups were composed of policemen, as well as political police and intelligence officers and were officially in charge of “securing” the invaded territories. Jews were not the first victims of these killings, though some of them were killed at this point “for racial reasons.” However, according to Einsatzgruppen reports, most of the victims were enemy infantrymen who had been left behind due to the very fast progress of the regular German army, the Wehrmacht, as well as members of local Polish elites; they were all executed “for security reasons” (Rossino, 2003; Böhler, 2006). In August-September 1939, a third phase of Nazi violence began. Its specificity was due to the following factors: -* The Einsatzgruppen intervened during wartime for the first time -* Experts were beginning to mention the concept of Großraumwehrwirtschaft (large-scale war economy, or imperial war economy) -* Hitler later indicated the very day of the attack on Poland as the day he gave doctors permission to euthanize the handicapped. Significantly, afterward, he also gave September 1, 1939, as the date of his “prophecy” of January 30, 1939. Thus, eugenics, racial and geographic reorganization, and planned murder were combined to give Nazi mass violence a dimension hitherto unknown throughout history (for this interpretation, see Burrin, 1989; Aly, 1995; Browning, 2002; Brayard, 2004). August 1939: The Vierjahresplan (economic planning over a four-year period, administered by Goering) was introduced; the concept of Großraumwehrwirtschaft (imperial war economy) was used for the first time, as data linked to economic domination were taken into account in the consideration of the German economy. The Four-Year Plan Administration was actually at the forefront of the definition – with Eichmann – of Aryanization and “economic rationalization” policies directed against Austrian Jews, and then introduced in the Reich (Aly and Heim, 1991). September 1, 1939: On the same day Poland was invaded, Hitler retroactively gave doctors the power to euthanize persons suffering from a physical or mental handicap; newborn children had been the first targeted (from July), before adults (Aly & Heim, 1991; Friedländer (Henry), 1995). September 21, 1939: Heydrich’s instructions to the Einsatzgruppen retroactively specified their duties, in accordance with the way they had been carried out in Austria, the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia and Poland. However, after six weeks, the Einsatzgruppen deployed in Poland had killed around 12,000 people (Krausnick, Wilhelm, 1981; Rossino, 2003). October 1, 1939: The RSHA was created. The Reichssicherheitshauptamt was a further step in the process of centralization and rationalization of the central organizations involved in the SS repressive apparatus. The economic and personnel management services of the Kripo, Gestapo and SD were merged, while Heydrich re-defined the allocation of duties between the Gestapo and the SD. In practice, the RSHA constituted a suitable instrument to deal with Nazi imperial expansion (Wildt, 2002). October 6, 1939: Hitler formulated a project to reorganize European “ethnic relations” through expulsion operations (Aly, 1995). Poland became the test case for this scheme. October 7, 1939: Hitler entrusted Himmler with planning and coordinating population transfers. The RKFdV (Reichskommissariat für die Festigung deutschen Volkstums, or the Reich Commission for the reinforcement of Germanity) combined several pre-existing SS departments (the Volksdeutche Mittelstelle, in charge of supporting the German communities outside the Reich territory, the Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt, the main Office for Race Colonization). It also created several new ones, including a planning office directed by SS Oberführer Pr. Konrad Meyer-Heitling, who was an Agronomy professor at the University of Berlin, and responsible for the geographical planning of Germanization (Aly, 1995). October 18-21, 1939: The first group of Jews was deported from Vienna and Moravia to the South Lublin district (Nisko—Einsatz). Stahlecker, the Vienna BdS (regional head of the Gestapo and SD), and Adolf Eichmann, who was the operational supervisor of population transfers, and responsible for the “Jewish question,” made their first attempt at mass deportation. The operation was cut short for logistical reasons (Aly, 1995). This improvised procedure turned out to be a disaster leading to terrible suffering for the deportees, many of whom died; they were either killed by the SS or died of exhaustion, exposure or starvation (Safrian, 1995). October 26, 1939: Forced labor was imposed on the Jews of Poland. The dynamics of occupation and economic exploitation were being established (Madajcyk, 1987). Second half of November, 1939: The Fernplan Ost, a first attempt at long-term planning (“Fernplan”) of population issues in Eastern Europe, was composed for the RSHA Sondergruppe III ES (Dr Hans Ehlich). This first variation on the “territorial solution to the Jewish question” theme was written by the SD Referat (department) in charge of racial issues (Rössler & Schleiermacher, 1993). December 1, 1939: Deportation of the Jews from the incorporated provinces (Warthegau, Silesia, Eastern Prussia) to the Government-General of Poland (Aly, 1995). December 19, 1939: The Amtschefs of the RSHA held a conference about a project to create a “Jewish reservation” in Poland. On the 21st, the Gestapo’s Sonderreferat Planung IVR was established; this was one of the main organizational protagonists of deportations and the relocation of German colonists. Adolf Eichmann, who had been recalled from Austria, was put in charge of it. January 1940: Aktion T4. The gassing of persons declared “incurable” began. “Aktion T4” was the name chosen for this program, because the administration organizing it was based at Tiergartenstrasse number 4, in Berlin. This administration was answerable directly to Hitler’s Chancellery, and its staff included doctors, logisticians and policemen (Friedländer (H.), 1995). Konrad Meyer-Heitling (RKFdV) submitted a general project for economic and human planning for the annexed territories, to Himmler: this was the first Generalplan Ost. The document proposed to Germanize the conquered Polish territories in 25 years, mostly through the expulsion of populations. January 1940: The Gestapo’s Sonderreferat Planung IVR became RSHA Amt IV D—4 (and later, IV B-4). Eichmann was its logistics specialist (Aly, 1995; Safrian, 1995). This was the institution in charge of the operational dimension of Germanization : it was supposed to coordinate the expulsion of non-Germans, and the settlement of Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) in the occupied territories. January 30, 1940: Heydrich held a conference on the subject of the expulsion of Jews and the evacuation of populations. He faced opposition from Göring, who was responsible for the 4-year plan economic organization, and feared this might lead to economic disorganization of the Government-General of Poland. March 8, 1940: Plans for a Warsaw ghetto were abandoned. March 21, 1940: The Sondergruppe III ES became the RSHA Amt III B, directed by Hans Ehlich. Within the RSHA, this group was in charge of planning population transfers. It was supposed to collaborate with Eichmann’s Amt IV-D-4, which was in charge of the operational aspect of this policy. Amt IIIB constituted the last element of the central police administration in charge of the occupied territories and of planning, and as of 1941, of deportation and extermination operations as well (Aly, 1995). Early April 1940: The project to create a “Jewish reservation” in Lublin was abandoned, along with all projects for population transfers which had followed from the Fernplan Ost. This was the first failure of the Gemanization institutions. At this point, executions of Polish political opponents began in waves (Madajczyk, 1987). April 9, 1940: Germany attacked Denmark and Norway. April 24, 1940: The UWZ (Umwandererzentralstelle, or Central Emigration Office) was established. This was the local SD agency in charge of the expulsion of Polish populations in order to leave room for German colonists, in the framework of policies to Gemanize the occupied territories. April 27, 1940: The deportation of Gypsies began inside the Government-General. April 30, 1940: The Lodz Ghetto was closed and isolated. May 7, 1940: New expulsion operations began, deporting people to the Government-General of Poland. May 10, 1940: Germany attacked Western Europe. France collapsed in a few weeks. Belgium and Holland were occupied. May 1940: Bruno Streckenbach, BdS (regional head of the Gestapo and SD) for Warsaw and the Government-General, implemented the AB Aktion (“Extraordinary Pacification Operation”), which meant decimating the Polish intelligentsia. Polish social élites inside the Government-General were systematically tracked down, arrested, and shot or sent to concentration camps (Madajczyk, 1987). At the same period, the Reich authorities had the Gypsies of western Germany deported to the Government-General of Poland ( Zimmerman, 1995). May 19, 1940: The first instructions were given to close the Warsaw ghetto. They were carried out by late June. Hitler agreed to the idea of a plan known as “Plan Madagascar” (for the deportation of Jews to that island). Since a territorial solution by way of deportation did not seem feasible in the eastern territories, the Nazi leaders were starting to look for a solution outside Europe. May 24, 1940: Bouhler (from the Reich Chancellery and Aktion T4) and Eichmann discussed anti-Jewish policy. The points covered in this discussion involved logistics, not the killing processes. It is impossible to rule out the possibility that they discussed the issues of Polish Jews in poor health, who could not be sent to Madagascar (see Aly and Heim, 1991). June-August 1940: The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the RSHA debated “Plan Madagascar.” June 24, 1940: Heydrich proposed a territorial “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Question,” because it “…could not be resolved through emigration.” June 27, 1940: The German authorities decided to admit the Romanian Volksdeutsche minority “back into the Motherland.” July 1940: Sick Jews in German facilities were systematically assassinated, in the framework of Aktion T4. Late July 1940: Bruno Streckenbach was entrusted with estimating the size of Jewish populations in the territories dominated by the Reich. August 1940: The first talks were held in view of attacking Russia. September 1940: The Battle of England came to a close. Germany postponed its plans for a landing in England, as it was unable to take control of that country’s air space or of the sea surrounding it. “Plan Madagascar” was abandoned, as it would have been impossible to transport the Jews to that island. October 20, 1940: Instructions were issued to make the organization of the Warsaw Ghettto more systematic. October 22-23, 1940: Jews from Baden were expelled from Germany and sent to southern France. Population transfers took place in Alsace-Lorraine (France). November 13, 1940: The RKFdV’s endeavor to relocate Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) from South Tyrol and eastern Europe, whom they planned to use as colonists, proved difficult. Between October 1939 and November 1940, a total of 435,000 Volksdeutsche were repatriated to the Reich (Aly, 1995). November 11, 1940: The expulsion of people from Alsace and Lorraine began, in the framework of projects to Germanize the “reincorporated” territories (Kettenacker, 1973). November 15, 1940: The Warsaw Ghetto was closed and isolated. November / December 1940: Jews from Vienna and Upper Silesia were deported toward the Government-General. January 8, 1941: The leaders of the RSHA held a meeting during which Heydrich announced the deportation of 810,000 Jews and Poles from the incorporated western Polish territories, toward the Government-General. January 1941: The research and preparatory work for the Germanization of the Lublin (Zamosc) district, “the SS’ special laboratory” for Germanization, began (Pohl, 1993; Conte and Essner, 1995). Heydrich submitted a plan for the “solution to the Jewish question” which Himmler and Göring had ordered. February 28, 1941: Richard Korherr, Head Statistician of the SS, justified deportation as a means to be used toward the “solution to the Jewish question.” March 1, 1941: Himmler inspected Auschwitz, a concentration camp essentially used for Polish political prisoners, and ordered its expansion. The deportation of populations to the Government-General were organized “once and for all,” in spite of opposition from the local occupying authorities, represented by the Governor-General, Hans Frank. The SS organizations were heading toward a territorial solution to the “Jewish question.” March – April 1941: Negotiations were held between the Wehrmacht and the RSHA on the subject of the SS’ “special duties” during the future Russian campaign. The Wehrmacht’s logistical system was set out. It was to feed itself off the occupied territories and expect no supplies from the Reich, in the view of Herbert Backe, Minister of Supplies and Eduard Wagner, who was responsible for the economic and logistical administration of the Wehrmacht. To them, this implied causing the inhabitants of the main urban centers of the Soviet Union to starve to death; implicitly, the Jews were meant to be the first victims of this act of indirect mass killing through famine. As Wagner wrote, some “tens of millions of people” were “to starve to death” (Krausnick and Wilhelm, 1981; Aly and Heim, 1991; Gerlach, 1999). March 26, 1941: During a meeting between Heydrich and Göring, the latter gave permission to shoot all dangerous individuals in the conquered Soviet Union (Aly, 1995). Between April and July, the RSHA composed “directives for the Jewish question” planning the deportation of Soviet Jews and their elimination through work, i.e. working them to death (Husson, 2008). April 4, 1941: Operation 14f13 (the extermination of the mentally ill and of persons with incurable diseases, in the occupied territories of Poland and in the concentration camps) was held. A first contingent of men was sent to Poland in the framework of Aktion T4 (?) (Orth et alii, 1998). April 6, 1941: Germany invaded Yugoslavia and Greece (Mazower, 1993; Manoschek, 1995). Hitler rushed to the rescue of Italian troops which had invaded the country one month earlier, but were not making much headway due to the resistance offered by Greek forces. Both countries were “conquered” in six weeks. However, the occupation had to face armed resistance movements which gradually became more and more efficient. In addition, this meant that new Jewish communities fell under German control. April / May 1941: Famine policies were implemented in the ghettos of Poland. The decrease of food rations, along with the disorganization of production systems made the death rates in the ghettos increase dramatically (see Pohl, 1993 and Musial, 2000, both for the case of the Lublin province). The Einsatzgruppen received instruction and training (Krausnick and Wilhelm, 1981; Klein, 1997). May 27, 1941: Pr Clauberg proposed carrying out mass sterilization campaigns. June 3, 1941: The first massacres of Greek civilian populations took place during the invasion of Crete (Mazower, 1995). June 6, 1941: The Kommissarbefehl was issued (the original is available in German at https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/der-zweite-weltkrieg/kriegsverlauf/ueberfall-auf-die-sowjetunion-1941.html). This order confirmed that the Wehrmacht was expected to automatically execute certain population categories, in accordance with the instructions Göring had given Heydrich on March 26, 1941. These groups were defined in terms of their social or political status (civil servants, members of the Soviet Communist Party) but also, in part, in terms of racial criteria (all Jewish upper- and middle-rank civil servants were concerned, for example). June 7, 1941: The first expulsions and deportations of populations from Slovenia took place. Between June and September 1941, 100,000 Slovenians were deported to Serbia, in the framework of the Germanization program for the Laibach (Ljubljana) region (Tomasevitch, 2001). June 17, 1941: The RSHA held a conference about the Einsatzgruppen; Heydrich gave orders to liquidate Jewish civil servants, Partisans (members of clandestine opposition groups), agitators, etc. It is likely that the “Directives for the Jewish question” were the basis of Heydrich’s instructions (Husson, 2008). June 21, 1941: Himmler put the RKFdV in charge of designing a new version of the GeneralplanOst. 4. Total war and mass violence After the invasion of England failed, Hitler convinced the German High Command to prepare for the conquest of the Soviet Union. Strategic considerations, such as the appropriation of this country’s immense resources in order to use them against England, were predominant in this decision. Marching East to conquer their “living space,” the Nazis were also applying a colonial world view to eastern Europe, which led them to aspire to enslaving the Slavic populations fallen under their control. The way Operation Barbarossa was conducted by the biggest army ever constituted in Europe immediately had a huge impact on the destiny of these civilian populations. Though the invasion was a response to vital strategic considerations, it was also a political and racial war against “Judeo-Bolshevism.” German aggression against the Soviet Union allowed a fusion of the internal enemy and the external enemy within the Nazi worldview. On the military level, the Red Army soldiers paid a heavy toll to this factor, since the Wehrmacht let them starve to death by the millions. By the beginning of 1942, two million Soviet prisoners had already died (Streit, 1978). As to the civilian populations, the Jews were the main victims: the Nazis used the war to demonize them as both an internal and an external threat. Thus, from the beginning of the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Einsatzgruppen, armed groups who were specially assigned the extermination of the Jews, carried out their duties behind the German lines, in partnership with the Ordnungspolizei (regular German police), the Waffen-SS and the Wehrmacht. At this point, the conflict dynamics turned into those of a total war, producing mass violence at an unprecedented level on the European continent. June 22, 1941: Operation Barbarossa began. German troops entered Russia, stunning the Soviet troops, which were completely overwhelmed. The Einsatzgruppen arrived straight afterwards; they mostly murdered men, but a minority of women were killed also. June 24, 1941: The Wehrmacht and the SS agreed on rules for the selection and execution of Soviet prisoners of war (Krausnick, 1981; Klein, 1997). June 28, 1941: The Einsatzgruppen carried out their first shootings (there is some doubt about the exact date: some authors – such as Kruglov, 2005 – situate this a few days earlier). Jews were the main target, but the shootings were presented as reprisal killings... July 8-9, 1941: Himmler and Daluege (who was in charge of the Ordnungspolizei) met in Bialystok. July 15, 1941: According to the second Generalplan Ost, 31 million men were to be transferred thoughout all of conquered eastern Europe; Himmler had asked Konrad Meyer-Heitling to take the Wehrmacht’s conquests (present or future) into account. The regions of Leningrad and the Crimea were considered “Germanizable” (Rössler, Schleiermacher, 1993). July 16, 1941: Göring, Bormann and Rosenberg met at Hitler’s headquarters. He recommended shooting “anyone who looks askance at us.” July 17, 1941: “Selections” began in the Soviet prisoner-of-war camps; Jews, intellectuals and Communists were executed. July 20, 1941: Himmler visited Lublin and Zamosc, and decided to have the Majdanek camp built. He gave orders to extend the Fahndung nach deutschem Blut operation (an operation consisting of the kidnapping of children holding Polish nationality, but who were considered “racially German”). This had already been started in Zamosc, in the framework of Germanization operations; at this point, it was extended to the entire Government-General (Pohl, 1993; Conte & Essner, 1995). July 31, 1941: Göring confirmed Heydrich’s mandate concerning the organization of a “global solution to the Jewish question” (“Gesamtlösung der Judenfrage”). Late July – early August 1941: Waffen SS units of the Stab Reichsführer SS began operations in southern Belarus and in the North of the Ukraine (Cüppers, 2005). August 1941: Eichmann went to Auschwitz (? this may have occurred in 1942). He associated Höß to the extermination process that was being prepared for (Brayard, 2005). The first group of Lithuanian workers was sent to East Prussia (Myllyniemi, 1973). Between August 6 and 16, 1941: The Einsatzgruppen began mass killings of women and children in the occupied USSR (Klein, 1997). At the same time, they began executing Gypsies who held Soviet citizenship (Zimmerman, 1995). August 7, 1941: Himmler issued a decree on the selection of Gypsies from inside the Reich for deportation. August 15, 1941: The Hungarians deported Jews from Bessarabia to Serbia; they were assassinated by the Wehrmacht in “gas trucks” (they were gassed using the exhaust fumes from these vehicles, used as mobile killing units) during the autumn (Manoschek, 1993). August 16, 1941: For the first time, Einsatzgruppen reports mentioned the massacre of women and children. During the autumn, a report stated that the Einsatzgruppen “...could not be a quick solution to the Jewish question.” Himmler travelled to Minsk. He attended a “Special Operation” there. At this point, it is likely that orders were given to radicalize killing practices (Klein, 1997; Gerlach, 1999; Ogorreck, 1996). August 24, 1941: Hitler ended Aktion T4, under pressure from public opinion and the Churches (Friedländer (H.), 1995). August 26-28, 1941: The Kamenets-Podolsk massacre took place; more than 24,000 Jews were killed. Certain sources suggests that Jeckeln (the Highest SS and Police leader for the southern sector of the Russian front) used this opportunity to develop the “sardine method” for stacking the corpses of massacre victims in mass graves. Late August 1941: Hitler promised Goebbels that the Jews of Berlin would be deported. September and October 1941: The Einsatzgruppen annihiliated entire communities (Gerlach, 1998). September 1, 1941: German Jews over six years of age were required to wear the yellow star. September 2-5, 1941: The Zyklon B poison gas was tested in Auschwitz on Soviet prisoners (Pressac, 1993). September 13, 1941: Rosenberg tried to convince Hitler to carry out a reprisal operation in retaliation for Stalin’s deportation of the Volga Germans. September 16, 1941: 900 prisoners were gassed at Auschwitz (Pressac, 1993). The OKW gave orders to shoot 50 to 100 people in retaliation for an attack on German soldiers in the occupied countries (Meyer, 2000). September 18, 1941: Himmler announced the deportation of the Jews of the Lodz Ghetto. September 22-24, 1941: Himmler and Heydrich received confirmation from Hitler of the necessity of deporting Jews from the Reich. September 26, 1941: The Nazis announced that famine would be used against Leningrad. September 27, 1941: The Nazis decided to expand Auschwitz and build the Majdanek camp. September 29-30, 1941: In the Babi-Yar massacre, in the Ukraine, 33,371 Jews were executed by the Einsatzgruppe C-Sonderkommando 4a and the 45th Police Battalion in two days (Pohl, 1993). Early October 1941: Mass murders began in Serbia, as well as in Galicia. Gas trucks were used for the first time at Chelmno (Manoschek, 1995). October 4, 1941: Conflicts began to appear between the SS and the Ostministerium over the question of whose jurisdiction the “Jewish question” (Judenfrage) was. October 10, 1941: The decision to deport German Jews to Riga and to Minsk was taken (Gerlach, 1998). October 14, 1941: The deportation of German Jews to Kaunas began. The decision to to build the Chelmno and Belzec extermination camps was taken. October 15, 1941: Operations against the Partisans (anti-occupation guerrilla movements) began in Serbia; the Wehrmacht’s first large-scale massacres in this context took place (Tomazevic, 2001). October 21, 1941: The construction of new ghettos inside the Government-General was forbidden. Food rations for the Russian prisoners-of-war were officially decreased; between June 1941 and January 1972, 6,000 of them starved to death each day, on average, in the German prisoner-of-war camps (Streit, 1978). October 23, 1941: German Jews were forbidden to emigrate (Burrin, 1989; Brayard, 2004). October 25, 1941: A proposal was made to build extermination camps in Riga and Minsk, but it was not implemented. The persons killed there were shot by police battalions and an Einsatzkommando (Gerlach, 1999). October 1941: The Majdanek camp was opened in Poland (Gerlach, 1998). November 1941: The deportation of German Jews to Riga and Minsk began; elderly people, women and children – who were a majority in the convoys – were immediately executed (by the police regiments and Einsatzgruppe B). Able-bodied men were “put to work” (Gerlach, 1998). November 5, 1941: The Gypsies of Burgenland (a frontier region between Austria and Hungary) were deported to the Lòdz ghetto (Zimmerman, 1995). November 6-25, 1941: Groups of Polish peasants were expelled from the Zamosc district as “test cases” (Pohl, 1993). November 25, 1941: Göring informed Ciano that 20 to 30 million people would starve to death in Russia over the 12 months to come (Aly and Heim, 1991). Late November 1941: 100 men from Aktion T4’s technical staff were sent to Polish camps (Belzec, Chelmno). Thus began the conception of Aktion Reinhard (the Nazi plan to murder Polish Jews in the Government-General, using extermination camps). This code name was used for the operation from July 1942 on. (Brayard, 2004; Pohl, 1993). November 29, 1941: Convocations were sent out for the Wannsee Conference, which was scheduled for December 9 (Brayard, 2004; Gerlach, 1998) December 4, 1941: A special penal law code was introduced for Poles inside the Reich. December 5, 1941: The first convoy of Jews was sent to Chelmno. Later on in the month, gas trucks were added to the Einsatzgruppen’s equipment in Russia. December 7, 1941: The Japanese attack on the US base at Pearl Harbor took place. The Wannsee Conference was postponed. The OKW published the “Nacht und Nebel” decree (according to which certain political prisoners were to be either executed, or arrested and deported in total secrecy). December 8, 1941: The first killing took place in Chelmno using gas trucks. This was part of a regional killing program restricted to the Jews of the Lodz Ghetto (Brayard, 2004). December 11, 1941: Germany declared war on the United States of America. From this point on, the war was not only total, but global as well. And in January 1939, Hitler had predicted that “if the Jews managed to throw Germany into a worldwide conflict again, then it would not lead to the Bolshevization of Europe, but to the extermination of the Jewish race” (Gerlach, 1998, 589). The time had come. Hitler perceived this declaration of war as a maneuver by American Jews, whose hostility made war with the U.S.A. inevitable; in his view, it required deciding on the principle of exterminating all of the Jews of Europe. December 12, 1941: Hitler informed the Gauleiters of his intention to exterminate the Jews (Gerlach, 1998). December 16, 1941: Hans Frank revealed the “Final Solution” through extermination planned for the Government-General, to his general staff. December 18, 1941: During a meeting between Hitler and Himmler, the former probably authorized the Final Solution through extermination. Authors such as Christian Gerlach, Florent Brayard and Édouard Husson disagree on issues concerning dates, but what they do agree on, first and foremost, is the importance of the Hitler/Himmler/Heydrich triangle in the decision-making processes. The December 1941 decision illustrates Hitler’s role quite well. As always, his influence made anti-Jewish policy more radical, setting off impulses which the protagonists in the field transformed into action, into deadly initiatives. Regarding this decision, Hitler simply defined a principle: the change in the nature of what the Nazis called the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” which at this point, became geared toward complete extermination. The methods of implementation of this principle, its scheduling and planning were left to field protagonists at the central level – Himmler, Heydrich, but also the different protagonists of the anti-Jewish policies – and at the local level – this essentially involved occupation institutions. November/December 1941: During this period, 500,000 Russians starved to death in the prisoner-of-war camps. Since June, the total was 2,8 million (Aly, Heim, 1989: 513; Streit, 1978). As of January 16, 1942: The extermination of 5,000 Gypsies of the Lodz Ghetto began at Chelmno (Zimmermann, 1996). 5. A plan to exterminate the Jews throughout Europe In this section, we shall attempt to give an all-round picture of the extermination programs set up by the Nazis. Their implementation began in winter 1941, and was extended starting in early 1942 (see preceding section). The following conclusions can be drawn from this: First of all, since the winter of 1940 and the first six months of 1941, Nazi leaders had been considering the use of famine as a weapon to “reduce” the Jewish populations present in the occupied territories of eastern Europe. At this period, the point was not direct, but rather indirect extermination; also, the program was not geared toward total elimination of these Jewish communities. Secondly, starting in April-May 1941, the Nazi leadership set out different programs for direct extermination: _ A – In occupied Yugoslavia and the USSR, armed groups (who mostly belonged to the SS or to police forces) shot Jews near their places of residence; initially, most of these were adult males but from August 1941, in the USSR, all Jews were targeted, including women and children. _ B – In the Lodz district, a non-exhaustive extermination program was designed jointly by the Chancellery and by local institutions in summer and autumn 1941, using gas trucks from Chelmno. The know-how built up in Chelmno was then spread through the USSR and Yugoslavia, though considerable technical and manpower problems appeared in the process. _ C – In the Government-General, the main regional extermination program was designed by Odilo Globocnick, the supreme leader of the police and the SS, presumably in autumn 1941. It was based on existing extermination camps (Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka, as well as Majdanek, which was built later). The program led to the near-total extermination of the Jewish population of Poland in gas chambers which used carbon monoxyde. In the summer of 1942, the expansion of the extermination facilities and the adoption of Zyklon B gas technology were considered for a time, then dropped. _ D – In Auschwitz, Rudolf Höß and Adolf Eichmann developed the last extermination program starting in September 1941, by “testing” extermination methods by Zyklon B on Soviet prisoners-of-war. This program, which was probably the only one to have been conceived on a Europe-wide scale from the start, was materialized in the setting-up of large gas chambers using Zyklon B at Birkenau. Starting in spring 1942, Auschwitz became the extermination site for the majority of victims from western and southern Europe, from Hungary, and well as from certain Polish territories. These two modes of extermination – direct and indirect – and these four “patterns” for direct extermination programs operated on a large scale during the phase of generalization of mass murder which was instigated after the Wannsee conference. The extermination process for Gypsies was not thought through as systematically as that which was planned for the Jews. In 1942-43, mass operations were organized to shoot Gypsies in the Government-General; regional elimination programs were also implemented. January 20, 1942: The Wannsee Conference was held. A plan to exterminate the Jews was set up throughout Europe (Husson, 2008; Brayard, 2004; Roseman, 2002; Gerlach, 1998). January 29, 1942: A conference was held at the Ostministerium in favor of extending the definition of a “Jew” (to include other groups) in the occupied territories. The RSHA sent out directives concerning the “treatment of the Jewish question” (Aly, 1995). February 1942: Large-scale search operations began to track down the Partisans in Belarus. They led to the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, who constituted a majority of the victims. The pilot operation, called “Operation Bamberg,” took place in southern Belarus and ended in Polesia, in the Pripjet marshes. This area was a bastion of Partisan activity and also witnessed the early and total extermination of local Jewish communities (Gerlach, 1999; Cüppers, 2005). The deportation of Slovakian Jews began, in view of their extermination (Tönsmeyer, 2004). February 4, 1942: The RSHA, civil servants from the German ministries, and experts discussed the Generalplan Ost and the population selection criteria across eastern Europe (Madajczyk, 1994: 38). February 15, 1942: The first RSHA convoy, numbered IV - B4, was sent to Auschwitz and the persons aboard were gassed immediately. These victims were Jews from Silesia. This was the first convoy organized and planned by Adolf Eichmann’s services in the framework of the extermination program defined during the Wannsee Conference (Gerlach, 1998). March 7, 1942: Goebbels mentioned Heydrich and Eichmann’s memorandum based on the Wannsee Conference (Gerlach, 1998 ; Browning, 2003). March 16, 1942: The concentration camp inspection authorities were placed under the authority of the SS Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt (Main Economic and Administrative Department). March 17, 1942: Mass killings began at Belzec, using gas (Musial, 2004). March 26, 1942: The first convoy was sent to Auschwitz from (Klarsfeld, 2001, vol. 1). The implementation of the extermination program for western Europe began (Pohl, 2003). April 1942: The Einsatzgruppen claimed they had already eliminated 461,500 Soviet Jews. In fact, the number of victims was higher still at that point, if we take the killings carried out by other police and SS units, and their auxiliaries, into account (for the Ukraine, see Kruglov, 2005). The assassination of Soviet Jews continued throughout the conquered territories until the Red Army recaptured them. April 27, 1942: The Generalplan Ost was debated and criticized, essentially by Erhard Wetzel, who was in charge of racial policy at the Ostministerium (Madajczyk, 1994). May 1942: Murder began at Sobibor; the Treblinka camp (which used carbon monoxyde) was built (Musial, 2004; Pohl, 1993). The Gypsies of Croatia were deported toward the Ustashi concentration camp system. May 12, 1942: 1,500 Jews were killed in the Auschwitz gas chambers. May 27, 1942: Mobile racial expertise commissions began work in the framework of operation Fahndung nach deutschem Blut (kidnapping of Polish children considered “racially German”). They also started to prepare for Operation Zamosc (Conte & Essner, 1995; Pohl, 1993). May 28, 1942: The RKFdV’s third Generalplan Ost was issued (Rössler, Schleiermacher, 1993). June 4, 1942: Reinhard Heydrich died. At his funeral, Himmler ordered his staff to implement the Final Solution through extermination in one year. A dramatic acceleration in the pace of killings ensued (Brayard, 2004). The extermination of the Jews of Poland was code-named “Aktion Reinhard,” after Reinhard Heydrich. June 1942: The RSHA’s Amt III B’s Gesamtplan Ost probably dated from this period. Höß, the commander of the Auschwitz camp, met with Himmler. Mass extermination began in Auschwitz. The activities carried out at Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka and Majdanek by the members of T4 in the Government-General, were renamed Aktion Reinhard. Personnel reinforcements for Aktion T4 arrived in Poland (Brayard, 2004; Musial, 2000, 2004). A new carbon monoxyde-operated gassing complex was built in Belzec, with 6 gas chambers instead of 3. The Blobel commando conducted experiments on the cremation of corpses at Chelmno. Odilo Globocnik, who was in charge of the SS and police for the Lublin district – and the designer of the Aktion Reinhard plan for the extermination of the Jews of the Government-General – put forward a project for the conversion of all extermination facilities to the use of Zyklon B. The project failed for Belzec, Treblinka and Sobibor. What Raul Hilberg calls the second wave of extermination began, under cover of the struggle against the Partisans in Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus (Hilberg, 1988; Dean, 2000). The mass deportation of Russian workers began. They were often rounded up in the framework of large-scale Partisanenbekämpfung (“struggle against the Partisans”) search and round-up operations, then deported to the Reich for forced labor. The deportation of Romanian Jews to Transnistria began; it lasted until September. June 1942: The formerly mobile Einsatzgruppen were given a fixed base and subordinated to the HSSPF; their leaders became BdS (regional head of the Gestapo and SD) for Ostland (Einsatzgruppe A), Belarus (Minsk – Einsatzgruppe B), the Ukraine (Einsatzgruppe C), the Crimea (Einsatzgruppe D) (Idem). July 3, 1942: The German police took control of the Westerbork transit camp, in Holland. Systematic deportations began; the convoys headed to Auschwitz and Sobibor for immediate extermination, then to Teresienstadt and Bergen-Belsen (Moore, 1997). July 1942: Majdanek was turned into an extermination camp; its gas chambers were built according to the same model as those in Auschwitz (using Zyklon B). The construction of the Treblinka camp (with 6 to 10 gas chambers) was completed (Brayard and Musial, 2004). July 16-17, 1942: In the “Vel d’hiv” round-up, the French police forces arrested the Jews of the area before sending them to the Drancy transit camp, from which they were later deported to Auschwitz (Klarsfeld, 2001). Early August 1942: The Belgian Jews were deported from the Mechelen internment camp (Van Doorslaer, 1994). August 18, 1942: The German Ministry of Justice and the SS concluded an agreement on the transfer of delinquants being held in jail, to concentration camps. Autumn 1942: A phase of construction of forced labor camps began in the Government-General. November 9, 1942: U.S. forces landed in North Africa. The Wehrmacht responded by invading the “zone libre” (the “free zone” of southern France). From this point on, the Jews who had taken refuge there were hunted down and deported. November 27, 1942: Operation Zamosc began. It consisted of the agricultural colonization of the Zamosc region by German colonists from the different German minority groups of eastern Europe. Poles and Ukrainians were expelled from the region in order to leave room for them. Aktion Zamosc, a test “laboratory” for Germanization policies, lasted until February 1943 (Pohl, 1993; Conte & Essner, 1995). December 1942 – March 1943: An exhumation and incineration phase began in the camps of Aktion Reinhard. The Chelmno and Belzec camps were closed in December 1942. At Belzec, the cremations lasted until March (Hilberg, 1988: 845-856; Musial, 2004). December 16, 1942: Orders were given to deport the Gypsies to Auschwitz (Zimmerman, 1996). December 23, 1942 – February 15, 1943: The RKFdV issued its Generalsiedlungsplan (“General Settlement Plan”); the last, expanded version of the Generalplan Ost was also issued (Rössler, Schleiermacher, 1993; Madjaczyk, 1994). January 1943: The “final” phase of extermination began in Poland. Organized resistance emerged in the Warsaw Ghetto, leading to an uprising. The German 6th Army was defeated and surrendered at Stalingrad. Early February 1943: The RSHA organized a conference on planning for eastern Europe, attempting to coordinate the Generalsiedlungsplan and the Gesamtplan Ost. The broadest Nazi Germanization program so far was designed, taking into account the extermination of the Jews, but also projections of a dramatic numerical decrease of the Slavic populations. The deportation of Gypsies to Auschwitz began in practice. Early February 1943: Adolf Eichmann’s commandos arrived in Thessaloniki. The local Jewish community was deported and exterminated (Mazower, 1993 & 2005). 1943: Germany invaded Italy and the territories occupied by Italian forces. Later on, Jews were rounded up in these territories (particularly in western Greece and the Dodecanese Islands). February 14, 1943: Hitler gave orders for deportations to be organized and systematic destruction to be inflicted in German-occupied areas, in the event that German troops were forced by the Allies to retreat from these territories. Early March 1943: After the German defeat at Stalingrad, the Wehrmacht had to evacuate the Caucasus; this was the first case of forced population transfers in the context of German retreat. June 27, 1943: Himmler order the construction of concentration camps in the Baltic countries. July 1943: The Wehrmacht carried out its first operations involving the destruction of villages and the massacre of populations in continental Greece, in “retaliation” for the increasing level of resistance activities (Mazower, 1995). September 7, 1943: The OKW gave instructions for the systematic destruction of territories formerly occupied by Germany, during its retreat from the USSR. September 9, 1943: The German armed forces shot hostages for the first time in Italy (Schreiber, 1997). October 1943: Danish Jews were saved, thanks to their evacuation to Sweden. Autumn 1943: The Treblinka and Sobibor camps were dismantled, and the gassing of victims was halted in Majdanek; Auschwitz remained the only “industrial” extermination center. November 3-5, 1943: Operation Erntefest took place. Considering the resistance movements of Jewish survivors in the Vilna, Bialystok and Warsaw ghettos, Himmler ordered Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger and Jakob Sporrenberg (who were respectively Supreme Chief of the Police and SS for the Government-General, and Chief of the Police and SS for the Lublin district) to exterminate the surviving Jews in their sectors. 43,000 victims were then shot in two days (Grabitz, Scheffler, 1993; Pohl, 1993). From February 1944: The Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg issued hundreds of certificates placing Jews from Budapest under the protection of Sweden. February 3, 1944: The MbF (“Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich,” the German Military Commander in France) gave orders for hostages to be shot en masse in France. This was a way to import practices that had already been experimented on the eastern front, into the western front. It produced a distinct radicalization of the German occupation policies in France (Meyer, 2000). Operations against the Resistance maquis (guerrilla fighters) of Mont Mouchet began. April 1944: The convoys carrying detainees to the institutions of the Euthanasia program resumed. May-December 1944: The Hungarian Jews were exterminated during this period, which was a phase of “maximal activity” for Auschwitz. During May and June, 10,000 Hungarian Jews were gassed there each day. In August 1944, 20,000 corpses were incinerated every day in Auschwitz, of which over 15,000 were cremated out in the open air (Aly & Gerlach, 2002). May 1944: The Dutch Gypsies were deported to Auschwitz (Zimmerman, 1996). June 19-22, 1944: The great Russian offensive in Belarus began. The Wehrmacht’s Army Group Center collapsed; 200,000 German soldiers were taken prisoner in the encircled city of Minsk. From this point on, the German troops were in a desperate situation. The extermination of the Hungarian Jews continued at the fastest pace possible (Overy, 1997; Gerlach, 1999). July 22, 1942: The Soviet troops took Majdanek. August 2-3, 1944: The Gypsies who had been deported to Auschwitz were killed in a mass gassing operation (Zimmerman, 1995). The Warsaw uprising began, and was repressed. 200,000 civilians were killed in two months (Madajczyk, 1987; Borodziej, 2004). August 7, 1944: The trial of the German military conspirators who had planned the July 20, 1944 attempt to assassinate Hitler, began. The repression of this assassination attempt marked the beginning of a very severe radicalization of the Nazi repression policies against the Reich’s populations. Late August 1944: The Slovakian army revolted. Einsatzgruppe H was formed, as the Nazis hunted down the last surviving Jews on German territory (Tönsmeyer, 2004). September 6, 1944: The ill among the Russian forced laborers were sent to the euthanasia institutions. September 1944: A German embargo on all food shipments to Holland led to a massive famine. November 1, 1944: Orders came to halt the gassing of detainees in Auschwitz. November 19, 1944: The principle of Sippenhaft (“kin liability”) was introduced: The families of Wehrmacht and SS soldiers were virtually considered hostages who could be executed in the event that these soldiers deserted. January 12, 1945: The great Soviet winter offensive began. January 20, 1945: The death march began from the Stutthof camps (in the Dantzig/Gdansk region of Poland). January 21, 1945: The Auschwitz gas chambers were destroyed. The death marches had begun three days earlier… These events marked the end of the industrial phase of the mass murder of the Jews. However, the last phase of their persecution began: German military setbacks generated an immense flow of detainees being evacuated westward in massive death marches. The conditions these were organized in and the vengeful rage of the guards, who could no longer ignore the impending defeat they were facing, cost the lives of thousands of detainees. To this day, we are still unable to carry out a reliable count of these victims. January 27, 1945: The Soviet forces took Auschwitz. January 27/28, 1945: All the detainees of the Lodz Radegast prison (Radogozcz in Polish) were massacred. January 31, 1945: The prisoners previously held in the Stutthof camps were massacred at Palmnicken; there were 3,000 victims, most of which were women. February 15, 1945: The German authorities ordered the establishment of summary Courts; these were mobile tribunals set up to track down deserters (or suspected deserters) and hang them. April 6, 1945: The evacuation of the Buchenwald camp began. April 15, 1945: Bergen-Belsen was liberated. May 2, 1945: The Ustashi Croatian camp of Janosevac was liberated. May 5, 1945: The Mauthausen camp was liberated. May 8-9, 1945: Unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. Estimate of the Civilian Victims of Nazi Violence (1933-1945) The Trials: Nüremberg and After From the moment the Atlantic Charter was signed, the Allies had decided that Nazi practices of violence would be subject to investigation and prosecution, and that Nazi ideology had to be eradicated from the German population. Thus, trials and denazification were on the Allies’ agenda as soon as Germany capitulated unconditionally on May 8, 1945. The Allies set up an International Criminal Tribunal in Nuremburg, where the lengthy trial of fifteen Nazi leaders – among the most significant of those who had been captured – was held. In the absence of Hitler and Himmler (who had committed suicide), Hermann Goering, Joachim Ribbentrop, Hans Franck, Wilhelm Frick, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Julius Streicher and Alfred Jodl were judged, sentenced to death and executed. The United States also set up a military Tribunal, which organized twelve trials in Nuremburg, during which the main aspects and elements of Nazi criminal practices were addressed: the Einsatzgruppen, the German diplomacy, German doctors, the concentration camps, German racial policy, forced population transfers, and German industry. In each of these trials, significant, emblematic defendants received severe sentences; around fifty death sentences were issued. However, it proved impossible to incriminate all of the protagonists of these Nazi policies. This ambition of an all-embracing repression of Nazi crimes and purge of German society led the four occupying powers, as well as every country that had been invaded by Germany, to hold a series of trials, which lasted from 1945 to 1950. Hence, in Poland, in Yugoslavia and in Czechoslovakia, the Nazi leaders responsible for the occupation policies were judged, and mostly sentenced to death and executed. Such was the case for Hermann Behrends, who had been Supreme Chief of the Serbian police and SS in Belgrade, for Kurt Daluege, who had taken over from Heydrich as Reichsprotektor of Bohemia-Moravia in Prague, for Jurgen Stroop, who was responsible for the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto, and for Rudolf Höss in Poland. In Germany, the repression of National-Socialist crimes and the purging of society led to the jailing of great numbers of suspects, but the immensity of the task, along with the constraints of reconstruction of the German polities, led the occupying powers to exercise a certain degree of leniency. Therefore, it was the Federal Republic of Germany and a new generation of prosecutors who set up a commission to centralize investigation of National-Socialist crimes as of 1958, which carried out a fundamental job in this respect, with great thoroughness and remarkable precision, even though its efforts to prosecute the former Nazi criminals under investigation often failed. A Brief Bibliography 1. From Völkische ethno-nationalism to the Nazi conquest of power BERGHAHN, Volker R., 1966, Der Stahlhelm. Bund der Soldaten, 1918-1935, Dusseldorf. BESSEL, Richard, 1984, Political Violence and the Rise of National-Socialism. 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Dee, 352 p. KERSHAW, Ian, 1998-2000, Hitler Band 1: Nemesis, 1889-1936; Band 2: Hybris 1936-1945, Allen Lane - The Penguin Press, 845 p. & 1115 p. KLARSFELD, Serge, 2001, La Shoah en France, : Fayard, 4 vol. : 1. Vichy-Auschwitz : la solution finale de la question juive en France 2. Le Calendrier de la persécution des Juifs de France, 1940-1944: 1er juillet 1940 - 31 août 1942 3. Le Calendrier de la persécution des Juifs de France, 1940-1944: 1er septembre 1942-31 août 1944 4. Le Mémorial des enfants juifs déportés de France KRAUSNICK, Helmut and WILHELM, Hans Heinrich, 1981, Die Truppen des Weltanschauungskrieges: Die Einsatzgruppen der SIPO und des SD, 1938-1942, Stuttgart: DVA, 687 p. KLEIN, Peter (éd.), 1997, Die Einsatzgruppen in der besetzten Sowjetunion 1941/42. Die Tätigkeits- und Lageberichte des Chefs der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD, Berlin: Edition Hentrich, 434 p. KUNZ, Norbert, 2005, Die Krim unter deutscher Herrschaft. Germanisierungsutopie und Besatzungsrealität, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 448 p. LOZOWICK, Yaacov, 2001, Hitler’s Bureaucrats. The Nazi Security Police and the Banality of Evil, London and New York: Continuum, 297 p. MADAJCZYK, Czeslaw, 1987, Die Okkupationspolitik Nazideutschland in Polen 1939-1945, East Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 702 p. MADAJCZYK, Czeslaw (ed.), 1994, Vom Generalplan Ost zum Generalsiedlungsplan, Munich, Veröffentlichung der Historischen Kommission zu Berlin, vol. 80: Saur Verlag, 800 p. MADAJCZYK, Czeslaw, 1987, Die Okkupationspolitik Nazideutschlands in Polen 1939-1945, Berlin. MADAJCZYK, Czeslaw (ed.), 1994, Vom Generalplan Ost zum Generalsiedlungsplan, Veröffentlichung der Historischen Kommission zu Berlin, vol. 80, Munich: Saur Verlag, 800 p. MANOSCHEK, Walter, 1993, “Serbien ist Judenfrei”. Militärische Besatzungspolitik und Judenvernichtung in Serbien 1941-1942, Munich: Oldenburg, 210 p. MAZOWER, Mark, 1993, Inside Hitler’s Greece. The Experience of Occupation 1941-1944, London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 437 p. MAZOWER, Mark, 2005, Salonika, City of Ghosts. Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430-1950, New York: Knopf, 490 p. MOORE, Bob, 1997, Victims and Survivors. The Nazi Persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands 1940-1945, New York: St. Martin Press, X-340 p. MUSIAL, Bogdan, 2000, Deutsche Zivilverwaltung und Judenverfolgung im Generalgouvernement : Eine Fallstudie zum Distrikt Lublin, Wiesbaden: Harassowitz, 435 p. MUSIAL, Bogdan (ed.), 2004, "Aktion Reinhardt." Der Völkermord an den Juden im Generalgouvernement 1941-1944, Osnabrück: Fibre, 454 p. OGORRECK, Ralf, 1996, Die Einsatzgruppen und die Genesis der “Endlösung,” Berlin: Metropol Verlag, 240 p. OVERY, Richard, 1997, Russia’s War, London: Penguin, 394 p. ORTH, Karin, HERBERT, Ulrich and DIECKMANN, Christoph (eds.), 1998, Die nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager: Entwicklung und Struktur, Göttingen: Wallstein, 2 vol., 1125 p. POHL, Dieter, 1993, Von der “Judenpolitik” zum Judenmord. Der Distrikt Lublin des Generalgouvernement. 1939-1944, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 208 p. POHL, Dieter, 1996, Nationalsozialistische Judenverfolgung in Ostgalizien 1941-1944. Organisation und Durchführung eines staatlichen Massenverbrechens, Munich: Oldenburg Verlag, 453 p. POHL, Dieter, 2003, Verfolgung und Massenmord in der NS-Zeit 1933-1945, Darmstadt: Wissenschaflitche Buchgesellschaft, 167 p. PRESS, Bernhard, 1988, Judenmord in Lettland, 1941-1945, Berlin: Metropol Verlag. PRESSAC, Jean-Claude, 1993, Les Crématoires d’Auschwitz. La Machinerie du meurtre de masse, : CNRS Éditions, 153 p. ROSSINO, Alexander B., 2003, Blitzkrieg, Ideology and Atrocity. Hitler Strikes Poland, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas 345 p. ROESSLER, Mechtild and SCHLEIERMACHER, Sabine (eds.), 1993, Der “Generalplan Ost.” Hauptlinien der nationalsozialistischen Planungs- und Vernichtungspolitik, Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 378 p. SAFRIAN, Hans, 1995, Eichmann und seine Gehilfen, Frankfurt: Fischer Taschenbuch, 358 p. SANDKUEHLER, Thomas, 1996, “Endlösung” in Galizien. Der Judenmord in Ostpolen und die Rettungsintiativen von Berthold Beitz 1941-1944, Bonn: Dietz, 592 p. SCHULTE, Theo, 1989, The German Army and Nazi Policies in Occupied Russia, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 390 p. SCHULTE, Jan Erik, 2001, Zwangsarbeit und Vernichtung. Das Wirtschaftsimperium der SS. Oswald Pohl und das SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt, Paderborn et alii: Schöningh, 550 p. SPECTOR, Shmuel, 1990, The Holocaust of the Volhynian Jews 1941-1944, Jerusalem: Yad Vashem Studies, 383 p. STREIT, Christian, 1978, Keine Kameraden. Die Wehrmacht und die sowjetischen Kriegsgefangenen 1941-1945, Stuttgart: DVA, 445 p. TOENSMEYER, Tatjana, 2004, Das Dritte Reich und die Slowakei. Politischer Alltag zwischen Kooperation und Eigensinn, Paderborn: Schöningh, 387 p. TRUNK, Isaiah, 1996, Judenrat: The Jewish Councils in Eastern Europe under Nazi Occupation, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, XLVII-663 p. VAN DOORSLAER, Rudy (ed.), 1994, Les Juifs de Belgique. De l’Immigration au Génocide, 1925-1945, Brussels: CREHSGM, 246 p. WILDT, Michael, 2002, Generation des Unbedingtes. Das Fürungskorps des Reichssicherheitshauptamtes, Hamburg: Hamburger Edition, 952 p. ZIMMERMANN, Michael, 1996, Rassenutopie und Genozid. Die nationalsozialistische “Lösung der Zigeunerfrage,” Hamburg: Hamburger Edition, 574 p. ZUCCOTTI, Susan, 1996, The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue, and Survival, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 334 p.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	80	https://aboutholocaust.org/en/facts/what-happened-to-the-senior-nazi-leadership-after-the-end-of-world-war-ii	en	What happened to the senior Nazi leadership after the end of World War II? :: About Holocaust	https://wjc-dev.imgix.ne…true&q=60&w=1300	https://wjc-dev.imgix.ne…true&q=60&w=1300	[ "https://d1sa58t3f9wj4i.cloudfront.net/packs/media/application/images/wjc-horizontal-blue-5f90baa40bfb164588d9aa5da0f9e70a.svg", "https://d1sa58t3f9wj4i.cloudfront.net/packs/media/application/images/unesco-new-logo-36e13f96fa7dc727a046ee59f832ed03.svg", "https://wjc-dev.imgix.net/about-holocaust/assets/H5NBHIWJ/nuremberg_trials_defendants_in_the_dock_1945-e1542148789980.jpeg?auto=format&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=480&lossless=true&q=60&w=750 1x, https://wjc-dev.imgix.net/about-holocaust/assets/H5NBHIWJ/nuremberg_trials_defendants_in_the_dock_1945-e1542148789980.jpeg?auto=format&dpr=2&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=480&lossless=true&q=60&w=750 2x", "https://d1sa58t3f9wj4i.cloudfront.net/packs/media/application/images/ask-banner-210c8b5a5ff0a9e887387731f17400bf.png 1x, https://d1sa58t3f9wj4i.cloudfront.net/packs/media/application/images/ask-banner@2x-85788594dbb0e92d99c1a679dc42120e.png 2x", "https://wjc-dev.imgix.net/about-holocaust/assets/QJlHcrtS/dossier_de_photographies_soumises_aux_temoins_du_proces_barbie_portrait_de_klaus_barbie-e1542148497126-768x657-300x257.jpg?auto=format&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=225&lossless=true&q=60&w=360 1x, https://wjc-dev.imgix.net/about-holocaust/assets/QJlHcrtS/dossier_de_photographies_soumises_aux_temoins_du_proces_barbie_portrait_de_klaus_barbie-e1542148497126-768x657-300x257.jpg?auto=format&dpr=2&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=225&lossless=true&q=60&w=360 2x", "https://wjc-dev.imgix.net/about-holocaust/assets/2s3GFs1S/1280px-srebrenica_massacre_memorial_gravestones_2009_1-768x456.jpg?auto=format&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=225&lossless=true&q=60&w=360 1x, https://wjc-dev.imgix.net/about-holocaust/assets/2s3GFs1S/1280px-srebrenica_massacre_memorial_gravestones_2009_1-768x456.jpg?auto=format&dpr=2&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=225&lossless=true&q=60&w=360 2x", "https://wjc-dev.imgix.net/about-holocaust/assets/wI-gMcv6/800px-mass_graves_in_which_259000_genocide_victims_are_interred_-_genocide_memorial_center_-_kigali_-_rwanda_-_02-e1542383314892.jpg?auto=format&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=225&lossless=true&q=60&w=360 1x, https://wjc-dev.imgix.net/about-holocaust/assets/wI-gMcv6/800px-mass_graves_in_which_259000_genocide_victims_are_interred_-_genocide_memorial_center_-_kigali_-_rwanda_-_02-e1542383314892.jpg?auto=format&dpr=2&fit=crop&fm=jpg&h=225&lossless=true&q=60&w=360 2x", "https://d1sa58t3f9wj4i.cloudfront.net/packs/media/application/images/wjc-horizontal-white-3d9b27e03caccf953992fa508fc895c5.svg", "https://d1sa58t3f9wj4i.cloudfront.net/packs/media/application/images/unesco-new-logo-36e13f96fa7dc727a046ee59f832ed03.svg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	After the end of World War II in Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, the U.		/apple-touch-icon.png	About Holocaust	https://aboutholocaust.org/en/facts/what-happened-to-the-senior-nazi-leadership-after-the-end-of-world-war-ii	After the end of World War II in Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, the U.S.S.R., and France established the International Military Tribunal with jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit such crimes. In November 1945, high ranking surviving officials of the Third Reich were placed on trial before the IMT in Nuremberg, Germany. Among them were Hermann Göring, Hitler’s vice chancellor and one of the best-known Nazi leaders; Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop; Hans Frank, the governor general of Nazi-occupied Poland; Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg; and Ernst Kaltenbrunner, a senior SS officer and head of the Reich Main Security Office. During the trial, the prosecution laid forth in great detail the details and scope of the annihilation of most of European Jewry, though this was not the trial’s main focus. Several survivors of the camps and ghettos spoke as witnesses in the trial, as did several major perpetrators. Most notably, Rudolf Hoess, the first commandant of the Auschwitz camps, gave testimony in which he admitted that millions had died. On October 1, 1946, 12 of the defendants were sentenced to death, three were acquitted, and the remaining defendants received prison sentences. The most important defendant, Hermann Göring, committed suicide in his cell, and ten defendants were executed on October 16, 1946. The last imprisoned Nuremberg defendant to die was Rudolf Hess, in Spandau Prison in 1987.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	99	https://www.jewishgen.org/forgottencamps/general/faqeng.html	en	Frequently Asked Questions			[]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null	Question: How many victims died in the concentration camps? The exact number of the victims in the concentration camps is unknown. Most of the historians estimated that the total of the NON-Jewish victims would approach 500,000. Please note that this number include only the people who died in the camps and exclude all the victims of executions by the "einsatzgruppen" (extermination squad). Here are some estimations for the major camps. These estimations include Jews and non-Jews: Extermination camps: Auschwitz: 2,1 - 2,5 millions deaths Belzec: 500,000 - 600,000 deaths Chelmno: 150,000 - 300,000 deaths Majdanek: 360,000 deaths Sobibor: 250,000 deaths Treblinka: 800 - 900,000 deaths, probably many more. Concentration camps: Bergen-Belsen : 50,000 deaths Mittelbau-Dora: unkwown but certainly tens of thousands Buchenwald: 50-60,000 deaths Flossenburg: 73,000 deaths Natzweiler-Struthof: 12,000 deaths Dachau: 32,000 deaths Neuengamme: 56,000 deaths Ravensbruck: 92,000 deaths Sachsenhausen: 40-50,000 deaths Gross-Rosen: 40,000 deaths Mauthausen: 120,000 deaths Stutthof: 65,000 deaths Please note that these numbers are only estimations and that the real number of victims is probably much higher. For instance, it is known that thousands of Russian POWs were killed in the camps without having been registered on the camps lists of inmates. Also thousands of infants were also killed by the Germans, before they had been registered as new-borne. Question: How did the Germans treat those who had some Jewish blood but were not classified as Jews? Those who were not classified as Jews but who had some Jewish blood were categorized as Mischlinge (hybrids) and were divided into two groups: Mischlinge of the first degree--those with two Jewish grandparents; Mischlinge of the second degree--those with one Jewish grandparent. The Mischlinge were officially excluded from membership in the Nazi Party and all Party organizations (e.g. SA, SS, etc.). Although they were drafted into the Germany Army, they could not attain the rank of officers. They were also barred from the civil service and from certain professions. (Individual Mischlinge were, however, granted exemptions under certain circumstances.) Nazi officials considered plans to sterilize Mischlinge, but this was never done. During World War II, first-degree Mischlinge, incarcerated in concentration camps, were deported to death camps. Question: How did Germany's allies, the Japanese and the Italians, treat the Jews in the lands they occupied? Neither the Italians nor the Japanese, both of whom were Germany's allies during World War II, cooperated regarding the "Final Solution." Although the Italians did, upon German urging, institute discriminatory legislation against Italian Jews, Mussolini's government refused to participate in the "Final Solution" and consistently refused to deport its Jewish residents. Moreover, in their occupied areas of France, Greece, and Yugoslavia, the Italians protected the Jews and did not allow them to be deported. However, when the Germans overthrew the Badoglio government in 1943, the Jews of Italy, as well as those under Italian protection in occupied areas, were subject to the "Final Solution." The Japanese were also relatively tolerant toward the Jews in their country as well as in the areas which they occupied. Despite pressure by their German allies urging them to take stringent measures against Jews, the Japanese refused to do so. Refugees were allowed to enter Japan until the spring of 1941, and Jews in Japanese-occupied China were treated well. In the summer and fall of 1941, refugees in Japan were transferred to Shanghai but no measures were taken against them until early 1943, when they were forced to move into the Hongkew Ghetto. While conditions were hardly satisfactory, they were far superior to those in the ghettos under German control.
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"https://img.youtube.com/vi/idoamNDKQ/0.jpg", "https://img.youtube.com/vi/hOTXzGTjGQU/0.jpg", "https://img.youtube.com/vi/rR073/0.jpg", "https://img.youtube.com/vi/x3vGkcgiFcQ/0.jpg", "https://img.youtube.com/vi/89f-mALSqS4/0.jpg", "https://img.youtube.com/vi/JFdqk2GsN5Y/0.jpg", "https://img.youtube.com/vi/lzZrhj/0.jpg", "https://img.youtube.com/vi/vESejw/0.jpg", "https://img.youtube.com/vi/_0aa3_g5mjg/0.jpg", "https://img.youtube.com/vi/DAyVoyJFxrk/0.jpg", "https://img.youtube.com/vi/8MGZoipBcW0/0.jpg", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/themes/roberthjackson/assets/img/lg-icon.png", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/themes/roberthjackson/assets/img/instagram.svg", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/themes/roberthjackson/assets/img/linked-in.svg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	An interactive timeline of the Nuremberg Trials	en	https://www.roberthjacks…e-touch-icon.png	Robert H Jackson Center	https://www.roberthjackson.org/nuremberg-timeline/	The President released on May 2nd a statement that I would undertake the task. It received considerable publicity and I was immediately deluged with applications for jobs. The executive order defined my authority. I was designated to act as representative of the United States and as its chief counsel “in preparing and prosecuting charges of atrocities and war crimes against such leaders of the European Axis … as the United States may agree with any of the United Nations to bring to trial….” I was to receive no additional compensation, but should receive my expenses. I was given broad authority by the executive order. One reason probably was that the other authorities were willing to get rid of the problem by delegating responsibility to me. In the second place, it was a totally unploughed field We then went to work with might and main to get out a report to the President on a plan for conducting the trials. The staff devoted itself to it almost constantly. The President revealed the report at a press conference, gave copies of it to the press, and said that he had completely approved it as expressing the American position. Many men had been very skeptical about a trial because they could see no plan for it, felt that the project hadn’t been thought through, that it was carelessly entered upon and that it was likely to run amuck. On reading this report they had a new confidence in our enterprise The conference at London was planned for June 25, 1945. We arrived and were ready for it, as were all of the other delegations but the Russian delegation did not appear until June 26th, when the conference finally got under way. Criticism of my appointment, upon the grounds that the President should not have called upon a member of the Supreme Court, would have to be weighted in the light of its affect on the choice of representatives of the other countries. There was no doubt that the position of justice of the Supreme Court carried with it great weight with foreign delegations in two ways. In the first place, the representative who held that life position of the independence and power had among the legal profession a good deal of prestige by reason of the office On August 8, 1945 we signed the agreement, as I was authorized to do on behalf of the United States, and it was announced to the world. Up to that time there had been some press rumors that we were having difficulties in arriving at it. We had frankly admitted we had, but there had been no exploitation of our differences. I may say that the chief critics of it were a few international lawyers who simply could not adjust themselves to the idea that the world had moved since the time of the Hague Conventions and that the treaties outlawing war and renouncing it as an instrument of policy had made a change in the old doctrine that it always is legal for a country to go to war for aggressive ends if it pleased its interests to do so. The Reminiscences of Robert H. Jackson Columbia Univ. Oral History Research Office, 1955 So the task that immediately fell to me was to prepare the opening speech which I would deliver, and to get the evidence arranged for presentation in the following week to support my opening remarks. The speech seemed an important task to me because up to that time no one had disclosed to the world what the case really amounted to, what the evidence was and what law we were contending for. The speech also seemed to have important public consequences because it would be the first full disclosure of the materials that we had captured and had at hand, and of the use we attempted to make of them. I had a rather strong sense of responsibility about the speech and recognized that it was probably the most important task of my life. The Reminiscences of Robert H. Jackson Columbia Univ. Oral History Research Office, 1955, Pages 1390-1392
correct_death_00048	FactBench	0	8	https://academic.oup.com/book/5539/chapter/148472509	en				[]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	82	http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Nuremberg/nurembergexecutions.html	en	Description of the executions of the major war criminals at Nuremberg			[ "http://famous-trials.com/images/newfamoustrials.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null	× Check-out the new Famous Trials website at www.famous-trials.com: The new website has a cleaner look, additional video and audio clips, revised trial accounts, and new features that should improve the navigation. Redirecting to: www.famous-trials.com/nuremberg in (10) seconds. (Close this pop-up window to remain on this page)
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	43	https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hermann_Goering	en	New World Encyclopedia	https://www.newworldency…avicon-32x32.png	https://www.newworldency…avicon-32x32.png	[ "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/images/nwe_header.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/9/96/Hermann_Goering_-_Nuremberg2.jpg/250px-Hermann_Goering_-_Nuremberg2.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/7/71/Uniform_von_H_Goering.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/2/2c/Carta_G%C3%B6ring.JPG/270px-Carta_G%C3%B6ring.JPG", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/3/30/G%C3%B6ering_weapon_and_baton.jpg/300px-G%C3%B6ering_weapon_and_baton.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/8/8d/Nuremberg-1-.jpg/250px-Nuremberg-1-.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/d/da/Musee-de-lArmee-IMG_1056.jpg/120px-Musee-de-lArmee-IMG_1056.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/3/39/Commons-logo.png/50px-Commons-logo.png", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/1/1a/Wikiquote-logo-en.png/50px-Wikiquote-logo-en.png", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/f/fd/Reichsadler.svg/40px-Reichsadler.svg.png", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/0/00/Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_K%C3%B6nigreich_Preussen_%28Mittleres%29.jpg/80px-Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_K%C3%B6nigreich_Preussen_%28Mittleres%29.jpg", "https://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/skins/common/images/Cc.logo.circle.png", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_88x31.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null		en	https://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/favicon.ico		https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hermann_Goering	Hermann Wilhelm Göring President of the Reichstag In office 1932 – 1945 President Paul von Hindenburg Adolf Hitler Preceded by Paul Löbe Succeeded by none Minister President of the Free State of Prussia In office April 10, 1933 – April 24, 1945 Preceded by Franz von Papen Succeeded by Prussia abolished Reichsstatthalter of Prussia In office 1935 – 1945 Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Adolf Hitler Succeeded by Prussia abolished Reich Minister of Aviation In office April 1933 – April 1945 President Paul von Hindenburg Adolf Hitler Preceded by Position established Succeeded by N/A Reich Minister of Forestry In office July 1934 – April 1945 President Paul von Hindenburg Adolf Hitler Preceded by Position established Succeeded by N/A Reich Minister of Economics In office November 1937 – January 1938 President Adolf Hitler Preceded by Hjalmar Schacht Succeeded by Walther Funk Born January 12, 1893 Rosenheim, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire Died October 15, 1946 (aged 53) Nuremberg, Germany Political party NSDAP Spouse Karin von Kantznow (1923–1931, deceased) Emmy Sonnemann (1935–1946) Children 4 Hermann Wilhelm Göring (also spelled Goering) (January 12, 1893 – October 15, 1946) was a German politician, military leader and a leading member of the Nazi Party. Among many offices, he was Hitler's designated successor and commander of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). He was a veteran of the First World War with twenty-two confirmed kills as a fighter pilot, and recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite ("The Blue Max"). He was the last commander of Manfred von Richthofen's famous Jagdgeschwader 1 air squadron (Red Baron). Goering was one of the central figures in the Nazi regime that was responsible for some of the worst atrocities committed in the twentieth century, including but not limited to the Holocaust. Following the end of the Second World War, Göring was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials. He was sentenced to death by hanging, but committed suicide the night before he was due to be hanged. Family background and relatives Göring was born at the sanatorium Marienbad in Rosenheim, Bavaria. His father Heinrich Ernst Göring (October 31, 1839 – December 7, 1913) had been the first Governor-General of the German protectorate of South West Africa (modern day Namibia)[1] having formerly served as a cavalry officer and member of the German consular service. Göring had among his patrilineal ancestors Eberle/Eberlin, a Swiss-German family of high bourgeoisie. Göring was a relative of such Eberle/Eberlin descendants as the German aviation pioneer Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin; German romantic nationalist Hermann Grimm (1828–1901), an author of the concept of the German hero as a mover of history, whom the Nazis claimed as one of their ideological forerunners; the industrialist family Merck, the owners of the pharmaceutical giant Merck; one of the world's major Catholic writers and poets of the 20th century German Baroness Gertrud von LeFort, whose works were largely inspired by her revulsion against Nazism; and Swiss diplomat, historian and President of International Red Cross, Carl J. Burckhardt. In an historical coincidence, Göring was related via the Eberle/Eberlin line to Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897), a great Swiss scholar of art and culture who was a major political and social thinker as well an opponent of nationalism and militarism, who rejected German claims of cultural and intellectual superiority and predicted a cataclysmic 20th century in which violent demagogues, whom he called "terrible simplifiers," would play central roles.[2] Göring's mother Franziska "Fanny" Tiefenbrunn (1859 - July 15, 1923) came from a Bavarian peasant family. The marriage of a gentleman to a woman from lower class (1885) occurred only because Heinrich Ernst Göring was a widower. Hermann Göring was one of five children; his brothers were Albert Göring and Karl Ernst Göring, and his sisters were Olga Therese Sophia Goring and Paula Elisabeth Rosa Göring, the last of whom were from his father's first marriage.[3] While anti-Semitism became rampant in Germany of that time, his parents were not anti-Semitic. Hermann Göring had an older brother Karl Goring, who migrated to the United States. Karl's son, Werner G. Göring, became a Captain in the Army Air Force and piloted B-17s on bombing missions over Europe. Göring's younger brother Albert Göring was opposed to the Nazi regime, and helped Jews and other dissidents in Germany during the Nazi era. He is said to have forged his brother Hermann's signature on transit papers to enable escapes, among other acts. Early life and Ritter von Epenstein Göring later claimed his given name was chosen to honor the Arminius who defeated the legions of Rome at Teutoburg Forest. However the name was possibly to honor his godfather, a Christian of Jewish descent[4] born Hermann Epenstein. Epenstein, whose father was an army surgeon in Berlin, became a wealthy physician and businessman and a major if not paternal influence on Göring's childhood. Much of Hermann's very early childhood, including a lengthy separation from his parents when his father took diplomatic posts in Africa and in Haiti (climates ruled too brutal for a young European child), was spent with governesses and with distant relatives. However, upon Heinrich Göring's retirement ca. 1898 his large family, supported solely on Heinrich's civil service pension, became for financially practical reasons the houseguests of their longtime friend and Göring's probable namesake, a man whose minor title (acquired through service and donation to the Crown) made him now known as Hermann, Ritter von Epenstein. Ritter von Epenstein purchased two largely dilapidated castles, Burg Veldenstein in Bavaria and Schloss Mauterndorf near Salzburg, Austria, whose very expensive restorations were ongoing by the time of Hermann Göring's birth. Both castles were to be residences to the Göring family, their official "caretakers" until 1913. Both castles were also ultimately to be his property. In 1914 he tried to commit suicide; however, he was found by his mother,and was sent to the hospital. He survived after cutting his wrist and was soon sent back home. In 1915 he joined the army and fought in the Battle of the Somme. According to some biographers of both Hermann Göring and his younger brother Albert Göring, soon after the family took residence in his castles, von Epenstein began an adulterous relationship with Frau Göring[5] and may in fact have been Albert's father. (Albert's physical resemblance to von Epenstein was noted even during his childhood and is evident in photographs.) Whatever the nature of von Epenstein's relationship with his mother, the young Hermann Göring enjoyed a close relationship with his godfather. Göring was unaware of von Epenstein's Jewish ancestry and birth until, as a child at a prestigious Austrian boarding school (where his tuition was paid by von Epenstein), he wrote an essay in praise of his godfather and was mocked by the school's anti-Semitic headmaster for professing such admiration for a Jew. Göring initially denied the allegation, but when confronted with proof in the "Semi-Gotha",[6] a book of German heraldry (Ritter von Epenstein had purchased his minor title and castles with wealth garnered from speculation and trade and was thus included in a less than complimentary reference work on German speaking nobility), Göring, to his youthful credit, remained steadfast in his devotion to his family's friend and patron so adamantly that he was expelled from the school. The action seems to have tightened the already considerable bond between godfather and godson. Relations between the Göring family and von Epenstein became far more formal during Göring's adolescence (causing Mosley and other biographers to speculate that perhaps the theorized affair ended naturally or that the elderly Heinrich discovered he was a cuckold and threatened its exposure). By the time of Heinrich Göring's death, the family no longer lived in a residence supplied by or seemed to have much contact at all with von Epenstein (though the family's comfortable circumstances indicate the Ritter may have continued to support them financially). Late in his life, Ritter von Epenstein wed a singer, Lily, who was half his age, bequeathing her his estate in his will, but requesting that she in turn bequeath the castles at Mauterndorf and Veldenstein to his godson Hermann upon her own death. First World War Göring was sent to boarding school at Ansbach, Franconia and then attended the cadet institutes at Karlsruhe and the military college at Berlin Lichterfelde. Göring was commissioned in the Prussian army on 22 June 1912 in the Prinz Wilhelm Regiment (112th Infantry), headquartered at Mulhouse as part of the 29th Division of the Imperial German Army. During the first year of World War I, Göring served with an infantry regiment in the Vosges region. He was hospitalized with Rheumatism resulting from the damp of trench warfare. While he was recovering, his friend Bruno Loerzer convinced him to transfer to the Luftstreitkräfte. Göring's application to transfer was immediately turned down. But later that year Göring flew as Loerzer's observer in Feldflieger Ableilung (FFA) 25; Göring had arranged his own transfer. He was detected and sentenced to three weeks' confinement to barracks. The sentence was never carried out: by the time it was imposed Göring's association with Loerzer had been regularized. They were assigned as a team to the 25th Field Air Detachment of the Crown Prince's Fifth Army–"though it seems that they had to steal a plane in order to qualify."[7] They flew reconnaissance and bombing missions for which the Crown Prince invested both Göring and Loerzer with the Iron Cross, first class. On completing his pilot's training course he was posted back to Feldflieger Ableilung (FFA) 2 in October 1915. Göring had already claimed two air victories as an Observer (one unconfirmed). He gained another flying a Fokker EIII single-seater scout in March 1916. In October 1916 he was posted to Jagdstaffel 5, but was wounded in action in November. In February 1917 he joined Jagdstaffel 26. He now scored steadily until in May 1917 he got his first command, Jasta 27. Serving with Jastas 5, 26 and 27, he claimed 21 air victories. Besides the Iron Cross, he was awarded the Zaehring Lion with swords, the Karl Friedrich Order and the House Order of Hohenzollern with swords, third class, and finally in May 1918 (despite not having the required 25 air victories) the coveted Pour le Mérite.[8] On July 7, 1918, after the death of Wilhelm Reinhard, the successor of The Red Baron, he was made commander of Jagdgeschwader Freiherr von Richthofen, Jagdgeschwader 1. In June 1917, after a lengthy dogfight, Göring shot down an Australian pilot named Frank Slee. The battle is recounted in The Rise and Fall of Hermann Goering. Göring landed and met the Australian, and presented Slee with his Iron Cross. Years after, Slee gave Göring's Iron Cross to a friend, who later died on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Also during the war Göring had through his generous treatment made a friend of his prisoner of war Captain Frank Beaumont, a Royal Flying Corps pilot. "It was part of Goering's creed to admire a good enemy, and he did his best to keep Captain Beaumont from being taken over by the Army."[9] Göring finished the war with twenty-two confirmed kills. Because of his arrogance[10] Göring's appointment as commander of Jagdgeschwader 1 had not been well received. Though after demobilization Göring and his officers spent most of their time during the first weeks of November 1918 in the Stiftskeller, the best restaurant and drinking place in Aschaffenburg,[11] he was the only veteran of Jagdgeschwader 1 never invited to post-war reunions. Göring was genuinely surprised (at least by his own account) at Germany's defeat in the First World War. He felt personally violated by the surrender, the Kaiser's abdication, the humiliating terms, and the supposed treachery of the post-war German politicians who had "goaded the people [to uprising] [and] who [had] stabbed our glorious Army in the back [thinking] of nothing but of attaining power and of enriching themselves at the expense of the people."[12] Ordered to surrender the planes of his squadron to the Allies in December 1918, Göring and his fellow pilots intentionally wrecked the planes on landing. This endeavour paralleled the scuttling of surrendered ships. Typical for the political climate of the day, he was not arrested or even officially reprimanded for his action. Postwar He remained in flying after the war, worked briefly at Fokker, tried "barnstorming," and in 1920 he joined Svenska Lufttrafik. He was also listed on the officer rolls of the Reichswehr, the post-World War I peacetime army of Germany, and by 1933 had risen to the rank of Generalmajor. He was made a Generalleutnant in 1935 and then a General in the Luftwaffe upon its founding later that year. Göring as a veteran pilot was often hired to fly businessmen and others on private aircraft. On a winter's day in 1920 Count Eric von Rosen, a widely-known and intrepid explorer, arrived at an aerodrome in Sweden and requested a flight to his estate at Rockelstad near Sparreholm.[13] It was a short journey by air and as it was snowing it seemed a flight would be the quick way home. The count relished the challenge of flying through snow if a brave enough pilot could be found. With only one or two hours of daylight left, Göring readily agreed to make the journey. After take-off they got lost as the aircraft pitched and plunged over trees and valleys; the count was violently airsick. They finally touched down on the frozen Lake Båven near Rockelstad Castle. It was too late for Göring to go back that day so he accepted the count and countess's invitation to stay overnight at the castle.[14] The medieval castle, with its suits of armor, paintings, hunting relics and exploration trophies was suited to romance. It may have been here that Göring first saw the swastika emblem, a family badge which was set in the chimney piece around the roaring fire.[15] This was also the first time Göring saw his future wife. A great staircase led down into the hall opposite the fireplace. As Göring looked up he saw a woman coming down the staircase as if toward him. The count introduced his sister-in-law Baroness Karin von Kantzow (née Freiin von Fock, 1888–1931) to the 27-year-old Göring.[16] Carin was a tall, maternal, unhappy, sentimental woman five years Göring's senior, estranged from her husband and in delicate health. Göring was immediately smitten with her. Carin's eldest sister and biographer claimed that it was love at first sight. Carin was carefully looked after by her parents as well as by Count and Countess von Rosen. She was also married and had an eight year old son Thomas to whom she was devoted. No romance other than one of courtly love was possible at this point.[17] First marriage Carin divorced her estranged husband, Niels Gustav von Kantzow, in December 1922. She married Göring on 3 January 1923 in Stockholm. Von Kantzow behaved generously. He provided a financial settlement which enabled Carin and Göring to set up their first home together in Germany. It was a hunting lodge at Hochkreuth in the Bavarian Alps, near Bayrischzell, some 50 miles from Munich. Early Nazi Göring joined the Nazi Party in 1922 and took over the SA leadership as the Oberste SA-Führer. After stepping down as SA Commander, he was appointed an SA-Gruppenführer (Lieutenant General) and held this rank on the SA rolls until 1945. Hitler later recalled his early association with Göring thus: I liked him. I made him the head of my S.A. He is the only one of its heads that ran the S.A. properly. I gave him a disheveled rabble. In a very short time he had organized a division of 11,000 men.[18] At this time Carin, who liked Hitler, often played hostess to meetings of leading Nazis including her husband, Hitler, Hess, Rosenberg and Röhm. Göring was with Hitler in the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich on 9 November 1923. He marched beside Hitler at the head of the SA. When the Bavarian police broke up the march with gunfire, Göring was seriously wounded in the groin. Addiction and exile Stricken with pneumonia, Carin arranged for Göring to be spirited away to Austria. Göring was in no fit state to travel and the journey may have aggravated his condition, although he did avoid arrest. Göring was x-rayed and operated on in the hospital at Innsbruck. Carin wrote to her mother from Göring's bedside on December 8, 1923 describing the terrible pain Göring was in: "… in spite of being dosed with morphine every day, his pain stays just as bad as ever."[19] This was the beginning of his morphine addiction. Meanwhile in Munich the authorities declared Göring a wanted man. The Görings, acutely short of funds and reliant on the goodwill of Nazi sympathizers abroad, moved from Austria to Venice then in May 1924 to Rome via Florence and Siena. Göring met Benito Mussolini in Rome. Mussolini expressed some interest in meeting Hitler, by then in prison, upon his release.[20] Personal problems, however, continued to multiply. Göring's mother had died in 1923. By 1925 it was Carin's mother who was ill. The Görings with difficulty raised the money for a journey in spring 1925 to Sweden via Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig. Göring had become a violent morphine addict and Carin's family were shocked by his deterioration when they saw him. Carin, herself an epileptic, had to let the doctors and police take full charge of Göring. He was certified a dangerous drug addict and placed in the violent ward of Långbro asylum on 1 September 1925.[21] The 1925 psychiatrist's reports claimed Göring to be weak of character, a hysteric and unstable personality, sentimental yet callous, violent when afraid and a person who deployed bravado to hide a basic lack of moral courage. "Like many men capable of great acts of physical courage which verge quite often on desperation, he lacked the finer kind of courage in the conduct of his life which was needed when serious difficulties overcame him."[22] At the time of Göring's detention all doctors' reports in Sweden were in the public domain. In 1925, Carin sued for custody of her son. Niels von Kantzow, her ex-husband, used a doctor's report on Carin and Göring as evidence to show that neither of them was fit to look after the boy, and so von Kantzow kept custody. The reports were also used by political opponents in Germany. Politics and Nazi electoral victory Göring returned to Germany in autumn 1927, after the newly elected President von Hindenburg declared amnesty for participants in the 1923 Putsch. Göring resumed his political work for Hitler. He became the 'salon Nazi', the Party's representative in upper class circles. Göring was elected to the Reichstag in 1928. In 1932, he was elected President of the Reichstag, which he remained until 1945. His wife Carin died on October 17, 1931, aged 42, of tuberculosis. Hitler became Chancellor on January 30, 1933, striking a deal with the conservative intriguer Franz von Papen. Only two other Nazis were included in the cabinet. One was Göring, who was named minister without portfolio. It was understood, however, that he would be named minister of aviation once Germany built up an air force. At Hitler's insistence, Göring also was appointed interior minister of Prussia under Papen, who doubled as Vice Chancellor of the Reich and minister-president of Prussia. (Prussia at this time, though a constituent state of Germany, included over half of the country.) Although his appointment as Prussian interior minister was little noticed at the time, it made Göring commander of the largest police force in Germany. He moved quickly to Nazify the police and use them against the Social Democrats and Communists. On February 22, Göring ordered the police to recruit "auxiliaries" from the Nazi party militia, and to cease all opposition to the street violence of the SA. New elections were scheduled for March 5, and Göring's police minions harassed and suppressed political opponents and rivals of the Nazis. He also detached the political and intelligence departments from the Prussian police and reorganized them as the Gestapo, a secret police force. On February 28, 1933, the Reichstag building was gutted by fire. The Reichstag fire was arson, and the Nazis blamed the Communists. Göring himself met Hitler at the fire scene, and denounced it as "a Communist outrage," the first act in a planned uprising. Hitler agreed. The next day, the Reichstag Fire Decree suspended civil liberties. Göring ordered the complete suppression of the Communist party. Most German states banned party meetings and publications, but in Prussia, Göring's police summarily arrested 25,000 Communists and other leftists, including the entire Party leadership, save those that escaped abroad. Hundreds of other prominent anti-Nazis were also rounded up. Göring told the Prussian police that "…all other restraints on police action imposed by Reich and state law are abolished…." On March 5, the Nazi-DNVP coalition won a narrow majority in the election; on March 23, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which effectively gave Hitler dictatorial powers. As part of the anti-Communist campaign, in the first executions in the Third Reich, Göring declined to commute the August 1933 death sentences passed against Bruno Tesch and three other Communists for their alleged role in the deaths of two SA members and 16 others in the Altona Bloody Sunday (Altonaer Blutsonntag) riot, an SA march on July 17, 1932.[23][24]. Second marriage During the early 1930s Göring was often in the company of Emmy Sonnemann (1893–1973), an actress from Hamburg. He proposed to her in Weimar in February 1935. The wedding took place on April 10, 1935 in Berlin and was celebrated like the marriage of an emperor. They had a daughter, Edda Göring (born June 2, 1938) who was then thought to be named after Countess Edda Ciano, eldest child of Benito Mussolini. Actually, Edda was named after a friend of her mother.[25] Nazi potentate Göring was one of the key figures in the process of "forcible coordination" (Gleichschaltung) that established the Nazi dictatorship. For example, in 1933, Göring promulgated the ban on all Roman Catholic newspapers in Germany as a means of removing not only resistance to National Socialism but also to deprive the population of alternative forms of association and means of political communication. In the Nazi regime's early years, Göring served as minister in various key positions at both the Reich (German national) level and other levels as required. In the state of Prussia, Göring was responsible for the economy as well as re-armament. His police forces included the Gestapo, which he converted into a political spy force. But in 1934 Hitler transferred the Gestapo to Himmler's SS. Göring retained Special Police Battalion Wecke, which he converted to a paramilitary unit attached to the Landespolizei (State Police), Landespolizeigruppe General Göring. This formation participated in the Night of the Long Knives, when the SA leaders were purged. Göring was head of the Forschungsamt (FA), which secretly monitored telephone and radio communications, The FA was connected to the SS, the SD, and Abwehr intelligence services. After Hjalmar Schacht was removed as Minister of Economics, Göring effectively took over. In 1936, he became Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan for German rearmament. The vast steel plant Reichswerke Hermann Göring was named after him. He gained great influence with Hitler (who placed a high value on rearmament). He never seemed to accept the Hitler Myth quite as much as Goebbels and Himmler did, but remained loyal nevertheless. In 1938, Göring forced out the War Minister, Field Marshal von Blomberg, and the Army commander, General von Fritsch. They had welcomed Hitler's accession in 1933, but then annoyed him by criticizing his plans for expansionist wars. Göring, who had been best man at Blomberg's recent wedding to a 26-year-old typist, discovered that the young woman was a former prostitute, and blackmailed him into resigning. Fritsch was accused of homosexual activity, and though completely innocent, resigned in shock and disgust. He was later exonerated by a "court of honor" presided over by Göring. Also in 1938, Göring played a key role in the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria. At the height of the crisis, Göring spoke on the telephone to Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg. Göring announced Germany's intent to march into Austria, and threatened war and the destruction of Austria if there was any resistance. Schuschnigg collapsed, and the German army marched into Austria without resistance. Göring and Foreign Policy The German diplomatic historian Klaus Hildebrand in his study of German foreign policy in the Nazi era noted that besides for Hitler’s foreign policprogramme that there existed three other rival foreigprogramses held by fractions in the Nazi Party, whom Hildebrand dubbed the agrarians, the revolutionary socialists and the Wilhelmine Imperialists[26]. Göring was certainly an ardent Nazi and utterly loyal to Hitler. But his preferences in foreign policy were different. Göring was the most prominent of the "Wilhelmine Imperialist" group in the Nazi regime. This group wanted to restore the German frontiers of 1914, regain the pre-1914 overseas empire, and make Eastern Europe Germany's exclusive sphere of influence. This was a much more limited set of goals than Hitler's dream of Lebensraum seized in merciless racial wars. By contrast, Göring and the "Wilhelmine Imperialist" fraction were more guided by traditional Machtpolitik in their foreign policy conceptions.[27]. Furthermore, the "Wilhelmine Imperialists" expected to achieved their goals within the established international order. While not rejecting war as an option, they preferred diplomacy, and sought political domination in eastern Europe rather than the military conquests envisioned by Hitler. And they rejected Hitler's mystical vision of war as a necessary ordeal for the nation, and of perpetual war as desirable. Göring himself feared that a major war might interfere with his luxurious lifestyle. Göring's advocacy of this policy led to his temporary exclusion by Hitler for a time in 1938-39 from foreign policy decisions. Göring'unwillingnessss to offer a major challenge to Hitler prevented him from offering any serious resistance to Hitler's policies, and the "Wilhelmine Imperialists" had no real influence.[28][29][30] Complicity in the Holocaust Göring was the highest figure in the Nazi hierarchy to issue written orders for the "final solution of the Jewish Question," when he issued a memo to Heydrich to organize the practical details. This resulted in the Wannsee Conference. Göring wrote, "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question." It is almost certain however that Hitler issued an oral order to Göring in late 1941 to this effect. Head of the Luftwaffe When the Nazis took power, Göring was Minister of Civil Air Transport, which was a screen for the build-up of German war aviation, prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles. When Hitler repudiated Versailles, in 1935, the Luftwaffe was unveiled, with Göring as Minister and Oberbefehlshaber (Supreme Commander). In 1938, he became the first Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) of the Luftwaffe this promotion also made him the highest ranking officer in Germany. Göring directed the rapid creation of this new branch of service. Within a few years, Germany produced large numbers of the world's most advanced military aircraft. In 1936, Göring at Hitler's direction sent several hundred aircraft along with several thousand air and ground crew, to assist the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War this became known as the Condor Legion. By 1939 the Luftwaffe was the most advanced and one of the most powerful air forces in the world. On 9 August 1939, Göring boasted "The Ruhr will not be subjected to a single bomb. If an enemy bomber reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Hermann Göring: you can call me Meier!" ("I want to be called Meier if …." is a German idiom to express that something is impossible. Meier (in several spelling variants) is the second most common surname in Germany.) By the end of the war, Berlin's air raid sirens were bitterly known to the city's residents as "Meier's trumpets," or "Meier's hunting horns." Göring's private army Unusually, the Luftwaffe also included its own ground troops, which became Göring's private army. German Fallschirmjäger (parachute and glider) troops were organized as part of the Luftwaffe, not as part of the Army. These formations eventually grew to over 30 divisions, which almost never operated as airborne troops. About half were "field divisions," that is, plain infantry. There was even a Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring, which had originally been the special police battalion mentioned above. Many of these divisions were led by officers with little or no training for ground combat, and performed badly as a result. In 1945, two Fallschirmjäger divisions were deployed on the Oder front. Göring said at a staff meeting "When both my airborne divisions attack, the entire Red Army can be thrown to hell." But when the Red Army attacked, Göring's 9th Parachute Division collapsed. Second World War Göring was skeptical of Hitler's war plans. He believed Germany was not prepared for a new conflict and, in particular, that his Luftwaffe was not yet ready to beat the British Royal Air Force (RAF). His personal luxuries might be endangered, too. So he made contacts through various diplomats and emissaries to avoid war. However, once Hitler decided on war, Göring supported him completely. On 1 September 1939, the first day of the war, Hitler spoke to the Reichstag at the Kroll Opera House. In this speech he designated Göring as his successor "if anything should befall me." Initially, decisive German victories followed quickly one after the other. The Luftwaffe destroyed the Polish Air Force within two weeks. The Fallschirmjäger seized key airfields in Norway and captured Fort Eben-Emael in Belgium. German air-to-ground attacks served as the "flying artillery" of the panzer troops in the blitzkrieg of France. "Leave it to my Luftwaffe" became Göring's perpetual gloat. After the defeat of France, Hitler awarded Göring the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross for his successful leadership. By a decree on 19 July 1940, Hitler promoted Göring to the rank of Reichsmarschall (Marshal of Germany), the highest military rank of the Greater German Reich. Reichsmarschall was a special rank for Göring, which made him senior to all other Army and Luftwaffe Field Marshals. Göring's political and military careers were at their peak. Göring had already received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 30 September 1939 as Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe.[31] Göring promised Hitler that the Luftwaffe would quickly destroy the RAF, or break British morale with devastating air raids. He personally directed the first attacks on Britain from his private luxury train. But the Luftwaffe failed to gain control of the skies in the Battle of Britain. This was Hitler's first defeat. And Britain withstood the worst the Luftwaffe could do for the eight months of "the Blitz." However, the damage inflicted on British cities largely maintained Göring's prestige. The Luftwaffe destroyed Belgrade in April 1941, and Fallschirmjäger captured Crete from the British army in May 1941. The eastern front If Göring was skeptical about war against Britain and France, he was absolutely certain that a new campaign against the Soviet Union was doomed to defeat. After trying, completely in vain, to convince Hitler to give up Operation Barbarossa, he embraced the campaign. Hitler still relied on him completely. On June 29, Hitler composed a special 'testament', which was kept secret till the end of the war. This formally designated Göring as "my deputy in all my offices" if Hitler was unable to function, and his successor if he died. Ironically, Göring did not know the contents of this testament, which was marked "To be opened only by the Reichsmarschall," until after leaving Berlin in April 1945 for Berchtesgaden, where it had been kept. The Luftwaffe shared in the initial victories in the east, destroying thousands of Soviet aircraft. But as Soviet resistance grew and the weather turned bad, the Luftwaffe became overstretched and exhausted. Göring by this time had lost interest in administering the Luftwaffe. That duty was left to incompetent favorites such as Udet and Jeschonnek. Aircraft production lagged. Yet Göring persisted in outlandish promises. When the Soviets surrounded a German army in Stalingrad in 1942, Göring encouraged Hitler to fight for the city rather than retreat. He asserted that the Luftwaffe would deliver 500 tons per day of supplies to the trapped force. In fact no more than 100 tons were ever delivered in a day, and usually much less. While Göring's men struggled to fly in the savage Russian winter, Göring had his usual lavish birthday party. Göring was in charge of exploiting the vast industrial resources captured during the war, particularly in the Soviet Union. This proved to be an almost total failure, and little of the available potential was effectively harnessed for the service of the German military machine. The bomber war As early as 1940, British aircraft raided targets in Germany, debunking Göring's assurance that the Reich would never be attacked. By 1942, the bombers were coming by hundreds and thousands. Entire cities such as Cologne and Hamburg were devastated. The Luftwaffe responded with night fighters and anti-aircraft guns. Göring was still nominally in charge, but in practice he had little to do with operations. Göring's prestige, reputation, and influence with Hitler all declined, especially after the Stalingrad debacle. Hitler could not publicly repudiate him without embarrassment, but contact between them largely stopped. Göring withdrew from the military and political scene to enjoy the pleasures of life as a wealthy and powerful man. His reputation for extravagance made him particularly unpopular as ordinary Germans began to suffer deprivation. The end of the war In 1945, Göring fled the Berlin area with trainloads of treasures for the Nazi alpine resort in Berchtesgaden. He was presented with Hitler's testament, which he read for the first time. On 23 April, as Soviet troops closed in around Berlin, Göring sent a radiogram to Hitler, suggesting that the testament should now come into force. He added that if he did not hear back from Hitler by 10 PM, he would assume Hitler was incapacitated, and would assume leadership of the Reich. Hitler was enraged by this proposal, which Bormann portrayed as an attempted coup d'état. On April 25, Hitler ordered the SS to arrest Göring. On April 26, Hitler dismissed Göring as commander of the Luftwaffe. In his last will and testament, Hitler dismissed Göring from all his offices and expelled him from the Nazi Party. On April 28, Hitler ordered the SS to execute Göring, his wife, and their daughter (Hitler's own goddaughter). But this order was ignored. Instead, the Görings and their SS captors moved together, to the same Schloß Mauterndorf where Göring had spent much of his childhood and which he had inherited (along with Burg Veldenstein) from his godfather's widow in 1937. (Göring had arranged for preferential treatment for the woman, and protected her from confiscation and arrest as the widow of a wealthy Jew.) Capture, trial, and death Göring surrendered on May 9, 1945 in Bavaria. He was the third-highest-ranking Nazi official tried at Nuremberg, behind Reich President (former Admiral) Karl Dönitz and former Deputy Führer Hess. Göring's last days were spent with Captain Gustave Gilbert, a German-speaking American intelligence officer and psychologist (and a Jew), who had access to all the prisoners held in the Nuremberg jail. Gilbert classified Göring as having an IQ of 138, the same as Dönitz. Gilbert kept a journal which he later published as Nuremberg Diary. Here he describes Göring on the evening of April 18, 1946, as the trials were halted for a three-day Easter recess. 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 defensee 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 on his behalf.[32] Despite claims that he was not anti-Semitic, while in the prison yard at Nuremberg, after hearing a remark about Jewish survivors in Hungary, Albert Speer reported overhearing Göring say, "So, there are still some there? I thought we had knocked off all of them. Somebody slipped up again."[33] Despite his claims of non-involvement, he was confronted with orders he had signed for the murder of Jews and prisoners of war. Though he defended himself vigorously, and actually appeared to be winning the trial early on (partly by building popularity with the audience by making jokes and finding holes in the prosecution's case) he was sentenced to death by hanging. The judgment stated that:[34] There is nothing to be said in mitigation. For Goering 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 program and the creator of the oppressive program 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.[35] Göring made an appeal, offering to accept the court's death sentence if he were shot as a soldier instead of hanged as a common criminal, but the court refused. Defying the sentence imposed by his captors, he committed suicide with a potassium cyanide capsule the night before he was to be hanged. Where Göring obtained the cyanide, and how he concealed it during his entire imprisonment at Nuremberg, remains unknown. It has been claimed that Göring befriended U.S. Army Lieutenant Jack G. "Tex" Wheelis, who was stationed at the Nuremberg Trials and helped Göring obtain cyanide which had been hidden among Göring's personal effects when they were confiscated by the Army.[36] In 2005, former U.S. Army Private Herbert Lee Stivers claimed he gave Göring "medicine" hidden inside a gift fountain pen from a German woman the private had met and flirted with. Stivers served in the 1st Infantry Division's 26th Regiment, who formed the honor guard for the Nuremberg Trials. Stivers claims to have been unaware of what the "medicine" he delivered actually was until after Göring's death. Regardless of his suicide, his dead body was hanged. After his death, the bodies of Göring and the other executed Nazi leaders were cremated in the crematorium of the Dachau concentration camp, which had been re-lit exclusively for them. His ashes were scattered in the Conwentzbach in Munich, which runs into the Isar river. Legacy Hermann Goering's legacy cannot be separated from the legacy of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, which includes the Holocaust and millions of other casualties. He was able to use his position to benefit himself. The confiscation of Jewish property gave Göring great opportunities to amass a personal fortune. Some properties he seized himself, or acquired for a nominal price. In other cases, he collected fat bribes for allowing others to grab Jewish property. He also took kickbacks from industrialists for favorable decisions as Four Year Plan director. Göring was also noted for his patronage of music, especially opera. He entertained frequently and lavishly. Most infamously, he collected art, looting from numerous museums (some in Germany itself), stealing from Jewish collectors, or buying for a song in occupied countries. When Göring was promoted to the unique rank of Reichsmarschall, he designed an elaborate personal flag for himself. The design included a German eagle, swastika, and crossed marshal's batons on one side, and on the other Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes ("Grand Cross of the Iron Cross") between four Luftwaffe eagles. He had the flag carried by a personal standard-bearer at all public occasions. Standard, on display at the Musée de la Guerre in the Invalides Notes References ISBN links support NWE through referral fees Wikimedia Commons has media related to:: Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Block, Maxine and E. Mary Trow (1971). Current Biography: Who's News and Why 1941. New York: H.W. Wilson. OCLC 16655369 Brandenburg, Erich (1995). Die Nachkommen Karls Des Grossen. Neustadt/Aisch: Degener. ISBN 3768651029. Butler, Ewan (1951). Marshall Without Glory. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 84-87. OCLC 1246848. Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (1986). Die Trager Des Ritterkreuzes Des Eisernen Kreuzes, 1939–1945. Friedberg: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3790902845. Fest, Joachim (2004). Inside Hitler's Bunker. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. ISBN 0374135770. Franks, Norman (1993). Above the Lines. City: Grub Street. ISBN 0948817739. Frischauer, Willi (1951). The Rise and Fall of Hermann Goering. Ballantine Books. OCLC 30233850 Gilbert, G. (1995). Nuremberg Diary. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306806614. Göring, Hermann (1934). Germany Reborn. London: E. Mathews & Marrot. OCLC 570220. Excerpt from Germany Reborn Gritzbach, Erich (1939). Hermann Goering: The Man and His Work. London: Hurst & Blackett. OCLC 58964284. Hildebrand, Klaus (1973). The Foreign Policy of the Third Reich. London: Batsford Press. ISBN 0520025288. Hitler, Adolf (1988). Hitler's Table Talk, 1941–1944. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192851802. Irving, David (1989). Göring: A Biography. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0688066062. Leffland, Ella (1990). The Knight, Death and the Devil. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0688058361. Manvell, Roger (2006). Goering. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1853676128. Maser, Werner (2000). Hitlers janusköpfiger Paladin: die politische Biographie. ISBN 3861245094. Mosley, Leonard (1974). The Reich Marshal: A Biography of Hermann Goering. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. ISBN 0385049617. Overy, Richard (2000). Goering. London: Phoenix Press. ISBN 1842120484. Paul, Wolfgang (1983). Wer War Hermann Goring: Biographie. City: Bechtle, 33. ISBN 3762804273. Speer, Albert (1997). Inside the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684829495. Taylor, Telford (1992). The Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0394583558. All links retrieved July 16, 2024. Germany Reborn by Hermann Goring Hermann Göring at the Internet Movie Database the Internet Movie Database Preceded by: Hans Ulrich Klintzsche Leader of the SA 1923 Vacant Title next held by Franz Pfeffer von Salomon Military offices New Title Luftwaffe re-established Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe 1935–1945 Succeeded by: Robert Ritter von Greim Political offices Preceded by: Franz von Papen (Reichskomissar) Prime Minister of Prussia 1933–1945 Prussia abolished
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	14	https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/reich-marshal-hermann-goring-at-the-nuremburg-trials/	en	Reich Marshal Hermann Göring at the Nuremberg Trials	https://warfarehistoryne…ead-4C-Jul05.jpg	https://warfarehistoryne…ead-4C-Jul05.jpg	[ "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/search-icon.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/search-icon.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-Lead-4C-Jul05-2000x1519.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-1-4C-Jul05-760x647.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-5-HT-Jul05.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-6-HT-Jun05.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-7-HT-Jun05-760x956.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-2-HT-Jul05.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-4-4C-Jul05.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-8-HT-Jul05.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/W-Apr22-U-Boat-LEAD-16-9.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/W-Top-Secret-1-HT-Jul07.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/WW-RzHev-6-4C-Sep04-crop2.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/hill.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/M-Books-1-HT-Dec10-crop.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/000036-crop.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/M-Intel-1-4C-Feb11-crop.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/M-Naseby-Lead-4C-Feb05.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/snow-tanks.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/logo.svg", "https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=180324792517877&ev=PageView&noscript=1&cd%5Bpage_title%5D=Reich+Marshal+Hermann+G%C3%B6ring+at+the+Nuremberg+Trials&cd%5Bpost_type%5D=article&cd%5Bpost_id%5D=2620&cd%5Bplugin%5D=PixelYourSite&cd%5Buser_role%5D=guest&cd%5Bevent_url%5D=warfarehistorynetwork.com%2Farticle%2Freich-marshal-hermann-goring-at-the-nuremburg-trials%2F" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	2023-11-06T14:00:32+00:00	Reich Marshal Hermann Göring was by far the most colorful and outspoken defendant during the Nuremburg Trials. Here's how he met his end.	en	https://warfarehistoryne…e-touch-icon.png	Warfare History Network	https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/reich-marshal-hermann-goring-at-the-nuremburg-trials/	by Richard Rule Stripped of the regalia and high position of Reich Marshal in the Nazi regime and tried as a war criminal, the former Luftwaffe chief was by far the most colorful and outspoken defendant during the postwar proceedings. At the end of World War II, Hermann Göring did not try to slip into hiding like many of Nazi Germany’s former leaders. In fact, he sought out the Americans on May 7, 1945, under the mistaken belief that he would be granted an audience with General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Göring was confident that he would be treated as a spokesman for a defeated nation but, far from being an emissary for his people, he soon found himself regarded as a common prisoner of war. Flown to the modified confines of the Grand Hotel of Mondorf-Les-Bains in Luxembourg, he joined 50 other former Nazi ministers, officials, and high-ranking officers. A Large Man in Poor Physical Condition The Americans were surprised to find that Göring weighed over 260 pounds and was obviously in poor physical condition; he could have a heart attack at any moment. The Allies, who had already lost some key Nazi leaders to suicide, immediately put him on a strict dietary regime to reduce his weight and a withdrawal program to break his drug habit. Göring, a man who had enjoyed the fine life when in power, was hardly receptive to the prison fare put in front of him, but in time even he acknowledged that his health had rapidly improved. As the inches vanished from his ample waistline and the fog of drug addiction cleared from his system, a rejuvenated Göring regained a mental drive and energy not evident since the early days of the party. In his self-imposed role of Primus inter pare at Mondorf, he called for a united front to shield Hitler from condemnation but, with little solidarity among the prisoners, his demands were completely ignored by most. There were those, however, who rallied behind the Reich Marshal, believing the affable Göring could perhaps negotiate their release. It was a forlorn hope, as most would soon find themselves indicted for war crimes. No More Lenient Treatment When the U.S. Army formalized the list of 22 principal defendants, Göring was delighted that his name appeared at the top, but others could not understand why their names were there at all. They still had not grasped that the lenient treatment afforded Germany’s leaders after World War I would not be repeated in 1945. On August 12, Göring and the other accused men arrived in the shattered ruins of Nuremberg to stand trial. Bustled into the detention block alongside the Palace of Justice, the disorientated former leaders were thrown into small, spartan cells that were little more than low-ceilinged cubicles. Under the governance of the dour U.S. Army Colonel, Burton C. Andrus, security in the prison would be rigidly enforced. To this end, every conceivable device that could aid a suicide attempt had been removed; even the flimsy table provided to write letters and notes was designed to collapse under the weight of a small man. Faced with a bleak and uncertain future, many of the inmates had great difficulty adjusting to these new surroundings. Even Göring’s indomitable spirit was temporarily dented by the unaccustomed squalor, but his will to resist had not diminished and he soon confounded prison authorities by steadfastly refusing to clean his cell. Threats and intimidation made no impression on him, and eventually Andrus was forced to have a prison employee carry out the menial task. In Göring’s opinion, even a small victory was better than no victory at all, and he was very proud to have ruffled the feathers of his captors. At the Nuremberg Trials, Reich Marshal Hermann Göring Was a Difficult Man to Dislike, and to Question In Nuremberg, the prisoners were interrogated in earnest prior to the trial, but Göring was the only defendant who willingly participated in these verbal jousts. The former World War I fighter ace, who had been at Hitler’s side since the 1920s, was not only an economic and military leader but also Hitler’s heir apparent. He expected to yield an invaluable insider’s perspective on Germany’s political and military strategies. His engaging manner, charm, and raw sense of humor appealed to many who questioned him and, despite his brutal reputation, most found it difficult to dislike him. However, he proved a difficult man to question. Göring spoke quickly and a lot, but his answers were only couched in general terms. His questioners soon came to realize that he was no fool and certainly nothing like the ridiculous, comical figure portrayed in Allied newspapers. they, like many others, found Göring to be a very shrewd individual blessed with a keen intellect and worthy of wary respect. Life in Solitary Confinement The leaders of the Reich, he told his interrogators, were a group governed by common loyalties and a common ambition to revive German fortunes, and Hitler had held this unruly gang together by the force of his will. Göring was often the man who had the final word on most matters, not necessarily the first. Although cagey with specifics and often scant on details, Göring in no way diminished his role in the machinations of the Third Reich or his loyalty to Hitler’s vision of a greater Germany. Hitler’s once-faithful paladin did concede, however, that he had been against going to war with England and viewed the invasion of Russia as inevitable, but premature. Life for the prisoners in the eerie silence of solitary confinement was harsh and soul-destroying. The gloom that pervaded through the cold stone walls of the detention block did not, however, appear to have washed over Göring. Much to the annoyance of the other inmates, he was often loud, habitually bombastic, and always defiant. The sight of the Reich’s former leaders submissively bowing to the will of their captors infuriated him. In his mind, adopting a visibly repentant demeanor would in no way help their cause before the court. They were already guilty regardless of their conduct in prison. Resolute to the Last It became a point of honor that Göring rarely took a backward step and would not allow a victor’s judgment on Germany to pass unchallenged. A comment condemning his nation’s wars of imperial conquest received a typically scathing reply: “Don’t make me laugh!” he roared, “America, England, and Russia have all done the same thing to promote their own national aspirations but when Germany does, it becomes a crime—because we lost.” He aggressively dismissed the legitimacy of the proposed victor’s trial, going so far as to predict that the proceedings would “be [viewed as] a disgrace in 15 years time.” Regardless of Göring’s vehement rejection of Allied jurisdiction, each prisoner was unceremoniously handed their formal indictment, which tabled the charges under the headings: Count One: The Common Plan or Conspiracy. Count Two: Crimes against peace. Count Three: War Crimes. Count Four: Crimes against humanity. The lengthy document, running to some 25,000 words, set out in detail the unbelievable atrocities and crimes for which the defendants now stood accused. Göring was charged under all four counts, and while unsure of the journey, had no illusions about the fate that awaited him. Painfully aware that his name had become the butt of jokes and universal derision, he was determined that during this, the final chapter of his life, he would give his role at Nuremberg historical importance and restore prestige to his much-maligned reputation. It was imperative, in his view, that the people remembered that Hermann Göring had stood defiant to the bitter end and had gone to his death like a man. In the shadows of the looming trial, Dr. Gustav M. Gilbert, a U.S. Army psychologist, had been given the task of observing the defendants and in Göring found a man who, in many ways, was a slave to his massive ego. He spent a great deal of time with Göring and warned the prosecution to expect an extremely aggressive and formidable opponent who would not be easily intimidated. Despite an imposing presence, Gilbert believed Göring’s Achilles heel would be the public revelations of the Reich Marshal’s bizarre vanities and ostentatious behavior. In his opinion, ridicule over, for example, the extravagant uniforms he designed for himself and his habit of wearing make-up would not only unsettle and embarrass Göring, but also “spoil his pose as a hero-patriot and model officer” in the eyes of the German people. He seemed more concerned about a tarnished image than many of the crimes committed by the regime he served. The psychologist’s evaluation came as no surprise to the prosecution, which already knew that Göring would be difficult to handle. His unrepentant, egocentric behavior in prison gave every indication that he was spoiling for a fight. When the time came to cross swords, it would be essential in the court of world opinion that the U.S. chief prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson, quickly establish his superiority. This bare-knuckled battle of wills between Jackson, the wing-collared champion of human rights from Pennsylvania, and Göring, the flamboyant military gangster from the war-ravaged streets of Berlin, shaped up as the most anticipated moment of the trial. Under the watchful eyes of the world media, the formal proceedings finally began on November 20, 1945. The former Reich Marshal, now at a much lighter weight, had taken a prominent position in the front corner of the dock. When asked to plead guilty or not guilty, he attempted to read a short declaration. After only a few words, he was firmly cut off by the British presiding judge, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence, who instructed him to plead guilty or not guilty, nothing more. A chastened Göring replied, “Not guilty, in the sense of the indictment,” then sat down. The brilliant opening address by Justice Robert H. Jackson encompassed a devastating attack on the Third Reich. His confronting speech, delivered in a forthright manner, laid bare a vile catalogue of crimes whose responsibility, he pointed out, rested with most of those now sitting meekly in the dock. “It may be that these men of troubled conscience, whose only wish is that the world forget them, do not regard [this] trial as a favor,” Jackson declared. “But they do have a fair opportunity to defend themselves—a favor which these men, when in power, rarely extended [to anyone].” Having to now answer for the crimes and unspeakable miseries inflicted on millions by the Third Reich left the men in the dock in no doubt that they would be lucky to escape with their lives. Incriminating the absent would soon become the order of the day. Before the proceedings had begun, the tribunal had taken the controversial step of stopping the defendants from using a “so did you” defense strategy in regard to atrocities. Göring, nonetheless, was determined to reveal to the world that the Germans were not the only ones guilty of war crimes. However, this pre-trial boast to accuse the Allies of their own atrocities was soon demolished with the screening in court of the first graphic concentration camp films. The sickening images stunned not only the court but also many of the defendants, including Göring. Worse was to come for the accused in the New Year when, on January 3, 1946, SS General Otto Olendorf described to the court in great detail the methods of mass execution employed by the Nazi death squads. These systematically organized murder operations were on a scale so incredible, so monstrous, they defied belief. Göring was left deeply depressed when he realized that, in the wake of Olendorf’s frightful testimony and the horrific newsreel film, he would have no chance whatsoever of defending the party or the leader he had served for so many years. Yet, despite the fearful stories already revealed to the court, Göring greeted anything produced by the Soviets with biting sarcasm and studied ridicule; he considered the Russians to be the real experts in mass murder. On February 20, he yawned through a Russian atrocity film as it was being screened. “They could just as easily have killed a few hundred German prisoners of war and put them into Russian uniforms,” he observed cynically to an American officer. “You don’t know the Russians the way I do.” The incredible passion and energy that had marked the opening of the trial soon became entangled in tedious legal procedures and argument that enveloped the proceedings like an impenetrable London fog. The public, which had reluctantly embraced the notion of a fair trial and not a long one, was becoming restless, bored, and disillusioned as weeks turned into months. Göring, who regarded himself as the ranking officer among the prisoners, was also acutely aware of rumored disunity among the Allies. He steadfastly believed that the longer the trial continued the better chance there was of the four prosecuting powers falling out, and to this end he bullied and cajoled many of his co-defendants to bolster their will to resist. His constant haranguing during the lunch breaks became so serious that in February 1946 the controlling powers decided to isolate him, making him eat his meals alone in a dimly lit room away from the others. He took his banishment like a scolded schoolchild, but it was viewed as a favorable situation for the prosecution. As Defendant No.1, Göring’s case was the first to be heard, and on March 8, 1946, his attorney, Dr. Otto Stahmer, called his first defense witness, General of the Air Force Karl Bodenschatz. As the Reich Marshal’s former liaison officer, Bodenschatz told the court of Göring’s role in peacefully resolving the Munich crisis in 1938. He also described Göring’s opposition to Hitler’s plans of going to war with Britain and the Soviet Union and how, on numerous occasions, he had intervened on behalf of individuals who had fallen foul of the Gestapo. It had been a tame, lackluster examination that had done little to dent the case against Göring. Justice Jackson then rose to cross-examine the witness, and despite Bodenschatz’s valiant attempts to defend his former commander, Jackson tore the aging general’s testimony to shreds. The American prosecutor greatly impressed Allied observers with his powerful performance and sent a shudder through the defendants. Stahmer’s next witness was the stocky Field Marshal Erhard Milch, who, although Göring’s deputy, had not been on the best of terms with his commander for a number of years. The prosecution (and Göring) believed that Milch was likely to provide damning testimony against the former Reich Marshal. As events unfolded, the Americans were to be bitterly disappointed. Stahmer’s direct examination lasted barely 15 minutes and gleaned only that the Luftwaffe had been created purely as a defensive weapon, the contention being that Göring could not have been, therefore, planning to wage an aggressive war. It was a weak argument and carried little weight with the tribunal. When Jackson commenced his cross-examination, he found that the field marshal was made of sterner stuff than the servile Bodenschatz. Milch, facing prosecution himself, parried every attempt by Jackson to gain damaging evidence against Göring and stepped down from the witness box having left a favorable impression of his former commander. Three more defense witnesses were called, and their testimony also portrayed Göring in a favorable light as commander of the Luftwaffe. Unfortunately, it had not solely been his position as the head of the German Air Force that had put Göring in the dock, but rather his role behind many of the criminal policies of the Nazi Party. Had the Reich Marshal’s influence in the Third Reich been limited to his command of the Luftwaffe he would have been a great deal better off at Nuremberg. Finally, after five months, the most anticipated moment of the trial arrived when, during the afternoon session of March 13, 1946, Göring finally left the dock and took the stand. With hair slicked back and eyes gleaming, Göring had an aura that touched nearly everyone in the packed courtroom, including the judges; the power he had once had, his influence over world events, and his confident, arrogant manner were mesmerizing. In a predetermined strategy, Stahmer asked a lengthy series of concise questions, which allowed Göring to outline the pivotal role he had played in consolidating the rise of the Nazi party. It was clearly a point of personal pride to him that he had had such a decisive influence on Germany’s fortunes, and he unashamedly relished what he had achieved. He did not shy away from his involvement in Germany’s military buildup. “Of course we rearmed,’” he stated, “‘I am only sorry we did not rearm more.” He was in favor of seizing back the lands and territories Germany had lost under the Treaty of Versailles and actively supported reuniting Austria, Danzig, the Sudentland, and the Polish Corridor into the Reich—by force if necessary. Untroubled by scruples, Göring argued that much of the indictment against him centered on internal political questions and, as such, were no business of any foreign court. and on the charges relating to war crimes and crimes against humanity, he was brief and vague. While intimating that he had strong reservations about some practices of the regime, he did not deny supporting judicial violence, having created neither the Gestapo nor establishing the first concentration camps for sequestering opponents of the Nazis. He was quick to point out, however, that from 1934 these camps were under the control of Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, and he had nothing further to do with them. He would state that neither he nor his leader had any idea how literally the SS had actually taken their orders for a final solution of the Jewish problem, and he, perhaps conveniently, shifted the responsibility for these mass murders onto Himmler. Göring’s voluntary admissions and frank avowal, noble as they may have been, were hardly the basis for a sound defense, but he was in no mood to wash away his guilt or apologize for anything he had done. Despite at times inflating his influence over Hitler and embellishing his contribution to some of the key turning points of the regime, Göring cut an impressive figure in the witness box. His booming voice and defiant testimony, broadcast throughout the land by the Allies, actually lifted spirits in many parts of Germany as the people heard their “Hermann” fighting back. Göring was subsequently questioned by 16 of the defense attorneys. They hoped that he would honor his pre trial promise to take total responsibility upon himself to lessen the guilt of their clients and improve their chances for an acquittal. Ironically, the very men who detested Göring now looked to him to minimize their influence on events and the importance of their duties. He tried to do this where possible but, for most, the Teutonic passion for fastidiously putting everything to paper had already sealed their fates. The prosecution listened for two days with growing impatience as the Reich Marshal gave his version of Nazi history. They knew his testimony was full of holes and distortions and were determined to pull him into line and deflate his growing popularity. As Hitler’s deputy, they would attribute Göring with comprehensive knowledge of all the crimes committed by Nazi Germany, and Jackson planned to grill him on his anti-Jewish decrees and insatiable acquisition of stolen artwork. His aim was to not only portray Göring as a corrupt and deceitful officer, but also to expose to the world a direct link between the racial decrees he instigated and the wholesale mass murder of Jews that followed. It was a sound strategy, but at the last minute Jackson decided to, instead, confront Göring with broad-ranging political questions, which he believed would furnish damaging admissions. This ill-advised change in strategy was to end in disaster. Late in the morning session of March 18, Jackson stood to begin what most observers regarded as the heavy weight bout of the trial; it would not, however, deliver the telling blow that the controlling authorities had sought. Jackson: “You are perhaps aware that you are the only man living who can expound to us the true purposes of the Nazi Party and the inner workings of its leadership?” Göring: “I am perfectly aware of that.” Jackson: “You, from the very beginning, together with those who were associated with you, intended to overthrow and later did overthrow the Weimar Republic.” Göring: “That was, as far as I was concerned, my firm intention.” The American chief prosecutor, adopting a lofty attitude, had hoped to make Göring squirm by outlining his direct involvement in the litany of broken treaties, deceitful foreign policies, and criminal activities of the Third Reich. Jackson, however, was completely wrong footed when Göring, far from evading his culpability, freely admitted it. Enjoying the theater of the moment, Göring unashamedly took great pride in telling or retelling the court, at length, exactly what he had done and why. The American prosecutor grew increasingly frustrated as Göring skillfully balanced brutal honesty with self-effacing repartee that regularly attracted howls of laughter from the public gallery. Jackson was more accustomed to the American district court system where a hostile witness could be skillfully harassed and undermined with aggressive quick-fire cross-examination. At Nuremberg, the need to laboriously translate each question into German for Göring effectively nullified this weapon. The latter, who had a firm grip of English, enjoyed a distinct advantage over his American adversary and used the translation time to carefully consider his answers. As Göring worked his audience, Jackson felt he was losing control of the situation and on one occasion demanded his witness answer a question with a simple yes or no. The presiding judge, however, intervened on Göring’s behalf, stating that he should be allowed to make whatever explanation he needed to properly answer the question. The humiliated prosecutor stood red-faced as Göring, who now felt he had the court in his corner, smugly continued his answer—at length. Jackson had regarded the defendants as little more than common criminals and had easily handled the small fry dished up by the defense earlier in the trial. Göring, however, demonstrated repeatedly that he was anything but common. The open hostility between the two men was obvious to all, yet try as Jackson might to gain the ascendancy, he was often made to look ridiculous when Göring corrected factual errors and constantly highlighted inaccuracies within the many poorly translated documents tendered into evidence. No one had expected him to have such an immense knowledge and understanding of these documents. He would bring mistakes to the attention of Jackson in such a condescending manner that he appeared to be addressing a junior clerk of the court, not the American chief prosecutor. The day’s adjournment could not come quickly enough for the hapless Jackson. The very public mauling he had received at the hands of Göring left him visibly distraught, particularly when he became aware of the sharp criticism his performance had received around the world. Patrick Dean of the British Foreign Office, for example, described the cross-examination as “very disappointing and unimpressive.” Reports from the press gallery were far more scathing. It was incomprehensible to Jackson that after such a polished opening to the trial, his stock could plummet so quickly. Albert Speer, Hitler’s former armaments minister, probably made the most telling observation of the affair to Dr. Gilbert: “You know, when Jackson cross-examines Göring, you can see that they just represent two entirely opposite worlds—they don’t even understand each other. Jackson asks him if he didn’t help plan the invasion of Holland and Belgium … expecting Göring to defend himself against a criminal accusation, but instead Göring says, why yes, of course, it took place thus and so, as if it is the most natural thing in the world to invade a neutral country if it suits your strategy.” The following day, March 19, the battle resumed, but by late in the morning session it was clear that Göring once again had Jackson’s measure. The American was repeatedly called to order and often ensnared in traps he had actually set for Göring. Matters finally came to a head during a widely publicized exchange over the Nazis’ secret prewar plans to occupy the Rhineland. Jackson, trying to establish the devious nature of these preparations, described them as being “of a character which [was] kept entirely secret from foreign powers.” Göring sarcastically replied: “I do not think I … recall reading beforehand the publication of the mobilization preparations of the United States.” The court erupted in laughter, and an infuriated Jackson threw down his headphones in frustration. In a voice faltering with rage, Jackson addressed the judges: “I respectively submit to the tribunal that this witness is not being responsive and has not been in this examination … [Göring’s] arrogant and contemptuous attitude toward the Tribunal … is giving him the trial which he never gave a living soul, nor dead ones either.” He considered that the tribunal was allowing the impudent and argumentative Göring far too much leniency and his obstructive tactics would “encourage all the defendants to do the same thing.” Bitter and defeated, Jackson considered abandoning the cross-examination altogether. The British prosecutor, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, argued strongly against such a move, for history would not judge them kindly if Hitler’s former deputy was seen to have got the better of the best legal team the Allies could muster. The robust Maxwell-Fyfe, who had vast experience dealing with the likes of Göring, took over the cross-examination with the aim of decisively regaining the initiative. Göring listened intently as the Englishman went straight to the attack over the former Reich Marshal’s involvement in the Gestapo murder of British airmen who had escaped from a POW camp in Sagan. Maxwell-Fyfe was well versed on the circumstances surrounding these murders; Göring was not. The British barrister’s incisive questioning on the incident brought beads of sweat to Göring’s brow, and his evasive answer that he was on leave at the time of the shootings was unconvincing and made little impression on the court. It was the low point of his testimony. Maxwell-Fyfe’s skillful and relentless cross-examination failed to directly connect Göring with the murders, but he had, much to the relief of the prosecution team, publicly knocked the German off his lofty perch. Göring was visibly rattled as the prosecution highlighted his connection to what ultimately came to pass as the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question.” The dialectical eloquence and broad-brush recollections that had served him so well earlier were now repeatedly contradicted by irrefutable documentary evidence. The further the proceedings went on this subject, the less impressive Göring became as the vast majority of documents received into evidence provided ample proof of his complicity. Maxwell-Fyfe eventually asked Göring if, in light of all that had been revealed about the horrors of the Nazi regime, he was still loyal to Hitler. A hush fell over the court. This was a question with far-reaching consequences, and Göring knew it. Choosing his words carefully, he replied that he believed in being loyal in good times and in times of hardship. Hitler, he declared, had more than likely known as little about the atrocities as he had himself. In a revealing observation, Göring later assured Dr. Gilbert that the Allies need not worry about the Hitler legend living on: “When the German people learn all that has been revealed at this trial, it won’t be necessary to condemn him: he has condemned himself.” The success of Maxwell-Fyfe’s and of the Russian Chief Prosecutor, General R.A. Rudenko, had been achieved through a willingness to allow incriminating documents to do the talking for them. Rudenko, for example, was blunt and to the point and would simply show Göring documents that were already in evidence, then demand that the witness acknowledge his complicity in the crimes they disclosed. Göring and Rudenko understood each other well and battled like two prize fighters squaring up privately outside the ring, typified in selected portions of the following exchange: Rudenko alleged that the German attack on Russia had as its primary aim the complete annexation of most of the western Soviet Union as stated by Hitler during a conference on July 16, 1941. Göring was present at this meeting but under Rudenko’s cross-examination denied having agreed with talk of annexations because, in his view, the war in Russia had not yet been won. The record then continues. Göring: “[I did not mean] ‘I protest against the annexation of the Crimea [or the] Baltic States.’ I had no reason to do so [but at] that moment we had not finished the war … Rudenko: “In that case, you considered the annexation of these regions as a step to come later … after the war was won.” Göring: “[Being] an old hunter, I acted according to the principle of not dividing the bear’s skin before the bear was shot.” Rudenko: “I understand. And the bear’s skin should be divided only when the territories were seized completely, is that correct?” Göring: “Just what to do with the skin could be decided … only after the bear was shot.” Rudenko: “Luckily, this did not happen.” Goring: “Luckily for you.” Rudenko then wisely concentrated heavily on Göring’s driving influence behind the forced labor program, which had been brutally implemented in the conquered territories. From these exchanges, he drew very explicit admissions from Göring, who did not deny his culpability in this area. These acknowledgments proved to be the foundation for his conviction under counts three and four (war crimes and crimes against humanity) of the indictment. In the main, Göring’s days in the witness box provided an incredibly lucid and often enthralling insight into the workings of the Third Reich. Yet, despite his candid and masterly performance, most found it incomprehensible that he could now, in defeat, plead total ignorance of the horrors of which he surely must have known or at least suspected. In many respects, his position appears consistent with a leader who, only concerned that his armies succeeded, deliberately avoided learning of the unpleasant methods his forces would employ in achieving victory. The Göring case had taken up over 12 days of court time, and as the trials of the other defendants continued, few managed to capture world attention the way Göring had. He sat through the remainder of the trial, appearing at times to be either totally disinterested or completely disgusted when his codefendants shamefully incriminated each other, shuffled off blame to subordinates, or claimed documents were forged. It struck some observers as ironic that in defeat many prisoners had denied involvement in events for which, had Germany triumphed, they would have undoubtedly clamored for recognition. Many would feel Göring’s icy stare as they desperately tried to save their skins by selling out, but he reserved special loathing for German prosecution witnesses who were paraded through the courtroom to provide often damning testimony against the accused. “These boiling fowls,” he cynically observed, “will be allowed to cackle [and] lay an egg for the Americans and then they too will go into the big pot [with the rest of us].” Göring’s rage spilled over, however, when Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, the commander of the Sixth Army captured at Stalingrad, appeared on behalf of the Russians. “Ask that dirty swine if he knows he’s a traitor,” he roared to his defense attorney. With the press already laying bets on who would be hanged, this unique and mammoth trial was coming to its climax. Justice Jackson, who regained his proper form as the trial continued, gave what many authoritative lawyers regard as the greatest summation ever delivered at a criminal trial. In closing, he stated: “If you were to say of these men that they were not guilty, it would be true to say there has been no war, there have been no slain, there has been no crime.” On August 31, after 216 court days, 300,000 documents, and over 10 million words, the accused were called upon to make their final addresses. As defendant No. 1, Göring spoke first, and his statement mirrored the sentiments of most of those alongside him in the dock. “The prosecution, in the final speeches, has treated the defendants and their testimony as completely worthless … statements made under oath were accepted as absolutely true when they could serve to support the Indictment, but conversely the statements were characterized as perjury when they refuted the Indictment.” Condemning the mass murders to the utmost, he claimed, “He [Hitler] had never decreed the murder of a single individual at anytime and neither did I decree any other atrocities or tolerate them. The German people trusted the Führer … Ignorant of the crimes of which we know today, the people have fought with loyalty, self-sacrifice, and courage, and they have suffered, too, in this life-and-death struggle into which they were arbitrarily thrust. The German people are free from blame.” Tuesday, October 1, 1946, was judgment day. when addressing the case against Göring, the president of the court, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence, described his guilt as “unique in its enormity… [for which] … the record discloses no excuses. There is nothing to be said in mitigation,” he continued, 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 labor program and the creator of the oppressive program against the Jews and other races at home and abroad.” Göring was pronounced guilty on all four counts of the indictment, and everyone watched for his reaction, but other than to shake his head, he showed not a hint of emotion. At 3 pm that afternoon, he entered the courtroom alone to hear his sentence. Sir Lawrence came straight to the point. “Defendant Hermann Wilhelm Göring, the International Military Court sentences you to death by hanging.” On October 4, Göring’s defense lawyer, against his client’s wishes, formally petitioned the court control council to commute the death sentence or at least change it to a firing squad. Predictably, the motion was denied. Despite security being tightened following sentencing, Göring was allowed one last visit from his wife on October 7. It was a highly emotional moment in which the two managed to say their farewells with dignity. He would not be hanged, he calmly assured her before she was whisked out of the room. Back in his cell, an anguished Göring confided to the prison doctor, “I’ve seen my wife for the last time … now I am dead.” During the night of October 13, the defendants could hear trucks loaded with gallows equipment arriving at the prison yard, closely followed by the sounds of construction. On the night of October 15, with the prison block bathed in light, the prisoners suspected their executions were imminent. At 8:30 that evening, Göring was observed lying on his cot reading a book, still bitterly disappointed that he had not been allowed to die by firing squad and annoyed that he had been denied the last rites for showing no sign of repentance. He had somehow obtained a cyanide capsule which, at about 10:40 pm, he slipped into his mouth and bit down. Pandemonium broke out as doctors rushed to his cell and tried desperately to revive him, but it was too late. The 53-year-old Hermann Göring was dead. It is generally believed that either Göring had the poison with him all the time or that a third party inside the prison, perhaps a guard, had smuggled the cyanide into his cell. Among the letters found in his cell was the following: “I find it tasteless in the extreme to stage our deaths as a show for the sensation-hungry reporters, photographers, and the curious. This grand finale is typical of the abysmal depths plumbed by the court and prosecution. Pure theater, from start to finish! … I understand perfectly well that our enemies want to get rid of us—whether out of fear or hatred. But it would serve their reputation better to do the deed in a soldierly manner. I myself shall be dying without all this sensation and publicity…. I feel not the slightest moral or other obligation to submit to a death sentence or execution by my enemies and those of Germany. I proceed to the hereafter with joy, and regard death as a release.” News of Göring’s suicide spread throughout the world like wildfire, but in the wider German community, reports that he had cheated the hangmen’s noose were generally greeted with delight. In death at Nuremberg, as in life, many were pleased to know that Göring had had the last word. Vainly conscious of his historical image, he believed that his uncompromising defiance in Nuremberg would see him revered as a hero of the German nation and his body entombed in a marble sarcophagus like Napoleon’s. In a last letter to his wife, Göring wrote: “In 50 or 60 years there will be statues of Hermann Göring all over Germany. Little statues, maybe, but one in every German home.” For Göring, the posthumous rehabilitation he craved would not be realized. He had, without doubt, risen to impressive heights in the witness box at Nuremberg; the popularity and respect he had earned, however, were only fleeting. When, in the months following the trial, the true extent of the Third Reich’s murderous legacy became known to the wider German population, Göring and the other Nazi leaders were regarded with revulsion. Hermann Göring may well have denied his captors their pound of flesh, but the passage of time has deemed his true punishment to be that history would forever condemn him as a key conspirator in one of the most malignant regimes the world has ever known. Richard Rule writes from his home in Heathmont, Victoria, Australia. A veteran of the Australian Army, he works in sales management, enjoys fly fishing, and has written several books.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	57	https://academic.oup.com/book/9252/chapter/155948793	en				[]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	1	https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hermann-Goring	en	Hermann Goring \| Biography, History, Death, & Facts	https://cdn.britannica.c…roopers-1933.jpg	https://cdn.britannica.c…roopers-1933.jpg	[ "https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel/eb-logo/MendelNewThistleLogo.png", "https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel/eb-logo/MendelNewThistleLogo.png", "https://cdn.britannica.com/13/11413-004-D9FFDA51/Hermann-Goring-Storm-Troopers-1933.jpg", "https://cdn.britannica.com/69/207469-004-4EEA157B/Hermann-Goring-opening-session-new-Council-of-State-Berlin-Germany-1933.jpg", "https://cdn.britannica.com/22/91422-004-D0E9A8CB/Hermann-Goring-Nazi-prisoner-box-trials-Nurnberg.jpg", "https://cdn.britannica.com/49/180249-138-22915E2F/Overview-Nurnberg-trials.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/26/188426-050-2AF26954/Germany-Poland-September-1-1939.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/13/11413-050-75DC0AD1/Hermann-Goring-Storm-Troopers-1933.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/35/10735-131-96F338E8/US-Marines-flag-Mount-Suribachi-Iwo-Jima-February-1945.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/34/71234-131-CCBD7358/Adolf-Hitler-parade-Nazi-Munich.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/01/150101-131-5F22EA90/soldiers-German-part-Soviet-Union-Operation-Barbarossa-1941.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/70/135170-131-5C16D2CF/People-Times-Square-New-York-City-May-8-1945.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/91/231191-131-3141F51C/infographic-landing-craft-World-War-II-Normandy-invasion.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/97/181997-131-A483688A/view-Asakusa-World-War-II-Tokyo-fire-bombing-March-1945.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/41/230941-131-484B9574/infographic-Dunkirk-Evacuation-World-War-II-1940.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/41/166941-131-E27FD3A6/Yingxiu-school-China-Sichuan-earthquake-May-2008.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/45/189145-131-45FF672E/Secret-Service-Agent-Earpiece.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/93/173193-131-3EE3B458/Nelson-Mandela.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/38/114738-131-1EC2D535/assassination-Pres-John-Wilkes-Booth-Abraham-Lincoln-April-14-1865.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/15/95015-131-5E505098/statues-Moai-Easter-Island.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/25/176125-131-8F24FB6D/Skeleton-aurochs-Europe-ox.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/85/203585-131-D4FEE60A/Solar-Eclipse-Flare-Astronomy-Outer-Space.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/13/11413-050-75DC0AD1/Hermann-Goring-Storm-Troopers-1933.jpg?w=400&h=300&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/26/188426-050-2AF26954/Germany-Poland-September-1-1939.jpg", "https://cdn.britannica.com/69/207469-050-CF9075BD/Hermann-Goring-opening-session-new-Council-of-State-Berlin-Germany-1933.jpg?w=300" ]	[]	[]	[ "Hermann Göring", "encyclopedia", "encyclopeadia", "britannica", "article" ]	null	[ "Heinrich Fraenkel", "Roger Manvell" ]	2000-01-12T00:00:00+00:00	Hermann Goring, a leader of the Nazi Party and one of the primary architects of the Nazi police state in Germany. He was condemned to hang as a war criminal by the International Military Tribunal at Nurnberg in 1946 but took poison instead and died the night his execution was ordered.	en	/favicon.png	Encyclopedia Britannica	https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hermann-Goring	Hermann Göring (born January 12, 1893, Rosenheim, Germany—died October 15, 1946, Nürnberg) was a leader of the Nazi Party and one of the primary architects of the Nazi police state in Germany. He was condemned to hang as a war criminal by the International Military Tribunal at Nürnberg in 1946 but took poison instead and died the night his execution was ordered. Göring was born in Bavaria, the second son by the second wife of Heinrich Ernst Göring, at the time German consul general in Haiti. The family was reunited in Germany on the father’s retirement in 1896. Göring was brought up near Nürnberg, in the small castle of Veldenstein, whose owner was Hermann, Ritter (knight) von Epenstein, a Jew who was until 1913 the lover of Göring’s mother and the godfather of her children. Trained for an army career, Göring received his commission in 1912 and served with distinction during World War I, joining the embryonic air force. In 1918 he became commander of the celebrated squadron in which the great German aviator Manfred, Freiherr (baron) von Richthofen, had served. Göring so deeply resented the treatment given army officers by the civilian population during the troubled period after Germany’s capitulation that he left the country. After a period as a commercial pilot in Denmark and Sweden, he met the Swedish baroness Carin von Kantzow, who divorced her husband and married Göring in Munich on February 3, 1923. Britannica Quiz Pop Quiz: 17 Things to Know About World War II Göring had met Adolf Hitler in 1921 and joined the small National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party late in 1922. As a former officer, he was given command of Hitler’s Storm Troopers (the SA, Sturmabteilung). Göring took part in the abortive Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923, in which Hitler tried to seize power prematurely. During the putsch, Göring was badly wounded in the groin. His arrest was ordered, but he escaped with his wife into Austria. Given morphine to deaden the pain from his wounds, he became so severely addicted that he twice underwent treatment in 1925–26 at the Långbro mental hospital in Sweden. In 1927 he returned to Germany, where his contacts in German industry proved useful, and he was taken back into the party leadership. He occupied 1 of the 12 Reichstag seats that the Nazi Party won in the 1928 election. Thereafter Göring became the acknowledged party leader in the lower house, and, when the Nazis won 230 seats in the election of July 1932, he was elected president of the Reichstag. Göring’s sole concern in the Reichstag was to stultify the democratic system, which the Reichstag ostensibly represented up to March 1933. He had the ear of the 84-year-old president of the Weimar Republic, Paul von Hindenburg, and used his position to outmaneuver the successive chancellors, particularly Kurt von Schleicher and Franz von Papen, until Hindenburg was finally forced to invite Hitler to become chancellor on January 30, 1933. The battle for dictatorial power, however, was still not won; between January 30 and March 23, when an enabling bill giving Hitler his dictatorial powers was passed, Göring was tirelessly active. He used his new position as minister of the interior in Prussia, Germany’s largest and most influential state, to Nazify the Prussian police and establish the Gestapo, or secret political police. He also established concentration camps for the “corrective treatment” of difficult opponents. The Reichstag fire of February 27, 1933, which the Nazis most probably instigated, made it possible for Göring to accuse the Communist Party of intending a coup d’état. The wholesale arrest of Communist and even some Social Democrat deputies succeeded in removing any effective opposition to the passage the following month of the Enabling Act. Göring’s position as Hitler’s most loyal supporter remained unassailable for the rest of the decade. He collected offices of state almost at will. He was Reich commissioner for aviation and head of the newly developed Luftwaffe, the German air force, which was disguised as a civilian enterprise until March 1935. In 1933 he became Master of the German Hunt and of the German Forests. In June 1934 he took a leading part in the party’s purge of the SA leader Ernst Röhm but in the same year ceded his position as security chief to Heinrich Himmler, thus ridding himself of responsibility for the Gestapo and the concentration camps. In 1937 he displaced Hjalmar Schacht, who after 1934 had been Hitler’s minister for economic affairs; in 1936, without consulting Schacht, Hitler had made Göring commissioner for his Four-Year Plan for the war economy. Göring was also constantly employed as Hitler’s roving ambassador. Göring was the most popular of the Nazi leaders, not only with the German people but also with the ambassadors and diplomats of foreign powers. He used his impregnable position to enrich himself. The more ruthless aspect of his nature was shown in the recorded telephone conversation by means of which he blackmailed the surrender of Austria before the Anschluss (political union) with Germany in 1938. It was Göring who led the economic despoliation of the Jews in Germany and in the various territories that fell under Hitler’s power. Göring’s first wife had died in 1931, and on April 10, 1935, he married the actress Emmy Sonnemann. Göring was devoted in turn to each of his wives. His hunting interests enabled him to obtain a vast forest estate in the Schorfheide, north of Berlin, where from 1933 he developed a great baronial establishment on a scale commensurate with his ambitions. This he called Carinhall in honour of his first wife. It was at Carinhall that he kept the greater part of his enormous art collection. On June 2, 1938, Emmy bore him a daughter, his only child, Edda. Although Göring was probably sincere in his desire to avert or postpone war—as his abortive negotiations in 1939 with the Swedish industrialist Birger Dahlerus indicate—it was his Luftwaffe that helped conduct the blitzkrieg that smashed Polish resistance and weakened country after country as Hitler’s campaigns progressed. But Göring’s self-indulgent nature was too weak to sustain the rigours of war or to oppose Hitler’s blind prejudice in favour of the production of bombers rather than fighter planes. The Luftwaffe’s capacity for defense declined as Hitler’s battlefronts extended from northern Europe to the Mediterranean and North Africa, and Göring lost face when the Luftwaffe failed to win the Battle of Britain or to prevent the Allied bombing of Germany. On the plea of ill health, Göring retired as much as Hitler would let him into private life among the luxuries of Carinhall, where he continued to amass his art collection (further enriched with spoils from the Jewish collections in the occupied countries) and to receive many gifts from those who sought his favour. His colossal girth was more the result of glandular defect than of gluttony, but his excessive resort to paracodeine tablets (a mild derivative from morphine) poisoned his system and made recurrent treatment for drug addiction necessary. His addiction helped to make him alternately elated and depressed; he was egocentric and bombastic, delighting in flamboyant clothes and uniforms, decorations, and exhibitionist jewelry. Hitler was blind to Göring’s faults and maintained a close association with him. In 1939 Hitler declared him his successor and in 1940 gave him the special rank of Reichsmarschall des Grossdeutschen Reiches (“Marshal of the Empire”). The other Nazi leaders both resented his favoured position and despised his self-indulgence, but Hitler did not displace him until the last days of the war, when, in accordance with the decrees of 1939, Göring attempted to assume the Führer’s powers, believing him to be encircled and helpless in Berlin. Nevertheless, Göring expected to be treated as a plenipotentiary when, after Hitler’s suicide, he surrendered himself to the Americans.
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released on May 2nd a statement that I would undertake the task. It received considerable publicity and I was immediately deluged with applications for jobs. The executive order defined my authority. I was designated to act as representative of the United States and as its chief counsel “in preparing and prosecuting charges of atrocities and war crimes against such leaders of the European Axis … as the United States may agree with any of the United Nations to bring to trial….” I was to receive no additional compensation, but should receive my expenses. I was given broad authority by the executive order. One reason probably was that the other authorities were willing to get rid of the problem by delegating responsibility to me. In the second place, it was a totally unploughed field We then went to work with might and main to get out a report to the President on a plan for conducting the trials. The staff devoted itself to it almost constantly. The President revealed the report at a press conference, gave copies of it to the press, and said that he had completely approved it as expressing the American position. Many men had been very skeptical about a trial because they could see no plan for it, felt that the project hadn’t been thought through, that it was carelessly entered upon and that it was likely to run amuck. On reading this report they had a new confidence in our enterprise The conference at London was planned for June 25, 1945. We arrived and were ready for it, as were all of the other delegations but the Russian delegation did not appear until June 26th, when the conference finally got under way. Criticism of my appointment, upon the grounds that the President should not have called upon a member of the Supreme Court, would have to be weighted in the light of its affect on the choice of representatives of the other countries. There was no doubt that the position of justice of the Supreme Court carried with it great weight with foreign delegations in two ways. In the first place, the representative who held that life position of the independence and power had among the legal profession a good deal of prestige by reason of the office On August 8, 1945 we signed the agreement, as I was authorized to do on behalf of the United States, and it was announced to the world. Up to that time there had been some press rumors that we were having difficulties in arriving at it. We had frankly admitted we had, but there had been no exploitation of our differences. I may say that the chief critics of it were a few international lawyers who simply could not adjust themselves to the idea that the world had moved since the time of the Hague Conventions and that the treaties outlawing war and renouncing it as an instrument of policy had made a change in the old doctrine that it always is legal for a country to go to war for aggressive ends if it pleased its interests to do so. The Reminiscences of Robert H. Jackson Columbia Univ. Oral History Research Office, 1955 So the task that immediately fell to me was to prepare the opening speech which I would deliver, and to get the evidence arranged for presentation in the following week to support my opening remarks. The speech seemed an important task to me because up to that time no one had disclosed to the world what the case really amounted to, what the evidence was and what law we were contending for. The speech also seemed to have important public consequences because it would be the first full disclosure of the materials that we had captured and had at hand, and of the use we attempted to make of them. I had a rather strong sense of responsibility about the speech and recognized that it was probably the most important task of my life. The Reminiscences of Robert H. Jackson Columbia Univ. Oral History Research Office, 1955, Pages 1390-1392
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"https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/19/11/87532551-0-image-m-34_1721386375306.jpg", "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/19/10/87532143-0-image-m-26_1721383071426.jpg", "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/19/09/87530237-0-image-m-3_1721377780167.jpg", "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/19/11/87533275-0-image-m-39_1721386186065.jpg", "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/19/11/87531655-0-image-m-34_1721384016706.jpg", "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix//promoboxes/btn_ipadapp_5_308x111.png", "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/furniture/misc/logo_cookie_reg.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "dailymail", "news" ]	null	[ "Allan Hall", "Allan Hall for MailOnline", "www.facebook.com" ]	2013-06-10T13:55:43+01:00	A book published in Germany this week claims to have discovered the farewell letters of Hitler's bride Eva Braun which she wrote to her friend days before committing suicide with the Fuehrer in his Berlin bunker in April 1945.		/favicon.ico?v=2	Mail Online	https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2338903/Hitlers-bride-Expert-discovers-farewell-letters-Eva-Braun-wrote-friend-days-suicide-Hitlers-bunker.html	Third Reich expert Anna Maria Sigmund believes the letters are genuine Insists they were written as Red Army of Soviet Russia closed in on the city Eva is thought to have typed the letters for her friend Herta Schneider Author claims heirs of Herta Schneider showed her the letters Discovery: Eva Braun who married Adolf Hitler just days before they committed suicide As the Red Army smashed into the suburbs of Berlin in April 1945, the mood of Hitler’s bride-to-be Eva Braun turned from fragile hope to black despair. Letters she is said to have written from the bunker hideout she shared with the Fuhrer and his henchmen reveal her growing sense of doom. In one, dated April 19, she writes that, despite the thud of artillery and falling bombs, she is ‘happy to be close’ to Hitler and remains ‘convinced that everything will turn out all right’. But three days later, as Soviet troops overwhelm the German capital’s exhausted defence force – many of them old men and boys – her mood has changed. She says: ‘We are fighting here until the last but I’m afraid the end is threatening closer and closer.’ She also writes of preparing to die and her bewilderment at how God could let such things happen. Eight days later, 33-year-old Braun was dead, killing herself alongside her husband of only a few hours, Adolf Hitler. The letters are published this week in a book called The Women of the Nazis, by Third Reich expert Anna Maria Sigmund. The writer, whose books have been translated into more than 30 languages, insists the letters are genuine and were written by Braun to her friend Herta Schneider. ‘I have no doubt that the letters are genuine and Eva Braun has typed them, correcting her faults by hand,’ she said. She claims the descendants of Schneider, who died nearly 20 years ago, showed her the letters. She said she copied them down before they were sold on to a collector. In the second letter Braun says: ‘Greetings to all my friends, I’m dying how I’ve lived. It’s not difficult for me. You know that.’ Anna Maria Sigmund explained: ‘Eva Braun reflects the change of mood in the Fuhrerbunker over four days – the vague hope on the 19th and the despair of April 22.’ Thirty years ago the news magazine Stern in Germany became a laughing stock when it published diaries which it claimed were Hitler’s. They were exposed within days as the work of a master forger. Mrs Sigmund said she is, however, convinced of the authenticity of the letters – and of the ‘normality’ of the relationship between Hitler and Eva. ‘I think they had a pretty normal love and sex life,’ she added. Adolf Hitler with guests at his birthday party at his residence, the Berghof, on April 20, 1943. On the far left is Eva Braun. Behind her is her close friend Herta Schneider Revealing: Adolf Hitler asleep, next to Eva Braun - this photo was banned during Hitlers lifetime Denied: Hitler kept Eva's existence secret from the German people during his rule, believing that the myth that he was 'married' to the nation would serve him better Braun married Hitler just 40 hours before the pair died by taking cyanide. Hitler also shot himself in the head. She had been his partner for several years despite him being more than 20 years older than her. They met when Braun was just 17. Hitler kept Eva’s existence secret from the German people during his rule, believing that the myth that he was ‘married to the nation’ would serve him better. She was introduced only to his inner circle at his Alpine retreat in Berchtesgaden and in his Berlin apartment. Last day: Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun pose with their pets. The dictator is holding his favourite dog Blondi on a leash. He was to have her poisoned with cyanide He met her when she worked as an assistant to Heinrich Hoffmann, the Munich photographer who went on to become the Fuhrer’s personal cameraman. A diary of Hitler’s close confidant and ideologue, Alfred Rosenberg, has been recovered. The log could offer an insight into meetings Rosenberg had with the Nazi leader and his henchmen, including Heinrich Himmler and Herman Goering. His diary was held by US prosecutors at the Nuremberg war crime trials of late 1945 and has now been recovered by the US government. He was convicted at Nuremberg of crimes against humanity and hanged in 1946. Traces of the dictator: War correspondents examining the arm of sofa stained with blood while one of them uses a candle to search the floor for evidence of suicide in Adolf Hitler's underground shelter Abandoned furniture and debris: Photographer William Vandivert was the first Western photographer to gain access to Hitler's Führerbunker after the fall of Berlin
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	77	https://www.historycrunch.com/hermann-goering.html	en	Hermann Goering	https://www.historycrunc…k.png?1638199171	https://www.historycrunc…k.png?1638199171	[ "https://www.historycrunch.com/uploads/4/1/1/6/41169839/published/history-crunch-logo-updated-black.png?1638199171" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	Hermann Goering was born in Rosenheim, Upper Bavaria, on the 12th of January in 1893. His father was a cavalry officer who had a significant diplomatic career. As a young man Goering attended the...	en		HISTORY CRUNCH - History Articles, Biographies, Infographics, Resources and More	https://www.historycrunch.com/hermann-goering.html	Hermann Goering was born in Rosenheim, Upper Bavaria, on the 12th of January in 1893. His father was a cavalry officer who had a significant diplomatic career. As a young man Goering attended the cadet college at Karlsruhe. As soon as the First World War started, he served as an infantry lieutenant in Alsace-Lorraine, but was soon transferred to the Air Force as a fighter pilot. As a pilot Goering gained great fame, received numerous awards, and was a member of the combat group of pilots led by Baron Manfred von Richthofen, better known by the nickname Red Baron. The name of this combat group was Jagdgeschwader but it was often called The Richthofen’s Flying Circus. After the death of the Red Baron, Goering took over leadership of the group and remained on that position until the end of World War I. Like many German officers, Goering struggled to get used to civilian life and he felt betrayed and disappointed by the outcome of the war, especially the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. For some time after the war he worked as a commercial pilot for Svenska Lufttraffik in Sweden, where he met his first wife Carin von Kantzow. After Carin divorced her previous husband, she married Goering in Munich. Thanks to Carin’s connections Goering met Adolf Hitler in the fall of 1922 and decided to join him and the Nazi Party. Hitler was particularly pleased with this since Goering was considered as a military hero and was quite wealthy. Hitler appointed him as a commander of the SA and Goering was with Hitler during the Beer-Hall Putsch in Munich when he was wounded. Although he was arrested, he escaped to Austria, and then traveled to Sweden and Italy. Goering returned to Germany in 1926 to rejoin the Nazi Party following Hitler's release from prison. Throughout the remaining years, Goering became an integral part of Nazi Germany. After his return to Germany he renewed his contacts with Hitler and was one of the first Nazis who were elected in 1928 as the members of the Reichstag, the German parliament. After the victory of the Nazis in the elections of 1932 he became the president of the Reichstag and had a significant role in the rise of Hitler to power in 1933. After Hitler became Chancellor, Goering held various high level government positions. While he was Prussian Minister of the Interior, he founded the political police of Prussia that would later become part of the Gestapo and founded the first concentration camp at Oranienburg. In March of 1935 he became commander in chief of the Air Force and quickly organized a large production of aircrafts and pilot training. At that time he was, next to Hitler, the most important figure in Nazi Germany. He lived in Berlin in great luxury and after the death of his first wife he married for the second time with the actress Emmy Sonnemann. As the Second World War approached, Goering took care of arming of Germany which he significantly accelerated. At the same time began to grow his personal wealth and art collection, which later was extended with robberies in the occupied countries that Germany invaded. He had a significant role in the unification of Germany and Austria in 1938 and up to the beginning of the Second World War organized persecution of Jews in Germany. Two days before the start of the Second World War, on the 30th of August in 1939, Hitler declared Goering as the Chairman of the Reich Council for National Defense and declared him as his successor in case he dies in the war. Goering was commander of the Luftwaffe, the German air force during the Blitzkrieg (lightning war) when Germans conquered Poland and France. Due to his great success in the field of aviation, in 1940 Goering received the title of Reichsmarschall. Goering's luck changed during the Battle of Britain and its failure to establish complete air dominance over Britain influenced Hitler to abandon the land conquest of Britain. As the forces of allied aviation grew stronger, Goering's relationship with Hitler became worse and he began to lose influence in the Nazi Party. In his place, other prominent Nazi officials gained the trust of Hitler, including: Martin Bormann, Joseph Goebbels, and Henrich Himmler. After it became clear that the war was lost, on the 23rd of April in 1945 Goering demanded Hitler to hand him power. Hitler declared him as a traitor and placed him under house arrest in Obersalzberg. Bormann, because of Goering's huge popularity, on the radio issued a statement that Goering was pulled from all his positions due to the health reasons.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	98	https://alphahistory.com/holocaust/nuremberg-trials/	en	The Nuremberg trials	http://alphahistory.com/holocaust/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/goeringnuremberg-300x240.jpeg	http://alphahistory.com/holocaust/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/goeringnuremberg-300x240.jpeg	[ "https://alphahistory.com/holocaust/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/holocaustheader.jpg", "https://alphahistory.com/holocaust/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/goeringnuremberg-300x240.jpeg", "https://alphahistory.com/holocaust/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/5keypoints.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Alpha History", "facebook.com" ]	2012-07-19T20:52:34+00:00	The Nuremberg trials were a series of military tribunals, convened in the months after World War II to dispense justice to war criminals.	en		The Holocaust	https://alphahistory.com/holocaust/nuremberg-trials/	The Nuremberg trials were a series of military tribunals held in the months after World War II, to investigate Nazi war crimes and dispense justice to prominent Nazi leaders and commanders. This was the first The Nuremberg trials were held between November 1945 and October 1948. Since there were hundreds of Nazi defendants, the Allies decided to prosecute them in ‘groupings’ rather than individually (a process that may have taken many years). The separate trials in 1948, for example, considered the fate of Nazi civilian ministers, Einsatzgruppen officers and soldiers, and directors of the gigantic industrial company Krupp. This article, however, is primarily concerned with the first and best-known of the Nuremberg hearings: the ‘trial of major war criminals’. This trial was heard before the International Military Tribunal (IMT) between November 20th 1945 and October 1st 1946. The defendants were 24 senior Nazi officials, including Herman Goering, Rudolf Hess, Julius Streicher, Albert Speer and military commanders Alfred Jodl and Karl Donitz. The IMT itself was comprised of judges from the four major Allied powers: Britain, France, United States and the Soviet Union. The city of Nuremberg was chosen to host the trial for three reasons. It had not suffered as much extensive damage as the capital, Berlin. Also, Nuremberg housed the largest courthouse still standing in Germany, known as the Palace of Justice, and its attached prison was large enough to house all 24 defendants. The Allies also identified a certain symmetry in bringing leading Nazis to justice in a city that had been the ceremonial heartland of Nazism. Recently uncovered evidence suggests that Allied discussions on bringing enemy leaders and war criminals to justice had taken place almost two years before the war had ended. US president Franklin Roosevelt, and later president Harry Truman, favoured a conservative, judicially-sanctioned punishment, after due process and a fair trial. The leaders of European nations, who had been more directly affected by Nazi aggression and occupation, took a stronger line. The Soviets, and at times the British, favoured retribution against Nazi leaders and soldiers – even mass execution in some cases. But the Americans’ significant political muscle won out, leading to the formation of a military tribunal. The legal basis for the trials was established by the London Charter, issued on August 8th 1945. This charter proclaimed that persons of Axis nations could be prosecuted for breaches of international law and the laws of war. Allied personnel would not be tried for war crimes in Nuremberg. The IMT was to comprise one judge from each of the four Allied nations. The prosecution team was also to contain one chief prosecutor from the same nations. Legal representation for Nazi defendants was provided mostly by German lawyers. At the opening of the trial, the 24 defendants were charged with one or more of the following four charges: Charge One: Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of a crime against peace. Charge Two: Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace. Charge Three: War crimes. Charge Four: Crimes against humanity. The Nuremberg trials employed legal procedures that were common in Western legal systems and courtrooms. The London Charter also provided the trials with their own rules of evidence. Among the evidence considered and accepted by the IMT were eyewitness testimonies, film and photographic material, government documents, and the findings of earlier military tribunals and investigations. The hearings were conducted in four ‘official’ languages (English, French, German and Russian) so to facilitate a smooth trial without constant interruptions, the IMT organised a new system of simultaneous translation. Interpreters were placed in sound-proof booths and translated trial proceedings in real time. Judges, legal counsel and defendants were each outfitted with equipment, supplied by IBM; they could don headphones and switch between any of the four languages. Of the 24 men placed on trial, 18 were found guilty of one or more charges and four were acquitted. Martin Bormann could not be located and was tried in absentia, while labour boss Robert Ley committed suicide before the trial began. Some of the notable verdicts included: Herman Goering. Goering was Hitler’s second in command. Amongst other duties he oversaw Germany’s rearmament program and commanded the Luftwaffe (air force). Guilty on four charges, sentenced to death. Rudolf Hess. Hess was a faithful ally to Hitler and head of the Nazi Chancellery. He flew to England in 1941. Guilty on two charges, sentenced to life imprisonment. Albert Speer. Speer was the leading Nazi architect and Hitler’s manager of war production. Guilty on two charges, sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment. Julius Streicher. The founding editor of Der Sturmer, Streicher was a vocal and embittered anti-Semite. Guilty on one charge, sentenced to death. Joachim von Ribbentrop. Ribbentrop was Hitler’s foreign minister and an important signatory to Nazi treaties. Guilty on four charges, sentenced to death. Martin Bormann. Bormann was Hitler’s private secretary and replaced Hess as controller of his inner circle. Guilty on two charges, sentenced to death in absentia. Wilhelm Keitel. Commander of the Wehrmacht (army). Guilty on four charges, sentenced to death. Karl Donitz. Head of the German navy. Guilty on two charges, sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. The 12 men sentenced to death – except for the missing Bormann and Goering, who had suicided the night before – were executed on October 16th 1946. Although firing squads are usually employed for military executions, the IMT chose to hang the Nuremberg convicts, believing it more appropriate for their criminal conduct. Two American soldiers were selected to carry out the hangings, which took place in the gymnasium of the Nuremberg prison. Many of the hangings were carried out with short rope that caused prisoners to die a long, lingering death from suffocation, rather than an instantaneous death from a broken neck. Afterwards, their bodies were shipped to Munich and incinerated at Dachau, the site of many Nazi atrocities. The ashes were scattered over the River Isar. The seven Nazis given prison sentences were shipped to Spandau Prison in Berlin. This prison was run by the British, French, Americans and Russians in alternating three-month shifts, for the next 40 years. By 1966 there was only one remaining prisoner: Rudolf Hess. He was Spandau’s only inmate for 21 years, until his death in 1987, aged 91. Spandau was immediately bulldozed after Hess’ death, to prevent it becoming a shrine for neo-Nazis. The site is now occupied by an ALDI store. 1. The Allies were considering what to do with Nazi leader and war criminals post-war, as early as 1943. 2. They established war crimes tribunals in Nuremberg, the ceremonial home of the Nazi Party. 3. Trial procedures were set down in the London Charter, with the four Allied nations taking a lead role. 4. The tribunals utilised procedures from Western legal systems and heard a range of evidence. 5. In the main trial, 24 leading Nazis were tried, 18 found guilty and 12 sentenced to death.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	22	https://marcuse.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/classes/33d/projects/nurembg/GoeringNbg.htm	en	Hermann Goering's Hearing at Nuremberg	https://marcuse.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/classes/33d/33dWImages/favicon33d.ico	https://marcuse.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/classes/33d/33dWImages/favicon33d.ico	[]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null			../../33dWImages/favicon33d.ico		null	In this section written by Steffi Gascon and edited by Karen Phinney there is an in depth breakdown of the individual Nuremberg trial of Herman Goering. He was considered second in line to Hitler and was the first Nuremberg trial which set precedence for the following trials, which is why I used this case as an excellent example to portray the format of the Nuremberg trials. The book I used was Nuremberg Diary by G.M. Gilbert which was a very credible source; Gilbert was a prisoner psychologist at the prison where all the accused were being held. His book contained interviews with all the indicted along with running commentary and summary of all the trials. The trial and condemnation of Goering, second in line to Hitler, is perhaps the most significant of the Nuremberg trials. Goering had great persuasion and power during the Nazi Regime. Despite his attempts to deny responsibility during his trial, there is no mistaking his decrees and the concrete evidence of his association in many of the Holocaust events. Even though his actions alone damned him, masterful prosecution techniques were used to turn the defenses witness's against Goering himself, which added to his prosecution. Goering's total involvement during the Hitler regime was enough to condemn him on all four accounts: Conspiracy to commit crimes alleged in other accounts, Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes against Humanity. The case lasted many months and examined the twenty-one other cases being tried while bringing the first account to the world about what really happened during Hitler's cruel rein. Goering's defense and explanations for his actions were inadequate; regardless of any justification Goering was guilty. Goering's first witness, Bodenschatz, worked hard to prove that Goering was a peace loving man that did not premeditate war and actually was taking lengths to avoid it. According to Bodenschatz, in 1939 Goering attempted to negotiate with England in order to stop war behind Hitler's and Ribbentrop's back. Bodenschatz also said that Goering had taken many of his friends out of concentration camps showing he was not in favor of many of the Nazi actions. However, when cross-examined by Jackson it was shown that Goering had knowledge about unjustified arrests and plans for war, which brought this witness defense down considerably. After this section of the trial Goering was quoted as saying I still cannot see how Hitler could have known about all those ugly details. Now that I know what I know, I wish I could just have Himmler here for ten minutes to ask him what he thought he was pulling off there. If only some of the SS generals had protested (Goering, March 9, 1945) This quote shows that he was against the "Final Solution" yet he did nothing to stop it. Also, the rest of his actions contradict the ideals from this quote (Glibert 185-191). The next witness Paul Koerner, Goering's state secretary in Prussia, testified. Then Goering took the stand in his own defense. He told of how he took over the SA troops and got them into shape, participated in the beer-hall putsch, and became a member of the Reichstag in 1928. In 1933 he became President and helped Hitler become Chancellor. He was also responsible for setting up concentration camps, allegedly for the communists. Next he discussed how the Nazis built up their political and military power. The Nazis had tried to keep the church out of political business but Goering admitted that some clergy had been taken to camps. The Nazis started with anti Jewish antics because of hostility from the Jews towards the new regime; according to Goering they were trying to build a powerful government for Germany. In his argument, the regime was helpful because the party provided more jobs for the unemployed, and rearmed and annexed Austria, all during a time when Germany needed rebuilding. Goering also brought up the fact that independent opinion was not allowed in the military and that if opinion had been taken from every soldier and general, many wars in the world probably would not have happened. Goering tried to reiterate the fact that in the military, one does as a commanding officer tells him, not what he chooses. He explained the attacks such as the bombing of Warsaw, Rotterdam, and Coventry, as military tactics, but also admitted to having premeditated the plan to attack Russia (Gilbert 191-202). After Goering, Dahlerus, a Swedish engineer, testified for the defense. He had been a mediator in Goering's attempts to prevent war with England, but his testimony only proved that Hitler obviously planned on war. If Germany really wanted to avoid war the Foreign Minister would have negotiated as well. Dahlerus' testimony was soon disheveled with the cross-examination by Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe. He proved that Ribbentrop had tried to sabotage the negotiations between England and Germany and that Hitler had been planning war the entire time. From a book that Dahlerus had written he showed that Hitler had been rushing to make U-boats, and airplanes, which displayed his ruthless intent for war. Dahlerus also pointed out on a map the areas in Poland and nearby countries where Goering had shown interest in annexing. This entire testimony backfired and turned from a defense into a prosecution, digging Goering further in the hole. In Goering's cross-examination he admitted to more association with the Nazi's anti-Semitic movements. He claimed to be a moderating force that restrained many events during the regime. However, this could not have been true as he was responsible for many of the decrees such as taking Jewish-owned businesses and property, declaring the Nuremberg laws, charging a fine to the Jewish population for damage, and trying to eliminate Jews completely from the German economy. Goering's harsh behavior after the Kristallnacht riots in November of 1938 and the charging of the Jews for the damage to boost the German economy, showed his definite involvement in the anti-Semitic actions of the Nazi regime. Also, when accused of stealing fine art and property from Jews, Goering defended his actions by saying he was building an art collection for the cultural interest of the German state. When accused of slave labor of Jews and prisoners of war Goering said that everything was done in the hopes of building a stronger Germany. When questioned about the murders of prisoners of war and his handing them over to Gestapo rather than changing the system, he gave evasive answers and claimed he only knew about a few instances and that neither Hitler nor he knew about many of the exterminations in camps. Despite previous claims made by Hitler and others, Goering stated that he had remained loyal to the Furhrer and was trying to enhance the German government and society. Through his whole defense Goering maintained that he was a peace loving man and was unaware of many of the killings; the prosecution was able to turn his defense around on him every time. As second in line after Hitler, Goering carried a lot of the guilt because he had the power to stop orders. His outlandish claims of being unaware and only working for the state and the economy could not mask the destruction and cruelty he imposed on millions of people (Gilbert 202-216). Goering's defense was not enough to diminish his responsibility. Throughout the whole regime he was Hitler's wing man and an active part of the entire Nazi movement. Goering was also responsible for the creation of the cruel Gestapo and the concentration camps, even though he claimed in his defense that they were instated to regulate the communists. He was also the ringleader in the Austrian Anschluss, responsible for getting Blomberg and Fritsch removed from the army, for conducting the Roehm purge and much more. Goering used threats and force to get other leaders to coincide with the Nazis actions, and was intense on his use of slave laborers everywhere (Gilbert 437). Such actions were considered Crimes against Humanity. The way Goering treated the Jews, and his obsession with the German economy, his primary concern, were completely inhumane. He is even quoted as saying, "I wish you had killed 200 Jews and not destroyed such valuable property" (Goering November 1938) right after the Kristallnacht riots November 9-10 1938. It was after this that he began the mass executions of Jews in Germany and in all conquered territories. Even though there were many others carrying out the laws, he wasn't first in command, and Himmler was most responsible for actual executions, Goering had much influence and was an active member in all German affairs. Thus the court found him guilty without a doubt: "his guilt is unique in its enormity. The record discloses no excuses for this man" (Gilbert 437). Goering was condemned of all four counts of indictment: Conspiracy to commit crimes alleged in other accounts, Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes against Humanity, and then sentenced to death by hanging. The Goering case is an excellent example of the Nuremberg trials and of the general Nazi defense. The theme of assigning responsibility of the events during the Nazi regime onto everyone but oneself was practiced by all the Nazis and Germans involved, which made it difficult to assess blame until the final ruling. The trials focused on assessing the blame for the Holocaust on individuals, rather than the country, which made it difficult to weed out the perpetrators. However, it was a necessity to charge the guilty as to bring justice but also to ensure that nobody would try this "final solution" again. The Nuremberg trials represent the coming together of people to convict against the justly wrong, but this meeting of the minds was too late. The Nuremberg trials can never bring back the millions of people who were victimized by the Nazis. The 22 trials were minute in comparison to the people who took the cruel actions against humanity and should have been convicted, as well as compared to the high death toll as a result of the perpetrators.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	20	https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/death-hanging-nuremberg-trials/	en	'Death by hanging': the Nuremberg Trials	https://cdn.nationalarch…als_featured.jpg	https://cdn.nationalarch…als_featured.jpg	[ "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/logo-white.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/logo-white.png", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160232/Defendants_in_the_dock_at_the_Nuremberg_Trials.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160233/a-matter-that-has-been-causing-us-a-bad-headache-TS-26-171-768x361.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160234/4-nations-v-defendants-FO-1060-1378-768x564.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160235/correspondence-from-German-public-Fo-1019-55-768x317.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160236/entrance-of-a-Hitler-Youth-camp-FO1019-55.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160237/anonymous-photograph-FO-1019-55.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160238/statements-goering-hess-seyss-inquart-FO-371-57517.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160239/sentences-FO-1060-1379.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160240/Those-Last-Words-TS-26-172.jpg", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/236f74ddaa5c9f0da5c0b308a67c0622?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b788ca1ba5a367596093febb085d56db?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c94d13967efd42eb532bca5a028035a8?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6584891c3f16d06113384d2f013cabfd?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/484b22cefced1b7269bfeff4e4e45506?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b8e58e984be6e1d30e8a198cabf8e517?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/095e62e2ac4b9d310b67b7f0795feee9?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f5b467a721af05c985184573bde95126?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7a5f85578a6f4cbd69d7027b2e9027f7?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4fad429fb9a59066db2c1f051872a889?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/tna-square-white-logo.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/twitter.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/youtube-play.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/flickr.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/facebook.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/instagram.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/rss.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/logo-ogl.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/gov-uk.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "cbishop", "Dr Juliette Desplat", "The National Archives" ]	2015-11-20T08:00:58+00:00	‘Nicht schuldig.’ (Not guilty.) These two German words pronounced somewhat defiantly, and almost flippantly, by 21 Nazi leaders, echoed through a very silent room of the Nuremberg Court on 21 November 1945, the second day of what the world would come to know as the Nuremberg Trials. Establishing the International Military Tribunal had not been […]	en	/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/favicon.png	The National Archives blog	https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/death-hanging-nuremberg-trials/	‘Nicht schuldig.’ (Not guilty.) These two German words pronounced somewhat defiantly, and almost flippantly, by 21 Nazi leaders, echoed through a very silent room of the Nuremberg Court on 21 November 1945, the second day of what the world would come to know as the Nuremberg Trials. Establishing the International Military Tribunal had not been an easy task. The London Charter of 8 August 1945 (FO 93/1/266) had defined its principles and procedures but, in practice, it was a judicial nightmare. There was no precedent for such an international tribunal combining different legal traditions. These crimes were of such atrocity and on such a scale that they went beyond the scope of any existing legal system. How could they be judged? Who should be judged? Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union all had their own list. After difficult negotiations, they settled on 24 men (FO 371/51402). In the meantime, the British delegation was going through a crisis of its own. On 25 October 1945, Sinclair, the British prosecutor’s secretary, wrote to the Chief of Staff of the Control Commission to discuss ‘a matter that has been causing us here a bad headache’. Although the Court had been largely spared, Nuremberg was a ruined city and there was ‘no source of outside entertainment’. Yet the outcome of the negotiations also depended on the delegation’s capacity to display lavish hospitality. At the beginning of November, the prosecutor himself wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, reiterating the request for ‘sufficient tobacco and liquor to smooth the way of these negotiations with our Allied colleagues’. In the end, spirits were provided by the Government Hospitality Fund, and Sinclair was able to write, just after the opening of the trials, that he was ‘hoping that soon a more frequent resort to the cup that cheers may serve to illume the sojourn of colleagues in a strange land’ (TS 26/171). All being well on the liquor front, and the Allies having come to an agreement, the trial could begin. There were only 21 men sitting in the dock, as Robert Ley had committed suicide in prison, Martin Bormann was never found, and Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach was deemed to ill to stand trial. They were: Hermann Goering (Hitler’s number two) Rudolf Hess (Hitler’s official successor until he flew to Scotland in 1941 to negotiate a separate peace) Joachim von Ribbentrop (Minister for Foreign Affairs) Wilhelm Keitel (Chief of the High Command of Armed Forces) Ernst Kaltenbrunner (Chief of the Security Police) Alfred Rosenberg (the party’s ideologist) Hans Frank (Governor of Poland) Wilhelm Frick (Protector of Bohemia and Moravia) Julius Streicher (Gauleiter of Franconia and ‘Jew-Baiter Number One’) Walter Funk (Minister of Finance) Hjalmar Schacht (former president of the Reichsbank) Karl Dönitz (Commander in Chief of the German Navy and Head of State from 1 May 1945) Erick Raeder (Admiral Inspector of the Navy) Baldur von Schirach (Head of the Hitler Youth) Fritz Sauckel (in charge of slave labour) Alfred Jodl (Chief of the Operation Staff of the High Command of Armed Forces) Franz von Papen (Ambassador to Turkey) Artur Seyss-Inquart (Reichskommissar for the Occupied Dutch Territories and Chancellor of Austria for two days) Albert Speer (Minister for Armament and Munitions) Konstantin von Neurath (former Minister for Foreign Affairs) Hans Fritzsche (Head of the Radio Division of the Ministry of Propaganda) All these men had held senior positions and now stood before eight judges, two for each victorious nation, in what had been the Holy City of Nazism. The trial opened on 20 November 1945, presided over by British judge Lord Justice Lawrence, and was going to last four months and hold 403 open sessions in four languages (German, English, French and Russian) with simultaneous translation (FO 371/57435-57517). The defendants were indicted on four counts: ‘common plan or conspiracy to commit, or which involved the commission of Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes against humanity’, Crimes against Peace, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity – all of which had been defined by Article 6 of the London Charter. Robert Jackson, the chief American prosecutor, was afraid the trial might be hampered by lack of evidence. The judges and their staff, however, were absolutely swamped with evidence. Witnesses gave oral evidence, which had a substantial impact, and the Tribunal received thousands of letters from the German public, volunteering information and submitting pictures and press cuttings. One of them insisted that it should be forbidden to use the title ‘Führer’ when referring to Hitler (FO 1019/55). He also included a picture showing the entrance of a Hitler Youth camp – the inscription reads: ‘We were born to die for Germany’ (FO 1019/55). An anonymous sender provided photographs of excellent (technical) quality, with captions in strikingly poor German, depicting ‘the victims and work of destruction by the SS’. Most of them are extremely shocking, others merely highly unpleasant and disturbing. One shows a very pale, bespectacled, black-clad woman standing threateningly in front of a cupboard. The inscription above her reads ‘everyone in this room must act and speak courteously’ (although English doesn’t really do justice to the chilling tone of command of the German phrase), and the poster on the wall advertises rules for parents. The caption on the back of the photograph states: ‘I am not guilty’ (FO 1019/55). The final statements made by the defendants on 31 August 1946 show how dangerous these men still were, and how necessary a public trial was. Goering denied having anything to do with murder, Hess claimed to have acted out of his ‘ardent love for [his] people,’ and Seyss-Inquart reasserted his loyalty to Hitler (FO 371/57517). The sentences were finally read in the afternoon of 1 October 1946: ‘Defendant Hermann Wilhelm Goering, on the Counts of the Indictment on which you have been convicted, the International Military Tribunal sentences you to death by hanging’. The other sentences were: Rudolf Hess – imprisonment for life Joachim von Ribbentrop – death by hanging Wilhelm Keitel – death by hanging Ernst Kaltenbrunner – death by hanging Alfred Rosenberg – death by hanging Hans Frank – death by hanging Wilhelm Frick – death by hanging Julius Streicher – death by hanging Walter Funk – imprisonment for life Karl Doenitz – 10 years’ imprisonment Erick Raeder – imprisonment for life Baldur von Schirach – 20 years’ imprisonment Fritz Sauckel – death by hanging Alfred Jodl – death by hanging Artur Seyss-Inquart – death by hanging Albert Speer – 20 years’ imprisonment Konstantin von Neurath – 15 years’ imprisonment Despite the ‘dissenting opinion’ of Soviet judge Nikitchenko regarding Schacht, von Papen and Fritzsche, the three of them were acquitted. Martin Bormann, judged in abstentia, was sentenced to death by hanging (FO 371/57517). The executions of those defendants condemned to death were an additional problem. The Americans wanted to carry them out in Berlin, but it was deemed preferable to remain in Nuremberg for security reasons, but also because it was imperative that their bodies ‘shouldn’t become objects of cult at a later date’ (FO 945/346). All were executed on 16 October 1946 in the gymnasium of the prison, except Goering who committed suicide in his prison cell the day before. The Daily Express correspondent reported from Nuremberg: ‘I fear that in the bomb-blasted gymanasium of the Nuremberg prison a new legend of heroic militant Teutonism may have been born’ and quoted their last words. ‘Consider,’ he wrote, ‘the theme of “God save Germany and make her great once more”, which was the gist of all the hanged men’s last words. And, above all, consider Goering’s final defiance’(TS 26/172). To prevent this legend from growing, the bodies were incinerated in Munich and the ashes scattered over the river Isar. This trial which opened 70 years ago was only the first and best known of the Nuremberg Trials. It was followed by 12 others, lasting until December 1949. It was at the time, and still is today, criticised for being the ‘victors’ justice administered over the losers’ and its moral legitimacy had been questioned – some had pointed out that the Soviets had committed Crimes against Humanity at Katyn and Crimes against Peace when they had signed a non-aggression pact with Germany (FO 371/56474). However imperfect the Tribunal may have been, it led to the definition of international law, and of the very new notion of crime against humanity. It established the principle of individual responsibility. It was a civilised alternative to mob justice. Germany, its former allies and its former enemies could take the first step on the long road to reconciliation and recovery. Let’s finally remember some of Justice Jackson’s opening words: ‘The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating that civilisation cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated.’
correct_death_00048	FactBench	0	39	https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/lucene/dev/branches/bulkpostings/solr/src/test-files/Top50KWiki.utf8	en				[]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	83	https://www.roberthjackson.org/speech-and-writing/the-influence-of-the-nuremberg-trial-on-international-criminal-law/	en	The Influence of the Nuremberg Trial on International Criminal Law	https://www.roberthjacks…-court-robes.jpg	https://www.roberthjacks…-court-robes.jpg	[ "https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1019733774756201&ev=PageView&noscript=1", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Logo-for-website.png", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Untitled-design-5-796x299-c-default.png", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Untitled-design-3-796x299-c-default.png", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Copy-of-Tea-with-RHJC-with-Sylvia-Orduno-1-796x299-c-default.png", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Jackson-Day-Banner-796x299-c-default.png", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Copy-of-Schaub-Banner-796x299-c-default.jpg", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Planning-Your-Visit-Banner-1-796x299-c-default.png", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/themes/roberthjackson/assets/img/lg-icon.png", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/themes/roberthjackson/assets/img/instagram.svg", "https://www.roberthjackson.org/wp-content/themes/roberthjackson/assets/img/linked-in.svg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	The Nuremberg trials established that all of humanity would be guarded by an international legal shield and that even a Head of State would be held criminally responsible and punished for aggression and Crimes Against Humanity. The right of humanitarian intervention to put a stop to Crimes Against Humanity – even by a sovereign against his own citizens – gradually emerged from the Nuremberg principles affirmed by the United Nations.	en	https://www.roberthjacks…e-touch-icon.png	Robert H Jackson Center	https://www.roberthjackson.org/speech-and-writing/the-influence-of-the-nuremberg-trial-on-international-criminal-law/	Executive Summary The first forty years after Nuremberg was a period of slow progress in developing international criminal law. There is no doubt that international criminal law has developed in recent years. Indeed if international criminal law is defined as the prosecution of individuals for ‘international crimes’ such as war crimes or Crimes Against Humanity then there was no such law for most of the twentieth century. On the eve of the twentieth century attempts to regulate warfare in The Hague Conference of 1899, and again in 1907, were constrained by notions of State sovereignty. As the Nuremberg judges pointed out in 1946, ‘The Hague Convention nowhere designates such practices [methods of waging war] as criminal, nor is any sentence prescribed, nor any mention made of a court to try and punish offenders.’(1) The Nuremberg trials established that all of humanity would be guarded by an international legal shield and that even a Head of State would be held criminally responsible and punished for aggression and Crimes Against Humanity. The right of humanitarian intervention to put a stop to Crimes Against Humanity – even by a sovereign against his own citizens – gradually emerged from the Nuremberg principles affirmed by the United Nations. The awareness of the inadequacy of the law and the willingness to do something to enforce such new principles was slow in coming. The failure of the international community to develop binding norms of international criminal law was glaringly illustrated by the slow pace of various UN committees charged in 1946 with drafting both a code of crimes against the peace and security of mankind and the statutes for an international criminal court. While the law limped lamely along, international crimes flourished. The horrors of the twentieth century are many. Acts of mass violence have taken place in so many countries and on so many occasions it is hard to comprehend. According to some estimates, nearly 170 million civilians have been subjected to genocide, war crimes and Crimes Against Humanity during the past century. The World Wars lead the world community to pledge that “never again” would anything similar occur. But the shocking acts of the Nazis were not isolated incidents, which we have since consigned to history. Hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions of people have been murdered in, among others, Russia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sierra Leone, Chile, the Philippines, the Congo, Bangladesh, Uganda, Iraq, Indonesia, East Timor, El Salvador, Burundi, Argentina, Somalia, Chad, Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the second half of the past century.(2) But what is possibly even sadder is that we, meaning the world community, have witnessed these massacres passively and stood idle and inactive. The result is that in almost every case in history, the dictator/president/head of state/military/leader responsible for carrying out these atrocities – despite in Nuremberg – has escaped punishment, justice and even censure. Not until the world was shocked by the ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Rwanda could the UN, no longer paralyzed by the Cold War, take action. Nations that had been unwilling to intervene to block the carnage now recognized that some action was essential. For the first time since Nuremberg, a new international criminal tribunal was quickly put in place on an ad hoc basis by the UN Security Council. Under the impetus of shocked public demand, it became possible for the UN Secretariat to draft the statues for the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia in about 8 weeks – the same time it had taken to agree upon the Charter to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. The ICTY began functioning in 1994. It led to the speedy creation of a similar ad hoc tribunal to deal with genocide and Crimes Against Humanity in Rwanda. Up until the present the international community has been very reluctant to enforce international criminal law. It has only been done a couple of times in history, without doubt due to the specific circumstances and the political climate at the time. The idea of establishing a permanent international criminal court is not new though. Attempts in that direction were taken as nearly as the end of World War I, but the international community never reached agreement on the matter. The ICC’s predecessors are primarily the Nuremberg and the Tokyo Tribunals created by the victorious Allies after World War II. These tribunals have been accused of being unfair and merely institutions for “victor’s justice,” but nevertheless they did lay the groundwork for modern international criminal law. They were the first tribunals where violators of international law were held responsible for their crimes. They also recognized individual accountability and rejected historically used defenses based on state sovereignty. These principles of international law recognized in the Nuremberg Charter and Judgments were later affirmed in a resolution by the UN General Assembly. The International Law Commission (ILC), a body of distinguished legal experts acting at the request of the General Assembly, completed its draft statue for a permanent international criminal court in 1994. In 1996, the ILC finally completed its draft code of crimes against the peace and security of mankind. This new momentum reflected widespread agreement that an international criminal court, with fair trial for the accused, should be created as an essential component of a just world order under law. After years of work and struggle, the promise of an International Criminal Court with jurisdiction to try genocide, war crimes and Crimes Against Humanity has become a reality. In 1998, the statute of the Court was approved in Rome and it has entered into force the first of July of 2002, when the required number of country ratifications was attained. The Court holds a promise of putting an end to the impunity that reigns today for human rights violators and bringing us a more just and more humane world. Since the capture of Saddam Hussein in December 2003, there has been intense speculation as to the type of court that will be used to try the former Iraqi president. It now appears that Hussein will be tried by the Iraqi Special Tribunal that was established late in 2003. This Tribunal, which is yet to commence operation, has jurisdiction over the crimes of genocide, war crimes and Crimes Against Humanity committed since 1968. Although it would seem desirable that the former Iraqi dictator be tried by an Iraqi court, it is not yet clear whether the Iraqi Special Tribunal and the Iraqi legal profession have sufficient resources and expertise to conduct a trial of this complexity. Questions also remain as to whether the trial and sentencing of Hussein will conform with international human rights standards and whether it will serve the ends of justice and reconciliation in Iraq. TABLE OF CONTENTS International Criminal Law in the Past Tribunal Milestones The Agreement of London The Nuremberg Tribunals The Influence of Nuremberg The Case of Saddam Hussein Conclusion 1. INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW IN THE PAST International Criminal Law as a concept has exited between nations – states for centuries. Its function is to regulate and prevent criminal international violations, thereby securing and maintaining international legal order and peace. Historically, for activities to be considered international crimes they had to violate domestic regulations. Malekian writes: ”[i}t may be possible to conclude that the basis of international criminal law is the evolution and enforcement of the concept of domestic criminal law. Criminals were extradited to a large extent in order that domestic criminal law be effectively implemented.” This cooperation resulted in, e.g., the conclusion of numerous bilateral and multilateral treaties for the extradition of criminals. (3) International humanitarian law took its modern form after World War II in order to create a deterrent to the repeat of the horrors that took place in the trenches and concentration camps. Important conventions were agreed on including the European convention on Human Rights (4), the Genocide Convention (5), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (6)and the four Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols (7) (that protect the civilians and victims of war). By including criminal provisions and obligations for nations these also gave strong notions of a development in international criminal law. War and law have had a constant relationship between each other ever since the existence of conflict as a collective phenomenon. The regulation of the state of war, whether stemming from tradition, custom, certain codes of conduct and, ultimately, law, has evolved throughout the centuries together with the notion of war. The idea of a “Crime of War,” or war crime, is not new to the modern legal vocabulary. Unorthodox practices during a war have been branded as war crimes in many scenarios of conflict. However, these war crimes were not in themselves punishable in any international court (mainly due to the practical non-existence of such legal apparatus before the United Nations) and were very much a notion without a consequence, a general concept floating above the aftermath of wars, and not affecting individuals as such but rather relying on the concept of state responsibility. It is only since the development of a doctrine of human rights, of fundamental, documented universal principles, that such crimes have materialized into a legal cast due to the development of the notion of “Crimes Against Humanity” and its derived breaches. The concept of “Crimes Against Humanity” has been a product of very recent historical, political and social developments which has brought war crimes under a different light in international law, and very much under the scope of Human Rights, which have impregnated the law of war as an international, codified phenomenon in many ways. As a provision, it was the initial step that began a whole new approach from part of the international community towards certain abuses against civilians during periods of war and also during peacetime. Certain practices became theoretically “illegal” in a very broad sense within the international community, criminalizing governments, collectives and individuals, whether military or civilian, and covering the commission of crimes both in an individual basis as well as in a collective sense. Conventions have arisen after the appearance of this idea, as well as resolutions and other relevant legislation emanating from international bodies and organisms (mainly the UN). The ultimate reason for these provisions to arise, in theoretical terms and laying aside political considerations, has been the protection of the human being as an individual, regardless of geographical, political or social factors and circumstances, and hence has become a “Human Right,” so to say, in its own right. Crimes Against Humanity as a new principle saw its birth after the Second World War, as a result of the atrocities committee by the Nazi forces before and during the armed conflict. The establishment of the United Nations in 1945 was in a way the embodiment of the generalized fear for those atrocities ever being committed again, and this institution had a major role in the development of legal doctrines involving concepts such as Crimes Against Humanity, appearing for the first time in a legal and a conceptual form before the Nuremberg Trial in 1945, during the London Agreement of 1945 and its annexed charter setting the grounds for the establishment of a military tribunal. 2. TRIBUNAL MILESTONES 1907 Fourth Hague Convention is held in The Hague, the Netherlands. The convention is the first international agreement outlining the basic rules for land warfare. Among the provisions are prohibitions on mistreating prisoners and protecting the lives and property of civilians. 1945 At the end of World War II, the victorious Allies form the International Military Tribunal to try Nazi German leaders on war crimes charges. Of the 22 men tried by the tribunal, based in Nuremberg, Germany, 19 are convicted. 1946 Allies set up a tribunal in Tokyo to conduct war crimes trials involving 28 Japanese defendants. The defendants face the same charges as those in Nuremberg – Crimes Against Humanity and waging aggressive war. 1948 United Nations General Assembly approves the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, one of the so-called Geneva Conventions. The agreement specifies that religious or racial genocide is an international crime, and that those who incite genocide or participate in it are to be punished. The following year, diplomats from around the world adopt four new conventions that strengthen the rights during wartime of civilians and prisoners of war. War crimes are defined as offenses that represent “grave breaches” of the convention. 1950 U.N. International Law Commission unveils the seven Nuremberg Principles. The basic premise of the principles is that no accused war criminal in any place or time is above the law. 1992 Bosnia-Herzegovina, one of the remaining Yugoslav republics, declares independence. A three-sided civil war breaks out among Bosnia’s Moslems, Croats and Serbs. Serbs initiate a policy of “ethnic cleansing,” or forcibly removing people from their homes in an effort to create ethnically pure regions, and detain many non-Serbs in concentration camps. 1993 The U.N. Security Council agrees to establish the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), to be based in The Hague, to try war crimes cases. 1994 Inter-ethnic strife explodes in Rwanda. More than 500,000 people, most of them members of the Tutsi minority, are massacred by the Hutu majority over a four-month period. In November, the Security Council agrees to establish the International Criminal Tribunal in Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania. 1995 A cease-fire is negotiated in Bosnia in October, and combatants sign a peace treaty, in Dayton, Ohio. Troops from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) begin patrolling in Bosnia in December. 1996 The ICTY imposes its first sentence on Drazen Edemovic, a Bosnian Croat who served in the Bosnia Serb army. Edemovic pleads guilty, so he is sentenced without a trial to ten years in prison. 1997 In May, the first full-length ICTY trial concludes with the conviction of Bosnian Serb Dusan Tadic on eleven charges of war crimes. 1998 After fifty years of discussion and documentation on the need for an international criminal court, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted on July 17, 1998. 1998 Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, was arrested by British authorities. He was extradited on charges of genocide, torture, and other crimes during his rule in the 1970s – 80s. 1999 Slobodan Milosevic, Milan Milutinovic, Vlajikovic, and Nikola Sainovic were indicted by The Hague. 2002 The ICC entered into force on July 1, 2002, establishing “an independent permanent International Criminal Court in relationship with the United Nations system, with jurisdiction over the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole.” 2003 U.S.-led military coalition ousts Saddam Hussein from power. He is captured on December 13, 2003. 3. THE AGREEMENT OF LONDON Robert H. Jackson made a preliminary visit to London in late May 1945 where he conferred with Foreign Minister, Anthony Eden, and British Attorney General, David Maxwell Fyfe. These meetings ultimately helped to show that there was no significant difference between the American and British goals for the trials. However, before meeting with the British the American delegation felt that they would have a difficult time in convincing opponents that the American plan for holding a trial, rather than executing the war criminals, would be the best option. They expected to have the greatest difficulty with the British because they would naturally want to assume the leadership role in the trial. On Monday, June 18, 1945, Jackson and seventeen members of his staff, including Major General William J. Donovan, the director of the O.S.S., and Ensign William E. Jackson, Justice Jackson’s son, departed to begin negotiations for a charter with the British, French, and Russians in London. On June 21 representatives from the United States and Britain met on an informal basis to exchange information. The representative from the British Foreign Office, Sir Basil Newton, informed the American delegation that the government had accepted the invitation to the conference and would arrive on June 25. The British and Americans agreed that the trial should be held on the Continent, probably in Munich but Justice Jackson pointed out that the location would depend on availability of the facilities. At a second meeting on June 24 Sir Basil Newton informed both delegations that the Russians had accepted the invitation but had asked for the first official meeting to be delayed until June 26. Throughout the negotiations the Americans and the Russians would almost continually be at odds with each other. The British delegation consisted of Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, Sir Thomas Barnes, the Treasurer-Solicitor and Patrick Dean, of the British Foreign Office. The French delegation consisted of Judge Robert Falco and Professor André Gros. General I.T. Nikitchenko and Professor Trainin made up the Russian delegation. The Anglo-American system of law differed considerably from the continental system that the French and the Russians used. The first point of contention was over the function of the indictment. In Anglo-American law this is the statement of charges against a criminal to inform him of the crime he is being charged with. In the Soviet system the indictment includes all of the evidence that will be utilized during the trial. In this case, the Americans won. A second point of disagreement between the Americans and the Russians was whether organizations, such as the SS and the Gestapo, could be tried as criminal entities. The Russians said no and the Americans said yes. Giving the Americans the responsibility for proving this portion of the case solved this problem. Conflicts also arose in regard to the definition of international law and what constituted both international law and the laws of a sovereign nation. The negotiating countries faced many disagreements of this nature. Adjourning the conference, preparing new amendments and then debating these amendments at the next session helped to solve each problem but on many major points of contention the American delegation overrode opposition from the other nations. Throughout the negotiations Justice Jackson attempted to keep an open mind, which probably eased tensions, but the Agreement of London basically created a system that the Americans approved of and the other nations went along with. The negotiators ran into many points of disagreement but in the end, Justice Jackson and his British, French and Russian counterparts were able to overcome differences in judicial practice to form the tribunal. On August 8, 1945, the participating nations gathered to sign the Agreement and Charter for the Prosecution and Punishment of Major War Criminals of the European Axis, or the Agreement of London. The process of creating this charter had taken two months of negotiation but succeeded in establishing a system that all four nations would accept as the dispensing justice. The final London Agreement created the system on which the surviving Nazi leaders and Nazi criminal organizations would be tried. The statute drew up four counts of crimes for which the German leadership would be tried. The first count involved conspiracy – conspiring to engage in the other three counts. Count two was “crimes against peace” – the actual planning, preparing, and waging of aggressive war. That count was generally interpreted as criminalizing the waging of war to alter the status quo. Thus, the Germans could not use the unfairness of the Versailles Treaty to justify making war to bring about is revision. The third count was “war crimes” – a category that included killing and mistreating soldiers and civilians in ways not justified by military necessity. Count four consisted of “Crimes Against Humanity,” which was a new idea, dealing with inhuman actions committed against civilians. Included in count four was the mass murder of Jews. The London Statute called for the indictment of the major war criminals, and after much debate, the IMT came up with a list of 24 names, 22 of whom would, in the event, be tried. Among those listed were Herman Goering, Joachim von Ribbenstrop, Admiral Karl Donitz, General Alfred Jodl, Alfred Rosenberg, Albert Speer, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Hans Frank, and Julius Streicher. Martin Bormann, who is now believed to have died prior to the indictment, would be tried in absentia. Also indicted were the leading organizations of the third Reich – the Reich Cabinet, the Nazi Party leadership, the SS, the Gestapo, the General Staff, and the SA. Upon signing the London Agreement creating the basis for and existence of the International Military Tribunal, Jackson stated: “For the first time, four of the most powerful nations [U.S., France, Great Britain, Soviet Union] have agreed not only upon the principle of liability for war crimes of persecution, but also upon the principle of individual responsibility for the crime of attacking international peace.” (8) 3.1 Copy of the Agreement London Agreement of August 8, 1945 Agreement of the government of the United States of America, the Provisional Government of the French Republic, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for the Prosecution and Punishment of the Major War Criminals of the European Axis WHEREAS the United Nations have from time to time made declarations of their intention that War Criminals shall be brought to justice; AND WHEREAS the Moscow Declaration of the 30th October 1943 on German atrocities in Occupied Europe stated that those German officers and men and members of the Nazi Party who have been responsible for or have taken a consenting part in atrocities and crimes will be sent back to the countries in which their abominable deeds were done in order that they may be judged and punished according to the laws of these liberated countries and of the free governments that will be created therein; AND WHEREAS this Declaration was stated to be without prejudice to the case of major criminals whose offenses have no particular geographical location and who will be punished by the joint decision of the Governments of the Allies; NOW THEREFORE the Government of the United States of America, the Provisional Government of the French Republic, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (hereinafter called “the Signatories”) acting in the interests of all the United Nations and by their representatives duly authorized thereto have included this Agreement. Article 1. There shall be established after consultation with the Control Council for Germany an International Military Tribunal for the trial of war criminals whose offenses have no particular geographical location whether they be accused individually or in their capacity as members of the organizations or groups or in both capacities. Article 2. The constitution, jurisdiction and functions of the International Military Tribunal shall be those set in the Charter annexed to this Agreement, which Charter shall form an integral part of this Agreement. Article 3. Each of the signatories shall take the necessary steps to make available for the investigation of the charges and trial the major war criminals detained by them who are to be tried by the International Military Tribunal. The signatories shall also use their best endeavors to make available for investigation of the charges against and the trial before the International Military Tribunal such of the major war criminals as are not in the territories of any of the signatories. Article 4. Nothing in this Agreement shall prejudice the provisions established by the Moscow Declaration concerning the return of war criminals to the countries where they committed their crimes. Article 5. Any government of the United Nations may adhere to this agreement by notice given through the diplomatic channel to the Government of the United Kingdom, who shall inform the other signatory and adhering governments of each such adherence. Article 6. Nothing in this Agreement shall prejudice the jurisdiction or the powers of any national or occupation court established or to be established in any allied territory or in Germany for the trial of war criminals. Article 7. This Agreement shall come into force on the day of signature and shall remain in force for the period of one year and shall continue thereafter, subject to the right of any signatory to give, through the diplomatic channel, one month’s notice of intentions to terminate it. Such termination shall not prejudice any proceedings already taken or any findings already made in pursuance of this Agreement. IN WITNESS WHEREOF the Undersigned have signed the present Agreement. DONE in quadruplicate in London this 8th day of August 1945 each in English, French, and Russian, and each text to have equal authenticity. For the Government of the United States of America [signed] ROBERT H. JACKSON For the Provisional Government of the French Republic [signed] ROBERT FALCO For The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland {signed] JOWITT C. For the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [signed] I.T. NIKITCHENKO [signed] A.N. TRAININ 4. THE NUREMBERG TRIBUNALS 4.1 the International Military Tribunal (IMT) Three months after the end of World War II the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and France, signed an agreement creating the International Military Tribunal (IMT), known as the “Nuremberg Tribunal,” for the Prosecution and Punishment of the Major War Criminals of the European Axis. Only four categories of crimes were to be punished: Conspiracy (conspiring to engage in the other three counts), Crimes Against Peace (planning, preparing and waging aggressive war), War Crimes (condemned in Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907) and Crimes Against Humanity (such as genocide), which by their magnitude, shock the conscience of humankind. Each provision of the 30-articles was carefully considered in order to reach an accord that seemed fair and acceptable to the four partners representing the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. On the eight day of August 1945, the Charter was signed and the first International Military Tribunal in the history of mankind was thereby inaugurated. A Chief Prosecutor had been appointed for each of the four victorious powers. Designated by President Harry S. Truman as U.S. representative and chief counsel at the IMT Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson planned and organized the trial procedure and served as Chief Prosecutor for the USA. He set the tone and goals: “That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason…We must never forget that the record on which we judge these defendants today is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our own lips as well. We must summon such detachment and intellectual integrity to our task that this trial will commend itself to posterity as fulfilling humanity’s aspirations to do justice.” (9) From November 20, 1945, until August 31, 1946, all sessions of the tribunal were held in Nuremberg under the presidency of Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence. In its comprehensive judgment, the Tribunal traced the history of international criminal law and the growing recognition in treaties, conventions and declarations, that aggressive war was an illegal act for which even a head of state could be brought to account. There was no longer anything ex facto about such a charge. Leaders who deliberately attacked neighboring states without cause must have know that their deeds were prohibited and it would be unjust to allow them to escape merely because no one had been charged with that offense in the past. “The law is not static” said the Tribunal, “but by continued adaptation follows the needs of a changing world.” Aggressive war was condemned as “the supreme international crime.” (10) The evidence, based in large part on captured German records, was overwhelming that crimes of the greatest cruelty and horror had been systematically committed pursuant to official policy. The IMT, citing The Hague Conventions and prevailing customs of civilized nations, rejected Germany’s argument that rules of war had become obsolete and that “total war” was legally permissible. Regarding Crimes Against Humanity (such as extermination and enslavement of civilian populations on political, racial or religious grounds), the law took another step forward on behalf of humankind - a step that was long overdue. The findings and judgment of the IMT helped to usher in a new era for the legal protection of fundamental human rights. The lead IMT defendant, Field Marshal Hermann Goering, after he was sentenced to be hanged, was sentenced to death in absentia. Other defendants were hanged or sentenced to long prison terms. Some were acquitted and released. The Charter was adhered to by nineteen other nations and both Charter and Judgment of the IMT were unanimously affirmed by the first General Assembly of the United Nations. They have become expressions of binding common international law. 4.2 Principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal, 1950 NO. 82 The Definition of what constitutes a war crime is described by the Nuremberg Principles, a document that came out of this trial. Principles of International Law Recognized in the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal and in the Judgment of the Tribunal. Adopted by the International Law Commission of the United Nations, 1950. (11) Under General assembly Resolution 177 (II), paragraph (a), the International Law Commission was directed to “formulate the principles of international law recognized in the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal and in the judgment of the Tribunal.” Since the Nuremberg Principles had been affirmed by the General Assembly, the task entrusted to the Commission was not to express any appreciation of these principles as principles of international law but merely to formulate them. The text below was adopted by the Commission at its second session. The report of the commission also contains commentaries on the principles. (12) Principle I Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefore and liable to punishment. Principle II The fact that internal law does not impose a penalty for an act which constitutes a crime under international law does not relieve the person who committed the act from responsibility under international law. Principles III The fact that a person who committed an act which constitutes a crime under international law acted as Head of State or responsible Government official does not relieve him from responsibility under international law. Principle IV The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him. Principle V Any person charged with a crime under international law has the right to a fair trial on the facts and law. Principle VI The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law: 1. Crimes Against Peace: a. Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances; 2. War Crimes: Violations of the laws or customs of war which include, but are not limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave-labor or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war, of persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity. 3. Crimes Against Humanity: Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhuman acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime. Principle VII Complicity in the commission of a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity as set forth in Principles VI is a crime under international law. 4.3 Twelve Subsequent Trials at Nuremberg Contrary to the original plans, no subsequent international tribunal took place because the four Allies were unable to agree on joint subsequent trials. As a compromise, the quadripartite Control Council that governed Germany enacted a law authorizing each of the four Powers to carry on with such prosecution in its own zone of occupation as it might see fit. From 1947-1949, twelve U.S. military trials involving politicians, military personnel, businessmen and industrialists, doctors, lawyers, members of the Foreign Office, etc., were held in Nuremberg. Similar trials were conducted in the French, British and Soviet zones of occupation. 5. THE INFLUENCE OF NUREMBERG 5.1 Influence on the Development of International Criminal Law 5.1.1 The United Nations The Nuremberg Principles and the conception of Crimes Against Humanity did not only affect the formation of International War Crimes Tribunals. Its impact caused several effects beyond creating a mere term to be used in military tribunals and political purposes. One of these effects was the United Nations Resolution 96 (1), drawn up on the 11th of December 1946, stating that “…genocide is a crime under international law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations and condemned by the civilized world.” Deriving from the Nuremberg concept of Crimes Against Humanity, and the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis in their total war, this declaration was finally embodied two years later in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948. This convention criminalized genocide and related activities in the international sphere, and the convention itself is heavily influenced by many of the Nuremberg principles. It also extended this crime against humanity beyond periods of war and the specific scenario of the Second World War. The Genocide Convention was not, per se, a major advancement in the upholding of international human rights, especially considering its provision in Articles V and VI, which provide that states should regulate their legal systems accordingly to criminalize such acts in the domestic sphere, and that those found guilty of the crime of genocide should be tried in the courts of the country where the acts were committed in absence of a competent international tribunal with consented jurisdiction over the matter, and many academics have shown to be quite skeptical about its practical possibilities. However, on the theoretical arena the Convention Against Genocide is a development from the precepts set in Nuremberg, in such a sudden and ad hoc manner, especially where codification of Crimes Against Humanity is concerned. The Convention takes the main aspect of these crimes, extirpates it from a broad definition, and narrows it down into one separate and codified principle. Genocide as defined in Articles II and III practically cover all those measures taken by the Nazis during their persecution and brutal extermination of certain social, religious and cultural groups: those same atrocities which the members of the Court dubbed as Crimes Against Humanity took concrete form in this Convention. In 1948 the United Nations issued the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first legal document to recognize such rights as binding, and creating the notion of Human Rights as we understand it today. The influence which Nuremberg and to a certain extent the Tokyo trials had upon the formulation and conception of such a declaration cannot be understated. Nuremberg had for the first time in international law traced a definite distinction between jus ad bello a doctrine concerned exclusively on the conduct in warfare, and jus ad bellum, which concerns itself with the justice or legality of the waging of war. By introducing the new principles of Crimes Against Peace and Crimes Against Humanity, Nuremberg effectively fathered a globalized concern towards certain attitudes in war and, by extension, for the rights of all human beings suffering the effects of certain modes of violence. This supposed impact on the Universal Declaration has been backed up by the fact that some academics have stated that the UN Charter itself was almost a product of Nuremberg and the issues raised before, during and after the Trial. 5.1.1.1 Codification of Law via the United Nations The first General Assembly of the new U.N. unanimously affirmed the legal principles laid down in the Charter and Judgment of the IMT: aggression, war crimes and Crimes Against Humanity were punishable crimes for which even a head of state could be held to account. Superior orders would be no excuse but could be considered in mitigation. Inspired by the horrors revealed at the Nuremberg Trials, the Assembly passed another resolution calling for a convention to prohibit and punish the crime of genocide – by such a tribunal as might later prove acceptable to the parties. Experts were soon designated to draw up a Code of Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Mankind and to draft statutes for an international criminal court to punish such offenses. 5.1.2 The Geneva Conventions The U.N., which was founded in 1945 from the ashes of World War II, took the lead in the late 1940s in defining war crimes and trying to establish guidelines designed to prevent such horrors in the future. In December 1948, the U.N. General Assembly passes a resolution called the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The resolution was one of the so-called Geneva conventions, named after the Swiss city where they were signed. In the 1948 convention, genocide was defined as certain acts “committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.” Article I of the convention stated, “The contracting parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.” Article 3 read in part, “The following acts shall be punishable: genocide; conspiracy to commit genocide; direct and public incitement to commit genocide; attempt to commit genocide; complicity in genocide.” The list of punishable crimes was derived directly from the Nuremberg prosecutors’ charges. The Fourth Geneva Convention, agreed to by the General Assembly in 1949, also dealt with war crimes. Known formally as the Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, it required U.N. nations to enact laws that made it illegal to commit or order others to commit “grave breaches” of the Convention, and to actively seek to bring such offenders to trial. The grave breaches, which constitute the heart of the contemporary definition and understanding of war crimes, include various acts committed against protected persons and property, including “willful killing, torture or inhumane treatment…willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person.” 5.2 War Crimes Trials After Nuremberg The International Military Tribunal in particular, and the twelve subsequent trials at Nuremberg, laid the basic foundations for the later development of international criminal law. 5.2.1 Tokyo During the same year as Nuremberg, the Tokyo Trials were set up by the United States in order to prosecute and bring to justice several Japanese officials involved in war crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. During the Tokyo trials extensive reference was made to Nuremberg and its definition of Crimes Against Humanity. Accordingly to several academics, Article 6 C of the Charter drafted in the London Agreement was in a way formulated exclusively with the thought of prosecuting the Nazi leaders held responsible for the atrocities committed against the Jewish people and other targeted groups both inside and outside Germany. The Tokyo trials were not only a proof that the Nuremberg Principles allowed a margin of operation for other cases, but also presented the initiation of a series of tribunals which would uphold, under the specific circumstances stated by the treaty (ie, “…. committed against any civilian population, before or during the war, or prosecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal.”), the same possibility of prosecution for Crimes Against Humanity. Tokyo was the first stepping-stone from Nuremberg, which would lead to the universalization of Crimes Against Humanity and its relevant derivations. 5.2.2 Yugoslavia In the early 1990s, the Cold War had ended, and most formerly Communist nations were beginning the difficult transition to democracy and capitalism. The end of tight Communist control in Eastern Europe also unleashed long-suppressed nationalism among ethnic groups. In 1991, two of Yugoslavia’s four republics, Slovenia and Croatia, declared independence. Ethnic-based conflict broke out almost immediately, prompted largely by the resistance to independence of large Serb minorities in Croatia. In 1992, the Security Council established a Commission of Experts to investigate evidence of violations of humanitarian law in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The accounts of atrocities in the early years of the Bosnian Civil War prompted the creation of the first international war-crimes court since Nuremberg and Tokyo. In May 1993, the U.N. Security Council formally established the ICTY (Res. 827). The new court, with its seat in The Hague was given responsibility for prosecuting crimes that violated the Geneva Conventions, including genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. For the first time ever, rape was recognized as a crime against humanity when it was included in the ICTY’s mandate. The ICTY’s first indictment was handed down in November 1994. As of September 1997, a total of 78 individuals have been publicly indicted by the Court. Fifty-seven of those indicted are Serbs, 18 are Croats and 3 are Moslems. The court handed down its first sentence in November 1996, sentencing Drazen Edemovic, a Croat who served in the Bosnian Serb Army, to ten years in prison for his role in the Srebrenica massacre. 5.2.3 Rwanda In 1994, brutal civil war erupted between rival ethnic tribes in Rwanda. There were reports that perhaps half a million Tutsi and their supporters were being savagely massacred by the dominant Hutu government. The Security Council sent a small commission to investigate (Res. 935, July 1994) and it soon reported back that the crimes being committed were horrendous. United Nations forces were dispatched to Rwanda to help restore order to that battered country. The Statute for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was adopted at the end of 1994 (Res. 955). It followed closely the general outlines of the ICTFY but was more explicit in assuring that even in a civil conflict violations of the rules of war would not be tolerated. The Court was authorized to prosecute for genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and war crimes regardless of whether the strife was called an international conflict or a civil war. Because of the nature of the internal conflict, the inclusion of aggression as a crime within the jurisdiction of the court was not relevant. Only the specified crimes committed within the defined area during the year 1994 could be dealt with. The Rwanda Court was thus a special tribunal of very limited jurisdiction. 5.3 The International Criminal Court (ICC) After years of work and struggle, the promise of an International Criminal Court with jurisdiction to try genocide, war Crimes Against Humanity has become a reality. In 1998, the statute of the Court was approved in Rome and it has entered into force the first of July 2002, when the required number of country ratifications was attained. The court holds a promise of putting an end to the impunity that reigns today for human rights violators and bringing us a more just and more humane world. 5.3.1 Historical Introduction The Nuremberg and Tokyo trials were founded on the wish that atrocities similar to those that had taken place during the Second World War would “never again” recur. In 1948 the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution reciting that “[i]n the course of development of the international community, there will be a an increasing need of an international judicial organ for the trial of certain crimes under international law.” (13) Initiatives to create such an institution were taken as early as 1937 by the League of Nations that formulated a convention for the establishment of an international criminal court, but the Cold War led to deadlock in the international community and the matter fell into oblivion. Sadly we realize that the cruelties during World War II were not isolated incidents. Genocide has since Nuremberg taken place in Uganda, in Cambodia, in Rwanda, in Somalia, in Bosnia, and the list could go on. Not until the world was shocked by the ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Rwanda could the UN, no longer paralyzed by the Cold War, take action. In response the Security Council, basing its decisions on Chapter VII of the UN Charter, commissioned two ad hoc international criminal tribunals (the ICTY for the former Yugoslavia and the ICTR for Rwanda) to investigate alleged violations and to bring the perpetrators to justice. Without doubt, these courts have significantly contributed to the development of international criminal law, but they have not been entirely successful. Their biggest problems have been the lack of formal means of enforcement to seize indicted criminals. After the Cold War tensions had dissolved the world community showed a renewed interest in creating an international criminal court. On December 4, 1989, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution that instructed the International Law Commission (the ILC) to study the feasibility of the creation of a permanent ICC. Four years later, and obviously pleased with the ILC’s report, the General Assembly called on the Commission to commence the process of drafting a statute for the court. This statute was presented in 1994. The following year a preparatory committee was established to further review the substantive issues regarding the creation of a court based on the ILC report and statute. The aim was to prepare a convention for the ICC that had the prospects of being widely accepted globally. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on 17 July 1998, when 120 states participating in the “United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Court” adopted the statute. This is the first ever permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court established to promote the rule of law and ensure that the gravest international crimes do not go unpunished. The statute sets out the Court’s jurisdiction, structure and functions and it provides for its entry into force 60 days after 60 states have ratified or acceded to it. The 60th instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretary General on 11 April 2002, with ten countries simultaneously deposited their instruments of ratification. Accordingly, the statute entered into force 1 July 2002. Anyone who commits any of the crimes under the statute after this date will be liable for prosecution by the Court. (14) 6. THE CASE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN 6.1 A Brief Background to the Iraqi Crises When Iraq in August 1990, led by its dictator Saddam Hussein, committed brazen aggression by attacking its friendly neighboring Arab state of Kuwait, the sleeping giant of international law began to stir. The Security Council of the Untied Nations responded promptly with a barrage of resolutions followed by action under Article VII of the UN Charter authorizing the use of military force to expel Iraq and restore peace. An allied coalition led by the United States immediately began to bombard Iraqi troops. After Iraq was routed, the Council imposed a host of new conditions and sanctions designed to secure peace in the area in the future. What was glaringly absent was U.N.-authorized action to bring to justice those who were responsible for the aggression, the Crimes Against Humanity and the clear violations of the laws of war that accompanied Iraq’s unlawful invasions of Kuwait. Instead of following the Nuremberg principle of punishing only the guilty after a fair trial, economic sanctions were imposed on the civilian population of Iraq – many of whom might have disagreed with the aggressive policies of their government. Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s former despotic leader, remained at the head of the government and thumbed his nose at the world community’s efforts to curb his production of weapons of mass destruction. The lessons of Nuremberg seemed to have been forgotten. (15) 6.2 What Crimes are Saddam Hussein Accused Of? They cover acts between July 17, 1968, when Hussein and other Ba’ath Party members took power in a coup, and May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared the end of major combat operations. Those years saw hundreds of deaths, the use of chemical weapons against Iranians and Kurds, the invasion of Kuwait in 1991, the massacre of Sh’ites and Marsh Arabs who rose up after the first Gulf War, and alleged systematic killings, rapes and tortures. 6.3 What Kind of Trial? Since the capture of Saddam Hussein in December 2003, there has been intense speculation as to the type of court that will be used to try the former Iraqi president. It now appears that Hussein will be tried by the Iraqi Special Tribunal that was established in 2003. This Tribunal, which is yet to commence operation, has jurisdiction over crimes of genocide, war crimes and Crimes Against Humanity committed since 1968. Although it would seem desirable that the former Iraqi dictator be tried by an Iraqi court, it is not yet clear whether the Iraqi Special Tribunal and the Iraqi legal profession have sufficient resources and expertise to conduct a trial of this complexity. Questions also remain as to whether the trial and sentencing of Hussein will conform with international human rights standards and whether it will served the ends of justice and reconciliation in Iraq. Having the Iraqis themselves try Saddam avoids the imperialism perception a U.S.-led trial would perpetuate. The victors won’t be trying the vanquished, the people Hussein terrorized will. Iraqi council members have assured their citizens they will televise the trial, so that everyone can see Saddam getting his day in court and understand the depth and breadth of the atrocities he and his regime committed. Many experts believe the Iraqi people need this public airing of Hussein’s sins, in order to “move on” and really begin living in a post-Saddam world. A state department official was quoted in Time magazine saying, “There’s an Iraqi catharsis that needs to take place.” While the Iraqis trying Iraqis option has a lot of merit, it had drawbacks that President Bush, England’s Prime Minister Tony Blair and others may be missing. First, the focus would be on Saddam’s crimes against his own people. While they are worthy accusers, they are not the only people against whom Hussein committed crimes. Iran wants Saddam tried for starting the Iran-Iraq War in 1980. Kuwait wants him tried for invading that country in 1991. Israel wants to know whether scud missile attacks are war crimes. The other – and ultimately more important – drawback is that by not trying him in front of an international body, such as the U.N.’s International Criminal Tribunal, the charter of the United Nations itself and of the concept of the world collectively bringing despots to justice are gutted. The noble precedents set by the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis after World War II and the recent trials addressing the war crimes in the Yugoslavia and Rwanda would be ignored. Some may say “good riddance,” since the U.N. hasn’t been very effective lately. But, marginalizing the U.N. by not having it try Saddam on behalf of the rest of the world further increases the chances that the USA will be stuck with full tab for Saddam’s ouster and the rebuilding of Iraq. A better strategy would be to attempt to use Saddam’s capture and subsequent trial as a “bridge” to accelerate Iraq’s reentry into the world’s community of nations – and vice versa. 7. Conclusion International crimes, particularly war crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, have been, regrettably, all too common. Ongoing violence and widespread civil unrest continue in numerous situations, those responsible for atrocities have rarely faced justice. With a substantially increased risk of further terrorist attacks in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks and the Bali bombings, the development of appropriate legislative and institutional responses to international crimes has acquired a new urgency. For more than four decades after the establishment of the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals the enforcement of international criminal law remained an exclusively national responsibility and the report card is appalling. The abject failure of an exclusive reliance on national courts and legal processes to rein in impunity for the perpetration of atrocities is the single most compelling argument for an effective international criminal law regime. This is not to suggest that the international community needs an effective international regime to replace or supplant national courts and processes. Rather, the suggestion here is for an effective international supplement to national structures and processes – a multilateral institutional framework to hold some key individuals to account while simultaneously providing a catalyst for more effective national enforcement of international criminal law. The Nuremberg Tribunals were a precedent and a promise. As part of the universal determination to avoid the scourge of war, legal precedents were created that outlawed wars of aggression, war crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. The implied promise held forth to the world was that such crimes would be condemned in future, wherever they occurred and that no person or nation would be above the law. After half a century, it now seems possible that the promise may yet to be fulfilled. International criminal law is undergoing a rapid transformation. One of the most important events in this evolution was the coming into force of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (the “ICC”) on July 1, 2002. There is no doubt that the international community is entering a new era in which perpetrators of international crimes will no longer enjoy impunity. The creation of the new international Criminal Court will prove a catalyst for states to take the national enforcement of international human rights law much more seriously than has hitherto been the case. Many states, recognizing the potential scope of the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction – particularly in relation to the so-called “principle of complementarity” – have already enacted broad-ranging criminal legislation to ensure that all the crimes within the Rome Statute are covered by domestic penal law. The overwhelming motivation for this unprecedented criminal law reform is to maximize the potential benefits of the principle of complementarity in the event of allegations against a State’s own nationals. The Rome Statute is one of the sources of international criminal law. The pre-existing sources on which the Statute was built not only include rules of international humanitarian law, and in particular those contained in the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols, but also the rules and categories established under the Nuremberg and Tokyo War Tribunals – “war crimes,” “Crimes Against Humanity,” and the crime of “aggression.” Another important source includes the experience gained from the ad hoc tribunals created by the UN Security Council – the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Endnotes: 1 Cited by Andres Clapham in From Nuremberg to The Hague: The Future of International Criminal Justice, Philippe Sands, Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 31 2 White, Jamison G., Nowhere to run, Nowhere to hide: Augusto Pinochet, Universal Jurisdiction, the ICC,and a Wake-up Call for the Former Heads of State, 1999 and Scharf, Michael P., Results of the Rome Conference for an International Court, 1998. 3 Malekian, Farhad, International Criminal Law – The Legal and Critical Analysis of International Crimes,” 1991, p. 1,2, and 9. 4 The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom (1950). 5 The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) (The Genocide Convention) 6 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); GA Resolution 217A (III) 7 The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional Protocol I and II of 1977. The Geneva Convention as drafted in 1949 evolved from 19th century protocols (1864). 8 Jackson, Robert H. Statement of Chief Counsel Upon Signing of the Agreement, 19 Temp, I.Q 169 [1945-6] 9 cite R.H. Jackson, The Case Against the Nazi War Criminals (NY, Knopf, 1946, pp 3-7) 10 For cite see ICC, p. 72-73. 11 Authentic text: English Text published in Report of the International Law Commission Covering its Second Session, 5 June – 29 July 1950, Document A/1316, pp. 11-14. 12 Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 1950, Vol. II, pp 374-378. 13 United Nations Doc. A/760, Dec. 5, 1948. 14 King and Theofrastous, From Nuremberg to Rome: A Step Backward for U.S. Foreign Policy and Barrett, Mathew A., Ratify or Reject: Examining the United States’ Opposition to the International Criminal Court, 1999. 15 Benjamin B. Frencz, The Legacy of Nuremberg International Criminal Courts – Blaine Sloan Lecture, published in The Pace International Law Review 1997.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	75	https://legionmagazine.com/skeletons-found-buried-inside-hermann-gorings-former-residence/	en	Skeletons found buried inside Hermann Göring’s former residence	https://legionmagazine.c…24/05/grave3.jpg	https://legionmagazine.c…24/05/grave3.jpg	[ "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Legion_LestWeForget_EN_1920x292.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Scheldt_horizontal-1-scaled.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Calendar_PocketPlanner_mobile.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/1944_mobile-1.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/legion-black-logo-1.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/f2f-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Bedford_Magazine_Explosion_Nova_Scotia_Canada_July_18_1945-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/those-damn-women-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/car1-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/uk1-400x400.webp", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/beach-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Frame-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/those-damn-women-social-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Tinker-Tailor-Soldier-CSIS-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSC_2810-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/20231111-1549axx-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/borders-22985-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MHM-2.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSC_2810-400x400.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/legion-black-logo-1.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/legion-black-logo-1.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/mags-prize-500x312.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/mags-prize.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/stephen_thorne_avatar.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave1.webp", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave2.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave5.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave6.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave7.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave3.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/grave4.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/stephen_thorne_avatar.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/blackwater-300x200.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/legion-logo-300x200.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/HallidayInset11-230x300.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Last-post-Ad-3.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Member-benefits-package.jpg", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Apple-Podcasts.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Spotify.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Google-Podcasts.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/legion-white-logo-1.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/CANADAS-WAR-STORIES@2x.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ipad-static.png", "https://legionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ebook-logo.png" ]	[ "https://www.youtube.com/embed/Et-JBA1GzUg?si=YsTaoyNZYfExykmY" ]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Stephen J. Thorne" ]	2024-05-08T15:12:31+00:00	Amateur archeologists have found five skeletons buried at Hermann Göring’s former residence in the remote Wolf’s Lair, the Nazis’ Eastern Front headquarters where German military officers failed in a 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Missing hands and feet, the otherwise complete skeletons of three adults, a teenager and a newborn baby were uncovered Feb. 24, 2024, […]	en	https://legionmagazine.c…con-LM-32x32.jpg	Legion Magazine	https://legionmagazine.com/skeletons-found-buried-inside-hermann-gorings-former-residence/	Amateur archeologists have found five skeletons buried at Hermann Göring’s former residence in the remote Wolf’s Lair, the Nazis’ Eastern Front headquarters where German military officers failed in a 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Missing hands and feet, the otherwise complete skeletons of three adults, a teenager and a newborn baby were uncovered Feb. 24, 2024, along with a skull underneath the brick building that served as the Luftwaffe chief’s on-site living quarters. Fundacja Latebra, a Poland-based historical organization, said the remains were arranged together, oriented in the same direction, at the bunker complex deep in a forest near Gierloz in northeastern Poland. Retreating Wehrmacht troops had burned the 6.5-square-kilometre site to keep it from falling into Red Army hands in January 1945. Part of East Prussia at the time, the now-largely overgrown area has been heavily searched and researched since, so the finds by amateur history buffs came as a particular surprise. The German and Polish archeologists thought they were digging up an old bathroom when they discovered buried pipes, charred boards, a burned key and a skull fragment. Police were called and further excavation uncovered more remains. There were no signs of clothing, and no personal objects were recovered. “The sight shocked us,” said the foundation’s Piotrek Banaszkiewicz. “Initially, we thought they were animal bones, and we weren’t sure what we were dealing with until a delicate skull emerged at one point.” It’s not known when the remains—possibly a family—were deposited there, though Oktavian Bartoszewski, publisher of the magazine Relikte der Geschichte (Relics of History) and an excavation participant, said it wouldn’t have been possible for workers laying the pipes to miss them if they had been there when the house was built in 1940. Police have launched a full-scale investigation and have already said they found no evidence of a recent crime at the site. Authorities plan to carbon-date the remains. Hitler used the Wolfsschanze, or Wolf’s Lair, and its 200-some buildings as a part-time base between 1941 and 1943. He launched Operation Barbarossa, the June 22, 1941, invasion of the Soviet Union, from there. And the Wolf’s Lair was where Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg executed Operation Valkyrie, the July 20, 1944, plot by a group of Hitler’s senior army officers to assassinate him, overthrow the Nazi regime, and make peace with the Allies. The leader of the conspiracy, von Stauffenberg attempted to kill the top Nazi during a meeting by detonating a timed bomb hidden in a briefcase. But Major-General Heinz Brandt, unaware of the plot, inadvertently saved Hitler’s life when he casually moved the briefcase next to a heavy oak table leg standing between it and the Nazi leader. The subsequent blast killed Brandt and three other officers, but only wounded Hitler and the others. The chancellor’s pants were singed and shredded, his eardrum perforated, and he was beset by conjunctivitis. The coinciding coup attempt in Berlin was foiled and more than 200 conspirators and other suspected Hitler opponents were rounded up, given show trials and executed, some of them tortured and strung up by piano wire. Stauffenberg got no trial. He was shot by a hastily assembled firing squad at 1 a.m. on July 21, speaking his last words, “Es lebe das heilige Deutschland!” (long live sacred Germany) or “Es lebe das geheime Deutschland!” (long live secret Germany), the latter an apparent reference to his co-collaborators. His eldest brother, Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, a central figure in the plot, was tried in the Volksgerichtshof, or special “people’s court” for political offences, on Aug. 10. Berthold was one of eight conspirators executed by slow strangulation at Plötzensee Prison, Berlin, later that day. Before he was killed, Berthold was throttled (choked to the point of passing out) and revived multiple times. The entire execution process was filmed for Hitler to view at his leisure. German general Erwin Rommel, the legendary Desert Fox, knew of the plot but was not a direct participant, nor did he inform Nazi authorities of it. He was found out and given a choice between suicide with honour and without repercussions for his family, or a trial bringing him disgrace and inevitably execution. He chose the former. A First World War flying ace, Göring headed the German air force throughout WW II, ascending to the No. 2 position in the Nazi hierarchy before he fell out of favour following his failures to resupply surrounded and starving Wehrmacht troops at Stalingrad and stem the tide of Allied bombers over German cities. As Nazi fortunes turned, Göring increasingly stepped back from military and political affairs to devote his attention to collecting property and artwork, much of it stolen from Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Informed on April 22, 1945, that Hitler planned to commit suicide in his Berlin bunker, Göring sent the Nazi leader a telegram requesting his permission to assume leadership of the Reich. Hitler considered the request an act of treason and removed Göring from all his positions, expelled him from the party and ordered his arrest. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz ultimately succeeded Hitler as chancellor. Göring escaped Hitler’s wrath, but after the war was convicted of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was the highest Nazi official tried at the Nuremberg trials in 1946. He was sentenced to be hanged, but died by suicide with cyanide the night before his scheduled execution. Fundacja Latebra is one of the few organizations permitted to conduct archeological research at the Wolf’s Lair, which was turned into a tourist attraction in 1959 and brings in more than 200,000 visitors annually. How and why the remains ended up there, who they were and why they were unclothed without hands and feet is still a mystery. Speculation is rampant over whether Göring was aware the remains were buried below his living quarters. German media said they could have belonged to victims of a mass killing, possibly but not necessarily carried out by the Nazis. Besides Hitler and Göring, senior Nazis such as Martin Bormann, Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl used the Wolf’s Lair as an isolated, well-protected complex where they could plan military campaigns, as well as Holocaust atrocities. Hitler spent a total of 800 days at the wartime site, more than anywhere else during the entire conflict. Fundacja Latebra has spent years searching the Wolf’s Lair, for the most part uncovering everyday items such as dishware and tools. Said a group statement: “The uniqueness of this discovery lies in the fact that the bodies were found on the premises of the most heavily guarded complex of the Third Reich.”
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	36	https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Hermann-G%25C3%25B6ring/311445	en	Hermann Göring	https://kids.britannica.…-07-14-17-A2.jpg	https://kids.britannica.…-07-14-17-A2.jpg	[ "https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=160638381132823&ev=PageView&noscript=1", "https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/activity;dc_iu=/15510053/DFPAudiencePixel;ord=1;dc_seg=806891421", "https://kids.britannica.com/resources/img/BkidsLogoDesktop.png", "https://kids.britannica.com/resources/img/BkidsLogoTruncated.png", "https://cdn.britannica.com/12/140912-004-41457667.jpg?w=300&h=300&q=85", "https://cdn.britannica.com/67/99067-004-B7BF078C.jpg?w=300&h=300&q=85", "https://kids.britannica.com/resources/img/tour/icon-inspire.png", "https://kids.britannica.com/resources/img/tour/icon-inform.png", "https://kids.britannica.com/resources/img/tour/icon-educate.png", "https://kids.britannica.com/resources/img/tour/icon-subscribe-yellow.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "Hermann Göring", "encyclopedia", "encyclopaedia", "article" ]	null	[]	null	(1893–1946). A leader of the Nazi Party, Hermann Göring became one of the primary architects of the Nazi police state in Germany during World War II. He was tried and…	en	/resources/icons/favicons/bkids/bkids-favicon-57c.png	Britannica Kids	https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Hermann-Göring/311445	(1893–1946). A leader of the Nazi Party, Hermann Göring became one of the primary architects of the Nazi police state in Germany during World War II. He was tried and condemned to death as a war criminal by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Germany, in 1946; before the sentence was carried out, however, he committed suicide. Göring (also spelled Goering) was born on January 12, 1893, in Rosenheim, Germany, to the German consul general in Haiti. He was brought up near Nuremberg, in the small castle of Veldenstein. The castle’s owner was a Jew who was until 1913 the lover of Göring’s mother and the godfather of her children. Trained for an army career, Göring received his commission in 1912 and served with distinction during World War I, where he joined the fledgling German air force. In 1918 he became commander of the celebrated squadron in which the great German aviator Manfred, Baron von Richthofen, had served. After World War I ended, Göring spent time as a commercial pilot in Denmark and Sweden. Göring met Adolf Hitler in 1921 and joined the small Nazi Party late in 1922. As a former officer, Göring was given command of Hitler’s Storm Troopers (the SA), a paramilitary organization whose methods included violent intimidation. Göring took part in the abortive Beer Hall (Munich) Putsch of November 1923, in which Hitler tried to seize power prematurely. During the putsch, Göring was badly wounded in the groin. His arrest was ordered, but he escaped into Austria. Given morphine to deaden the pain from his wounds, he became so severely addicted that he had to undergo treatment in 1925–26 at a mental hospital in Sweden. In 1927 Göring returned to Germany and was taken back into the party leadership. He was elected to the Reichstag in 1928, becoming the president in 1932. As president of the Reichstag he helped bring Hitler to power as chancellor. During the rest of the decade, Göring held a series of other offices that he used to establish such elements of the Nazi state as the Gestapo (secret police) and the concentration camps for the “corrective treatment” of difficult opponents. He also became the commissioner for aviation and the head of the newly developed German air force, the Luftwaffe. In 1934 Göring ceded his position as security chief to Heinrich Himmler, thus ridding himself of responsibility for the Gestapo and the concentration camps. It was Göring’s Luftwaffe that helped conduct the blitzkrieg that smashed Polish resistance and weakened country after country as Hitler’s campaigns progressed. But Göring was not capable of influencing Hitler’s preference for the production of bombers rather than fighter planes. As a result, the Luftwaffe’s capacity for defense declined as Hitler’s battlefronts extended from northern Europe to the Mediterranean and North Africa, and Göring lost face when the Luftwaffe failed to win the Battle of Britain or to prevent the Allied bombing of Germany. On the plea of ill health, Göring retired—as much as Hitler would let him—to a luxurious private life. He also underwent recurrent treatment for drug addiction. Hitler was blind to Göring’s faults and maintained a close association with him. In 1939 Hitler declared him his successor and in 1940 gave him the special rank of Marshal of the Empire. The other Nazi leaders both resented Göring’s favored position and despised his self-indulgence. Hitler, however, did not displace him until the last days of the war, when, in accordance with the decrees of 1939, Göring attempted to assume the Führer’s powers, believing him to be encircled and helpless in Berlin. After Hitler’s suicide, Göring surrendered himself to the Americans. Cured finally of his drug addiction during his period of captivity awaiting trial as a war criminal, Göring defended himself ably before the International Military Tribunal. He denied any complicity in the more hideous activities of the regime, which he claimed to be the secret work of Himmler. After Göring was sentenced to death, he asked to be shot instead of hanged. His request was denied, and on October 15, 1946, the night his execution was ordered, he took poison and died in his cell at Nuremberg.
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https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/__sized__/poster_images/TheGreatFamine_490x720-resize-400x0-50.jpg 400w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/__sized__/poster_images/TheGreatFamine_490x720-resize-300x0-50.jpg 300w, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/__sized__/poster_images/TheGreatFamine_490x720-resize-200x0-50.jpg 200w,", "https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/icons/Scotts_H60.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	The story of the dramatic post-World War II tribunal that brought Nazi leaders to justice and defines trial procedure for state criminals to this day.	en			https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/nuremberg/	The Nuremberg Trials Robert Jackson (archival): "The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilization can not tolerate their being ignored, because it can not survive their being repeated." Narrator: The year World War II finally ended, a courtroom in Nuremberg, Germany, became the scene of what would be called the greatest trial in history. For the first time, leaders of a nation would be tried for war crimes. Chief prosecutor Robert Jackson declared, "We will show these men to be the living symbols of racial hatred, terrorism and violence, and of the arrogance and cruelty of power." The highest ranking Nazi to survive the war, Hermann Göring, was the lead defendant. "Everybody knows this is not a trial," Göring proclaimed. "This is just an arrangement where the victors will take revenge on the defeated." Six years of war had left 55 million dead. Now, in Nuremberg, before the eyes of the world, the victorious Allies would attempt to stay the hand of vengeance, and follow a difficult and uncertain path to justice. On November 20, 1945, the elevator in Nuremberg's Hall of Justice rose slowly from the cellblock to the courtroom. Hermann Göring, founder of the Gestapo and heir apparent to Hitler, strode confidently into the prisoners' dock, followed by the Commander of the German Navy, Admiral Karl Doenitz, Nazi party secretary Rudolf Hess and 18 other leaders of Adolph Hitler's Third Reich. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson would lead the American prosecution team. Jackson was determined that the Nazis pay for their crimes, yet fearful that Hitler's henchmen could use this high-profile forum to re-ignite Nazism in Germany. In a courtroom flooded by lights for the newsreel cameras, five hundred spectators and 21 defendants -- some shielding their eyes from the glare behind dark glasses -- waited for the unprecedented trial to begin. Walter Cronkite, Journalist: Sitting there for the first time and seeing these 21 men who had caused such horror in the world I actually felt sick, kind of. They had come into the dock as if this was not a fair proceeding, as if they knew they were going to hang already, why go through this whole thing. Narrator: As the eight judges, led by Lord Geoffrey Lawrence of England -- took their places on the bench, the air was thick with anticipation. The international tribunal was empowered to decide the fate of each defendant -- including a sentence of death. The first to enter his plea was Hermann Göring. Hermann Göring (archival) (translation): "Before I answer the question of the court, whether I plead guilty or not guilty..." William Jackson, Son and prosecutor: The tribunal cut him short and he said: 炭ou are here to plead guilty, not guilty or guilty with an explanation' and that remonstrance he shouted: 'nicht schuldig.' G&oml;ring (archival) (translation): "Responding to the indictment I plead not guilty." William Jackson: That was an indication of his ability of try to find an opening to present what he wanted to say rather then what he was being asked. Narrator: Each defendant pleaded "not guilty." Robert Jackson then made his way to the podium. He had labored over his opening statement for weeks. Robert Jackson (archival): "The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. ... The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilization can not tolerate their being ignored, because it can not survive their being repeated." Whitney Harris, Prosecutor: That set the tone not only for the speech which followed but for the entire trial. This was not a trial of Germans alone. This was a trial for humanity. This was a trial to prevent tyranny from raising its head again in any place in the world. Narrator: The trial unfolding in Nuremberg was not without controversy. In the months leading up to Allied victory, voices calling for vengeance had been numerous and forceful. As the long and bloody war in Europe was winding down, Allied leaders began to address what should be done with the Nazis. When the Allies met in Yalta in February 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill favored swift executions of top Nazi leaders. Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin preferred show trials, followed quickly by mass executions. President Franklin Roosevelt -- his health failing badly -- was hearing conflicting opinions from his cabinet. Roosevelt's influential Treasury Secretary, Henry Morganthau -- Jewish, and enraged by Nazi atrocities -- argued for summary executions of those he called "the arch criminals of this war." Secretary of War Henry Stimson was adamant that Nazi leaders be put on trial. "The punishment of these men in a dignified manner," Stimson wrote, "will have all the greater effect upon posterity."Stimson advanced a plan developed by a young Jewish lawyer on his staff, Murray Bernays, to try the Nazi leaders as a criminal conspiracy -- like an organized crime syndicate. "The atrocities were not single or unconnected", wrote Bernays, "but were the inevitable outcome of a conspiracy based on the Nazi doctrine of racism and totalitarianism." Whitney Harris: That was the concept that we would charge these leading defendants with conspiring, getting together and plotting to seize control of the German government and subjecting the German people to its dictatorial control, making the German people themselves victims if you like and eliminating freedom in Germany, eliminating democracy, establishing a ruthless dictatorship and then, having done that -- that's the conspiracy -- then committing the crimes that they did in the name of the German people. Martha Minow, Professor of Law: It was difficult for the political figures to come to the view that after this rather brutal and longout war that something as refined and patient as a legal process should be pursued, but if someone is a prisoner of war, they are not supposed to be executed and, indeed, they are supposed to be given considerable protection. So it would have violated at least the best versions of American law and British law to have summary executions. Narrator: Roosevelt came to favor the Stimson/Bernays plan, but in April, he died. His successor, Harry Truman, asked Robert Jackson, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, to serve as chief U.S. prosecutor for the war crimes trials. Jackson was wary. The trials would explore uncharted legal territory; convictions were by no means certain. "You must put no man on trial," Jackson warned, "if you are not willing to see him freed if not proved guilty. If we want to shoot Germans as a matter of policy, let it be done as such. But don't hide the deed behind a court." John Barrett, Jackson's Biographer: Jackson hears from collegues at the Supreme Court and friends and contacts in the government, and he encounters a lot of skepticism about the time and difficulty of accomplishing this, skepticism about the benefits at the end of the process in terms of justice, in terms of deterrence. Narrator: Still, Jackson was drawn to the challenge. The son of a small town businessman, Jackson never attended college. He had risen to become attorney general, then a Supreme Court justice. John Barrett: Robert Jackson was a lawyer's lawyer at each stage of his career. For twenty years in private practice, trials and appeals and tremendous success. And then Jackson on the bench of the Supreme Court being a very active and witty and colorful speaker in the courtroom and thinker and writer in his opinions ... so this was an enormous legal figure. Narrator: Now, at age fifty-three, Jackson exuded self-confidence and ambition, and was frustrated at being on the sidelines during World War Two, the century's great drama. On May 2, he accepted Truman's offer. ALT: having been on the sidelines... . Robert Jackson: "I am convinced that we have an opportunity to bring to a just judgement those who have thought it safe to wage aggressive and ruthless war." Narrator: The Supreme Court would soon adjourn for the summer. Jackson was sure he'd be back in time for the fall session. But he also knew that the trials would be controversial, and might hurt his chances of one day being named Chief Justice. As Jackson assembled his legal team in Washington, the U.S. Army was gathering evidence of Nazi atrocities-the extent of which were finally being understood: the use of slave labor; the horrific extermination camps; the millions of murdered Jews. Benjamin Ferencz, U.S. Army Investigator: I was coming in there to prove the crimes. We would come in. We would prepare a list of the evidence, proof of what transports had come into the camp, how many people had been registered as being killed on the various dates, the supposed cause of death -- which was obviously fictitious, such as "Auf der Flucht erschossen," shot while trying to escape ... listing some disease page after page." My mind just refused to grasp what my eyes saw, these people who were lying in the dirt -- mostly you couldn't tell whether they were dead or alive. They didn't look like human beings, many of them; they looked animal-like, almost. Or like skeletons. Narrator: On May 6, 1945, Reichsmarshall Hermann Göring surrendered to American troops. He had brought his prized possessions -- 17 truckloads worth -- and expected to be treated like a dignitary. "War is like a football game," he remarked, "whoever loses gives his opponent his hand, and everything is forgotten." Göring had been one of the most conspicuous and notorious figures in Germany. A flying ace in WWI, he had taken over command of Hitler's bodyguards, the SA, in 1922. The following year, he became addicted to morphine while recovering from injuries sustained during a failed Nazi coup. His addiction led to manic-depressive behavior that twice forced him to be hospitalized. After Hitler seized power in 1933, Göring was at the center of everything. He established the secret police, the Gestapo, instituted concentration camps for political opponents and commanded the Luftwaffe, Germany's air force. Some in Hitler's inner circle thought Göring mentally unstable, but he soon became the Fuhrer's second-in-command. He was cunning, ostentatious, larger-than-life- regarded by many as the "Sun King" of the Third Reich. He changed clothes several times a day, favoring brightly colored jackets, gaudy jewelry, and archaic Bavarian hunting outfits. In his estate outside Berlin, Göring lived a life of luxury, surrounded by exotic pets and stolen art treasures, as he spearheaded the build-up of the Nazi war machine. Now he was the highest ranking Nazi prisoner of war. Hitler and his propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels, had killed themselves. When the Nazis were put on trial, Hermann Göring would be defendant number one. The day after Göring turned himself in, Germany surrendered. Now, Robert Jackson could send in civilian investigators to search for a paper trail of Nazi crimes. The results were stunning. Whitney Harris: I visited many Gestapo offices and I found documents lying around on the floor, saying "this man should be executed." and I picked them up off the floor. There were many many documents that were not destroyed that we obtained and were incriminating. Narrator: "I did not think men would ever be so foolish," Jackson wrote, "as to put in writing some of the things the Germans did. ... The stupidity and the brutality of it would simply appall you." In June, Jackson flew to London to establish the ground rules for the International Tribunal, joining counterparts from France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. He was unsure how difficult the negotiations would be, but expected them to be brief. The Allies quickly came to agreement on a key point: the tribunal would not allow the Nazis to defend their actions by claiming the Allies had also committed crimes, such as killing civilians by carpet bombing German cities. Martha Minow: They just came up with kind of a blanket rule: we will find it no defense to say 'but you did it too.' It is no defense to murder to say that other people have murdered. Narrator: But the talks soon bogged down. The Soviets wanted speedy trials; prosecutors would simply outline charges and judges hand down sentences. Jackson insisted there be time for the accused to defend themselves, and that judges be free to determine guilt or innocence. He reminded everyone the United States held most of the Nazis to be tried -- and the evidence to be used against them. After a month of tough negotiations, he prevailed. The trials would be conducted on Jackson's terms. In July, Jackson flew to the Army's choice of a location for the trials, the ancient southern German city of Nuremberg. William Jackson: It was devastated, totally devastated. The rubble was everywhere, the buildings were down. Those that were standing were gutted, the stench of bodies was in the air. However, the Palace of Justice was standing and was relatively undamaged. Narrator: Though the largest courtroom was in disarray, Jackson was sure it could be restored to its former grandeur in time. And the symbolic value of this place was undeniable: Nuremberg had been the cradle of Nazism. Between 1933 and 1938 the Nazis had held massive Party Rallies in Nuremberg every September. It was here that Hitler displayed his growing power. The city's history appealed to Jackson. Where it all began, it was to end. Newsreel Announcer: In bombed out Nuremberg preparations go forward for the trials of Germany's major war criminals... Narrator: In August newsreels brought the unfolding story of the Nuremberg trials to movie screens across America. Newsreel Announcer: ...and the shrine of Hitler's Nazism becomes its tomb. In Nuremberg's court building, were the trials will be held, German prisoners work on enlarging and rebuilding the courtroom. Under American supervision they install broadcasting booths and press facilities to carry the proceedings throughout the world. Robert H. Jackson, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, made preliminary arrangements for the trial. From the jail to the courtroom a covered corridor has been erected. The war criminals will be screened from site exept in the courtroom, protected and safe for the disposition of United Nations justice. The big names of Hitler's Third Reich are kept under heavy guard. Narrator: Behind the palace of justice loomed a massive prison, capable of holding 1200 detainees. The first group of Nazi defendants was brought to the prison on August 12. Each prisoner was housed in a separate cell and not permitted to speak except during interrogations. Göring's cell was tiny and barren. He was allowed only a few books to pass the time. His garish clothing and jewelry were now in the hands of the U.S. Army. Jackson met with him briefly that September. He found that Göring was no longer addicted to morphine. The Nazi warlord was fit, focussed, lucid and fiercely unapologetic. Jackson knew he was up against a formidable adversary. John Barrett: Jackson's concern was that the defendants and Göring first among them would use it as a platform to stimulate some resurgence of Nazism in Germany, that this was a virus that was not dead, that the defeat and the death of Hitler did not mean forever the end of Nazism, and that Jackson was dealing with a very volatile dangerous prospect of the Nazi future as he dealt with these defendants. Narrator: Since accepting his assignment, two things had become clear to Robert Jackson. He would not get back to the Supreme Court for its fall session. And the trial that lay before him would be the most difficult of his life. On October 19 , 1945, the German leaders held in the cellblock of Nuremberg were indicted for the crimes the Allies had agreed upon: conspiracy to wage aggressive war; the waging of aggressive war, known as "crimes against peace;" war crimes, such as mistreatment of prisoners; and "crimes against humanity," which included what later would come to be called "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing." Göring was indicted on all four counts. Richard Sonnenfeldt: Göring was very businesslike. He was not visibly upset. He still radiated this feeling this is nothing but a charade but a show, a victory of the victors. Some of the others were shocked, but Göring showed no obvious sign of shock at all. Robert Jackson, opening speech: "The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilization can not tolerate their being ignored, because it can not survive their being repeated." Narrator: On November 21, the packed courtroom in Nuremberg fell silent as Robert Jackson opened the case against the Nazis with a speech of nearly four-hours. Robert Jackson: "That four great nations flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgement of the law is one of the most significant tributes that power has ever paid to reason." John Barrett: The power of it was immediate and enormous. The defendants were sort of knocked back in the box and were very depressed lot as they returned to their lunch room in the middle of it and to their cells at the end of the day, because this was really their first experience of Jackson in action in the courtroom and in a new way they understood that they were up against it. Narrator: "My spine throbbed," William Shirer of CBS News noted, "as Jackson used the power of language to build up his masterly case against the Nazi barbarism. We have heard today one of the great trial addresses of history." The next day, prosecutors began introducing evidence contained in the stacks of documents now filling several store rooms in the Palace of Justice. They cited the darkest and most incriminating of the thousands of orders issued by the Nazis. The process was tedious. Jackson feared the trial would get bogged down. Each document had to be read in its entirety and translated into four languages. John Barrett: Jackson is sitting there through it and the tribunal's requirement about how the documents have to be read before they can be accepted into evidence, the delay caused by the translation system is a kind of numbing that he is experiencing too. He is quickly persuaded that other types of evidence, particularly film evidence should be played sooner rather than later as a way of dramatizing and pumping up the proceedings a little bit. Narrator: One day early in the trial, Jackson projected a film made from clips of German propaganda. It showed how the Nazis had systematically violated treaties, rearmed Germany, and attacked neighboring countries with the criminal intent to subjugate and pillage them. When the lights came up, Göring was ecstatic: "They don't have to show films to prove that we rearmed for war," he boasted, "Of course we rearmed! I rearmed Germany until we bristled!" The film had been so rousing, Göring declared, that prosecutor Jackson would now surely want to join the Nazi party. Göring's mood was noticeably different when another film was shown as evidence of crimes against humanity." Original sound (archival): "Dachau -- factory of horrors. Dachau near Munchen, one of the oldest of the Nazi prison camps. The Nazis said it was a prison for political dissenters, habitual criminals, and religious enthusiasts. This is the Brausebad, the shower bath. Inside the shower bath: the gas vents. On the ceiling: the dummy shower heads. Cyanide powder was used. This was Bergen-Belsen." Walter Cronkite, Journalist: As soon as the defendants saw the pictures, the film of the concentration camps, they began to wither. As a matter of fact several of them cried. They weren't crying, I don't think, for the Jewish people that were lost. They were crying because they knew that, when those pictures were seen in the world they had no way to escape execution. Narrator: One member of the prosecution team who had urged Jackson to use films was Thomas Dodd. An experienced lawyer from Connecticut, Dodd was a former FBI man with a flair for the dramatic. What he had learned while preparing for the trials horrified him. Senator Christopher Dodd, Son: The inhumanity just stunned him. My father talked a lot, the lessons of it. He felt very strongly that we ought to be well informed as a generation of what can happen, and well educated, sophisticated people, when things go wrong and people can do things they never could think about doing and they did, and he wanted us to be very conscious of that. Narrator: On December 13, Dodd presented shocking evidence of Nazi crimes against humanity. Thomas Dodd (archival): "The Nazi conspirators were generally meticulous record keepers, but the records which they kept about concentration camps appeared to have been quite incomplete. Perhaps the character of the records resulted from the indifference which the Nazis felt for the lives of their victims, but occasionally we find a death book or a set of index cards" Narrator: As Dodd spoke, all eyes were riveted on a small table covered with a white sheet that he'd placed in the front of the room. Dodd (archival): "For the most part, nevertheless, the victims apparently faded into an unrecorded death." Narrator: Finally the shroud was lifted. Dodd (archival): "This exhibit which is on the table is a human head with its skull bone removed, shrunken, stuffed and preserved. The Nazis had one of their many victims decapitated after having him hanged apparently for fraternizing with a German woman." Narrator: The shrunken head had been used as a paperweight by the commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp. The courtroom was aghast. Dodd: When we are talking statistics nobody pays much attention, but if I can show you one person who gets murdered you're more apt to pay attention to that. And my father by boiling this stuff down to in that particular case, one of the atrocities, one individual. If I talked about thousands who lost their lives in Buchenwald, your eyes might glaze over. I hold this up in my hand and say 稚his is what happened, even for a seasoned judge it's hard to ignore that. Narrator: One of the biggest challenges for Jackson and his team was linking individual defendants to Nazi crimes. "It would be relieving to hear one of them admit some blame for something," Dodd wrote to his wife. "They blame everything on the dead or the missing." Zeroing in on Nazi leaders, the prosecution called General Erwin Lahousen, an officer in the German intelligence unit who'd participated in a key meeting with Hitler to plot the invasion of Poland. Audio archive of Lahousen interrogation: "Do you also see Keitel in the courtroom?" "Ja, er ist neben Ribbentrop." "Yes, he is next to Ribbentrop." "Now to the best of your knowledge and recollection, will you please explain what took place at this conference in the Fuehrer's train?" Narrator: Lahousen recalled a meeting in September 1939 when the destruction of Warsaw was planned. Hitler and Göring called for the German air force to bomb the Polish capital on the heels of the invasion. Lahousen's testimony connected Göring explicitly to the launching of a war of aggression -- a crime against peace. Narrator: Jackson's team then began to lay out its case that Göring had committed crimes against humanity over the course of a decade. In September 1935, the organized persecution of Jews in Germany intensified with Göring's proclamation of the "Nuremberg Laws." Göring, (archival): Eheschlieﾟungen zwischen Juden und staatsangehigen deutschen oder artverwandten Blutes sind verboten!" Translation Marriages of Jews and persons of German or German-related blood are prohibited!" Werner H. Von Rosenstiel, U.S. Army Investigator: Göring did many many things that nobody else would dare do because he was an enormous power in Germany. Göring made also the decision that I say who is Jewish. Narrator: Prosecutors described how Hitler and Göring began excluding Jews from the economic activity of Germany, driving many out of the country, stripping them of their belongings. Narrator: On November 9, 1938 -- Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass -- raging mobs burned synagogues across Germany. Over 8,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed, and at least 91 Jews killed. Narrator: Following Kristallnacht, Hitler made Göring the coordinator for the "the Jewish question." He disallowed insurance claims by Jews who'd lost property to arson and looting. The victims themselves must pay for the damages, he declared. Arno Hamburger: The Jews had to pay for the value that was destroyed. They had to pay one billion Reichsmark in order to atone for their sins for having permitted those values to be destroyed. That was Göring's order. Narrator: The most damning evidence against Göring was a document from July 1941 authorizing the "final solution of the Jewish question" -- the systematic murder of all European Jews. Richard Sonnenfeldt, Interpreter: We said to Göring: 'Did you issue this and did you sign it?' And he said: 'How do you expect me to know anything about a little old document out of Wurzburg?' And we said: 'well, it happens to have your name on it. Narrator: On January 3, 1946, prosecutors called S.S. officer Dieter Wisliceny to the stand. Wisliceny described how - in the wake of Göring's order -- he had helped to organize the deportation of Jews to extermination camps. Prosecutor Smith Brookhart, questioning: "What became of the Jews to whom you already referred, the approximately 450.000?" "They were all brought to Auschwitz and were part of the final solution." "You mean they were killed?" "Yes, except about 25 to 30 percent, that were used for labor purposes." Narrator: Göring was infuriated that his countrymen had testified against him. "It is sickening," he raged, "to see how Germans sell their souls to the enemy." During the first two months of 1946, French, British, and Soviet prosecutors added to the case the Americans had laid out. Then, in March, the defense phase of the trial began. Göring was called to the stand by his German defense attorney on the 13. Jackson feared that the judges wouldn't rein Göring in, giving him a stage from which to defend and glorify Nazism. Walter Cronkite: He was arrogant, considerably arrogant. There was no attempt to placate the courtroom. He was telling his story his way, and of course in telling the story he was justifying what had happened as best he could. Pretty hard to justify that, but he was skipping over the worst, and defending the need for the Third Reich at the time it came. G&oml;ring, testimony (translation): "Me personally, and I can only speak for myself, did everything, that was within the limits of my power, to strengthen und enlarge the national socialist movement, and worked relentlessly, to bring it into power, meaning the sole and unlimited power." Narrator: Göring testified on his own behalf-that he'd only been serving the best interests of Germany, that all his actions had been to protect his homeland. For five days, he held the courtroom in thrall. Jackson knew he needed to regain control. John Barrett: Jackson is not very worried about carrying his burden of proof on the crimes charged. He doesn't need confessions from Hermann Göring. They have an extensive documentary record including many things Göring had signed. But Jackson is very concerned about not letting Göring rally the German people to a renewed enthusiasm for Nazism. With hindsight I think that was greatly exaggerated, it wasn't the danger that they thought, the German people were not poised to fight again or somehow elevate Herman Göring as a future leader. It was a depressed, beaten, desperate, starving country without a government, is really what the situation was outside the courtroom.But in the courtroom they didn't fully understand that. They had an exaggerated sense of the danger, politically, that Göring posed as a witness. 59 Narrator: The Palace of Justice was jam-packed when, on March 18, Robert Jackson began his cross-examination. Jackson, cross-examining G&oml;ring: "I want to get what's necessary to run the kind of a system that you set up in Germany and concentration camps was one of the things you found immediately necessary upon coming to power, was it not? And you set them up as a matter of necessity as you saw it?" G&oml;ring (translation): "You asked me if I considered it necessary to establish concentration camps immediately in order to eliminate opposition. That is correct." Whitney Harris: As Jackson pressed him Göring saw what was going on and he became very wordy and evasive. His answers were long explanations. He would say well, you do the same thing in the United States, in Great Britain and so forth, and there is no difference and so forth. Archival footage of trial Jackson, question: "But all of these things were necessary things, as I understood you, to protect...?" Göring, answer (translation): "Yes, these things were necessary because of the opponents that existed." Jackson, question: "I assume that is the only kind of government that you think can function in Germany under present conditions?" Göring, answer (translation): "Under the conditions existing at the time, it was, in my opinion, the only possible form, and it also demonstrated that Germany could be raised in a short time from the depths of misery, poverty, and unemployment to relative prosperity." John Barrett: The press, like Jackson himself, has a sort of prize fight mentality about the event that they were watching. They expected another knockout, a crushing blow, a collapse, a confession, something of that dramatic order. Instead what they saw was a great lawyer running into a great powerful and brilliant witness and a combative examination that was something of a draw whenever they tried to talk about the great topics of the ultimate questions. Archival footage of trial Jackson, question: "Let's omit that, I haven't asked for that. If you will just answer my questions we shall save a great deal of time. You did prohibit all court review and considered it necessary to prohibit court review of the causes for taking people into what you called protective custody? That is right, isn't it?" Göring, answer (translation): "That I answered very clearly, but I should like to make an explanation in connection with my answer ..." Whitney Harris: Justice Jackson then sought the help of Chief Justice Lawrence in restricting Göring to making direct answers to Jackson's questions. Jackson (archival) "The difficulty is: the tribunal looses control of these proceedings, if the defendant in a case of this kind, where we all know that propaganda is one of the purposes of the defendant, is permitted to put his propaganda in, and then we have to meet it afterwards." Whitney Harris: Unfortunately it happened Lord Lawrence, who was the Chief Judge, sensitive to history itself elected to allow Göring pretty much unlimited freedom in his responses. Narrator: "Göring obviously enjoyed himself" a reporter for Life Magazine wrote. A judge observed that "Göring quickly saw the elements of the situation, and as his confidence grew, his mastery became more apparent. Jackson looks beaten and dead tired." The first day of cross-examination ended triumphantly for Göring. He had answered the chief prosecutor's questions calmly and directly, and the tribunal had allowed him to launch into several self-serving orations. Jackson was furious. But as the second and third days of cross-examination unfolded, Jackson gradually gained the upper hand as, point by point, he listed Göring's crimes, and verified each with evidence. Whitney Harris: When we got Göring into the matter of the specific crimes that he committed such as the persecution of the Jews, well, then he collapsed, then he collapsed. He was a done witness, I'll tell you, because we had him so devastated on the Jewish issue that he had nothing so say. Archival footage of trial Jackson, question: "You, Hermann Göring, published a decree, imposing a fine of a billion marks for atonement on all Jews?" Göring (translation): "I have already explained that all these decrees at that time were signed by me and I assume responsibility for them." Jackson: "It was you, was it not, who signed a decree to make the plans for a complete solution of the Jewish question. That document is signed by you, is it not?" Göring: "That is correct." John Barrett: Göring then leaves the stand not the next Fuehrer, which had been Jackson's fear, and he leaves the stand convicted by his own admissions, which was Jackson's immediate objective. So, with a sort of sober endpoint assessment an observer, I think, could understand that this had not been a good day, a good series of days for Göring. Narrator: Over the next four months, most of the other Nazi leaders testified in their own defense. Some claimed they had merely been following orders; a few admitted responsibility for crimes. The defense finally rested on July 25, 1946. The next day, Robert Jackson delivered his long-anticipated closing argument. Jackson's Closing Speech "Mr. President and members of the tribunal. It is impossible in summation to do more than outline with full strokes the vitals of this trial's mad and melancholy record, which will live as a historical text of the twentieth century's shame and depravity. It is against such a background that these defendants now ask this tribunal to say, that they are not guilty of planning, executing or conspiring to commit this long list of crimes and wrongs. They stand before the record of this tribunal as bloodstained Gloucester stood by the body of his slain king. He begged of the widow, as they beg of you: 痴ay I slew them not!' And the queen replied: 稚hen say they were not slain, but dead they are.' If you were to say of these men that they are not guilty it would be as true to say, that there has been no war, that there are no slain, that there has been no crime." Narrator: On September 2, after 216 days in court, the international tribunal retired to deliberate the fate of the accused. Four weeks later, the defendants were brought up to the courtroom for the last time. The overflow crowd hushed in anticipation as Lord Lawrence read out the judgements the tribunal had reached. Verdict being read: "Defendant Hermann Wilhelm Göring, on the counts of the indictment on which you have been convicted the International Military tribunal sentences you to death by hanging. Defendant Rudolf Hëss, on the counts of the indictment ..." Narrator: Göring and ten others were to hang. Seven defendants received prison sentences. Three were acquitted. Göring's wife and daughter were allowed a final visit. Emmy Göring believed that they would never hang her husband but intern him on an island, like Napoleon. Göring demanded a firing squad -- an execution, he thought, more befitting his rank. "They will not hang me", he vowed. His request was denied. At 10:45 p.m. on October 15 -- two hours before Göring was to hang -- a guard noticed him put an arm to his face and begin to choke. He had managed to get hold of a capsule of potassium cyanide. Within a few minutes the Nazi warlord was dead. "I decided to take my own life," Hermann Göring had confided in a letter to his wife, "lest I be executed in so terrible a fashion by my enemies". Narrator: His body was taken secretly to Munich and burned. His ashes scattered in a local river. Over the next two and a half years the courtroom in Nuremberg saw twelve more trials of another 184 Nazi officials, including physicians, judges, bankers and industrialists. Twenty-four were sentenced to death. Robert Jackson returned to the U.S. Supreme Court after the first trial, where he served until his death in 1954. He was never appointed chief justice. Jackson's hope that an international system of justice would deter war crimes and crimes against humanity has yet to be realized. But Nuremberg did establish an important precedent: those responsible for atrocities -- even heads of state -- could be brought to trial. And if the hand of vengeance were stayed, justice could prevail over evil.
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correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	61	https://www.britannica.com/video/180249/Overview-Nurnberg-trials	en	Examining the Nuremberg Trials for Nazi War Criminals	https://cdn.britannica.c…nberg-trials.jpg	https://cdn.britannica.c…nberg-trials.jpg	[ "https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel/eb-logo/MendelNewThistleLogo.png", "https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel/eb-logo/MendelNewThistleLogo.png", "https://cdn.britannica.com/49/180249-138-22915E2F/Overview-Nurnberg-trials.jpg", "https://cdn.britannica.com/49/180249-138-22915E2F/Overview-Nurnberg-trials.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/27/180227-138-3812F06D/Overview-SS-Heinrich-Himmler.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/65/22965-138-F923E9DF/Adolf-Hitler-campaign-power-terror-National-Socialists-1933.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/82/22982-138-6E4B4E81/soldiers-military-face-to-face-The-Second-World-War.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/16/180216-138-44995BAD/Overview-Weimar-Republic-demise.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/17/180217-138-D2D47FFD/Overview-rise-power-Adolf-Hitler.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/36/180236-138-43213780/Overview-concentration-camp-Auschwitz.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/21/180221-138-A575A133/Overview-Hitler-Youth.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop", "https://cdn.britannica.com/69/180269-138-4EC26BEC/Overview-trials-Auschwitz-West-Germany-Frankfurt-am.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" ]	[ "//content.jwplatform.com/videos/4JOsDx0F-myOwFRCT.mp4" ]	[]	[ "britannica", "reference", "online", "encyclopedia", "encyclopaedia", "store", "dictionary", "thesaurus" ]	null	[]	null	Learn about the Nürnberg (Nuremberg) trials, held by the International Military Tribunal after World War II to try former leaders of Nazi Germany for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.	en	/favicon.png	Encyclopedia Britannica	https://www.britannica.com/video/180249/Overview-Nurnberg-trials	Transcript NARRATOR: Nuremburg, November, 1945 - The ceremonial birthplace of the Nazi party is in ruins. Now it is the showplace of an international tribunal against the crimes of the Nazi regime. Twenty-four major war criminals are put on trial. Barely anyone admits his guilt, let alone claims to have known about the crimes. The Allied military tribunal and the American chief prosecutor want to showcase the injustice of the Nazis. The accusation: crimes against humanity. ROBERT JACKSON: "The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored." NARRATOR: Few symbolize the crimes of the regime like Hermann Göring – Hitler's second in command. He is responsible for waging wars of aggression and constructing the first concentration camp. But he shows no remorse. HERMANN GORING: "In the sense of these charges, not guilty." WHITNEY HARRIS: "Because here was the leader of the group of defendants and here was the man who was going to defend Hitler, Hitlerism, Nazism, the whole debacle." GORING: "I have never expressed my agreement that one race should be designated as master over another." NARRATOR: A harrowing moment in the trial - the Soviet counsel presents film footage of the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp. RICHARD SONNENFELDT: "The effect of this film was terrible. It was terrible on everybody in the courtroom. Some openly wept, averted their faces, refused to see them. And when the lights came on, Göring said in a loud voice, 'Well, this is just a piece of propaganda like Goebbels could have made.'" NARRATOR: Only one shows remorse: Albert Speer, Hitler's architect and Minister of Armaments. But he denies his own guilt. Not even his involvement in the use of concentration camp prisoners and forced laborers. GITTA SERENY: "He sensed his worst and saddest guilt in his endorsement of the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews. But, of course, if he had said this in Nuremberg, he would have been hanged." NARRATOR: After almost a year of proceedings, the judgments. For Hermann Göring, General Keitel and 10 other defendants: death by hanging. Hitler's Deputy Leader Rudolf Hess receives life imprisonment. The judges pronounce a milder sentence on Albert Speer: 20 years imprisonment. In 1966 he is free. Hermann Göring eludes conviction by committing suicide. Many collaborators and accomplices of the Nazi regime will never go to trial. But the Allied powers show the world that such crimes against humanity will not be condoned.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	0	4	https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/25/berlin-nazi-past-adolf-hitler	en	From the buried bunker, Hitler’s ghost still haunts Berlin’s psyche, 70 years on	https://i.guim.co.uk/img…d165fa80b715760f	https://i.guim.co.uk/img…d165fa80b715760f	[ "https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&cs_ucfr=0&comscorekw=Adolf+Hitler%2CGermany%2CWorld+news%2CEurope%2CHolocaust%2CSecond+world+war", "https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/4/24/1429908730842/A-bust-of-Adolf-Hitler-li-009.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none", "https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/4/24/1429908863446/98c7c2c2-1c33-4328-a9c7-9cb81e9d5856-2060x1236.jpeg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Andrew Anthony", "www.theguardian.com" ]	2015-04-25T00:00:00	As the anniversary of the Nazi leader’s death approaches, there is a divide between the wish to avoid the shameful past and a need to acknowledge it	en	https://assets.guim.co.u…e-touch-icon.svg	the Guardian	https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/25/berlin-nazi-past-adolf-hitler	Berlin is the capital of Europe’s economic powerhouse, a vibrant city with a rich cultural life and a palpable sense of growing confidence. But if its future looks brighter than in generations, it also has an awful lot of dark history weighing on its civic conscience. This Thursday marks the 70th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s death but, like his birthday last Monday, it will understandably go unmarked. For many years the spot where he killed himself was also unmarked. The past can be an unwanted presence in Berlin. It is, after all, only 25 years since a huge concrete wall separated east from west and communism from capitalism. At first, in an effort to reunify the divided city, the site of the demolished wall was so comprehensively built over that it was hard to know it had been there. Tourists became so baffled that a cobblestone outline was laid down in the centre of town to show where the wall had stood. Today there are also a couple of preserved sections of the wall, a Checkpoint Charlie display, a dedicated museum and even kitsch celebrations of the infamous East German car, the Trabant. After a period of determined “moving on”, the German capital has grown more at ease with the past that it was in such a rush to escape. But less so in the case of the past that originally led to the city’s division – the Nazi era. There are few surviving buildings or monuments to testify to the period in which Berlin was the Nazi capital, when it was to become Welthauptstadt Germania – an Albert Speer-designed world capital of a massively expanded German nation. The Olympic stadium, site of the 1936 Games, still exists, the disused Tempelhof airport and, most notably, the forbidding former ministry of aviation from which Hermann Göring boasted of dominating the European skies. It is now the home of the ministry of finance, which many believe dominates Europe in a far more effective manner than the Luftwaffe could ever have done. The rest of Nazi Berlin was buried at the end of the war by a mixture of RAF and US bombing and Red Army artillery. The memory of what it had been was further interred on both sides of the wall by a concerted effort to wipe out the legend of the man who continues to cast his ominous shadow over Berlin: Hitler. On 30 April 1945, with the Red Army only streets away, Hitler killed himself in the Führerbunker beneath the Reich Chancellery in the city centre. His body was then taken out into the open, doused in petrol and set alight in a bomb crater. No one is sure what happened to his remains, although the Soviets believed that they had taken possession of them and kept them hidden in secret. But like some cursed relic, they were deemed too dangerous to conserve and in 1970 the Soviets had them dug up, incinerated and the ashes thrown into a river. The Führerbunker itself was blown up and built over. But when the Berlin Wall was dismantled, it was discovered that much of the bombproof structure was still intact and it was reburied all over again. Today it sits beneath the car park of a grey pebble-dash apartment block built during the East German era. Until nine years ago, there was no sign that identified its location, although interest in the place had been greatly increased by the film Downfall (Der Untergang), which depicted Hitler’s demented last days. The film proved to be a psychological breakthrough for Germans because it showed Hitler as a human being, albeit one riven by delusion, psychopathic rage and megalomaniacal dreams of violence. When in 2006 Germany hosted the World Cup, there was concern that visiting football fans would go in search of the bunker and disturb local residents. So a discreet board was placed in the car park informing visitors of the history beneath their feet. A couple of hundred yards from the spot is Peter Eisenman’s haunting memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. For all the Nazis’ brutality as an invading force, it is the industrial genocide perpetrated on six million Jews that singles Hitler out as uniquely evil. As a result Hitler and the Nazis have come to occupy the extreme end of the moral spectrum, the immoral end. If you want to make a point about where racism, nationalism, militarism, flag-waving or almost any dubious behaviour might lead, you need only cite the Nazis. In fact there is a rule governing internet debate known as Godwin’s law that states: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.” It’s as if all wrong paths lead to Auschwitz. That can be a paralysing thought and in many ways it has inhibited Berlin’s and Germany’s ability to take stock of the past. Living under the injunction never to forget hasn’t necessarily led Germans to remember more clearly. And the blurriest of issues remains why they allowed Hitler to do what he did. There are whole libraries of books devoted to the subject, each applying different degrees of responsibility and knowledge. The historian Michael Stürmer made his reputation by arguing that Germans needed to develop a positive view of their history. He says: “Germans knew and they didn’t know. The idea that all Germans knew what was going on is absurd, but there were no Germans who could not see people with the yellow star and should have asked themselves, ‘Where are they being sent to? Why are the trains coming back empty?’” He agrees that for a long time after the war Germans suppressed the truth, partly through shame, partly because many members of the Nazi state had been redeployed in the state apparatus of both West and East Germany, and partly because the division of the country enabled each side to blame the other for the Nazis. To the communists, Nazism sprang out of capitalism, and to the democrats of the west it was the totalitarian twin of Stalinism. “It was not so much that people openly lied,” says Stürmer. “But between not lying and speaking the horrible truth there was a vast gap.” Soon though, no one who was an active Nazi will be alive and direct responsibility will cease to be a live moral issue but solely a vexed academic one. The current trial of Oskar Gröning, an SS guard at Auschwitz, is probably the last of its kind. Once again it unearths horrific details that few have the appetite to take in. At Berlin’s beautiful main synagogue, restored after severe wartime damage, Rabbi Daniel Alter says he often hears his fellow Germans say: “I don’t want to have to deal with that any more”, meaning the Holocaust and its legacy. “There is a very widespread wish to avoid the topic unless you are an author who can make some money out of it.” Before the war there were 170,000 Jewish Berliners. Fifty-five thousand of them lost their lives in the Holocaust and most of the rest fled abroad. By the 1980s the affiliated Jewish community was down to 3,800, but an influx of Russian Jews since 1990 has taken the numbers up to 10,500, although there could be significantly more who are non-affiliated. Alter, whose father survived Auschwitz and whose grandparents died in the Holocaust, says it has been a struggle to identify himself as German but, having sought help for his “personal traumas”, he has come to terms with his nationality. That said, he would leave tomorrow if he felt the position of Jews was under increased threat. The security checks and metal detectors that are standard at Jewish institutions and schools are things he has learned to live with. What frustrates him is a lack of openness about the past. “I’m 55 and I’ve never met someone who was an adult in the 1930s and 1940s who said, ‘I was a Nazi and made a mistake’ or even ‘I was a Nazi and don’t regret it’. No, they all had no knowledge, were against it, their parents were in the Socialist party, they hid a Jew in the attic. I’ve never met anyone who had the courage to say, ‘I believed in it.’ If there is not an admission of guilt, then you can’t forgive.” History can exert a tenacious hold on even the most reluctant captives, but Berlin has slowly established a normalised identity at the heart of Europe. More secure in its future, it can also be more open about its past. There are strong rumours of plans to make the Führerbunker accessible to the public. The fear has been that the site could be used to glorify him, but what is there to glorify? Hitler went to his death vowing to destroy Germany. It would be a measure of his failure if a secure Germany is now able to expose where that pathetic death took place. THE FINAL DAYS Hitler, presiding over a rapidly disintegrating Third Reich, retreats to his Führerbunker in Berlin on 16 January 1945. As Soviet forces converge on Berlin on 22 April, Hitler suffers a nervous collapse after being told that forces led by SS General Felix Steiner will not rescue Berlin. By 27 April, Berlin is cut off from the rest of Germany. Hitler receives reports that Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the SS, has offered to surrender to the western allies. On 29 April, Hitler marries Eva Braun in a civil ceremony held in the Führerbunker. Later that day Hitler, sceptical about the potency of the cyanide capsules he has received from the SS, tests one on his dog, Blondi, which dies. At 1am on 30 April Hitler is informed by officers that all forces he had been hoping would come to the rescue of Berlin had either been encircled or forced onto the defensive. Later on 30 April Hitler commits suicide, shooting himself in the mouth. Braun takes a fatal overdose of cyanide. Hitler’s remains, as he had requested, are doused in petrol and set alight in the Reich Chancellery garden outside. On the morning of 1 May, Stalin is informed of Hitler’s suicide, but three days pass before his body is found. Germany officially surrenders on 7 May in the French city of Reims. Fighting ends at 11.01pm on 8 May, which is declared VE Day.
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He had escaped the disgrace of the “rope” and left this world on his terms. The defendant, known in the Third Reich as “Nazi No 2”, aspired to be “Number One” at the Nuremberg Trials. He was the only defendant who openly fought the International Military Tribunal, giving no quarter and never repenting for a moment. Göring was strikingly different from the other defendants, whom he despised for their "softness", "betrayal of ideals", "cowardice" and "treason against the fatherland". He was indeed a true Enemy, a personified Evil - and the prosecution had to fight him in a long, exhausting battle. Göring was a unique opponent. Despite his hatred, everyone around the proud “Nazi No 2” at Nuremberg 1945-46 recognised his bravery, steadfastness, and tough uncompromising character as a combat officer, an ace pilot. His behaviour at the trials was a chronicle of a diving bomber, right down to the ramming in the final act.	en	/i/favicons/apple-touch-icon.png	Nuremberg. Casus pacis	https://en.nuremberg.media/affiants/20211016/279215/Herman-Gring-Never-Taken-Alive.html	‘Martyr’ In his final statement at the trials, Hermann Göring said: “The victor will always be the judge and the vanquished the accused… I do not recognise the judgment of this court... I am glad that I have been sentenced to execution... because those who are sentenced to life imprisonment never become martyrs.” His conduct at the process at first had the understandable purpose of getting off with prison. Then he realised that he would certainly not get away with it. He greeted the verdict with bravado: “Capital punishment means nothing to me. I stopped being afraid of punishment when I was twelve years old.” In a suicide letter from 10 October 1946 to Churchill, he wrote: “You think that you have arranged things cleverly by throwing this historical truth on the dissecting table for the legal sophistries of a handful of ambitious juridical subordinates, and allowing it to be turned into a dialectal treatise of paragraph-quibbling, although you as a Briton and a statesman know all too well that, by such means, the vital problems of the peoples could not in the past be solved or judged, and that they will not be so solved in the future. I have a too-well-founded opinion of your strength and of the cunning of your intelligence for me to think you capable of believing the vulgar catchwords which you sustain the war against us and seek to glorify your victory over us in a circus-like spectacle.” Göring was worried but still felt fit. Failed Hope Most likely, he was driven by...ambition. Once he and no one else could be called "Nazi No 2". Then Reichsminister Hess, Reichsführer Himmler, Reichsleiter Bormann, even Reichspropagandist Goebbels began to claim this accolade... Now three of them were dead, and Hess had lost face before, due to his ill-fated solo trip to the UK. But most importantly, there was no more Hitler. Which meant... ...It meant that at the historic International Military Tribunal, at the main Nuremberg Trials, he, Reichsmarshal Göring, was finally no longer Number 2. He was automatically elevated to Nazi Number One. As the trials went on, Göring's tactics were perhaps the most fascinating spectacle. He would mock the charges, then outright lie, then provoke the participants in the session. He was playing his part on the great stage of history - so it seemed to him. However, the end was simple and mundane. On the day of the announcement of the verdict, they spoke first about the others, and after the lunch break, at 2:50 p.m., they finally said: “The International Military Tribunal sentences you to death by hanging.” The judge added: “The guilt of this man is unprecedented and the crimes are so monstrous that there can be no justification.” The last words were delivered, the letters written. Churchill did not reply. All that was left was to become a martyr. Göring would have had the guts to go to the gallows for such a prospect. But perhaps he was indeed morally broken. He had ceased to believe in his impending martyrdom. Or perhaps his pride prompted him to take a different path - to get there first and do it his own way, not to fall into the hands of the victors. The “Nuremberg: Casus Pacis” project has previously published a biographical sketch of Nazi No 2 (link). Let us recall the main milestones of Göring's journey – from a brave heroic aviator to a “downed pilot”. Young Veteran In 1914, the twenty-year-old infantryman Hermann Göring demanded to be transferred to aviation. In the air squadron he became a mechanic, an observer, and within a year was promoted to reconnaissance pilot, then a bomber pilot and finally a fighter pilot. He was a truly fearless young man. He shot down 22 enemy planes. The holder of three orders, he rose to the rank of a commander of a fighter squadron and became a captain. After the war, he stayed on as an aviator, performing demonstration flights, went to university and married Carin von Kantzow, whom he took by storm from her Swedish husband. He was tall (178 cm was considered tall at the time), unquestionably handsome, charming, courageous and ambitious... His life could have turned out very differently. Brother-in-Arms In 1922, he met Hitler in Munich, and immediately believed in him. But there was another circumstance - Karin believed in Hitler. She became almost more of a Nazi than Göring. The Führer badly needed war heroes in his party. Göring was the most brilliant of them all. Hitler immediately appointed him the supreme leader of the Storm Units – Ernst Röhm and Göring would hate each other forever. And it was Göring who turned these gangs into a semblance of an army and imposed discipline. On 9 November 1923, he took part in the “Beer Hall Putsch”, marched hand in hand with Hitler, and was seriously wounded. His wife took him abroad for treatment. He recovered, but after that, he began to gain weight rapidly... He was eager to go to Germany, but the flustered Führer asked him to refrain and “keep himself for National Socialism”. While Hitler was in prison, Carin visited him and received confirmation – Göring remained his main and closest brother-in-arms. No. 2 In 1927, he returned to Germany. His party career went like clockwork. As a war hero and ace pilot, he was a standard-bearer, even if his outward attractiveness suffered from the extra kilos. It was he who became President of the Reichstag and dismissed von Papen's government, clearing Hitler's path to power. It was he who created the secret state police, the Gestapo, and was the first to head it. It was he who initiated the Night of the Long Knives and rid Hitler of the Storm Units and himself of Röhm. In 1935, he achieved a unique position in the Reich: he was declared a hero and Hitler's closest ally on several occasions and was given immunity and unlimited rights. He wanted to become the Reichsforstermeister – the country's forester – and so he did. He wanted to be a general – and jumped to the rank of captain. He became a field marshal of aviation and headed the Luftwaffe. And in June 1941, he was officially appointed Hitler's successor in case of his death or other misfortune. On 30 July 1941 Göring signed a document on the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question”, providing for the extermination of some 20 million people. And then Hitler began to doubt Göring: the latter was increasingly showing his second nature. ‘Pocket Money’ A curious excerpt from Goering's interrogation: Where did you get the cash money from? I was the second man in the country and always provided with money in abundance. I signed the allowance myself. And this is the same way you received foreign funds, foreign exchange? Yes. I myself was the final authority on this. Did it have any correct procedure or were there any records made about it at all? All that was needed – permission, but in my case, that was not even a question. If you were travelling abroad and needed a large amount of currency, how did you get it? I have never needed for too much money. If I was planning a trip abroad, I would calculate how much money I would need and then ask for the currency. How did you get money before the war? Like any private person who went abroad. I carried the cash needed in the first few days in my pocket, and for the rest, I got a letter of credit. How did you pay for the purchase of the paintings? Always in cash. What is your yearly income? As Reichsmarshal I received 20,000 marks a month, as Commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe I received 3,600 marks a month, tax deducted. As President of the Reichstag – 1600 marks. Furthermore, there were royalties for my literary works. The income from my books is about 1 million marks. Did your lifestyle cost more than these sums? Some of my expenses were covered by other funds; my residences in Berlin and Carinhall were financed by the state. A Lifestyle and Its Cost Göring's “executive flat” was built 60 km from Berlin by two architects: Werner March, who also designed Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, and Friedrich Hetzelt, who designed the Gestapo building in Prinz-Albert-Straße. The main country residence of Nazi No 2 was called “Carinhall”, in honour of his wife (when Carin died in 1931, her ashes were buried in a magnificent mausoleum on the grounds of the manor). The result was somewhere between a palace and a castle. Located nearby, there were hunting grounds in the Schorfheide Forest and two lakes, the Grossdöllner and Wuckersee. There were magnificent seven-metre high gates made of expensive stone, a gym, a menagerie, even a Russian bath. And in the attic and basement – a toy railway. After the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, Göring celebrated his birthday by playing “trains” with his guests. On a whim, he would fly to Paris - often alone. Of course, a squadron of fighter jets accompanied him. He also had his own museum. He did not buy paintings: masterpieces of world art were seized as “trophies” from conquered cities. Most of all Göring liked statues, especially lions. In 1945, he attempted to hide his collection in a mine or in tunnels near Hitler's residence, where he also had another "house", but failed. Those responsible for the delivery stole the valuable cargo, and individual works of art would “resurface” over the decades. Did the purchases of paintings not exceed your income? I had other sources of income... Not only did the Göring family enjoy lions in the form of statues, but they also kept seven domesticated 'feline' carnivores, and the pets would occasionally roam freely in the house. A lioness named Bubi escaped from the estate in May 1945 and continued to scare people in the forest where she lived and hunted for a long time. In short, Hitler said it best... about Carinhall. “My Berghof (the Führer's not-at-all small or cheap estate in the Bavarian Alps - author's note) certainly can't be compared with this. Perhaps, it could become a garden lodge here?” The Führer began to ponder, as he looked at all this luxury. Other Sources of Income If one were to ask any German at the time which company in Germany was the most important, the richest and the most powerful, he would answer without a doubt: Reichswerke Hermann Göring. This gigantic financial-industrial corporation was created at Göring’s initiative. It was established using state funds; the goal was to merge into a single cycle the production of steel, from iron ore mining to military production. German bankers and industrial bosses tried to resist, but Göring had an effective tool readily available for resolving economic disputes – the Gestapo. After a week of telephone tapping, the author of the “German economic miracle”, Hjalmar Schacht, resigned and the steel tycoons were nailed. Incidentally, the organisation that technically controlled the radio and telephone networks in the Reich was called the “Hermann Göring Research Institute”. Once industrialists and financiers had trusted Schacht's entreaties, Hitler's speeches, Göring's charms and invested in Nazism in the hope of consolidating the position of their enterprises and assets. Now they were subjected to the planned economy, their profits were limited to a maximum of 6 percent, and the Anschluss of Austria added another interesting detail: German banks and private investors owned many Austrian enterprises, but now it all went to the Reichswerke Hermann Göring. The same thing happened with the industrial property in other occupied countries – Skoda factories in Czechoslovakia, Renault in France... By the end of 1941, Reichswerke Hermann Göring had a capitalisation of 2.4 billion marks and it was the largest industrial conglomerate in Europe. However, Göring did not own this corporation. He chose the status of “trustee for the German state”, receiving dividends as manager and observer. Naturally, the corporation exploited the slave labour of concentration camp prisoners and “displaced persons” deported from all over Europe. The Stahlwerke Braunschweig plant employed 10,000 slaves and the mining operation – 47,000. Göring's corporation kept growing, devouring new shipbuilding, construction, steel, iron-cast and transport facilities. The most accurate definition of Hermann Göring's position under the Nazi regime is that of the chief beneficiary. And the chief corruptor. The Untouchable The cooling on Hitler's part towards the favourite coincided with the outbreak of war with the Soviet Union. In 1941, sensible strategists and economists had the darkest forebodings about the outcome and consequences of the campaign; in 1942, Hitler began to push Göring away from real power. The influence and power of Nazi No 2 narrowed considerably with the appointment of the architect Albert Speer as Reichsminister of Armaments and War Production. Göring took a sharp dislike to Speer and actively opposed him, and it was to this staunch opponent that he said at the end of 1942: “We shall yet rejoice if after this war Germany maintains its 1933 borders.” At the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, Göring had to give Hitler his word that he would provide provisions, ammunition and medical supplies to the surrounded units by air. However, this was no longer possible. Soviet soldiers won the field war; the war on the home front was lost by the German economy. And the Soviet Pokryshkins and Kozhedubs became the masters of the air. It was still impossible to touch Göring, although he was clearly losing ground and gradually stopped even appearing in Berlin. At his pompous estate, he divided his leisure time between hunting, bathing, toy trains, a wine cellar and... Morphine in unlimited quantities. In order to bring Göring before the International Military Tribunal, the Allies had to treat him for this drug addiction. It resulted in polarised mood swings, outbursts of rage and prolonged apathy. He became addicted to morphine after the “Beer Hall Putsch”, when he was seriously wounded, resulting in inflammation in the groin and other unpleasant consequences. Since then, he always had a supply of pills and ampoules with him. He progressed to the point of an almost complete breakdown of his personality, accompanied by eccentric provocations. He painted his nails and lips. He ordered new outfits from tailors almost every day, such as red boots with gold spurs, blue trousers with stripes, overcoats with fox and beaver collars, white coats with blue and red lapels... Albert Speer recalled: “I still remember being struck by his red, polished nails and powdered face. By then I had gotten used to the fact that his green brocade gown always had a huge brooch on it.” The Third Reich's claim to have inherited Ancient Rome was also evident at this almost-caricature level: Göring fully embodied the image of a debauched Roman patrician during the decline of the empire. A curious detail: albeit ruthless and indifferent to the outside world, Nazi No 2 was an excellent family man. His marriage to his second wife was certainly a happy one. He married the actress Emmy Sonnemann in 1935, and she unofficially became First Lady of the Third Reich. His daughter Edda idolised her father. Not only that, he saved his brother Albert from arrest many times - who in turn saved several dozen Jews from death, which was no secret to Nazi No 2. He was almost forgotten. And suddenly, on 23 April 1945, Hitler, who had just called everybody around him cowards and traitors and who had decided to remain in Berlin to the very end, received a radiogram: “My Führer! In view of your decision to remain in Berlin, do you agree that I should immediately assume as your successor according to the law of 29 June 1941; the general leadership of the Reich with full freedom of action at home and abroad? If I do not receive a reply by 10 p.m., I shall take it as confirmation that you have no freedom of action and that the conditions demanded in your decree are in place, and I shall act for the good of our country and our people. You know how I feel about you in this most difficult hour of my life. I am unable to put it into words. May God protect you and bring you here quickly, no matter what. Your ever devoted Göring”. Hitler regarded this defiant ultimatum as proof of his treacherous intention to seize power. On the same day, Göring was arrested on charges of high treason and on 29 April Hitler stripped him of his ranks, decorations and posts and expelled him from the party. He was on the way to being put before a firing squad. However, Göring’s personal pilots freed him, and a week later, he was in Allied hands, and they had to take care of his health. However, in the end, he had time to give the final order to blow up Carinhall. On 8 May, he proudly went to meet an American lieutenant and identified himself. He introduced himself: “Lieutenant Shapiro”. Göring sighed heavily: “Of course, a Jew”. The Final Battle The prison psychologist Gustave Gilbert and the psychiatrist Douglas Kelley recorded in detail Göring's behaviour at the Nuremberg trials, his reactions, and communication patterns with other defendants. Kelley, as it later became clear, was unable to resist the charisma of his patient. He became the messenger between Göring and his wife and daughter, delivering their letters, and was staggered by the contrast: the deep tenderness of the family man Göring, and the utter callousness and lack of remorse of Goring the Reichsmarschall. Subsequently, Kelley was never freed from the charms of his chief patient, and would commit suicide. Gustave Gilbert, in The Nuremberg Diary, recorded his regular conversations with Göring as well as his observations. According to him, Nazi Number 2 differed significantly from the other figures: he was characterised by consistency and an integrity of views, which he was adamantly unwilling to reconsider. His IQ was an impressive 138. “He reacted with keen interest to the challenge of an intelligence test, and by the end of the first subtest (memory-span), he was acting like a bright and egotistical schoolboy, anxious to show off before the teacher. He chuckled with glee as I showed surprise at his accomplishment in the increasingly difficult digit series. He slapped his thighs and pounded his bed impatiently when he failed on 9 forward and 7 backward, and pleaded for a third and a fourth try at it. ‘Oh, come on, give me another crack at it; I can do it!’ When he finally succeeded, to my expressed amazement, he could hardly contain his joy, and swelled with pride. This pattern of rapport was maintained throughout the entire test, the examiner encouraging him with remarks of how few people are able to do the next problem, and Göring responding like a show-off schoolboy. Göring was given to understand that he had the highest rating so far. He decided the American psychologists really had something there. ‘The method is good—much better than the stuff our psychologists were fooling around with’.” He considered the films shown at the trial about Nazi atrocities to be propaganda forgeries. He defiantly took off his headphones so as not to listen to the testimony. In prison, he tried to take a leadership position over the rest of the defendants, scheming on walks and at dinner, creating small situational coalitions, and in the end, turned even the most loyal ones against him – it came down to a boycott. He used remnants of influence, down to intimidation, to create a general line of opposition to the court. He provoked the judges with defiant, cynical “gallows humour” and impertinent remarks from the bench. He became enraged at sessions, accusing those confessed of criminal acts of complicity in treason. Paradoxically he remained loyal to Hitler, stating that his suicide was not an act of cowardice and weakness but of fortitude and heroism (“I do not exonerate him, but the oath I swore to him will endure both bad and good times. (...) After all, he was the Führer of the German Reich. And it is absolutely inconceivable to me to imagine Hitler in a prison cell like this, awaiting his trial as a war criminal, to be judged by foreign judges. Even if he hated me just before the end, it does not change anything. He was a symbol of Germany. No matter how hard it may be for me, I am prepared to take it all on myself just to avoid seeing a living Hitler on trial, no, no, such a thing is completely unthinkable to me.”) Commenting on the potential outcome of the process and the behaviour of his "colleagues", he boasted of the bravery of a doomed man: “How could one do such a cowardly thing just to save his own rotten neck from the noose! To think a German would do such a cowardly thing for a few years of miserable life, for the sake of spending a few more years eating bread to make shit, pardon my frankness! Do you think I would do such a thing to prolong my life? I don't give a shit whether I'm going to be hanged, drowned, die in a plane crash, or drink myself to death! But there must be some idea of honour in this bloody world! (...) I don't give a damn what the enemy does to us, but I do feel bad when I see how the Germans betray each other!” Göring pushed his agenda to the very end, refusing to give in, even to the smallest detail, and refusing to accept the irrefutable facts. Gustave Gilbert wrote: “In our conversations in his cell, Göring tried to give the impression of a jovial realist who had played for big stakes and lost, and was taking it all like a good sport. Any question of guilt was adequately covered by his cynical attitude toward the ‘justice of the victors’. He had abundant rationalisations for the conduct of the war, his alleged ignorance of the atrocities, the ‘guilt’ of the Allies, and a ready humour which was always calculated to give the impression that such an amiable character could have meant no harm. Nevertheless, he could not conceal a pathological egotism and inability to stand anything but flattery and admiration for his leadership, while freely expressing scorn for other Nazi leaders”. “The night before the executions, Göring asked the chaplain for the rites of the Last Supper and the blessing of the Lutheran Church. Chaplain Gerecke, sensing another theatrical gesture, declined to administer the rites, telling Göring that since he had never shown the slightest sign of repentance, he would not put on a show for someone who did not usually mean it. The next night, when Goering showed that he had intended to make a mockery of the Last Supper by committing suicide right after it, the chaplain realised how right he was about Göring. So did I. – For Göring died as he had lived, a psychopath trying to make a mockery of all human values and to distract attention from his guilt by a dramatic gesture.” The Last Night The date and time of the execution were kept a closely guarded secret from everyone, including those sentenced. However, apparently, someone in the know was talkative. The execution was scheduled for 2:00 a.m. on 16 October 1946. On 15 October, Commandant of the Nuremberg Prison Colonel Burton C. Andrus informed the sentenced prisoners that their petitions for clemency had been rejected. At 9:30 pm, the prison doctor, Dr. Ludwig Pflücker, accompanied by Lieutenant McLinden, a member of the prison guard, came to see Göring, who was held in cell number 5. McLinden did not understand what Pflücker and Goering were talking about, as he did not speak German. Pflücker handed the prisoner a sleeping pill, which he took in the presence of McLinden and the doctor. After the announcement of the judgment, all the prisoners were monitored with great care and constant checks were carried out. The observers recorded that Göring was lying on his back, not moving, with his hands over the blanket (prisoners were required to exercise discipline in this matter as well). In the records of the military investigation, the guard Bingham testified: “When I looked into the cell I saw that Göring was lying in bed on his back, wearing boots, trousers and a jacket and holding a book. He had been lying motionless for about fifteen minutes, and then he began to move his hands restlessly and put his right hand to his forehead, rubbing it.” The guard Johnson replaced him on the duty: “It was precisely 22 hours and 44 minutes, as I looked at my watch at that moment. After about two or three minutes he (Göring) seemed to go numb and a strangled sigh escaped his lips.” When the doctor and an officer arrived, Göring was already dead. They found shards of glass in his mouth and an envelope by his bedside. It contained a letter to his second wife, Emma, an address to the German people, and a note to Commandant Andrus. “Nuremberg, 11 October 1946 To the Commandant Since my imprisonment, I have always kept the poison capsule on my person. I had three capsules when I was committed to prison in Mondorf. The first one I left in my clothing, so that it would be found in the search. The second I left under the coatstand while undressing and took it again when I dressed. I hid this in Mondorf and here in the cell so well that, in spite of the frequent and very thorough searches, it could not be found. During the trial, I kept it in my high riding boots. The third capsule is still in my little toilet case in the round container of skin cream (hidden in the cream). I had two opportunities to take the capsule in Mondorf, had I needed it. No one in charge of the searches was at fault, since it was almost impossible to find the capsule. It would have been purely by chance. Hermann Göring PS: Doctor Gilbert told me that the Control Council rejected the change in the manner of execution to death by firing squad”. It is still unknown whether Göring wrote the truth or not. From time to time, sensational new information would break the world, such as that Lieutenant Jack Willis, who had the keys to the prison storage room, had allowed Göring to enter and take the poison stored there, in return for his watch and other items. In February 2005, Herbert Lee Stivers, a 78-year-old former American guard, said that he had met a German girl named Mona while serving in Nuremberg prison, twice handed notes from her to Göring and on the third time he passed ’medicine’, and that she hid all of the “deliveries” in a fountain pen. The corpse of Göring was cremated along with the bodies of the other executed, and the ashes were scattered in the wind. The letter was, of course, given to his wife. “An appeal to the German people” lies somewhere in the American archives.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	56	https://lynn-library.libguides.com/djc300a/indictments_defendents	en	Library at Lynn University	https://d2jv02qf7xgjwx.c…avicon-32x32.png	https://d2jv02qf7xgjwx.c…avicon-32x32.png	[ "https://libapps.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/9/include/lynn_logo_white.svg", "https://media.credoreference.com/bridgemannew2013/310528.jpg", "https://media.credoreference.com/bridgemannew2013/290758.jpg", "https://media.credoreference.com/worldcrims/frankhans.gif", "https://media.credoreference.com/worldcrims/frickwilhelm.gif", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Hans_Fritzsche.jpg/220px-Hans_Fritzsche.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Walther_Funk_-_Reich_Minister_of_Economy.jpg/220px-Walther_Funk_-_Reich_Minister_of_Economy.jpg ", "https://media.credoreference.com/ebconcise2017/11413-004-d9ffda51.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1987-0313-507%2C_Rudolf_Hess.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1987-0313-507%2C_Rudolf_Hess.jpg", "https://media.credoreference.com/worldcrims/jodlalfred.gif", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/War_criminal%2C_SS_Lieutenant_General_Ernst_Kaltenbrunner.jpg/220px-War_criminal%2C_SS_Lieutenant_General_Ernst_Kaltenbrunner.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H30220%2C_Wilhelm_Keitel.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H30220%2C_Wilhelm_Keitel.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Gustav_Krupp_von_Bohlen_und_Halbach_in_1915.jpg/220px-Gustav_Krupp_von_Bohlen_und_Halbach_in_1915.jpg", "https://media.credoreference.com/bridgemannew2013/310514.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Bundesarchiv_N_1310_Bild-135%2C_Konstantin_von_Neurath.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_N_1310_Bild-135%2C_Konstantin_von_Neurath.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1988-0113-500%2C_Franz_v._Papen_%28cropped%29%282%29.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1988-0113-500%2C_Franz_v._Papen_%28cropped%29%282%29.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1980-128-63%2C_Erich_Raeder.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1980-128-63%2C_Erich_Raeder.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H04810%2C_Joachim_von_Ribbentrop.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H04810%2C_Joachim_von_Ribbentrop.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1969-067-10%2C_Alfred_Rosenberg.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1969-067-10%2C_Alfred_Rosenberg.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Fritz_Sauckel2.jpg/220px-Fritz_Sauckel2.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Hjalmar_Schacht.jpg/220px-Hjalmar_Schacht.jpg", "https://media.credoreference.com/bridgemannew2013/290694.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Arthur_Seyss-Inquart.jpg/220px-Arthur_Seyss-Inquart.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146II-277%2C_Albert_Speer.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146II-277%2C_Albert_Speer.jpg", "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1997-011-24%2C_Julius_Streicher.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1997-011-24%2C_Julius_Streicher.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Jared Wellman" ]	null	Library: DJCG-300 The Nuremberg Trials: Indictments & Defendants	en	//d2jv02qf7xgjwx.cloudfront.net/apps/common/favicon/apple-touch-icon.png		https://lynn-library.libguides.com/djc300a/indictments_defendents	Martin Bormann Tried in absentia (not present in the courtroom, but still prosecuted). Hess's Chief of Staff (1933-41). Head of party chancellery. Bormann controlled all legislation, party promotions and appointments, and the personal access of others to Hitler. He disappeared shortly after Hitler’s death. German authorities officially declared him dead after exhuming his presumed remains in 1972. Bormann was sentenced in absentia. Karl Donitz Intelligence Quotient (IQ): 138 Donitz oversaw the creation of the German U-boat fleet in the 1930s, thus violating the Treaty of Versailles. As the fleet’s commander, he conducted the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II, then served as commander in chief of the navy (1943–45). He succeeded Adolf Hitler as Germany’s leader in the last few days of the war and executed Germany’s surrender to the Allies. Convicted of war crimes at the Nürnberg trials, he served 10 years in prison. Died in 1981. Hermann Goring Intelligence Quotient (IQ): 138 Held numerous posts, established the Gestapo & head of the German air force (Luftwaffe). Göring held numerous posts, including minister of the interior in Prussia, where he established the Gestapo. He also became head of the German air force (Luftwaffe) and minister of economic affairs. After the Luftwaffe failed to win the Battle of Britain, Göring lost face and semiretired to his country estate, where he displayed the vast art collection he had confiscated from Jews in occupied countries. In 1946 he was condemned to death at the Nürnberg trials but committed suicide by taking a poison capsule. Rudolf Hess Intelligence Quotient (IQ): 120 Hess wounded as a fighter pilot in World War I, was a devoted and able colleague of Adolf Hitler from the early days of the Nazi Party and was designated third in succession to him in 1939. In 1941, without any authorization from Hitler, a person calling himself Rudolf Hess parachuted himself into Scotland in order to negotiate peace between Britain and Germany through the Duke of Hamilton, whom he claimed to know. The British made him a prisoner of war and he was sentenced to life imprisonment at the postwar Nuremberg trial. The Russians affected to believe that he wanted a peace with the west because Hitler was about to move east. This Rudolf Hess died, allegedly by his own hand, in Spandau prison. It is uncertain, perhaps unlikely, that he was the real Hess. His chief British interrogator had doubts and he lacked the disfiguring and indelible wound scars which the real Hess had acquired in World War I.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	0	54	http://historyscoper.com/time199x.html	en	1999) Historyscope, by T.L. 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"http://historyscoper.com/images/londoneye.jpg", "http://historyscoper.com/images/atlantathrasherslogo.jpg", "http://historyscoper.com/images/philipsarena.jpg", "http://historyscoper.com/images/aircanadacentre.jpg", "http://historyscoper.com/images/lpfield.jpg", "http://historyscoper.com/images/staplescenter.jpg", "http://historyscoper.com/images/raleighentertainmentandsportsarena.jpg", "http://historyscoper.com/images/emb314supertucano.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "T.L. Winslow", "TLW", "Great Track of Time", "Historyscope", "1990s", "20th century" ]	null	[]	null	TLW's 1990s (1990-1999 C.E.) Historyscope				null	TLW's 1990s Historyscope 1990-1999 C.E. © Copyright by T.L. Winslow. All Rights Reserved. 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 The 1990s (1990-1999 C.E.) Well, we're leaving, and remember, no itchy and scratchy? The 1990s, Does It Bring a Flood of Memories to Ya Ninetiesmaniacs? The last decade of the Second Millennium is caught with an open container as the Age of Modernism (begun after the French Revolution) ends, and the Age of Postmodernism (Sin is In) (Isaiah 5:20) begins, and not only are all consenting adult lifestyles to be accepted as equally valid, but it can get you thrown in jail to criticize and hurt somebody's feelings, where a PC judge will be waiting to do you, as My Way American Baby Boomers begin ruling the country, creating a PC Regime, while their coddled but numerically challenged kids reach adulthood suffering from a "Generation X" identity crisis, not having the power to make waves like their parents, but feeding on postmodernist views so they can still call them ignorant prejudiced bastards? Maybe the feeling that they don't fill their parents' shoes is why they wear baggy clothes? Millennium Fever is now having its greatest effect over the most people ever? No wonder godless scientific Communism crumbles like toast as its people pull the rug from under its feet? Not that envy of the opulent, interesting lifestyle of Westerners as seen on MTV doesn't help? The kaput Soviet Union fractures into an alphabet soup of new country leaders, later called the Crazy Nineties? In Africa Nelson Mandela is freed after 27 years, while Hutu and Tutsi go ape in Rwanda-Burundi? The decade when Saddam Hussein has his day? A good decade for women in U.S. politics, especially Jewish women? The good ole days of rock and roll fade away into the sunset with phony commercialized acts? Hitler's birthday gets celebrated in sick macabre acts of violence? Country Leader From To United States of America George Herbert Walker Bush (1924-) Jan. 20, 1989 Jan. 20, 1993 United Kingdom Margaret Hilda Thatcher (1925-2013) May 4, 1979 Nov. 28, 1990 United Kingdom Queen Elizabeth II (1926-) Feb. 6, 1952 Soviet Union Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (1931-2022) Mar. 11, 1985 Dec. 25, 1991 People's Republic of China Jiang Zemin (1926-) June 24, 1989 Nov. 15, 2002 Canada Martin Brian Mulroney (1939-) Sept. 17, 1984 June 25, 1993 France Francois Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (1916-96) May 21, 1981 May 17, 1995 West Germany Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (1930-) Oct. 1, 1982 Oct. 27, 1998 Spain King Juan Carlos I (1938-) Nov. 22, 1975 June 19, 2014 Mexico Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1948-) Dec. 1, 1988 Nov. 30, 1994 Egypt Hosni Mubarak (1928-) Oct. 14, 1981 Feb. 11, 2011 Israel Yitzhak Shamir (1915-2012) Oct. 20, 1986 July 13, 1992 Iraq Saddam Hussein (1937-2006) July 16, 1979 Apr. 9, 2003 Kuwait Sheikh Jaber III al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah (1926-2006) Dec. 31, 1977 Jan. 15, 2006 Papacy John Paul II (1920-2005) Oct. 16, 1978 Apr. 2, 2005 U.N. Javier Perez de Cuellar y de la Guerra of Peru (1920-) Jan. 1, 1982 Dec. 31, 1991 1990 - The Prisoner #466 Nelson Mandela Year? Good year for people named Morris and countries named Stan? 1990 Doomsday Clock: 10 min. to midnight. Chinese Year: Horse (Jan. 27) (lunar year 4688). Time Mag. Man of the Year: George Herbert Walker Bush (1924-). The Twenty-First (21st) (1990) U.S. Census reports the total pop. as 248,718,301 (9.8% increase) (70.6 per sq. mi.); white pop. 83.9%; birth/death rate per thousand 16.6/8.6; legal immigration 1981-1990 7,338,062 (1,090,924 in 1989, 1,536,483 in 1990); Hispanics overtake blacks in Tex. to become the largest minority group. Beginning this year the U.S. Fat Boom Generation begins to be born, with avg. body fat jumping from 4% for the previous gen. to 30%, setting them on schedule to become the first U.S. gen. that is outlived by their parents. The U.S. supports 3K different religious belief systems; pop.: Protestant: 79.3M, Catholic: 57M, agnostic: 21.7M (N. America), Buddhist: 7.5M, Jewish: 5.9M, Muslim: 4.6M, Mormon: 4.2M, Native Am. (peyote users): .5M, Hindu: .75M, Sikh: .25M, Quaker: .2M, Bahai: .1M, Unification Church: 30K; atheist: 1.2M (est.). Muslim immigrants to the U.S. are less than 5% of new immigrants; too bad, between 1992-2010 1.7M Muslims immigrate, with the U.S. State Dept. wilfully blinding itself by not asking religious affiliation of refugees while relaxing the enforcement of visa limits, allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to run an insidious program to prepare for future Muslim takeover. U.S. traffic fatalities are 44,599, and begin to slide for the next 20 years (until 2005), with a decrease each year from 1985-2004. In this decade Cool Britannia (pun on "Rule, Britannia") sees British pop music acts resurrect the 1960s British Invasion, with acts incl. the Spice Girls, Blur, Oasis, and Pulp. Early in this decade Caltrans (Calif. Dept. of Transportation) begins mounting Illegal Immigrant Family Crossing Signs along I-5 near the Mexican border, designed by John Hood. In this decade U.S. corps. begin relaxing dress codes; by 1999 51% of corps. employing over 5K workers allow casual attire. China begins dominating the world production of rare earth elements. The Great Syrian Drought begins (ends 2012), becoming the worst in 9 cents. This year annual global CO2 emissions are 22.4B tons, rising to 35.8B in 2013 (60%). The Grunge (Seattle Sound) movement in U.S. music becomes big in the first half of this decade, groups incl. Nirvana and Pearl Jam, causing the Britpop reaction in the U.K., groups incl. Suede, Blur, and the Boo Radleys. In this decade the use of the term "globalization" (first used in English in 1930) takes off. On Jan. 1 Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022) is named Time mag.'s Man of the Decade for the 1980s. On Jan. 1 USC defeats Michigan by 17-10 to win the 1990 Rose Bowl. On Jan. 1 David Norman Dinkins (1927-) is sworn-in as New York City's first black mayor (#106) (until Dec. 31, 1993). On Jan. 2 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. ends the day above 2,800 for the first time (2,810.15). On Jan. 2 Yugoslavia introduces new economic measures to combat inflation, then on Jan. 23 the Yugoslavian Commnist League (YCL) votes to relinquish the party's political monopoly, while the Slovenian delegation demands greater autonomy for all the repubs., and on Feb. 4 the Slovenian Communist League declares itself independent from the YCL. On Jan. 2-Mar. 9 the 1990 Mongolian Rev. peacefully overthrows the Socialist Mongolian People's Repub. (founded Nov. 26, 1924) in favor of a market economy and multi-party system. On Jan. 3 ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrenders to U.S. forces 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican's diplomatic mission; on Jan. 4 he is arraigned in federal district court in Miami on drug trafficking charges; on Jan. 5 Pres. Bush tells a news conference that the U.S. has a strong case against him and that he is convinced he will receive a fair trial - the CIA agents who helped him do the trafficking receive no trial? On Jan. 4 a train collision in Sangi Village in Sindh Province, Pakistan kills 210+ and injures 700, becoming Pakistan's worst train wreck (until ?). On Jan. 5 Hungary's parliament adopts a resolution calling for withdrawal of Soviet troops by the end of 1991; on Mar. 10 the Soviet Union agrees, and finishes the withdrawal by June 19, 1991. On Jan. 6 U.S. defense secy. Dick Cheney tells CNN that the U.S. invasion of Panama should not be viewed as a new "Bush doctrine" inclined toward military intervention in countries where dem. elections have been subverted - wait till his son becomes pres.? On Jan. 7 El Salvador pres. (1989-94) Alfredo Cristiani (1948-) admits in a nationally broadcast address that military men 2 mo. earlier had massacred six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter. On Jan. 8 military tribunals in Romania began trials of the country's dreaded security forces who are accused of resisting the rev. that toppled Nicolae Ceausescu. On Jan. 9 Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on a 10-day mission. On Jan. 10 the NCAA approves random drug testing for college football players. On Jan. 10 Kessai Hesa Note (1950-) becomes the first commoner pres. of the Marshall Islands (until Jan. 7, 2008) - I'm king of Bikini Atoll? On Jan. 10 Chinese PM Li Peng lifts Beijing's 7-mo.-old martial law and says that by crushing pro-democracy protests the army has saved China from "the abyss of misery". On Jan. 11 Soviet Pres. Mikhail S. Gorbachev visits Lithuania, where he assures supporters of independence that they will have a say in their republic's future - yes, or yes? On Jan. 12 astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia retrieve an 11-ton floating science lab in a rescue mission that keeps it from plunging to Earth. On Jan. 12 civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton is stabbed in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. On Jan. 16 two Bank of Credit and Commerce (BCCI) members plead guilty to money laundering. On Jan. 16 the Soviet Union sends 11K reinforcements to the Caucasus to halt a civil war between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. On Jan. 17 a federal judge in Miami sets Mar. 1990 for the trial of ex-Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega on drug trafficking charges. On Jan. 18 in an FBI sting at the Vista Hotel in Washington, D.C., the city's mayor #2 (since Jan. 2, 1979) (Dem.) Marion Shepilov Barry Jr. (1936-2014) is arrested for drug possession; he is later convicted of a misdemeanor after his June trial shows fuzzy 90-min. videotapes of him making sexual advances toward longtime model friend Rasheeda Moore (working for the police) in Room 727, arguing with her about whether to smoke crack, then lighting and smoking the pipe himself, after which the feds rush in and bust him, causing him to exclaim "I got tricked... Bitch set me up"; she testifies that she used drugs with him 100x+ in 1986-9. On Jan. 18 a jury in Los Angeles acquits former preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother Peggy McMartin Buckey of 52 child molestation charges. On Jan. 19 Elias Zayek, leader of the Christian Phalange party of Lebanon is shot and killed in Byblos by Samir Geagea, leader of the of the Lebanese Forces militia. On Jan. 20 the Space Shuttle Columbia returns from its 11-day mission. On Jan. 20 Azerbaijani attacks on Armenians trigger the Soviets, led by Russian Lt. Gen. Alexander Ivanovich Lebed (1950-2002) to attack the nationalist Azeri Popular Front in Baku, leaving dozens dead and wounded; on Jan. 21 Pres. Aliyev makes his first public appearance since his 1987 resignation from the Soviet Politburo and urges internat. condemnation of the Soviet attack; on Jan. 21 in the Soviet Repub. of Azerbaijan mutinous military cadets fire on troops patrolling the capital during a crackdown on a nationalist uprising; on Jan 22 up to 2M Azerbaijanis march through Baku to mourn those killed. On Jan. 22 there is a Human Chain across the Ukraine to support independence; on July 16 Verkhovna Rada adopts a resolution proclaiming Ukraine's sovereignty. On Jan. 22 a jury in Syracuse, N.Y. convicts graduate student Robert Tappan Morris (1965-) of federal computer tampering charges for unleashing an Internet worm. On Jan. 23 the Hungarian Dem. Forum calls for an investigation of the Hungarian secret service. On Jan. 23 in Oregon Keith Hunter Jesperson (1955-) begins his 8-murder career as the "Happy Face" serial killer with the sexual assault and murder of Taunja Bennett. On Jan. 24 the U.S. House votes 390-25 to override Pres. Bush's veto of legislation protecting Chinese students from deportation; Bush prevails in a Senate vote on Jan. 25. On Jan. 25 former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is transferred to a Miami federal jail; on Jan. 26 his attys. challenge the jurisdiction of U.S. courts to try him, claiming that he should be declared a POW - and sent to Gitmo? On Jan. 25 an Avianca Boeing 707 runs out of fuel and crashes in Cove Neck, N.Y., killing 73 of 161 aboard. On Jan. 27 in Romania four top associates of executed dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu go on trial for abetting genocide. On Jan. 29 Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero (1943-) of the Nat. Party of Honduras (PNH) becomes pres. of Honduras (until Jan. 27, 1994), going on to open the economy to foreign investment. On Jan. 28 Super Bowl XXIV (24) ("Massacre Bowl") is held in New Orleans, La.; the San Francisco 49ers (NFC) blow out the totally lame Denver Donkeys (Broncos) (AFC) 55-10 in the most lopsided SB win ever, giving the 49ers their 4th SB title and leaving the hapless Broncos 0-4 in Super Bowls; MVP 49ers QB Joe Montana completes 22 of 29 passes for 297 yards and a record 5 TDs; as Jerry Rice crosses the goal line for the 3rd time he raises his arm in a magic moment that summarizes the game. On Jan. 28 Hillary Clinton gives a speech that calls black gangbangers "super predators", with "no conscience, no empathy", which is later used to hound her. On Jan. 29 former Exxon Valdez skipper Joseph Hazelwood goes on trial in Anchorage, Alaska on charges stemming from the nation's worst oil spill; he is later acquitted of the major charges and convicted of a misdemeanor; his ship is prohibited from entering Prince William Sound, and renamed the "Sea River Mediterranean". On Jan. 30 a federal judge orders former Pres. Reagan to provide excerpts of his personal diaries to former nat. security advisor John Marian Poindexter (1936-) for his Iran-Contra trial (the highest-ranking Reagan admin. member to be implicated in the scandal); he later reverses himself, deciding that the material is not essential; on Feb. 16 Reagan begins two days of videotaped depositions in Los Angeles, which is released on Feb. 22, in which he says that he didn't have "any inkling" that his aides were secretly arming the Nicaraguan Contras; on Mar. 8 opening arguments are heard in the trial, and on Mar. 9 former White House aide Oliver North testifies; on Apr. 7 after claiming 184 "lapses of memory", Poindexter is convicted of five counts, and on June 11 sentenced to 6 mo. in priz for making false statements to Congress about the Iran-Contra Affair; in 1991 the convictions are overturned on a technicality. On Jan. 31 McDonald's Corp. opens its first "Golden Arches" fast food restaurant in Moscow, serving a record 30K+ - Communism's days are numbered? In Jan. Mt. Redoubt erupts again in Alaska, sending baseball-sized pieces of pumice more than 20 mi. from the cone. In Jan. in Albania demonstrations at Shkodra force authorities to declare a state of emergency. In Jan. Georgia peach Deborah Norville (1958-) replaces Jane Pauley as co-host of NBC's The Today Show, causing mass defections to rival ABC's Good Morning America as she is dissed as a "breakfast blonde", "the other woman", and "home wrecker", and only lasts until next year, leaving in Feb. 1991 when she gets pregnant. On Feb. 1 East German Communist PM Hans Modrow (1928-) appeals for negotiations with West Germany to forge a "united fatherland". On Feb. 2 South African Pres. F.W. de Klerk lifts a ban on the African Nat. Congress (ANC), and promises to free 71-y.-o. ANC leader Nelson Rolihlahla "Madiba" Mandela (1918-2013), which is done on Feb. 11 after 27 years in captivity; he emerges in a famous triumphal walk - four more years? On Feb. 3 the parliament of Bulgaria elects Jewish economist Andrei Karlov Lukanov (1938-96) to replace a hardline Communist, becoming Bulgaria's last Communist PM (until Dec. 7), going on to face corruption, civil unrest incl. protests and strikes, and a huge consumer goods deficit. On Feb. 4 nine people are killed as guerrillas attack a bus carrying Israeli tourists near Cairo, Egypt. On Feb. 4 cheering protesters throng Moscow streets to demand that the Communists surrender their stranglehold on power. On Feb. 4 Cisco Systems goes public. On Feb. 5 Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev tells the Communist Party it has to earn the right to rule instead of taking it for granted as an unchallenged right; on Feb. 6 Soviet Communist Party leaders decide to extend a 2-day party session for another day amid controversy over Gorbachev's proposals to revamp the country's political structure, and on Feb. 7 the Communist Party agrees to let other political parties compete for control of the country, giving up its monopoly on power - those McDonald's hamburgers and fries are starting to work? On Feb. 7 the American Trader, an 811-ft. tanker spills 400K gal. of Alaskan crude off the coast of Huntington Beach, Calif. On Feb. 7 police kill 22 anti-nationalist demonstrators in Karachi, Pakistan. On Feb. 8 CBS-TV suspends 60 Minutes curmudgeonly commentator Andy Rooney (1919-2011) for 3 mo. without pay for anti-gay and anti-black remarks, incl. a Dec. 28 CBS special in which he cited homosexual unions as one of a list of things causing "self-induced" death, a statement in an interview in the gay mag. The Advocate to the effect that blacks had "watered down their genes", and a letter to them in which he said he finds male homosexual acts "repugnant"; after the NAACP backs him, his suspension is lifted in time for the Mar. 5 show. On Feb. 9 John Gotti (1940-2002) is acquitted of charges that he commissioned the Irish Westies gang to shoot a union official in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen (W. 51st St. and 10th Ave.), earning him the nickname "the Teflon Don". On Feb. 9 Perrier Group of America, Inc. (named after a French physician who died in 1912) announces that it is voluntarily recalling its inventory of 160M bottles of mineral water in the U.S. after tests show the presence of carcinogenic benzene in a small number of bottles because they forgot to change the filters in the factory. On Feb. 9 the Galileo satellite flies by Venus. On Feb. 11 the Soviets launch the Soyuz TM-9 spacecraft, carrying cosmonauts Anatoly Yakovlevich Solovyev (1948-) and Alexander Nikolayevich Balandin (1952-), which docks with Mir then returns on Aug. 9; meanwhile on Aug. 1 Soyuz TM-10 blasts off carrying cosmonauts Gennadi Mikhailovich Manakov (1950-) and Gennady Mikhailovich Strekalov (1940-2004), which docks with Mir then returns on Dec. 10 after Soyuz TM-11 blasts off on Dec. 2 carrying Viktor Mikhaylovich Afanasyev (1948-), Musa Khiramanovich Manarov (1951-), and reporter Toyohiro Akiyama (1942-) (first Japanese citizen in space), who returns on Soyuz TM-10. On Feb. 12 Pres. Bush rejects Soviet Pres. Gorbachev's new initiative for troop reductions in Europe, but predicts a "major success" on arms control at the upcoming superpower summit in June. On Feb. 12 a riot against Salman Rushdie in Islamabad, Pakistan sees police fire on the mob, killing five and injuring 83. 9/11 minus 11? On Feb. 13 the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany AKA the Two Plus Four Agreement is drafted by the Four Powers that occupied Germany at the end of WWII (U.S., U.K., U.S.S.R., France), renouncing all rights and allowing a unified Germany to become sovereign next year; it is signed in Moscow on Sept. 12, effective next Mar. 15, clearing the way for a united Germany on Oct. 3, when East and West Germany reunify after 45 years, and the burly Berlin Wall officially comes down. On Feb. 13 at a conference in Ottawa, the U.S. and its European allies forge an agreement with the Soviet Union and East Germany on a 2-stage formula to reunite Germany. On Feb. 14 Voyager 1 takes photographs of the entire solar system. On Feb. 14 Indian Airlines Flight 605 crashes on final approach to Bangalore Airport, killing 92. On Feb. 15 Pres. Bush and the leaders of Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru meet in Cartagena, Colombia for a drug-fighting summit - close the windows so we can light up? On Feb. 18 in gen. elections, Japan's conservative governing party holds onto its 34-y.-o. majority in the Parliament's lower house. On Feb. 19 after U.S. defense secy. Dick Cheney is snubbed by Philippine Pres. Corazon Aquino because of the unsettled question of U.S. military bases, he meets in Manila with defense minister Fidel Valdez Ramos and gets more serious about it. On Feb. 19 police kill eight demonstrators calling for a multi-party system in Nepal. On Feb. 20 Pres. Bush welcomes new Czech. Pres. Vaclav Havel to the White House, promising trade rewards for Prague's moves toward democracy; on Feb. 21, addressing the U.S. Congress, Havel says his nation welcomes U.S. help after decades of Soviet domination, but also says Europe should eventually "decide for itself" how long U.S. and Soviet troops should remain. On Feb. 21 the German pop duo Milli Vanilli (Turkish for "positive energy"), a duo composed of black German Rob Pilatus (1965-98) and black Frenchman Fabrice Morvan (1966-) wins a Grammy for Best New Artist; too bad, they are caught lip-synching, revealing that somebody else was doing the singing, and the fit hits the shan, causing the Grammy to be revoked and their albums to be pulled by Arista Records, after which Pilatus dies of an OD in 1998. On Feb. 25 Nicaraguans give an upset V to opponents of the ruling Sandinistas as pro-U.S. Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro (1929-) (widow of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, who was assassinated by Somoza's men in 1978) is elected pres., ousting Communist pres. Daniel Ortega; the Sandinistas are ordered to disarm on Feb. 26; on Mar. 12 U.S. vice-pres. Dan Quayle meets in Santiago, Chile with Ortega, who promises to peacefully relinquish power to her; on Mar. 13 Pres. Bush lifts trade sanctions against Nicaragua in a show of support, and on Apr. 25 she is sworn-in as pres. of Nicaragua (until Jan. 10, 1997), ending 11 years of leftist Sandinista rule, promising to abolish the draft and seek U.S. economic aid; she becomes the first elected govt. head in Latin Am. and 2nd woman pres. in North Am. On Feb. 25 26-y.-o. Terry Schiavo (1963-2005) collapses in her home from a potassium imbalance caused by an eating disorder; oxygen flow to her brain is interrupted for 5 min., causing her to go into a persistent vegetative state; her husband Michael is appointed as her legal guardian - definitely maybe starts Valentine's day? On Feb. 26 the Soviet Union agrees to withdraw all of its 73.5K troops from Czech. by July 1991. On Feb. 27 in Washington v. Harper the U.S. Supremely Nuts Court rules that prison officials can force inmates to take powerful anti-psychotic drugs without a judge's consent. On Feb. 27 Exxon Corp. and Exxon Shipping are indicted on five criminal counts for the oil spill at Valdez, Alaska; on Mar. 12 Exxon pleads guilty and agrees to pay a $100M fine in a $1.1B settlement, plus $5B in punitive damages, which it doesn't pay until ? On Feb. 28 Space Shuttle Atlantis blasts off from Cape Canaveral on a secret mission to place a spy satellite in orbit; it returns on Mar. 4. On Mar. 1 the controversial Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant in N.H. wins federal permission to go online after two decades of protests and legal struggles. In Feb. Benin dictator-pres. Mathiew Kerekou permits a nat. conference to be held, and on Mar. 1 it nullifies the constitution and declares sovereignty, keeping him in office but stripping him of power; on Mar. 12 World Bank economist (pres. #5 since Apr. 4, 1991) Nicephore Dieudonne (Nicéphore Dieudonné) Soglo (1934-) becomes PM, followed by pres. #5 next Apr. 4 (until Apr. 4, 1996); on Dec. 2 a new 1990 Benin Constitution is overwhelmingly approved in a referendum. On Mar. 1 Luis Alberto Lacalle (1941-) is sworn-in as pres. of Uruguay (until Mar. 1, 1995). On Mar. 1 East Germany takes the first step towards privatizing state industries while trying to prevent a wholesale buyout by West Germans. On Mar. 1 Panamanian Pres. Guillermo Endara goes on a hunger strike to protest the planned cutting of U.S. aid. On Mar. 1 Gen. Michel Aoun and his U.S.-made M-48 tanks break through the defenses of rival Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces (Christian) militia in E Beirut as their showdown enters a 2nd month. On Mar. 1 Martin Luther King III (1957-) (son of MLK Jr.) apologizes for saying that "something may be wrong" with homosexuals, saying that he needs to examine his own feelings. On Mar. 1 the FBI recovers a 1611 ed. of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" worth $1M along with five other rare classics that had been stolen from a U. of Penn. library. On Mar. 2 6K+ drivers go on strike against Greyhound Lines; the co. declares an impasse and fires them on Apr. 12, hiring new ones; the strike continues for three years, and Greyhound ends up filing for bankruptcy. On Mar. 2 20-y.-o. 5'11-3/4" Carole Ann-Marie Gist (1969-) of Mich. becomes the first African-Am. Miss USA, crowned at its 39th pageant in Wichita, Kan., then on Apr. 15 becomes runner-up to green-eyed white redhead ("the Beauty Queen from Hell") Mona Grudt (1971-) of Norway in the Miss Universe pageant; the first $10K Quality of Life Award (sponsored by Fruit of the Loom) is awarded by the Miss America Pageant to Michelle Kline of Penn. - now the ratings will tank for sure? On Mar. 3 Pres. Bush sparks controversy by expressing opposition to the settlement of Soviet Jewish refugees in East Jerusalem. On Mar. 4 voters in the Soviet repubs. of Russia, Byelorussia, and the Ukraine participate in local and legislative elections, resulting in notable gains for reformists and nationalists. On Mar. 5 to the cheers of onlookers, workers in Bucharest, Romania finally succeed in removing a 25-ft.-tall, 7-ton bronze Statue of Vladimir Lenin from its foundation. On Mar. 6 the Soviet parliament overwhelmingly approves legislation allowing people to own factories and hire workers for the first time in nearly seven decades. On Mar. 7 U.S. HHS Secy. Louis Sullivan announces that the govt. will propose a more informative food labeling system that requires the disclosure of the fat, fiber and cholesterol content of nearly all packaged foods. On Mar. 8 a pro-independence coalition wins, making dirt-poor Slovenia a repub., and on Dec. 23 a referendum approves it. On Mar. 8 New York City's Copycat Zodiac Killer shoots his first victim, Mario Orosco. On Mar. 9 Puerto Rico-born Dr. Antonia Coello Novello (1944-) is sworn-in as U.S. surgeon gen., succeeding C. Everett Koop and becoming the first woman and first Hispanic to hold the job, also the first lefty. On Mar. 10 Haitian ruler Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril resigns during a popular uprising against his military regime. On Mar. 11 in Chile Gen. Augusto Pinochet gives up power after 16 years, and is replaced as pres. by Patricio Aylwin Azocar (1918-). On Mar. 11 the 124-delegate parliament of Lithuania unanimously votes to break away from the Soviet Union and restore its independence, becoming the first Soviet repub. to do so; Vytautas Landsbergis (1932-), head of the Sajudis reform movement is elected pres. (until Nov. 25, 1992). On Mar. 13 Indian troops leave Sri Lanka. On Mar. 13 the Soviet Congress of People's Deputies approves Gorbachev's proposals for a multiparty political system headed by a more powerful pres., and on Mar. 14 elects Gorbachev to that very post. On Mar. 13 supreme court chief justice Ertha Pascal-Trouillot (1943-) becomes the provisional pres. of Haiti (until Feb. 7, 1991), the first woman pres. of Haiti. On Mar. 14 the U.S., Soviet Union, Britain, France, and West and East Germany hold their first formal meeting on reunifying the German states. On Mar. 15 Iraq executes Iranian-born London-based journalist Farzad Bazoft (b. 1958) as a spy. On Mar. 15 the Israeli govt. of PM Yitzhak Shamir loses a vote of confidence in the Knesset after Shamir refuses to accept a U.S. plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. On Mar. 15 Jiang Zemin of China visits North Korea to meet with Kim Il-sung. On Mar. 16 South African Pres. F.W. de Klerk announces that exiled African Nat. Congress leaders could return home for talks with the white-led govt. Gorby is no Ivan the Terrible? On Mar. 17 Lithuanian pres. Vytautas Landsbergis rejects a deadline set by Moscow for renouncing his republic's independence; on Mar. 19 the Kremlin warns Lithuania against taking over factories, putting up border posts; on Mar. 21 Gorbachev increases pressure on the breakaway repub., ordering its citizens to turn in their guns; on Mar. 24 Soviet military vehicles rumble through the heart of the capital of Vilnius as lawmakers vote to transfer their power to foreign soil if they are attacked or arrested; on Mar. 27 Soviet soldiers begin rounding up Lithuanians who had fled the Red Army after the republic's declaration of independence; on Mar. 31 Gorbachev warns Lithuania to annul its declaration of independence or face "grave consequences"; on Apr. 1 yet more military vehicles rumble through Vilnius. On Mar. 18 (1:24 a.m.) the Gardner Art Heist (biggest art theft until ?) sees robbers dressed as police walk out with 13 blue-chip art works from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Mass., incl. Rembrandt's Storm on the Sea of Galilee, A Lady and Gentleman in Black, Vermeer's The Concert (one of only 35 Vermeers in existence), Manet's Chez Tortoni and five Degas, worth $300M, all from an uninsured museum, becoming the biggest art theft in U.S. history; the case is solved in ?. On Mar. 18 Indian soldiers shoot to death 18 Muslim independence protesters in Kashmir. On Mar. 18 former Mexican Interpol head Miguel Aldana Ibarra is arrested on drug and firearms charges. On Mar. 18 Christian Dems. win a landslide V in the first dem. election held in postwar East Germany. On Mar. 19 Latvia's political opposition claims a V in the first free elections in 50 years, and reformers also claim Vs in crucial runoffs held in Russia, Byelorussia, and Ukraine. On Mar. 19 Margaret Mary Ray (1952-98) of Crawford, Colo., who claims to be the wife of talk show host David Letterman ("nerd amid late TV" scrambled) is arrested for the 6th time since 1988 (when she is found driving his Porsche in N.J.) for breaking into his home, and is convicted on June 1; on Mar. 18 she had been found sleeping in one of his bedrooms; diagnosed with schizophrenia she serves 10 mo. in prison and 14 mo. in a mental institution, escapes on Mar. 31, 1991 and returns to Colo., then commits suicide in 1998 by kneeling in front of a train. On Mar. 20 rock band Depeche Mode holds a record-signing session at the Wherehouse record store in Los Angeles, Calif., drawing 10K fans and sparking a near-riot before the police shut it down. On Mar. 21 Namibia (formerly German South-West Africa) becomes an independent nation, marking the end of 75 years of South African rule and 25 years of guerrilla war; South Africa continues to occupy Walvis Bay for the next four years; on Mar. 21 U.S. secy. of state James A. Baker meets with black nationalist leader Nelson Mandela in Namibia. On Mar. 21 the Wild Lily student democracy movement in Taiwan culminates in a sit-in demonstration by 300K in Memorial Square, Taipei, calling for direct elections; surprisingly, dictator pres. Lee Teng-hui mellows and invites some of them into his pres. office for talks, pledging to support full democracy, causing the date to begin to be annually celebrated; on Mar. 23, 1996 Lee becomes the first democratically elected pres. of Taiwan with 54%. On Mar. 22 a jury in Anchorage, Alaska finds former tanker Capt. Joseph Hazelwood innocent of three major charges in connection with the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, but convicts him of a minor charge of negligent discharge of oil; on Mar. 23 he is sentenced to clean up Prince William Sound and pay $50K in restitution. On Mar. 24 Indian troops leave Sri Lanka. On Mar. 24 the Treaty on Open Skies is signed by 34 nations, providing for overflights of each others' territories for open surveillance purposes, going into effect on Jan. 1, 2002. On Mar. 25 87 people, most of them Honduran and Dominican immigrants are killed when an arson fire races through the illegal Happy Land Social Club in New York City. On Mar. 26 police fire on segregation demonstrators in Sebokeng, South Africa, killing 17 and wounding 380, causing the ANC to abandon talks scheduled with the govt. for Apr. 11. On Mar. 26 the 62nd Academy Awards awards the best picture Oscar for 1989 to Warner Bros.' Driving Miss Daisy, along with best actress to Jessica Tandy; best dir. goes to Oliver Stone for Born on the Fourth of July; best actor goes to Daniel Day-Lewis, and best supporting actress to Brenda Fricker for My Left Foot; best supporting actor goes to Denzel Washington for Glory. On Mar. 27 the U.S. begins test broadcasts of TV Marti to Cuba, which promptly jams the signal; on Aug. 26 Pres. Bush signs a determination that the broadcasts are feasible and won't interfere with domestic TV. On Mar. 28 following an 18-mo. investigation by U.S. and British authorities, British customs officials announce they have foiled an attempt to supply Iraq with 40 U.S.-made devices for triggering nuclear weapons. On Mar. 28 the futuristic sci-fi animation series Futurama debuts on Fox-TV for 140 episodes (switching to Comedy Central in 2008) (until Sept. 4, 2013), produced by Matt Groening, about New York City pizza delivey boy Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically frozen for 1K years and hires on with Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery co. On Mar. 29 Pres. Bush addresses the Nat. Leadership Coalition on AIDS, declaring that his admin. is "on a wartime footing" against the disease, calling for compassion not discrimination toward the infected - judgments of God himself, hmmph? On Mar. 30 Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus vetoes a highly restrictive state abortion measure, saying the bill gives a woman and her family no flexibility in cases of rape and incest. On Mar. 31 hundreds of people are injured in rioting in London over Britain's poll tax. In Mar. 700+ from around the world gather for the First Internat. Ecocity Conference in Berkeley, Calif., calling for banning of chloroflourocarbons, increasing auto fuel efficiency and switching to renewable energy, preserving old-growth forests, minimizing hazardous waste production, stopping population growth, recycling, and green consumerism. In Mar. after masses of Hindus leave Kashmir, Pres. Farooq Abdullah resigns and Indian rule is imposed. In Mar.-Apr. Hungary forms a non-Communist govt., and the center-right Hungarian Dem. Forum wins 60% of parliamentary seats, then on May 23 forms a 3-party coalition govt. with Dr. Jozsef Antall (1932-93) as PM (until Dec. 12, 1993), who begins privatization and attracting foreign investment. On Apr. 1 U.S. Census Day sees most census questions delivered to U.S. citizens in official envelopes. On Apr. 1 CBS-TV fires sportscaster Brent Mussburger (1939-), popular host of "The NFL Today" (began 1973) for having too much power, and he leaves with the parting soundbyte "Folks, I've had the best seat in the house. Thanks for sharing it, I'll see you down the road"; he moves to ABC-TV. On Apr. 1 in Salem, Ore. it becomes illegal to be within 2 ft. of nude dancers - nobody has a tongue that long? On Apr. 4 U.S. secy. of state James A. Baker meets in Washington, D.C. with counterpart Eduard Shevardnadze for three days of talks on the Lithuanian crisis and arms control; on Apr. 14 Lithuanian officials, facing a Kremlin deadline to back away from their declaration of independence acknowledge that an economic blockade could result in huge layoffs; on Apr. 17 Pres. Bush warns the Soviet Union of "appropriate responses" should they carry out their blockade; on Apr. 18 the Soviets shut off a pipeline that supplies Lithuania with crude oil, and on Apr. 19 severely reduce the flow of natural gas. On Apr. 4 securities law violator Ivan Boesky is released from federal custody. On Apr. 5 Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (1946-) becomes the last head of state of East Germany (until Oct. 2), and the first woman. On Apr. 5 it is announced that Pres. Bush and Pres. Gorbachev will hold their first full-scale summit in the U.S. On Apr. 5 Paul Newman wins a court victory over Julius Gold to keep giving all profits from Newman Foods to charity. On Apr. 7 an exhibit of sexually-graphic porno, er, artistic photos by Long Island-born, Roman Catholic-raised dead gay photographer Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-) opens at Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center; on the same day the center and its dir. are indicted on obscenity charges; on Oct. 5 both are acquitted. On Apr. 7 an arson fire aboard a ferry en route from Norway to Denmark kills 158 people. On Apr. 7 "Father of Junk Bonds" Michael Robert Milken (1946-) pleads innocent to security law violations; on Apr. 20 he agrees to plead guilty to six felonies and pay $600M in penalties to settle the largest securities fraud case in history. On Apr. 8 nat. elections in Greece give the New Democracy Party 150 out of 300 seats in parliament, allowing it to form the first 1-party govt. since 1981, with Constantine (Konstantinos) Mitsotakis (1918-2017) (nephew of Eleutherios Venizelos) as PM #7 on Apr. 11 (until Oct. 13, 1993), ending PASOK Socialist rule; on May 4 Constantine Karmanlis becomes pres. again (until 1995); the new govt. begins privatizing state-owned industrial cos. On Apr. 8 the bizarre-but-cool cult series Twin Peaks, set in never-sunny Wash. state debuts on ABC-TV for 30 episodes (until June 10, 1991), about the mystery of who killed homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), starring Kyle Merritt MacLachlan (1959-) as Special Agent Dale Cooper, Michael Leonard Ontkean (1946-) as Sheriff Harry S. Truman, Raymond Herbert "Ray" Wise (1947-) as Laura's father Leland Palmer, Dana Vernon Ashbrook (1967-) as Bobby Briggs, George Richard Breymer Jr. (1938-) as Ben Horne, Madchen E. Amick (1970-) as Shelly Johnson, Lara Flynn Boyle (1970-) as Donna Hayward, Sherilyn Fenn (1965-) as Audrey Horne, Everett McGill (1945-) as Ed Hurley, Margaret Ann "Peggy" Lipton (1946-) as Norma Jennings, and Michael Heinrich Horse (1951-) as Tommy "Hawk" Hill, flooding the eyes with endless shades of brown and orange, and the ears with endless weird music by Angelo Badalamenti (1937-). On Apr. 8 hemophiliac Ryan Wayne White (b. 1971), the 18-y.-o. AIDS patient who contracted HIV in 1984 from a blood transformation and was heavily discriminated against, gaining nat. attention dies in Indianapolis, Ind.; on Aug. 18 the U.S. Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act is passed, providing federal funding for HIV/AIDS patients. On Apr. 10 three European hostages (a French woman, a Belgian man and their 2-y.-o. daughter, who was born in captivity) are released in Lebanon by the Abu Nidal Palestinian guerrilla group following an appeal by Libyan leader Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi. On Apr. 10 in Hong Kong real estate tycoon Teddy Wang Tei-huei (b. 1933) is kidnapped for a 2nd time (1st time 1983) by abductors demanding $60M (first time $33M); after his wife only pays $34M he is thrown in the sea and his body is never found. On Apr. 12 singer James Brown moves to a work-release center after serving 15 mo. On Apr. 12 in its first meeting East Germany's first democratically elected parliament acknowledges responsibility for the Nazi Holocaust, and asks the forgiveness of Jews and others who had suffered, becoming the first of a new wave of remorseful public apologies for past wrongs issued by the world's leaders - a sign of Millennium Fever? On Apr. 13 Pres. Gorbachev admits the responsibility of Stalin's secret police in the 1940 Katyn Forest Massacre. On Apr. 15 the sketch comedy series In Living Color debuts on Fox Network for 125 episodes (until May 19, 1994), created by brothers Keenen Ivory Wayans Sr. (1958-) and Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. (1960-), making stars of comedians James Eugene "Jim Carrey" (1962-), and Jamie Foxx (Eric Marlon Bishop) (1967-); pop music star Jennifer Lopez (Jay-Lo) and Carrie Ann Inaba are members of the dance troupe. On Apr. 16 the Supreme Court rejects appeals by Dalton Prejean (b. 1959), a nearly retarded black man who was condemned to die for the 1977 murder of a sacred cow La. state trooper, allowing him to be executed on May 18 - they'll disallow execution of mental defectives on the next round if it ain't a sacred cow cop? On Apr. 17 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules unanimously in Employment Div. v. Smith that the govt. may criminalize acts done as part of a religious ritual incl. use of peyote, although they states may choose to tolerate them, causing Congress to pass the 1993 U.S. Religious Freedom Restoration Act on Nov. 16, 1993 to "ensure that interests in religious freedom are protected", requiring a strict scrutiny standard and a narrowly tailored regulation serving a compelling govt interest in any case substantially burdening the free exercise of religion, but the court rules that Sect. 5 of the 14th Amendment prohibits Congress from substantially increasing the scope of rights determined by the judiciary, and may only enact remedial or preventative measures, hence the law doesn't apply to the states. On Apr. 18 the U.S. Screwpreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 6-3 in Osborne v. Ohio that states may make it a crime to possess or look at child pornography, even in the privacy of one's home, regardless of the First Amendment - the Christian Right sees an opportunity using children to 'get' adults who don't go with their moral views? On Apr. 18 a bankruptcy court forces Frank Lorenzo to give up Eastern Airlines. On Apr. 19 Nicaragua's 9-y.-o. civil war appears near an end as Contra guerrillas, leftist Sandinistas and the incoming govt. agree to a truce and a deadline for the rebels to disarm. On Apr. 21 Pope John Paul II is greeted by hundreds of thousands of people as he visits Czech. to help celebrate the nation's peaceful overthrow of Communist rule. On Apr. 22 pro-Iranian kidnappers in Lebanon free U.S. hostage (Beirut U. accounting prof.) Robert B. Polhill (1934-99) after 39 mo. of captivity. On Apr. 22 millions of Americans join in a worldwide 20th anniv. celebration of the first Earth Day. On Apr. 22 the series Jeeves and Wooster debuts on BBC-TV (until June 20, 1993), starring Hugh Laurie (1959-) as Bertie Wooster, and Stephen Fry (1957-) as his valet Jeeves before WWII. On Apr. 23 a nuclear war will start, according to Elizabeth Clare Prophet (Guru Ma), head of the Church Universal and Triumphant, causing them to build underground bomb shelters in Mont.; some followers incl. her husband are convicted of federal weapons charges for maintaining an arsenal. On Apr. 24 the Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off from Cape Canaveral carrying the $1.5B Hubble Space Telescope, which deploys its 94.5-in. primary mirror on Apr. 25; the shuttle lands safely on Apr. 29; on May 20 the Hubble Space Telescope sends back its first photos; on June 27 NASA announces that a flaw in the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope is preventing the instrument from achieving optimum focus; it is repaired in Dec. 1993. On Apr. 24 West and East Germany agree to merge currency and economies on July 1. On Apr. 25 France and Germany hold a Summit on German Reunification. On Apr. 26 Israeli PM Yitzhak Shamir, leader of the right-wing Likud bloc is chosen to form a new govt. after Labor Party leader Shimon Peres fails to form a coalition. On Apr. 28 amid a record 16M abortions in the U.S. this year, the March (Rally) for Life 1990 sees 200K demonstrate in the Nat. Mall in Washington, D.C. against abortion and the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision in "Webster v. Reproductive Health Services" that upheld Roe v. Wade, while the leftist-controlled media snubs it; they go on to establish a dept. of state legislation to pass pro-life laws in state legislatures. On Apr. 29 wrecking cranes begin tearing down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate. On Apr. 30 hostage Frank Reed is released by his captives in Lebanon, becoming the 2nd American freed in eight days. In Apr. the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult of Japan (founded in 1984) sends three trucks into C Tokyo to spray poisonous botulin mists, then attacks U.S. bases at Yokohama and Yokosuka; when the botulin does not work the cult turns to anthrax. In Apr. the Irish govt. proposes formal abolition of the death penalty and a mandatory 40-year prison term. On May 1 Soviet Pres. Mikhail S. Gorbachev and other Kremlin leaders are jeered by thousands of people during the annual May Day parade in Red Square. On May 2-4 the govt. of South Africa and the African National Congress hold their first formal talks aimed at paving the way for more substantive negotiations on dismantling apartheid. On May 3 the U.S. govt. approves the use of the drug AZT to treat children infected with the AIDS virus. On May 3 patriarch (since 1971) Pimen I dies, and Estonian-born metropolitan Alexei of Leningrad is elected Russian Orthodox patriarch #16 of Moscow and all Russia Alexei II (Ridiger) (1929-). On May 4 Latvia's parliament votes 138-0 (1 abstention) for independence. On May 6 former pres. P.W. Botha quits South Africa's ruling National Party. On May 7 the White House puts aside Pres. Bush's 1988 campaign pledge of "Read my lips: no new taxes", saying talks to strike a budget deal with Congress would have "no preconditions"; OMB dir. Richard Darman (member of the Trilateral Commission?) is blamed for talking Bush into it. On May 7-9 Operation Sundevil seizes 42 computer systems throughout the U.S. (25 of them computer bulletin board systems or BBSes) in a crackdown on computer crime, pissing-off the hacker community. On May 8 one crewman is killed and 18 injured in a fire aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Conyngham in the Atlantic, 100 mi. SE of Norfolk, Va. On May 9 Pres. Bush and congressional leaders announce plans for emergency budget talks, with tax increases and spending cuts on the negotiating table. On May 9 Newsday reporter Jimmy Breslin (1930-) is suspended for a racial slur. On May 9 Pope John Paul II tours Mexico City. On May 10 the govt. of China announces the release of 211 dissidents who had been involved in pro-democracy demonstrations a year earlier. On May 10 the French TGV train sets a record speed of 510.6 kph. On May 10 ever-popular Prince Charles and Princess Diana end their first visit to a Warsaw Pact country by viewing Budapest, Hungary from a boat on the Danube River and riding on a streetcar through the city center. n May 12 the presidents of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania forge a united front by reviving a 1934 political alliance in hopes of enhancing their drive for independence from the Soviet Union; on May 14 in separate decrees Pres. Gorbachev declares that the republics of Estonia and Latvia have no legal basis for moving toward independence; on May 17 Gorbachev meets in Moscow with Lithuanian PM Kazimiera Prunskiene, becoming his first face-to-face meeting with a senior official. On May 13-14 thousands protest across Paris after a Jewish cemetery is desecrated in Carpentras. On May 15 Congressional leaders and Bush admin. officials begin a bipartisan summit on the fiscal 1991 budget and its deficit. On May 16 Aloj "Lojze" Peterle (1948-), chmn. of the Slovene Christian Dem. Party becomes PM of Slovenia (until May 1992). On May 17 the World Health Org. (WHO) declassifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, causing annual celebration of the Internat. Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT). On May 17 the European court grants pension rights to both men and women. On May 17 a gen. synod of the Church of Ireland votes in favor of the ordination of women as priests and bishops - check out how annoying blemishes around your chin disappear? On May 18 East and West Germany sign a monetary union treaty. On May 18 in the face of heated student protests, the trustees of all-female Mills College in Oakland, Calif. (founded in 1852 in Benicia, Calif.) vote to rescind their earlier decision to admit men; in 2004 they begin welcoming transgender students who self-identify as women. On May 19 U.S. secy. of state James A. Baker concludes an agreement with the Soviet Union to destroy chemical weapons and settle longstanding disputes over limits on nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. On May 19 By Dawn's Early Light debuts on HBO, based on the 1983 William Prochnau novel "Trinity's Child" about a rogue Soviet group launching a nuke at the U.S., nearly starting WWIII; stars Martin Landau as the U.S. pres., and Nicolas Coster as Gen. Renning AKA Icarus. On May 20 an Israeli gunman opens fire on a group of Palestinian laborers in Rishon Le Ziyyon S of Tel Aviv, killing eight; he is sentenced to life in prison; on May 21 Israeli soldiers kill three Palestinians during a violent protest. On May 20 Romania's ruling Nat. Salvation Front scores Vs in the country's first free elections in more than 50 years. On May 22 Microsoft releases Windows 3.0 - the monopoly is almost complete and they will all be absorbed? On May 22 after 300 years of conflict pro-Western North Yemen and pro-Soviet South Yemen merge to form the Repub. of Yemen under pres. (since 1978) Ali Abdullah Saleh (1942-) (until ?); too bad, the Saudis don't like any kind of Muslim democracy in the region, and use their border dispute as a pretext for war in 1998-2000; meanwhile because he has close ties with Saddam Hussein, Saleh refuses to join the U.S.-led coalition in the First Gulf War, pissing Saudi Arabia off more, along with other Gulf states, after which the Saudis expel 1M Yemeni migrant workers, crippling the Yemeni economy. On May 23 Bill Clinton's campaign for a 5th term as gov. of Ark. receives a $60K loan from the rural Perry County Bank; he receives another $75K loan from them on Oct. 29. On May 23 the cost of rescuing U.S. savings and loan failures is put at $130B - and Bill only got a crumb? On May 23 Neil Mallon Bush (1955-), son of U.S. pres. George H.W. Bush denies any wrongdoing as a dir. of a failed Denver, Colo. savings and loan in testimony before Congress. On May 23 the Soviet Union unveils an economic reform program that incl. plans for a nat. referendum. On May 25 a congressional report casts doubts on the U.S. Navy's official finding that a troubled sailor probably had caused the blast that killed 47 servicemen aboard the battleship USS Iowa. On May 27 the political opposition of Burma scores a V in the country's first free multiparty elections in three decades; the Nat. League of Aung San Suu Kyi wins 392 of 485 contested seats, but the govt. ignores the results; the country's name is changed to Myanmar as a coverup. On May 27 Cesar Augusto Gaviria Trujillo (1947-) of the Liberal Party is elected pres. #36 of Colombia, and he is sworn-in on Aug. 7 (until Aug. 7, 1994); he goes on to build the La Catedral prison near Medellin for Pablo Escobar, who escapes on July 20, 1992; after leaving office, in 1994 he is elected secy.-gen. of the Org. of Am. States (OAS) until 2004. On May 27 Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev tries to calm his nation's economic nerves with a hastily scheduled TV address. On May 28 Iraqi dictator-pres. (since July 16, 1979) Saddam Hussein (1937-2006) opens a 2-day Arab League Summit in Baghdad with a keynote address in which he says that if Israel were to deploy nuclear or chemical weapons against Arabs, Iraq would respond with "weapons of mass destruction" - talk about putting your foot in your mouth? On May 29 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. reaches a record 2,870.49. On May 29 Soviet maverick politician (longtime Communist Party hack) Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1931-2007) is elected pres. of #1 the Russian Federation in the 3rd round of balloting, taking office on July 10 (until Dec. 31, 1999) after quitting the Communist party; Russia declares sovereignty, becoming one of 15 repubs. in the dissolving Soviet Union; a vodka lush, he suffers five heart attacks in his first term; too bad, the Siloviki (Russ. "force people", "strongmen") incl. the military and nat. security-intel orgs. form a de facto non-elected inner cabinet, carrying over to Vladimir Putin. On May 29 Pres. Gorbachev visits Canada en route to his May 31 Washington summit with Pres. Bush, in which they sign (June 1) more than a dozen treaties cutting nuclear arms and chemical weapons. On May 29 40 countries found the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to finance the economic transition in C and E Europe and the CIS. On May 29-30 Peru is struck by a 5.8 earthquake, killing 101. On May 31 New York City's copycat Zodiac Killer shoots 3d victim Joseph Ponce. In May as Soviet tanks roll, the Estonian Soviet parliament and the Congress of Estonia proclaim the restoration of the independent state of Estonia as huge crowds stand as human shields to protect TV and radio stations; the Singing Rev. (begun 1988) achieves independence without bloodshed, accelerating the disintegration of the Soviet Union. On June 1 E! Entertainment Television (founded in 1987 as Movietime) and the Cowboy Channel are launched on cable. On June 1 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. hits a record high of 2,900.97. On June 3 Mikhail Gorbachev ends the summit then flies to Minn. for a whirlwind tour of Minneapolis-St. Paul, then on June 4 flies to N Calif. to hold a reunion with former Pres. Reagan. On June 4 Detroit, Mich. pathologist Dr. Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian (1928-2011) assists Janet Adkins of Portland, Ore. in his first physician-assisted suicide; the authorities of Oakland County, Mich. react on June 5, and "Doctor Death" begins his long run-in with the law, reaching at least 130 before being stopped. On June 5 Mikhail Gorbachev meets with South Korean pres. Roh Dae Woo in Earthquake City San Francisco, Calif. causing diplomatic relations to be opened effective Oct. 1. On June 6 a federal judge in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. declares the 1989 2 Live Crew album As Nasty As They Wanna Be to be obscene; the decision is later overturned on appeal by the 11th Circuit; on June 10 two members of the group are arrested after performing in a nightclub in Hollywood, Fla.; they and a 3rd band member are acquitted by a jury of obscenity charges on Oct. 20 after the publicity makes them big bucks, and the authorities see the handwriting on the bathroom wall; meanwhile one Ft. Lauderdale record store owner is arrested and convicted for selling their album, and fined $1K. On June 7 South African Pres. F.W. de Klerk announces that he is lifting a 4-y.-o. state of emergency in three of the country's four provinces, with the exception of Natal. On June 8 Israeli PM Yitzhak Shamir announces that he had formed a new right wing coalition govt., ending a 3-mo. political crisis. On June 8, 1990 (11:30 p.m.) a 500K gal. oil spill by the Norwegian oil tanker Mega Borg in Galveston Bay, Tex. 50 mi. off the coast becomes the worst in Tex. until 2010. A new plesident of Pelu? On June 10 political newcomer Alberto Fujimori (1938-) is elected pres. of Peru by a narrow margin over novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, and is sworn-in on July 28, soon leading an economic rebound, crippling the Shining Path rebels, and sponsoring public works projects to win the support of the poor. On June 11 the U.S. Supreme Court does something rational for a change when it strikes down a federal law prohibiting desecration of the U.S. flag (not just govt. owned flags, but privately owned flags, such as icing flags on cakes, flag designs on suits, etc., making the whole idea smack of insanity?); the same day Pres. Bush announces his support for a constitutional amendment to get around the court - just like King George III would do? On June 12 in a speech to the Supreme Soviet, Pres. Gorbachev eases his objections to a reunified Germany holding membership in NATO. On June 12 Boris N. Yeltsin leads a vote at the Congress of Peoples Deputies on a "declaration of sovereignty for Russia". On June 13 U.S. secy. of state James A. Baker, testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee urges Israel to accept a U.S. plan for peace talks, and gives out the telephone number for the White House switchboard, telling the Israelis publicly, "When you're serious about this, call us". On June 14 the U.S. Supreme Court rules 6-3 in Mich. Dept. of State Police v. Sitz to uphold the Fourth Amendment constitutionality of police checkpoints that examine drivers for signs of intoxication. On June 15 real estate mogul Donald Trump (1946-) misses an $18M interest payment due on junk bonds used to finance his Trump Castle Atlantic City resort, forcing the former paper billionaire into bankruptcy. On June 16 after meeting with Pope John Paul II in Vatican City, African Nat. Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela is greeted by a crowd in the Netherlands, then flies to Ottawa on June 17, followed by an 11-day tour of the U.S., starting with a ticker-tape parade in New York, then an address to the U.N. on June 22, where he says victory is "within our grasp" in South Africa; on June 25 he meets with Pres. Bush at the White House, and addresses the U.S. Congress on June 26. On June 18 James Edward Pough (b. 1948) goes on a shooting rampage at an auto financing office in Jacksonville, Fla., fatally wounding nine before killing himself. On June 19 (8:15 p.m.) the 1990 Inland Hurricane hits SC Kan. On June 20 the Communist Initiative creates the neoconservative Russian Communist Party. On June 20 the Uzbek Supreme Soviet declares the sovereignty of Uzbekistan within a "renewed Soviet federation"; on Nov. 1 the council of ministers is replaced with a cabinet led by mean Khrushchev lookalike pres. Islam Abdug'aniyevich Karimov (1938-), who rules with an iron hand (until ?). On June 21 an estimated 50K are killed and 200K wounded in a 7.7 earthquake in N Iran, followed by an aftershock on June 24. On June 22 the president's son George W. Bush, a dir. of Tex. oil co. Harken Energy Corp. sells 212,140 shares at $4 per share just before huge losses are reported, causing accusations of insider trading and influence peddling; too bad, no wrongdoing is found by authorities. On June 23 Moldova declares its sovereignty, and in Aug. the Soviets attempt a coup, causing the Moldovan Communist Party to be banned (until 1993). On June 24 Health and Human Services Secy. Louis Sullivan is drowned out by jeering demonstrators as he addresses the Sixth Internat. AIDS Conference in Baghdad by the Bay San Francisco, Calif. On June 25 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 5-4 in Cruzan v. Director, Mo. Dept. of Health that a state may require "clear and convincing evidence" of a patient's wishes for removal of life support, causing the creation of advance health directives. On June 26 Pres. Bush, who campaigned for office on a pledge of "no new taxes" concedes that tax increases would have to be included in any deficit-reduction package worked out with congressional negotiators; meanwhile on June 25-28 U.S. and Japanese negotiators hammer out the Structural Impediments Initiative, an accord over U.S. access to Japanese markets, causing talk that the Japanese pressured Bush to reduce the federal budget deficit, causing him to flop and advocate tax increases. On June 27-July 2 the Painted Cave Fire in the Santa Ynez Mts. of Calif. explodes across Santa Barbara County, fed by heat, drought, and arson, destroying 427 bldgs. (most in Calif. history until ?)) from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and killin 1; Calif. Gov. George Deukmejian offers $50K rewards for arsonists, later identifying Leonard Ross as the perp; the fires cause Michael Jackson's 2.7K-acre Neverland Valley Ranch N of Santa Barbara, Calif. to be mentioned in the press for the first time; it even has a Ferris wheel. On June 28 seven current-former U.S. Coast Guardsmen are indicted for stealing narcotics from drug smugglers then selling them for profit. On June 30 the Common Cold Research Centre in the Harvard Hospital near Salisbury, England (80 mi. W of London) (founded 1946) closes after conceding defeat in finding a cure for the common cold, saying that there are 200 different strains of the virus; 18K volunteers had undergone 10-day quarantine tests. In June the FTC launches a secret probe into possible collusion between Microsoft and IBM. In June in Bulgaria the former Communist Party, renamed the Socialist Party wins the parliamentary elections. In June Hungary's parliament votes for total withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact by the end of 1991. In June in Romania miners transported into Bucharest in govt. vehicles destroy hundreds of Interior Ministry files. Don't get sick in Turkmenistan? In June former electrical engineer Saparmurt Atayevich Niyazov (1940-2006), chmn. (since 1985) of the Supreme Soviet of the 90% Karakum ("Black Sand") Desert Soviet Repub. of Turkmenistan N of Afghanistan and Iran declares independence from the Soviet Union, followed by sovereignty on Aug. 27, wins the pres. election unopposed on Oct. 27, becoming pres. #1 of Turkmenistan on Nov. 2 (until Dec. 21, 2006), setting up a personality cult where criticism of his policies is treated as treason, later closing down all nat. parks and rural libraries, firing 15K health care workers and replacing them with untrained military conscripts, closing down all hospitals outside the capital and ordering physicians to give up the Hippocratic Oath and swear allegiance to him instead. In June Mexican pres. Carlos Salinas de Gortari creates the Nat. Commission on Human Rights to deal with police brutality - hardly deal with it? In June Billy Joel becomes the first to hold a rock concert in Yankee Stadium in New York City. In June radio stations in Kan., Okla. et al. stop playing records by lesbian singer "k.d. lang" after she begins a "Meat Stinks" campaign for 300K-member People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) - she only means male meat? On July 1 East Germans line up to obtain West German deutsche marks as a state treaty unifying their monetary and economic systems goes into effect. On July 2 1,426 Muslim pilgrims are killed in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leading to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. On July 2 the Soviet Union's 28th Communist Party Congress opens with an address by Pres. Gorbachev, who concedes mistakes while defending perestroika; on July 3 in Moscow, Kremlin hardliner Yegor Kuzmich Ligachev (1920-) receives an enthusiastic reception at the Communist Party Congress as he criticizes reforms by Gorbachev, saying that perestroika had been marred by "limitless radicalism". On July 2 MasterChef debuts on BBC-TV (until July 3, 2001), then again on Feb. 21, 2005 (until ?), hosted by Marblehead, Mass.-born gastronome Loyd Daniel Gilman Grossman (1950-), featuring amateur cooks vying to cook the best 3-course meal in 2 hours; it spawns MasterChef: The Professionals (Aug. 25, 2008-), Celebrity MasterChef (2006-), Junior MasterChef (Aug. 14, 1999-Aug. 1, 1999, May 20, 2010-), MasterChef Australia (Apr. 27, 2009-) et al. On July 4 400 New Kids on the Block fans are treated for heat exhaustion in Minn. On July 4 France performs yet another nuclear test at Muruora Island. On July 5 NATO leaders open a 2-day meeting in London to revise the alliance's strategy in light of easing East-West tensions in Europe and the unraveling of the Warsaw Pact. On July 7 Pres. George H.W. Bush welcomes fellow leaders of the Group of Seven countries in sweating hot Houston, Tex. for their 16th annual economic summit, calling on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to accept Western aid. On July 9 the Three Tenors (Placido Domingo, Jose Careras, Luciano Pavarotti) debut at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy on the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final, with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta, along with the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, becoming the best-selling classical album of all time (until ?); their last performance is on Sept. 28, 2003 at an arena in Columbus, Ohio. On July 10 Mikhail Gorbachev handily wins reelection as leader of the Soviet Communist Party, then on July 12 shocks them by announcing his resignation from the party. On July 11 (2:48 p.m.) a clear sunny day suddenly ends with softball-sized hail in Denver, Colo., stripping most of the branches and all of the leaves off trees, and causing $625M in property damage to roofs and cars, incl. TLW's white Mitsubishi Galant, which is pockmarked like a golf ball; a power failure traps 47 in a Ferris wheel, causing them to be battered by the hail; the worst hailstorm in U.S. history until a worse hailstorm on July 20, 2009. On July 11 New York City police arrest Jerome "Dartman" Wright (1957-) for stabbing 53 light-skinned women in business suits or skirts with darts in the buttocks during the summer. On July 12 Northern Exposure (debuts on CBS-TV) for 110 episodes (until July 26, 1995), starring Robert Alan "Rob" Morrow 9192-) as newly-minted Jewish doctor Joel Fleischman from New York City, who moves into the Alaskan town of Cicely for four years to replay his student loans, where he meets local millionaire Maurice Minnifield (Barry Corbin), ex-felon disc jockey Chris Stevens (John Corbett), bush pilot Maggie O'Connell (Janine Turner), and beauty queen Shelly Marie Tambo Vincoeur (Cynthia Geary), wife of sexagenarian bar owner Holling Vincoeur (John Collum); in 2008 Repubs. compare Maggie with Sarah Palin. On July 13 the Gayssot Act (Law) is passed in France, making the diffusion of historical revisionism about the Holocaust a crime, stifling freedom of speech. On July 14-16 West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl holds talks in Moscow with Soviet Pres. Gorbachev aimed at soothing Kremlin concerns about German unification; Moscow drops its objection to a united Germany's membership in NATO. On July 15 tens of thousands of people march in Moscow to protest the Communist Party's control of the govt., the army and the KGB. On July 17 the seven nations negotiating German unification reach agreement in Paris on Poland's permanent border, clearing the way for the merger of East and West Germany. On July 17 Pres. George H.W. Bush declares the 1990s the Decade of the Brain - his son's presidency is out until the next decade then? On July 17 the ruling Serbian Communist Party renames itself the Serbian Socialist Party. On July 18 Joni Leigh Penn is arrested after breaking into the home of actress Sharon Gless with a rifle and 500 rounds of ammo and threatening to shoot herself in front of her; she is sentenced to six years in prison. On July 19 Pres. Bush joins former presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon at ceremonies dedicating the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, Calif. On July 20 liberal U.S. Supreme Court justice (since 1956) William J. Brennan (b. 1906) announces his retirement; on July 23 Pres. Bush announces his choice of Melrose, Mass.-born "stealth justice" David Hackett Souter (1939-) (Protestant) (never been married) of N.H. to succeed him; he is confirmed as U.S. Supreme Court justice #105 on Oct. 2, and sworn-in on Oct. 9 (until June 29, 2009). On July 20 a federal appeals court sets aside Oliver North's three Iran-Contra convictions, reversing one outright. On July 22 the Mongolian Rev. of 1990 sees voters in Mongolia begin casting ballots in their Communist-ruled nation's first multiparty election. On July 22 Hungary's govt. agrees to reprivatize farmlands. On July 23 as rebel forces close in on the pres. palace, Liberian Pres. Samuel K. Doe refuses to leave until the civil war is decided; Charles Taylor successfully tries to take Monrovia; on Sept. 9 Liberian dictator pres. (since 1980) Samuel K. Doe (b. 1951) is executed in Monrovia after being captured by rebels, after which foreign-led peace negotiations lead to a ceasefire in 1995, which is broken in 1996 before a final peace agreement ends in nat. elections on Aug. 2, 1997, which elect Taylor as pres. #22 of Liberia (until Aug. 11, 2003). On July 24 after accusing Kuwait of conspiring to harm its economy through oil overproduction, Iraq masses tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks along the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border to make it into Iraq's 19th province; what really made Saddam Hussein decide to invade was when Kuwaiti leader Sheik Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah told him that he was going to turn every Iraqi woman into a $10 ho? On July 25 April Glaspie (1942-), U.S. ambassador to Iraq meets with Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein to discuss Iraq's economic dispute with Kuwait. On July 25 the Senate formally denounces Sen. Dave Durenberger (1934-) (R-Minn.) for financial improprieties. On July 26 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), extending the 1964 U.S. Civil Rights Act to Americans with disabilities, imposing accessibility requirements on public accommodations, but only requiring covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled employees; in 2008 Pres. George W. Bush signs an amended version, effective on Jan 1, 2009. On July 26 the U.S. House of Reps. reprimands Jewish member (D-Mass.) (1981-) Barnett "Barney" Frank (1940-) (2nd openly gay U.S. Rep. since 1987) for ethics violations - I like frank jokes here? On July 26 the U.S. Center for Disease Control reports that a young woman, later identified as Kimberly Bergalis had been infected with the AIDS virus by her dentist - I'm trying to picture that? On July 27 La. Gov. Buddy Roemer vetoes a tough abortion bill passed by his state's legislature, but the latter overrides his veto. On July 27 the Jamaat al Muslimeen Coup Attempt in Trinidad and Tobago begins; on Aug. 1 dozens of Muslim militants surrender and free 42 hostages they had seized six days earlier in a failed bid to overthrow the govt. On July 29 Nelson Mandela gives a speech at the Rally to Relaunch the South African Communist Party (SACP), which had been banned since 1950, praising them as a staunch ally of the ANC although denying he's a member himself, claiming to support their right to exist because he supports democracy; after his death on Dec. 6, 2013, the SACP confirms that Mandela was a member at the time of his 1962 arrest. The centennial of the suicide of Vincent Van Gogh already? On July 29 (night) Vincent Polakovic, on the 100th anniv. of the death of Vincent van Gogh sees his ghost on the roof of a small house near his grave in France, inspiring to raise funds for Danubiana in Poprad, Slovakia, modelled after a yellow house he once lived in with Gaugin. On July 30 British Conservative Party lawmaker Dr. Ian Reginald Edward Gow (b. 1937) is killed in an IRA bombing in Hankham, East Sussex. On July 31 Shoal Creek, a private club in Birmingham, Ala. that drew criticism for being all-white announces that it had accepted token black businessman Louis Willie as an honorary member; 10 years later it's still all-white? In July the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait causes oil prices to increase, triggering the 1990-1 U.S. Recession that lasts for 8 mo. In July young people demonstrate against the regime in Tirana, Albania, causing the Milosevic regime to order the mass firing of ethnic Albanians from all civil service posts; on July 2 Albanian delegates of the Kosovo assembly declare independence from Serbia as a full constituent repub. within the Yugoslavian federation, causing Serbia to abolish the Kosovo assembly and govt. of Kosovo, close down the only Albanian newspaper, and take over the state-owned TV and radio. In July East End, London-born George Leonard Carey (1935-) becomes archbishop #103 of Canterbury, England (until 2002), replacing retiring Robert Runcie, and becoming the first to never attend Oxford U. or Cambridge U.; he is formally confirmed next Mar. 27 in the church of St. Mary-le-Bow. On Aug. 1-4 the 1990 U.K. Heat Wave sees highs of 37.1C (98.8F) on Aug. 3 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, breaking the 1911 record (until 2003). Saddam's big miscalculation? On Aug. 2 Black Thursday sees Iraqi troops invade Kuwait and set up a well-oiled puppet govt. by Aug. 3; on Aug. 2 by a 14-0-1 (Yemen) vote the U.N. Security Council approves Resolution 660, condemning Iraq and demanding the unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi troops; PLO chief Yasser Arafat's support of Sodamn Insane results in the PLO's isolation; on Aug. 3 thousands of Iraqi soldiers push to within a few mi. of the border with Saudi Arabia, heightening world concerns about the invasion spreading; on Aug. 6 the U.N. imposes sanctions on Iraq, barring it from selling oil except in exchange for food and medicine; on Aug. 6-7 Operation Desert Shield begins as Pres. Bush at the request of King Fahd sends U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia to guard it, and are joined on Aug. 11 by Egyptian and Moroccan troops from the Arab League; on Aug. 8 Iraq annexes Kuwait as its 19th province, with Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan Al-Majid (Ali Hassan Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti) (1941-2010) as military gov.; Italian politician Cicciolina (Ilona Staller) (1951-) offers to have sex with Saddam Hussein if he will release all foreign hostages; the Saudis permit U.S. troops to use a base in their country, angering Muslim conservatives, who see infidels polluting their soil, while Kuwaitis are more practical, but politely request Army chaplains to remove religious insignia from their uniforms and get antsy about the sight of women driving cars and carrying guns?; after seeing women soldiers among the U.S. forces, 47 women from the Saudi intelligentsia go for a joy ride to protest Saudi Arabia being the world's only country that keeps women from driving, getting arrested and crushed by the regime; meanwhile Am. Christian evangelist Franklin Graham (1952-) (son of Billy Graham) is told by Saudi officials that Christian Bibles and religious material is illegal to send to Saudi Arabia in the mail, along with alcohol and porno - the U.S. is faced with the dilemma that destroying minority Sunni control of Iraq will make it easy for Shiite Iran to absorb it, opening a royal road to Israel through Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which is why they don't attack and cut off Baghdad when the Iraqi troops are out in Kuwait, but just try to drive them back? Too bad, Bush Jr. isn't up to speed when he gets in the White House? On Aug. 3 the Hungarian nat. assembly elects Arpad Goncz (Göncz) (1922-) of the Alliance of Free Dems. as pres. (until 2000); on Oct. 14 the opposition wins municipal elections. In other words, I hate all you infidels? On Aug. 5 the 57-member Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC) signs the upside-down Cairo Declaration of Human Rights, a rebuke to the Dec. 10, 1948 U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), substituting you-guessed-it Sharia, declaring "the place of mankind in Islam as viceregent of Allah on Earth", a reference to Quran 3:110, proclaiming Muslim supremacy and calling Christians and Jews (People of the Book) "perverted transgressors". On Aug. 6 PM Benazir Bhutto is ousted after 20 mo. in office (Dec. 2, 1988) by Pres. Ghulam Ishaq Khan on charges of incompetence and corruption; an interim govt. is led by Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi (1931-) (until Nov. 6). On Aug. 12 Air Force SSgt. John Campisi (b. 1960) of West Covina, Calif. dies after being hit by a military truck in Saudi Arabia, becoming the first U.S. casualty of the Persian Gulf War. On Aug. 12 Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein seeks to tie any withdrawal of his troops from Kuwait to an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. On Aug. 13 Pres. Bush orders U.S. defense secy. Dick Cheney to the Persian Gulf for the 2nd time since Iraq invaded Kuwait. On Aug. 13-14 Iraq says that approx. 9K foreigners, incl. North Ams., Europeans and Australians may not leave Iraq and Kuwait until hostilies cease. On Aug. 15 in an attempt to gain support against the U.S.-led coalition, Saddam Hussein offers to make peace with longtime enemy Iran. On Aug. 16 Pres. Bush meets with Jordan's King Hussein in Kennebunkport, Maine, where he urges him to close Iraq's access to the sea through the port of Aqaba. On Aug. 16 Saddam Hussein repeatedly calls Pres. Bush a liar and says the outbreak of war could result in "thousands of Americans wrapped in sad coffins". On Aug. 17 the Log Rev. in Croatia sees ethnic Serbs block roads between Croatia and Dalmatia with logs, leading to the Croatian War of Independence next year. On Aug. 18 a U.S. frigate fires warning shots across the bow of an Iraqi tanker in the Gulf of Oman, becoming the first shots fired by the U.S. in the Persian Gulf crisis. On Aug. 18 the Serbian minority in Croatia votes for political autonomy in an official referendum, which the govt. declares illegal. On Aug. 19 Saddam Hussein offers to free all foreigners detained in Iraq and Kuwait provided the U.S. promises to withdraw its forces from Saudi Arabia and guarantees that an internat. economic embargo is lifted; on Aug. 20 for the first time since Iraq began detaining foreigners, Pres. Bush publicly refers to the detainees as hostages, and demands their release. On Aug. 20 East and West Germany sign the East-West Election Treaty, providing for nat. elections of a unified Germany in Dec.; on Aug. 31 they sign the Unification Treaty to join legal and political systems. On Aug. 20 three former Northwest Airlines pilots are convicted in Minneapolis, Minn. of flying while intoxicated. On Aug. 22 Pres. Bush signs an order calling up reservists to bolster the U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf. On Aug. 23 Iraqi state TV shows Saddam Hussein meeting with a group of about 20 Western detainees, telling the "guests" that they are being held "to prevent the scourge of war". On Aug. 24 Iraqi troops surround foreign missions in Kuwait. On Aug. 24 Irish hostage Brian Keenan is released by his captors in Lebanon after being held over four years. On Aug. 24 Pres. Gorbachev sends a message to Saddam Hussein warning that the Persian Gulf situation is "extremely dangerous". On Aug. 25 the U.N. gives the world's navies the right to use force to stop vessels trading with Iraq. On Aug. 26 55 Americans who had been evacuated from the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait leave Baghdad by car, headed for the Turkish border. On Aug. 26 the bodies of two slain college students are found in their off-campus apt. in Gainesville, Fla.; three more bodies are discovered in the next few days, causing a panic. On Aug. 27 the U.S. State Dept. orders the expulsion of 36 Iraqi diplomats. On Aug. 28 German spy Juergen Mohamed Gietler (1957-) is arrested for passing military info. to Iraq on Western knowledge of Scud missiles. On Aug. 28 Iraq declares occupied Kuwait the 19th province of Iraq, renames Kuwait City Kadhima, and creates a new district named after Saddam Hussein, setting up a 9-member puppet regime under Alaa Hussein Ali (1948-) (until 1991); all foreign women and children are allowed to leave Iraq and Kuwait. On Aug. 29 a defiant Saddam Hussein declares in a TV interview that the U.S. can't defeat Iraq, with the soundbyte "I do not beg before anyone". On Aug. 30 in a moment of clarity forever repeated by conspiracy theorists, Pres. Bush tells a news conference that a "We can see a... new world order" coming into being from the Gulf crisis - an Orwellian global police state? On Aug. 30 in Colombia a series of abductions by the Medellin drug cartel of Pablo Escobar (1949-93) begins with the kidnapping of Diana Turbay (1950-91), a Bogota TV news dir. and daughter of former pres. Julio Cesar Turbay; on Jan. 25, 1991 she is killed while being rescued by police. On Aug. 30 U.N. secy.-gen. Javier Perez de Cuellar arrives in Jordan to try to mediate the Persian Gulf crisis in meetings with Iraqi foreign minister (1983-91) Tariq (Tareq) Aziz (Mikhail Yuhanna) (1936-) (a Christian). If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere, Tirana, Tirana, Tirana? In Aug. Albania abandons its monopoly on foreign commerce and begins to open to foreign trade, ending four decades of isolation under dictator Enver Hoxha (d. 1985). In Aug. Yugoslavia begins breaking up into several Serb Autonomous Regions; in Nov. 1991 they unite to form the Repub. of Serbian Krajina in Croatia, and the Republika Srspka in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In Aug. South Ossetia, a region of NC Georgia with a pop. of 100K and ties to Persia declares itself sovereign. In Aug.-Sept. secret talks for a peace deal between Israel and Syria are conducted by Am. businessman Ronald Lauder and George Nader, ed. of the journal Middle East Insight; too bad, despite Benjamin Netanyahu's support, it is tabled over objections by Israeli defense and foreign ministers. On Sept. 1 Pres. Bush announces that he and Pres. Gorbachev will meet in Helsinki, Finland for a "free-flowing" 1-day summit on the Persian Gulf crisis and other issues. On Sept. 2 dozens of Americans are airlifted from Iraq. On Sept. 3 Florida dentist David J. Acer (b. 1949) dies of AIDS after infecting five of his patients with HIV virus; on Sept. 7 Kimberly Bergalis (1968-91) of Ft. Pierce, Fla. comes forward as one of his victims, dying next Dec. 8 at age 23. On Sept. 5 Saddam Hussein urges Arabs to rise up in a holy war (jihad) against the West and all former allies who have turned against him. On Sept. 5 Pres. Gorbachev meets with Christian Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz in Moscow. On Sept. 5-7 the PMs of North and South Korea meet for two days, becoming the highest level contact since the Korean War. On Sept. 6 the New Dems., led by Marion Boyd (1946-) defeat the Liberals in Ontario, Canada to become the province's first Socialist majority govt., and the first E of Manitoba led by the New Dem. Party. On Sept. 6 thieves steal 20 art works by Picasso, Renoir, Degas et al. worth $190M from a 5th floor apt. in Cannes, France. On Sept. 8 the Ellis Island Historical Site opens on Ellis Island, which has processed 12M immigrants into the Am. melting pot; look up your ancestors' arrival records on www.ellisisland.org - did your family come over the 3K-mi. Pond on the boat? Are you first, second, or third generation Ellis? On Sept. 9 Pres. Bush and Pres. Mikhail Gorbachev hold a 1-day summit in Helsinki, Finland, condemning Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. On Sept. 10 Iran agrees to resume full diplomatic ties with former enemy Iraq. On Sept. 10 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air debuts on NBC-TV for 148 episodes (until May 20, 1996), starring Willard Christopher "Will" Smith Jr. (1968-) as a street-smart black teenie from West Philly who moves in with his wealthy relatives in Calif.; Smith takes the role after he underpays his income taxes from his rapper career and gets a $2.8M penalty from the IRS and must pay it back; Smith writes and performs the Fresh Prince Theme Song. On Sept. 11 Pres. Bush addresses Congress on the Persian Gulf crisis, vowing that "Saddam Hussein will fail" in his takeover of Kuwait. On Sept. 13 NBC-TV's cop-courtroom drama Law & Order, created by Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf (1946-) debuts on NBC-TV for 456 episodes (until May 24, 2010), presenting a positive picture of the U.S. criminal justice system. On Sept. 13 Iraqi troops storm the residence of the French ambassador in Kuwait. On Sept. 14 during the Persian Gulf crisis, the U.S. Navy reports that U.S. troops fired a warning shot at an Iraqi tanker, then boarded it briefly before allowing it to proceed. On Sept. 15 France announces it is sending 4K more soldiers to the Persian Gulf and expelling Iraqi military attaches in Paris in response to Iraq's raids on French, Belgian, and Canadian diplomatic compounds in Kuwait. On Sept. 15 the animated environmentalist series Captain Planet and the Planeteers, created by Ted Turner and Barbara Pyle debuts on TBS for 113 episodes (until Dec. 5, 1992), followed by the Hanna-Barbera sequel "The New Adventures of Captain Planet" on Sept. 11, 1993 until May 11, 1996, starring the voice of David Coburn as Captain Planet, Whoopi Goldberg and Margot Kidder as Gaia, LeVar Burton as Kwame (Earth), Joey Dedio as Wheeler (Fire), Kath Soucie as Linka (Wind), Janice Kawaye as Gi (Water), and Scott Menville as Ma-Ti (Heart), who fight the Eco-Villains incl. Hoggish Greedly (Ed Asner), Verminous Skumm (Jeff Goldblum, Maurice LaMarche) (Toxics Ring), Duke Nukem (Dean Stockwell, Maurice LaMarche)(Super Radiation Ring), Dr. Blight (Meg Ryan, Mary Kay Bergman) (Hae Ring), Looten Plunder (James Coburn, Ed Gilbert) (Deforestation Ring), Sly Sludge (Martin Sheen, Jim Cummings) (Smog Ring), and Zarm (Sting, David Warner, Malcolm McDowell). On Sept. 16 Iraqi TV broadcasts an 8-min. videotaped address by Pres. Bush, warning the Iraqi people that Saddam Hussein's brinksmanship could plunge them into war "against the world"; on Sept. 20 demanding equal time, Iraq asks U.S. networks to broadcast a message by Sodamn Insane in response. On Sept. 17 U.S. defense secy. Dick Cheney sacks Gen. Michael J. Dugan (1937-) as chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force #13 fter 79 days for imprudent comments to reporters about planning for the 1991 Gulf War, and he retires on Dec. 31, becoming the first JCS member to be dismissed since Adm. Louis Denfeld in 1949, and first top gen. to be relieved since Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1951; he openly discussed contingency plans to launch massive air strikes against Baghdad and target Saddam Hussein, his family and mistress personally? On Sept. 18 Atlanta, Ga. is named as the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics. On Sept. 18 former savings and loan chief exec Charles Humphrey Keating Jr. (1923-) is jailed in Los Angeles, Calif. in lieu of $5M bail after being indicted on criminal fraud charges regarding the 1989 S&L scandal. On Sept. 19 Iraq begins confiscating foreign assets from countries that were imposing sanctions against them. On Sept. 21 during a meeting of the Supreme Soviet, Gorbachev scolds legislators for dragging their feet on an economic rescue plan, and asks for sweeping new emergency powers to stabilize the economy. On Sept. 21 the sitcom Evening Shade debuts on CBS-TV for 98 episodes (until May 23, 1994), starring Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds (1936-) as ex-Pittsburgh Steelers football player Woodrow "Wood" Newton, who becomes the coach of the losing h.s. football team in small-town Evening Shade, Ark.; Mary Lucy Denise "Marilu" Henner (1952-) plays his district atty. wife Ava Evans Newton; each episode closes with Ponder Blue, played by Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (1917-2005) summing up the events and ending with "...in a place called Evening Shade". On Sept. 22 Saudi Arabia expels most of the Yemeni and Jordanian envoys in Riyadh, accusing them of unspecified "activities jeopardizing the peace and security of the kingdom". On Sept. 22 after a 6-week 400-mi. march by 500 protesters, the Bolivian govt. reaches an agreement with Indian groups to stop deforestation. On Sept. 23 Iraq threatens to destroy Middle East oilfields and attack Israel if other nations try to force it from Kuwait. On Sept. 23-27 the PBS-TV documentary The Civil War airs, narrated by David McCullough, based on the photographs of Mathew Brady and the work of historian Shelby Foote, making the latter famous after it becomes the most-watched program in the network's history. On Sept. 24 South African pres. F.W. de Klerk meets with Pres. Bush at the White House. On Sept. 24 the Supreme Soviet votes to give preliminary approval to a plan for switching the Soviet Union to a free-market economy. On Sept. 25 in a videotaped Message to Infidel Americans, Sodamn Insane of Iraq warns that if Pres. Bush launches a war against his country, "it would not be up to him to end it". On Sept. 25 the U.N. Security Council votes 14-1 to impose an air embargo against Iraq; Cuba casts the lone dissenting vote. On Sept. 26 the Supreme Soviet ends decades of religious repression with a declaration forbidding govt. interference in religious activities. On Sept. 26 the Motion Picture Assoc. of Am. (MPAA) announces a new NC-17 rating, designed to bar moviegoers under the age of 17 from certain films without the commercial stigma of the old "X" rating; Henry and June becomes the first film to receive the rating. On Sept. 27 the deposed emir of Kuwait deliveres an emotional address to the U.N. General Assembly in which he denounces the "rape, destruction and terror" inflicted upon his country by Iraq; on Sept. 28 he visits the White House and boo-hoos some more. On Sept. 29 top leaders of Congress and the Bush admin. begin closed-door negotiations in an attempt to reach an 11th-hour budget agreement; on Sept. 30 they forge a $500B five-year compromise package of tax increases and spending cuts. On Sept. 29 Japan and North Korea decide to talk about opening diplomatic relations, but the mention of paying reparations to victims of Japanese colonialism throw them off track. On Sept. 30 Gen. Colin Powell (b. 1937) retires from the U.S. Army. In Sept. biological weapons scientists take control of a foot-and-mouth vaccine plant in Daura, Iraq and begin producing anthrax and botulinum toxin. On Oct. 1 Croatian Serbs declare their areas autonomous regions, causing violence between police and citizens which leads the Serbian govt. to call on the Yugoslavian federal authorites to intervene to stop "Croatian repression"; on Oct. 3 the pres. of Slovenia meets with the pres. of Croatia in Zagreb to work together to gain full autonomy. On Oct. 2 the Senate votes 90-9 to confirm the nomination of Judge David H. Souter to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Oct. 2 a Xiamen Airlines 737 is hijacked, and the hijacker detonates a bomb on approach to Guangzhou (Canton), causing it to hit a parked 757, killing 75 of 93 passengers and 7 of 9 crew, along with 46 of 110 passengers in the 757. On Oct. 3 Saddam Hussein makes his first visit to Kuwait since his country seized control - hello again, hello? On Oct. 4 for the first time in nearly six decades, German lawmakers meet in the Reichstag for the first meeting of reunified Germany's parliament. On Oct. 4 Tarin Kot, capital of Uruzgan Province in Afghanistan falls to Muslim guerrillas after they shoot down 95 Afghan soldiers who had surrendered; two weeks later another 125 soldiers are murdered while negotiating the surrender of Qalat, capital of neighboring Zabul Province. On Oct. 4 Beverly Hills, 90210 debuts on Fox Network for 293 episodes (until May 17, 2000), producing by Aaron Spelling Television, about upscale twins Brandon Walsh, played by Jason Bradford Priestley (1969-) and Cindy Walsh, palyed by Carol Potter (1948-), who moved to star-studded you know where and attend West Beverly Hills H.S., followed by Calif. U. while exploring date rape, gay rights, animal rights, alcoholism and drug abuse, domestic violence, sex, AIDS and teenage pregnancy and suicide, and anti-Semitism; Aaron Spelling's daughter Victoria Davey "Tori" Spelling (1973-) plays Donna Martin. On Oct. 5 the U.S. House of Reps. rejects the $500B budget agreement forged by congressional leaders and the Bush admin; on Oct. 6 Pres. Bush vetoes stopgap spending legislation passed by the Congress following the collapse of his deficit-reducing budget agreement; on Oct. 7 U.S. House and Senate Dems. put together their own budget proposal. On Oct. 6 Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off on a 4-day mission, returning on Oct. 10. On Oct. 6 (eve.) whites attack Japanese students at the Teikyo Loretto Heights U. campus in Denver, Colo. with baseball bats, causing Denver's jungle, er, Negro, er, Uncle, er, black district atty. Norm Early to throw the book at them; meanwhile Japan's new justice minister Seiroku Kajiyama makes a lame comment that foreign prostitutes in Japan help deteriorate neighborhoods just like blacks do in the U.S. On Oct. 8 the U.S.House approves a revised deficit-reducing budget plan, and both chambers of Congress approve stopgap spending legislation to end a govt. shutdown. On Oct. 8 (Black Mon.) (10 a.m.) after Palestinians rain stones on Jews at the Western Wall in Jerusalem observing the Feast of Sukkot, Israeli police open fire on them on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, killing 20+ and injuring 150+, becoming known as the Al-Aqsa (Temple Mount) Massacre; on Oct. 12 the U.N. Security Council votes unanimously to condemn them via Resolution 672, sending a mission to investigate, which Israel snubs, causing Resolution 673 to be passed on Oct. 24 urging them to reconsider, which they won't, after which the U.N. pub. a report anyway. On Oct. 8 balding "pompad-over"-coiffed (poof squirrel-do) Trump gives an interview to Larry King, announcing plans to run for the nomination of the Reform Party for U.S. president, going on to lose in 2000 to Pat Buchanan, who loses the gen. election to George W. Bush. On Oct. 9 Pres. Bush tells a news conference that he would be willing to consider higher income tax rates for the wealthy, but later backs off after talking with, the er, wealthy? On Oct. 11 Octavio Paz (1914-98) becomes the first Mexican winner of the Nobel Prize for lit.; on Oct. 15 Mikhail S. Gorbachev is named the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. On Oct. 11 60K rally in Prague, Czech. in support of a govt. proposal to seize all Communist Party property without compensation. On Oct. 13 at the start of a 3-day conference in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, the crown prince of Kuwait promises greater democracy for the emirate after it is freed from Iraqi occupation. On Oct. 13 after Syrian troops enter Beirut, and Christian rebel Gen. Michel Aoun ends his mutiny against the Lebanese govt., the Lebanese Civil War finally ends after 15 years (since Apr. 13, 1975), with 130K-250K killed and 1M wounded. On Oct. 15 South Africa's Separate Amenities Act, which barred blacks from public facilities for decades is formally scrapped. On Oct. 16 comedian Steve Martin and his actress wife Victoria Tennant visit U.S. GIs in Saudi Arabia. On Oct. 16 Mikhail Gorbachev submits to the Soviet legislature a scaled-back plan to transform the Soviet economy to a free-market system; the Supreme Soviet approves it on Oct. 19 - say again? On Oct. 16-20 the Cincinnati Reds (NL) defeat the Oakland Athletics (AL) 4-1 to win the Eighty-Seventh (87th) World Series. On Oct. 18 Iraq offers to sell its oil to anyone, incl. the U.S. for $21 a barrel, the same price before the invasion of Kuwait. On Oct. 19 Iraq orders all foreigners in occupied Kuwait to report to authorities or face punishment. On Oct. 19 after reaching the Brazilian wild in 1957, Africanized honey bees officially reach the U.S. On Oct. 21 a Palestinian stabs three Israelis to death during a rampage in a Jerusalem neighborhood in retaliation for the police killings of 17 Arabs on the Temple Mount. On Oct. 23 deficit-reduction negotiations continue between the White House and Congressional leaders with Pres. Bush, campaigning in New England, blaming the Dem.-controlled Congress for the budget impasse; on Oct. 27 the Senate gives final legislative approval to a record package of taxes and spending cuts just hours after the House approves the plan. On Oct. 23 the Hungarian parliament declares Oct. 23 as a nat. holiday in honor of the 1956 rev. On Oct. 24 the Senate fails to override Pres. Bush's veto of a major civil rights bill by a vote of 66-34, one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed. On Oct. 24 in Pakistan the 9-party Dem. Alliance of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (1949-), former chief minister of Punjab Province wins a two-thirds majority in the nat. assembly, and on Nov. 1 he becomes PM of Pakistan (until July 18, 1993). On Oct. 25 defense secy. Dick Cheney says the Pentagon is laying plans to send as many as 100K more troops to Saudi Arabia. Borat-land comes online? On Oct. 25 the oil-rich make-benefit glorious nation of Repub. of Kazakhstan (pop. 15M), Genghis Khan's country proclaims itself, becoming the 9th largest country by area (twice the size of Texas), and one of three new repubs. (along with Belarus and Ukraine) with its own nukes; Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (1940-), an authoritarian who has ruled the country since 1989 becomes pres. #1 (until ?). On Oct. 25 Salmin Amour (1948-) becomes pres. #5 of Zanzibar (until Nov. 8, 2000). On Oct. 26 the U.S. State Dept. issues a warning that terrorists could be planning an attack on a passenger ship or aircraft. On Oct. 28 Dem. philosopher-writer (pres. of the Academy of Sciences) Askar Akayev (1944-) becomes pres. (until 2005) of the new 75% Muslim, 25% Orthodox landlocked mountainous Kyrgyzstan (Kirghizstan) Repub. (the 7th "stan" country?), which declares itself sovereign on Oct. 30, and names itself on Dec. 13; by the end of the cent. his influential wife and family egg him into enriching themselves and ruling with an iron hand; meanwhile the poverty-stricken Uzbek pop. in the S grumbles against the richer Kyrgyz pop. in the N? On Oct. 28 in a surprise move Iraq says it is halting gasoline rationing imposed earlier in response to global economic sanctions. On Oct. 29 the U.N. Security Council votes to hold Saddam Hussein's regime liable for human rights abuses and war damages during its occupation of Kuwait; in Sept. 2010 Iraq quietly agrees to pay the U.S. $400M to settle all claims by U.S. citizens who claim to have been tortured or traumatized. On Oct. 30 the Iraqi News Agency quotes Saddam Hussein as saying that Iraq is making final preparations for war, and that he expects an attack by the U.S. and its allies within days. On Oct. 30 in the Persian Gulf 10 U.S. sailors are killed when a steam pipe ruptures aboard the USS Iwo Jima. On Oct. 30 Slovenia imposes custom duties on Serbian goods, killing the unified Yugoslavian internal market. ON Oct. 30 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), enduring that students with a disability are provided with free appropriate public education tailed to their individual needs. On Oct. 31 during a campaign swing in suburban Washington, D.C., Pres. Bush utters the soundbyte: "I have had it" with the way Iraq is treating U.S. diplomats and hostages, saying "The people out there are not being resupplied. The American flag is flying over the Kuwait embassy and our people inside are being starved by a brutal dictator", but adds that he has no timetable for deciding on a possible military strike. In Oct. a $12.5M verdict against the White Aryan Resistance (WAR) ("White Revolution is the Only Solution") is returned by a court for the killing of Ethiopian student Mulugeta Seraw in Portland, Ore.; WAR leader Thomas "Tom" Linton Metzger (1938-) then switches tactics to the "lone wolf lifestyle", doing nothing overt but waiting for the Great Serpent of the U.S. federal govt. to weaken. In Oct. tall Tutsi exiles from Uganda, led by Paul Kagama and calling themselves the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invade Rwanda from Uganda, attempting to topple the 18-y.-o. humbler-sized Hutu regime of Juvenal Habyrimana, and ending in stalemate (ends 1993). In Oct. the Labour Party in New Zealand is decisively defeated. In Oct. massive protests force Ivory Coast pres. Felix Houphouet-Boigny (d. 1993) to hold a contested pres. election, which he wins with 81% of the vote. In Oct. the first swarm of Africanized killer bees is detected in Hidalgo, Tex. In Oct. 31-y.-o. meat packer Diana Lumbrera (1959-) is tried in the same courtroom in Garden City, Kan. as "In Cold Blood" murderers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock for seven murders, and is convicted on Oct. 6 of smothering her 4-y.-o. son Jose to death while lying in his bed with his teddy bear on May 1, the last of six brothers and sisters who all died before reaching age five from 1976-84 when she lived in the Tex. panhandle, which are only discovered after her arrest in Kan.; a 7th child under her care died in 1980; the prosecution claims she has Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, despite receiving $15K in insurance claims; she is later tried in Tex. for the other counts and convicted - I know today's your birthday, and I did not find no rose, but I wrote this song instead, Popsicle Toes? On Nov. 1 during a trip to Orlando, Fla., Pres. Bush accuses Iraqi forces of engaging in "barbarism" and "brutality," adding a history ignoramus soundbyte "I don't believe t
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	17	https://www.insightvacations.com/blog/nuremberg/	en	Trumpets and Trials: How Nuremberg Rewrote German History	https://www.insightvacat…FAM-unsplash.jpg	https://www.insightvacat…FAM-unsplash.jpg	[ "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/blog-logo-v2-03.svg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/down-arrow-1.svg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/down-arrow-1.svg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/blog-logo-v2-03.svg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/down-arrow-1.svg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/down-arrow-1.svg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Werner-photo-e1710954491395-1-e1710954808435-824x1024.jpg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IV-BLOG-BANNER-NUREMBERG.png", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GettyImages-1002136174-scaled.jpg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Large-Reich-Kongresshalle-oor-congress-hall-and-the-documentation-center-on-former-Nazi-party-rally-grounds-in-Nuremberg-1198349185-1024x683.jpg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/sandra-dempsey-VVWPwtuhGI-unsplash-1024x768.jpg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/mateo-krossler-IoJfWHdqHCE-unsplash-scaled.jpg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fun-Fact.svg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/luis-fernando-felipe-alves-559SNwoY4pI-unsplash-1024x683.jpg", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9d38176fcc06e8a31250ebc34b870bfd?s=600&d=mm&r=g", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Large-traditional-french-cheese-fondue-with-bread-1255376195-1024x683.jpg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/fabio-mangione-fs1B0RX4j1o-unsplash-1024x683.jpg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Large-beautiful-trees-and-waterfront-in-Boston-Public-Garden-Boston-massachusettsUSA-1288959659-1024x576.jpg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Large-Christmas-Market-on-Marienplatz-by-new-town-hall-159591796-1024x683.jpg", "https://www.insightvacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IV_Logo_No_Strapline_White.svg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Leanne Williams", "Jess Williamson", "Jason Brasier" ]	2024-03-22T12:44:09+00:00	From a medieval powerhouse to a defining city of WWII, relics of Nuremberg’s fascinating history are still intact for everyone to see.	en	https://www.insightvacat…_iv_01-32x32.png	Insight Vacations	https://www.insightvacations.com/blog/nuremberg/	Nuremberg, a charming city in the German state of Bavaria, holds a significant place in world history due to its multifaceted role in various historical events and periods. From its medieval origins as a prominent trade center to its pivotal role in the rise to power of German National Socialism (aka the Nazi party) and subsequent post-war trials, Nuremberg’s history is a tapestry of political, cultural and social significance. We had the pleasure to speak Werner Fiederer, an expert guide in Nuremberg from the city’s Institute for Local History and this week’s Insightful destination expert. He tells us more about the city’s fascinating past, and why it is such an important and interesting destination. Take a read then test your knowledge with this week’s Insightful Travel Trivia, with 5 questions inspired by Werner. Visit Nuremberg for yourself, as an optional experience, on our Best of Germany premium tour Why is Nuremberg such an important and interesting city? “Nuremberg is one of the most interesting cities in Germany, with a diverse and interesting history, a lot of which can still be seen,” says Werner. “92% of the city was destroyed in World War II, so it’s even more interesting and impressive how much medieval character is still intact. Nuremberg is also unique as one of the few places you can still see architectonical relics of National Socialism of the 1930s, such as the Zeppelin grandstand or the Congress Hall. “The city began life as a vitally important trade center. It played not only a very pivotal role during the period of National Socialism and the rise of the Nazi party, but also afterwards. When World War II was over, the city was chosen as the site for the famous Nuremberg trials. It was here, that the principal criminals of World War II were put on trial by four allied nations – the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union.” You may also like: Experience the best of Germany’s past, present and future in 12 days A symbol of National Socialism It was during the 20th century, that Nuremberg’s history took a darker turn. The city became a symbol of Nazi power, hosting the annual Nuremberg Rallies, massive propaganda events that showcased the regime’s self-image and ideology. The infamous Nuremberg Laws, which institutionalized racial discrimination against Jews and other minorities, were announced in the city in 1935, during one of the rallies. “Before the war started in 1939, Nuremberg was sort of ‘model city’ for the National Socialists,” Werner explains. “It was one of the most important sites for them in terms of propaganda, and also in terms of showing the self-image of the Nazis to the Germans and to the rest of the world.” Bookmark for later: Making Time: Meet One of Germany’s Artisan Cuckoo Clock Makers The Nuremberg Rally Grounds “The Nuremberg Rally Grounds are one of the most visited sites in Germany when it comes to World War II history,” Werner continues. “You can see some of the huge buildings that were erected in the 1930’s to serve the Nazis propaganda plans and wishes. Guests are often very emotionally affected. “Nuremberg was chosen by the National Socialists to become the site for the propaganda rallies. A huge area was designed by Albert Speer, Hitlers Chief Architect. The Zeppelin Grandstand and the Congress Hall are still standing today as a relic from this period.” The grandstand was built of limestone and bricks and is 360m wide. In front of it was a large terrain surrounded by stands for 60.000 spectators. The Zeppelin field itself was bigger than 12 soccer pitches and held 100,000 spectators. Today, much of the foundations and layout still identifiably conform to the original architectural plans. If you are interested in the history of war: Tunnel of Hope: a Survivor’s Story of the Bosnian War Congress Hall “You can also see the enormous Congress Hall,” Werner says. “This was designed to be the site for a speech from Adolf Hitler to 50.000 members of the party congress, however, it was never completed. For over 20 years now, it has housed the Documentation Centre, an incredibly important exhibition and education center.” The Congress Hall is the only part of the entire rally grounds which was not designed by ‘Hitler’s architect’ Albert Speer. Since 1973 the building has been officially protected as the largest example of National Socialist architecture. Since 2001 it hosts the Documentation Centre with the permanent exhibition “Faszination und Gewalt” (Fascination and Terror). Until the end of 2025 the Documentation Center is being renovated. Until then, there is an interims exhibition presented in one of the large halls of the Congress Hall. Read more about Bavaria: The Rhine Valley: Romance and Relaxation in the Heart of Germany The Nuremberg Trials Additionally, Nuremberg was chosen as the site for the post-World War II Nuremberg Trials, where Nazi leaders were held accountable for their war crimes and crimes against humanity. Held from 1945 to 1946, the trials were a landmark event in international law, establishing the principles of individual responsibility for crimes against humanity and laying the groundwork for future international criminal tribunals. The trials also marked a significant moment in the city’s history, as Nuremberg transitioned from being a symbol of Nazi power to a symbol of justice, human rights and accountability. For an intriguing WW1 tale: The Legend of The Golden Virgin, France’s Most Important Statue A city chosen for practicality Rumor has it that the Allies chose Nuremberg to host the trails to take revenge for the Nazi period, however Werner tells us that the city was chosen for more practical reasons. “First of all, the city had a huge courthouse that was still standing from the war. No other big city had had this opportunity,” he explains. “In addition, attached to the courthouse there’s a huge jail. So, it was possible to bring the defendants from their prison cells to the courtroom and back without leaving the area. Last but not least, the USA was mostly the driving force for this trial and Bavaria, where Nuremberg is, was part of the US’s occupation zone. So, they really had interest to hold the trials in their occupation zone. If you love Germany, you should read: Georg Lang: The Visionary Who Revolutionized Munich’s Oktoberfest Courtroom 600 “You can still visit Courtroom 600, one of the most famous courtrooms in the world,” says Werner. “For visitors it’s a very emotional moment to stand in the same room where Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess and all these Nazi leaders were sitting. “You don’t see the room as it was in 1945 when they held the trials there though. When the courthouse was given back to the German authorities, they changed it back to how it looked in 1916 when it was erected. “It was still used as a courtroom until two years ago and is now a museum. It’s open for the public (every day except Tuesdays) with a lot to see, including an excellent exhibition called Memoriam Nuremberg Trials.” Medieval Nuremberg – a merchant stronghold “It’s not only the Nazi period that makes Nuremberg interesting,” says Werner. “The majority of our visitors enjoy exploring the city’s medieval history and relics. Located on the crossroads of the most important trade routes of Europe, it was one of the most important merchant cities of that time.” The city’s strategic location along major trade routes in the Holy Roman Empire meant that Nuremberg became a hub for commerce, particularly in textiles, metals and crafts, and its annual trade fairs attracted merchants from across Europe. The economic influence of the city extended into the Renaissance, becoming a center of artistic and intellectual activity, producing renowned figures like Albrecht Dürer, a leading artist of the Northern Renaissance. “We still have one of the most famous medieval castles atop the city,” says Werner. “Impressive and well preserved, it played an enormously important political role in the Middle Ages. You can also enjoy the mediaeval town with Albrecht Dürer’s house, impressive Gothic churches from the 13th and 14th centuries and the beautiful mediaeval center.” You may also like: The German Town of Rothenburg is a Grown-Up Christmas Grotto A center of political power “As well as economic power there was also a lot of political meaning and power in Nuremberg.” Werner explains. “This was the city where all the German Emperors and Kings regularly held their most important meetings, along with the rest of the nobility. The so called Reichstag (imperial diet) of Nuremberg was hugely influential during medieval times. “This connects us again to the Nazi period, because the ‘Reichstag’ of that old tradition was also one of the reasons that Hitler wanted the “Reichsparteitag” (party rally) to be held in Nuremberg, leading to the building of the aforementioned Congress Hall, to connect to the medieval tradition. A city of historical contrasts and connections “There are so many elements that are connected together here in the city,” says Werner. “The contrasts between that history and the modern architecture is obvious. The stories are just as fascinating. As a guide, I never tire of sharing these with our visitors. “It’s this mixture and historical contradictions, which makes Nuremberg so fascinating. The modern and terrible WWII history and its results. The wounds that it left in the city and the scars. And then this period after the War when the court trials put another light on the city and gave Nuremberg a new reputation. From the Nazi city to the city of international justice, that was a great leap forward.” Explore Bavaria and visit Nuremberg for yourself, as an optional experience, on our Best of Germany premium tour
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Designating Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor, on the following day Hitler killed himself by gunshot while Braun committed suicide with him by taking cyanide. In accordance…	en	https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/adefba2e155966a57558f29c20c7be2f8186bff210bbcb14fbd9434994fa9edb?s=32	A Stamp A Day	https://stampaday.wordpress.com/2018/04/29/eva-braun-the-fuhrerbunker-hitlers-marriage/	On April 29, 1945, Führer and Reich Chancellor (Reichskanzler) of the German Third Reich Adolf Hitler married his longtime partner Eva Anna Paula Braun in the Führerbunker air raid shelter in Berlin. Designating Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor, on the following day Hitler killed himself by gunshot while Braun committed suicide with him by taking cyanide. In accordance with Hitler’s prior written and verbal instructions, that afternoon their remains were carried up the stairs through the bunker’s emergency exit, doused in petrol, and set alight in the Reich Chancellery garden outside the bunker. Records in the Soviet archives show that their burnt remains were recovered and interred in successive locations until 1970, when they were again exhumed, cremated, and the ashes scattered. Hitler had taken up residence in the Führerbunker on January 16, 1945, and it became the center of the Nazi regime until the last week of World War II in Europe. The Soviet forces captured the Reich Chancellery on May 2, 1945, entering the bunker complex at 09:00 that morning. Eva Braun was born on February 6, 1912, in Munich, Bavaria, the second daughter of school teacher Friedrich “Fritz” Braun and Franziska “Fanny” Kronberger. Her mother had worked as a seamstress before her marriage. She had an elder sister, Ilse, and a younger sister, Margarete (Gretl). Braun’s parents were divorced in April 1921, but remarried in November 1922, probably for financial reasons (hyperinflation was plaguing the German economy at the time). Braun was educated at a Catholic lyceum in Munich, and then for one year at a business school in the Convent of the English Sisters in Simbach am Inn, where she had average grades and a talent for athletics. At age 17, she took a job working for Heinrich Hoffmann, the official photographer for the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP and commonly referred to in English as the Nazi Party). Initially employed as a shop assistant and sales clerk, she soon learned how to use a camera and develop photos. She met Hitler, 23 years her senior, at Hoffmann’s studio in Munich in October 1929. He had been introduced to her as “Herr Wolff”. Eva’s sister, Gretl, also worked for Hoffman from 1932 onward, and the women rented an apartment together for a time. Gretl accompanied her sister on her later trips with Hitler to the Obersalzberg, a mountainside retreat situated above the market town of Berchtesgaden in Bavaria. Located about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of Munich, close to the border with Austria, it is best known as the site of Adolf Hitler’s former mountain residence, the Berghof, and of the mountaintop Kehlsteinhaus, popularly known in the English-speaking world as the “Eagle’s Nest”. Hitler lived with his half-niece, Geli Raubal, in an apartment at Prinzregentenplatz 16 in Munich from 1929 until her death. On September 18, 1931, Raubal was found dead in the apartment with a gunshot wound, an apparent suicide with Hitler’s pistol. Hitler was in Nuremberg at the time. The relationship — likely the most intense of his life — had been important to him. Hitler began seeing more of Braun after Raubal’s suicide. Braun herself attempted suicide on August 10 or 11, 1932, by shooting herself in the chest with her father’s pistol. Historians feel the attempt was not serious, but was a bid for Hitler’s attention. After Braun’s recovery, Hitler became more committed to her and by the end of 1932 they had become lovers. She often stayed overnight at his Munich apartment when he was in town. Beginning in 1933, Braun worked as a photographer for Hoffmann. This position enabled her to travel — accompanied by Hoffmann — with Hitler’s entourage as a photographer for the Nazi Party. Later in her career, she worked for Hoffman’s art press. In 1933, Hitler purchased a small holiday home on the mountain at Obersalzberg. Renovations began in 1934 and were completed by 1936. A large wing was added onto the original house and several additional buildings were constructed. The entire area was fenced off, and remaining houses on the mountain were purchased by the Nazi Party and demolished. Braun and the other members of the entourage were cut off from the outside world when in residence. Speer, Hermann Göring, and Martin Bormann had houses constructed inside the compound. Hitler’s valet, Heinz Linge, stated in his memoirs that Hitler and Braun had two bedrooms and two bathrooms with interconnecting doors at the Berghof, and Hitler would end most evenings alone with her in his study before they retired to bed. She would wear a “dressing gown or house-coat” and drink wine; Hitler would have tea. Public displays of affection or physical contact were nonexistent, even in the enclosed world of the Berghof. Braun took the role of hostess amongst the regular visitors, though she was not involved in running the household. She regularly invited friends and family members to accompany her during her stays, the only guest to do so. According to a fragment of her diary and the account of biographer Nerin Gun, Braun’s second suicide attempt occurred in May 1935. She took an overdose of sleeping pills when Hitler failed to make time for her in his life. Hitler provided Eva and her sister with a three-bedroom apartment in Munich that August, and the next year the sisters were provided with a villa in Bogenhausen at Wasserburgerstr. 12 (now Delpstr. 12). By 1936, Braun was at Hitler’s household at the Berghof near Berchtesgaden whenever he was in residence there, but she lived mostly in Munich. Braun also had her own apartment at the new Reich Chancellery in Berlin, completed to a design by Albert Speer. Braun was a member of Hoffman’s staff when she attended the Nuremberg Rally for the first time in 1935. Hitler’s half-sister, Angela Raubal (the dead Geli’s mother), took exception to her presence there, and was later dismissed from her position as housekeeper at his house in Berchtesgaden. Researchers are unable to ascertain if her dislike for Braun was the only reason for her departure, but other members of Hitler’s entourage saw Braun as untouchable from then on. Hitler wished to present himself in the image of a chaste hero; in the Nazi ideology, men were the political leaders and warriors, and women were homemakers. He believed that he was sexually attractive to women and wished to exploit this for political gain by remaining single, as he felt marriage would decrease his appeal. He and Braun never appeared as a couple in public; the only time they appeared together in a published news photo was when she sat near him at the 1936 Winter Olympics. The German people were unaware of Braun’s relationship with Hitler until after the war. According to Speer’s memoirs, Braun never slept in the same room as Hitler and had her own rooms at the Berghof, in Hitler’s Berlin residence, and in the Berlin bunker. Speer later said, “Eva Braun will prove a great disappointment to historians.” Biographer Heike Görtemaker noted that women did not play a big role in the politics of the Third Reich. Braun’s political influence on Hitler was apparently minimal. She was never allowed to stay in the room when business or political conversations took place, and was sent out of the room when cabinet ministers or other dignitaries were present. She was not a member of the Nazi Party. In his post-war memoirs, Hoffmann characterized Braun’s outlook as “inconsequential and feather-brained”; her main interests were sports, clothes, and the cinema. By all accounts, she led a sheltered and privileged existence and seemed uninterested in politics. One instance when she took an interest was in 1943, shortly after Germany had fully transitioned to a total war economy. Among other things, this meant a potential ban on women’s cosmetics and luxuries. According to Speer’s memoirs, Braun approached Hitler in “high indignation”; Hitler quietly instructed Speer, who was armaments minister at the time, to halt production of women’s cosmetics and luxuries rather than instituting an outright ban. Braun continued to work for Hoffmann after commencing her relationship with Hitler. She took many photographs and movies of members of the inner circle, and some of these were sold to Hoffmann for extremely high prices. She received money from Hoffmann’s company as late as 1943, and also held the position of private secretary to Hitler. This guise meant she could enter and leave the Chancellery unremarked, though she used a side entrance and a rear staircase. Görtemaker notes that Braun and Hitler enjoyed a normal sex life. Braun’s friends and relatives described Eva giggling over a 1938 photograph of Neville Chamberlain sitting on a sofa in Hitler’s Munich flat with the remark: “If only he knew what goings-on that sofa has seen.” On June 3, 1944, Braun’s sister Gretl Braun married SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein, who served as Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler’s liaison officer on Hitler’s staff. Hitler used the marriage as an excuse to allow Braun to appear at official functions, as she could then be introduced as Fegelein’s sister-in-law. When Fegelein was caught in the closing days of the war trying to escape to Sweden or Switzerland, Hitler ordered his execution. He was shot for desertion in the garden of the Reich Chancellery on April 28, 1945. When Henriette von Schirach suggested that Braun should go into hiding after the war, Braun replied, “Do you think I would let him die alone? I will stay with him up until the last moment …” Hitler named Braun in his will, to receive 12,000 Reichsmarks yearly after his death. He was very fond of her, and worried when she participated in sports or was late returning for tea. Braun was very fond of Negus and Stasi, her two Scottish Terrier dogs, and they appear in her home movies. She usually kept them away from Hitler’s German Shepherd, Blondi. Blondi was killed by one of the entourage on April 29, 1945 when Hitler ordered that one of the cyanide capsules obtained for Braun and Hitler’s suicide the next day be tested on the dog. Braun’s dogs and Blondi’s puppies were shot on April 30 by Hitler’s dog handler, Fritz Tornow. The Reich Chancellery bunker was initially constructed as a temporary air-raid shelter for Hitler who actually spent very little time in the capital during most of the war. Increased bombing of Berlin led to expansion of the complex as an improvised permanent shelter. The elaborate complex consisted of two separate shelters, the Vorbunker (“forward bunker”; the upper bunker), completed in 1936, and the Führerbunker, located 8.2 feet (2.5 meters) lower than the Vorbunker and to the west-southwest, completed in 1944. They were connected by a stairway set at right angles and could be closed off from each other by a bulkhead and steel door. The Vorbunker was located 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) beneath the cellar of a large reception hall behind the old Reich Chancellery at Wilhelmstrasse 77. The Führerbunker was located about 28 feet (8.5 meters) beneath the garden of the old Reich Chancellery, 300 feet (120 meters) north of the new Reich Chancellery building at Voßstraße 6. Besides being deeper under ground, the Führerbunker had significantly more reinforcement. Its roof was made of concrete almost 9.8 feet (3 meters) thick. About 30 small rooms were protected by approximately 13 feet (4 meters) of concrete; exits led into the main buildings, as well as an emergency exit up to the garden. The Führerbunker development was built by the Hochtief company as part of an extensive program of subterranean construction in Berlin begun in 1940. Hitler’s accommodations were in this newer, lower section, and by February 1945 it had been decorated with high-quality furniture taken from the Chancellery, along with several framed oil paintings. After descending the stairs into the lower section and passing through the steel door, there was a long corridor with a series of rooms on each side. On the right side were a series of rooms which included generator/ventilation rooms and the telephone switchboard. On the left side was Eva Braun’s bedroom/sitting room (also known as Hitler’s private guest room), an ante-chamber (also known as Hitler’s sitting room), which led into Hitler’s study/office. On the wall hung a large portrait of Frederick the Great, one of Hitler’s heroes. A door led into Hitler’s modestly furnished bedroom. Next to it was the conference/map room (also known as the briefing/situation room) which had a door that led out into the waiting room/ante-room. The bunker complex was self-contained. However, as the Führerbunker was below the water table, conditions were unpleasantly damp, with pumps running continuously to remove groundwater. A diesel generator provided electricity, and well water was pumped in as the water supply. Communications systems included a telex, a telephone switchboard, and an army radio set with an outdoor antenna. As conditions deteriorated at the end of the war, Hitler received much of his war news from BBC radio broadcasts and via courier. Hitler moved into the Führerbunker on January 16, 1945, joined by his senior staff, including Martin Bormann. In early April, Braun travelled from Munich to Berlin to be with Hitler at the bunker, refusing to leave as the Red Army closed in on the capital. Joseph Goebbels joined them in April, while Magda Goebbels and their six children took residence in the upper Vorbunker. Two or three dozen support, medical, and administrative staff were also sheltered there. These included Hitler’s secretaries (including Traudl Junge), a nurse named Erna Flegel, and telephone switchboard operator Sergeant Rochus Misch. Initially, Hitler continued to utilize the undamaged wing of the Reich Chancellery, where he held afternoon military conferences in his large study. Afterwards, he would have tea with his secretaries before going back down into the bunker complex for the night. After several weeks of this routine, he seldom left the bunker except for short strolls in the chancellery garden with his dog Blondi. The bunker was crowded, the atmosphere was oppressive, and air raids occurred daily. Hitler mostly stayed on the lower level, where it was quieter and he could sleep. Conferences took place for much of the night, often until 05:00. On April 16, the Red Army started the Battle of Berlin, and they started to encircle the city by April 19. Hitler made his last trip to the surface on April 20, his 56th birthday, going to the ruined garden of the Reich Chancellery where he awarded the Iron Cross to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth. That afternoon, Berlin was bombarded by Soviet artillery for the first time. Hitler was in denial about the dire situation and placed his hopes on the units commanded by Waffen-SS General Felix Steiner, the Armeeabteilung Steiner (Army Detachment Steiner). On April 21, Hitler ordered Steiner to attack the northern flank of the encircling Soviet salient and ordered the German Ninth Army, south-east of Berlin, to attack northward in a pincer attack. That evening, Red Army tanks reached the outskirts of Berlin. Hitler was told at his afternoon situation conference on April 22 that Steiner’s forces had not moved, and he fell into a tearful rage when he realized that the attack was not going to be carried out. He openly declared for the first time the war was lost — and he blamed his generals. Hitler announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then shoot himself. On April 23, Hitler appointed General of the Artillery Helmuth Weidling, commander of the LVI Panzer Corps, as the commander of the Berlin Defense Area, replacing Lieutenant-Colonel (Oberstleutnant) Ernst Kaether. The Red Army had consolidated their investment of Berlin by April 25, despite the commands being issued from the Führerbunker. There was no prospect that the German defense could do anything, but delay the city’s capture. Hitler summoned Field Marshal Robert Ritter von Greim from Munich to Berlin to take over command of the Luftwaffe from Hermann Göring, and he arrived on April 26 along with his mistress and crack test pilot Hanna Reitsch. On April 28, Hitler learned that Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was trying to discuss surrender terms with the Western Allies through Count Folke Bernadotte, and Hitler considered this treason. Enraged, he ordered Himmler’s arrest and had Hermann Fegelein shot, who was Himmler’s SS representative at Hitler’s HQ in Berlin. On the same day, General Hans Krebs made his last telephone call from the Führerbunker to Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of German Armed Forces High Command (OKW) in Fürstenberg. Krebs told him that all would be lost if relief did not arrive within 48 hours. Keitel promised to exert the utmost pressure on Generals Walther Wenck, commander of the Twelfth Army, and Theodor Busse, commander of the Ninth Army. Meanwhile, Hitler’s private secretary Martin Bormann wired to German Admiral Karl Dönitz: “Reich Chancellery a heap of rubble.” He said that the foreign press was reporting fresh acts of treason and “that without exception Schörner, Wenck and the others must give evidence of their loyalty by the quickest relief of the Führer”. That evening, von Greim and Reitsch flew out from Berlin in an Arado Ar 96 trainer. Field Marshal von Greim was ordered to get the Luftwaffe to attack the Soviet forces that had just reached Potsdamerplatz, only a city block from the Führerbunker. During the night of April 28, General Wenck reported to Keitel that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front and it was no longer possible for his army to relieve Berlin. Keitel gave Wenck permission to break off the attempt. Later that night, news was received that there had been an uprising in northern Italy, that his ally Benito Mussolini had been captured by the Partisans and that armistice negotiations were being initiated by commanders in Italy. There was also the news of an attempted coup in Munich. By this time, Russian forces were only some 1,000 yards from the bunker. Hitler knew that he soon would have to commit suicide to avoid the humiliation of capture and trial. Before doing so, he desired to marry his long-time mistress Eva Braun and write his final political testament and personal will. Sometime around 11:30 on the night of April 28, Hitler’s secretary — 25-year-old Gertrude Junge — awoke from a nap and entered Hitler’s study. Hitler approached, shook her hand and asked “‘Have you had a nice little rest, child?’” Junge replied “Yes, I have slept a little.” Thereupon he said, “Come along, I want to dictate something.” They went into the little map, or conference, room near Hitler’s quarters. She was about to remove the cover from the typewriter, as Hitler normally dictated directly to the typewriter, when Hitler said “Take it down on the shorthand pad.” She sat down alone at the big table and waited. Hitler stood in his usual place by the broad side of the table, leaned both hands on it, and stared at the empty table top, no longer covered that day with maps. For several seconds Hitler did not say anything. Then, suddenly he began to speak the first words: “My political testament.” After finishing his political testament, according to Junge, Hitler paused a brief moment and then began dictating his private will. Hitler’s personal will was shorter. It explained his marriage, disposed of his property, and announced his impending death. The dictation was completed. Hitler had not made any corrections on either document. He moved away from the table on which he had been leaning all this time, and “suddenly there is an exhausted, hunted expression in his eyes.” Hitler said, “Type that out for me at once in triplicate and then bring it in to me.” Junge felt that there was something urgent in his voice, and thought the most important, most crucial document written by Hitler was to go out into the world without any corrections or thorough revision. After Junge departed the conference room to type up the documents, guests began entering to attend the wedding ceremony. In the meantime Hitler was in his sitting room with a few people, trying to get the wedding ready in a dignified way, while the conference room was turned into a registry office and set up for the ceremony. SS-Major Heinz Linge (Hitler’s valet since 1935) began getting things ready for the post-wedding ceremony, including gathering up food and drink for Hitler’s inner circle. Josef Goebbels, in his capacity of Gauleiter of Berlin, knew of someone authorized to act as a registrar of marriage who was still in Berlin, fighting with the Volkssturm — 50-year-old municipal councilor Walter Wagner. A group of SS men was dispatched across the city to bring him back. Wagner appeared shortly before 01:00 on April 29 in the uniform of the Nazi Party and the arm-band of the Volkssturm. The ceremony took place in the small conference room or map room, probably at some point between 01:00 and 02:00. Hitler and Braun left their apartment hand in hand and went into the conference room. Hitler’s face was ashen, his gaze wandered restlessly. Eva Braun was also pale from sleepless nights. Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann were waiting for them in the antechamber. In the conference room, the party greeted Walter Wagner who had taken up his position at the table. Then they sat down in the first two chairs, and Bormann and Goebbels too went to their assigned places. The door was closed. The two parties declared that they were of pure Aryan descent and were free from hereditary disease. In a few minutes, the parties had given assent, the register had been signed and the ceremony was over. When the bride came to sign her name on the marriage certificate she began to write “Eva Braun,” but quickly struck out the initial letter B, and corrected it to Hitler. Bormann and Goebbels and Wagner also signed the register as witnesses. The ceremony lasted no longer than ten minutes. Bormann opened the door again when Hitler and Eva were signing the license. Hitler then kissed Eva’s hand. They went into the conference passage where they shook hands with those waiting. They then withdrew into their private apartments for a wedding breakfast. Shortly afterwards, Bormann, Goebbels, Frau Goebbels, and Hitler’s two secretaries, Frau Gerda Christian and Frau Junge, were invited into the private suite. Junge would not come right away as she was typing across the hall. Wagner lingered for some 20 minutes at the reception. He munched a liverwurst sandwich, had one or two glasses of champagne, chatted with the bride, and headed back to the front lines. For part of the time General of Infantry Hans Krebs, Lt. Gen. Wilhelm Burgdorf, and Lt. Col. Nicholaus von Below (Hitler’s Luftwaffe Adjutant since 1937) came in and joined the party, as did Werner Naumann (State Secretary in Ministry of Propaganda since 1944), Arthur Axmann (Reich Youth Leader since 1940), Ambassador Walter Hewel (permanent representative of Foreign Ministry to Hitler at Fuehrer headquarters since 1940), Heinz Linge (Hitler’s valet), SS-Major Otto Guensche (personal adjutant to Hitler), and Fraulein Manzialy, the vegetarian cook. There they sat for hours, drinking champagne and tea, eating sandwiches, and talking. Hitler spoke again of his plans of suicide and expressed his belief that National Socialism was finished and would never revive (or would not resurrect so soon again), and that death would be a relief to him now that he had been deceived and betrayed by his best friends. At some point during the party Junge stopped her typing and walked across the corridor to the room where the party was taking place to express her congratulations to the newlyweds and wish them luck. She stayed for less than fifteen minutes and then returned to her typing. During the time she was typing, Hitler left the party and came in three times in order to ask how far she had gotten. According to Junge, Hitler would look in and say “Are you ready?” and she said, “No my Führer, I am not ready yet.” Bormann and Goebbels also kept coming to see if she was finished. Not only did these comings and goings make Junge nervous and delay the process, but being upset about the whole situation, Junge made several typographical errors. Those were only crossed out in ink. Also complicating the finishing of the typing was that the names of some appointments of the new Doenitz government needed to be added to the political testament. During the course of the wedding party, Hitler discussed and negotiated the matter with Bormann and Goebbels. While she was typing the clean copies of the political testament from her shorthand notes, Goebbels or Bormann came in alternately to give her the names of the ministers of the future government, a process that lasted until she had finished typing the three copies. Towards 05:00, Junge finished typing the three copies each of the political testament and personal will. They were timed at 04:00 as that was when she had begun her typing of the first copy of the political testament. Just as she finished, Goebbels came to her and wanted the documents, almost tearing the last piece of paper from the typewriter. She gave them to Goebbels without having a chance to review the final product because Goebbels was in such a hurry. She asked Goebbels whether they still wanted her. Goebbels said “no, lie down and have a rest.” Junge went into one of the room where there were sleeping accommodations and lay down. At that point Eva Braun had already retired and the wedding party had ended or just about to end. Goebbels, meanwhile, took the copies of the documents to Hitler. The documents were ready to be signed. First Hitler asked Goebbels and Bormann whether everything was correct. Apparently they answered in the affirmative. The personal will was signed by Hitler and signed by the witnesses: Bormann, Goebbels, and von Below. The political testament was also signed at the same time by Hitler and the witnesses Goebbels, Bormann, Burgdorf, and Krebs. After signing the wills, sometime before 06:00, Hitler retired to rest. At around 0600 April 29, 1945, the regular intense Russian artillery bombardment began with the whole area around the Reich Chancellery and the government district coming under fire. The Soviets launched their all-out offensive against the center of Berlin — fighting was soon in progress on Kurfuestendamm and on Bismarckstrasse and Kantstrasse. The front line was now only some 450 yards from the Chancellery. During those same early morning hours, Adolf Hitler planned for the three copies of his personal testament and personal will to be taken out of Berlin and delivered to Grand Admiral Doenitz and Field Marshal Schoerner, commander of Army Group Center in Bohemia (and, by way of Hitler’s political testament, newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army). These were carried by Major Johannmeier (Hitler’s 31 year old adjutant to the Army) SS-Colonel Wilhelm Zander (an aide representing Bormann), and Heinz Lorenz (an official of the Propaganda Ministry representing Goebbels). These two men would receive separate instructions. Johannmeier was charged to escort the party on their journey through enemy lines. With the will and testament in his possession, Johannmeier went to see Hitler around 09:00. Hitler told him that this testament must be brought out of Berlin at any price, that Schoerner must receive it, and that he believed he would succeed in the task. Johannmeier said they both realized that they would not see each other again and this influenced the tone in which they said goodbye. Hitler spoke very cordially. Hitler shook his hand. Johannmeier realized that Hitler was going to die. While Johannmeier, Zander, and Lorenz were getting their instructions, the Russian attack drew ever relentlessly near the bunker. At about 09:00, the Russian artillery fire suddenly stopped, and shortly afterwards runners reported to the Bunker that the Russians were advancing with tanks and infantry towards the Wilhelmplatz. It grew quite silent in the bunker and there was great tension among its occupants. Later on that morning Secretary Gertrude Junge went back to Hitler’s bunker to see whether any changes had taken place. She noted that Hitler was uneasy and walked from one room to another. Hitler told her he would wait until the couriers had arrived at their destinations with the testaments and then would commit suicide. At noon, with the Russians closing in on Hitler’s bunker, Hitler held his situation conference. Joining Hitler were Bormann, Krebs, Burgdorf, Goebbels, and a few others. Also around noon, the couriers (Lorenz in civilian clothes; Zander in his SS uniform; and Johannmeier in a military uniform) joined Corporal Heinz Hummerich (a clerk in the Adjutancy of the Führer Headquarters) left the bunker, and headed west. During the course of April 29, Hitler learned that his ally, Benito Mussolini, had been executed by Italian partisans. The bodies of Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, had been strung up by their heels. The corpses were later cut down and thrown into the gutter, where vengeful Italians reviled them. These events probably strengthened Hitler’s resolve not to allow himself or his wife to be made “a spectacle of”, as he had earlier recorded in his Testament. That afternoon, Hitler expressed doubts about the cyanide capsules he had received through Himmler’s SS. To verify the potency of the capsules, Hitler ordered Dr. Werner Haase to test one on his dog Blondi, who died as a result. Late in the evening of April 29, Krebs contacted Jodl by radio: “Request immediate report. Firstly of the whereabouts of Wenck’s spearheads. Secondly of time intended to attack. Thirdly of the location of the Ninth Army. Fourthly of the precise place in which the Ninth Army will break through. Fifthly of the whereabouts of General Rudolf Holste’s spearhead.” In the early morning of April 30, Jodl replied to Krebs: “Firstly, Wenck’s spearhead bogged down south of Schwielow Lake. Secondly, Twelfth Army therefore unable to continue attack on Berlin. Thirdly, bulk of Ninth Army surrounded. Fourthly, Holste’s Corps on the defensive.” By 01:00, General Wilhelm Keitel had reported that all forces that Hitler had been depending on to rescue Berlin had either been encircled or forced onto the defensive. SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke, commander of the center government district of Berlin, informed Hitler during the morning of April 30 that he would be able to hold for less than two days. Late that morning, with the Soviets less than 1,600 feet (500 meters) from the bunker, Hitler had a meeting with General Helmuth Weidling, the commander of the Berlin Defense Area. He told Hitler that the garrison would probably run out of ammunition that night and that the fighting in Berlin would inevitably come to an end within the next 24 hours. Weidling asked Hitler for permission for a breakout; this was a request he had unsuccessfully made before. Hitler did not answer, and Weidling went back to his headquarters in the Bendlerblock. At about 13:00 he received Hitler’s permission to try a breakout that night. Hitler, two secretaries, and his personal cook then had lunch, after which Hitler and Braun said farewell to members of the Führerbunker staff and fellow occupants, including Bormann, Joseph Goebbels and his family, the secretaries, and several military officers. At around 14:30 Adolf and Eva Hitler went into Hitler’s personal study. Several witnesses later reported that they heard a loud gunshot at approximately 15:30. After waiting a few minutes, Hitler’s valet, Heinz Linge, opened the study door with Bormann at his side. Linge later stated that he immediately noted a scent of burnt almonds, which is a common observation in the presence of prussic acid (the aqueous form of hydrogen cyanide). Hitler’s adjutant, SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Günsche, entered the study and found the two lifeless bodies on the sofa. Eva, with her legs drawn up, was to Hitler’s left and slumped away from him. Günsche stated that Hitler “… sat … sunken over, with blood dripping out of his right temple. He had shot himself with his own pistol, a Walther PPK 7.65”. The gun lay at his feet and according to SS-Oberscharführer Rochus Misch, Hitler’s head was lying on the table in front of him. Blood dripping from Hitler’s right temple and chin had made a large stain on the right arm of the sofa and was pooling on the carpet. According to Linge, Eva’s body had no visible physical wounds, and her face showed how she had died — by cyanide poisoning. She was just 33 years old. Günsche and SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke stated “unequivocally” that all outsiders and those performing duties and work in the bunker “did not have any access” to Hitler’s private living quarters during the time of death (between 15:00 and 16:00). Günsche left the study and announced that the Führer was dead. In accordance with Hitler’s prior written and verbal instructions, the two bodies were carried up the stairs to ground level and through the bunker’s emergency exit to the garden behind the Reich Chancellery, where they were doused with petrol. Eyewitness Rochus Misch reported someone shouting, “Hurry upstairs, they’re burning the boss!” After the first attempts to ignite the petrol did not work, Linge went back inside the bunker and returned with a thick roll of papers. Bormann lit the papers and threw the torch onto the bodies. As the two corpses caught fire, a small group, including Bormann, Günsche, Linge, Goebbels, Erich Kempka, Peter Högl, Ewald Lindloff, and Hans Reisser, raised their arms in salute as they stood just inside the bunker doorway. At around 16:15, Linge ordered SS-Untersturmführer Heinz Krüger and SS-Oberscharführer Werner Schwiedel to roll up the rug in Hitler’s study to burn it. Schwiedel later stated that upon entering the study, he saw a pool of blood the size of a “large dinner plate” by the arm-rest of the sofa. Noticing a spent cartridge case, he bent down and picked it up from where it lay on the rug about 1 mm from a 7.65 pistol. The two men removed the blood-stained rug, carried it up the stairs and outside to the Chancellery garden. There the rug was placed on the ground and burned. The Soviets shelled the area in and around the Reich Chancellery on and off during the afternoon. SS guards brought over additional cans of petrol to further burn the corpses. Linge later noted the fire did not completely destroy the remains, as the corpses were being burned in the open, where the distribution of heat varies. The corpses burned from 16:00 to 18:30. At approximately 18:30, Lindloff and Reisser covered up the remains in a shallow bomb crater. At 14:46 on May 1, Goebbels — about six hours before committing suicide, sent Doenitz a message (received at 15:18) that Hitler had died at 15:30 on April 30, and that his Testament of April 29: “appoints you as Reich President, Reich Minister Dr. Goebbels as Reich Chancellor, Reichsleiter Bormann as Party Minister, Reich Minister Seyss-Inquart as Foreign Minister. By order of the Führer, the Testament has been sent out of Berlin to you, to Field-Marshal Schoerner, and for preservation and publication. Reichsleiter Bormann intends to go to you today and to inform you of the situation. Time and form of announcement to the Press and to the troops is left to you. Confirm receipt.-Goebbels.” On the morning of May 1 (thirteen hours after the event), Stalin was informed of Hitler’s suicide. General Hans Krebs had given this information to Soviet General Vasily Chuikov when they met at 04:00 that morning, when the Germans attempted to negotiate acceptable surrender terms. Stalin demanded unconditional surrender and asked for confirmation that Hitler was dead. He wanted Hitler’s corpse found. In the late afternoon of May 1, Goebbels had his children poisoned, and he and his wife left the bunker at around 20:30. There are several different accounts on what followed. According to one account, Goebbels shot his wife and then himself. Another account was that they each bit on a cyanide ampule and were given a coup de grâce immediately afterwards. Goebbels’ SS adjutant Günther Schwägermann testified in 1948 that the couple walked ahead of him up the stairs and out to the Chancellery garden. He waited in the stairwell and heard the shots, then walked up the remaining stairs and saw the lifeless bodies of the couple outside. He then followed Joseph Goebbels’ order and had an SS soldier fire several shots into Goebbels’ body, which did not move. The bodies were then doused with petrol and set alight, but the remains were only partially burned and not buried. The first inkling to the outside world that Hitler was dead came from the Germans themselves. At 22:26 on the night of May 1, the radio station Reichssender Hamburg interrupted their normal program to announce that an important broadcast would soon be made. After dramatic funeral music by Wagner and Bruckner, Grand Admiral Karl Donitz announced that Hitler was dead. Dönitz called upon the German people to mourn their Führer, who died a hero defending the capital of the Reich. He also announced his own succession. Weidling had given the order for the survivors at the Reich Chancellery to break out to the northwest, and the plan got underway at around 23:00. The first group was led by Mohnke; they tried unsuccessfully to break through the Soviet rings and were captured the next day. Mohnke was interrogated by SMERSH, like others who were captured from the Führerbunker. The third breakout attempt from the Reich Chancellery was made around 01:00 on May 2, and Bormann managed to cross the Spree. Arthur Axmann followed the same route and reported seeing Bormann’s body a short distance from the Weidendammer bridge. At 01:00, the Soviet forces picked up a radio message from the LVI Panzer Corps requesting a cease-fire. Down in the Führerbunker, General Krebs and General Wilhelm Burgdorf committed suicide by gunshot to the head. The last defenders in the area of the bunker complex were French SS volunteers of the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French), and they remained until the early morning. The Soviet forces then captured the Reich Chancellery. General Weidling surrendered with his staff at 06:00, and his meeting with Chuikov ended at 08:23. Johannes Hentschel, the master electro-mechanic for the bunker complex, stayed after everyone else had either left or committed suicide, as the field hospital in the Reich Chancellery above needed power and water. He surrendered to the Red Army as they entered the bunker complex at 09:00 on May 2. Later on May 2, the remains of Hitler, Braun, and two dogs (thought to be Blondi and her offspring, Wulf) were discovered in a shell crater by a unit of the Red Army intelligence agency SMERSH tasked with finding Hitler’s body. Stalin was wary of believing Hitler was dead, and restricted the release of information to the public. By May 11, Hitler’s dentist, Hugo Blaschke, dental assistant Käthe Heusermann and dental technician Fritz Echtmann confirmed that the dental remains belonged to Hitler and Braun. The remains of Hitler and Braun were repeatedly buried and exhumed by SMERSH during the unit’s relocation from Berlin to a new facility in Magdeburg, East Germany. The bodies, along with the charred remains of propaganda minister Goebbels, his wife Magda, and their six children, were buried in an unmarked grave beneath a paved section of the front courtyard. The location was kept secret. Hoping to save the army and the nation by negotiating a partial surrender to the British and Americans, Dönitz authorized a fighting withdrawal to the west. His tactic was somewhat successful: it enabled about 1.8 million German soldiers to avoid capture by the Soviets, but it came at a high cost in bloodshed, as troops continued to fight until May 8. As Berlin surrendered, Lorenz, Zander, Johannmeier, and Hummerich were on the Havel River on May 2. Before dawn on May 3, they made their way to Potsdam and Brandenburg, and on May 11 crossed the Elbe at Parey, between Magdeburg and Genthin, and ultimately, as foreign workers, passed into the area of the Western Allies, transported by American trucks. By this time the war was over, and Zander and Lorenz lost heart and easily convinced themselves that their mission now had no purpose or possibility of fulfillment. Johannmeier allowed himself to be influenced by them, although he still believed he would have been able to complete his mission. After abandoning their mission, the four men split up. Zander and Lorenz went to the house of Zander’s relatives in Hannover. From there, Zander proceeded south until he reached Munich where he stayed with his wife, and then continued to Tegernsee. At Tegernsee, Zander hid his documents in a trunk. He changed his name, identity, status, and began a new life under the name of Friedrich Wilhelm Paustin. Johannmeier meanwhile went to his family’s home in Iserlohn in Westphalia, and buried his documents in a bottle in the back garden. Lorenz ended up in Luxembourg and found work as a journalist under an assumed name. Lorenz and the documents he was carrying were seized by the British Army, in the British Zone of Occupation of Germany, in November 1945. The Americans captured Zander and the documents he was carrying (including the original marriage license of Hitler and Braun, and the hand-written letter of transmittal for the documents from Bormann to Doenitz) with the assistance of British intelligence officer Major H. Trevor-Roper, in Bavaria on December 28. After Zander’s arrest, interest switched to Johannmeier, who had been living quietly with his parents in Iserlohn, in the British Zone of Occupation. Trevor-Roper had him detained and interrogated on December 20. Johannmeier maintained that he had no documents, but had just escorted Zander and Lorenz out of Berlin. Trevor-Roper met with Major Johannmeier on January 1, 1946, and explained to him that Zander and Lorenz were both in Allied hands (he had already read in the newspapers about Zander’s arrest), and that in view of their independent but unanimous testimony, it was impossible to accept his statement that he had been merely an escort, and had not himself carried any documents. He nevertheless maintained his story. He agreed that the evidence was against him, but insisted that his story was true. Shortly after the New Year holiday, while alone with Trevor-Roper, Johannmeier admitted, “I have the papers.” He stated that he had buried them in a garden of his home in Iserlohn, in a glass jar; and he agreed to lead Trevor-Roper to the spot. On the long drive back to Iserlohn, Johannmeier spoke freely on various topics which were discussed. When they stopped for a meal, Trevor-Roper asked him why he had decided to reveal the truth. Johannmeier said he had reflected that if Zander and Lorenz had so easily consented to betray the trust reposed in them, it would be quixotic for him, who was not a member of the Party or connected with politics, but who was merely carrying the documents in obedience to a military order, to endure further hardship to no practical purpose. In Iserlohn they left the car some distance away at Johannmeier’s request — he did not want the neighbors to see a British staff car outside of his parents’ home. The two men walked together through the cold to the house. It was now night-time and the ground had frozen hard. Johannmeier found an axe and together they walked out into the back corner of his garden. Johannmeier found the place, broke frozen surface of the ground with the axe, and dug up the glass bottle. Then he smashed the bottle with the head of the axe and drew out the documents which he handed over to Trevor-Roper. They were the third copy of Hitler’s private will and personal testament plus a covering letter from Burgdorf to Schoerner. The Allies now had the three sets of documents that had been carried out of the bunker on April 29, 1945. On February 28, 1946, Colonel Richard L. Hopkins, Deputy Chief, Military Intelligence Service (MIS) sent Lt. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, the new Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, the originals of Hitler’s certificate of marriage, will and testament, together with Bormann’s letter of transmittal to Doenitz. Hopkins informed Vandenberg that the documents had been appropriately mounted in a protective binder together with translations of the documents. He suggested that the significance of the papers was such that they be presented to the President with the suggestion that the documents be forwarded to the Library of Congress or other appropriate agency for preservation and suitable public display. He attached a draft letter to the President and requested Vandenberg to approve his recommendation. Later that day, according to a pencil notation on the retained copy, the documents were hand carried to the Office of the Chief of Staff. Action was not taken immediately. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Army Chief of Staff, decided that before sending the Hitler documents to the President, they should be authenticated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Colonel Hopkins thus got in touch with the FBI. On March 6, E. G. Fitch of the FBI sent a memorandum to FBI Assistant Director D. M. Ladd along with the documents and various other papers bearing Adolf Hitler’s signature. At the bottom of the memorandum was J. Edgar Hoover’s blue-inked “OK. H.” The FBI lab completed its work on March 13 and Joseph A. Sizoo, the Chief of the Document Section of the lab transmitted its report on the document analysis to the Bureau hierarchy. Sizoo reported that the papers were, when received, mounted on cardboard pages of a leather binder, each being covering with cellulose sheets fastened with scotch tape for protection. To conduct the necessary examination, in accordance with express statements of MIS, he reported that several pages were removed from the covers. Since this endangered the specimens and additional preparations will be needed for permanent maintenance, this removal was confined to the minimum “‘random tests.’” Pages 1 and 2 of the marriage certificate (the most questionable), the last (signature) pages of the private will and the political testament were the only sheets completely removed. One or two of the covers of other pages were lifted to gain access to the paper, but otherwise the mounts were not disturbed. Sizoo reported that it had been found that rubber cement was used at the top and corners to fasten the original papers to the cardboard. In replacing those removed, no additional adhesive was added and at no time was anything placed on the papers. Sizoo also provided alternatives for permanent retention and display, citing methods used by the National Archives and Library of Congress and indicated that the Bureau might want to suggest those methods to the MIS. He concluded by indicating that the present mountings were restored in the leather binder and specimens were transmitted with his memorandum for personal delivery to MIS with the report if desired. He also noted that photographic copies had been prepared for the records of the Laboratory. Hoover wrote in blue ink “Yes. H.” and also in blue ink that Hopkins was advised as above. On March 19, Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson wrote the President Harry S. Truman: Our Military Intelligence personnel, through information furnished by the British Intelligence Service, recovered Adolf Hitler’s personal and political wills, his marriage certificate, and a letter transmitting these documents to Admiral Doenitz, signed Martin Bormann. The unique character of these papers and their historic significance prompt me to forward them to you as a matter of personal interest. A laboratory test by the Federal Bureau of Investigation indicates that these documents are authentic. Hitler’s final anti-Semitic tirate (sic), his frantic attempt to maintain a semblance of German government, and what amounts to a suicide pact between himself and Eva Braun vividly illustrates the closing hours of the Nazi regime. These are matters of great public interest. Might I suggest that these documents be placed on display in the Library of Congress or other suitable establishment. President Truman on March 22 wrote Patterson thanking him for the Hitler material. He indicated that he was pleased to have looked at them before they went to the National Archives, where the other war documents were held. The Hitler documents went on exhibit at the National Archives on April 26, 1946, less than a year after the documents had been created in the Führerbunker in Berlin. For politically motivated reasons, the Soviet Union presented various versions of Hitler’s fate. In the years immediately following 1945, the Soviets maintained Hitler was not dead, but had fled and was being shielded by the former western allies, despite having identified his and Braun’s remains in May 1945. This worked for a time to create doubt among western authorities. The chief of the U.S. trial counsel at Nuremberg, Thomas J. Dodd, said: “No one can say he is dead.” When President Harry S. Truman asked Stalin at the Potsdam Conference in August 1945 whether or not Hitler was dead, Stalin replied bluntly, “No”. In November 1945, Dick White, then head of counter-intelligence in the British sector of Berlin (and later head of MI5 and MI6 in succession), had their agent Hugh Trevor-Roper investigate the matter to counter the Soviet claims. His findings were written in a report and published in book form in 1947. In May 1946, SMERSH agents recovered from the crater where Hitler was buried two burned skull fragments with gunshot damage. These remains were apparently forgotten in the Russian State Archives until 1993, when they were re-found. In 2009, DNA and forensic tests were performed on the skull fragment, which Soviet officials had long believed to be Hitler’s. According to the American researchers, the tests revealed that the skull was actually that of a woman and the examination of the sutures where the skull plates come together placed her age at less than 40 years old. The jaw fragments which had been recovered in May 1945 were not tested. In 1969, Soviet journalist Lev Bezymensky’s book on the death of Hitler was published in the West. It included the SMERSH autopsy report, but because of the earlier disinformation attempts, western historians thought it untrustworthy. In 1970, the SMERSH facility, by then controlled by the KGB, was scheduled to be handed over to the East German government. Concerned that a known Hitler burial site might become a Neo-Nazi shrine, KGB director Yuri Andropov authorized an operation to destroy the remains that had been buried in Magdeburg on February 21, 1946. A Soviet KGB team was given detailed burial charts. On April 4, 1970, they secretly exhumed five wooden boxes containing the remains of “10 or 11 bodies … in an advanced state of decay”. The remains were thoroughly burned and crushed, after which the ashes were thrown into the Biederitz river, a tributary of the nearby Elbe. According to Ian Kershaw, the corpses of Braun and Hitler were already thoroughly burned when the Red Army found them, and only a lower jaw with dental work could be identified as Hitler’s remains. The ruins of both Chancellery buildings were levelled by the Soviets between 1945 and 1949 as part of an effort to destroy the landmarks of Nazi Germany. The bunker largely survived, although some areas were partially flooded. In December 1947, the Soviets tried to blow up the bunker, but only the separation walls were damaged. In 1959, the East German government began a series of demolitions of the Chancellery, including the bunker. Because it was near the Berlin Wall, the site was undeveloped and neglected until 1988–1989. During extensive construction of residential housing and other buildings on the site, work crews uncovered several underground sections of the old bunker complex; for the most part these were destroyed. Other parts of the Chancellery underground complex were uncovered, but these were ignored, filled in, or resealed. Government authorities wanted to destroy the last vestiges of these Nazi landmarks. The construction of the buildings in the area around the Führerbunker was a strategy for ensuring the surroundings remained anonymous and unremarkable. The emergency exit point for the Führerbunker (which had been in the Chancellery gardens) was occupied by a car park. On June 8, 2006, during the lead-up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, an information board was installed to mark the location of the Führerbunker. The board, including a schematic diagram of the bunker, can be found at the corner of In den Ministergärten and Gertrud-Kolmar-Straße, two small streets about three minutes’ walk from Potsdamer Platz. Hitler’s bodyguard, Rochus Misch, one of the last people living who was in the bunker at the time of Hitler’s suicide, was on hand for the ceremony. The rest of Braun’s family survived the war. Her mother, Franziska, died at age 96 in January 1976, having lived out her days in an old farmhouse in Ruhpolding, Bavaria. Her father, Fritz, died in 1964. Gretl gave birth to a daughter — whom she named Eva — on May 5, 1945. She later married Kurt Beringhoff, a businessman. She died in 1987. Braun’s elder sister, Ilse, was not part of Hitler’s inner circle. She married twice and died in 1979. When my friends and co-workers discover that I collect stamps, the first question asked by non-Asians is almost invariably, “Do you have any Hitler stamps?” I always find this to be an odd question but most of the Westerners who ask it are people my age or older. When I was a kid growing up in the United States during the early 1970s, it was quite common to find packets of stamps in the local department stores and these often had plenty of the 1941-1944 definitives bearing the right-facing portrait of Adolf Hitler (Scott #506-527 and #529). Perhaps it now the most remembered stamp design by non-collectors of my generation (with the possible exception of the Penny Black). They are sometimes referred to as “Hitler Heads.” During the “Third Reich” the Reichspost continued to function as a monopoly of the government under the auspices of the Reichspostministerium, and Nazi propaganda took hold and influenced stamp design and policy. As leader of Germany and the Nazi party, Adolf Hitler demanded that his image be placed on postage stamps. By printing these stamps and thus forcing German people to use them in their everyday lives, Hitler successfully promoted himself, the war, and the Nazi party during the hardships of World War II. His image on the stamps actually generated a commission for each stamp that was sold, not unlike today’s licensing agreements of famous figures. Propaganda efforts, inflation, and perhaps Hitler’s pride spurred the printing of these stamps in increasing quantities as the war became more desperate for Germany. Finally, literally millions of these stamps were “liberated” from Germany by Allied soldiers as they overran towns, banks, and post offices. Many families, even today, have some or all of these stamps tucked away in a truck and wrapped in stories of a relative who served in the Second World War and returned home with the stamps as souvenirs of their pains and final victory. There were eight small-format (measuring 18½mm x 22½mm) stamps printed by typography on laid paper (auf gestrichenem Papier), perforated 14, which were released beginning on August 1, 1941: Scott #506: 1 pfennig – gray black; also issued in booklet panes (December 1941) Scott #507: 3 pfennig – light brown; issued in booklet panes (December 1941); also exists imperforate Scott #508: 4 pfennig – slate; issued in booklet panes (December 1941) Scott #509: 5 pfennig – deep yellow green Scott #510: 6 pfennig – purple; issued in booklet panes (December 1941); also exists imperforate Scott #511: 8 pfennig – red; also exists imperforate Scott #511A: 10 pfennig – dark brown (released in December 1942); also exists imperforate Scott #511B: 12 pfennig – carmine (released in December 1942) Six of the small-format stamps were engraved on normal paper, perforated 14, and released on August 1, 1941: Scott #512: 10 pfennig – dark brown Scott #513: 12 pfennig – bright carmine; issued in booklet panes Scott #514: 15 pfennig – brown lake Scott #515: 16 pfennig – peacock green Scott #516: 20 pfennig – blue Scott #517: 24 pfennig – orange brown There were eleven denominations printed by engraving on normal paper which were in a larger-sized format (measuring 21½ x 26mm). The high pfennig denominations were released on August 1, 1941; four mark values were released on March 20, 1942, perforated 12½ and reissued perforated 14 in 1944, with one additional denomination added to the last batch: Scott #518: 25 pfennig – bright ultramarine Scott #519: 30 pfennig – olive green Scott #520: 40 pfennig – bright red violet; also exists imperforate Scott #521: 50 pfennig – myrtle green Scott #522: 60 pfennig – dark red brown Scott #523: 80 pfennig – indigo Scott #524: 1 mark – dark slate green; released in 1944; also exists imperforate Scott #524a: 1 mark – dark slate green; perforated 12½; released in 1942 Scott #525: 2 marks – violet; released in 1944; also exists imperforate Scott #525a: 2 marks – violet; perforated 12½; released in 1942 Scott #526: 3 marks – copper red; perforated 12½; released in 1942 Scott #526a: 3 marks – copper red; released in 1944; also exists imperforate Scott #527: 5 marks – dark blue; perforated 12½; released in 1942 Scott #527a: 5 marks – dark blue; released in 1944 Scott #529: 42 pfennig – bright green; released in 1944; also exists imperforate From 1941-1943, all 20 of the pfennig denominations (excepting Scott #529, the 42-pfennig released in 1944) were overprinted OSTLAND (for “Eastern Front”) for use during the German invasion of the Baltic States Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (Russia Scott #N9-N28). They were also overprinted UKRAINE (Russia Scott #N29-N48). Scott #513 was released on August 1, 1941, in sheet form and then in December of the same year in booklets. The booklets contained five panes, each with different denominations of stamps with the fifth pane containing six copies of the 12-pfennig bright carmine engraved stamp, perforated 14, plus two labels. The labels as illustrated here read: “Unterstützt das Deutsche Rote Kreuz! Tretet in die NSV ein!” This translates to “Support the German Red Cross! Join the NSV!” The NSV was the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt, meaning National Socialist People’s Welfare, a social welfare organization during the Third Reich established in 1933 shortly after the NSDAP took power in Germany. Its seat was in Berlin. Erich Hilgenfeldt, who worked as office head at the NSV, had organized a charity drive to celebrate Hitler’s Birthday on April 20, 1931. Following this, Joseph Goebbels named him the leader of the NSV. The NSV became established as the single Nazi Party welfare organ in May 1933. On September 21, in the same year Hilgenfeldt was appointed as Reich Commissioner for the Winterhilfswerk (Winter Support Program). Under Hilgenfeldt, the program was massively expanded, so that the régime deemed it worthy to be called the “greatest social institution in the world.” One method of expansion was to absorb, or in NSDAP parlance “coordinate”, already existing but non-Nazi charity organizations. In 1933, Hitler decreed the banning of all private charity organizations in Germany, ordering NSV chairman Erich Hilgenfeldt to “see to the disbanding of all private welfare institutions,” which provided the National Socialists the means to engage in the social engineering of society through the selection of who could receive government benefits. Hitler had essentially nationalized local municipalities, German federal states and private delivery structures that had provided welfare services to the public. NSV was the second largest Nazi group organization by 1939, second only to the German Labor Front. With 17 million Germans receiving assistance under the auspices of National Socialist People’s Welfare (NSV) by 1939, the agency “projected a powerful image of caring and support.” The National Socialists provided a plethora of social welfare programs under the Nazi concept of Volksgemeinschaft which promoted the collectivity of a “people’s community” where citizens would sacrifice themselves for the greater good. The NSV operated “8,000 day-nurseries” by 1939, and funded holiday homes for mothers, distributed additional food for large families, and was involved with a “wide variety of other facilities.” The Nazi social welfare provisions included old age insurance, rent supplements, unemployment and disability benefits, old-age homes, interest-free loans for married couples, along with healthcare insurance, which was not decreed mandatory until 1941. One of the NSV branches, the Office of Institutional and Special Welfare, was responsible “for travelers’ aid at railway stations; relief for ex-convicts; support for re-migrants from abroad; assistance for the physically disabled, hard-of-hearing, deaf, mute, and blind; relief for the elderly, homeless and alcoholics; and the fight against illicit drugs and epidemics.” The Office of Youth Relief, which had 30,000 branch offices by 1941, took the job of supervising “social workers, corrective training, mediation assistance,” and dealing with judicial authorities to prevent juvenile delinquency. One of the NSV’s premier activities was Winter Relief of the German People, which coordinated an annual drive to collect charity for the poor under the slogan: “None shall starve or freeze.” These social welfare programs represented a Hitlerian endeavor to lift the community above the individual while promoting the wellbeing of all bona fide citizens. As Hitler told a reporter in 1934, he was determined to give Germans “the highest possible standard of living.” During World War II, the NSV took over more and more governmental responsibilities, especially in the fields of child and youth labor. The expenses for the Nazi’s welfare state continued to mount, increasing significantly just before and after the beginning of World War II. In three budgetary years, the funds required by Germany’s social welfare programs had “more than doubled” from 640.4 million Reichmarks in 1938 to 1,395.3 Reichmarks by 1941. In a social engineering effort, the NSV often refused to provide aid to Jews since they didn’t belong to the German ‘People’s community.’ After Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II, the American Military Government issued a special law outlawing the Nazi party and all of its branches. Known as “Law number five”, this Denazification decree disbanded the NSV, like all organizations linked to the Nazi Party. The social welfare organizations had to be established anew during the postwar reconstruction of both West and East Germany. The copy of Scott #513 appearing at the top of this article is digitally cropped from a cover bearing a commemorative postmark sent from my “adopted” spiritual home of Joachimsthal which is currently the Czech Republic town of Jáchymov. Known by its German name of Sankt Joachimsthal (meaning “Saint Joachim’s Valley”) until 1945, it is a spa town in the Karlovy Vary Region of Bohemia at an altitude of 2,405 feet (733 meters) above sea level in the eponymous St. Joachim’s valley in the Ore Mountains, close to the Czech border with Germany. The town was mostly German-speaking until the end of the Second World War. The silver Joachimsthaler coins minted there since the 16th century became known in German as Thaler for short, which via the Dutch daalder or daler is the origin of the English word “dollar”. In 1938, it was annexed by Germany as part of the Sudetenland. The German-speaking population was expelled in 1945 and replaced by Czech-speaking settlers. The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren in German or Protektorát Čechy a Morava in Czech) began to issue postage stamps in 1939, at the beginning of the German occupation. Due to the very sudden German occupation, the quick establishment of the Protectorate, and the establishment of the puppet Czech government in the Protectorate, there was no time to design and print a new series of postage stamps. As a result, beginning in July 1939, the contemporary stamps of the former nation of Czechoslovakia were overprinted for use in the new Protectorate of Bohemia & Moravia. At the end of July 1939, the Bohemia and Moravia began issuing their own postage stamp designs and continued to do so until 1945, including a series of definitives portraying a left-facing portrait of Adolf Hitler. I’m not sure why this particular cover is franked with a German stamp rather than one from the Protectorate. The date is unreadable but the cancellation is promoting the use of the hot springs in the town.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	6	https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/reich-marshal-hermann-goring-at-the-nuremburg-trials/	en	Reich Marshal Hermann Göring at the Nuremberg Trials	https://warfarehistoryne…ead-4C-Jul05.jpg	https://warfarehistoryne…ead-4C-Jul05.jpg	[ "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/search-icon.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/search-icon.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-Lead-4C-Jul05-2000x1519.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-1-4C-Jul05-760x647.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-5-HT-Jul05.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-6-HT-Jun05.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-7-HT-Jun05-760x956.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-2-HT-Jul05.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-4-4C-Jul05.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/W-Nuremburg-8-HT-Jul05.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/W-Apr15-Hurtgen-LEAD-scaled.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Q-NaziHunter-1-4C-Win11-crop.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/WQ-Arnhem-LEAD-NEW.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Q-Sum23-Bomber-Pilot-POW-1-e1698181928364.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/W-Leibstandart-8-HT-Sep10-e1670361741683.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Armed-Services-Editions-books-1.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/lexington-3.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/W-Books-LEAD-HT-Jul13-e1697656606738.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/snow-tanks.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/logo.svg", "https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=180324792517877&ev=PageView&noscript=1&cd%5Bpage_title%5D=Reich+Marshal+Hermann+G%C3%B6ring+at+the+Nuremberg+Trials&cd%5Bpost_type%5D=article&cd%5Bpost_id%5D=2620&cd%5Bplugin%5D=PixelYourSite&cd%5Buser_role%5D=guest&cd%5Bevent_url%5D=warfarehistorynetwork.com%2Farticle%2Freich-marshal-hermann-goring-at-the-nuremburg-trials%2F" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	2023-11-06T14:00:32+00:00	Reich Marshal Hermann Göring was by far the most colorful and outspoken defendant during the Nuremburg Trials. Here's how he met his end.	en	https://warfarehistoryne…e-touch-icon.png	Warfare History Network	https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/reich-marshal-hermann-goring-at-the-nuremburg-trials/	by Richard Rule Stripped of the regalia and high position of Reich Marshal in the Nazi regime and tried as a war criminal, the former Luftwaffe chief was by far the most colorful and outspoken defendant during the postwar proceedings. At the end of World War II, Hermann Göring did not try to slip into hiding like many of Nazi Germany’s former leaders. In fact, he sought out the Americans on May 7, 1945, under the mistaken belief that he would be granted an audience with General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Göring was confident that he would be treated as a spokesman for a defeated nation but, far from being an emissary for his people, he soon found himself regarded as a common prisoner of war. Flown to the modified confines of the Grand Hotel of Mondorf-Les-Bains in Luxembourg, he joined 50 other former Nazi ministers, officials, and high-ranking officers. A Large Man in Poor Physical Condition The Americans were surprised to find that Göring weighed over 260 pounds and was obviously in poor physical condition; he could have a heart attack at any moment. The Allies, who had already lost some key Nazi leaders to suicide, immediately put him on a strict dietary regime to reduce his weight and a withdrawal program to break his drug habit. Göring, a man who had enjoyed the fine life when in power, was hardly receptive to the prison fare put in front of him, but in time even he acknowledged that his health had rapidly improved. As the inches vanished from his ample waistline and the fog of drug addiction cleared from his system, a rejuvenated Göring regained a mental drive and energy not evident since the early days of the party. In his self-imposed role of Primus inter pare at Mondorf, he called for a united front to shield Hitler from condemnation but, with little solidarity among the prisoners, his demands were completely ignored by most. There were those, however, who rallied behind the Reich Marshal, believing the affable Göring could perhaps negotiate their release. It was a forlorn hope, as most would soon find themselves indicted for war crimes. No More Lenient Treatment When the U.S. Army formalized the list of 22 principal defendants, Göring was delighted that his name appeared at the top, but others could not understand why their names were there at all. They still had not grasped that the lenient treatment afforded Germany’s leaders after World War I would not be repeated in 1945. On August 12, Göring and the other accused men arrived in the shattered ruins of Nuremberg to stand trial. Bustled into the detention block alongside the Palace of Justice, the disorientated former leaders were thrown into small, spartan cells that were little more than low-ceilinged cubicles. Under the governance of the dour U.S. Army Colonel, Burton C. Andrus, security in the prison would be rigidly enforced. To this end, every conceivable device that could aid a suicide attempt had been removed; even the flimsy table provided to write letters and notes was designed to collapse under the weight of a small man. Faced with a bleak and uncertain future, many of the inmates had great difficulty adjusting to these new surroundings. Even Göring’s indomitable spirit was temporarily dented by the unaccustomed squalor, but his will to resist had not diminished and he soon confounded prison authorities by steadfastly refusing to clean his cell. Threats and intimidation made no impression on him, and eventually Andrus was forced to have a prison employee carry out the menial task. In Göring’s opinion, even a small victory was better than no victory at all, and he was very proud to have ruffled the feathers of his captors. At the Nuremberg Trials, Reich Marshal Hermann Göring Was a Difficult Man to Dislike, and to Question In Nuremberg, the prisoners were interrogated in earnest prior to the trial, but Göring was the only defendant who willingly participated in these verbal jousts. The former World War I fighter ace, who had been at Hitler’s side since the 1920s, was not only an economic and military leader but also Hitler’s heir apparent. He expected to yield an invaluable insider’s perspective on Germany’s political and military strategies. His engaging manner, charm, and raw sense of humor appealed to many who questioned him and, despite his brutal reputation, most found it difficult to dislike him. However, he proved a difficult man to question. Göring spoke quickly and a lot, but his answers were only couched in general terms. His questioners soon came to realize that he was no fool and certainly nothing like the ridiculous, comical figure portrayed in Allied newspapers. they, like many others, found Göring to be a very shrewd individual blessed with a keen intellect and worthy of wary respect. Life in Solitary Confinement The leaders of the Reich, he told his interrogators, were a group governed by common loyalties and a common ambition to revive German fortunes, and Hitler had held this unruly gang together by the force of his will. Göring was often the man who had the final word on most matters, not necessarily the first. Although cagey with specifics and often scant on details, Göring in no way diminished his role in the machinations of the Third Reich or his loyalty to Hitler’s vision of a greater Germany. Hitler’s once-faithful paladin did concede, however, that he had been against going to war with England and viewed the invasion of Russia as inevitable, but premature. Life for the prisoners in the eerie silence of solitary confinement was harsh and soul-destroying. The gloom that pervaded through the cold stone walls of the detention block did not, however, appear to have washed over Göring. Much to the annoyance of the other inmates, he was often loud, habitually bombastic, and always defiant. The sight of the Reich’s former leaders submissively bowing to the will of their captors infuriated him. In his mind, adopting a visibly repentant demeanor would in no way help their cause before the court. They were already guilty regardless of their conduct in prison. Resolute to the Last It became a point of honor that Göring rarely took a backward step and would not allow a victor’s judgment on Germany to pass unchallenged. A comment condemning his nation’s wars of imperial conquest received a typically scathing reply: “Don’t make me laugh!” he roared, “America, England, and Russia have all done the same thing to promote their own national aspirations but when Germany does, it becomes a crime—because we lost.” He aggressively dismissed the legitimacy of the proposed victor’s trial, going so far as to predict that the proceedings would “be [viewed as] a disgrace in 15 years time.” Regardless of Göring’s vehement rejection of Allied jurisdiction, each prisoner was unceremoniously handed their formal indictment, which tabled the charges under the headings: Count One: The Common Plan or Conspiracy. Count Two: Crimes against peace. Count Three: War Crimes. Count Four: Crimes against humanity. The lengthy document, running to some 25,000 words, set out in detail the unbelievable atrocities and crimes for which the defendants now stood accused. Göring was charged under all four counts, and while unsure of the journey, had no illusions about the fate that awaited him. Painfully aware that his name had become the butt of jokes and universal derision, he was determined that during this, the final chapter of his life, he would give his role at Nuremberg historical importance and restore prestige to his much-maligned reputation. It was imperative, in his view, that the people remembered that Hermann Göring had stood defiant to the bitter end and had gone to his death like a man. In the shadows of the looming trial, Dr. Gustav M. Gilbert, a U.S. Army psychologist, had been given the task of observing the defendants and in Göring found a man who, in many ways, was a slave to his massive ego. He spent a great deal of time with Göring and warned the prosecution to expect an extremely aggressive and formidable opponent who would not be easily intimidated. Despite an imposing presence, Gilbert believed Göring’s Achilles heel would be the public revelations of the Reich Marshal’s bizarre vanities and ostentatious behavior. In his opinion, ridicule over, for example, the extravagant uniforms he designed for himself and his habit of wearing make-up would not only unsettle and embarrass Göring, but also “spoil his pose as a hero-patriot and model officer” in the eyes of the German people. He seemed more concerned about a tarnished image than many of the crimes committed by the regime he served. The psychologist’s evaluation came as no surprise to the prosecution, which already knew that Göring would be difficult to handle. His unrepentant, egocentric behavior in prison gave every indication that he was spoiling for a fight. When the time came to cross swords, it would be essential in the court of world opinion that the U.S. chief prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson, quickly establish his superiority. This bare-knuckled battle of wills between Jackson, the wing-collared champion of human rights from Pennsylvania, and Göring, the flamboyant military gangster from the war-ravaged streets of Berlin, shaped up as the most anticipated moment of the trial. Under the watchful eyes of the world media, the formal proceedings finally began on November 20, 1945. The former Reich Marshal, now at a much lighter weight, had taken a prominent position in the front corner of the dock. When asked to plead guilty or not guilty, he attempted to read a short declaration. After only a few words, he was firmly cut off by the British presiding judge, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence, who instructed him to plead guilty or not guilty, nothing more. A chastened Göring replied, “Not guilty, in the sense of the indictment,” then sat down. The brilliant opening address by Justice Robert H. Jackson encompassed a devastating attack on the Third Reich. His confronting speech, delivered in a forthright manner, laid bare a vile catalogue of crimes whose responsibility, he pointed out, rested with most of those now sitting meekly in the dock. “It may be that these men of troubled conscience, whose only wish is that the world forget them, do not regard [this] trial as a favor,” Jackson declared. “But they do have a fair opportunity to defend themselves—a favor which these men, when in power, rarely extended [to anyone].” Having to now answer for the crimes and unspeakable miseries inflicted on millions by the Third Reich left the men in the dock in no doubt that they would be lucky to escape with their lives. Incriminating the absent would soon become the order of the day. Before the proceedings had begun, the tribunal had taken the controversial step of stopping the defendants from using a “so did you” defense strategy in regard to atrocities. Göring, nonetheless, was determined to reveal to the world that the Germans were not the only ones guilty of war crimes. However, this pre-trial boast to accuse the Allies of their own atrocities was soon demolished with the screening in court of the first graphic concentration camp films. The sickening images stunned not only the court but also many of the defendants, including Göring. Worse was to come for the accused in the New Year when, on January 3, 1946, SS General Otto Olendorf described to the court in great detail the methods of mass execution employed by the Nazi death squads. These systematically organized murder operations were on a scale so incredible, so monstrous, they defied belief. Göring was left deeply depressed when he realized that, in the wake of Olendorf’s frightful testimony and the horrific newsreel film, he would have no chance whatsoever of defending the party or the leader he had served for so many years. Yet, despite the fearful stories already revealed to the court, Göring greeted anything produced by the Soviets with biting sarcasm and studied ridicule; he considered the Russians to be the real experts in mass murder. On February 20, he yawned through a Russian atrocity film as it was being screened. “They could just as easily have killed a few hundred German prisoners of war and put them into Russian uniforms,” he observed cynically to an American officer. “You don’t know the Russians the way I do.” The incredible passion and energy that had marked the opening of the trial soon became entangled in tedious legal procedures and argument that enveloped the proceedings like an impenetrable London fog. The public, which had reluctantly embraced the notion of a fair trial and not a long one, was becoming restless, bored, and disillusioned as weeks turned into months. Göring, who regarded himself as the ranking officer among the prisoners, was also acutely aware of rumored disunity among the Allies. He steadfastly believed that the longer the trial continued the better chance there was of the four prosecuting powers falling out, and to this end he bullied and cajoled many of his co-defendants to bolster their will to resist. His constant haranguing during the lunch breaks became so serious that in February 1946 the controlling powers decided to isolate him, making him eat his meals alone in a dimly lit room away from the others. He took his banishment like a scolded schoolchild, but it was viewed as a favorable situation for the prosecution. As Defendant No.1, Göring’s case was the first to be heard, and on March 8, 1946, his attorney, Dr. Otto Stahmer, called his first defense witness, General of the Air Force Karl Bodenschatz. As the Reich Marshal’s former liaison officer, Bodenschatz told the court of Göring’s role in peacefully resolving the Munich crisis in 1938. He also described Göring’s opposition to Hitler’s plans of going to war with Britain and the Soviet Union and how, on numerous occasions, he had intervened on behalf of individuals who had fallen foul of the Gestapo. It had been a tame, lackluster examination that had done little to dent the case against Göring. Justice Jackson then rose to cross-examine the witness, and despite Bodenschatz’s valiant attempts to defend his former commander, Jackson tore the aging general’s testimony to shreds. The American prosecutor greatly impressed Allied observers with his powerful performance and sent a shudder through the defendants. Stahmer’s next witness was the stocky Field Marshal Erhard Milch, who, although Göring’s deputy, had not been on the best of terms with his commander for a number of years. The prosecution (and Göring) believed that Milch was likely to provide damning testimony against the former Reich Marshal. As events unfolded, the Americans were to be bitterly disappointed. Stahmer’s direct examination lasted barely 15 minutes and gleaned only that the Luftwaffe had been created purely as a defensive weapon, the contention being that Göring could not have been, therefore, planning to wage an aggressive war. It was a weak argument and carried little weight with the tribunal. When Jackson commenced his cross-examination, he found that the field marshal was made of sterner stuff than the servile Bodenschatz. Milch, facing prosecution himself, parried every attempt by Jackson to gain damaging evidence against Göring and stepped down from the witness box having left a favorable impression of his former commander. Three more defense witnesses were called, and their testimony also portrayed Göring in a favorable light as commander of the Luftwaffe. Unfortunately, it had not solely been his position as the head of the German Air Force that had put Göring in the dock, but rather his role behind many of the criminal policies of the Nazi Party. Had the Reich Marshal’s influence in the Third Reich been limited to his command of the Luftwaffe he would have been a great deal better off at Nuremberg. Finally, after five months, the most anticipated moment of the trial arrived when, during the afternoon session of March 13, 1946, Göring finally left the dock and took the stand. With hair slicked back and eyes gleaming, Göring had an aura that touched nearly everyone in the packed courtroom, including the judges; the power he had once had, his influence over world events, and his confident, arrogant manner were mesmerizing. In a predetermined strategy, Stahmer asked a lengthy series of concise questions, which allowed Göring to outline the pivotal role he had played in consolidating the rise of the Nazi party. It was clearly a point of personal pride to him that he had had such a decisive influence on Germany’s fortunes, and he unashamedly relished what he had achieved. He did not shy away from his involvement in Germany’s military buildup. “Of course we rearmed,’” he stated, “‘I am only sorry we did not rearm more.” He was in favor of seizing back the lands and territories Germany had lost under the Treaty of Versailles and actively supported reuniting Austria, Danzig, the Sudentland, and the Polish Corridor into the Reich—by force if necessary. Untroubled by scruples, Göring argued that much of the indictment against him centered on internal political questions and, as such, were no business of any foreign court. and on the charges relating to war crimes and crimes against humanity, he was brief and vague. While intimating that he had strong reservations about some practices of the regime, he did not deny supporting judicial violence, having created neither the Gestapo nor establishing the first concentration camps for sequestering opponents of the Nazis. He was quick to point out, however, that from 1934 these camps were under the control of Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, and he had nothing further to do with them. He would state that neither he nor his leader had any idea how literally the SS had actually taken their orders for a final solution of the Jewish problem, and he, perhaps conveniently, shifted the responsibility for these mass murders onto Himmler. Göring’s voluntary admissions and frank avowal, noble as they may have been, were hardly the basis for a sound defense, but he was in no mood to wash away his guilt or apologize for anything he had done. Despite at times inflating his influence over Hitler and embellishing his contribution to some of the key turning points of the regime, Göring cut an impressive figure in the witness box. His booming voice and defiant testimony, broadcast throughout the land by the Allies, actually lifted spirits in many parts of Germany as the people heard their “Hermann” fighting back. Göring was subsequently questioned by 16 of the defense attorneys. They hoped that he would honor his pre trial promise to take total responsibility upon himself to lessen the guilt of their clients and improve their chances for an acquittal. Ironically, the very men who detested Göring now looked to him to minimize their influence on events and the importance of their duties. He tried to do this where possible but, for most, the Teutonic passion for fastidiously putting everything to paper had already sealed their fates. The prosecution listened for two days with growing impatience as the Reich Marshal gave his version of Nazi history. They knew his testimony was full of holes and distortions and were determined to pull him into line and deflate his growing popularity. As Hitler’s deputy, they would attribute Göring with comprehensive knowledge of all the crimes committed by Nazi Germany, and Jackson planned to grill him on his anti-Jewish decrees and insatiable acquisition of stolen artwork. His aim was to not only portray Göring as a corrupt and deceitful officer, but also to expose to the world a direct link between the racial decrees he instigated and the wholesale mass murder of Jews that followed. It was a sound strategy, but at the last minute Jackson decided to, instead, confront Göring with broad-ranging political questions, which he believed would furnish damaging admissions. This ill-advised change in strategy was to end in disaster. Late in the morning session of March 18, Jackson stood to begin what most observers regarded as the heavy weight bout of the trial; it would not, however, deliver the telling blow that the controlling authorities had sought. Jackson: “You are perhaps aware that you are the only man living who can expound to us the true purposes of the Nazi Party and the inner workings of its leadership?” Göring: “I am perfectly aware of that.” Jackson: “You, from the very beginning, together with those who were associated with you, intended to overthrow and later did overthrow the Weimar Republic.” Göring: “That was, as far as I was concerned, my firm intention.” The American chief prosecutor, adopting a lofty attitude, had hoped to make Göring squirm by outlining his direct involvement in the litany of broken treaties, deceitful foreign policies, and criminal activities of the Third Reich. Jackson, however, was completely wrong footed when Göring, far from evading his culpability, freely admitted it. Enjoying the theater of the moment, Göring unashamedly took great pride in telling or retelling the court, at length, exactly what he had done and why. The American prosecutor grew increasingly frustrated as Göring skillfully balanced brutal honesty with self-effacing repartee that regularly attracted howls of laughter from the public gallery. Jackson was more accustomed to the American district court system where a hostile witness could be skillfully harassed and undermined with aggressive quick-fire cross-examination. At Nuremberg, the need to laboriously translate each question into German for Göring effectively nullified this weapon. The latter, who had a firm grip of English, enjoyed a distinct advantage over his American adversary and used the translation time to carefully consider his answers. As Göring worked his audience, Jackson felt he was losing control of the situation and on one occasion demanded his witness answer a question with a simple yes or no. The presiding judge, however, intervened on Göring’s behalf, stating that he should be allowed to make whatever explanation he needed to properly answer the question. The humiliated prosecutor stood red-faced as Göring, who now felt he had the court in his corner, smugly continued his answer—at length. Jackson had regarded the defendants as little more than common criminals and had easily handled the small fry dished up by the defense earlier in the trial. Göring, however, demonstrated repeatedly that he was anything but common. The open hostility between the two men was obvious to all, yet try as Jackson might to gain the ascendancy, he was often made to look ridiculous when Göring corrected factual errors and constantly highlighted inaccuracies within the many poorly translated documents tendered into evidence. No one had expected him to have such an immense knowledge and understanding of these documents. He would bring mistakes to the attention of Jackson in such a condescending manner that he appeared to be addressing a junior clerk of the court, not the American chief prosecutor. The day’s adjournment could not come quickly enough for the hapless Jackson. The very public mauling he had received at the hands of Göring left him visibly distraught, particularly when he became aware of the sharp criticism his performance had received around the world. Patrick Dean of the British Foreign Office, for example, described the cross-examination as “very disappointing and unimpressive.” Reports from the press gallery were far more scathing. It was incomprehensible to Jackson that after such a polished opening to the trial, his stock could plummet so quickly. Albert Speer, Hitler’s former armaments minister, probably made the most telling observation of the affair to Dr. Gilbert: “You know, when Jackson cross-examines Göring, you can see that they just represent two entirely opposite worlds—they don’t even understand each other. Jackson asks him if he didn’t help plan the invasion of Holland and Belgium … expecting Göring to defend himself against a criminal accusation, but instead Göring says, why yes, of course, it took place thus and so, as if it is the most natural thing in the world to invade a neutral country if it suits your strategy.” The following day, March 19, the battle resumed, but by late in the morning session it was clear that Göring once again had Jackson’s measure. The American was repeatedly called to order and often ensnared in traps he had actually set for Göring. Matters finally came to a head during a widely publicized exchange over the Nazis’ secret prewar plans to occupy the Rhineland. Jackson, trying to establish the devious nature of these preparations, described them as being “of a character which [was] kept entirely secret from foreign powers.” Göring sarcastically replied: “I do not think I … recall reading beforehand the publication of the mobilization preparations of the United States.” The court erupted in laughter, and an infuriated Jackson threw down his headphones in frustration. In a voice faltering with rage, Jackson addressed the judges: “I respectively submit to the tribunal that this witness is not being responsive and has not been in this examination … [Göring’s] arrogant and contemptuous attitude toward the Tribunal … is giving him the trial which he never gave a living soul, nor dead ones either.” He considered that the tribunal was allowing the impudent and argumentative Göring far too much leniency and his obstructive tactics would “encourage all the defendants to do the same thing.” Bitter and defeated, Jackson considered abandoning the cross-examination altogether. The British prosecutor, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, argued strongly against such a move, for history would not judge them kindly if Hitler’s former deputy was seen to have got the better of the best legal team the Allies could muster. The robust Maxwell-Fyfe, who had vast experience dealing with the likes of Göring, took over the cross-examination with the aim of decisively regaining the initiative. Göring listened intently as the Englishman went straight to the attack over the former Reich Marshal’s involvement in the Gestapo murder of British airmen who had escaped from a POW camp in Sagan. Maxwell-Fyfe was well versed on the circumstances surrounding these murders; Göring was not. The British barrister’s incisive questioning on the incident brought beads of sweat to Göring’s brow, and his evasive answer that he was on leave at the time of the shootings was unconvincing and made little impression on the court. It was the low point of his testimony. Maxwell-Fyfe’s skillful and relentless cross-examination failed to directly connect Göring with the murders, but he had, much to the relief of the prosecution team, publicly knocked the German off his lofty perch. Göring was visibly rattled as the prosecution highlighted his connection to what ultimately came to pass as the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question.” The dialectical eloquence and broad-brush recollections that had served him so well earlier were now repeatedly contradicted by irrefutable documentary evidence. The further the proceedings went on this subject, the less impressive Göring became as the vast majority of documents received into evidence provided ample proof of his complicity. Maxwell-Fyfe eventually asked Göring if, in light of all that had been revealed about the horrors of the Nazi regime, he was still loyal to Hitler. A hush fell over the court. This was a question with far-reaching consequences, and Göring knew it. Choosing his words carefully, he replied that he believed in being loyal in good times and in times of hardship. Hitler, he declared, had more than likely known as little about the atrocities as he had himself. In a revealing observation, Göring later assured Dr. Gilbert that the Allies need not worry about the Hitler legend living on: “When the German people learn all that has been revealed at this trial, it won’t be necessary to condemn him: he has condemned himself.” The success of Maxwell-Fyfe’s and of the Russian Chief Prosecutor, General R.A. Rudenko, had been achieved through a willingness to allow incriminating documents to do the talking for them. Rudenko, for example, was blunt and to the point and would simply show Göring documents that were already in evidence, then demand that the witness acknowledge his complicity in the crimes they disclosed. Göring and Rudenko understood each other well and battled like two prize fighters squaring up privately outside the ring, typified in selected portions of the following exchange: Rudenko alleged that the German attack on Russia had as its primary aim the complete annexation of most of the western Soviet Union as stated by Hitler during a conference on July 16, 1941. Göring was present at this meeting but under Rudenko’s cross-examination denied having agreed with talk of annexations because, in his view, the war in Russia had not yet been won. The record then continues. Göring: “[I did not mean] ‘I protest against the annexation of the Crimea [or the] Baltic States.’ I had no reason to do so [but at] that moment we had not finished the war … Rudenko: “In that case, you considered the annexation of these regions as a step to come later … after the war was won.” Göring: “[Being] an old hunter, I acted according to the principle of not dividing the bear’s skin before the bear was shot.” Rudenko: “I understand. And the bear’s skin should be divided only when the territories were seized completely, is that correct?” Göring: “Just what to do with the skin could be decided … only after the bear was shot.” Rudenko: “Luckily, this did not happen.” Goring: “Luckily for you.” Rudenko then wisely concentrated heavily on Göring’s driving influence behind the forced labor program, which had been brutally implemented in the conquered territories. From these exchanges, he drew very explicit admissions from Göring, who did not deny his culpability in this area. These acknowledgments proved to be the foundation for his conviction under counts three and four (war crimes and crimes against humanity) of the indictment. In the main, Göring’s days in the witness box provided an incredibly lucid and often enthralling insight into the workings of the Third Reich. Yet, despite his candid and masterly performance, most found it incomprehensible that he could now, in defeat, plead total ignorance of the horrors of which he surely must have known or at least suspected. In many respects, his position appears consistent with a leader who, only concerned that his armies succeeded, deliberately avoided learning of the unpleasant methods his forces would employ in achieving victory. The Göring case had taken up over 12 days of court time, and as the trials of the other defendants continued, few managed to capture world attention the way Göring had. He sat through the remainder of the trial, appearing at times to be either totally disinterested or completely disgusted when his codefendants shamefully incriminated each other, shuffled off blame to subordinates, or claimed documents were forged. It struck some observers as ironic that in defeat many prisoners had denied involvement in events for which, had Germany triumphed, they would have undoubtedly clamored for recognition. Many would feel Göring’s icy stare as they desperately tried to save their skins by selling out, but he reserved special loathing for German prosecution witnesses who were paraded through the courtroom to provide often damning testimony against the accused. “These boiling fowls,” he cynically observed, “will be allowed to cackle [and] lay an egg for the Americans and then they too will go into the big pot [with the rest of us].” Göring’s rage spilled over, however, when Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, the commander of the Sixth Army captured at Stalingrad, appeared on behalf of the Russians. “Ask that dirty swine if he knows he’s a traitor,” he roared to his defense attorney. With the press already laying bets on who would be hanged, this unique and mammoth trial was coming to its climax. Justice Jackson, who regained his proper form as the trial continued, gave what many authoritative lawyers regard as the greatest summation ever delivered at a criminal trial. In closing, he stated: “If you were to say of these men that they were not guilty, it would be true to say there has been no war, there have been no slain, there has been no crime.” On August 31, after 216 court days, 300,000 documents, and over 10 million words, the accused were called upon to make their final addresses. As defendant No. 1, Göring spoke first, and his statement mirrored the sentiments of most of those alongside him in the dock. “The prosecution, in the final speeches, has treated the defendants and their testimony as completely worthless … statements made under oath were accepted as absolutely true when they could serve to support the Indictment, but conversely the statements were characterized as perjury when they refuted the Indictment.” Condemning the mass murders to the utmost, he claimed, “He [Hitler] had never decreed the murder of a single individual at anytime and neither did I decree any other atrocities or tolerate them. The German people trusted the Führer … Ignorant of the crimes of which we know today, the people have fought with loyalty, self-sacrifice, and courage, and they have suffered, too, in this life-and-death struggle into which they were arbitrarily thrust. The German people are free from blame.” Tuesday, October 1, 1946, was judgment day. when addressing the case against Göring, the president of the court, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence, described his guilt as “unique in its enormity… [for which] … the record discloses no excuses. There is nothing to be said in mitigation,” he continued, 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 labor program and the creator of the oppressive program against the Jews and other races at home and abroad.” Göring was pronounced guilty on all four counts of the indictment, and everyone watched for his reaction, but other than to shake his head, he showed not a hint of emotion. At 3 pm that afternoon, he entered the courtroom alone to hear his sentence. Sir Lawrence came straight to the point. “Defendant Hermann Wilhelm Göring, the International Military Court sentences you to death by hanging.” On October 4, Göring’s defense lawyer, against his client’s wishes, formally petitioned the court control council to commute the death sentence or at least change it to a firing squad. Predictably, the motion was denied. Despite security being tightened following sentencing, Göring was allowed one last visit from his wife on October 7. It was a highly emotional moment in which the two managed to say their farewells with dignity. He would not be hanged, he calmly assured her before she was whisked out of the room. Back in his cell, an anguished Göring confided to the prison doctor, “I’ve seen my wife for the last time … now I am dead.” During the night of October 13, the defendants could hear trucks loaded with gallows equipment arriving at the prison yard, closely followed by the sounds of construction. On the night of October 15, with the prison block bathed in light, the prisoners suspected their executions were imminent. At 8:30 that evening, Göring was observed lying on his cot reading a book, still bitterly disappointed that he had not been allowed to die by firing squad and annoyed that he had been denied the last rites for showing no sign of repentance. He had somehow obtained a cyanide capsule which, at about 10:40 pm, he slipped into his mouth and bit down. Pandemonium broke out as doctors rushed to his cell and tried desperately to revive him, but it was too late. The 53-year-old Hermann Göring was dead. It is generally believed that either Göring had the poison with him all the time or that a third party inside the prison, perhaps a guard, had smuggled the cyanide into his cell. Among the letters found in his cell was the following: “I find it tasteless in the extreme to stage our deaths as a show for the sensation-hungry reporters, photographers, and the curious. This grand finale is typical of the abysmal depths plumbed by the court and prosecution. Pure theater, from start to finish! … I understand perfectly well that our enemies want to get rid of us—whether out of fear or hatred. But it would serve their reputation better to do the deed in a soldierly manner. I myself shall be dying without all this sensation and publicity…. I feel not the slightest moral or other obligation to submit to a death sentence or execution by my enemies and those of Germany. I proceed to the hereafter with joy, and regard death as a release.” News of Göring’s suicide spread throughout the world like wildfire, but in the wider German community, reports that he had cheated the hangmen’s noose were generally greeted with delight. In death at Nuremberg, as in life, many were pleased to know that Göring had had the last word. Vainly conscious of his historical image, he believed that his uncompromising defiance in Nuremberg would see him revered as a hero of the German nation and his body entombed in a marble sarcophagus like Napoleon’s. In a last letter to his wife, Göring wrote: “In 50 or 60 years there will be statues of Hermann Göring all over Germany. Little statues, maybe, but one in every German home.” For Göring, the posthumous rehabilitation he craved would not be realized. He had, without doubt, risen to impressive heights in the witness box at Nuremberg; the popularity and respect he had earned, however, were only fleeting. When, in the months following the trial, the true extent of the Third Reich’s murderous legacy became known to the wider German population, Göring and the other Nazi leaders were regarded with revulsion. Hermann Göring may well have denied his captors their pound of flesh, but the passage of time has deemed his true punishment to be that history would forever condemn him as a key conspirator in one of the most malignant regimes the world has ever known. Richard Rule writes from his home in Heathmont, Victoria, Australia. A veteran of the Australian Army, he works in sales management, enjoys fly fishing, and has written several books.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	40	https://thevieweast.wordpress.com/tag/hermann-goering/	en	Hermann Goering « The View East	https://s0.wp.com/i/blank.jpg	https://s0.wp.com/i/blank.jpg	[ "https://thevieweast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/albert_speer_neuremberg.jpg?w=220&h=296", "https://thevieweast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/goering_testifying.jpg?w=300&h=216", "https://thevieweast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/rudolf_hess.jpg?w=217&h=297", "https://thevieweast.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/nuremburg-trials.jpg?w=300&h=232", "https://s2.wp.com/i/logo/wpcom-gray-white.png", "https://s2.wp.com/i/logo/wpcom-gray-white.png", "https://pixel.wp.com/b.gif?v=noscript" ]	[ "https://www.youtube.com/embed/xcudlm6tPa0?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent" ]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	Posts about Hermann Goering written by kellyhignett	en	https://s1.wp.com/i/favicon.ico	The View East	https://thevieweast.wordpress.com/tag/hermann-goering/	The Nuremberg Trials: Perceptions and Prejudice? The end of World War II saw the establishment of the first International War Crimes Trial in the German city of Nuremberg, with the formation of an International Military Tribunal to oversee the trial and conviction of surviving members of the Nazi power structure. The Nuremberg Trials have had a lasting legacy; leading to the creation of the ‘Nuremberg Principles’ of 1950, heavily influencing the development of international criminal law (particularly in relation to Human Rights), and acting as a model for contemporary war crimes trials. The Nuremberg Trials have been the subject of extensive historical research in the intervening years and War Crimes Trials of former Nazi criminals remain a topical issue today, as demonstrated by the recent trial of 91 year old former concentration camp guard, John Demjanjuk. In May 2011 a German court convicted Demjanjuk of acting as an accessory to murder in relation to the 28,069 who died at Sobibor while he worked as a guard at the camp between March-September 1943. In this article guest author Carla Giudice reflects on the performances of three of the best known defendants at Nuremberg; Albert Speer, Hermann Goering and Rudolf Hess, suggesting that the radically different personas presented by these individuals during the trials may have influenced popular perception of their culpability and the sentences they received. The Nuremberg Trials: Perceptions and Prejudice? By Carla Giudice. The aftermath of World War II saw the establishment of the first International War Crimes Trial at thePalace of Justice in the German city of Nuremberg. The decision of the victorious Allied powers to establish an International Military Tribunal (IMT) to conduct a trial for the surviving leaders of the Nazi hierarchy was a contentious issue. The idea of the Germans being entitled to a fair trial seemed outrageous to many, but the intention of the Allied leaders was that the Nuremberg Trials would reveal the scope and barbarity of Nazi atrocities to the public for the first time, documenting these crimes for future generations, and preventing Nazi leaders from becoming martyrs by allowing them an opportunity to defend themselves. Between November 1945 and October 1946 the first trial – the Trial of the Major War Criminals – took place, involving the highest-ranking surviving Nazi officials. Of the twenty-one defendants who stood trial at Nuremberg three were acquitted, seven received prison sentences and eleven were sentenced to death. All of the defendants at Nuremberg were supposedly influential Nazis (although a few individuals, such as Hans Fritzsche, were tried in place of their deceased superiors). Three of the highest ranking defendants on trial at Nuremberg were Albert Speer, Hermann Goering and Rudolf Hess. All three had held significant positions of authority in the Nazi regime and were essentially household names. Interestingly, the three most prominent defendants had opposing personalities (something that became increasingly evident as the trial progressed) and all three received vastly different sentences: Goering was sentenced to death and Hess to life imprisonment while Speer received a relatively lenient twenty year prison term. All three had responded very differently to the trial at Nuremberg. Albert Speer impressed the court with his smart appearance, intelligent and articulate testimony. Throughout the trial he cultivated an image as a ‘good Nazi’ and is remembered for his contrition, as the ‘Nazi who said sorry’. Hermann Goering on the other hand, adopted the persona of the ‘bad Nazi’, stressing his prominence in the Nazi hierarchy and close links to Hitler at every opportunity and demonstrating no remorse. Finally, Rudolf Hess’s erratic behaviour led to his being dubbed the ‘mad Nazi’ with many medical experts questioning the state of his mental health and his ability to stand trial. Question marks have also been raised about the relative leniency shown to Speer in comparison with other defendants, and whether the judges may have been influenced by class and educational bias. Might the differing social backgrounds, appearance, behaviour and presentation of the leading defendants at Nuremberg have influenced the judges’ own perceptions and opinions? Might this even have been a factor behind the different sentences these individuals received? By comparing Speer the ‘good’ Nazi to Goering the ‘bad’ Nazi and Hess the ‘mad’ Nazi, it is possible to analyse whether the myth of Speer being saved at Nuremberg by his reputation has any substance. The announcement of the verdicts delivered at the Trial of the Major War Criminals at Nuremberg, 8 October 1946: Albert Speer: The ‘Good Nazi’ In Albert Speer’s memoirs Inside The Third Reich (Collins: 1976), written during his incarceration at Spandau Prison, Speer portrays himself as Hitler’s closest confidante. From the mid-1930s Speer enjoyed exclusive access to Hitler as his ‘favourite architect’ and was eventually rewarded for his companionship with the office of Minister of Armaments and War Production in 1942. In his memoirs Speer expresses contrition while at the same time distancing himself from having any personal responsibility for the more sinister crimes of the Nazi regime. This is the same tactic that Speer used at Nuremberg, seemingly to good effect. Albert Speer stood out from the other defendants at Nuremberg; his privileged background, smart appearance and professional occupation did not fit the stereotype of a typical Nazi thug. The judges seemed to warm to Speer and could relate to the articulate and obviously well-educated defendant. Prior to the trial, Allied intelligence teams wanted to exploit Speer’s extensive knowledge of technical information about the German economy and armaments industry and Speer had been happy to cooperate. This meant that Speer was also a useful commodity to the Western Allies in the post-War era of emerging Cold War hostility. This was a fact that Speer used to his advantage, writing a letter to prosecutor Robert Jackson to remind him that if he were to bring up Speer’s voluntary statements to the Allies during interrogation, the information divulged would have been of strategic interest to the Russian delegation. Speer also made several other calculated and shrewd moves at Nuremberg, which undoubtedly bolstered his defence. The defence strategy conjured up by his lawyer, Dr Flächsner, presented Speer as an apolitical minister who was predominately concerned with architectural pursuits. Emphasis was placed on the fact that Speer had increasingly challenged Hitler towards the end of the war, issuing a counter decree against Hitler’s ‘scorched earth’ policy and perhaps the most surprising revelation in court, that Speer had even attempted to assassinate Hitler. Another redeeming factor was his contrition. Speer was the only defendant at Nuremberg to show any real remorse for his role in the Third Reich. He appeared visibly disturbed by the atrocity videos shown in court, although he continued to deny any knowledge of the holocaust. Rather than using his final statement to declare his innocence or lack of remorse, instead he admitted some level of ‘collective responsibility’ for the role he had played. Speer’s responsibility for crimes committed during the Nazi reign was clearly showcased in the court proceedings however; Speer has been described as the ‘architect of mass enslavement’ for his role in employing Prisoners of War and using slave labour in industrial work. (Airey Neave, Nuremberg, Hodden & Stroughton: 1978). But an interesting comparison can be made between Speer and his subordinate, Fritz Sauckel, who was also in the dock at Nuremberg, charged with having procured slave labour to bolster the industrial workforce (on Speer’s orders). Despite Sauckel’s subordination to Speer, he received the death sentence. In comparison to the educated, presentable and articulate Speer, Sauckel was from a working class background, of average intelligence and shabby appearance, sporting a moustache that was reminiscent of Hitler’s favoured style. Could the judges’ bias towards Speer’s professionalism and intelligence have influenced their perceptions? Did this contribute to the discrepancy in sentences delivered to the two men, both guilty of involvement in crimes against humanity by use of slave labour? The judges were clearly impressed by Speer’s performance and despite compelling evidence, chose not to punish his use of slave labour with the death sentence, instead sentencing him to twenty years imprisonment, while Sauckel was sent to the gallows. Speer went on to construct a literary career out of his time as a minister of the Third Reich. Following his release from Spandau prison in 1966, the subsequent publication of his memoirs ensured his status as a media figure until his death in 1981. Hermann Goering: The ‘Bad Nazi’ Hermann Goering also distinguished himself from the other defendants, albeit for different reasons to Speer. By 1941 Goering held the position of Reichsmarschall and had been named as Hitler’s designated successor, but Goering’s influence had declined towards the end of the War. Heavily dependent on narcotics, he spent most of his time in a drug-addled haze, hosting parties at his Karinhall lodge where he often dressed in elaborate costumes, including a roman toga with diamond rings. However, Goering was revitalised as a result of the enforced rehabilitation regime undertaken whilst he was in captivity. Sober, he proved a formidable defendant for the prosecution to challenge. Goering’s image as a top-ranking Nazi was emphasised by the Tribunal but also by Goering himself; the Tribunal wanted to show the public that they were going to punish one of Hitler’s loyal paladins and Goering was keen to stress his close relationship to Hitler. Goering thus exaggerated his importance and prominence in the Nazi hierarchy at every available opportunity; Robert Conot described Goering’s performance at Nuremberg as akin to a ‘preening peacock [who] unfurled the feathers of his office’. (Robert Conot, Justice at Nuremberg, Harper & Row: 1993). Goering’s desire for recognition as a key player the Nazi power structures can be seen through humorous instances in the proceedings, such as his furious retort of ‘ich war de Zweite’ (‘I was second!’) when Hess was mistaken as Hitler’s successor designate. Goering did not behave as a war criminal during his time at Nuremberg; he made requests for the return of his marshal’s baton and insisted on wearing his army uniform throughout the proceedings. Goering rather enjoyed the spotlight he found himself under at Nuremberg and his firm belief that he would one day be recognised as a martyr (he even envisaged the next generation of Germans having a statue of him in every household!) motivated him to defend himself vigorously, seemingly viewing the trial as an opportunity to spread the National Socialist message on an international platform. Goering’s persona meant that despite the overwhelming catalogue of evidence against him, he did not allow the Tribunal to render him guilty without putting up a fight. His formidable character was perhaps best illustrated during his cross-examination by American prosecutor Robert Jackson. Goering took great pleasure in pointing out a mistake in Jackson’s translation of a document regarding clearing of the Rhine and aggravated the prosecutor to the extent that he complained to the Tribunal about Goering’s behaviour. The exchange was widely viewed as a triumph for Goering. Goering also surprised many of those present at Nuremberg with his congenial persona and many witnesses confessed to ‘almost liking’ the Reichsmarschall. He had a wicked sense of humour; when a reference was made to his theft of eighty-seven million bottles of champagne from France, Goering looked around the room for laughter at this achievement. Despite Goering’s obvious charisma, he showed no remorse for his actions and continued to glorify Hitler and the Nazi Party. Rebecca West, a journalist who was present at Nuremberg, noted that Goering gave the impression that if he was given the chance he would have ‘walked out of the Palace of Justice and taken over Germany again.’ (Rebecca West, A Train of Powder, Ivan R. Dee: 2000). The judges at Nuremberg could show no remorse for a man who had clearly been involved in most of the criminal acts detailed in the indictment and who showed no signs of regret, sentencing Goering to death. In the few instances where the prosecution did not have solid evidence, Goering’s willingness to exaggerate his own importance meant that he even incriminated himself for crimes that the Tribunal may not otherwise have been able to convict him for. Goering’s wily humour and determination to mount a robust challenge to the prosecution may not have saved him from the death sentence at Nuremberg, but he still managed to defy the Allies by committing suicide the evening before he was due to face the gallows. Rudolf Hess: The ‘Mad Nazi’ Former Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess did not share Speer’s ability to take the strategic initiative or Goering’s capacity to mount a spirited challenge at Nuremberg; Hess was incapable of even taking the stand for cross-examination. Hess had been in Allied captivity longer than any of the other defendants; he was captured after he made an ill-fated flight to Scotland in an attempt to reach an armistice with the British government in 1941, so had been absent from Germany for the bulk of the war. Hess behaved in an increasingly unstable and erratic manner during his time in captivity in Britain: he attempted suicide on several occasions; claimed that his food was being poisoned (samples of these foods were brought to Nuremberg for analysis by Hess) and appeared to be suffering from severe memory loss. There has been some disagreement about whether Hess’s apparent insanity and amnesia was feigned to win the sympathy of the judges, while Hugh Thomas has even sensationally questioned whether the man in the dock at Nuremberg was actually Hess himself (Hugh Thomas, Murder of Rudolf Hess, Hodder and Stoughton: 1980). However, the prison psychologist, Gustav Gilbert, believed there was little doubt that Hess was in a state of complete amnesia, although he conceded that he may have been deliberately suppressing some memories. During a pre-trial hearing regarding his ability to stand trial, Hess stood up and declared that he had simulated his loss of memory. This intervention was interpreted as evidence that Hess was fit to stand trial, rather than considering that a man who had ruined his chances to be acquitted on medical grounds was surely somewhat delusional. Unlike Speer and Goering, Hess’s presentation at the Trial was exclusively detrimental to his sentencing. Hess was the madman at Nuremberg; his grimaces and random laughter revealed his fragmented state of mind. He often read novels during the open sessions and seemed indifferent to the proceedings and to the events happening around him. On the rare occasions that Hess did speak during the trial, his speeches went off on disturbing tangents. Hess was further damaged by his apparent lack of remorse; despite the fact that he had been absent from Germany since 1941 (before the worst atrocities had taken place), he dispelled any mitigation the judges may have considered in his closing statement, when he declared that he had no regrets and would have taken the same course of action again. Hess was also the subject of particular hostility from the Soviet delegation; he was a pioneer of Nazism and a committed anti-Bolshevik, while Stalin was suspicious of his dealings with the British in 1941. The fact that Hess’s defence revealed the existence of the secret clauses contained in the 1939 Soviet-German Non Aggression Pact was also bound to have caused resentment amongst the Soviet delegation. Hess was sentenced to life imprisonment in Spandau and remained there, despite repeated calls for his release on humanitarian grounds, until his death in 1987. The evidence against many of the defendants at Nuremberg was clearly compelling and in many cases this was exacerbated by their lack of visible remorse. However, a number of other factors need to be taken into account in terms of assessing their influence on the outcome of the Nuremberg trials: the need to punish those who were clearly guilty of involvement in the most appalling crimes; a desire to convey the scale of Nazi atrocities to a post-War Germany and to the wider world; the differing political and ideological agendas of the Allied powers; and allegations of the retrospective application of ‘victor’s justice’ at Nuremberg. Ultimately however, a comparative study of the ‘good’, ‘bad’ and ‘mad’ Nazis at Nuremberg provides us with some interesting insights and their various personas can also be seen as an important factor in influencing the sentences that the leading defendants received. About the Author:
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crimes.	en	/themes/nwwiim/favicon.ico	The National WWII Museum \| New Orleans	https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/the-nuremberg-trial-and-its-legacy	Top Image: Nazi defendants at the International Military Tribunal in November 1945. Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration. On October 18, 1945, the opening session of the first international war crimes trial in history took place in Berlin, Germany. Unable to find a suitable venue in the destroyed Nazi capital, the court soon moved to the city of Nuremberg (Nürnberg) in Bavaria, where the highest profile cases were heard in the aptly named Palace of Justice between November 20, 1945 and August 31, 1946. Over the course of nine months, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) indicted 24 high-ranking military, political, and industrial leaders of the Third Reich. It charged them with war crimes, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit these crimes. Although many prominent Nazis, including Field Marshal Walter Model, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, and Adolf Hitler, committed suicide before they could be tried, the list of defendants at the trial included Admiral Karl Dönitz, Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, and Governor-General of Occupied Poland Hans Frank. The tribunal in Nuremberg was only the first of many war crimes trials held in Europe and Asia in the aftermath of World War II, but the prominence of the German defendants and the participation of all of the major Allies made it an unprecedented event in international law. After World War I, many people in the Allied countries had called for Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II to be tried as a war criminal, but the Treaty of Versailles made no provision to hold individual Germans accountable for their actions during that earlier conflict. The IMT was the first time that international treaties concluded among states were used to prosecute individuals. The tribunal was therefore an intentional break with the past necessitated by the unfathomable scope of Nazi Germany’s crimes. When the judges rendered their final verdicts on October 1, 1946, 12 of the defendants were sentenced to death, three were acquitted, and the rest received sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison. Nazi Party Secretary Martin Bormann was tried in absentia and therefore his death sentence could not be carried out (a DNA test in 1998 confirmed he had died in Berlin at the end of the war). Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring committed suicide on the night before he was scheduled to be executed. American Master Sergeant John C. Woods hanged the remaining 10 condemned men on October 16, 1946. Although the charges brought against the German defendants at Nuremberg largely derived from prewar international treaties, the tribunal was controversial even in Allied countries. Several prominent figures in the Allied governments, including British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, initially favored a much more extreme course of action and advocated for the summary execution of German war criminals. The governments of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and the United States, however, eventually agreed upon a jointly-run tribunal with judges and prosecutors drawn from each of these countries. In order to combat the accusation that the tribunal was merely victors’ justice, the Allies went to great lengths to provide the defendants with counsel of their choosing as well as secretarial, stenographic, and translation services. When it came to some of the more questionable legal issues, such as the ambiguous charge of conspiracy, the Allies ensured that none of the defendants were convicted on this charge alone. Even so, some Germans accused the Allies of conducting an unfair trial with a predetermined outcome. Several of the tribunal’s detractors rightly criticized Soviet participants’ efforts to attribute Soviet atrocities, such as the massacre of Polish officers and intelligentsia at Katyn, to German troops. Other critics of the IMT noted that Nazi defendants could not appeal their convictions. Despite these condemnations, the IMT is widely considered today to have been a remarkably fair execution of justice. Moreover, it achieved several key objectives outlined by its architects. Allied leaders hoped that the IMT, and subsequent trials of more than 1,500 Nazi war criminals, would accomplish a number of ambitious goals. First and foremost, the Allies hoped the trials would punish Germans guilty of horrific crimes. American leaders also hoped the IMT would deter future aggression by establishing a precedent for international trials. Finally, the Allied governments intended to use the IMT to educate German civilians about the true extent of Nazi atrocities and convince German citizens of their collective responsibility for their government’s crimes. This last objective was crucial to the Allied plan to discredit Nazism and denazify Germany. The IMT and other Allied trials that followed had mixed success in achieving the Allies’ first two objectives. While hundreds of Nazi perpetrators were convicted of war crimes, the vast majority received prison sentences of 20 years or less. In 1955, less than a decade after the onset of the Cold War, the Western Allies ended the official occupation of West Germany and reconstituted the German Army. As part of this process, the Western Allies released more than 3,300 incarcerated Nazis. Among those released early were three men convicted at the International Military Tribunal: Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, Walther Funk, and Konstantin von Neurath. The Cold War additionally prevented the IMT from deterring future aggression by establishing a precedent of holding war criminals accountable in international court. Not until 1993, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, did another international war crimes trial take place. Consequently, the most important legacies of the IMT were its punishment of the worst Nazi offenders, its irrefutable documentation of Nazi crimes, and its discrediting of the Nazi Party among most of the German population. While the tribunal largely failed to force average Germans to confront their complicity in their nation’s war crimes and the Holocaust, it likely prevented many former Nazis from reclaiming prominent political offices. These outcomes owed to the Western Allies’ efforts to conduct fair trials and the widespread dissemination of news related to their outcome. The London Agreement, which was signed by Great Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union on August 8, 1945, established the procedures for the IMT and was intended to ensure that nearly all German citizens learned about the trial. This document required each occupying power to publicize information about the trial within their respective zone of occupation in Germany. The London Agreement mandated that news of the tribunal be published and broadcast throughout Germany, going so far as to make provisions for German prisoners to receive news of the trial proceedings. To fulfill these requirements, American authorities reestablished a German press to report on the proceedings at Nuremberg, erected billboards depicting photographs of Nazi atrocities, and commissioned films to document the horrors of concentration camps. During the trial, American authorities produced posters using much of the same evidence obtained for the tribunal. These posters featured dramatic images of Nazi victims and were frequently subtitled “German Culture” or “These Atrocities: Your Guilt.” American occupation authorities made such images ubiquitous and circulated them alongside news of the IMT. An Allied propaganda poster from 1946 with the words “Nuremberg” and “Guilty” surrounding a skull-like image of Adolf Hitler. Courtesy United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum. This extensive effort to spread information about the Holocaust and German war crimes was necessary because most Germans either denied ever supporting the Nazi Party or echoed the common refrain that “wir konnten nichts tun” (we could do nothing) when presented with a list of German atrocities. This claim blatantly ignored the fact that a majority of Germans had either actively or passively supported Hitler, voted in favor of him or his conservative allies, and generally stood by as more than 500,000 of their Jewish neighbors were persecuted and more than 150,000 of them were shipped to hundreds of concentration camps across Germany. If Germans needed more evidence of their government’s crimes, they needed only to observe the millions of malnourished foreign slave laborers forced to work in German factories and on German farms. When German civilians saw that their denials had little effect on Allied sentiments, they attempted to downplay the severity of German atrocities instead. American war correspondent Margaret Bourke-White reported how after some Germans viewed images of concentration camps, they responded by saying “Why get so excited about it, after [the Allies] bombing innocent women and children?” With the food and housing situation dire in most German cities and millions of soldiers and civilians dead from the fighting, the majority of former citizens of the Third Reich preferred to focus on their own suffering. While interned in a Soviet prisoner of war camp, Major Siegfried Knappe and the other German prisoners of war received daily reports about the progress of the IMT. “We learned the details of the Nazi extermination camps and finally began to accept them as true rather than just Russian propaganda,” wrote Knappe. The former officer explained in his memoir that he only began to believe accounts of the evidence presented at the trial “when it became clear that the Western Allies as well as Russia were prosecuting the Germans responsible.” Knappe realized that “as a professional soldier, I could not escape my share of the guilt, because without us Hitler could not have done the horrible things he had done; but as a human being, I felt no guilt, because I had no part in or knowledge of the things he had done.” Many German soldiers’ postwar writings echoed similar denials about German atrocities. Scholars generally regard these claims as either blatant lies or willful ignorance because of the demonstrable role the German Army played in the Holocaust. Nor could German soldiers have entirely avoided witnessing the transportation of Jews to concentration and extermination camps, the execution of captured Soviet prisoners, and Allied leaflets describing German atrocities. Allied officials found German soldiers’ professed ignorance baffling, but the Allied soldiers were even more shocked that German civilian leaders could assert their innocence as well. Despite the vast number of Germany’s victims, even many former Nazi Party members claimed that they bore no responsibility for German crimes and that Adolf Hitler himself did not know about the Holocaust. This created serious obstacles to the Allies’ attempt to denazify Germany. The Western Allies oversaw the creation of denazification tribunals beginning in March 1946, but it soon became apparent that there would not be enough qualified doctors, lawyers, judges, teachers, and civil servants if former Nazi Party members were excluded from those professions. American military government officials at one point even resorted to using lie detectors to try and ascertain if individuals had joined the Nazi Party to protect their jobs or because they agreed with the party’s policies. The Allies attempted to persuade Germans of their guilt by forcing them to tour concentration camps, watch newsreel footage of Nazi crimes, and purge their libraries of Nazi materials. The real problem, however, was that every German adult who had not actively resisted Nazi rule bore some responsibility for the regime’s crimes. By accepting the legitimacy and verdicts of the IMT, German civilians, soldiers, and former government officials thought they could acknowledge that their country had committed horrific crimes but place all of the blame on a handful of Nazi leaders. Though the trial failed to convince all Germans of their responsibility for initiating World War II and the Holocaust in Europe, it forged a tentative consensus about the criminality of Hitler’s rule. By October 1946, the month in which the sentences from the IMT were announced, more than 79 percent of Germans polled by American occupation authorities reported that they had heard about the tribunal’s judgments and thought the trial was fair. Seventy-one percent of those surveyed confirmed they had learned something new from the trial. This education solidified the tribunal’s importance in the reconstruction of Germany. As Dr. Karl S. Bader, a professor of jurisprudence at the University of Mainz in Germany, wrote in 1946, “nobody who considers the years 1933 to 1945 will in future times be able to pass by this material.” Bader warned, however, that any hesitancy on the part of the German people to seek justice only proved that the “Hitler in us” was not yet obliterated. Unfortunately, the Cold War undermined the Allies’ efforts at denazification and both the Soviet Union and the United States rehabilitated large numbers of former Nazis. In East Germany, a Soviet puppet state, the government released thousands of Nazis and enlisted their help in forming a police state. The Soviet Union also began promoting the belief that western capitalists were basically responsible for the rise of the Nazi Party. Meanwhile, in West Germany the Western Allies ended all their efforts at denazification in favor of enlisting the help of former Nazis in the fight against Communism. Discussion of the Holocaust virtually disappeared from the public sphere in West Germany in the 1950s. School textbooks barely mentioned German war crimes, and former Nazis rejoined civil society, many resuming positions similar to those they held under Hitler’s regime. By the 1950s, nearly 90 percent of judges in West Germany had formerly belonged to the Nazi Party. Just as alarming, in 1950 a survey of West Germans indicated that a third of Germans believed the IMT had been unfair. The same proportion of respondents stated that the Holocaust had been justified. These developments led many scholars and social commentators to condemn the trials at Nuremberg and denazification as complete failures. Germans did not express widespread public regret in the immediate postwar years. Nor did the majority of Nazis receive punishments commensurate with their crimes. Still, the judgments at Nuremberg established the legal precedent for denazification and created a record of evidence so compelling that, when shown to the German public, it dispelled any suggestion that the Nazi regime had been innocent of the accusations leveled against it. These accomplishments owed to the strict procedures established for the IMT and the Western Allies’ efforts to publicize the trials in Germany. In the 1960s, when a new generation that did not remember the war came of age in West Germany, they questioned the silences surrounding World War II and rediscovered the record of evidence produced for the IMT. Their efforts initiated a public discussion of Germany’s past that led to widespread commemoration and even new war crimes trials for Germans who murdered millions of Jews in Eastern Europe during the war.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	50	https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/war-games/	en	Did a Nazi Leader Say Convincing People to Support War is 'Simple'?	https://mediaproxy.snope…/09/goering2.jpg	https://mediaproxy.snope…/09/goering2.jpg	[ "https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=38282683&cv=3.6.0&cj=1", "https://www.snopes.com/design/images/logo-main.png", "https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/600/https://media.snopes.com/2007/09/goering2.jpg 600w,https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/960/https://media.snopes.com/2007/09/goering2.jpg 960w,https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/https://media.snopes.com/2007/09/goering2.jpg 1200w", "https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/200/https://media.snopes.com/2018/03/rating-true.png", "https://www.snopes.com/design/images/logo-main.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "David Mikkelson" ]	2002-10-03T17:00:00+00:00	Rumor: Hermann Goering proclaimed that although 'the people don't want war,' they 'can always be brought to the bidding of their leaders.'	en	/apple-touch-icon.png	Snopes	https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/war-games/	Claim: Nazi Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering proclaimed that although "the people don't want war," they "can always be brought to the bidding of their leaders." Rating: True About this rating Another quote in the vein of the apocryphal Julius Caesar warning about political leaders who can all too easily send the citizenry marching eagerly off to war by manufacturing crises that purportedly threaten national security and making popular appeals to patriotism. In this case the sentiment expressed is even more disturbing because it comes not from a venerated figure of antiquity, but supposedly from a reviled twentieth-century figure associated with the most chilling example of genocide in human history: Hermann Goering, Nazi Reichsmarshall and Luftwaffe-Chief: "Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." -- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials We may be made somewhat uneasy by the idea that the head of a classic civilization recognized 2,000 years ago that the populace could be manipulated into sacrificing themselves in wars at the whims of their leaders, but perhaps we're more outraged (and maybe even scared) at the thought of a fat Nazi fascist flunky's recognizing and telling us the same thing. The notable difference here is that although the Caesar quote is a latter-day fabrication, the words attributed to Hermann Goering are real. Goering was one of the highest-ranking Nazis who survived to be captured and put on trial for war crimes in the city of Nuremberg by the Allies after the end of World War II. He was found guilty on charges of "war crimes," "crimes against peace," and "crimes against humanity" by the Nuremberg tribunal and sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence could not be carried out, however, because Goering committed suicide with smuggled cyanide capsules hours before his execution, scheduled for 15 October 1946. The quote cited above does not appear in transcripts of the Nuremberg trials because although Goering spoke these words during the course of the proceedings, he did not offer them at his trial. His comments were made privately to Gustave Gilbert, a German-speaking American 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 quote offered above was part of a conversation Gilbert held with a dejected Hermann Goering in his cell on the evening of 18 April 1946, as the trials were halted for a three-day Easter recess: Sweating in his cell in the evening, Goering 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. If [Hans] Frank [Governor-General of occupied Poland] had known about atrocities in 1943, he should have come to him and he would have tried to do something about it. He might not have had enough power to change things in 1943, but if somebody had come to him in 1941 or 1942 he could have forced a showdown. (I still did not have the desire at this point to tell him what [SS General Otto] Ohlendorf had said to this: that Goering had been written off as an effective "moderating" influence, because of his drug addiction and corruption.) I pointed out that with his "temperamental utterances," such as preferring the killing of 200 Jews to the destruction of property, he had hardly set himself up as champion of minority rights. Goering protested that too much weight was being put on these temperamental utterances. Furthermore, he made it clear that he was not defending or glorifying Hitler. Later in the conversation, Gilbert recorded Goering's observations that the common people can always be manipulated into supporting and fighting wars by their political leaders: We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction. "Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship." "There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars." "Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	11	https://study.com/academy/lesson/hermann-goering-life-career-trial.html	en	Biography, the Nuremberg Trial & Role in WWII	https://study.com/images…acebook-Logo.jpg	https://study.com/images…acebook-Logo.jpg	[ "https://study.com/images/eureka/logos/study-com_logo-horizontal_text-dark.svg", "https://study.com/timages/noscript.gif", "https://study.com/images/reDesign/svg/icon_citation_bubble.svg", "https://study.com/cimages/multimages/16/goering_addresses_the_reichstag1479989523085028869.jpeg", "https://study.com/cimages/multimages/16/hermann_goering_nuremberg_trials4386636478620800592.jpeg", "https://study.com/images/videoPaywall/paywallMango/playlist.svg", "https://study.com/images/videoPaywall/paywallMango/pencil.svg", "https://study.com/images/videoPaywall/paywallMango/peopleMango.svg", "https://study.com/images/videoPaywall/paywallMango/lesson plan.svg", "https://study.com/images/eureka/logos/without-gutter/study-com_symbol_color.svg", "https://study.com/images/reDesign/ctas/google-play-store-download-button.png", "https://study.com/images/reDesign/ctas/apple-app-store-download-button.png", "https://study.com/images/reDesign/ctas/google-play-store-download-button.png", "https://study.com/images/reDesign/ctas/apple-app-store-download-button.png", "https://study.com/images/working-scholars/ws-footer-logo-555.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "Hermann Goering \| Biography", "the Nuremberg Trial & Role in WWII \| Study.com" ]	null	[]	null	Learn about Hermann Goering's role in WWII and his life, career, and Nuremberg trial. Discover this high-ranking Nazi and his role in 20th-century...	en	/images/eureka/favicons/apple-touch-icon.png?v=3	study.com	https://study.com/academy/lesson/hermann-goering-life-career-trial.html	He returned to Germany in 1927 and was elected to the Reichstag as one of the first Nazi representatives in 1928. From this position, he was able to block other contenders to the chancellorship, paving the way for Hitler's appointment to the role in 1933. Goering helped Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich plan the early concentration camps for political opponents and also led the cleansing of Prussia. This saw supposed Communist elements in the military and police of the region being purged and replaced with loyal Nazi members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), a Nazi paramilitary group. Goering used the Reichstag fire (supposedly set by these communists) as a pretext for these actions and others that eliminated or imprisoned political opponents. He became Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe (the German Air Force) in 1935 and was responsible for its rapid expansion in the late 1930s. He was also in charge of an economic plan for the Reich as the Director of the Four Year Plan, giving him near-absolute control over the German economy. Additionally, Goering became Hitler's acknowledged successor on September 1, 1939. It was Goering who gave Reinhard Heydrich and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), an intelligence wing at the time, the order to carry out a "total solution to the Jewish Question" in 1941. He was one of the few high-ranking members of the Nazi Party to face trial at Nuremberg after the war (other leaders took their own lives either before being captured or before they could be tried). The International Military Tribunal (IMT) found him guilty of all four possible counts at the trial. He was sentenced to death but died by suicide the night before his scheduled execution. As the head of the Luftwaffe, he was in charge of the air campaigns against Poland, France, Britain, and later Russia. His failures in Britain and Russia caused Goering to lose favor with Hitler. As the war progressed, he became increasingly detached from reality, refusing to accept reports of losses, refusing to allow for new technology, and hiding Allied tactics from other leaders to avoid changes in the Luftwaffe. In addition, the war's progression saw Goering steadily losing more and more political favor. At the end of the war, when Hitler declared that he would stay in the bunker until the end, a mentally ill Goering believed that this meant that Hitler was abdicating. He requested to be put in power but was instead stripped of all titles. He was captured by the American Seventh Army on May 9, 1945. Unlike other high-ranking Nazis, Goering did not take his own life rather than be captured. As a result, he was the highest-ranking official to be put on trial at Nuremberg in 1946. His was also the first trial. Despite a visible physical decline, Goering acted more as he had during the early days of the war while in Nuremberg. This could be due to his inability to access drugs while imprisoned; he had struggled with addiction intermittently since the incident after the Beer Hall Putsch. At the trials, it was noted that Goering had a controlling personality, which meant he overshadowed other defendants. He appeared to have adopted an attitude that saw him still dictate to other prisoners and seemed to carry the belief that he would become a German martyr and be immortalized in history due to his self-noted heroism. The IMT in Nuremberg ruled that Goering was guilty of crimes against peace; crimes against humanity; war crimes; and conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The Tribunal found no mitigating circumstances for his actions. He was sentenced to execution by hanging, which was to be carried out on October 15, 1946. However, just hours before his scheduled execution, Goering took his own life in his cell. Goering on trial at Nuremberg As the last surviving member of the Nazi high command, Goering's testimony played a crucial role in laying out the horror of Nazi atrocities. He tried to blame his actions on others, although Goering himself came up with many ideas that were then carried out by Himmler rather than Goering. It was evident in his testimony at Nuremberg and in those of others that he had knowingly played a key role in the mass murder of millions of Jews, civilian bombings, and in using slave labor within the Reich, to name a few of the specific offenses cited in his sentencing report. As the first of the Nuremberg Trials, his trial set an example for other (and future) war criminals. While some have argued that Goering was used as a symbol for the entire Nazi high command at the trials because he was the only one left to bear any punishment. It is clear that Goering was a war criminal and that he did commit crimes against peace and humanity. That he conspired to commit these crimes as well as part of his own admission that he planned many of the Nazi's worst actions against Jews and other political enemies. As the International Military Tribunal put it, "his guilt is unique in its enormity. The record discloses no excuses for this man." Hermann Goering was the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, Director of the Four Year Plan, (an economic plan), and the declared successor of Adolf Hitler. He was born an aristocrat in 1893 and went on to become a highly decorated fighter pilot during World War I. He joined the Nazi Party in 1922 and participated in the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. Treatment for the injuries he received at this time led to a drug addiction that he struggled with for the rest of his life. He was elected to the Reichstag in 1928 and helped pave the way for Hitler to be made Chancellor in 1933. Goering used his background as a professional politician to help secure the diplomatic acquisition of the Sudetenland and the Austrian Anschluss in 1938. Goering was a key planner of the concentration camps along with other Nazi officials. As head of the Luftwaffe, Goering was responsible for the bombing campaigns in Poland, France, Britain, and Russia. When the last two of these were unsuccessful, Goering lost political favor with Hitler. Their relationship ended in 1945 when Hitler had Goering arrested. Goering was captured in May 1945 and was the only member of the Nazi high command to be tried at Nuremberg. He was found guilty of crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. He took his own life just hours before his sentence of execution by hanging was carried out.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	44	https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/could-hermann-goering-have-escaped-the-death-penalty-at-nurnberg.439522/	en	Could Hermann Goering have escaped the death penalty at Nurnberg			[ "https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/styles/default/xenforo/xenforo-logo.png", "https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/data/avatars/m/79/79123.jpg?1470586294", "https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/data/avatars/m/79/79123.jpg?1470586294", "https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/data/avatars/m/65/65740.jpg?1481929129", "https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/data/avatars/m/0/27.jpg?1463755771", "https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/data/avatars/m/79/79123.jpg?1470586294" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "peterpandude85" ]	2018-03-17T19:05:00+00:00	Say Hermann Goering, while at Nuremberg, tries to pull a Speer and tries to convince the trial to spare him the death penalty. Is there any way he could...	en		alternatehistory.com	https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/could-hermann-goering-have-escaped-the-death-penalty-at-nurnberg.439522/	No way, unless the Soviets deliberately set him up as a thorn in the West's side (or possibly vice versa) and blocked a death penalty; however, the Allies' belief that he was the most dangerous Nazi proved itself by the strength of his personality and presence at Nuremberg once off the narcotics. There's a reason Goering Reich AH's tend to work out fairly well for the Germans, at least compared to OTL. Say Hermann Goering, while at Nuremberg, tries to pull a Speer and tries to convince the trial to spare him the death penalty. Is there any way he could have made it happen? Speer didn't convince anyone of anything. The Allies found his bullshit useful for propaganda purposes, so they let him off easy. Also, Speer was lucky in that the real evidence of his complicity was found long after both his sentencing and his death. He also had a rather convenient scapegoat in Fritz Sauckel. With his endless list of offices, who would Goering have? What was that evidence exactly? I knew the guy was guilty as all get out but I didn’t know they finally managed to come up with a smoking gun. Hm, remove his autograph from the invitation and the follow up protocol of the Wannsee conference and I can actually see him getting off with a life sentence like Hess. Hess only got life imprisonment because he wasn't found guilty of war crimes or crimes against humanity. This was because he left Germany before the invasion of the Soviet Union or the start of the Final Solution. By contrast, Goering was Hitler's second in command until the bitter end, meaning that there's no way he didn't know about the Holocaust or other German war crimes. And even if Goering's autograph is removed from the invitation and follow-up protocol to the Wannsee Conference, there's still the letter he wrote to Heydrich ordering him to find a final solution, as well as the multitude of evidence that he was involved in other war crimes. Suppose he had something of value in exchange for his neck, much like some of Unit 731 did. Sarin gas secrets? The location of something of importance to the nuclear program? Even where some great art is hidden away for the ages. If Hitler killed hinself somewhere else, or escaped, the location of his body or him might be enough. (Or might not...) What was that evidence exactly? I knew the guy was guilty as all get out but I didn’t know they finally managed to come up with a smoking gun. Several historians have shredded his post war memoir as him changing the facts by citing several clear inconsistencies between his actions during and after the war. Albert Speer: The End of a Myth was one of the first, although this was two years after Speer's death. The big nail in the coffin I believe surfaced just a few years ago, which was a speech by Himmler that referenced the Final solution and mentioned Speer explicitly. Even mentioning he was in attendance of this speech. Several historians have shredded his post war memoir as him changing the facts by citing several clear inconsistencies between his actions during and after the war. Albert Speer: The End of a Myth was one of the first, although this was two years after Speer's death. The big nail in the coffin I believe surfaced just a few years ago, which was a speech by Himmler that referenced the Final solution and mentioned Speer explicitly. Even mentioning he was in attendance of this speech. Ah ok. I was wondering if new documents had come light or something; that would do it. If that had come to light at Speer’s trial, do you think they would have hanged him? Perhaps given Hess a roommate for the rest of both of their lives at Spandau? If that had come to light at Speer’s trial, do you think they would have hanged him? Generally, and even given the relevations I've read about him, I wouldn't say Speer deserved death. I could certainly see life being fitting. Of course this is someone reading it 70 years on. At the time I could see Speer's lies not being believed earning him the rope At least some of Speer's lies were incredibly obvious to anyone with half a brain, e.g. his ridiculous "assasination attempt." (I forget who it was who quipped "the second most powerful man in the Reich couldn't find a ladder"). He served a useful purpose: "Look at this guy. He was Hitler's best friend, even HE was disgusted by how evil Hitler was and washed his hands of him." It's the same reason why the Rommel mythos and other Clean Wermacht stuff were pushed- the idea that "good people" served even at the highest levels of Hitler's government was useful for justifying the fact that a whole lot of ex-Nazis were used to rebuild the German state postwar. The big nail in the coffin I believe surfaced just a few years ago, which was a speech by Himmler that referenced the Final solution and mentioned Speer explicitly. Even mentioning he was in attendance of this speech. Speer possibly being at Himmler’s Posen speech actually came out when he was alive. He managed to refute it to some degree... ...however a letter by Speer admitting he was there was found a few years ago.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	85	https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/01/07/the-nazi-art-dealer-who-supplied-hermann-goring-and-operated-in-a-shadowy-art-underworld-after-the-war	en	The Nazi art dealer who supplied Hermann Göring and operated in a shadowy art underworld after the war	https://cdn.sanity.io/im…crop&auto=format	https://cdn.sanity.io/im…crop&auto=format	[ "https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/2b3466774dc5776b98c0047e115924687dff5e5e-366x80.svg", "https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/2a17a0294d29177faba03484c634a6e33e8fed98-1x1.svg", "https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/b106e3391b3277dd22f191f485bbf1def93b97d8-1600x1144.jpg?rect=0,87,1600,810&w=640&h=324&fit=crop&auto=format 1x, https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/b106e3391b3277dd22f191f485bbf1def93b97d8-1600x1144.jpg?rect=1,87,1599,810&w=1200&h=608&fit=crop&auto=format 2x", "https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/87cabe4c455377af4543d2623f52ce3151461340-268x266.png?rect=12,24,247,227&w=256&h=235&fit=crop&auto=format 1x, https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/87cabe4c455377af4543d2623f52ce3151461340-268x266.png?rect=12,23,247,227&w=640&h=589&fit=crop&auto=format 2x", "https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/b106e3391b3277dd22f191f485bbf1def93b97d8-1600x1144.jpg?rect=0,0,1600,1143&w=750&h=536&fit=crop&auto=format 1x, https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/b106e3391b3277dd22f191f485bbf1def93b97d8-1600x1144.jpg?w=1920&h=1373&fit=crop&auto=format 2x", "https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/7efff860f6a925b50414aa9cc14e5826d24bce32-1069x783.jpg?w=750&h=549&fit=crop&auto=format 1x, https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/7efff860f6a925b50414aa9cc14e5826d24bce32-1069x783.jpg?w=1920&h=1406&fit=crop&auto=format 2x", "https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/c302fe2cce766d7f9227201d568573eb05b1bd3f-1000x672.jpg?w=750&h=504&fit=crop&auto=format 1x, https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/c302fe2cce766d7f9227201d568573eb05b1bd3f-1000x672.jpg?w=1920&h=1290&fit=crop&auto=format 2x" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Catherine Hickley", "www.theartnewspaper.com", "catherine-hickley" ]	2021-01-07T00:00:00	A new book by Jonathan Petropoulos explores Bruno Lohse’s devotion to Hitler’s number two		/favicon-48.ico	The Art Newspaper - International art news and events	https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/01/07/the-nazi-art-dealer-who-supplied-hermann-goring-and-operated-in-a-shadowy-art-underworld-after-the-war	This article was featured in our free monthly Book Club newsletter. Sign up here for features, exclusive extracts, author interviews and art world recommendations sent straight to your inbox As a tall, young, athletic SS officer with fluent French and a doctorate in art history, Bruno Lohse captured Hermann Göring’s attention during one of his visits to the Jeu de Paume art gallery in Paris, where the Reichsmarschall would quaff champagne and select paintings looted from French Jews. The art would then be transported by Göring’s private train to his country estate outside Berlin. Lohse became Göring’s agent in Paris, charged with helping Adolf Hitler’s number two to amass his vast store of stolen art. He oversaw operations at the Jeu de Paume, where the Nazis stored art looted from Jews by the infamous Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce (known as the ERR). Like many key Nazi looters, Lohse escaped conviction after the Second World War, although he did spend several years in prison, in Nuremberg and in France. On his release in 1950, living in Munich, he became part of a shadowy network of former Nazis who continued to deal in looted art, largely untroubled by law enforcement or public attention. Jonathan Petropoulos first met Lohse in 1998, when the dealer was 87. More than two decades later, Petropoulos has written what will surely be the definitive biography, Göring’s Man in Paris: The Story of a Nazi Art Plunderer and his World, published this month. Petropoulos is the author of several authoritative, lucidly written and important books about the arts in the Third Reich, including The Faustian Bargain: The Art World in Nazi Germany. He is an enterprising, investigative historian of the kind journalists can feel a kinship with. He describes, for example, turning up with begonias on the doorstep of the widow of a long-dead Nazi art looter in the 1990s (she invited him in, offered him coffee, and talked). He penetrated deep into Lohse’s world—a disquieting but intriguing cosmos of aging Nazis nostalgic for the “good old days”, of kaffee und kuchen in luxury hotels, of secretive Liechtenstein foundations, and of Swiss bank vaults stuffed with stolen art. It was a Zurich bank vault that catapulted Lohse back into public view in 2007, just weeks after his death at the age of 95. The Swiss prosecutor seized a vault controlled by Lohse in the Zürcher Kantonalbank. Its contents included Le Quai Malaquais, Printemps (1903), a painting by Camille Pissarro that the Jewish family from whom it had been looted in Vienna had been trying to trace for 70 years. Together with a dealer friend of Lohse’s, Peter Griebert, Petropoulos had previously engaged in efforts to return the painting to Gisela Bermann Fischer, the heir of the family. Because Griebert and Petropoulos asked for a percentage of the painting’s value for recovering it, she reported these efforts as attempted extortion to law enforcement. Griebert was investigated but never charged or convicted, Petropoulos writes. The author, who was never investigated by police, says he received no compensation from the eventual restitution and sale of the painting. But these tortuous events, described in the book, compelled Petropoulos to step down as the director of the centre for Holocaust studies at Claremont McKenna College, California, in 2008. Petropoulos portrays himself as a victim of Griebert’s intrigue, and says he did not know the painting was controlled by Lohse. Still, he indirectly admits it was a mistake to get embroiled in this affair, citing the lawyer Randol Schoenberg’s comment that academics like Petropoulos are invaluable for provenance research “but out of their league if they try to negotiate a work’s return”. Petropoulos appears unsure about whether he got too close to Lohse. In the book’s prologue, he asserts: “For me, our meetings were strictly fact-finding missions… I do not want to give the impression that I befriended him or in any way seem to whitewash his deeds.” By the epilogue, he has apparently changed his mind. “Yes, Bruno was a kind of friend, and that is problematic for a historian of the Third Reich,” he writes. Regardless of this awkward friendship, Göring’s Man in Paris is far from a whitewash. Perhaps the 13 years since Lohse’s death needed to pass for the author to view him with detachment. Petropoulos does not mince his words—Lohse, he says, “ranks in the top five among history’s all-time art looters”. He was, the writer says, “a skilled liar, dissimulator, and schemer”. The book describes in meticulous detail how this dashing SS officer, living a life of luxury with a chauffeur-driven car in Paris, organised 18 exhibitions of looted art for Göring at the Jeu de Paume, helped him commandeer more than 700 paintings from the ERR, and acquired many more from other dubious sources. Lohse tracked down hidden collections belonging to Jews who had fled or been deported and took part in raids to seize their collections. How he escaped conviction for war crimes is something of a mystery, but Lohse seems to have attracted important allies—including, bizarrely, some of the American Monuments Men who interrogated him in Nuremberg—and he assembled a crack defence team for his trial. He set himself up as an art dealer in Munich to supplement the benefits he received from the German government as a former “prisoner of war”. Petropoulos’s research sheds important light on the post-war networks, radiating from Munich to Switzerland, Paris and even the US, that allowed Lohse to stay in business. His Munich circle encompassed Göring’s daughter Edda and the Reichsmarschall’s former secretary, Gisela Limberger. Lohse’s devotion and loyalty to Göring remained undiminished until the end of his life. His treasured mementoes included his Nazi party membership card and a letter from Göring written in Nuremberg testifying that he had repeatedly asked to be excused from his duties in Paris to return to the front. Because it was signed in Göring’s own hand so close to the end of his life, it became a “sacred relic” for Lohse, Petropoulos writes. Almost daily, the elderly Nazi thief would pore over these keepsakes and photos of his days in the ERR, a time he still viewed as the high point of his career. It is a chilling image. One question still unanswered is how much looted art he got away with. Petropoulos describes paintings by Emil Nolde and Gabriele Münter and a clutch of Dutch Old Masters hanging in Lohse’s Munich apartment. He suspects Lohse kept for himself some of the works he acquired for Göring. Tantalisingly, the book’s appendix lists 47 works that were in Lohse’s possession when he died or sold shortly before his death—among them paintings by Lucas Cranach, Camille Corot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Jan Brueghel. Provenance research into these works has never been published and they have been distributed among Lohse’s many heirs, or sold discreetly. Perhaps one day we will find out who they once belonged to.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	26	https://www.historynet.com/larger-than-life-the-infamous-hermann-goring/	en	Larger Than Life: The Infamous Hermann Göring	https://www.historynet.c…ring2000x577.jpg	https://www.historynet.c…ring2000x577.jpg	[ "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/cropped-Historynet-main-logo.png", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Historynet-favicon.png", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Göring2000x577.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GoringCaricature.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GoeringLion2.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GoringAce.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GoringHitler-231x300.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PilotGoring.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GoringHGW.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GoringTrial.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/steamer-princess1200-300x120.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/Aviation_Jerrie_Mock1-300x160.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/The-OSS-300x242.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/book-review-seminole-warrior-ww-300x169.jpg", "https://www.historynet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/cropped-Historynet-main-logo.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Rasheeda Smith", "James Holland" ]	2016-06-01T20:47:35+00:00	Hermann Göring was an outsize character in every sense of the term...	en	https://www.historynet.c…avicon-50x50.png	HistoryNet	https://www.historynet.com/larger-than-life-the-infamous-hermann-goring/	[dropcap]A[/dropcap]t 11:45 p.m. on October 15, 1946, Allied guards were preparing to escort top Nazis convicted of war crimes from their cells in Nuremberg to the prison gymnasium for hanging. The condemned included Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler’s foreign minister, and General Alfred Jodl, chief of the German General Staff. The best known was Hitler’s deputy, the Wehrmacht’s highest-ranking officer, one of Europe’s richest and most powerful businessman, and head of the Luftwaffe: Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring. Göring had fallen far. In early May 1940, he commanded the world’s most powerful air force, poised to roar from continental victories and triumph over hated England. At home, Germans adored their Führer, but found in der dicke Hermann—“Fat Herman”—a figure of ebullient entertainment. Slender, ascetic Hitler ate only vegetables, abstained from smoking and drinking, and wore mainly plain gray jackets. Not Göring. In flamboyant uniforms of his own design and fingers bedizened with rings, the fat man ate, drank, and made riotously merry, living out loud. Florid style suffused Göring’s life. He loved food, wine, art collecting, and hunting. His country lodge, Carinhall, named after his beloved first wife, abounded with sculptures, paintings, and furniture. Endangered species roamed his grounds. He kept pet lions. He adored cars and sailing; he called his 90-foot motor yacht Carin II. Göring’s dandy image made him a persistent figure of ridicule. Germans mocked him and the foreign press painted him as an overweight buffoon. But Hermann Göring was a colossus in every way: a wily Machiavellian with an outsize IQ, skilled at combining charm, guile, and ruthlessness to get what he wanted—skills he employed to the end. [dropcap]H[/dropcap]ermann Wilhelm Göring’s name had been a household word in Germany since his early 20s. After spending 1914-15 in the trenches of the Western Front, he finagled his way into the air service, flying on the sly as an unofficial observer for a friend. Found out, he formally transferred to the service, becoming a fighter pilot—a good one. His 22 victories earned him the Orden Pour le Mérite—the Blue Max, then Germany’s most exalted combat award. In July 1918, Göring, 25, assumed command of the famed “Flying Circus,” Jagdgeschwader 1, led by Manfred von Richtofen until the Red Baron’s death in action three months earlier. After the Armistice in November 1918, Göring gravitated to barnstorming, performing aerobatic displays and demonstrations in Scandinavia for the Fokker Company. In autumn 1919 he was flying passenger planes for airline Svenska Lufttrafik. A war hero and decorated ace, with pale blue eyes and lean, dashing good looks, Captain Göring made a splash in Swedish society. One night in February 1920, he flew Count Eric von Rosen, a wealthy explorer and right-winger, to Rosen’s lakeside castle at Rockelstad. Göring pressed through several blizzards executing a perfect landing on the frozen lake. Rosen invited the pilot to stay; other guests included Rosen’s sister-in-law, Carin von Kantzow. Göring fell hard for the similarly smitten—and married—Carin, then separated from her husband; their affair generated gossip across Stockholm that propelled the couple to Bavaria. They were staying in the mountains near Munich in late 1922 when Göring, who was trying to organize former military men into a political party, attended a rally in Munich protesting the Versailles Treaty. As the crowd shouted for a “Herr Hitler” of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party to speak, Göring realized the fellow was standing only yards from him. Hitler kept silent, but something about the man impelled Göring to attend the next session of the salon the Austrian held Monday nights at Café Neumann. That evening, Hitler spoke vividly of resisting the Versailles Treaty with bayonets—just the kind of fiery rhetoric Göring yearned to hear. The pilot stood and spoke of the need to put honor first in any conflict. Chatting afterward, he and Hitler felt a mutual man-crush; Göring drawn to Hitler’s pugnacity, Hitler to Göring’s glamour and connections. Göring joined the fledgling party the next day. By January 1923, Hitler had put his new associate in charge of the Sturmabteilung, known as the SA, the organization’s paramilitary wing—then a motley rabble. Göring quickly whipped the SA into shape, recruiting and arming more men while imposing structure and discipline. The next month Göring and Carin married; by summer he had quit flying to support Hitler—organizationally and financially—run the SA, and look after his bride. He was becoming a politician. That November, Hitler persuaded war hero General Erich Ludendorff to head a coup to take over Munich. At a speech by the Bavarian State Commissioner, Hitler, guarded by SA toughs, leaped to the stage declaring a revolution. The Beer Hall Putsch collapsed but not before Hitler, Göring, and about 3,000 fellow Nazis marched into Munich’s heart. Police opened fire, killing 16 and wounding Hitler and others, including Göring, who was shot in the groin. Göring reluctantly relinquished leadership of the SA to Ernst Röhm, a brutal war veteran, while he recovered during a long, forced exile in Italy and Austria. To ease Göring’s persistent pain, doctors injected morphine; he became addicted to the opiate. His dependency became a lifelong plague causing or exaggerating many of his outlandish characteristics. The drug induced a sine wave of effects, from energetic euphoria to morose passivity, as well as weight gain, vanity and delusions, and extreme anxiety. The imprisoned Hitler asked Göring to seek financial backing from Benito Mussolini and his Fascists, an odyssey that ended in humiliation. He and Carin, now broke—in part from loaning the Nazi Party money—resented the charity they needed. Irritation fed their growing anti-Semitism and devotion to the National Socialist cause. “Never in this life was it so hard to exist, in spite of all the happiness I have with my darling Hermann,” Carin wrote in late 1924. Addiction drove Göring into an asylum in 1925 and again briefly in 1927. He emerged from these dark passages by force of will and with his wife’s encouragement, only to find out the Nazis dumped him from the roster. Carin’s health waned, compromised by tuberculosis; by early 1927, at age 38, she was in a Swiss nursing home. Göring was in Germany seeking work, trying to rekindle his political career and quit dope. “Darling, darling, I think of you all the time,” Carin wrote to him. “You are all I have, and I beg you, make a really mighty effort to liberate yourself before it is too late.” [dropcap]G[/dropcap]öring pulled himself from the precipice. In the upcoming 1928 spring elections, he wanted to run for the Reichstag; Hitler said no. Knowing that the Nazis once had the secret backing of industrialists, Göring told Hitler that unless he got his endorsement he would make the information public and sue Hitler’s underwriters for every pfennig he and Carin had loaned the party since 1922. Hitler folded, and in May, Göring won the election as one of 12 Nazi deputies, entitled to a salary, influence, and, above all, opportunity that he was determined not to waste. On June 13, 1928, Carin was strong enough to accompany him to the Reichstag opening in Berlin. His party’s marginality didn’t bother him. “We were the Twelve Black Sheep,” he said. Göring had found his métier. While Carin played hostess, he set to work with the energy of a thunderbolt. He declared himself the party’s transportation expert, nurturing contacts in the aviation and auto industries. Hitler asked him to woo Berlin society to the Nazi cause. A natural firebrand, Göring quickly learned to play to an audience. He was now Hitler’s most valuable asset. At the next election, in September 1930, the Nazis won 107 seats, making them the Reichstag’s second biggest faction. The party needed a deputy speaker; Hitler appointed Göring. As the new deputy speaker, Göring traveled on behalf of the Party, orating with rabble-rousing style. In July 1931, he addressed 30,000 struggling farmers ripe for recruitment. “He was so moved to see all these people in need,” wrote Carin. “There they all stood, singing ‘Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles,’ most of them with tears streaming down their faces. How his nerves stand it beats me.” Carin’s health, however, continued to fail. A heart attack laid her low just one day after her mother’s funeral in September 1931. She died the next month in a Swedish sanatorium with Göring at her side. Grief and remorse hammered at him. His marriage had dragged him from his morphine addiction and empowered him to succeed. “And that,” he told Carin’s niece, “was how my megalomania began.” [dropcap]G[/dropcap]öring overcame sadness through work. In the July 1932 elections, the National Socialists won with the largest percentage of the vote. President Paul von Hindenburg refused Hitler the chancellorship, but Göring became president of the Reichstag. In January 1933, when Hitler did become Chancellor—largely thanks to Göring’s negotiating skills, nerve, and ruthlessness—Göring became the Führer’s right-hand man. During the first year of Nazi rule, Göring purged Communists, Jews, and dissidents and paved the way for a one-party state using manipulation, bribery, and hired thugs. He was now Reich Commissar for Aviation and head of Germany’s largest police force. He bound the nation’s industries to the Nazis through coercion. “I’ve always said that when it comes to the crunch he’s a man of steel—unscrupulous,” Hitler later said. In April, Göring set up the Forschungsamt, his personal spy agency, with Hitler’s consent. The operation bugged and tapped the phones of foreign leaders and businessmen, and almost every Nazi leader. In the regime’s power struggles, Göring always stayed a move ahead. Publicly, he created the Geheime Staatspolizei, the dreaded Gestapo secret police. He set up the first concentration camps—originally holding pens for Nazi Party foes— at Oranienburg and Papenburg in the German state of Prussia. Titles attached themselves to him: Speaker of the German Parliament, President of the Reichstag, Prime Minister of Prussia, President of the Prussian State Council, Reich Master of Forestry and Game (his hunting laws still exist), and commander of a clandestine air force. With the Nazis in power, the SA and its storm troopers lost their utility, making their ambitious leader, Röhm, a threat to Hitler. Göring urged Hitler to destroy Röhm and his top goons, a step he got SS chief Heinrich Himmler to endorse. In return, Göring handed off the Gestapo to the SS, which took over as the party’s military wing. The resulting June 30, 1934, bloodbath, known as the Night of the Long Knives, was almost entirely a Göring production. He kept to his Berlin villa, sitting at a large oak table on a gold-trimmed velvet chair, while hit squads and SS men assassinated Röhm and at least 83 others. A few days later, Göring organized a crab feast for fellow “managers” Himmler and Erhard Milch, Göring’s number-two in the air force. While they cracked open claws, a telegram from President Hindenburg arrived applauding their “energetic and victorious action.” That August, Hindenburg died and Hitler became Führer of the Third Reich. The Luftwaffe came out of the shadows, with Göring as commander-in-chief. Hitler often used him as his unofficial deputy—over deputy Rudolf Hess—and eventually elevated Göring to the rank of Reichmarshall, the only German officer ever appointed to the position. The grand elevations hugely increased Göring’s power. But they also short-changed him of the practical experiences of an officer rising through the ranks—a bill that would come infamously due. [dropcap]A[/dropcap]mong the Führer’s henchmen, Göring was the one most at ease with the Volk, a gregarious and optimistic contrast compared to dour mopes like propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Amid countless jokes at his expense, he outranked any Nazi in popularity except Hitler. Göring’s annual winter ball was the social event of the year, and his uniforms and pomp grew ever more outrageous. Agriculture minister Walter Darré once visited Göring as the Reichsmarschall’s valet was dressing him. A second servant presented a cushion on which lay 12 rings—four each of red, blue, and green. “Today, I am displeased,” Göring told Darré with no small amount of campiness. “So we shall wear a deeper hue. But we also desire to show that we are not beyond hope. So we shall wear the green.” On another occasion, a woman invited to tea found the Luftwaffe commander wearing a toga, jewel-encrusted sandals, and rouged lips. The big man missed being married, and went looking for another wife. His eccentricities did not put off former actress Emmy Sonnemann, who in April 1935 became the second Frau Göring. For their Berlin wedding, 30,000 soldiers lined the streets. Wrote a foreign reporter: “You had the feeling that an emperor was marrying.” In April 1936, Hitler assigned Göring control of oil and synthetic rubber production, critical in a belligerent country short on petroleum. That summer, Göring was a dynamo, quickly absorbing economic principles and introducing tax breaks and other innovations. He bartered with Yugoslavia, Romania, Turkey, and Spain for foodstuffs and raw materials, while investing at home in research into synthetic fuels and other emerging technologies. Göring recruited Germany’s best economists and leading industrialists to his new cause. That October, Hitler adopted his proposals, naming Göring Special Commissioner of the Four-Year Plan, the program readying Germany for all-out war; Economic Minister Hjalmar Schacht now reported to him. Göring was to reorganize the economy: continue rearmament, amass resources—particularly fuel, rubber, and metal—cut unemployment, boost harvests, develop the autobahns and other public works, and stimulate coal and other industrial production. “Trust this man I have selected,” the Führer announced. “He is the best man I have for the job.” Göring also ran Germany’s foreign exchange reserves; no corporation purchased imports without his say-so. The impecunious flyboy of the 1920s had transformed himself into one of Europe’s richest men. But he wanted more. He spun himself an empire through bribes, favors, and secret deals. When German iron ore and steel production under-performed, he set up an outfit to absorb independent operations in the Ruhr Valley and in Austria—hence his enthusiasm for the March 1938 Anschluss that incorporated Austria into the Nazi Reich—and monopolized the Reich’s steel sector. The move made him one of Europe’s, if not the world’s, biggest industrialists. The all-powerful and autocratic Hermann Göring Works, or HGW, evolved into a holding company. HGW owned 53 percent of arms maker Rheinmetall, 78 percent of auto firm Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and 100 percent of gun manufacturer Steyr Guss-Stahlwerke, whose holdings included a Swiss arms factory. All ran as before, except that under Göring the companies escaped state intervention, courtesy of his patron, Adolf Hitler. Wealth and his prestigious position within the Third Reich awarded Göring his own armored train, Asien. His sleeping car featured a huge bathtub; other carriages sported a photographer’s darkroom, a six-bed clinic with operating theater, and a barbershop. Two flat cars carried Göring’s fleet of American, French, and German automobiles and his six-wheel-drive Mercedes W31 Geländewagen convertible. Two freight cars bristling with rapid-fire anti-aircraft Oerlikon cannons provided security. Simultaneously Göring honed the Luftwaffe, charming and cajoling the best men from military and civil life into his air force. One, General Walter Wever, became the first Luftwaffe chief of staff. The forward-thinking Wever kenned that an air force had two roles: support ground forces,and operate strategically on its own. Nurtured by bottomless budgets, the Luftwaffe grew quickly, heightening Göring’s inclination to see all things as possible as he ignored unpalatable truths. In 1936, for example, Wever had been planning for a long-range heavy bomber force when he died in a flying accident. Successors Hans Jeschonnek and old-time Göring wingman Ernst Udet lacked Wever’s vision. While Göring was immersed in the Four Year Plan, the Luftwaffe’s general staff scrapped four-engine bomber plans, placing more emphasis on dive-bombers—a vision the Junkers Ju-87 Stuka seemed to confirm in the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War. Göring went along with the plan. But by 1940, he was woefully out of touch. He had finished the previous war as a captain, spent more than a decade as a civilian, and in being abruptly elevated to general, missed staff college and the on-the-job education of climbing through the ranks. No four-engine bomber could dive-bomb, but that was how Udet and Jeschonnek envisioned the Heinkel He 177—a turkey of a design that gobbled time, money, resources, and the lives of their top pilots trying to test-fly it. Nor could the new twin-engine Ju 88 achieve the Stuka’s capabilities. The Luftwaffe headed into war with already obsolescent, mid-1930s era bombers rather than powerful modern ones. The Luftwaffe also failed to adapt an independent strategic role. Unaware of the problems, Göring boasted to Hitler that his fliers would wipe out British troops retreating across the English Channel from Dunkirk. “Only fishing boats are coming over for the British,” he said. “Let’s hope the Tommies can swim!” The subsequent air battle laid bare the dive-bombers’ shortcoming: With Messerschmitt Bf 109s protecting them on attacks against buildings, the Stukas ruled, but when the target was a moving ship defended by Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes, the gull-winged predators could not dominate. The Royal Air Force prevailed over the Channel, and 338,000 Allied troops escaped. The same hubris suffused the Battle of Britain. Göring’s chief intelligence officer, Colonel Joseph “Beppo” Schmid, told his chief only what he wanted to hear: that the Luftwaffe could smash the RAF; that Germany was outpacing Britain’s warplane production; that the Messerschmitt Bf 110 trumped the Hurricane; that the English had but a few hundred fighters. And those antennae along their coast? Third-rate radar. [dropcap]I[/dropcap]n fact, Britain had an advanced sensing system and a coordinated air defense—the world’s first—and built planes at twice Germany’s rate. Myth holds that the Battle of Britain was a near-run thing for the defenders, but Göring’s men never came close. Throughout, Göring meddled ineffectually. In early September 1940, he summoned fighter commanders to Carinhall for a pep talk. The airmen sat dutifully as Göring, puffing a huge cigar, bloviated. “What he said sounded like the script of a movie about World War I,” said Captain Johannes “Macky” Steinhoff, an experienced and successful young fighter pilot. “Biplanes looping, attacking from below, flying so close that pilots could see the whites of their enemy’s eyes. I couldn’t stand it.” Raising a hand, Steinhoff offered the Reichsmarschall a few truths about modern fighter doctrine. “Young man, you still have a lot of experience to gain and a lot to learn before you think you can have your say here,” Göring replied. “Now why don’t you just sit back down on your little rear end.” Losing the Battle of Britain proved disastrous, forcing Hitler to turn east far earlier than he wanted and triggering a two-front war. Thus started Göring’s—and the Luftwaffe’s—long, hard slide. Although the Luftwaffe would dominate over the Soviet air force and in 1941-42 enjoy brief glories in the Balkans and at Malta, by the mid-1940s, Göring’s air force was in decline, overstretched, and under-producing. Göring could have retrieved the situation by unleashing Erhard Milch, now a field marshal but still his ruthlessly efficient deputy. However, Göring resented, mistrusted, and repeatedly undermined Milch, and left his less competent pal Ernst Udet in charge of procurement and production. The strain broke Udet, who shot himself in November 1941, leaving a mess never to be sorted out. Göring and his industrial empire survived, but the Luftwaffe, once German’s spearhead, fell into terminal decline. At Stalingrad in November 1942 the Soviets encircled 250,000 men of the German Sixth Army. Hitler demanded Göring supply his trapped soldiers by plane but the Luftwaffe botched the job, blackening Jeschonnek’s—and by association Göring’s—record. On February 2, 1943, what remained of the Sixth Army in Stalingrad surrendered. A month later, RAF Bomber Command hit Germany’s industrial Ruhr Valley. Göring thought he saw a lifeline: jet-powered warplanes able to outrun enemy aircraft. On May 25, 1943, fighter ace Adolf Galland touted the twin-engine Messerschmitt Me 262 jet, which flew 100 mph faster than any Allied piston-engine aircraft. “The bird flies,” Galland told the former fighter pilot. “It flies like there’s an angel pushing.” To get the Me 262 fighting, Göring scrapped Messerschmitt piston engine projects. The Me 262 and other “wonder weapons,” such as the rocket-propelled Me 163 fighter, lent the Luftwaffe enough perceived punch for Göring to persuade Hitler that the Luftwaffe was the tool around which German fortunes would turn once more. So it was that Göring remained Hitler’s chosen successor almost right up until the end. When Göring left Hitler’s bunker in Berlin on April 21, 1945, headed for Obersalzburg, the Nazi enclave in Bavaria, he assumed he was next in the line of Nazi succession. That was about to change. [dropcap]H[/dropcap]itler’s secretary, Martin Bormann, loathed Göring and convinced Hitler that a telegram Göring sent him on April 23, suggesting he take over Germany’s leadership since Hitler had lost his freedom of action, revealed that his longtime deputy was a turncoat. That same day, the Führer authorized Göring’s arrest. But not long after the SS came knocking, Hitler, Bormann, and the Third Reich were dead. Göring’s captors held him at his childhood home south of Salzburg until May 6. Göring sent an aide with a letter to Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower, seeking a face-to-face meeting. The next morning, after hearing that an American general was at a castle about 50 miles away, Göring set off in his usual cavalcade. The U.S. Army officer in question, Brigadier-General Robert I. Stack, informed that Göring wanted to surrender, set off leading a task force to accept it. The motorcades met mid-way. After trading stares, the American motioned to Göring to get into his vehicle. “Twelve years,” Göring muttered. “I’ve had a good run for my money.” During his 18-month incarceration and trial, Göring lost weight, detoxed, and demonstrated acute intelligence, guile, wit, and even charm. He befriended Lieutenant Jack G. Wheelis, a burly guard and fellow hunter from Texas, and Ludwig Pflücker, a physician. In court, Göring ran rings around his prosecutor, made Justice Robert H. Jackson look a fool, and often provoked onlookers to laughter. But he failed to win one final battle. Certain he was doomed, Göring—hating the idea of dangling from a noose like common criminal—lobbied to go before a firing squad, a death befitting a hero and martyr. The Allies refused his petition. With the climb to the gibbet two hours away, the former Reichsmarschall unscrewed a brass cartridge case he had concealed and retrieved a glass vial of cyanide. The capsule’s source remains a mystery—Pflücker, or perhaps Wheelis. Göring placed the ampule in his mouth between two molars. He lay on his metal bed, blanket to chest, arms visible atop the cover as his jailors required, and bit down. His gasp drew guards, but too late. The Third Reich’s second-most-important Nazi died, one eye open, one squeezed shut. As his heart stopped, Hermann Göring appeared to be winking.
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crimes.	en	/themes/nwwiim/favicon.ico	The National WWII Museum \| New Orleans	https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/the-nuremberg-trial-and-its-legacy	Top Image: Nazi defendants at the International Military Tribunal in November 1945. Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration. On October 18, 1945, the opening session of the first international war crimes trial in history took place in Berlin, Germany. Unable to find a suitable venue in the destroyed Nazi capital, the court soon moved to the city of Nuremberg (Nürnberg) in Bavaria, where the highest profile cases were heard in the aptly named Palace of Justice between November 20, 1945 and August 31, 1946. Over the course of nine months, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) indicted 24 high-ranking military, political, and industrial leaders of the Third Reich. It charged them with war crimes, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit these crimes. Although many prominent Nazis, including Field Marshal Walter Model, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, and Adolf Hitler, committed suicide before they could be tried, the list of defendants at the trial included Admiral Karl Dönitz, Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, and Governor-General of Occupied Poland Hans Frank. The tribunal in Nuremberg was only the first of many war crimes trials held in Europe and Asia in the aftermath of World War II, but the prominence of the German defendants and the participation of all of the major Allies made it an unprecedented event in international law. After World War I, many people in the Allied countries had called for Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II to be tried as a war criminal, but the Treaty of Versailles made no provision to hold individual Germans accountable for their actions during that earlier conflict. The IMT was the first time that international treaties concluded among states were used to prosecute individuals. The tribunal was therefore an intentional break with the past necessitated by the unfathomable scope of Nazi Germany’s crimes. When the judges rendered their final verdicts on October 1, 1946, 12 of the defendants were sentenced to death, three were acquitted, and the rest received sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison. Nazi Party Secretary Martin Bormann was tried in absentia and therefore his death sentence could not be carried out (a DNA test in 1998 confirmed he had died in Berlin at the end of the war). Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring committed suicide on the night before he was scheduled to be executed. American Master Sergeant John C. Woods hanged the remaining 10 condemned men on October 16, 1946. Although the charges brought against the German defendants at Nuremberg largely derived from prewar international treaties, the tribunal was controversial even in Allied countries. Several prominent figures in the Allied governments, including British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, initially favored a much more extreme course of action and advocated for the summary execution of German war criminals. The governments of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and the United States, however, eventually agreed upon a jointly-run tribunal with judges and prosecutors drawn from each of these countries. In order to combat the accusation that the tribunal was merely victors’ justice, the Allies went to great lengths to provide the defendants with counsel of their choosing as well as secretarial, stenographic, and translation services. When it came to some of the more questionable legal issues, such as the ambiguous charge of conspiracy, the Allies ensured that none of the defendants were convicted on this charge alone. Even so, some Germans accused the Allies of conducting an unfair trial with a predetermined outcome. Several of the tribunal’s detractors rightly criticized Soviet participants’ efforts to attribute Soviet atrocities, such as the massacre of Polish officers and intelligentsia at Katyn, to German troops. Other critics of the IMT noted that Nazi defendants could not appeal their convictions. Despite these condemnations, the IMT is widely considered today to have been a remarkably fair execution of justice. Moreover, it achieved several key objectives outlined by its architects. Allied leaders hoped that the IMT, and subsequent trials of more than 1,500 Nazi war criminals, would accomplish a number of ambitious goals. First and foremost, the Allies hoped the trials would punish Germans guilty of horrific crimes. American leaders also hoped the IMT would deter future aggression by establishing a precedent for international trials. Finally, the Allied governments intended to use the IMT to educate German civilians about the true extent of Nazi atrocities and convince German citizens of their collective responsibility for their government’s crimes. This last objective was crucial to the Allied plan to discredit Nazism and denazify Germany. The IMT and other Allied trials that followed had mixed success in achieving the Allies’ first two objectives. While hundreds of Nazi perpetrators were convicted of war crimes, the vast majority received prison sentences of 20 years or less. In 1955, less than a decade after the onset of the Cold War, the Western Allies ended the official occupation of West Germany and reconstituted the German Army. As part of this process, the Western Allies released more than 3,300 incarcerated Nazis. Among those released early were three men convicted at the International Military Tribunal: Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, Walther Funk, and Konstantin von Neurath. The Cold War additionally prevented the IMT from deterring future aggression by establishing a precedent of holding war criminals accountable in international court. Not until 1993, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, did another international war crimes trial take place. Consequently, the most important legacies of the IMT were its punishment of the worst Nazi offenders, its irrefutable documentation of Nazi crimes, and its discrediting of the Nazi Party among most of the German population. While the tribunal largely failed to force average Germans to confront their complicity in their nation’s war crimes and the Holocaust, it likely prevented many former Nazis from reclaiming prominent political offices. These outcomes owed to the Western Allies’ efforts to conduct fair trials and the widespread dissemination of news related to their outcome. The London Agreement, which was signed by Great Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union on August 8, 1945, established the procedures for the IMT and was intended to ensure that nearly all German citizens learned about the trial. This document required each occupying power to publicize information about the trial within their respective zone of occupation in Germany. The London Agreement mandated that news of the tribunal be published and broadcast throughout Germany, going so far as to make provisions for German prisoners to receive news of the trial proceedings. To fulfill these requirements, American authorities reestablished a German press to report on the proceedings at Nuremberg, erected billboards depicting photographs of Nazi atrocities, and commissioned films to document the horrors of concentration camps. During the trial, American authorities produced posters using much of the same evidence obtained for the tribunal. These posters featured dramatic images of Nazi victims and were frequently subtitled “German Culture” or “These Atrocities: Your Guilt.” American occupation authorities made such images ubiquitous and circulated them alongside news of the IMT. An Allied propaganda poster from 1946 with the words “Nuremberg” and “Guilty” surrounding a skull-like image of Adolf Hitler. Courtesy United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum. This extensive effort to spread information about the Holocaust and German war crimes was necessary because most Germans either denied ever supporting the Nazi Party or echoed the common refrain that “wir konnten nichts tun” (we could do nothing) when presented with a list of German atrocities. This claim blatantly ignored the fact that a majority of Germans had either actively or passively supported Hitler, voted in favor of him or his conservative allies, and generally stood by as more than 500,000 of their Jewish neighbors were persecuted and more than 150,000 of them were shipped to hundreds of concentration camps across Germany. If Germans needed more evidence of their government’s crimes, they needed only to observe the millions of malnourished foreign slave laborers forced to work in German factories and on German farms. When German civilians saw that their denials had little effect on Allied sentiments, they attempted to downplay the severity of German atrocities instead. American war correspondent Margaret Bourke-White reported how after some Germans viewed images of concentration camps, they responded by saying “Why get so excited about it, after [the Allies] bombing innocent women and children?” With the food and housing situation dire in most German cities and millions of soldiers and civilians dead from the fighting, the majority of former citizens of the Third Reich preferred to focus on their own suffering. While interned in a Soviet prisoner of war camp, Major Siegfried Knappe and the other German prisoners of war received daily reports about the progress of the IMT. “We learned the details of the Nazi extermination camps and finally began to accept them as true rather than just Russian propaganda,” wrote Knappe. The former officer explained in his memoir that he only began to believe accounts of the evidence presented at the trial “when it became clear that the Western Allies as well as Russia were prosecuting the Germans responsible.” Knappe realized that “as a professional soldier, I could not escape my share of the guilt, because without us Hitler could not have done the horrible things he had done; but as a human being, I felt no guilt, because I had no part in or knowledge of the things he had done.” Many German soldiers’ postwar writings echoed similar denials about German atrocities. Scholars generally regard these claims as either blatant lies or willful ignorance because of the demonstrable role the German Army played in the Holocaust. Nor could German soldiers have entirely avoided witnessing the transportation of Jews to concentration and extermination camps, the execution of captured Soviet prisoners, and Allied leaflets describing German atrocities. Allied officials found German soldiers’ professed ignorance baffling, but the Allied soldiers were even more shocked that German civilian leaders could assert their innocence as well. Despite the vast number of Germany’s victims, even many former Nazi Party members claimed that they bore no responsibility for German crimes and that Adolf Hitler himself did not know about the Holocaust. This created serious obstacles to the Allies’ attempt to denazify Germany. The Western Allies oversaw the creation of denazification tribunals beginning in March 1946, but it soon became apparent that there would not be enough qualified doctors, lawyers, judges, teachers, and civil servants if former Nazi Party members were excluded from those professions. American military government officials at one point even resorted to using lie detectors to try and ascertain if individuals had joined the Nazi Party to protect their jobs or because they agreed with the party’s policies. The Allies attempted to persuade Germans of their guilt by forcing them to tour concentration camps, watch newsreel footage of Nazi crimes, and purge their libraries of Nazi materials. The real problem, however, was that every German adult who had not actively resisted Nazi rule bore some responsibility for the regime’s crimes. By accepting the legitimacy and verdicts of the IMT, German civilians, soldiers, and former government officials thought they could acknowledge that their country had committed horrific crimes but place all of the blame on a handful of Nazi leaders. Though the trial failed to convince all Germans of their responsibility for initiating World War II and the Holocaust in Europe, it forged a tentative consensus about the criminality of Hitler’s rule. By October 1946, the month in which the sentences from the IMT were announced, more than 79 percent of Germans polled by American occupation authorities reported that they had heard about the tribunal’s judgments and thought the trial was fair. Seventy-one percent of those surveyed confirmed they had learned something new from the trial. This education solidified the tribunal’s importance in the reconstruction of Germany. As Dr. Karl S. Bader, a professor of jurisprudence at the University of Mainz in Germany, wrote in 1946, “nobody who considers the years 1933 to 1945 will in future times be able to pass by this material.” Bader warned, however, that any hesitancy on the part of the German people to seek justice only proved that the “Hitler in us” was not yet obliterated. Unfortunately, the Cold War undermined the Allies’ efforts at denazification and both the Soviet Union and the United States rehabilitated large numbers of former Nazis. In East Germany, a Soviet puppet state, the government released thousands of Nazis and enlisted their help in forming a police state. The Soviet Union also began promoting the belief that western capitalists were basically responsible for the rise of the Nazi Party. Meanwhile, in West Germany the Western Allies ended all their efforts at denazification in favor of enlisting the help of former Nazis in the fight against Communism. Discussion of the Holocaust virtually disappeared from the public sphere in West Germany in the 1950s. School textbooks barely mentioned German war crimes, and former Nazis rejoined civil society, many resuming positions similar to those they held under Hitler’s regime. By the 1950s, nearly 90 percent of judges in West Germany had formerly belonged to the Nazi Party. Just as alarming, in 1950 a survey of West Germans indicated that a third of Germans believed the IMT had been unfair. The same proportion of respondents stated that the Holocaust had been justified. These developments led many scholars and social commentators to condemn the trials at Nuremberg and denazification as complete failures. Germans did not express widespread public regret in the immediate postwar years. Nor did the majority of Nazis receive punishments commensurate with their crimes. Still, the judgments at Nuremberg established the legal precedent for denazification and created a record of evidence so compelling that, when shown to the German public, it dispelled any suggestion that the Nazi regime had been innocent of the accusations leveled against it. These accomplishments owed to the strict procedures established for the IMT and the Western Allies’ efforts to publicize the trials in Germany. In the 1960s, when a new generation that did not remember the war came of age in West Germany, they questioned the silences surrounding World War II and rediscovered the record of evidence produced for the IMT. Their efforts initiated a public discussion of Germany’s past that led to widespread commemoration and even new war crimes trials for Germans who murdered millions of Jews in Eastern Europe during the war.
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"https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png", "https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png", "https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png", "https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png", "https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png", "https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png", "https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png", "https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png", "https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png", "https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png", "https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png", "https://a.academia-assets.com/images/loswp/related-pdf-icon.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Alina Skibinska", "Giles Bennett", "Dariusz Libionka", "Jakub Petelewicz", "independent.academia.edu", "ifz-muenchen.academia.edu", "pan-pl.academia.edu" ]	2018-08-02T00:00:00	Alina Skibińska Guide to the Sources on the Holocaust in Occupied Poland				https://www.academia.edu/37167323/Alina_Skibi%C5%84ska_Guide_to_the_Sources_on_the_Holocaust_in_Occupied_Poland	A considerable number of first-generation Holocaust researchers were Polish Jews: Philip Friedman, Isaiah Trunk, Józef Kermisz, Nachman Blumental, Rachel Auerbach, Michał Borwicz, Joseph Wulf, Szymon Datner, Artur Eisenbach, Tatjana Berenstein and Bernard Mark, to name just a few. Most of them left Poland in the late 1940s and early 1950s and resettled in the United States, France, Israel or West Berlin. Others continued their work in Poland. They all made important contributions to the documentation and research of the German mass murder of European Jews and many to the legal processing of this too. What connects them is the institution at they began their work, known then as Churbn-forshung1: the Central Jewish Historical Commission (CJHC) in Poland, from which the Jewish Historical Institute (JHI) was formed in October 1947. The chapter describes the origin of and the scientific work and documentation carried out by the Commission and Institute, as well as its contribution to the prosecution and punishment of Nazi perpetrators against the background of the political situation in communist post-war Poland, particularly the Jewish community there. The article is devoted to the phenomenon of radical assimilation in the late 19th century. The author focuses on the Markusfeld family, who had lived in Kraków since at least the mid-18th century. The study is an attempt to show the history of family against the background of the history of Galicia, in the second half of the 19th century, when the idea of integration was finally abandoned, and integration ceased to be seen as solution of " the Jewish question. " The paper is based on Bauman's analysis of the general sociological mechanisms of modern assimilatory processes, and refers to the category of radical assimilation (T. Endelman). It seeks to answer the question of why most family members chose to convert at the end of the 19th century. The author shows that the choice of " default " religion, was not tantamount to their affirmation – but it was a way to look for happiness and fulfillment, which was (unlike in France), according to some Jews not accessible while staying Jewish. Baptism was also a form of protection – the Second World War would prove it effective.
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While Nazi leaders were found guilty of 'crimes against humanity' and 'war crimes,' the Nuremberg trials were also intended to dissuade future heads of state from starting wars.	en	/en/bucket/assets/bfe218f20755a7d0f8eb6a7449b1ae621059c20a/img/logos/favicon.ico	Le Monde.fr	https://www.lemonde.fr/en/summer-reads/article/2023/08/03/in-1945-nuremberg-gave-birth-to-the-crime-of-aggression_6079052_183.html	Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of the Berlin Wall to the German Bundestag, the ruins of Verdun to the French Assemblée Nationale, Winston Churchill to the British House of Commons, and Pearl Harbor and 9/11 to the US Congress. The Ukrainian president likes to draw historical parallels, choosing references that resonate with his audience of the moment, to raise international public awareness of Ukraine's fate. His visit to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on May 4 was no exception to the rule. That day, he cited the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal, before which 21 Nazi leaders appeared from October 18, 1945, to October 1, 1946, to add emphasis to his call for the creation of a "special tribunal" to judge the "crime of aggression" committed against his country by Vladimir Putin's Russia. It's an idea also promoted by leading jurists such as the French-British human rights lawyer Philippe Sands, whose book East West Street (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2017) is partly devoted to the Nuremberg trial. Why the "crime of aggression"? Because it's the one that "led to all of these crimes," the "start of evil, the primary crime," explained Zelensky that day, before quoting this passage from the Nuremberg judgment: "To initiate a war of aggression is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." By deciding to prosecute the Russian leadership for the "crime of aggression," Zelensky insisted, the international community would not only be doing justice to Ukraine, it would also be making peace for the world. "This is our historical responsibility – of modern generations – to make the total punishment for aggression inevitable; to prevent the aggression against our country and also new wars," he stated. "There are potential aggressors in the world. And the world must seek justice to see peace fully secured." The Ukrainian president did not make his speech up as he went along. In fact, his words were virtually the same as those uttered on the second day of the Nuremberg trials by the chief United States prosecutor, Robert Jackson, during the reading of the indictment: "The ultimate step in avoiding periodic wars, which are inevitable in a system of international lawlessness, is to make statesmen responsible to law. And let me make clear that while this law is first applied against German aggressors, the law includes, and if it is to serve a useful purpose it must condemn aggression by any other nations, including those which sit here now in judgment [USA, UK, France, USSR]. We are able to do away with domestic tyranny and violence and aggression by those in power against the rights of their own people only when we make all men answerable to the law. This trial represents mankind's desperate effort to apply the discipline of the law to statesmen who have used their powers of state to attack the foundations of the world's peace and to commit aggressions against the rights of their neighbors."
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	91	https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-good-goring/	en	The ‘Good’ Göring	https://warfarehistoryne…689873835462.jpg	https://warfarehistoryne…689873835462.jpg	[ "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/search-icon.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/search-icon.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/line-arrow-down.svg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/W-Oct23-Insight-1-e1689873835462-2000x1125.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/W-Oct23-Insight-2-760x1092.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/W-Oct23-Insight-3.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/W-Oct23-Insight-4.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/W-Oct23-Insight-5-760x1128.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/M-Weapons-1-4C-Feb03-crop.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/BOMBING-BANSHEES-crop.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/IMTFE_court_chamber_2_crop-e1683661107575.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/J-A-Museum-exterior.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Game-Reviews-Heavy-Fire-Special-Operations-2.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Game-Reviews-Brother-Against-Brother-The-Drawing-of-the-Sword.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/M-Books-Lead-Apr10-e1669050681242.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Steel-Battalion-Heavy-Armor-1.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/snow-tanks.jpg", "https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wp-content/themes/warfare-history-network/dist/images/logo.svg", "https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=180324792517877&ev=PageView&noscript=1&cd%5Bpage_title%5D=The+%E2%80%98Good%E2%80%99+G%C3%B6ring&cd%5Bpost_type%5D=article&cd%5Bpost_id%5D=90384&cd%5Bplugin%5D=PixelYourSite&cd%5Buser_role%5D=guest&cd%5Bevent_url%5D=warfarehistorynetwork.com%2Farticle%2Fthe-good-goring%2F" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	2023-07-24T05:00:56+00:00	By Eric Niderost On March 12, 1938, German troops entered Austria, part of Adolf Hitler’s plan to incorporate that hapless country into the Third Reich. Bullied, browbeaten and ultimately broken by Hitler’s rants and endless threats, Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg threw in the towel, in effect agreeing to “Anschluss,” unification with Germany. Schuschnigg gave a […]	en	https://warfarehistoryne…e-touch-icon.png	Warfare History Network	https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-good-goring/	By Eric Niderost On March 12, 1938, German troops entered Austria, part of Adolf Hitler’s plan to incorporate that hapless country into the Third Reich. Bullied, browbeaten and ultimately broken by Hitler’s rants and endless threats, Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg threw in the towel, in effect agreeing to “Anschluss,” unification with Germany. Schuschnigg gave a radio address in which he sadly explained, “We are not prepared … to shed blood” to defend the country against German invasion. Hitler entered Vienna three days later and celebrated his triumph by making a typical bombastic speech before a crowd of 250,000 people. In the days following the Fuhrer’s visit a wave of anti-Semitic intimidation, destruction, and violence swept over the city. Vienna, the cultured metropolis that celebrated Beethoven, Mozart, and Strauss, also had an ugly, darker side that hated the Jews after their numbers increased in the 19th century. When the Nazis took over, this long dormant anti-Semitism sprang to malevolent life. Viennese mobs roamed the streets, smashing Jewish-owned shops, beating and humiliating every Jew they could find, often forcing them to scrub the streets on hands and knees. There’s a story of an SS officer supervising a group of Jewish women scrubbing, when he noticed they had been joined by a man— well dressed, even dapper, balding, with a thin mustache. The puzzled SS officer ordered the stranger to produce an identity card. The Nazi officer looked at the ID with a mixture of shock and incredulity, handed the document back to the man, and curtly ordered the women to stop working and go home. The officer reasoned that he would be held responsible for the man’s continued humiliation, and it was better to release everyone than to risk reprimand. The man with the mustache was Albert Göring, brother of Luftwaffe chief and Reichsmarshall Hermann Göring. Albert loathed Hitler and despised the Nazis, yet maintained a cordial and even loving relationship with his brother, who was considered in the 1930s to be second only to Hitler himself in the Nazi hierarchy. Yet even more amazing is the fact that Hermann knew about Albert’s activities, at least in general, but never condemned or abandoned him. Quite the opposite; Hermann went to great lengths to protect his brother from arrest, imprisonment and possible death. Their father, Heinrich Göring, devoted his life to Imperial Germany’s diplomatic service, first as Reichskommisar (administrator) to the colony of German Southwest Africa, later as German Consul General to Haiti. Sometimes his wife, Franziska (“Franny”) would accompany him overseas. He was often away from Germany and the family for long periods. Heinrich ended his foreign service career on a note of bitterness and semi-failure. He drank heavily to forget his limited resources, wife and five children. But, out of the blue, a savior arrived in the person of Hermann von Epenstein. Epenstein was an enormously wealthy physician who had an opulent lifestyle. As godfather to the Göring children, he offered to take the whole family under his wing and provide for them for as long as was needed. Around this time, Fanny Göring became Epenstein’s mistress. Apparently, she went into the relationship quite willingly and became the “unofficial” wife/hostess at Epenstein’s palatial estates at Mauterndorf and Veldenstein. Heinrich Göring also gave his tacit approval to the affair, which freed the family from financial worries for years to come. The future Luftwaffe chief was born in 1893, two years before Albert. As they grew older, the boys understood the “special” relationship their mother had with the society doctor but had no problems with it. They grew up in almost royal splendor, where each day at Castle Mauterndorf was a medieval fantasy where hunting horns blew to announce dinner and Epenstein reigned as lord of the manor. Epenstein was a larger-than-life figure who made a great show of his devotion to the Catholic Church, though he was actually Jewish and had converted probably for social, not spiritual reasons. As young men Albert and Hermann were polar opposites. Hermann was the risk taker, the overachiever, and the man who aspired to be a great warrior in an almost mythic “Wagnerian” German way. He chose a military career, and when World War I broke out eventually became a pilot with Baron Manfred von Richthofen’s famed “Flying Circus” squadron. Albert was shy and introverted, but did well enough at the Technische Hochschule, a science and technology school whose main emphasis was on innovation to advance German industry. When war came Albert became a signals officer in the trenches, but as soon as peace was declared he went back to civilian life. A military career was not for him. In the 1920s Albert worked for IG Farben, at time the biggest corporation in Europe and a giant in the chemical engineering world. It is not known if Albert and Hermann had much contact in this period. While Albert prospered, Hermann went through a period of depression and addiction. Wounded in Hitler’s failed Munich “Beer Hall” coup in 1923, he eventually became a morphine addict to combat the pain. Hermann did kick the habit, but in the late 1930s he started taking a sedative, paracodine, a mild morphine derivative. By 1945 he was taking 20 pills a day. When Hitler was appointed chancellor in 1933, Hermann’s future was assured. By the mid-1930s he was at the height of his power, head of the growing German Luftwaffe and Hitler’s right-hand man. Albert loathed the Nazis and wanted no part of his brother’s sudden rise to wealth and fame. In fact, he got out of Germany altogether by taking a job as technical director of the Tasha-Sascha Film Industry Ltd., a company that was based in Vienna. And that is how Albert happened to be on hand when the Nazis took over Austria in 1938. But the street scrubbing incident was only one tiny gesture; Albert wanted to do much more. Almost as soon as German soldiers appeared in the streets Albert swung into action. As a first step, he made efforts to save friends and work colleagues. He knew there was only so much he could do, but he would rather light a candle than curse the darkness. He was going to save as many as he could. William Szekely was a Jewish-American director working in Vienna on a movie with beautiful German actress Zara Leander. Leander later recalled, “We were stuck in Vienna. All ways of getting the necessary papers had been exhausted. Every day friends were arrested and bank accounts confiscated. Albert Göring helped us out… He organized exit visas… went to the bank for me and brought the contents of my account so I would not be without funds.” And Albert didn’t rest there. Dr. Max Wolfe, his personal physician, was also Jewish and in great danger of arrest, but the doctor’s wife gratefully recalled “just to mention his (Albert’s) name was protection.” Göring not only got exit visas for the doctor and his wife, but also had Wolfe’s brother released from prison and “got him an exit visa, too.” Tired of living in a city dominated by storm troopers and Nazi functionaries, Albert finally left for Rome to take a position at the Tobis-Italiano Company. While in Rome he made the acquaintance of a Dr. Kovacs, who was anti-Nazi, anti-Fascist, and eventually would have links to the Hungarian underground that helped the Allies. Kovacs was also Jewish, which made him suspicious of Albert at first. Albert started giving money to Kovacs “for the assistance of Jews and other refugees from Nazi tyranny.” It was said he required “no receipt and no knowledge of who was helped.” The funds were used to help Jews and other refugees to escape to Lisbon. Kovacs was reluctant at first to take the money, thinking perhaps that it was a trap, but he came to realize Albert’s anti-Nazi stance was real. In June 1939, Albert got an offer to be the export director at Skoda, the famous Czech armaments factory. The Nazis had taken over the country, and planned to liquidate Skoda, moving the machinery and equipment to Germany. Skoda hoped putting Hermann Göring’s brother in the firm would forestall this. Albert, whose wife had recently died of cancer, accepted and moved to Pilsen. Czech employees were astonished that this brother of the second-ranking Nazi hated Hitler! There was no photo of the Fuhrer in Albert’s office, almost mandatory in most places. He refused the Nazi salute “Heil Hitler!”— answering, “Gruss Gott!” (God bless!) in response. Albert continued to help Jews and others suffering under the Nazi heel. Sometimes, he had to improvise. Dr. Josef Charvat was a Czech resistance leader who soon landed in Dachau. When his wife appealed to Albert, he took a piece of letterhead paper that bore the Göring name and coat of arms and quickly wrote a message ordering Charvat released at once. Albert signed it “Göring” in bold letters, copying his brother’s hand. The ruse worked. Charvat was released as soon as camp authorities read the order; such was Hermann’s power at the time. No questions were asked. Albert also regularly asked camps for slave laborers, sending trucks to pick up the workers. In remote areas, the prisoners would be freed and allowed to escape. The sheer scale of Albert’s activities brought him to the attention of the Gestapo—the secret police, ironically, founded by Hermann. The Gestapo twice issued orders for Albert’s arrest that were quashed by Hermann. The Nazi authorities were frustrated by Albert’s persistence in helping the Jews. In fact, the Gestapo started asking themselves, “…will this public gangster (Albert) be allowed to continue?” Sibling affection apart, why did Hermann constantly rescue his brother from imprisonment or death? The key to answering the question lies in Hermann’s complex personality. Hermann Göring possessed a Machiavellian morality, where the end—Nazi triumph at home and abroad—more than justified the means, even if those means condoned atrocities. The Reichsmarshall freely engaged in the persecution and economic exploitation of the Jews and almost certainly knew something about the Holocaust, though during the Nuremberg trials after the war he claimed ignorance. The extent of Göring’s knowledge of the Holocaust is a moot point. In the judgment at Nuremberg, and the judgment of history, he is guilty as charged. But Professor Christopher Browning has identified two strains of anti-Semitism in Germany in the Nazi years: “chimeric” and “xenophobic.” The chimeric believed that Jewish people were untermenschen, subhuman vermin responsible for most of the evil in the world. Hitler and Heinrich Himmler were chimeric, determined to rid Germany and Europe from this “pestilence.” By contrast the xenophobic believed the “Jews” were master manipulators who had too much influence in German life. Hermann was of this persuasion, but it seems he did not “hate” Jews in an overtly racial fashion. In fact, the Reichmarshall once said, “I determine who is a Jew!” and occasionally protected people like Luftwaffe Field Marshal Erhard Milch, whose father was Jewish. That meant that while Hermann tried to dissuade his brother from helping Jews, he wasn’t going to actively stop him or disown him as a family member either. In the same situation a racist like SS chief Heinrich Himmler would have abandoned Albert to his fate, and perhaps even personally issued arrest orders. Albert’s job at Skoda became a peripatetic one, with him a kind of “traveling salesman” for the company in Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Greece. But whereever he went, his anti-Nazi activities continued unabated. He did what he could, even though Albert knew the sheer scale of Nazi crimes made his efforts seem almost insignificant. He was always seeking new ways to release prisoners and, when all else failed, he simply forged his brother’s signature on documents. Toward the end of the war, Albert’s loathing of the Nazis caused him to be indiscreet— and conversations were reported to the Gestapo. In one instance, Albert told friends that Hitler was the “greatest criminal of all time.” Once again, Hermann stepped in and saved Albert from persecution, but it was getting harder. In Bucharest, Rumania, Albert was playing the piano and singing Viennese songs with some friends when he stopped a moment and heard someone singing in German across the street. Investigating the noise, he saw it came from two German officers on a nearby balcony. The two German officers, spotting Albert, asked him his name. “Albert Göring,” came the swift reply. “Are you related?” they asked. “Yes, he is my brother,” Albert answered, and as soon as they heard the response they stood to attention and shouted, “Heil Hitler!” Bemused by their reaction, Albert told them, “Kiss my ass!” Hermann Göring still had enough influence to get his brother off the hook, but by 1943—if not earlier—his power was definitely in decline. Göring’s boasts that his Luftwaffe could do everything did not coincide with the facts. The Luftwaffe did not win the Battle of Britain in 1940, and in 1942 could not adequately supply the trapped Sixth Army at Stalingrad. But most of all, the Luftwaffe could not stop the Anglo-American bombing raids, which increased in intensity year to year. Albert was truly the “black sheep” of the family, giving Hermann endless troubles. In fact, there were gasps of horror in Nazi circles when he declared he was going to marry Mila Klasarova, a very lovely former beauty queen who was over 20 years younger. It wasn’t the age difference, but the fact that she was a Czech. The Czechs were Slavs, and therefore untermenschen, sub-humans fit only for slavery or extinction. Though Hermann didn’t stop the nuptials, he made sure he did not attend the ceremony. Finally, Hermann had to tell Albert to be more discreet because it was getting too hard to rescue him. As Albert put it, “He told me that if I wanted to protect the Jews and wanted to help them, that was my affair, but I would have to be more careful and tactful about it because I made endless difficulties for him.” When the war finally ended in 1945, the Allies arrested Albert almost as a matter of course. Because of his family name and blood ties to the Luftwaffe chief, he would be considered guilty until proven innocent. People he had helped came forward, and he was released only to later be arrested by Czechoslovakian authorities. Once again, when it was established that Albert saved lives, he was set free. But his release from Czech custody did not end his troubles. In fact, the stigma of being Hermann’s brother plagued him for the rest of his life. Albert was largely ostracized and barely managed to eke out a living as a writer and translator. For all his genuine heroism in the war, he had faults like any human being. A womanizer, he cheated on his Czech wife so regularly she divorced him and immigrated to Peru with their daughter Elizabeth. Albert Göring died in 1966 in obscurity and a poverty far removed from his childhood days in his godfather’s estates. He was living mainly on a small pension, and in gratitude to his faithful housekeeper, he married her so she would get the money after he died. While Hermann Göring was the subject of many books and articles, Albert was a barely mentioned footnote. Things began to change around 2000, when a renewed interest in his anti-Nazi activities produced several books chronicling his life and times. Unfortunately, calls for Albert Göring to be officially honored at the Israeli Yad Vashem shrine as one of the Righteous Among the Nations was rejected, at least for now. Yad Vashem cited a supposed lack of primary source documents, though they admitted Albert had a “positive attitude to Jews.” In spite of Yad Vashem’s skepticism, the record is clear: Albert Göring actively aided victims of the Nazi regime, even at the risk of his own life. Göring, like Oskar Schindler, should be remembered as a man who took the path of courage and decency over barbarism and evil.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	93	https://allthatsinteresting.com/hermann-goring	en	Hermann Göring, Hitler's Overweight And Drug	https://allthatsinterest…ide-featured.jpg	https://allthatsinterest…ide-featured.jpg	[ "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/goering-lounging-in-chair.jpg", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/young-hermann-goring.jpg", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/young-hermann-goring.jpg", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/hermann-göring-1917.jpg", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/hermann-göring-1917.jpg", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/goring-cartoon.jpg", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/goring-cartoon.jpg", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/goring-mussolini-e1554268102308.jpg", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/goring-mussolini-e1554268102308.jpg", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/skinny-goring.jpg", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/skinny-goring.jpg", "https://cdn.flipboard.com/badges/flipboard_srsw.png", "https://cdn.flipboard.com/badges/flipboard_srsw.png", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/thumb/150.150.", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/thumb/150.150.https%3A%2F%2Fallthatsinteresting.com%2Fwordpress%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F05%2FScreen-Shot-2015-05-08-at-10.20.33-AM.png", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/thumb/150.150.https%3A%2F%2Fallthatsinteresting.com%2Fwordpress%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F05%2FScreen-Shot-2015-05-08-at-10.20.33-AM.png", "https://cdn.allthatsinteresting.com/thumb/290.240.https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/interesting-facts-twister.jpg", "https://cdn.allthatsinteresting.com/thumb/290.240.https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/interesting-facts-twister.jpg", "https://cdn.allthatsinteresting.com/thumb/290.240.https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/hawking.jpg", "https://cdn.allthatsinteresting.com/thumb/290.240.https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/hawking.jpg", "https://cdn.allthatsinteresting.com/thumb/290.240.https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/new-york-punk-scene.jpg", "https://cdn.allthatsinteresting.com/thumb/290.240.https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/new-york-punk-scene.jpg", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/pbh-popup-ati/hu-logo.png", "https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/pbh-popup-ati/hu-logo.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Gina Dimuro", "John Kuroski", "Cite This Article" ]	2021-09-09T10:00:00-04:00	Hermann Göring was the commander of the Luftwaffe, founder of the Gestapo, second in command of Nazi Germany, and a morphine addict.	en	/apple-touch-icon-ipad.png	All That's Interesting	https://allthatsinteresting.com/hermann-goring	Hermann Göring was a flying ace, creator of the Gestapo, and one-time president of the Reichstag — he was also overweight and into drugs. Hermann Göring was the second-most powerful man in the Third Reich. As Adolf Hitler’s ruthless right-hand man, Göring was instrumental in the Führer’s rise to power. He helped Hitler to secure the Chancellorship of Germany in 1933 and he created the infamous Gestapo — the Nazi secret police that not only suppressed any opposition to Nazism in Germany but also facilitated the Holocaust by helping to round up Jewish people. Hitler even granted Göring the special title of Reichsmarschall – the leader of all of Germany’s armed forces – and designated him as his successor. Despite his exacting and ruthless rule, Göring had an erratic inner life as a morphine addict. This is the strange history of Hermann Göring, one of the most dangerous men of World War II. Hermann Göring, The Rebel And The Ace Hermann Göring was born on Jan. 12, 1893 into an aristocratic Bavarian family and spent his childhood in a variety of fairytale-esque castles. He was described as a “rebellious” boy whose antics eventually got him sent off to military school. The young Göring thrived in the military atmosphere and ended up serving with distinction during World War I as a decorated ace pilot. He even became somewhat of a celebrity in Germany thanks to his military success. But Göring was destined to have a much bigger impact on history. That impact would be realized when he first met the future Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler. Göring was first introduced to Hitler in 1922 when he attended a rally protesting the Versailles Treaty which ended World War I. Like many Germans — and a proud veteran — Göring resented the harsh terms imposed on Germany by the Treaty. He resonated with Hitler’s ideas and found a sort of Messiah in the future Führer. Having a history as a military officer, Hitler gave Göring command of his growing paramilitary group of thugs, the Sturmabteilung or Storm Troopers. Meanwhile, he began a relationship with a baroness who was estranged from her husband and already had an eight-year-old son. They married in 1923. That same year when Hitler first attempted to seize power in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, Göring was by his side. After the Putsch failed and he took a bullet to his leg in the process, the former flying ace escaped prison by fleeing to Austria. It was during this time that Göring first came in contact with morphine, which his doctors gave him to ease the pain of his wound. Göring soon became addicted to the drug. In fact, his morphine addiction was so severe that he had to be institutionalized at a mental hospital in Sweden not once but twice in 1925 and 1926. Despite this, Göring triumphantly returned to Germany in 1927. Thanks to his loyalty to Hitler, he quickly rose to the Nazi Party’s upper ranks. Göring spent the next five years working tirelessly to promote Hitler and Nazism. He contacted army officers, business leaders, and other powerful, conservative figures to build their support for the Nazis. His efforts were instrumental to the Nazi Party winning the most seats during the 1932 election, and Göring managed to take the presidency of the Reichstag. Next, Göring used his powerful position to secure Hitler the title of Chancellor — the de-facto leader of Germany. It was then that Hitler was able to take power and orchestrate the greatest period of suffering and destruction in human history. Göring’s Life In The Third Reich With Hitler named Chancellor, Hermann Göring went on a meteoric rise in political power. He was appointed Prussian Minister of the Interior, Commander-in-Chief of the Prussian Police, and the Commander in chief of the Luftwaffe – the feared German air force. From here, one of his first key acts was to create the Gestapo, the Nazi Secret Police that suppressed any opposition to the Nazis in Germany. This brutal organization would also go on to play a central role in the Holocaust by helping to round up Jews throughout Europe. By the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Hitler had even named Göring as his successor. Göring’s rise through the ranks of the Nazi party was accompanied by his ever-expanding waistline. His ongoing morphine addiction made him prone to have severe mood swings and may have contributed to the weight gain that transformed the former dashing war hero into the portly figure that was an easy target for mockery. His indulgence went beyond food and drugs. Göring lived lavishly, setting himself up in a palace in Berlin he named for his first wife. His natural flair for flamboyance and pomp led to him to change uniforms at least five times a day, occasionally donning a medieval hunting uniform or even, as one visitor reported, a full toga and sandals. He held feasts in his mansion and he boasted the priceless artworks stolen from persecuted Jews he hung throughout his opulent halls. Although Göring was often mocked as a rotund buffoon, in reality, he was as sinister and dangerous as a man can get. He played a key role in the bloody political purge during the “Night of the Long Knives” when he ensured that his rival within the Party, Ernst Röhm, was executed. He also declared that there would be a “final reckoning with the Jews” in 1938 and consequently, in 1941, authorized Reinhard Heydrich to find “a general solution of the Jewish question.” That “solution” which Heydrich’s underlings devised at the infamous Wannsee Conference was none other than the Holocaust. Family, Failure, And Loss Of Favor Oddly enough, Göring’s high rank in the Nazi party also helped to save some Jewish lives. Hermann’s younger brother, Albert, was a fervent anti-Nazi who had been working to procure exit visas and passports for his Jewish friends since he first saw the warning signs in the 1930s. Taking advantage of his brother’s position and playing on his fraternal affections, Albert “regularly went to his brother’s Berlin office to curry favor on behalf of a Jewish friend or political prisoner.” Despite his growing Gestapo file, Albert remained safe under his brother’s protection until 1944 when, as he recalled, “my brother told me then that it was the last time that he could help me,” and sent him on the run Göring’s celebrity came to an abrupt halt in 1940. As head of the Luftwaffe, Göring was responsible for the great air offensive against the one enemy that still stood against Germany in Europe: Britain. However, when the Royal Air Force managed to beat back the Germans against all odds, Göring bore the brunt of the blame. Things only got worse for the morphine-addicted man as the fortunes of Germany continued to be reversed in the next five years of the war. By 1943, the Luftwaffe was failing in its mission of breaking the Soviet Union and protecting Germany against the Allies. Göring had also been overtaken in influence by Hitler’s other lieutenants. As Göring fell from the Führer’s favor, he became more heavily addicted to drugs. Incidentally, as the war went on, Hitler himself would also become more dependent on drugs. His mental and physical health continued to deteriorate, and then, in 1945, he disappointed the Führer for one last time. The Nuremberg Trials & Suicide In 1945, Hitler announced that he would stay in his Berlin bunker until the war ended. The delusional Göring assumed that his longtime mentor was finally passing leadership on to him. When Göring demanded to be selected as Germany’s new leader, the Nazi Party responded by taking away all his posts and arresting him. Not long after, on May 9, 1945, he was captured by Allied forces. Göring was subsequently forced to detox from morphine and face justice for his crimes. By the time he took the stand during the military tribunals known as the Nuremberg Trials, he had slimmed down and seemed to regain some of his old flair as he even brought the court to laughter several times. He was nonetheless found guilty of conspiracy to wage war, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and was sentenced to death. His only solace was that he managed to escape hanging by committing suicide on October 15, 1946, with a cyanide capsule he had smuggled into his cell. He was two hours away from an execution meant to bring him to justice.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	30	https://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/03-14-46.asp	en	The Avalon Project : Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 9			[ "https://avalon.law.yale.edu/images/avalon_logo2.gif" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null	Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 9 EIGHTY-FIRST DAY Thursday, 14 March 1946 Morning Session DR. STAHMER: Did you take part in laying down the Party program? Goering: No. The Party program had been compiled and announced when I heard about the movement for the first time and when I declared my intention of joining. DR. STAHMER: What is your attitude towards these points of the Party program? Goering: On the whole, positive. It is a matter of course that there is hardly any politically minded man who acknowledges and agrees with every point of the program of a political party. DR. STAHMER: In addition to these generally known points of the Party program, were there other aims which were kept secret? Goering: No. DR. STAHMER: Were these aims to be achieved by every means, even by illegal means? Goering: Of course, they were to be achieved by every means. The conception "illegal" should perhaps be clarified. If I aim at a revolution, then it is an illegal action for the state then in existence. If I am successful, then it becomes a fact and thereby legal and law. Until 1923 and the events of 9 November I and all of us had the view that we would achieve our aim, even, if necessary, in a revolutionary manner. After this proved a failure, the Fuehrer, after his return from the fortress, decided that we should in the future proceed legally by means of a political fight, as the other parties had done, and the Fuehrer prohibited any illegal action in order to avoid any setback in the activity of the Party. DR. STAHMER: When and with what aims was the SS created? Goering: The SS was created while I was abroad; I think it was in 1926 or 1627. Its purpose, as far as I remember, was to form, first of all, within the Movement a specially picked body as a protection for the person of the Fuehrer. Originally it was extremely small. DR. STAHMER: Did you at any time belong to the SS? Goering: I never belonged to the SS in any way, at any time, neither actively nor passively. 262 14 March 46 DR. STAHMER: The assumption that you were a general in the SS is therefore incorrect? Goering: Yes, absolutely incorrect. DR. STAHMER: What did you understand by the term "master race"? Goering: I myself understood nothing by it. In none of my speeches, in none of my writings, will you find that term. It is my view that if you are a master you have no need to emphasize it. DR. STAHMER: What do you understand by the concept "living space"? Goering: That conception is a very controversial one. I can fully understand that powers who together -- I refer only to the four signatory powers -- call more than three-quarters of the world their own, explain this idea differently. But for us, where 144 people live in 1 square kilometer, the words "living space" meant the proper relation between a population and its nourishment, its growth, and its standard of living. DR. STAHMER: An expression which is always recurring is that of "seizure of power." Goering: I should like to call "seizure of power" a terminus technicus. We might just as well have used another term, but this actually expresses as clearly as possible what did in fact occur, that is to say, we seized power. DR. STAHMER: What is your attitude to the Leadership Principle? Goering: I upheld this principle and I still uphold it positively and consciously. One must not make the mistake of forgetting that the political structure in different countries has different origins, different developments. Something which suits one country extremely well would perhaps fail completely in another. Germany, through the long centuries of monarchy, has always had a leadership principle. Democracy appeared in Germany at a time when Germany was very badly off and had reached rock-bottom. I explained yesterday the total lack of unity that existed in Germany -- the number of parties, the continuous unrest caused by elections. A complete distortion of the concepts of authority and responsibility had arisen, and in the reverse direction. Authority lay with the masses and responsibility was with the leader, instead of the other way about. I am of the opinion that for Germany, particularly at that moment of its lowest ebb, when it was necessary for all forces to be welded together in a positive fashion, the Leadership Principle -- that is, authority from above downwards and responsibility from below upwards -- was the only possibility. Naturally I realize the fact that here, too, a principle, while thoroughly sound in itself, 263 14 March 46 can lead to extremes. I should like to mention some parallels. The position of the Catholic Church rests now, as before, on the clear leadership principle of its hierarchy. And I think I can also say that Russia, too, without the leadership principle, could not have survived the great burden which was imposed on her by this war. DR. STAHMER: Concerning the measures for strengthening your power which you described yesterday, did they take place in full agreement with Reich President Von Hindenburg? Goering: As long as the Reich President was alive, and therefore active, they naturally did take place in agreement with him. And as far as his assent was constitutionally necessary, according to Paragraph 48, that assent was also given. DR. STAHMER: Was the National Socialist Government recognized by foreign powers? Goering: Our government was recognized from the first day of its existence and remained recognized until the end, that is, except where hostilities severed diplomatic connections with several states. DR. STAHMER: Did diplomatic representatives of foreign countries visit your Party rallies in Nuremberg? Goering: The diplomatic representatives were invited to the Party rallies, these being the greatest event and the greatest demonstration of the movement; and they all attended, even if not the full number of them every year. But one I remember very well. DR. STAHMER: Until what year? Goering: Until the last Party rally, 1938. DR. STAHMER: To what extent after the seizure of power was property of political opponents confiscated? Goering: Laws were issued which decreed confiscation of the property of people hostile to the State, that is, the Property of parties we declared to be hostile to the State. The party property of the Communist Party and its associated units, and the property of the Social Democratic Party was partly confiscated -- but not, and I want to emphasize that, the private property of the members or even of the leaders of these parties. On the contrary, a number of leading Social Democrats who had been ministers or civil servants were still paid their full pension. In fact, later on it was increased. DR. STAHMER: How do you explain the actions against the trade unions? How do you explain the actions against free workers' associations? Goering: First of all, the trade unions: Trade unions in Germany were for the most part, or the most important of them, very closely connected with the Social Democratic Party, and also to 264 14 March 46 an increasing extent, due to the influence and the activity of the Communists, with the Communist Party. They were in fact, if not formally so, organs, indeed very active organs, of these parties, and here I am not talking about the masses of the members of the trade unions, but about the leaders of the trade unions. In addition there was also a smaller Christian trade union, an organ of the Center Party. These trade unions, because of their leaders and the close connection of these leaders with those parties which we regarded as our opponents, agreed with our opponents to such an extent that they did not in any way fit into our new State. Consequently the organization of trade unions was dissolved, and for the workers the organization of the German Labor Front was created. This did not result in the destruction of the liberty of the German worker, in my opinion; on the contrary, I am convinced that we were the ones to give the German workers real freedom, for it consisted first of all in the fact that we made his right to have work secure, and laid particular stress on his position in the State. We did, of course, do away with two things which perhaps must be regarded as two characteristics of a freedom which I do not understand: strikes on one side and lockouts on the other. These could not be made consistent with the right to have work nor with the duties which every citizen has towards the greatness of his nation. These two disquieting elements, which also contributed to the great number of unemployed, we removed and replaced with an enormous labor program. Creation of work was another essential point of our social program and has also been adopted by others, though under a different name. I do not propose to elaborate on this social program. It was, however, the first time that the worker had a right to a vacation, a paid vacation, this I only add as an aside. Great recreation centers were created for the workers. Enormous sums were invested in new housing projects for workers. The whole standard of living for the worker was raised. Up to that time the worker had been used and exploited. He hardly had any property of his own because, during years of unemployment, he had to sell everything or pawn it. Thus, without going into detail, I should like to say in conclusion that we did not enslave free workers, but rather we liberated the worker from the misery of unemployment. DR. STAHMER: You talked about the Rohm revolt yesterday. Who was Rohm and of what did the revolt consist? Goering: Rohm, from 1931, had been the Chief of Staff of the SA, that is to say, he was responsible, for the SA to the Fuehrer, 265 14 March 46 who was himself the highest SA leader, and he led it in the Fuehrer's name. The main controversy between Rohm and us was that Rohm, like his predecessor Pfeffer, wanted a stronger revolutionary way to be adopted, whereas the Fuehrer, as I said earlier, had ordered a legal development, the final victory of which could be expected. After the seizure of power Rohm desired, under all circumstances, to get hold of the Reich Defense Ministry. The Fuehrer refused that point-blank, as he did not wish the Armed Forces to be conducted politically in any way, or to have any political influence brought to bear on the Armed Forces. The contrast between the Armed Forces and the Rohm group -- I am intentionally not speaking of a contrast between the Armed Forces and the SA, since there was none, but solely of this leadership group, which called itself at that time the SA Leadership and it actually was -- was that Rohm wanted to remove the greater number of the generals and higher officers who had been members of the Reichswehr all this time, since it was his view that these officers did not offer a guarantee for the new State, because, as he expressed it, their backbone had been broken in the course of the years and they were no longer capable of being active elements of the new National Socialist State. The Fuehrer, and I also, had exactly the opposite point of view in this connection. Secondly, the aims of the Rohm-minded people, as I should like to call them, were directed in a different direction, towards a revolutionary act; and they were opposed to what they called reaction. They definitely desired to adopt a more Leftist attitude. They were also sharply opposed to the Church and also very strongly opposed to the Jews. Altogether, and I refer only to the clique consisting of certain persons, they wished to carry out a revolutionary act. That Rohm placed all his people in leading positions in the SA and removed the decent elements, and misguided the decent SA people without their knowledge, is a well-known fact. If encroachments did occur at that time, they always involved the same persons, first of all the Berlin SA leader, Ernst, secondly the Breslau leader, Heines, the Munich and Stettin leaders, et cetera. A few weeks before the Rohm Putsch a low-ranking SA leader confided in me that he had heard that an action against the Fuehrer and his corps was being planned to replace the Third Reich as expeditiously as possible by a final Fourth Reich, an expression which these people used. I myself was urged and begged to place outside my house not only guards from a police regiment but also to appoint an SA guard of honor. I had agreed, and later on I heard from the commander of 266 14 March 46 these troops that the purpose of that guard of honor was to arrest me at a given moment. I knew Rohm very well. I had him brought to me. I put to him openly the things which I had heard. I reminded him of our mutual fight and I asked him to keep unconditional faith with the Fuehrer. I brought forward the same arguments which I have just mentioned, but he assured me that he naturally was not thinking of undertaking anything against the Fuehrer. Shortly afterward I received further news to the effect that he had close connections with those circles who also were strongly opposed to us. There was, for instance, the group around the former Reich Chancellor Schleicher. There was the group around Gregor Strasser, the former member of the Reichstag and organizational leader of the Party, who had been excluded from the Party. These were groups who had belonged to the former trade unions and were rather inclined to the Left. I felt it my duty to consult the Fuehrer now on this subject. I was astonished when he told me that he, too, already knew about these things and considered them a great threat. He said that he wished, however, to await further developments and observe them carefully. The next event occurred just about as the witness Korner described it here, and therefore I can skip it. I was given the order to proceed immediately against the implicated men of the Rohm group in northern Germany. It was decided that some of them were to be arrested. In the course of the day the Fuehrer ordered the execution of the SA leader of Pomerania, Ernst, and two or three others. He himself went to Bavaria where the last meeting of a number of Rohm leaders was taking place and personally arrested Rohm and these people in Wiessee. At that time this matter presented a real danger, as a few SA units, through the use of false passwords, had been armed and called up. At one spot only a very short fight ensued and two SA leaders were shot. I deputized the police, which in Prussia was then already under Himmler and Heydrich, to make the arrests. Only the headquarters of Rohm, who himself was not present, I had occupied by a regiment of the uniformed police subordinated to me. When the headquarters of the SA leader Ernst in Berlin were searched, we found in the cellars of those headquarters more submachine guns than the whole Prussian police had in its possession. After the Fuehrer, on the strength of the events which had been met with at Wiessee, had ordered who should be shot in view of the state of national emergency, the order for the execution of Ernst, Heydebreck, and some of the other Rohm collaborators was issued. There was no order to shoot the other people who had been arrested. In the course of the arrest of the former Reich Chancellor Schleicher, it happened that both he and his wife were killed. An investigation 267 14 March 46 of this event took place and it was found that when Schleicher was arrested, according to the statements of the two witnesses, he reached for a pistol, possibly in order to kill himself, whereupon the two men raised their pistols and Frau Schleicher threw herself upon one of them to hold him, causing his revolver to go off. We deeply regretted that event. In the course of that evening I heard that other people had been shot as well, even some people who had nothing at all to do with this Rohm Putsch. The Fuehrer came to Berlin that same evening. After I learned this, later that evening or night, I went to him at noon the next day and asked him to issue an order immediately, that any further execution was under any circumstances forbidden by him, the Fuehrer, although two other people who were deeply involved and who had been ordered by the Fuehrer to be executed, were still alive. These people were consequently left alive. I asked him to do that because I was worried lest the matter should get out of hand -- as, in fact, it had already done to some extent -- and I told the Fuehrer that under no circumstances should there be any further bloodshed. This order was then given by the Fuehrer in my presence, and it was communicated at once to all offices. The action was then announced in the Reichstag, and it was approved by the Reichstag and the Reich President as an action called for by the state of national emergency. It was regretted that, as in all such incidents, there were a number of blunders. The number of victims has been greatly exaggerated. As far as I can remember exactly today, there were 72 or 76 people, the majority of whom were executed in southern Germany. DR. STAHMER: Did you know about the development of the attitude of the Party and the State toward the Church, in the course of time? Goering: Certainly. But as a final remark on the Rohm Putsch I should like to emphasize that I assume full responsibility for the actions taken against those people -- Ernst, Heydebreck, and several others -- by the order of the Fuehrer, which I carried out or passed on; and that, even today, I am of the opinion that I acted absolutely correctly and with a sense of duty. That was confirmed by the Reich President, but no such confirmation was necessary to convince me that here I had averted what was a great danger to the State. As to the attitude towards the Church -- the Fuehrer's attitude was a generous one, at the beginning absolutely generous. I should not like to say that it was positive in the sense that he himself was a positive or convinced adherent of any one confession, but it was 268 14 March 46 generous and positive in the sense that he recognized the necessity of the Church. Although he himself was a Catholic, he wished the Protestant Church to have a stronger position in Germany, since Germany was two-thirds Protestant. The Protestant Church, however, was divided into provincial churches, and there were various small differences which the dogmatists took very seriously. For that reason they once in the past, as we know, fought each other for 30 years; but these differences did not seem so important to us. There were the Reformed, the United, and the pure Lutherans -- I myself am not an expert in this field. Constitutionally, as Prussian Prime Minister, I was, to be sure, in a certain sense the highest dignitary of the Prussian Church, but I did not concern myself with these matters very much. The Fuehrer wanted to achieve the unification of the Protestant Evangelical Churches by appointing a Reich Bishop, so that there would be a high Protestant church dignitary as well as a high Catholic church dignitary. To begin with, he left the choice to the Evangelical churches, but they could not come to an agreement. Finally they brought forward one name, exactly the one which was not acceptable to us. Then a man was made Reich Bishop who had the Fuehrer's confidence to a higher degree than any of the other provincial bishops. With the Catholic Church the Fuehrer ordered a concordat to be concluded by Herr Von Papen. Shortly before that agreement was concluded by Herr Von Papen I visited the Pope myself. I had numerous connections with the higher Catholic clergy because of my Catholic mother, and thus --I am myself a Protestant -- I had a view of both camps. One thing, of course, the Fuehrer and all of us, I, too, stood for was to remove politics from the Church as far as was possible. I did not consider it right, I must frankly say, that on one day the priest in church should humbly concern himself with the spiritual welfare of his flock and then on the following day make a more or less belligerent speech in parliament. A separation was planned by us, that is to say, the clergy were to concentrate on their own sphere and refrain from becoming involved in political matters. Owing to the fact that we had in Germany political parties with strong church leanings, considerable confusion had arisen here. That is the explanation of the fact that, because of this political opposition that at first played its role in the political field in parliament, and in election campaigns, there arose among certain of our people an antagonistic attitude toward the Church. For one must not forget that such election disputes and speeches often took place before the electors between political 269 14 March 46 representatives of our Party and clergymen who represented those political parties which were more closely bound to the Church. Because of this situation and a certain animosity, it is understandable that a more rabid faction -- if I may use that expression in this connection -- did not forget these contentions and now, on its side, carried the struggle on again on a false level. But the Fuehrer's attitude was that the churches should be given the chance to exist and develop. In a movement and a party which gradually had absorbed more or less the greater part of the German nation, and which now in its active political aspect had also absorbed the politically active persons of Germany, it is only natural that not all the members would be of the same opinion in every respect, despite the Leadership Principle. The tempo, the method, the attitude may be different; and in such large movements, even if they are ever so authoritatively led, certain groups form in response to certain problems. And if I were to name the group which still saw in the Church, if not a political danger, at least an undesirable institution, then I should mention above all two personages: Himmler on one side and Bormann -- particularly later on much more radically than Himmler -- on the other side. Himmler's motives were less of a political and more of a confused mystical nature. Bormann's aims were much more clearcut. It was clear, too, that from the large group of Gauleiter, one or another might be more keenly interested in this fight against the Church. Thus, there were a number of Gaue where everything was in the best of order as far as the Church was concerned, and there were a few others where there was a keen fight against the Church. I did interfere personally on frequent occasions. First of all, in order to demonstrate my attitude and to create order, I called into the Prussian State Council, as men in whom I had special confidence, a high Protestant and a high Catholic clergyman. I myself am not what you might call a churchgoer, but I have gone now and then, and have always considered I belonged to the Church and have always had those functions over which the Church presides -- marriage, christening, burial, et cetera -- carried out in my house by the Church. My intention thereby was to show those weak-willed persons who, in the midst of this fight of opinions did not know what they should do, that, if the second man in the State goes to church, is married by the Church, has his child christened and confirmed, et cetera, then they can calmly do the same. From the number of letters which I received as the result, I can see that I did the right thing. 270 14 March 46 But as time went by, in other spheres as well as this, the situation became more critical. During the early years of the war I spoke to the Fuehrer about it once more and told him that the main concern now was, that every German should do his duty and that every soldier should go to his death, if need be, bravely. If in that connection his religious belief is a help and a support to him, whether he belongs to this or that confession, it can be only an advantage, and any disturbance in this connection could conceivably affect the soldier's inward strength. The Fuehrer agreed absolutely. In the Air Force I deliberately had no chaplains, because I was of the opinion that every member of the Air Force should go to the clergyman in whom he had the most confidence. This was repeatedly told to the soldiers and officers at roll call. But to the Church itself I said that it would be good if we had a clear separation. Men should pray in church and not drill there; in the barracks men should drill and not pray. In that manner, from the very beginning, I kept the Air Force free from any religious disturbances and I insured complete liberty of conscience for everyone. The situation became rapidly more critical -- and I cannot really give the reasons for this -- especially in the last 2 or 3 years of the war. It may have something to do with the fact that in some of the occupied territories, particularly in the Polish territory and also in the Czech territory, the clergy were strong representatives of national feeling and this led again to clashes on a political level which were then naturally carried over to religious fields. I do not know whether this was one of the reasons, but I consider it probable. On the whole I should like to say that the Fuehrer himself was not opposed to the Church. In fact, he told me on one occasion that there are certain things in respect to which even as Fuehrer one cannot entirely have one's way if they are still undecided and in need of reform, and that he believed that at the time much was being thought and said about the reorganization of the Church. He said that he did not consider himself destined to be a reformer of the Church and that he did not wish that any of his political leaders should win laurels in this field. DR. STAHMER: Now, in the course of years, a large number of clergy, both from Germany and especially from the occupied territories -- you yourself mentioned Poland and Czechoslovakia -- were taken to concentration camps. Did you know anything about that? Goering: I knew that at first in Germany a number of clergymen were taken to concentration camps. The case of Niemoller was common knowledge. I do not want to go into it in detail, because 271 14 March 46 it is well known. A number of other clergymen were sent to concentration camps but not until the later years when the fight became more critical, for they made political speeches in the pulpit and criticized measures of the State or the Party; then, according to the severity of this criticism, the police intervened. I told Himmler on one occasion that I did not think it was wise to arrest clergymen. As long as they talked in church they should say what they wanted, but if they made political speeches outside their churches then he could proceed against them, just as he would in connection with any other people who made speeches hostile to the State. Several clergymen who went very far in their criticism were not arrested. As far as the arrest of clergy from occupied territories is concerned, I heard about it; and I said earlier that this did not occur so much on the religious level just because they were clergymen, but because they were at the same time nationalists -- I understand that from their point of view -- and consequently often involved in actions hostile to the occupying forces. DR. STAHMER: The Party program included two points, I believe, dealing with the question of the Jews. What was your basic attitude towards this question? Goering: This question, which has been so strongly emphasized in the Indictment, forces me under all circumstances to interpose certain statements. After Germany's collapse in 1918 Jewry became very powerful in Germany in all spheres of life, especially in the political, general intellectual and cultural, and, most particularly, the economic spheres. The men came back from the front, had nothing to look forward to, and found a large number of Jews who had come in during the war from Poland and the East, holding positions, particularly economic positions. It is known that, under the influence of the war and business concerned with it -- demobilization, which offered great possibilities for doing business, inflation, deflation -- enormous shifts and transfers took place in the propertied classes. There were many Jews who did not show the necessary restraint and who stood out more and more in public life, so that they actually invited certain comparisons because of their numbers and the position they controlled in contrast to the German people. In addition there was the fact that particularly those parties which were avoided by nationally minded people also had Jewish leadership out of proportion to the total number of Jews. That did not apply only to Germany, but also to Austria, which we have always considered a part of Germany. There the entire Social Democratic leadership was almost exclusively in Jewish 272 14 March 46 hands. They played a very considerable part in politics, particularly in the left-wing parties, and they also became very prominent in the press in all political directions. At that time, there thus ensued a continuous uninterrupted attack on everything national, national concepts and national ideals. I draw attention to all the magazines and articles which dragged through the mud things which were holy to us. I likewise call attention to the distortion which was practiced in the field of art in this direction, to plays which dragged the fighting at the front through the mud and befouled the ideal of the brave soldier. In fact I could submit an enormous pile of such articles, books, plays, and so forth; but this would lead too far afield and I am actually not too well informed on the subject. Because of all this, a defense movement arose which was by no means created by National Socialism but which had existed before, which was already strong during the war and which came even more strongly to the fore after the war, when the influence of Jewry had such effects. Moreover, in the cultural and intellectual sphere also many things which were not in accordance with German feeling came to be expressed. Here, too, there was a great split. In addition there was the fact that in economic matters, if one overlooks the western industry, there was an almost exclusive domination on the part of Jewry, which, indeed, consisted of elements which were most sharply opposed by the old, established Jewish families. When the movement then drew up its program, which was done by a few simple people -- as far as I know, not even Adolf Hitler himself took part in the drafting of the program, at least not yet as a leader -- the program included that point which played a prominent part as a defensive point among large sections of the German people. Shortly before that there had been the Rate-Republik in Munich and the murder of hostages, and here, too the leaders were mostly Jews. It can be understood, therefore, that a program drawn up in Munich by simple people quite naturally took this up as a defense point. News also came of a Rate-Republik in Hungary -- again consisting mainly of Jews. All this had made a very strong impression. When the program became known, the Party -- which was at that time extremely small -- was at first not taken seriously and was laughed at. But then, from the very beginning, a concentrated and most bitter attack on the part of the entire Jewish press, or the Jewish-influenced press, was started against the movement. Everywhere Jewry was in the lead in the fight against National Socialism, whether in the press, in politics, in cultural life by making National Socialism contemptible and ridiculous, or in the economic sphere. Whoever was a National Socialist could not get a position; the National Socialist businessman 273 14 March 46 could not get supplies or space for advertisements, and so on. All this naturally resulted in a strong defensive attitude on the part of the Party and led from the very beginning to an intensification of the fight, such as had not originally been the intention of the program. For the program aimed very definitely at one thing above all -- that Germany should be led by Germans. And it was desired that the leadership, especially the political shaping of the fate of the German people, should be in the hands of German persons who could raise up the spirit of the German people again in a way that people of a different kind could not. Therefore the main point was at first merely to exclude Jewry from politics, from the leadership of the State. Later on, the cultural field was also included because of the very strong fight which had developed, particularly in this sphere, between Jewry on the one side and National Socialism on the other. I believe that if, in this connection, many a hard word which was said by us against Jews and Jewry were to be brought up, I should still be in a position to produce magazines, books, newspapers, and speeches in which the expressions and insults coming from the other side were far in excess. All that obviously was bound to lead to an intensification. Shortly after the seizure of power countless exceptions were made. Jews who had taken part in the World War and who had been decorated were treated differently and shown consideration; they remained unaffected by measures excluding Jews from civil services. As I have said, the chief aim was to exclude them from the political sphere, then from the cultural sphere. The Nuremberg Laws were intended to bring about a clear separation of races and, in particular, to do away with the notion of persons of mixed blood in the future, as the term of half Jew or quarter Jew led to continuous distinctions and confusion as far as their position was concerned. Here I wish to emphasize that I personally had frequent discussions with the Fuehrer regarding persons of mixed blood and that I pointed out to the Fuehrer that, once German Jews were clearly separated, it was impossible to have still another category betweenthe two which constituted an unclarified section of the German people, which did not stand on the same level as the other Germans. I suggested to him that, as a generous act, he should do away with the concept of the person of mixed blood and place such people on the same footing as the other Germans. The Fuehrer took up this idea with great interest and was all for adopting my point of view, in fact, he gave certain preparatory orders. Then came more troubled times, as far as 274 14 March 46 foreign policy was concerned -- the Sudeten crisis, Czechoslovakia, the occupation of the Rhineland, and afterward the Polish crisis -- and the question of persons of mixed blood stepped into the background; but at the beginning of the war the Fuehrer told me that he was prepared to solve this matter in a positive, generous fashion, but only after the war. The Nuremberg Laws were to exclude, for the future, that concept of persons of mixed blood by means of a clear separation of races. Consequently it was provided in the penal regulations of the Nuremberg Laws, that never the woman but always the man should be punishable, no matter whether he was German or Jewish. The German woman or the Jewess should not be punished. Then quieter times came, and the Fuehrer was always of the opinion that for the time being Jews should remain in economy, though not in leading and prominent positions, until a controlled emigration, gradually setting in, then intensified, should solve this problem. In spite of continuous disturbances and difficulties in the economic field, the Jews on the whole remained unmolested in their economic positions. The extraordinary intensification which set in later did not really start in until after the events of 1933, and then to a still greater extent in the war years. But here, again, there was naturally one more radical group for whom the Jewish question was more significantly in the foreground than it was for other groups of the Movement; just as, as I should like to emphasize at this point, the idea of National Socialism as a philosophy was understood in various ways -- by one person more philosophically, by another mystically, by a third in a practical and political sense. This was also true of the different points of the program. For one person certain points were more important, for another person less so. One person would see in the point of the program which was directed against Versailles and toward a free and strong Germany the main point of the program; another person, perhaps, would consider the Jewish question the main point. THE PRESIDENT: Would that be a convenient time to break off? Dr. Stahmer, can you inform the Tribunal how much longer you think the Defendant Goering's examination will last? DR. STAHMER: I think that we shall finish in the course of tomorrow morning. THE PRESIDENT: That is a very long time. DR.STAHMER: I shall do my best to shorten it. [A recess was taken.] 275 14 March 46 DR. STAHMER: To what extent did you participate in the issuing of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935? Goering: In my capacity as President of the Reichstag I announced those laws and the law concerning the new Reich flag simultaneously here in Nuremberg when the Reichstag was meeting at that time. DR. STAHMER: In the Indictment it says that the destruction of the Jewish race was part of the planning of aggressive wars. Goering: That has nothing to do with the planning of aggressive wars; also, the destruction of the Jewish race was not planned in advance. DR. STAHMER: Were you a party to the action against the Jews in the night of 9-10 November 1938? Goering: I should like to discuss that briefly. I gathered yesterday, from the cross-examination of the witness Korner, that a misunderstanding had arisen in regard to this. On 9 November the march to the Feldherrnhalle took place. This march was repeated every year and for this occasion the prominent leaders of the movement gathered. Korner referred to that when he said that everybody came to Munich. It was customary, after the march was over, for practically everybody to meet at the Munich City Hall for a dinner, at which the Fuehrer was also present. I never attended that dinner in any of the years in question, as I used to utilize my stay in Munich by attending to various other matters in the afternoon of that day. I did not take part in the dinner on this occasion either, nor did Korner. He and I returned in my special train to Berlin in the evening. As I heard later, when the investigation was carried out, Goebbels announced at that dinner, after the Fuehrer had left, that the seriously wounded counsellor of the Embassy in Paris had died of his wounds. There was a certain amount of excitement and then Goebbels, apparently spoke some words about retaliation and in his way -- he was probably the very strongest representative of anti-Semitism -- must have brought on this development of events; but that was after the Fuehrer had left. I myself, in fact, heard of the events upon my arrival in Berlin. First of all the conductor in my car told me that he had seen fires in Halle. Half an hour later I called my adjutant, who reported to me that riots had taken place during the night, that Jewish stores had been broken into and plundered and that synagogues had been set on fire. He did not know any more about it himself. I proceeded to my apartment and at once had a call put through to the Gestapo. I demanded a report of the events of that night. That is the report which has been referred to here and which was made to me by the Chief of the Gestapo, Heydrich, concerning the 276 14 March 46 events, as much as he knew about them at that time; that was the evening of the following day, I believe. The Fuehrer, too, arrived in Berlin in the course of the morning. Having in the meantime heard that Goebbels had at least played an important part as instigator, I told the Fuehrer that it was impossible for me to have such events taking place at this particular time. I was making every effort, in connection with the Four Year Plan, to concentrate the entire economic field to the utmost. I had, in the course of speeches to the nation, been asking for every old toothpaste tube, every rusty nail, every bit of scrap material to be collected and utilized. It could not be tolerated that a man who was not responsible for these things should upset my difficult economic tasks by destroying so many things of economic value on the one hand and by causing so much disturbance in economic life on the other hand. The Fuehrer made some apologies for Goebbels, but on the whole he agreed that such events were not to take place and must not be allowed to take place. I also pointed out to him, that such a short time after the Munich agreement such matters would also have an unfavorable effect on foreign policy. In the afternoon I had another discussion with the Fuehrer. In the meantime Goebbels had been to see him. The latter I had told over the telephone in unmistakable terms, and in very sharp words, my view of the matter. I told him then, with emphasis, that I was not inclined to suffer the consequences of his uncontrolled utterances, as far as economic matters were concerned. In the meantime the Fuehrer, influenced by Goebbels, had somewhat changed his mind. Just what Goebbels told him and to what extent he referred to the excitement of the crowd, to urgently needed settlements, I do not know. At any rate, the Fuehrer's views were not the same as they were on the occasion of my first complaint. While we were talking, Goebbels, who was in the house, joined us and began his usual talk: that such things could not be tolerated; that this was the second or third murder of a National Socialist committed abroad by a Jew. It was on that occasion that he first made the suggestion that a fine should be imposed. Indeed, he wished that each Gau should collect such a fine and he named an almost incredibly high sum. I contradicted him and told the Fuehrer that, if there was to be a fine, then the Reich alone should collect it, for, as I said, Herr Goebbels had the most Jews right here in Berlin and would therefore not be a suitable person for this, since he was the most interested party. Apart from that, if such measures were to be taken, then only the sovereign State had the right to take them. After a short discussion, this way and that, about the amount, 1,000,000,000 was agreed upon. I pointed out to the Fuehrer that 277 14 March 46 under certain circumstances that figure would have repercussions on the tax returns. The Fuehrer then expressed the wish and ordered that the economic solution also be carried through now. In order that there should be no further occasion for such events, businesses obviously Jewish and known to be Jewish were first of all to be Aryanized, in particular the department stores. These were often a source of friction, as the officials and employees from the ministries, who could shop only between 6 and 7 in the evening, often went to these stores and had difficulties. He ordered, in general terms, what should be done. Thereupon I called the meeting of 12 November with those departments which had jurisdiction over these matters. Unfortunately, the Fuehrer had demanded that Goebbels should be represented on this commission -- actually a commission was to be appointed. He was, in fact, present, although I maintained that he had nothing to do with economic questions. The discussion was very lively. We were all irritated at this meeting. Then I had the economic laws drafted and later I had them published. I rejected other proposals which lay outside the economic sphere, such as restriction of travel, restriction of residence, restriction in regard to bathing resorts, et cetera, as I was not competent to deal with these things and had not received any special orders. These were issued later on by the police authorities, and not by me; but through my intervention various mitigations and adjustments were made. I should like to point out that although I received oral and written orders and commands from the Fuehrer to issue and carry out these laws, I assume full and absolute responsibility for these laws which bear my signature; for I issued them and consequently am responsible, and do not propose to hide in any way behind the Fuehrer's order. DR. STAHMER: Another matter. What were the reasons for the refusal to take part in the Disarmament Conference and for the withdrawal from the League of Nations? Goering: The chief reasons for that were, first of all, that the other states who, after the complete disarming of Germany, were also bound to disarm, did not do so. The second point was that we also found a lack of willingness to meet in any way Germany's justified proposals for revisions; thirdly, there were repeated violations of the Treaty of Versailles and of the Covenant of the League of Nations by other states, Poland, Lithuania, et cetera, which were at first censured by the League of Nations, but which were then not brought to an end, but were rather accepted as accomplished facts; fourthly, all complaints by Germany regarding 278 14 March 46 questions of minorities were, indeed, discussed, and well-meaning advice was given to the states against which the complaints had been brought, but nothing was actually done to relieve the situation. Those are the reasons for leaving the League of Nations and the Disarmament Conference. DR. STAHMER: Why did Hitler decide to rearm and reintroduce compulsory service? Goering: When Germany left the League of Nations and the Disarmament Conference, she simultaneously announced to the leading powers concerned her definite decision to aim at universal disarmament. The Fuehrer then made various proposals which, it can be assumed, are historically known: restriction of active armed forces to a certain number of men; restriction of weapons to be used; abolishing of certain weapons as, for example, bombers; and various other points. Each one of these proposals was rejected, however, and did not reach a general realization, nor were even discussed. When we and the Fuehrer recognized clearly that the other parties did not think of disarming and that, on the contrary, that mighty power to the east of us in particular, Russia, was carrying out an armament program as never before, it became necessary for us, in order to safeguard the most vital interests of the German people, their life and their security, to free ourselves from all ties and to rearm to such an extent as was now necessary for the interests and security of the Reich. That was the first reason for the necessity of reintroducing compulsory service. DR. STAHMER: To what extent did the Luftwaffe participate in this rearmament? Goering: In 1933, when I founded the Air Ministry, we had not yet gone into the question of rearmament. In spite of that I did arrange for certain basic conditions. I immediately extended manufacture and increased air traffic beyond the extent of necessary traffic, so as to be able to train a larger number of pilots. At that time I took over a number of young people, lieutenants, cadets, who then had to leave the Wehrmacht in order to take up commercial flying and there to learn to fly. I was aware from the beginning that protection in the air was necessary as one of the most essential conditions for the security of my nation. Originally it was my belief that a defensive air force, that is, a fighter force, might suffice; but upon reflection I realized -- and I want to underline what witness Field Marshal Kesselring said on that subject -- that one would be lost with merely a fighter force for defense purposes and that even a defensive force must contain 279 14 March 46 bombers in order that it can be used offensively against the enemy air force on enemy territory. Therefore I had bomber aircraft developed from commercial airplanes. In the beginning rearmament proceeded slowly. Everything had to be created anew since nothing existed in the way of air armament. In 1935 I told the Fuehrer that I now considered it proper, since we had repeatedly received refusals in answer to our proposals, to declare to the world openly that we were creating an air force, and that I had already established a certain basis for that. This took place in the form of an interview which I had with a British correspondent. Now I could proceed to rearm on a larger scale; but in spite of that we confined ourselves at first to what we called a "Risk Air Force," that is a risk insofar as an enemy coming to attack Germany should know that he could expect to meet with an air force. But it was by no means strong enough to be of any real importance. In 1936 followed the famous report, which was presented to the witness Bodenschatz, in which I said that we must from this moment on work on the basis of mobilization, that money mattered nothing, and that, in short, I should take the responsibility for overdrawing the budget. Since nothing had existed before, I should be able to catch up quickly only if aircraft production on one hand were made to work with as many shifts and as much speed as possible, that is with maximum effort and on a mobilization basis, and if, on the other hand, extension of the ground forces and similar matters was carried out at once with the greatest possible speed. The situation in 1936 is defined by me, in that report to my co-workers, as serious. Other states had, to be sure, not disarmed, but here and there they had perhaps neglected their air force and they were catching up on lost ground. Violent debates were taking place in England with regard to modernizing and building up the air force; feverish activities were taking place in Russia, concerning which we had reliable reports -- I shall refer to the question of Russian reannament later. When the Civil War broke out in Spain, Franco sent a call for help to Germany and asked for support, particularly in the air. One should not forget that Franco with his troops was stationed in Africa and that he could not get the troops across, as the fleet was in the hands of the Communists, or, as they called themselves at the time, the competent Revolutionary Government in Spain. The decisive factor was, first of all, to get his troops over to Spain. The Fuehrer thought the matter over. I urged him to give support under all circumstances, firstly, in order to prevent the further- 280 14 March 46 spread of communism in that theater and, secondly, to test my young Luftwaffe at this opportunity in this or that technical respect. With the permission of the Fuehrer, I sent a large part of my transport fleet and a number of experimental fighter units, bombers, and antiaircraft guns; and in that way I had an opportunity to ascertain, under combat conditions, whether the material was equal to the task. In order that the personnel, too, might gather a certain amount of experience, I saw to it that there was a continuous flow, that is, that new people were constantly being sent and others recalled. The rearming of the Air Force required, as a basic condition, the creation of a large number of new industries. It was no help to me to build a strong Air Force and not to have any gasoline for it. Here, too, therefore, I had to speed up the development of the refineries to the utmost. There were other auxiliary industries, above all, aluminum. Since I considered the Luftwaffe the most important part of the Wehrmacht, as far as the security of the Reich was concerned, and, in view of the modernization of technical science, it was my duty as Commander-in-Chief to do everything to develop it to the highest peak; and, too, as nothing was there to begin with, a supreme effort and a maximum amount of work had to be achieved. That I did. Much has been said here in a cross-examination about four-engine bombers, two-engine bombers, et cetera. The witnesses made statements to the best of their knowledge and ability, but they were familiar only with small sections and they gave their opinions from that point of view. I alone was responsible and am responsible, for I was Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe and Minister for Air. I was responsible for the rearmament, the training and the morale of the Luftwaffe. If at the beginning I did not build any four-engine bombers, it was not because I had qualms that they might be construed as an aggressive force. That would not have disturbed me for one minute. My only reason was that the necessary technical and production conditions did not exist. That kind of bomber simply had not yet been developed by my industry, at any rate not so that I could use it. Secondly, I was still short of aluminum, and anyone only half an expert knows how much aluminum a four-engine bomber swallows up and how many fighters, that is, two-engine bombers, one can build with the same amount. To start with, I had to ascertain who were likely to be Germany's opponents in a war. Were the technical conditions adequate for meeting an attack against Germany by such an enemy? Of all possible opponents I considered Russia the main opponent, but of 281 14 March 46 course England, France, and Italy also had to be considered. It was my duty to consider all possibilities. As far as the European theater of war was concerned, I could, for the time being, be satisfied with bombers which could operate against the impoftant centers of enemy armament industry. Thus, for the time being, I did not need anything more than aircraft which would enable me to do that, but it was important to have more of that kind. But in a speech to the aircraft industrialists I let it be clearly known that I desired most urgently to have a bomber which, loaded with the necessary bombs, could fly to America and back. I asked them to work on that diligently so that, if America should enter into war against Germany, I could also reach the American armament industry. It was not a question, therefore, of not wanting them. I even, as far as I remember, inaugurated a prize competition for bombers capable of flying at great heights and at great speeds over large distances. Even before the beginning of the war we had begun to develop propellerless aircraft. Summing up, I should like to say that I did everything possible under the technical and production conditions then prevalent, to rebuild and rearm a strong Air Force. The technical knowledge of that time led us to believe that, after 5 years of war, new technical and practical advances would be made. That is a principle based on experience. I wanted to be prepared to have an Air Force which, however the political situation might develop, would be strong enough to protect the nation and to deal blows to Germany's enemy. It is perfectly correct for Mr. Justice Jackson to ask whether the speedy elimination of Poland and France was due to the fact that the German Air Force, acting according to modern principles, contributed so much. It was the decisive factor. On the other hand, though this does not concern me, the use of the American air force was also a decisive factor for the Allied victory. DR. STAHMER: Has the fact that you were given control of raw materials already in April 1936 anything to do with this rebuilding of the Air Force? Goering: I need not repeat what the witness Korner elaborated yesterday, or the day before yesterday, with regard to my gradual rise in economic leadership. The starting point was the agricultural crisis in the year of 1935. In the summer of 1936 the then Minister of War, Von Blomberg, the Minister of Economy and President of the Reichsbank, Schacht, and Minister Kerrl came to me and asked me whether I was prepared to back a suggestion of theirs which they wanted to submit to the Fuehrer, namely, that I be appointed Commissioner for Raw Materials and Foreign Exchange. It was 282 14 March 46 agreed that I should not function as an economics expert, which I was not; but some one was needed to take care of the difficulties due to shortage of foreign currency, which continuously arose because of our heavy demands, and at the same time to make available and accumulate raw materials -- someone who was capable of taking measures which would perhaps not be understood by many people, but would have the weight of his authority. Secondly, it was decided that in this sphere, though not as an expert, I should be the driving power and use my energy. Minister Schacht, who was the expert, had difficulties with the Party. He was not a member of the Party. He was at that time on excellent terms with the Fuehrer and me, but not so much with the members of the Party. The danger arose that the appropriate measures might not be understood by the latter, and in this connection I would be the right man to make these things known to the people and the Party. That is how that came about. But since I, as Minister of Air was, as I have explained, interested in raw materials, I played an ever increasingly important role. Then the differences between agriculture and economy in regard to foreign currency came more to the fore, so that I had to make decisions, decisions which became more drastic. Thus I entered the field of economic leadership. I devoted a great deal of time and work to this task, particularly to procuring the raw materials necessary for economy and for rearmament. Out of this the Four Year Plan arose which gave me far-reaching plenary powers. DR. STAHMER: What was the aim of the Four Year Plan? Goering: The Four Year Plan had two aims: First, that German economy as far as possible and particularly in the agricultural sector, should be made secure against any crisis; secondly, in the event of war, Germany should be able to withstand a blockade to the greatest extent possible. Therefore it was necessary, first, to increase agriculture to the utmost, to control and direct it, to control consumption, and to store up supplies by means of negotiations with foreign countries; secondly, to ascertain which raw materials, imported until then, could be found, produced, and procured in Germany itself, and which raw materials that were difficult to import could be replaced by others more easily obtainable. Briefly, as far as the agricultural sphere was concerned: utilization of every available space; regulation of cultivation according to the crops needed; control of animal breeding; building up of reserves for times of need or crop failures; as far as the industrial sector was concerned, the creation of industries supplying raw materials: First, coal -- although there was sufficient coal, its production would have 283 14 March 46 to be increased considerably, since coal is the basic raw material on which so many other things are dependent; iron-our mining industry had made itself so dependent on foreign countries that, in the event of a crisis, a most disastrous situation might arise here. I can quite understand that from the purely financial and business point of view that was all right but, nevertheless, we should have to mine and make available the German iron ores which were at our disposal, even though they were inferior to the Swedish ores; we should have to compel industry to make alloys and manage with German ores. I recklessly allowed industry a year's time. As industry by then had still not begun to exploit these ores, I founded the Reich works which were given my name. They were primarily for opening up iron-ore reserves in German soil and using them in the mining industry. It was necessary to set up oil refineries, aluminum works and various other works, and then to promote the development of the so-called synthetic material industry in order to replace necessary raw materials which could be obtained only from abroad and under difficult circumstances. In the field of textiles this involved the conversion of the textile industry and of I. G. Farben. That, roughly, was the task of the Four Year Plan. Naturally a third question is of importance in this connection: the question of labor. Co-ordination was necessary here too. The most important industries had to have workers; less important industries had to dispense with them. The control of this allocation of labor, which before the war functioned only within Germany, was another task of the Four Year Plan and the Department for the Allocation of Labor. The Four Year Plan as such very quickly assumed too large proportions as an official organization. Then, after Schacht had left, I took over the Ministry of Economy for 2 months and fitted the Four Year Plan into it. I retained only a very small staff of collaborators and carried out the tasks with the assistance of the ministries competent to deal with these things. DR. STAHMER: Was the purpose of carrying out these plans that of preparing for aggressive war? Goering: No, the aim of the plans was, as I said, to make Germany secure against economic crises, and to make her secure against a blockade in the event of war, and, of course, within the Four Year Plan to provide the necessary conditions for rearmament. That was one of its important tasks. DR. STAHMER: How did the occupation of the Rhineland come about? 284 14 March 46 Goering: The occupation of the Rhineland was not, as has been asserted here, a long-prepared affair. What had been discussed previously did not deal with the occupation of the Rhineland, but with the question of mobilization measures in the Rhineland in case of an attack on Germany. The Rhineland occupation came about for two reasons. The balance which was created through the Locarno Pact had been disturbed in western Europe, because a new factor had arisen in France's system of allies, namely Russia, who even at that time had an extraordinarily large armed force. In addition, there was the Russian-Czechoslovakian mutual assistance pact. Thus, the conditions upon which the Locarno Pact had been based no longer existed, according to our way of thinking. So, there was now such a threat to Germany, or the possibility of such a threat, that it would have been a neglect of duty and honor on the part of the Government if it had not done everything to ensure, here also, the security of the Reich. The Government therefore -- as a sovereign state -- made use of its sovereign right and freed itself from the dishonorable obligation not to place a part of the Reich under its protection, and it did place this important part of the Reich under its protection by building strong fortifications. The construction of such strong fortifications, such expensive fortifications and such extensive fortifications, is justified only if that frontier is regarded as final and definitive. If I had intended to extend the frontier in the near future, it would never have been possible to go through with an undertaking so expensive and such a burden to the whole nation as was the construction of the West Wall. This was done -- and I want to emphasize this particularly -- from the very beginning only in the interest of defense and as a defensive measure. It made the western border of the Reich secure against that threat which, because of the recent shift of power, and the new combination of powers such as the Franco-Russian mutual assistance pact, had become a threat to Germany. The actual occupation, the decision to occupy the Rhineland, was made at very short notice. The troops which marched into the Rhineland were of such small numbers -- and that is an historical fact -- that they provided merely a token occupation. The Luftwaffe itself could not, for the time being, enter the Rhine territory on the left at all, since there was no adequate ground organization. It entered the so-called demilitarized territory on the right of the Rhine, Dusseldorf and other cities. In other words, it was not as if the Rhineland were suddenly occupied with a great wave of troops; but, as I said before, it was merely that a few battalions and a few batteries marched in as a symbol that the Rhineland was now again under the full sovereignty of the sovereign German Reich and would in the future be protected accordingly. 285 14 March 46 DR. STAHMER: What were Hitler's aims when he created the Reich Defense Council and when he issued the Reich Defense Law? Goering: The Reich Defense Council, during the last months, played a very important role here. I hope I shall not be misunderstood; I believe that during these months more has been said about it than was ever said since the moment of its creation. In the first place it is called Reich Defense Council and not Reich Council for the Offensive. Its existence is taken for granted. It exists in every other country in some form or other, even if it has another name. First of all, there was a Reich Defense Committee already, before our seizure of power. In this committee there were official experts from all the ministries for the purpose of carrying out mobilization preparations or, better said, mobilization measures, which automatically come into consideration in any kind of development -- war, the possibility of war, the facts of war involving bordering states and the subsequent need to guard one's neutrality. These are the usual measures to be taken -- to ascertain how inany horses have to be levied in case of mobilization, what factories have to be converted, whether bread ration cards and fat ration cards have to be introduced, regulation of traffic, et cetera -- all these things need not be dealt with in detail, because they are so obvious. All such discussions took place in the Reich Defense Committee discussions by the official experts presided over by the then chief of the ministerial office in the Reich Ministry of War, Keitel. The Reich Defense Council was created, for the time being, as a precautionary measure, when the armed forces were re-established, but it existed only on paper. I was, I think, Deputy Chairman or Chairman -- I do not know which -- I heard it mentioned here. I assure you under oath that at no time and at no date did I participate in a meeting at which the Reich Defense Council as such was called together. These discussions, which were necessary for the defense of the Reich, were held in a completely different connection, in a different form and depended on immediate needs. Naturally, there were discussions about the defense of the Reich, but not in connection with the Reich Defense Council. This existed on paper, but it never met. But even if it had met, that would have been quite logical, since this concerns defense and not attack. The Reich Defense Law, or rather the Ministerial Council for the Reich Defense, which is probably what you mean, was created only one day before the outbreak of the war, since the Reich Defense Council actually did not exist. This Ministerial Council for Reich Defense is not to be considered the same as, for instance, the so-called War Cabinet that was formed in England when the war broke out, and perhaps in other countries. On the contrary, this Ministerial Council for the 286 14 March 46 Reich Defense was -- by using abbreviated procedure -- to issue only the regulations necessary for wartime, laws dealing with daily issues, explanations to the people, and it was to relieve the Fuehrer to a considerable extent, since he had reserved for himself the leadership in military operations. The Ministerial Council therefore issued, first of all, all those laws which, as I should like to mention, are to be expected in any country at the beginning of a war. In the early period it met three or four times, and after that not at all. I, too, had no time after that. To abbreviate the procedure, these laws were circulated and then issued. One, or one and a half years afterwards -- I cannot remember the exact time -- the Fuehrer took the direct issuance of laws more into his own hands. I was the co-signer of many laws in my capacity as Chairman of this Ministerial Council. But that, too, was practically discontinued in the latter years. The Ministerial Council did not meet again at all after 1940, I think. DR. STAHMER: The Prosecution has presented a document, Number 2261-PS. In this document a Reich Defense Law of 21 May 1935 is mentioned, which for the time being was kept in abeyance by order of the Fuehrer. I shall have that document shown to you and I ask you to give your views on it? Goering: I am familiar with it. DR. STAHMER: Would you please state your views? Goering: After the Reich Defense Council had begun to exist, a Reich Defense Law was provided in 1935 for the event of a mobilization. The agreement or, better said, decision, was made by the Reich Cabinet and this law was to be applied and became effective in the case of a mobilization. Actually it was replaced when mobilization did come about, by the law I have mentioned regarding the Ministerial Council for the Reich Defense. In this law, before the time of the Four Year Plan, that is 1935, a Plenipotentiary for Economy was created, at first for the event of a mobilization, and a Plenipotentiary for Administration; so that if war occurred, then all the departments of the entire administration would be concentrated under one minister and all the departments concerned with economy and armament were likewise to be concentrated under one minister. The Plenipotentiary for Administration did not function before mobilization. The Plenipotentiary for Economy, on the other hand -- this title was not to be made known to the public -- was to begin his tasks immediately. That was indeed necessary. This is perhaps the clearest explanation of the fact that the creation of the Four Year Plan necessarily led to clashes between the Plenipotentiary for Economy and the Delegate for the Four Year Plan, since both of them were more or less working on 287 14 March 46 the same or similar tasks. When, therefore, in 1936, I was made Delegate for the Four Year Plan, the activities of the Plenipotentiary for Economy practically ceased. DR. STAHMER: Mr. President, ought I to stop now with the questioning? THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I think that would be a good time. [The Tribunal recessed until 1400 hours.] 288 14 March 46 Afternoon Session DR. STAHMER: A word has been repeatedly used here: Reich Research Council (Reichsforschungsrat). What kind of institution was that? Goering: I believe it was in the year 1943 that I received the order to concentrate the entire field of German research, particularly insofar as it was of urgent importance to the conduct of war. Unfortunately, that was done much too late. The purpose was to avoid parallel research and useless research, to concentrate an research on problems important for the war. I myself became President of the Reich Research Council and established directives for research according to the purpose mentioned. DR. STAHMER: Did this have any connection with the Research Office of the Air Force? Goering: No, the Research Office of the Air Force was entirely different, and it had nothing to do with either research on the one hand or the Air Force on the other hand. The expression was a sort of camouflage, for, when we came to power, there was considerable confusion on the technical side of control of important information. Therefore, I established for the time being the Research Office, that was an office where all technical devices for the control of radio, telegraph, telephone, and all other technical communications could be provided. Since I was then only Reich Minister for Air I could do this within only my own ministry and therefore used this camouflaged designation. This machinery served to exert control above all over foreign missions, and important persons, who had telephone, telegraph, and radio connections with foreign countries, as is customary everywhere in all countries, and then to decipher the information thus extracted and put it at the disposal of other departments. The office had no agents, no intelligence service, but was a purely technical office intercepting wireless messages, telephone conversations, and telegrams, wherever it was ordered, and passing on the information to the offices concerned. In this connection I may say that I have also read much about those communications made by Mr. Messersmith, which figured here. He was at times the main source for such information., DR. STAHMER: What was the purpose and importance of the Secret Cabinet Council which was created a short time after the seizure of power? Goering: In February 1938 there came about the retirement of the War Minister, Field Marshal Von Blomberg. Simultaneously, because of particular circumstances, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Colonel General Von Fritsch, retired, that is to say, the 289 14 March 46 Fuehrer dismissed him. The coincidence of these retirements or dismissals was, in the eyes of the Fuehrer, disadvantageous to the prestige of the Wehrmacht. He wanted to divert attention from this change in the Wehrmacht by means of a general reshuffling. He said he wanted above all to change the Foreign Office because only such a change would make a strong impression abroad and would be likely to divert attention from the military affairs. At the time I opposed the Fuehrer very strongly about this. In lengthy, wearisome personal conversations I begged him to refrain from a change in the Foreign Office. He thought, however, that he would have to insist upon it. The question arose as to what should be done after Herr Von Neurath's retirement or after the change. The Fuehrer intended to keep Herr Von Neurath in the Cabinet by all means for he had the greatest personal esteem for him. I myself have always expressed my respect for Herr Von Neurath. In order to avoid a lowering of Herr Von Neurath's prestige abroad, I myself was the one to make a proposal to the Fuehrer. I told him that in order to make it appear abroad that Von Neurath had not been entirely removed from foreign policy, I would propose to appoint him chairman of the Secret Cabinet Council. There was, to be sure, no such cabinet in existence, but the expression would sound quite nice, and everyone would imagine that it meant something. The Fuehrer said we could not make him chairman if we had no council. Thereupon I said, "Then we shall make one," and offhand I marked down names of several persons. How little importance I attached to this council can be seen in the fact that I myself was, I think, one of the last on that list. Then, for the public at large the council was given out to be an advisory council for foreign policy. When I returned I said to my friends, "The affair has gone off all right, but if the Fuehrer does not ask the Foreign Minister for advice, he certainly will not ask a cabinet council for advice on foreign policy; we will not have anything to do with it!" I declare under oath that this Cabinet Council never met at all, not even for a minute; there was not even an initial meeting for laying down the rules by which it should function. Some members may not even have been informed that they were members. DR. STAHMER: When was the Reich Cabinet in session last? Goering: As far as I remember, the last meeting of the Reich Cabinet was in 1937, and, as far as I can remember, I presided over the last meeting, the Fuehrer having left shortly after the beginning. The Fuehrer did not think much of Cabinet meetings; it was too large a circle for him, and perhaps there was too much discussion of his plans, and he wanted that changed. 290 14 March 46 From that time on, there were only individual conferences -- conferences with single ministers or with groups of ministers from the ministries concerned. But since the ministers found, very rightly, that this made their work difficult, a solution was adopted whereby I, under the title of the Four Year Plan, called the ministers together more frequently, in order to discuss general matters with them. But at no time in the Cabinet or the Ministerial Council was any political decision of importance mentioned or discussed, as, for instance, those decisions -- the annexation of Austria, the Sudetenland, and Czechoslovakia -- which finally led to war. I know how much importance the Fuehrer attached to the fact that in all these matters only those ministers should be informed who absolutely had to be informed, because of the nature of their work, and that only at the very last minute. Here too, I can say under oath that quite a number of ministers were not informed about the beginning of the war or the march into Czechoslovakia, the Sudetenland, or Austria until the next morning, when they learned about it by radio or through the press, just as any other German citizen. DR. STAHMER: What part did you have in making the Munich Pact of September 1938? Goering: The incorporation of the Sudeten Germans or, better said, the solution of the Sudeten German problem I had always emphasized as being something that was necessary. I also told the Fuehrer after the Anschluss of Austria that I should regret it if his statements were misunderstood to mean that with the Anschluss of Austria this question had been settled. In November 1937, 1 stated to Lord Halifax that the Anschluss of Austria, the solution of the Sudeten German question in the sense of a return of the Sudeten Germans, and the solution of the problem of Danzig and the Corridor were integral parts of German policy. Whether they were tackled by Hitler one day, or by me or somebody else the next day, they would still remain political aims which under all circumstances would have to be attained sometime. However, both of us agreed that all efforts should be made to achieve that without resorting to war. Furthermore, in my conversations with Mr. Bullitt I had always taken up the very same position. And I told every other person, publicly and personally, that these three points had to be settled and that the settlement of the one would not make the others unimportant. I also want to stress that, if in connection with this, and also in connection with other things, the Prosecution accuses us of not having kept this or that particular promise that Germany had made in the past, including the Germany that existed just before the 291 14 March 46 seizure of power, I should like to refer to the many speeches in which both the Fuehrer -- this I no longer remember so well -- and I, as I know very well, stated that we warned foreign countries not to make any plans for the future on the basis of any promises made by the present government, that we would not recognize these promises when we acquired power. Thus there was absolute clarity in respect to this. When the Sudeten question approached a crisis and a solution was intended by the Fuehrer, I, as a soldier and Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, as was my duty, took the preparatory measures, ordered for any eventuality. As a politician I was extremely happy at the attempts which were made to find a peaceful solution. I acknowledge that at that time I was very glad when I saw that the British Prime Minister was making every possible effort. Nevertheless, the situation on the day before the Munich agreement had again become very critical. It was about 6:30 or 7 o'clock in the morning when the Italian Ambassador, Attolico, rang me up and said that he had to see me immediately on orders from Mussolini, that it was about the solution of the Sudeten problem. I told him he should go and see the Foreign Minister. He said he had a special order from Mussolini to see me alone first. I met him, as far as I remember, at 9 o'clock in the morning, and there he suggested that Mussolini was prepared to mediate; that a meeting should be called as soon as possible between Germany (Adolf Hitler), England (Prime Minister Chamberlain), France (Premier Daladier), and Italy (Mussolini), in order to settle the question peacefully. He, Mussolini, saw a possibility of that and was prepared to take all necessary steps and asked me personally to use all my influence in that direction. I took the Ambassador, and also Herr Von Neurath although he was not Foreign Minister at that time, at once to the Reich Chancellery and reported everything to the Fuehrer, tried to persuade him, explained to him the advantages of such a step and said that this could be the basis for a general easing of tension. Whether the other current political and diplomatic endeavors would be successful one could not yet say, but if four leading statesmen of the four large western European powers were to meet, then much would be gained by that. Herr Von Neurath supported my argument, and the Fuehrer agreed and said we should call the Duce by telephone. Attolico, who waited outside, did that immediately, whereupon Mussolini called the Fuehrer officially and matters were agreed and Munich decided upon as the place. Late in the afternoon I was informed by the Italian Embassy that both the British Prime Minister and the French Prime Minister had agreed to arrive at Munich the next day. 292 14 March 46 I asked the Fuehrer, or rather, I told him, that under all circumstances I would go along. He agreed. Then I suggested that I could also take Herr Von Neurath with me in my train. He agreed to that also. I took part in some of the discussions and, when necessary, contributed to the settlement of many arguments and, above all, did my best to create a friendly atmosphere on all sides. I had personal conversations with M. Daladier and Mr. Chamberlain, and I was sincerely happy afterwards that everything had gone well. DR. STAHMER: Before that, the Anschluss of Austria with Germany had taken place. What reasons did Hitler have for that decision, and to what extent did you play a part in those measures? Goering: I told the Tribunal yesterday, when I gave a brief outline of my life, that I personally felt a great affinity for Austria; that I had spent the greater part of my youth in an Austrian castle; that my father, even at the time of the old empire, often spoke of a close bond between the future of the German motherland of Austria and the Reich, for he was convinced that the Austrian Empire would not hold together much longer. In 1918 while in Austria for 2 days, having come by plane, I saw the revolution and the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire take place. Those countries, with a predominantly German population, including Sudeten Germany, convened at that time in Vienna in the Parliament. They declared themselves free of the dissolved Hapsburg State and declared, including the representatives of Sudeten Germany, Austria to be a part of the German Reich. This happened, as far as I know, under the Social Democratic Chancellor, Renner. This statement by the representatives of the Austrian-German people that they wanted to be a part of Germany in the future was changed by the peace treaty of St. Germain and prohibited by the dictate of the victorious nations. Neither for myself nor for any other German was that of importance. The moment and the basic conditions had of course to be created for a union of the two brother nations of purely German blood and origin to take place. When we came to power, as I have said before, this was naturally an integral part of German policy. The assurances which Hitler gave at that time regarding the sovereignty of Austria were no deception; they were meant seriously. At first he probably did not see any possibility. I myself was much more radical in this direction and I asked him repeatedly not to make any definite commitments regarding the Austrian question. He believed, however, that he had first of all to take Italy into consideration. It was evident, especially after the National Socialist Party in Germany had come to power, that the National Socialist Party in 293 14 March 46 Austria was also growing more and more. This party, however, had existed in Austria even before the seizure of power in Germany, just as the origin of the National Socialist Workers Party goes back to Sudeten Germany. The Party in Austria was therefore not a Fifth Column for the Anschluss, because the Austrian people themselves originally wanted and always wanted the Anschluss. If the idea of the Anschluss did not figure so clearly and strongly in the Austrian Government of that time, it was not because it did not want to be joined to Germany, but because the National Socialist form of government was not compatible in any way with the form of government in Austria at that time. Thus there resulted that tension, first in Austria itself, which has repeatedly been mentioned by the Prosecution in its charges. This tension was bound to come because the National Socialists took the idea of the Anschluss with Germany more seriously than the Govermnent did. This resulted in political strife between the two. That we were on the side of the National Socialists as far as our sympathies were concerned is obvious, particularly as the Party in Austria was severely persecuted. Many were put into camps, which were just like concentration camps but had different names. At a certain time the leader of the Austrian Party was a man by the name of Habicht from Wiesbaden. I did not know him before; I saw him only once there. He falsely led the Fuehrer to believe, before the so-called Dollfuss case, that the Austrian armed forces were prepared to undertake something independently in order to force the government to accept the Anschluss, or else they would overthrow it. If this were the case, that the Party in Austria was to support whatever the armed forces undertook along those lines, then, so the Fuehrer thought, it should have the political support of the Party in Germany in this matter. But the whole thing was actually a deception, as it was not the Austrian Army which intended to proceed against the Austrian Government but rather a so-called "Wehrmacht Standarte," a unit which consisted of former members, and released or discharged members, of the Austrian Army who had gone over to the Party or joined it. With this deceptive maneuver Habicht then undertook this action in Vienna. I was in Bayreuth with the Fuehrer at the time. The Fuehrer called Habicht at once and reproached him most severely and said that he had falsely informed him, tricked him and deceived him. He regretted the death of Dollfuss: very much because politically that meant a very serious situation as far as the National Socialists were concerned, and particularly with regard to Italy. Italy mobilized five divisions at that time and sent them to the Brenner Pass. The 294 14 March 46 Fuehrer desired an appeasement which would be quick and as sweeping in its effect as possible. That was the reason why he asked Herr Von Papen to go as an extraordinary ambassador to Vienna and to work for an easing of the atmosphere as quickly as possible. One must not forget the somewhat absurd situation which had developed in the course of years, namely, that a purely German country such as Austria was not most strongly influenced in governmental matters by the German Reich but by the Italian Government. I remember that statement of Mr. Churchill's, that Austria was practically an affiliate of Italy. After the action against Dollfuss, Italy assumed a very standoffish attitude toward Germany and made it clear that Italy would be the country which would do everything to prevent the Anschluss. Therefore, besides the internal clearing up of Germany's relations with Austria by Herr Von Papen, the Fuehrer also tried to bring about a change in Mussolini's attitude to this question. For this reason he went to Venice shortly afterwards -- maybe it was before -- at any rate he tried to bring about a different attitude. But I was of the opinion that in spite of everything we may have had in common, let us say in a philosophic sense -- fascism and National Socialism -- the Anschluss of our brother people was much more important to me than this coming to an agreement. And if it were not possible to do it with Mussolini, we should have to do it against him. Then came the Italian-Abyssinian war. With regard to the sanctions against Italy, Germany was given to understand, not openly but quite clearly, that it would be to her advantage, as far as the Austrian question was concerned, to take part in these sanctions. That was a difficult decision for the Fuehrer to make, to declare himself out and out against Italy and to achieve the Anschluss by these means or to bind himself by obligation to Italy by means of a pro-Italian or correct attitude and thus to exclude Italy's opposition to the Anschluss. I suggested to him at that time, in view of the somewhat vague offer regarding Austria made by English-French circles, to try and find out who was behind this offer and whether both governments were willing to come to an agreementin regard to this point and to give assurances to the effect that this would be considered an internal German affair, and not some vague assurances of general co-operation, et cetera. My suspicions proved right; we could not get any definite assurances. Under those circumstances, it was more expedient for us to prevent Italy being the main opponent to the Anschluss by not joining in any sanctions against her. I was still of the opinion that the great national interest of the union of these German peoples stood above all considerations 295 14 March 46 regarding the differences between the two present governments. For this to happen it could not be expected that the government of the great German Reich should resign and that Germany should perhaps be annexed to Austria; rather the Anschluss would have to be carried through sooner or later. Then came the Berchtesgaden agreement. I was not present at this. I did not even consent to this agreement, because I opposed any definite statement which lengthened this period of indecision; for me the complete union of all Germans was the only conceivable solution. Shortly after Berchtesgaden there was the plebiscite which the then Chancellor Schuschnigg had called. This plebiscite was of itself an impossibility, a breach of the Berchtesgaden agreement. This I shall pass over, but the way in which this plebiscite was supposed to take place was unique in history. One could vote only by "yes," every person could vote as often as he wanted, five times, six times, seven times. If he tore up the slip of paper, that was counted as "yes," and so on. It has no further interest. In this way it could be seen from the very beginning that if only a few followers of the Schuschnigg system utilized these opportunities sufficiently the result could be only a positive majority for Herr Schuschnigg. That whole thing was a farce. We opposed that. First of all a member of the Austrian Government who was at that moment in Germany, General Von Glaise-Horstenau, was flown to Vienna in order to make clear to Schuschnigg or Seyss-Inquart -- who, since Berchtesgaden, was in Schuschnigg's Cabinet -- that Germany would never tolerate this provocation. At the same time troops which were stationed near the Austrian border were on the alert. That was on Friday, I believe, the 11th. On that day I was in the Reich Chancellery, alone with the Fuehrer in his room. I heard by telephone the news that Glaise-Horstenau had arrived and made our demands known clearly and unmistakably, and that these things were now being discussed. Then, as far as I remember, the answer came that the plebiscite had been called off and that Schuschnigg had agreed to it. At this moment I had the instinctive feeling that the situation was now mobile and that now, finally, that possibility which we had long and ardently awaited was there -- the possibility of bringing about a complete solution. And from this moment on I must take 100 percent responsibility for all further happenings, because it was not the Fuehrer so much as I myself who set the pace and, even overruling the Fuehrer's misgivings, brought everything to its final development. My telephone conversations have been read here. I demanded spontaneously, without actually having first spoken to the Fuehrer about it, the immediate retirement of Chancellor Schuschnigg. When 296 14 March 46 this was granted, I put my next demand, that now everything was ripe for the Anschluss. And that took place, as is known. The only thing -- and I do not say this because it is important as far as my responsibility is concerned -- which I did not bring about personally, since I did not know the persons involved, but which has been brought forward by the Prosecution in the last few days, was the following: I sent through a list of ministers, that is to say, I named those persons who would be considered by us desirable as members of an Austrian Government for the time being. I knew Seyss-Inquart, and it was clear to me from the verk beginning that he should get the Chancellorship. Then I named Kaltenbrunner for Security. I did not know Kaltenbrunner, and that is one of the two instances where the Fuehrer took a hand by giving me a few names. Also, by the way, I gave the name of Fischbock for the Ministry of Economy without knowing him. The only one whom I personally brought into this Cabinet was my brother-in-law, Dr. Hueber, as Minister of Justice, but not because he was my brother-in-law, for he had already been Austrian Minister of Justice in the Cabinet of Prelate Seipel. He was not a member of the Party at that time, but he came from the ranks of the Heimwehr and it was important for me to have in the Cabinet also a representative of that group, with whom we had at first made common cause, but then opposed. I wanted to be sure of my influence on this person, so that everything would now actually develop towards a total Anschluss. For already plans had again appeared in which the Fuehrer only, as the head of the German Reich, should be simultaneously the head of German Austria; there would otherwise be a separation. That I considered intolerable. The hour had come and we should make the best use of it. In the conversation which I had with Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop, who was in London at that time, I pointed out that the ultimatum had not been presented by us but by Seyss-Inquart. That was absolutely true de jure; de facto, of course it was my wish. But this telephone conversation was being listened to by the English, and I had to conduct a diplomatic conversation, and I have never heard yet that diplomats in such cases say how matters are de facto; rather they always stress how they are de jure. And why should I make a possible exception here? In this telephone conversation I demanded of Herr Von Ribbentrop that he ask the British Government to name British persons in whom they had the fullest confidence. I would make all arrangements so that these persons could travel around Austria everywhere in order to see for themselves that the Austrian people in an overwhelming majority wanted this Anschluss and greeted it with enthusiasm. Here, during the discussion of the Austrian question no mention was made of the fact 297 14 March 46 that already -- this conversation took place on a Friday -- the Sunday before in Styria, one of the most important parts of the hereditary countries, an internal partial Anschluss had practically taken place, and that the population there had already declared itself in favor of the Anschluss and had more or less severed its ties with the Viennese Government. DR. STAHMER: I have had handed to you a record of that conversation. It has been put in by the Prosecution. One part of it has not been read into the record yet, but you have given its contents. Would you please look at it? Goering: Yes; I attach importance to having only those passages in this document read in which I refer to the fact that I considered it important that the English Government should send to Austria as soon as possible people in whom they had confidence, in order that they might see for themselves the actual state of affairs; and secondly, those passages in which I refer to the fact that we were going to, hold a plebiscite according to the Charter of the Saar Plebiscite and that, whatever the result might be, we should acknowledge it. I could promise that all the more, as it was personally known to me and quite clear that an overwhelming majority would vote in favor of the Anschluss. Now I come to the decisive part concerning the entry of the troops. That was the second point where the Fuehrer interfered and we were not of the same opinion. The Fuehrer wanted the reasons for the march into Austria to be a request by the new Government of Seyss-Inquart, that is the government desired by us -- that they should ask for the troops in order to maintain order in the country. I was against this, not against the march into Austria -- I was for the march under all circumstances -- against only the reasons to be given. Here there was a difference of opinion. Certainly there might be disturbances at one place, namely Vienna and Wiener-Neustadt, because some of the Austrian Marxists, who once before had started an armed uprising, were actually armed. That, however, was not of such decisive importance. It was rather of the greatest importance that German troops should march into Austria immediately in sufficient numbers to stave off any desire on the part of a neighboring country to inherit even a single Austrian village on this occasion. I should like to emphasize that at that time Mussolini's attitude to the Austrian question had not yet crystallized, although I had worked on him the year before to that end. The Italians were still looking with longing eyes at eastern Tyrol. The five divisions along the Brenner Pass I had not forgotten. The Hungarians talked too much about the Burgenland. The Yugoslavs once mentioned something about Carinthia, but I believe that I made it clear to them at the time that that was absurd. So to prevent the fulfillment of 298 14 March 46 these hopes once and for all, which might easily happen in such circumstances, I very definitely wanted the German troops to march into Austria proclaiming: "The Anschluss has taken place; Austria is a part of Germany and therefore in its entirety automatically and completely under the protection of the German Reich and its Armed Forces." The Fuehrer did not want to have such a striking demonstration of foreign policy, and finally asked me to inform Seyss-Inquart to send a telegram to that effect. The fact that we were in agreement about the decisive point, the march into Austria, helps explain the telephone conversation in which I told Seyss-Inquart that he need not send a telegram, that he could do it by telephone; that would be sufficient. That was the reason. Mussolini's consent did not come until 11:30 at night. It is well known what a relief that was for the Fuehrer. In the evening of the same day, after everything had become clear, and the outcome could be seen in advance, I went to the Flieger Club, where I had been invited several weeks before, to a ball. I mention this because here that too has been described as a deceptive maneuver. But that invitation had been sent out, I believe, even before the Berchtesgaden conference took place. There I met almost all the diplomats. I immediately took Sir Nevile Henderson, the British Ambassador, aside. I spoke to him for 2 hours and gave him all the reasons and explained everything, and also asked him to tell me -- the same question which I later asked Ribbentrop -- what nation in the whole world was damaged in any way by our union with Austria? From whom had we taken anything, and whom had we harmed? I said that this was an absolute restitution, that both parts had belonged together in the German
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	29	https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/nuremberg_article_01.shtml	en	World Wars: Nuremberg: Nazis On Trial	http://www.bbc.co.uk/favicon.ico	http://www.bbc.co.uk/favicon.ico	[ "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/2e00d1d53e9c3bd91993196aa19a1d88589969f0.png", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/d68ff7988241ca1b8053f75cdae5f3fcc65f6a6e.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/ae2d03c4b6c49d6e2cdf8ab4470c306ebf77f785.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/f08ca2f37831a38bb8671b114324c3a8316b00c9.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/2a2951bc55e140bd1b5a2fc5e15b72e88501b8c4.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/b83623508ad5dc6b7d615989b4b3e89cd6946136.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/d1d0b631292a97387706beece67a69e09cc02e46.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/9b1760771dcda419dea0ffa09da7bd9e3b0040cf.jpg", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/a8e42f8fe987b7cc9bf2d43b74b2c74b2448d2e3.png", "https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/56d45f8a17f5078a20af9962c992ca4678450765.gif" ]	[]	[]	[ "history", "nuremberg", "trials", "nazi", "hitler", "holocaust" ]	null	[]	2006-09-19T00:00:00	Discover how the Allies sought to bring the Nazis to justice.	en	http://www.bbc.co.uk/favicon.ico		null	The Nuremberg trial In November 1945, in the German city of Nuremberg, the victors of the World War Two began the first international war crimes trial. The choice of the city was significant for it was here that the National Socialist Party held its annual rallies. Adolf Hitler intended it to be rebuilt as the 'party city'. Now many of the leaders of the party were on trial for their lives, only a short distance from the grand arena where they had been fêted by the German people. The 21 defendants came from very different backgrounds. Some, like Hitler's chosen successor Hermann Goering, were senior politicians - their responsibility clear. Others were there because senior party leaders Heinrich Himmler, head of the feared SS, and Joseph Goebbels, head of propaganda - had killed themselves rather than face capture and trial.Their deputies or juniors stood on trial instead of them. But most of them were regarded by the western public, rightly or wrongly, as key playmakers in a system that had brought war to Europe and cost the lives of 50 million people. This catalogue of sin was difficult for many of the defendants to come to terms with. The charges laid at their door were extraordinary. They were collectively accused of conspiring to wage war, and committing crimes against peace, crimes against humanity (including the newly defined crime of genocide) and war crimes in the ordinary sense (abuse and murder of prisoners, killing of civilians and so on). This catalogue of sin was difficult for many of the defendants to come to terms with. One of them, Robert Ley, best known for his role as head of the 'Strength through Joy' movement, which masterminded the Volkswagen car, hanged himself in his cell a few weeks before the trial started, so shamed was he by the accusations of crime. Ley's suicide was the most extreme example of the many ways the defendants responded to the trial. The reaction of the others covered a very wide spectrum, from confident defiance to full admission of responsibility. In the case of Rudolf Hess, Hitler's former deputy, the reality was almost complete memory loss. Two prisoners in particular came to represent opposite poles in their reaction to the trials and the accusation of massive crimes. Hermann Goering, the man Hitler chose as his successor in the 1930s and the most flamboyant and ambitious of the party hierarchy, prepared to defend Hitler and the Reich's war policy rather than admit that what had been done was criminal. On the other hand Albert Speer, the youthful architect who rose to run Germany's armaments effort during the war, accepted from the start the collective responsibility of the defendants for the crimes of which they were accused and tried to distance himself from Hitler's ghostly presence at the tribunal. Hermann Goering: 'Prisoner Number One' Goering was captured shortly after the end of the war with large quantities of his looted artworks. He thought he could negotiate with the Allies as Germany's most senior politician, but he found himself under arrest, stripped of everything, and held in an improvised prison camp before his transfer to Nuremberg to stand trial. He was a big personality in every sense. The guards nicknamed him 'Fat Stuff' and bantered with him. He was charming, aloof and confident, and from the start was determined to dominate the other prisoners and make them follow his line of defence. Goering insisted that everything that they had done was the result of their German patriotism. To defy the court was to protect Germany's reputation and to maintain their loyalty to their dead leader. From the start Goering was determined to dominate the other prisoners and make them follow his line of defence. With the start of the trial, Goering assumed at once the informal role as leader and spokesman for the whole cohort of prisoners. He was given the most prominent position in the dock. When it came to his cross-examination he prepared carefully and in the opening exchanges with the American chief prosecutor Robert Jackson he emerged an easy winner. So frustrated did Jackson become with Goering's clever, mocking but evasive responses that at the end of the session he threw down the headphones he had been wearing to hear the translated answers and refused to continue. 'If you all handle yourselves half as well as I did,' Goering boasted to the other prisoners, 'you will do all right.' Only after his cross-examination by the more experienced British barrister, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, was Goering at last cut down to size. For the prosecution teams, Goering's domineering role among the prisoner body posed a problem. In mid-February 1946, on the recommendation of the psychologist who monitored prisoner behaviour, Goering was forced to exercise and take his meals on his own. His isolation allowed the other prisoners to talk freely to each other and in the courtroom. The united front that Goering wanted soon collapsed. During the long summer months, when he had to listen to the catalogue of crimes and atrocities laid at the door of the system he had served, he became less confident. But he maintained his loyalty to Hitler until the very end, when he finally confessed to the prison psychologist his realisation that in the eyes of the German people Hitler had 'condemned himself'. Goering was found guilty on all the charges laid against him and condemned to death. He regarded the whole trial as simply a case of victors' justice and had not expected to escape with his life. At the very end he cheated his captors. On 14 October 1946, the night before he was to be executed, he committed suicide with a phial of cyanide either hidden in his cell or smuggled in by a sympathetic guard. Albert Speer: The 'Decent Nazi' Speer was the opposite of Goering in almost every respect. Tall, conventionally good-looking, capable of a quiet charm, he impressed his captors and interrogators more than any of the other prisoners. For some time he had not expected to be one of the major war criminals. From the start he posed as an efficient and helpful technocrat, willing to give detailed information quite voluntarily on German weapons, economic performance and strategy. He was held separately from the other war criminals and was transferred to Nuremberg only in the autumn when it was clear that he was one of those chosen for trial. Despite the reservations of his defence lawyer, Speer decided that his best defence was to admit his share of collective responsibility for the crimes of the regime and to distance himself from Hitler, a man who Speer freely admitted had once held him in thrall like all the rest. At the same time in his interrogations and cross-examinations, he seldom expressed his individual guilt. He succeeded in presenting himself as part of the system, but not a driving force. Just before the trial opened he sent a four-page letter to Robert Jackson reminding him again of just how useful he had been as a source of intelligence and technical information since his capture. He posed as an efficient and helpful technocrat, willing to give detailed information quite voluntarily. Speer was bound to clash with Goering. He resented Goering's efforts to dominate the prisoners and to dictate the course of their defence. When Goering was separated from the other prisoners in February, Speer was free to talk openly with them about the crimes of the regime. The others did not all share his candour, any more than they shared Goering's ebullience, but for the rest of the trial period the cohort of prisoners divided into small groups rather than presenting a united front. Speer added to the division when he dramatically revealed early in the trial that at the very end of the war he had tried to find a way to assassinate Hitler by pouring poison gas into his underground bunker. The plot was abortive, but it again presented Speer to the prosecution as someone different from the rest of the defendants. When Speer was cross-examined he got off more lightly than others. At the end of the trial, even though he had been responsible for the mass exploitation of forced foreign labour, he was given a 20-year sentence. The man who supplied the labour, Fritz Sauckel, was executed. The Speer story has remained an enigma. No doubt he benefited from his pose as a technical manager (whose social background was not very different from those who were trying him) and from his willingness to confess responsibility. The extent to which he manipulated his story to win sympathy or genuinely believed that the regime he served was criminal is still open to conjecture. The Forgetful Rudolf Hess The most bizarre choice to stand trial was Hitler's deputy and head of the party chancellery, Rudolf Hess. There was no doubt that he had been a key figure in organising and running the party in the 1920s and early 1930s. He it was who took down the dictated draft of Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'. But from the mid-1930s he became a more marginal political figure - 'one of the great cranks of the Third Reich', in the words of Speer. In May 1941 - apparently anxious at his loss of favour with Hitler and pre-occupied with the dangers of the impending two-front war which would follow Germany's attack on the USSR scheduled for June - Hess took a plane and flew it to Scotland. Here he was captured by the British, interrogated and put in an institution. He became increasingly paranoid and eventually descended into long periods of self-induced hysterical amnesia. Hess spent his time in court reading, occasionally laughing and disregarding the process around him. It was in this state of almost complete forgetfulness that Hess was eventually flown to Nuremberg in October 1945 at the insistence of the Soviets, who had been puzzled and distrustful about what Hess had been doing in Britain for four years. It became clear that a decision had to be taken about whether he was fit to plead. A panel of medical and psychiatric experts was recruited and finally recommended on 29 November, more than a week after the trial had started, that Hess was fit to plead. The following day, to the shock of the court, Hess suddenly stood up apparently lucid at last and announced: 'My memory is in order again.' Hess retained his lucidity for a few weeks, but with partial memory loss. He then relapsed into complete amnesia again and spent his time in court reading, occasionally laughing and disregarding the process around him. In a conventional criminal court he would have been deemed to be of unsound mind, but the Allies were worried about the effect it might have on the public perception of the trial if Hess were removed. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, though he pretended not to hear or understand the judgement. He committed suicide in Spandau prison, Berlin, in 1987. Goering, Speer and Hess represented extreme responses to the trial at Nuremberg, but they all shared with the others in the dock some degree of responsibility. In Goering's case a very great one for the programme of oppression, war and genocide on which Hitler's regime embarked from its inauguration in 1933. This did not make them criminals in the ordinary sense, and for many of the offences for which they were tried there was as yet no body of internationally agreed law. They were indicted for the most part under retrospective law. But over the following years conventions on the laws of war, genocide and human rights were signed which embodied much of the 'law' made up at Nuremberg. Those legal instruments have not safeguarded innocent populations from violation over the last 60 years, but thanks to Nuremberg there is at least a proper understanding of what violation means, even if the international community still lacks an entirely effective means of punishing it. About the author Richard Overy is professor of history at the University of Exeter. His publications include Russia's War (1998) , The Battle (2000) and Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands (2001). For a lifetime's contribution to military history, Professor Overy was awarded the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize by the Society for Military History in 2001.
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He was condemned to hang as a war criminal by the International Military Tribunal at Nurnberg in 1946 but took poison instead and died the night his execution was ordered.	en	/favicon.png	Encyclopedia Britannica	https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hermann-Goring	Hermann Göring (born January 12, 1893, Rosenheim, Germany—died October 15, 1946, Nürnberg) was a leader of the Nazi Party and one of the primary architects of the Nazi police state in Germany. He was condemned to hang as a war criminal by the International Military Tribunal at Nürnberg in 1946 but took poison instead and died the night his execution was ordered. Göring was born in Bavaria, the second son by the second wife of Heinrich Ernst Göring, at the time German consul general in Haiti. The family was reunited in Germany on the father’s retirement in 1896. Göring was brought up near Nürnberg, in the small castle of Veldenstein, whose owner was Hermann, Ritter (knight) von Epenstein, a Jew who was until 1913 the lover of Göring’s mother and the godfather of her children. Trained for an army career, Göring received his commission in 1912 and served with distinction during World War I, joining the embryonic air force. In 1918 he became commander of the celebrated squadron in which the great German aviator Manfred, Freiherr (baron) von Richthofen, had served. Göring so deeply resented the treatment given army officers by the civilian population during the troubled period after Germany’s capitulation that he left the country. After a period as a commercial pilot in Denmark and Sweden, he met the Swedish baroness Carin von Kantzow, who divorced her husband and married Göring in Munich on February 3, 1923. Britannica Quiz Pop Quiz: 17 Things to Know About World War II Göring had met Adolf Hitler in 1921 and joined the small National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party late in 1922. As a former officer, he was given command of Hitler’s Storm Troopers (the SA, Sturmabteilung). Göring took part in the abortive Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923, in which Hitler tried to seize power prematurely. During the putsch, Göring was badly wounded in the groin. His arrest was ordered, but he escaped with his wife into Austria. Given morphine to deaden the pain from his wounds, he became so severely addicted that he twice underwent treatment in 1925–26 at the Långbro mental hospital in Sweden. In 1927 he returned to Germany, where his contacts in German industry proved useful, and he was taken back into the party leadership. He occupied 1 of the 12 Reichstag seats that the Nazi Party won in the 1928 election. Thereafter Göring became the acknowledged party leader in the lower house, and, when the Nazis won 230 seats in the election of July 1932, he was elected president of the Reichstag. Göring’s sole concern in the Reichstag was to stultify the democratic system, which the Reichstag ostensibly represented up to March 1933. He had the ear of the 84-year-old president of the Weimar Republic, Paul von Hindenburg, and used his position to outmaneuver the successive chancellors, particularly Kurt von Schleicher and Franz von Papen, until Hindenburg was finally forced to invite Hitler to become chancellor on January 30, 1933. The battle for dictatorial power, however, was still not won; between January 30 and March 23, when an enabling bill giving Hitler his dictatorial powers was passed, Göring was tirelessly active. He used his new position as minister of the interior in Prussia, Germany’s largest and most influential state, to Nazify the Prussian police and establish the Gestapo, or secret political police. He also established concentration camps for the “corrective treatment” of difficult opponents. The Reichstag fire of February 27, 1933, which the Nazis most probably instigated, made it possible for Göring to accuse the Communist Party of intending a coup d’état. The wholesale arrest of Communist and even some Social Democrat deputies succeeded in removing any effective opposition to the passage the following month of the Enabling Act. Göring’s position as Hitler’s most loyal supporter remained unassailable for the rest of the decade. He collected offices of state almost at will. He was Reich commissioner for aviation and head of the newly developed Luftwaffe, the German air force, which was disguised as a civilian enterprise until March 1935. In 1933 he became Master of the German Hunt and of the German Forests. In June 1934 he took a leading part in the party’s purge of the SA leader Ernst Röhm but in the same year ceded his position as security chief to Heinrich Himmler, thus ridding himself of responsibility for the Gestapo and the concentration camps. In 1937 he displaced Hjalmar Schacht, who after 1934 had been Hitler’s minister for economic affairs; in 1936, without consulting Schacht, Hitler had made Göring commissioner for his Four-Year Plan for the war economy. Göring was also constantly employed as Hitler’s roving ambassador. Göring was the most popular of the Nazi leaders, not only with the German people but also with the ambassadors and diplomats of foreign powers. He used his impregnable position to enrich himself. The more ruthless aspect of his nature was shown in the recorded telephone conversation by means of which he blackmailed the surrender of Austria before the Anschluss (political union) with Germany in 1938. It was Göring who led the economic despoliation of the Jews in Germany and in the various territories that fell under Hitler’s power. Göring’s first wife had died in 1931, and on April 10, 1935, he married the actress Emmy Sonnemann. Göring was devoted in turn to each of his wives. His hunting interests enabled him to obtain a vast forest estate in the Schorfheide, north of Berlin, where from 1933 he developed a great baronial establishment on a scale commensurate with his ambitions. This he called Carinhall in honour of his first wife. It was at Carinhall that he kept the greater part of his enormous art collection. On June 2, 1938, Emmy bore him a daughter, his only child, Edda. Although Göring was probably sincere in his desire to avert or postpone war—as his abortive negotiations in 1939 with the Swedish industrialist Birger Dahlerus indicate—it was his Luftwaffe that helped conduct the blitzkrieg that smashed Polish resistance and weakened country after country as Hitler’s campaigns progressed. But Göring’s self-indulgent nature was too weak to sustain the rigours of war or to oppose Hitler’s blind prejudice in favour of the production of bombers rather than fighter planes. The Luftwaffe’s capacity for defense declined as Hitler’s battlefronts extended from northern Europe to the Mediterranean and North Africa, and Göring lost face when the Luftwaffe failed to win the Battle of Britain or to prevent the Allied bombing of Germany. On the plea of ill health, Göring retired as much as Hitler would let him into private life among the luxuries of Carinhall, where he continued to amass his art collection (further enriched with spoils from the Jewish collections in the occupied countries) and to receive many gifts from those who sought his favour. His colossal girth was more the result of glandular defect than of gluttony, but his excessive resort to paracodeine tablets (a mild derivative from morphine) poisoned his system and made recurrent treatment for drug addiction necessary. His addiction helped to make him alternately elated and depressed; he was egocentric and bombastic, delighting in flamboyant clothes and uniforms, decorations, and exhibitionist jewelry. Hitler was blind to Göring’s faults and maintained a close association with him. In 1939 Hitler declared him his successor and in 1940 gave him the special rank of Reichsmarschall des Grossdeutschen Reiches (“Marshal of the Empire”). The other Nazi leaders both resented his favoured position and despised his self-indulgence, but Hitler did not displace him until the last days of the war, when, in accordance with the decrees of 1939, Göring attempted to assume the Führer’s powers, believing him to be encircled and helpless in Berlin. Nevertheless, Göring expected to be treated as a plenipotentiary when, after Hitler’s suicide, he surrendered himself to the Americans.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	47	https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hermann_Goering	en	New World Encyclopedia	https://www.newworldency…avicon-32x32.png	https://www.newworldency…avicon-32x32.png	[ "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/images/nwe_header.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/9/96/Hermann_Goering_-_Nuremberg2.jpg/250px-Hermann_Goering_-_Nuremberg2.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/7/71/Uniform_von_H_Goering.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/2/2c/Carta_G%C3%B6ring.JPG/270px-Carta_G%C3%B6ring.JPG", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/3/30/G%C3%B6ering_weapon_and_baton.jpg/300px-G%C3%B6ering_weapon_and_baton.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/8/8d/Nuremberg-1-.jpg/250px-Nuremberg-1-.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/d/da/Musee-de-lArmee-IMG_1056.jpg/120px-Musee-de-lArmee-IMG_1056.jpg", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/3/39/Commons-logo.png/50px-Commons-logo.png", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/1/1a/Wikiquote-logo-en.png/50px-Wikiquote-logo-en.png", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/f/fd/Reichsadler.svg/40px-Reichsadler.svg.png", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/images/thumb/0/00/Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_K%C3%B6nigreich_Preussen_%28Mittleres%29.jpg/80px-Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_K%C3%B6nigreich_Preussen_%28Mittleres%29.jpg", "https://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/skins/common/images/Cc.logo.circle.png", "https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki_88x31.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null		en	https://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/favicon.ico		https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hermann_Goering	Hermann Wilhelm Göring President of the Reichstag In office 1932 – 1945 President Paul von Hindenburg Adolf Hitler Preceded by Paul Löbe Succeeded by none Minister President of the Free State of Prussia In office April 10, 1933 – April 24, 1945 Preceded by Franz von Papen Succeeded by Prussia abolished Reichsstatthalter of Prussia In office 1935 – 1945 Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Adolf Hitler Succeeded by Prussia abolished Reich Minister of Aviation In office April 1933 – April 1945 President Paul von Hindenburg Adolf Hitler Preceded by Position established Succeeded by N/A Reich Minister of Forestry In office July 1934 – April 1945 President Paul von Hindenburg Adolf Hitler Preceded by Position established Succeeded by N/A Reich Minister of Economics In office November 1937 – January 1938 President Adolf Hitler Preceded by Hjalmar Schacht Succeeded by Walther Funk Born January 12, 1893 Rosenheim, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire Died October 15, 1946 (aged 53) Nuremberg, Germany Political party NSDAP Spouse Karin von Kantznow (1923–1931, deceased) Emmy Sonnemann (1935–1946) Children 4 Hermann Wilhelm Göring (also spelled Goering) (January 12, 1893 – October 15, 1946) was a German politician, military leader and a leading member of the Nazi Party. Among many offices, he was Hitler's designated successor and commander of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). He was a veteran of the First World War with twenty-two confirmed kills as a fighter pilot, and recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite ("The Blue Max"). He was the last commander of Manfred von Richthofen's famous Jagdgeschwader 1 air squadron (Red Baron). Goering was one of the central figures in the Nazi regime that was responsible for some of the worst atrocities committed in the twentieth century, including but not limited to the Holocaust. Following the end of the Second World War, Göring was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials. He was sentenced to death by hanging, but committed suicide the night before he was due to be hanged. Family background and relatives Göring was born at the sanatorium Marienbad in Rosenheim, Bavaria. His father Heinrich Ernst Göring (October 31, 1839 – December 7, 1913) had been the first Governor-General of the German protectorate of South West Africa (modern day Namibia)[1] having formerly served as a cavalry officer and member of the German consular service. Göring had among his patrilineal ancestors Eberle/Eberlin, a Swiss-German family of high bourgeoisie. Göring was a relative of such Eberle/Eberlin descendants as the German aviation pioneer Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin; German romantic nationalist Hermann Grimm (1828–1901), an author of the concept of the German hero as a mover of history, whom the Nazis claimed as one of their ideological forerunners; the industrialist family Merck, the owners of the pharmaceutical giant Merck; one of the world's major Catholic writers and poets of the 20th century German Baroness Gertrud von LeFort, whose works were largely inspired by her revulsion against Nazism; and Swiss diplomat, historian and President of International Red Cross, Carl J. Burckhardt. In an historical coincidence, Göring was related via the Eberle/Eberlin line to Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897), a great Swiss scholar of art and culture who was a major political and social thinker as well an opponent of nationalism and militarism, who rejected German claims of cultural and intellectual superiority and predicted a cataclysmic 20th century in which violent demagogues, whom he called "terrible simplifiers," would play central roles.[2] Göring's mother Franziska "Fanny" Tiefenbrunn (1859 - July 15, 1923) came from a Bavarian peasant family. The marriage of a gentleman to a woman from lower class (1885) occurred only because Heinrich Ernst Göring was a widower. Hermann Göring was one of five children; his brothers were Albert Göring and Karl Ernst Göring, and his sisters were Olga Therese Sophia Goring and Paula Elisabeth Rosa Göring, the last of whom were from his father's first marriage.[3] While anti-Semitism became rampant in Germany of that time, his parents were not anti-Semitic. Hermann Göring had an older brother Karl Goring, who migrated to the United States. Karl's son, Werner G. Göring, became a Captain in the Army Air Force and piloted B-17s on bombing missions over Europe. Göring's younger brother Albert Göring was opposed to the Nazi regime, and helped Jews and other dissidents in Germany during the Nazi era. He is said to have forged his brother Hermann's signature on transit papers to enable escapes, among other acts. Early life and Ritter von Epenstein Göring later claimed his given name was chosen to honor the Arminius who defeated the legions of Rome at Teutoburg Forest. However the name was possibly to honor his godfather, a Christian of Jewish descent[4] born Hermann Epenstein. Epenstein, whose father was an army surgeon in Berlin, became a wealthy physician and businessman and a major if not paternal influence on Göring's childhood. Much of Hermann's very early childhood, including a lengthy separation from his parents when his father took diplomatic posts in Africa and in Haiti (climates ruled too brutal for a young European child), was spent with governesses and with distant relatives. However, upon Heinrich Göring's retirement ca. 1898 his large family, supported solely on Heinrich's civil service pension, became for financially practical reasons the houseguests of their longtime friend and Göring's probable namesake, a man whose minor title (acquired through service and donation to the Crown) made him now known as Hermann, Ritter von Epenstein. Ritter von Epenstein purchased two largely dilapidated castles, Burg Veldenstein in Bavaria and Schloss Mauterndorf near Salzburg, Austria, whose very expensive restorations were ongoing by the time of Hermann Göring's birth. Both castles were to be residences to the Göring family, their official "caretakers" until 1913. Both castles were also ultimately to be his property. In 1914 he tried to commit suicide; however, he was found by his mother,and was sent to the hospital. He survived after cutting his wrist and was soon sent back home. In 1915 he joined the army and fought in the Battle of the Somme. According to some biographers of both Hermann Göring and his younger brother Albert Göring, soon after the family took residence in his castles, von Epenstein began an adulterous relationship with Frau Göring[5] and may in fact have been Albert's father. (Albert's physical resemblance to von Epenstein was noted even during his childhood and is evident in photographs.) Whatever the nature of von Epenstein's relationship with his mother, the young Hermann Göring enjoyed a close relationship with his godfather. Göring was unaware of von Epenstein's Jewish ancestry and birth until, as a child at a prestigious Austrian boarding school (where his tuition was paid by von Epenstein), he wrote an essay in praise of his godfather and was mocked by the school's anti-Semitic headmaster for professing such admiration for a Jew. Göring initially denied the allegation, but when confronted with proof in the "Semi-Gotha",[6] a book of German heraldry (Ritter von Epenstein had purchased his minor title and castles with wealth garnered from speculation and trade and was thus included in a less than complimentary reference work on German speaking nobility), Göring, to his youthful credit, remained steadfast in his devotion to his family's friend and patron so adamantly that he was expelled from the school. The action seems to have tightened the already considerable bond between godfather and godson. Relations between the Göring family and von Epenstein became far more formal during Göring's adolescence (causing Mosley and other biographers to speculate that perhaps the theorized affair ended naturally or that the elderly Heinrich discovered he was a cuckold and threatened its exposure). By the time of Heinrich Göring's death, the family no longer lived in a residence supplied by or seemed to have much contact at all with von Epenstein (though the family's comfortable circumstances indicate the Ritter may have continued to support them financially). Late in his life, Ritter von Epenstein wed a singer, Lily, who was half his age, bequeathing her his estate in his will, but requesting that she in turn bequeath the castles at Mauterndorf and Veldenstein to his godson Hermann upon her own death. First World War Göring was sent to boarding school at Ansbach, Franconia and then attended the cadet institutes at Karlsruhe and the military college at Berlin Lichterfelde. Göring was commissioned in the Prussian army on 22 June 1912 in the Prinz Wilhelm Regiment (112th Infantry), headquartered at Mulhouse as part of the 29th Division of the Imperial German Army. During the first year of World War I, Göring served with an infantry regiment in the Vosges region. He was hospitalized with Rheumatism resulting from the damp of trench warfare. While he was recovering, his friend Bruno Loerzer convinced him to transfer to the Luftstreitkräfte. Göring's application to transfer was immediately turned down. But later that year Göring flew as Loerzer's observer in Feldflieger Ableilung (FFA) 25; Göring had arranged his own transfer. He was detected and sentenced to three weeks' confinement to barracks. The sentence was never carried out: by the time it was imposed Göring's association with Loerzer had been regularized. They were assigned as a team to the 25th Field Air Detachment of the Crown Prince's Fifth Army–"though it seems that they had to steal a plane in order to qualify."[7] They flew reconnaissance and bombing missions for which the Crown Prince invested both Göring and Loerzer with the Iron Cross, first class. On completing his pilot's training course he was posted back to Feldflieger Ableilung (FFA) 2 in October 1915. Göring had already claimed two air victories as an Observer (one unconfirmed). He gained another flying a Fokker EIII single-seater scout in March 1916. In October 1916 he was posted to Jagdstaffel 5, but was wounded in action in November. In February 1917 he joined Jagdstaffel 26. He now scored steadily until in May 1917 he got his first command, Jasta 27. Serving with Jastas 5, 26 and 27, he claimed 21 air victories. Besides the Iron Cross, he was awarded the Zaehring Lion with swords, the Karl Friedrich Order and the House Order of Hohenzollern with swords, third class, and finally in May 1918 (despite not having the required 25 air victories) the coveted Pour le Mérite.[8] On July 7, 1918, after the death of Wilhelm Reinhard, the successor of The Red Baron, he was made commander of Jagdgeschwader Freiherr von Richthofen, Jagdgeschwader 1. In June 1917, after a lengthy dogfight, Göring shot down an Australian pilot named Frank Slee. The battle is recounted in The Rise and Fall of Hermann Goering. Göring landed and met the Australian, and presented Slee with his Iron Cross. Years after, Slee gave Göring's Iron Cross to a friend, who later died on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Also during the war Göring had through his generous treatment made a friend of his prisoner of war Captain Frank Beaumont, a Royal Flying Corps pilot. "It was part of Goering's creed to admire a good enemy, and he did his best to keep Captain Beaumont from being taken over by the Army."[9] Göring finished the war with twenty-two confirmed kills. Because of his arrogance[10] Göring's appointment as commander of Jagdgeschwader 1 had not been well received. Though after demobilization Göring and his officers spent most of their time during the first weeks of November 1918 in the Stiftskeller, the best restaurant and drinking place in Aschaffenburg,[11] he was the only veteran of Jagdgeschwader 1 never invited to post-war reunions. Göring was genuinely surprised (at least by his own account) at Germany's defeat in the First World War. He felt personally violated by the surrender, the Kaiser's abdication, the humiliating terms, and the supposed treachery of the post-war German politicians who had "goaded the people [to uprising] [and] who [had] stabbed our glorious Army in the back [thinking] of nothing but of attaining power and of enriching themselves at the expense of the people."[12] Ordered to surrender the planes of his squadron to the Allies in December 1918, Göring and his fellow pilots intentionally wrecked the planes on landing. This endeavour paralleled the scuttling of surrendered ships. Typical for the political climate of the day, he was not arrested or even officially reprimanded for his action. Postwar He remained in flying after the war, worked briefly at Fokker, tried "barnstorming," and in 1920 he joined Svenska Lufttrafik. He was also listed on the officer rolls of the Reichswehr, the post-World War I peacetime army of Germany, and by 1933 had risen to the rank of Generalmajor. He was made a Generalleutnant in 1935 and then a General in the Luftwaffe upon its founding later that year. Göring as a veteran pilot was often hired to fly businessmen and others on private aircraft. On a winter's day in 1920 Count Eric von Rosen, a widely-known and intrepid explorer, arrived at an aerodrome in Sweden and requested a flight to his estate at Rockelstad near Sparreholm.[13] It was a short journey by air and as it was snowing it seemed a flight would be the quick way home. The count relished the challenge of flying through snow if a brave enough pilot could be found. With only one or two hours of daylight left, Göring readily agreed to make the journey. After take-off they got lost as the aircraft pitched and plunged over trees and valleys; the count was violently airsick. They finally touched down on the frozen Lake Båven near Rockelstad Castle. It was too late for Göring to go back that day so he accepted the count and countess's invitation to stay overnight at the castle.[14] The medieval castle, with its suits of armor, paintings, hunting relics and exploration trophies was suited to romance. It may have been here that Göring first saw the swastika emblem, a family badge which was set in the chimney piece around the roaring fire.[15] This was also the first time Göring saw his future wife. A great staircase led down into the hall opposite the fireplace. As Göring looked up he saw a woman coming down the staircase as if toward him. The count introduced his sister-in-law Baroness Karin von Kantzow (née Freiin von Fock, 1888–1931) to the 27-year-old Göring.[16] Carin was a tall, maternal, unhappy, sentimental woman five years Göring's senior, estranged from her husband and in delicate health. Göring was immediately smitten with her. Carin's eldest sister and biographer claimed that it was love at first sight. Carin was carefully looked after by her parents as well as by Count and Countess von Rosen. She was also married and had an eight year old son Thomas to whom she was devoted. No romance other than one of courtly love was possible at this point.[17] First marriage Carin divorced her estranged husband, Niels Gustav von Kantzow, in December 1922. She married Göring on 3 January 1923 in Stockholm. Von Kantzow behaved generously. He provided a financial settlement which enabled Carin and Göring to set up their first home together in Germany. It was a hunting lodge at Hochkreuth in the Bavarian Alps, near Bayrischzell, some 50 miles from Munich. Early Nazi Göring joined the Nazi Party in 1922 and took over the SA leadership as the Oberste SA-Führer. After stepping down as SA Commander, he was appointed an SA-Gruppenführer (Lieutenant General) and held this rank on the SA rolls until 1945. Hitler later recalled his early association with Göring thus: I liked him. I made him the head of my S.A. He is the only one of its heads that ran the S.A. properly. I gave him a disheveled rabble. In a very short time he had organized a division of 11,000 men.[18] At this time Carin, who liked Hitler, often played hostess to meetings of leading Nazis including her husband, Hitler, Hess, Rosenberg and Röhm. Göring was with Hitler in the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich on 9 November 1923. He marched beside Hitler at the head of the SA. When the Bavarian police broke up the march with gunfire, Göring was seriously wounded in the groin. Addiction and exile Stricken with pneumonia, Carin arranged for Göring to be spirited away to Austria. Göring was in no fit state to travel and the journey may have aggravated his condition, although he did avoid arrest. Göring was x-rayed and operated on in the hospital at Innsbruck. Carin wrote to her mother from Göring's bedside on December 8, 1923 describing the terrible pain Göring was in: "… in spite of being dosed with morphine every day, his pain stays just as bad as ever."[19] This was the beginning of his morphine addiction. Meanwhile in Munich the authorities declared Göring a wanted man. The Görings, acutely short of funds and reliant on the goodwill of Nazi sympathizers abroad, moved from Austria to Venice then in May 1924 to Rome via Florence and Siena. Göring met Benito Mussolini in Rome. Mussolini expressed some interest in meeting Hitler, by then in prison, upon his release.[20] Personal problems, however, continued to multiply. Göring's mother had died in 1923. By 1925 it was Carin's mother who was ill. The Görings with difficulty raised the money for a journey in spring 1925 to Sweden via Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig. Göring had become a violent morphine addict and Carin's family were shocked by his deterioration when they saw him. Carin, herself an epileptic, had to let the doctors and police take full charge of Göring. He was certified a dangerous drug addict and placed in the violent ward of Långbro asylum on 1 September 1925.[21] The 1925 psychiatrist's reports claimed Göring to be weak of character, a hysteric and unstable personality, sentimental yet callous, violent when afraid and a person who deployed bravado to hide a basic lack of moral courage. "Like many men capable of great acts of physical courage which verge quite often on desperation, he lacked the finer kind of courage in the conduct of his life which was needed when serious difficulties overcame him."[22] At the time of Göring's detention all doctors' reports in Sweden were in the public domain. In 1925, Carin sued for custody of her son. Niels von Kantzow, her ex-husband, used a doctor's report on Carin and Göring as evidence to show that neither of them was fit to look after the boy, and so von Kantzow kept custody. The reports were also used by political opponents in Germany. Politics and Nazi electoral victory Göring returned to Germany in autumn 1927, after the newly elected President von Hindenburg declared amnesty for participants in the 1923 Putsch. Göring resumed his political work for Hitler. He became the 'salon Nazi', the Party's representative in upper class circles. Göring was elected to the Reichstag in 1928. In 1932, he was elected President of the Reichstag, which he remained until 1945. His wife Carin died on October 17, 1931, aged 42, of tuberculosis. Hitler became Chancellor on January 30, 1933, striking a deal with the conservative intriguer Franz von Papen. Only two other Nazis were included in the cabinet. One was Göring, who was named minister without portfolio. It was understood, however, that he would be named minister of aviation once Germany built up an air force. At Hitler's insistence, Göring also was appointed interior minister of Prussia under Papen, who doubled as Vice Chancellor of the Reich and minister-president of Prussia. (Prussia at this time, though a constituent state of Germany, included over half of the country.) Although his appointment as Prussian interior minister was little noticed at the time, it made Göring commander of the largest police force in Germany. He moved quickly to Nazify the police and use them against the Social Democrats and Communists. On February 22, Göring ordered the police to recruit "auxiliaries" from the Nazi party militia, and to cease all opposition to the street violence of the SA. New elections were scheduled for March 5, and Göring's police minions harassed and suppressed political opponents and rivals of the Nazis. He also detached the political and intelligence departments from the Prussian police and reorganized them as the Gestapo, a secret police force. On February 28, 1933, the Reichstag building was gutted by fire. The Reichstag fire was arson, and the Nazis blamed the Communists. Göring himself met Hitler at the fire scene, and denounced it as "a Communist outrage," the first act in a planned uprising. Hitler agreed. The next day, the Reichstag Fire Decree suspended civil liberties. Göring ordered the complete suppression of the Communist party. Most German states banned party meetings and publications, but in Prussia, Göring's police summarily arrested 25,000 Communists and other leftists, including the entire Party leadership, save those that escaped abroad. Hundreds of other prominent anti-Nazis were also rounded up. Göring told the Prussian police that "…all other restraints on police action imposed by Reich and state law are abolished…." On March 5, the Nazi-DNVP coalition won a narrow majority in the election; on March 23, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which effectively gave Hitler dictatorial powers. As part of the anti-Communist campaign, in the first executions in the Third Reich, Göring declined to commute the August 1933 death sentences passed against Bruno Tesch and three other Communists for their alleged role in the deaths of two SA members and 16 others in the Altona Bloody Sunday (Altonaer Blutsonntag) riot, an SA march on July 17, 1932.[23][24]. Second marriage During the early 1930s Göring was often in the company of Emmy Sonnemann (1893–1973), an actress from Hamburg. He proposed to her in Weimar in February 1935. The wedding took place on April 10, 1935 in Berlin and was celebrated like the marriage of an emperor. They had a daughter, Edda Göring (born June 2, 1938) who was then thought to be named after Countess Edda Ciano, eldest child of Benito Mussolini. Actually, Edda was named after a friend of her mother.[25] Nazi potentate Göring was one of the key figures in the process of "forcible coordination" (Gleichschaltung) that established the Nazi dictatorship. For example, in 1933, Göring promulgated the ban on all Roman Catholic newspapers in Germany as a means of removing not only resistance to National Socialism but also to deprive the population of alternative forms of association and means of political communication. In the Nazi regime's early years, Göring served as minister in various key positions at both the Reich (German national) level and other levels as required. In the state of Prussia, Göring was responsible for the economy as well as re-armament. His police forces included the Gestapo, which he converted into a political spy force. But in 1934 Hitler transferred the Gestapo to Himmler's SS. Göring retained Special Police Battalion Wecke, which he converted to a paramilitary unit attached to the Landespolizei (State Police), Landespolizeigruppe General Göring. This formation participated in the Night of the Long Knives, when the SA leaders were purged. Göring was head of the Forschungsamt (FA), which secretly monitored telephone and radio communications, The FA was connected to the SS, the SD, and Abwehr intelligence services. After Hjalmar Schacht was removed as Minister of Economics, Göring effectively took over. In 1936, he became Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan for German rearmament. The vast steel plant Reichswerke Hermann Göring was named after him. He gained great influence with Hitler (who placed a high value on rearmament). He never seemed to accept the Hitler Myth quite as much as Goebbels and Himmler did, but remained loyal nevertheless. In 1938, Göring forced out the War Minister, Field Marshal von Blomberg, and the Army commander, General von Fritsch. They had welcomed Hitler's accession in 1933, but then annoyed him by criticizing his plans for expansionist wars. Göring, who had been best man at Blomberg's recent wedding to a 26-year-old typist, discovered that the young woman was a former prostitute, and blackmailed him into resigning. Fritsch was accused of homosexual activity, and though completely innocent, resigned in shock and disgust. He was later exonerated by a "court of honor" presided over by Göring. Also in 1938, Göring played a key role in the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria. At the height of the crisis, Göring spoke on the telephone to Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg. Göring announced Germany's intent to march into Austria, and threatened war and the destruction of Austria if there was any resistance. Schuschnigg collapsed, and the German army marched into Austria without resistance. Göring and Foreign Policy The German diplomatic historian Klaus Hildebrand in his study of German foreign policy in the Nazi era noted that besides for Hitler’s foreign policprogramme that there existed three other rival foreigprogramses held by fractions in the Nazi Party, whom Hildebrand dubbed the agrarians, the revolutionary socialists and the Wilhelmine Imperialists[26]. Göring was certainly an ardent Nazi and utterly loyal to Hitler. But his preferences in foreign policy were different. Göring was the most prominent of the "Wilhelmine Imperialist" group in the Nazi regime. This group wanted to restore the German frontiers of 1914, regain the pre-1914 overseas empire, and make Eastern Europe Germany's exclusive sphere of influence. This was a much more limited set of goals than Hitler's dream of Lebensraum seized in merciless racial wars. By contrast, Göring and the "Wilhelmine Imperialist" fraction were more guided by traditional Machtpolitik in their foreign policy conceptions.[27]. Furthermore, the "Wilhelmine Imperialists" expected to achieved their goals within the established international order. While not rejecting war as an option, they preferred diplomacy, and sought political domination in eastern Europe rather than the military conquests envisioned by Hitler. And they rejected Hitler's mystical vision of war as a necessary ordeal for the nation, and of perpetual war as desirable. Göring himself feared that a major war might interfere with his luxurious lifestyle. Göring's advocacy of this policy led to his temporary exclusion by Hitler for a time in 1938-39 from foreign policy decisions. Göring'unwillingnessss to offer a major challenge to Hitler prevented him from offering any serious resistance to Hitler's policies, and the "Wilhelmine Imperialists" had no real influence.[28][29][30] Complicity in the Holocaust Göring was the highest figure in the Nazi hierarchy to issue written orders for the "final solution of the Jewish Question," when he issued a memo to Heydrich to organize the practical details. This resulted in the Wannsee Conference. Göring wrote, "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question." It is almost certain however that Hitler issued an oral order to Göring in late 1941 to this effect. Head of the Luftwaffe When the Nazis took power, Göring was Minister of Civil Air Transport, which was a screen for the build-up of German war aviation, prohibited by the Treaty of Versailles. When Hitler repudiated Versailles, in 1935, the Luftwaffe was unveiled, with Göring as Minister and Oberbefehlshaber (Supreme Commander). In 1938, he became the first Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) of the Luftwaffe this promotion also made him the highest ranking officer in Germany. Göring directed the rapid creation of this new branch of service. Within a few years, Germany produced large numbers of the world's most advanced military aircraft. In 1936, Göring at Hitler's direction sent several hundred aircraft along with several thousand air and ground crew, to assist the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War this became known as the Condor Legion. By 1939 the Luftwaffe was the most advanced and one of the most powerful air forces in the world. On 9 August 1939, Göring boasted "The Ruhr will not be subjected to a single bomb. If an enemy bomber reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Hermann Göring: you can call me Meier!" ("I want to be called Meier if …." is a German idiom to express that something is impossible. Meier (in several spelling variants) is the second most common surname in Germany.) By the end of the war, Berlin's air raid sirens were bitterly known to the city's residents as "Meier's trumpets," or "Meier's hunting horns." Göring's private army Unusually, the Luftwaffe also included its own ground troops, which became Göring's private army. German Fallschirmjäger (parachute and glider) troops were organized as part of the Luftwaffe, not as part of the Army. These formations eventually grew to over 30 divisions, which almost never operated as airborne troops. About half were "field divisions," that is, plain infantry. There was even a Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring, which had originally been the special police battalion mentioned above. Many of these divisions were led by officers with little or no training for ground combat, and performed badly as a result. In 1945, two Fallschirmjäger divisions were deployed on the Oder front. Göring said at a staff meeting "When both my airborne divisions attack, the entire Red Army can be thrown to hell." But when the Red Army attacked, Göring's 9th Parachute Division collapsed. Second World War Göring was skeptical of Hitler's war plans. He believed Germany was not prepared for a new conflict and, in particular, that his Luftwaffe was not yet ready to beat the British Royal Air Force (RAF). His personal luxuries might be endangered, too. So he made contacts through various diplomats and emissaries to avoid war. However, once Hitler decided on war, Göring supported him completely. On 1 September 1939, the first day of the war, Hitler spoke to the Reichstag at the Kroll Opera House. In this speech he designated Göring as his successor "if anything should befall me." Initially, decisive German victories followed quickly one after the other. The Luftwaffe destroyed the Polish Air Force within two weeks. The Fallschirmjäger seized key airfields in Norway and captured Fort Eben-Emael in Belgium. German air-to-ground attacks served as the "flying artillery" of the panzer troops in the blitzkrieg of France. "Leave it to my Luftwaffe" became Göring's perpetual gloat. After the defeat of France, Hitler awarded Göring the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross for his successful leadership. By a decree on 19 July 1940, Hitler promoted Göring to the rank of Reichsmarschall (Marshal of Germany), the highest military rank of the Greater German Reich. Reichsmarschall was a special rank for Göring, which made him senior to all other Army and Luftwaffe Field Marshals. Göring's political and military careers were at their peak. Göring had already received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 30 September 1939 as Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe.[31] Göring promised Hitler that the Luftwaffe would quickly destroy the RAF, or break British morale with devastating air raids. He personally directed the first attacks on Britain from his private luxury train. But the Luftwaffe failed to gain control of the skies in the Battle of Britain. This was Hitler's first defeat. And Britain withstood the worst the Luftwaffe could do for the eight months of "the Blitz." However, the damage inflicted on British cities largely maintained Göring's prestige. The Luftwaffe destroyed Belgrade in April 1941, and Fallschirmjäger captured Crete from the British army in May 1941. The eastern front If Göring was skeptical about war against Britain and France, he was absolutely certain that a new campaign against the Soviet Union was doomed to defeat. After trying, completely in vain, to convince Hitler to give up Operation Barbarossa, he embraced the campaign. Hitler still relied on him completely. On June 29, Hitler composed a special 'testament', which was kept secret till the end of the war. This formally designated Göring as "my deputy in all my offices" if Hitler was unable to function, and his successor if he died. Ironically, Göring did not know the contents of this testament, which was marked "To be opened only by the Reichsmarschall," until after leaving Berlin in April 1945 for Berchtesgaden, where it had been kept. The Luftwaffe shared in the initial victories in the east, destroying thousands of Soviet aircraft. But as Soviet resistance grew and the weather turned bad, the Luftwaffe became overstretched and exhausted. Göring by this time had lost interest in administering the Luftwaffe. That duty was left to incompetent favorites such as Udet and Jeschonnek. Aircraft production lagged. Yet Göring persisted in outlandish promises. When the Soviets surrounded a German army in Stalingrad in 1942, Göring encouraged Hitler to fight for the city rather than retreat. He asserted that the Luftwaffe would deliver 500 tons per day of supplies to the trapped force. In fact no more than 100 tons were ever delivered in a day, and usually much less. While Göring's men struggled to fly in the savage Russian winter, Göring had his usual lavish birthday party. Göring was in charge of exploiting the vast industrial resources captured during the war, particularly in the Soviet Union. This proved to be an almost total failure, and little of the available potential was effectively harnessed for the service of the German military machine. The bomber war As early as 1940, British aircraft raided targets in Germany, debunking Göring's assurance that the Reich would never be attacked. By 1942, the bombers were coming by hundreds and thousands. Entire cities such as Cologne and Hamburg were devastated. The Luftwaffe responded with night fighters and anti-aircraft guns. Göring was still nominally in charge, but in practice he had little to do with operations. Göring's prestige, reputation, and influence with Hitler all declined, especially after the Stalingrad debacle. Hitler could not publicly repudiate him without embarrassment, but contact between them largely stopped. Göring withdrew from the military and political scene to enjoy the pleasures of life as a wealthy and powerful man. His reputation for extravagance made him particularly unpopular as ordinary Germans began to suffer deprivation. The end of the war In 1945, Göring fled the Berlin area with trainloads of treasures for the Nazi alpine resort in Berchtesgaden. He was presented with Hitler's testament, which he read for the first time. On 23 April, as Soviet troops closed in around Berlin, Göring sent a radiogram to Hitler, suggesting that the testament should now come into force. He added that if he did not hear back from Hitler by 10 PM, he would assume Hitler was incapacitated, and would assume leadership of the Reich. Hitler was enraged by this proposal, which Bormann portrayed as an attempted coup d'état. On April 25, Hitler ordered the SS to arrest Göring. On April 26, Hitler dismissed Göring as commander of the Luftwaffe. In his last will and testament, Hitler dismissed Göring from all his offices and expelled him from the Nazi Party. On April 28, Hitler ordered the SS to execute Göring, his wife, and their daughter (Hitler's own goddaughter). But this order was ignored. Instead, the Görings and their SS captors moved together, to the same Schloß Mauterndorf where Göring had spent much of his childhood and which he had inherited (along with Burg Veldenstein) from his godfather's widow in 1937. (Göring had arranged for preferential treatment for the woman, and protected her from confiscation and arrest as the widow of a wealthy Jew.) Capture, trial, and death Göring surrendered on May 9, 1945 in Bavaria. He was the third-highest-ranking Nazi official tried at Nuremberg, behind Reich President (former Admiral) Karl Dönitz and former Deputy Führer Hess. Göring's last days were spent with Captain Gustave Gilbert, a German-speaking American intelligence officer and psychologist (and a Jew), who had access to all the prisoners held in the Nuremberg jail. Gilbert classified Göring as having an IQ of 138, the same as Dönitz. Gilbert kept a journal which he later published as Nuremberg Diary. Here he describes Göring on the evening of April 18, 1946, as the trials were halted for a three-day Easter recess. 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 defensee 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 on his behalf.[32] Despite claims that he was not anti-Semitic, while in the prison yard at Nuremberg, after hearing a remark about Jewish survivors in Hungary, Albert Speer reported overhearing Göring say, "So, there are still some there? I thought we had knocked off all of them. Somebody slipped up again."[33] Despite his claims of non-involvement, he was confronted with orders he had signed for the murder of Jews and prisoners of war. Though he defended himself vigorously, and actually appeared to be winning the trial early on (partly by building popularity with the audience by making jokes and finding holes in the prosecution's case) he was sentenced to death by hanging. The judgment stated that:[34] There is nothing to be said in mitigation. For Goering 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 program and the creator of the oppressive program 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.[35] Göring made an appeal, offering to accept the court's death sentence if he were shot as a soldier instead of hanged as a common criminal, but the court refused. Defying the sentence imposed by his captors, he committed suicide with a potassium cyanide capsule the night before he was to be hanged. Where Göring obtained the cyanide, and how he concealed it during his entire imprisonment at Nuremberg, remains unknown. It has been claimed that Göring befriended U.S. Army Lieutenant Jack G. "Tex" Wheelis, who was stationed at the Nuremberg Trials and helped Göring obtain cyanide which had been hidden among Göring's personal effects when they were confiscated by the Army.[36] In 2005, former U.S. Army Private Herbert Lee Stivers claimed he gave Göring "medicine" hidden inside a gift fountain pen from a German woman the private had met and flirted with. Stivers served in the 1st Infantry Division's 26th Regiment, who formed the honor guard for the Nuremberg Trials. Stivers claims to have been unaware of what the "medicine" he delivered actually was until after Göring's death. Regardless of his suicide, his dead body was hanged. After his death, the bodies of Göring and the other executed Nazi leaders were cremated in the crematorium of the Dachau concentration camp, which had been re-lit exclusively for them. His ashes were scattered in the Conwentzbach in Munich, which runs into the Isar river. Legacy Hermann Goering's legacy cannot be separated from the legacy of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, which includes the Holocaust and millions of other casualties. He was able to use his position to benefit himself. The confiscation of Jewish property gave Göring great opportunities to amass a personal fortune. Some properties he seized himself, or acquired for a nominal price. In other cases, he collected fat bribes for allowing others to grab Jewish property. He also took kickbacks from industrialists for favorable decisions as Four Year Plan director. Göring was also noted for his patronage of music, especially opera. He entertained frequently and lavishly. Most infamously, he collected art, looting from numerous museums (some in Germany itself), stealing from Jewish collectors, or buying for a song in occupied countries. When Göring was promoted to the unique rank of Reichsmarschall, he designed an elaborate personal flag for himself. The design included a German eagle, swastika, and crossed marshal's batons on one side, and on the other Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes ("Grand Cross of the Iron Cross") between four Luftwaffe eagles. He had the flag carried by a personal standard-bearer at all public occasions. Standard, on display at the Musée de la Guerre in the Invalides Notes References ISBN links support NWE through referral fees Wikimedia Commons has media related to:: Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Block, Maxine and E. Mary Trow (1971). Current Biography: Who's News and Why 1941. New York: H.W. Wilson. OCLC 16655369 Brandenburg, Erich (1995). Die Nachkommen Karls Des Grossen. Neustadt/Aisch: Degener. ISBN 3768651029. Butler, Ewan (1951). Marshall Without Glory. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 84-87. OCLC 1246848. Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (1986). Die Trager Des Ritterkreuzes Des Eisernen Kreuzes, 1939–1945. Friedberg: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3790902845. Fest, Joachim (2004). Inside Hitler's Bunker. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. ISBN 0374135770. Franks, Norman (1993). Above the Lines. City: Grub Street. ISBN 0948817739. Frischauer, Willi (1951). The Rise and Fall of Hermann Goering. Ballantine Books. OCLC 30233850 Gilbert, G. (1995). Nuremberg Diary. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306806614. Göring, Hermann (1934). Germany Reborn. London: E. Mathews & Marrot. OCLC 570220. Excerpt from Germany Reborn Gritzbach, Erich (1939). Hermann Goering: The Man and His Work. London: Hurst & Blackett. OCLC 58964284. Hildebrand, Klaus (1973). The Foreign Policy of the Third Reich. London: Batsford Press. ISBN 0520025288. Hitler, Adolf (1988). Hitler's Table Talk, 1941–1944. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192851802. Irving, David (1989). Göring: A Biography. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0688066062. Leffland, Ella (1990). The Knight, Death and the Devil. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0688058361. Manvell, Roger (2006). Goering. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1853676128. Maser, Werner (2000). Hitlers janusköpfiger Paladin: die politische Biographie. ISBN 3861245094. Mosley, Leonard (1974). The Reich Marshal: A Biography of Hermann Goering. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. ISBN 0385049617. Overy, Richard (2000). Goering. London: Phoenix Press. ISBN 1842120484. Paul, Wolfgang (1983). Wer War Hermann Goring: Biographie. City: Bechtle, 33. ISBN 3762804273. Speer, Albert (1997). Inside the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684829495. Taylor, Telford (1992). The Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0394583558. All links retrieved July 16, 2024. Germany Reborn by Hermann Goring Hermann Göring at the Internet Movie Database the Internet Movie Database Preceded by: Hans Ulrich Klintzsche Leader of the SA 1923 Vacant Title next held by Franz Pfeffer von Salomon Military offices New Title Luftwaffe re-established Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe 1935–1945 Succeeded by: Robert Ritter von Greim Political offices Preceded by: Franz von Papen (Reichskomissar) Prime Minister of Prussia 1933–1945 Prussia abolished
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Here's how he met his end.	en	https://warfarehistoryne…e-touch-icon.png	Warfare History Network	https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/reich-marshal-hermann-goring-at-the-nuremburg-trials/	by Richard Rule Stripped of the regalia and high position of Reich Marshal in the Nazi regime and tried as a war criminal, the former Luftwaffe chief was by far the most colorful and outspoken defendant during the postwar proceedings. At the end of World War II, Hermann Göring did not try to slip into hiding like many of Nazi Germany’s former leaders. In fact, he sought out the Americans on May 7, 1945, under the mistaken belief that he would be granted an audience with General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Göring was confident that he would be treated as a spokesman for a defeated nation but, far from being an emissary for his people, he soon found himself regarded as a common prisoner of war. Flown to the modified confines of the Grand Hotel of Mondorf-Les-Bains in Luxembourg, he joined 50 other former Nazi ministers, officials, and high-ranking officers. A Large Man in Poor Physical Condition The Americans were surprised to find that Göring weighed over 260 pounds and was obviously in poor physical condition; he could have a heart attack at any moment. The Allies, who had already lost some key Nazi leaders to suicide, immediately put him on a strict dietary regime to reduce his weight and a withdrawal program to break his drug habit. Göring, a man who had enjoyed the fine life when in power, was hardly receptive to the prison fare put in front of him, but in time even he acknowledged that his health had rapidly improved. As the inches vanished from his ample waistline and the fog of drug addiction cleared from his system, a rejuvenated Göring regained a mental drive and energy not evident since the early days of the party. In his self-imposed role of Primus inter pare at Mondorf, he called for a united front to shield Hitler from condemnation but, with little solidarity among the prisoners, his demands were completely ignored by most. There were those, however, who rallied behind the Reich Marshal, believing the affable Göring could perhaps negotiate their release. It was a forlorn hope, as most would soon find themselves indicted for war crimes. No More Lenient Treatment When the U.S. Army formalized the list of 22 principal defendants, Göring was delighted that his name appeared at the top, but others could not understand why their names were there at all. They still had not grasped that the lenient treatment afforded Germany’s leaders after World War I would not be repeated in 1945. On August 12, Göring and the other accused men arrived in the shattered ruins of Nuremberg to stand trial. Bustled into the detention block alongside the Palace of Justice, the disorientated former leaders were thrown into small, spartan cells that were little more than low-ceilinged cubicles. Under the governance of the dour U.S. Army Colonel, Burton C. Andrus, security in the prison would be rigidly enforced. To this end, every conceivable device that could aid a suicide attempt had been removed; even the flimsy table provided to write letters and notes was designed to collapse under the weight of a small man. Faced with a bleak and uncertain future, many of the inmates had great difficulty adjusting to these new surroundings. Even Göring’s indomitable spirit was temporarily dented by the unaccustomed squalor, but his will to resist had not diminished and he soon confounded prison authorities by steadfastly refusing to clean his cell. Threats and intimidation made no impression on him, and eventually Andrus was forced to have a prison employee carry out the menial task. In Göring’s opinion, even a small victory was better than no victory at all, and he was very proud to have ruffled the feathers of his captors. At the Nuremberg Trials, Reich Marshal Hermann Göring Was a Difficult Man to Dislike, and to Question In Nuremberg, the prisoners were interrogated in earnest prior to the trial, but Göring was the only defendant who willingly participated in these verbal jousts. The former World War I fighter ace, who had been at Hitler’s side since the 1920s, was not only an economic and military leader but also Hitler’s heir apparent. He expected to yield an invaluable insider’s perspective on Germany’s political and military strategies. His engaging manner, charm, and raw sense of humor appealed to many who questioned him and, despite his brutal reputation, most found it difficult to dislike him. However, he proved a difficult man to question. Göring spoke quickly and a lot, but his answers were only couched in general terms. His questioners soon came to realize that he was no fool and certainly nothing like the ridiculous, comical figure portrayed in Allied newspapers. they, like many others, found Göring to be a very shrewd individual blessed with a keen intellect and worthy of wary respect. Life in Solitary Confinement The leaders of the Reich, he told his interrogators, were a group governed by common loyalties and a common ambition to revive German fortunes, and Hitler had held this unruly gang together by the force of his will. Göring was often the man who had the final word on most matters, not necessarily the first. Although cagey with specifics and often scant on details, Göring in no way diminished his role in the machinations of the Third Reich or his loyalty to Hitler’s vision of a greater Germany. Hitler’s once-faithful paladin did concede, however, that he had been against going to war with England and viewed the invasion of Russia as inevitable, but premature. Life for the prisoners in the eerie silence of solitary confinement was harsh and soul-destroying. The gloom that pervaded through the cold stone walls of the detention block did not, however, appear to have washed over Göring. Much to the annoyance of the other inmates, he was often loud, habitually bombastic, and always defiant. The sight of the Reich’s former leaders submissively bowing to the will of their captors infuriated him. In his mind, adopting a visibly repentant demeanor would in no way help their cause before the court. They were already guilty regardless of their conduct in prison. Resolute to the Last It became a point of honor that Göring rarely took a backward step and would not allow a victor’s judgment on Germany to pass unchallenged. A comment condemning his nation’s wars of imperial conquest received a typically scathing reply: “Don’t make me laugh!” he roared, “America, England, and Russia have all done the same thing to promote their own national aspirations but when Germany does, it becomes a crime—because we lost.” He aggressively dismissed the legitimacy of the proposed victor’s trial, going so far as to predict that the proceedings would “be [viewed as] a disgrace in 15 years time.” Regardless of Göring’s vehement rejection of Allied jurisdiction, each prisoner was unceremoniously handed their formal indictment, which tabled the charges under the headings: Count One: The Common Plan or Conspiracy. Count Two: Crimes against peace. Count Three: War Crimes. Count Four: Crimes against humanity. The lengthy document, running to some 25,000 words, set out in detail the unbelievable atrocities and crimes for which the defendants now stood accused. Göring was charged under all four counts, and while unsure of the journey, had no illusions about the fate that awaited him. Painfully aware that his name had become the butt of jokes and universal derision, he was determined that during this, the final chapter of his life, he would give his role at Nuremberg historical importance and restore prestige to his much-maligned reputation. It was imperative, in his view, that the people remembered that Hermann Göring had stood defiant to the bitter end and had gone to his death like a man. In the shadows of the looming trial, Dr. Gustav M. Gilbert, a U.S. Army psychologist, had been given the task of observing the defendants and in Göring found a man who, in many ways, was a slave to his massive ego. He spent a great deal of time with Göring and warned the prosecution to expect an extremely aggressive and formidable opponent who would not be easily intimidated. Despite an imposing presence, Gilbert believed Göring’s Achilles heel would be the public revelations of the Reich Marshal’s bizarre vanities and ostentatious behavior. In his opinion, ridicule over, for example, the extravagant uniforms he designed for himself and his habit of wearing make-up would not only unsettle and embarrass Göring, but also “spoil his pose as a hero-patriot and model officer” in the eyes of the German people. He seemed more concerned about a tarnished image than many of the crimes committed by the regime he served. The psychologist’s evaluation came as no surprise to the prosecution, which already knew that Göring would be difficult to handle. His unrepentant, egocentric behavior in prison gave every indication that he was spoiling for a fight. When the time came to cross swords, it would be essential in the court of world opinion that the U.S. chief prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson, quickly establish his superiority. This bare-knuckled battle of wills between Jackson, the wing-collared champion of human rights from Pennsylvania, and Göring, the flamboyant military gangster from the war-ravaged streets of Berlin, shaped up as the most anticipated moment of the trial. Under the watchful eyes of the world media, the formal proceedings finally began on November 20, 1945. The former Reich Marshal, now at a much lighter weight, had taken a prominent position in the front corner of the dock. When asked to plead guilty or not guilty, he attempted to read a short declaration. After only a few words, he was firmly cut off by the British presiding judge, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence, who instructed him to plead guilty or not guilty, nothing more. A chastened Göring replied, “Not guilty, in the sense of the indictment,” then sat down. The brilliant opening address by Justice Robert H. Jackson encompassed a devastating attack on the Third Reich. His confronting speech, delivered in a forthright manner, laid bare a vile catalogue of crimes whose responsibility, he pointed out, rested with most of those now sitting meekly in the dock. “It may be that these men of troubled conscience, whose only wish is that the world forget them, do not regard [this] trial as a favor,” Jackson declared. “But they do have a fair opportunity to defend themselves—a favor which these men, when in power, rarely extended [to anyone].” Having to now answer for the crimes and unspeakable miseries inflicted on millions by the Third Reich left the men in the dock in no doubt that they would be lucky to escape with their lives. Incriminating the absent would soon become the order of the day. Before the proceedings had begun, the tribunal had taken the controversial step of stopping the defendants from using a “so did you” defense strategy in regard to atrocities. Göring, nonetheless, was determined to reveal to the world that the Germans were not the only ones guilty of war crimes. However, this pre-trial boast to accuse the Allies of their own atrocities was soon demolished with the screening in court of the first graphic concentration camp films. The sickening images stunned not only the court but also many of the defendants, including Göring. Worse was to come for the accused in the New Year when, on January 3, 1946, SS General Otto Olendorf described to the court in great detail the methods of mass execution employed by the Nazi death squads. These systematically organized murder operations were on a scale so incredible, so monstrous, they defied belief. Göring was left deeply depressed when he realized that, in the wake of Olendorf’s frightful testimony and the horrific newsreel film, he would have no chance whatsoever of defending the party or the leader he had served for so many years. Yet, despite the fearful stories already revealed to the court, Göring greeted anything produced by the Soviets with biting sarcasm and studied ridicule; he considered the Russians to be the real experts in mass murder. On February 20, he yawned through a Russian atrocity film as it was being screened. “They could just as easily have killed a few hundred German prisoners of war and put them into Russian uniforms,” he observed cynically to an American officer. “You don’t know the Russians the way I do.” The incredible passion and energy that had marked the opening of the trial soon became entangled in tedious legal procedures and argument that enveloped the proceedings like an impenetrable London fog. The public, which had reluctantly embraced the notion of a fair trial and not a long one, was becoming restless, bored, and disillusioned as weeks turned into months. Göring, who regarded himself as the ranking officer among the prisoners, was also acutely aware of rumored disunity among the Allies. He steadfastly believed that the longer the trial continued the better chance there was of the four prosecuting powers falling out, and to this end he bullied and cajoled many of his co-defendants to bolster their will to resist. His constant haranguing during the lunch breaks became so serious that in February 1946 the controlling powers decided to isolate him, making him eat his meals alone in a dimly lit room away from the others. He took his banishment like a scolded schoolchild, but it was viewed as a favorable situation for the prosecution. As Defendant No.1, Göring’s case was the first to be heard, and on March 8, 1946, his attorney, Dr. Otto Stahmer, called his first defense witness, General of the Air Force Karl Bodenschatz. As the Reich Marshal’s former liaison officer, Bodenschatz told the court of Göring’s role in peacefully resolving the Munich crisis in 1938. He also described Göring’s opposition to Hitler’s plans of going to war with Britain and the Soviet Union and how, on numerous occasions, he had intervened on behalf of individuals who had fallen foul of the Gestapo. It had been a tame, lackluster examination that had done little to dent the case against Göring. Justice Jackson then rose to cross-examine the witness, and despite Bodenschatz’s valiant attempts to defend his former commander, Jackson tore the aging general’s testimony to shreds. The American prosecutor greatly impressed Allied observers with his powerful performance and sent a shudder through the defendants. Stahmer’s next witness was the stocky Field Marshal Erhard Milch, who, although Göring’s deputy, had not been on the best of terms with his commander for a number of years. The prosecution (and Göring) believed that Milch was likely to provide damning testimony against the former Reich Marshal. As events unfolded, the Americans were to be bitterly disappointed. Stahmer’s direct examination lasted barely 15 minutes and gleaned only that the Luftwaffe had been created purely as a defensive weapon, the contention being that Göring could not have been, therefore, planning to wage an aggressive war. It was a weak argument and carried little weight with the tribunal. When Jackson commenced his cross-examination, he found that the field marshal was made of sterner stuff than the servile Bodenschatz. Milch, facing prosecution himself, parried every attempt by Jackson to gain damaging evidence against Göring and stepped down from the witness box having left a favorable impression of his former commander. Three more defense witnesses were called, and their testimony also portrayed Göring in a favorable light as commander of the Luftwaffe. Unfortunately, it had not solely been his position as the head of the German Air Force that had put Göring in the dock, but rather his role behind many of the criminal policies of the Nazi Party. Had the Reich Marshal’s influence in the Third Reich been limited to his command of the Luftwaffe he would have been a great deal better off at Nuremberg. Finally, after five months, the most anticipated moment of the trial arrived when, during the afternoon session of March 13, 1946, Göring finally left the dock and took the stand. With hair slicked back and eyes gleaming, Göring had an aura that touched nearly everyone in the packed courtroom, including the judges; the power he had once had, his influence over world events, and his confident, arrogant manner were mesmerizing. In a predetermined strategy, Stahmer asked a lengthy series of concise questions, which allowed Göring to outline the pivotal role he had played in consolidating the rise of the Nazi party. It was clearly a point of personal pride to him that he had had such a decisive influence on Germany’s fortunes, and he unashamedly relished what he had achieved. He did not shy away from his involvement in Germany’s military buildup. “Of course we rearmed,’” he stated, “‘I am only sorry we did not rearm more.” He was in favor of seizing back the lands and territories Germany had lost under the Treaty of Versailles and actively supported reuniting Austria, Danzig, the Sudentland, and the Polish Corridor into the Reich—by force if necessary. Untroubled by scruples, Göring argued that much of the indictment against him centered on internal political questions and, as such, were no business of any foreign court. and on the charges relating to war crimes and crimes against humanity, he was brief and vague. While intimating that he had strong reservations about some practices of the regime, he did not deny supporting judicial violence, having created neither the Gestapo nor establishing the first concentration camps for sequestering opponents of the Nazis. He was quick to point out, however, that from 1934 these camps were under the control of Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, and he had nothing further to do with them. He would state that neither he nor his leader had any idea how literally the SS had actually taken their orders for a final solution of the Jewish problem, and he, perhaps conveniently, shifted the responsibility for these mass murders onto Himmler. Göring’s voluntary admissions and frank avowal, noble as they may have been, were hardly the basis for a sound defense, but he was in no mood to wash away his guilt or apologize for anything he had done. Despite at times inflating his influence over Hitler and embellishing his contribution to some of the key turning points of the regime, Göring cut an impressive figure in the witness box. His booming voice and defiant testimony, broadcast throughout the land by the Allies, actually lifted spirits in many parts of Germany as the people heard their “Hermann” fighting back. Göring was subsequently questioned by 16 of the defense attorneys. They hoped that he would honor his pre trial promise to take total responsibility upon himself to lessen the guilt of their clients and improve their chances for an acquittal. Ironically, the very men who detested Göring now looked to him to minimize their influence on events and the importance of their duties. He tried to do this where possible but, for most, the Teutonic passion for fastidiously putting everything to paper had already sealed their fates. The prosecution listened for two days with growing impatience as the Reich Marshal gave his version of Nazi history. They knew his testimony was full of holes and distortions and were determined to pull him into line and deflate his growing popularity. As Hitler’s deputy, they would attribute Göring with comprehensive knowledge of all the crimes committed by Nazi Germany, and Jackson planned to grill him on his anti-Jewish decrees and insatiable acquisition of stolen artwork. His aim was to not only portray Göring as a corrupt and deceitful officer, but also to expose to the world a direct link between the racial decrees he instigated and the wholesale mass murder of Jews that followed. It was a sound strategy, but at the last minute Jackson decided to, instead, confront Göring with broad-ranging political questions, which he believed would furnish damaging admissions. This ill-advised change in strategy was to end in disaster. Late in the morning session of March 18, Jackson stood to begin what most observers regarded as the heavy weight bout of the trial; it would not, however, deliver the telling blow that the controlling authorities had sought. Jackson: “You are perhaps aware that you are the only man living who can expound to us the true purposes of the Nazi Party and the inner workings of its leadership?” Göring: “I am perfectly aware of that.” Jackson: “You, from the very beginning, together with those who were associated with you, intended to overthrow and later did overthrow the Weimar Republic.” Göring: “That was, as far as I was concerned, my firm intention.” The American chief prosecutor, adopting a lofty attitude, had hoped to make Göring squirm by outlining his direct involvement in the litany of broken treaties, deceitful foreign policies, and criminal activities of the Third Reich. Jackson, however, was completely wrong footed when Göring, far from evading his culpability, freely admitted it. Enjoying the theater of the moment, Göring unashamedly took great pride in telling or retelling the court, at length, exactly what he had done and why. The American prosecutor grew increasingly frustrated as Göring skillfully balanced brutal honesty with self-effacing repartee that regularly attracted howls of laughter from the public gallery. Jackson was more accustomed to the American district court system where a hostile witness could be skillfully harassed and undermined with aggressive quick-fire cross-examination. At Nuremberg, the need to laboriously translate each question into German for Göring effectively nullified this weapon. The latter, who had a firm grip of English, enjoyed a distinct advantage over his American adversary and used the translation time to carefully consider his answers. As Göring worked his audience, Jackson felt he was losing control of the situation and on one occasion demanded his witness answer a question with a simple yes or no. The presiding judge, however, intervened on Göring’s behalf, stating that he should be allowed to make whatever explanation he needed to properly answer the question. The humiliated prosecutor stood red-faced as Göring, who now felt he had the court in his corner, smugly continued his answer—at length. Jackson had regarded the defendants as little more than common criminals and had easily handled the small fry dished up by the defense earlier in the trial. Göring, however, demonstrated repeatedly that he was anything but common. The open hostility between the two men was obvious to all, yet try as Jackson might to gain the ascendancy, he was often made to look ridiculous when Göring corrected factual errors and constantly highlighted inaccuracies within the many poorly translated documents tendered into evidence. No one had expected him to have such an immense knowledge and understanding of these documents. He would bring mistakes to the attention of Jackson in such a condescending manner that he appeared to be addressing a junior clerk of the court, not the American chief prosecutor. The day’s adjournment could not come quickly enough for the hapless Jackson. The very public mauling he had received at the hands of Göring left him visibly distraught, particularly when he became aware of the sharp criticism his performance had received around the world. Patrick Dean of the British Foreign Office, for example, described the cross-examination as “very disappointing and unimpressive.” Reports from the press gallery were far more scathing. It was incomprehensible to Jackson that after such a polished opening to the trial, his stock could plummet so quickly. Albert Speer, Hitler’s former armaments minister, probably made the most telling observation of the affair to Dr. Gilbert: “You know, when Jackson cross-examines Göring, you can see that they just represent two entirely opposite worlds—they don’t even understand each other. Jackson asks him if he didn’t help plan the invasion of Holland and Belgium … expecting Göring to defend himself against a criminal accusation, but instead Göring says, why yes, of course, it took place thus and so, as if it is the most natural thing in the world to invade a neutral country if it suits your strategy.” The following day, March 19, the battle resumed, but by late in the morning session it was clear that Göring once again had Jackson’s measure. The American was repeatedly called to order and often ensnared in traps he had actually set for Göring. Matters finally came to a head during a widely publicized exchange over the Nazis’ secret prewar plans to occupy the Rhineland. Jackson, trying to establish the devious nature of these preparations, described them as being “of a character which [was] kept entirely secret from foreign powers.” Göring sarcastically replied: “I do not think I … recall reading beforehand the publication of the mobilization preparations of the United States.” The court erupted in laughter, and an infuriated Jackson threw down his headphones in frustration. In a voice faltering with rage, Jackson addressed the judges: “I respectively submit to the tribunal that this witness is not being responsive and has not been in this examination … [Göring’s] arrogant and contemptuous attitude toward the Tribunal … is giving him the trial which he never gave a living soul, nor dead ones either.” He considered that the tribunal was allowing the impudent and argumentative Göring far too much leniency and his obstructive tactics would “encourage all the defendants to do the same thing.” Bitter and defeated, Jackson considered abandoning the cross-examination altogether. The British prosecutor, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, argued strongly against such a move, for history would not judge them kindly if Hitler’s former deputy was seen to have got the better of the best legal team the Allies could muster. The robust Maxwell-Fyfe, who had vast experience dealing with the likes of Göring, took over the cross-examination with the aim of decisively regaining the initiative. Göring listened intently as the Englishman went straight to the attack over the former Reich Marshal’s involvement in the Gestapo murder of British airmen who had escaped from a POW camp in Sagan. Maxwell-Fyfe was well versed on the circumstances surrounding these murders; Göring was not. The British barrister’s incisive questioning on the incident brought beads of sweat to Göring’s brow, and his evasive answer that he was on leave at the time of the shootings was unconvincing and made little impression on the court. It was the low point of his testimony. Maxwell-Fyfe’s skillful and relentless cross-examination failed to directly connect Göring with the murders, but he had, much to the relief of the prosecution team, publicly knocked the German off his lofty perch. Göring was visibly rattled as the prosecution highlighted his connection to what ultimately came to pass as the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question.” The dialectical eloquence and broad-brush recollections that had served him so well earlier were now repeatedly contradicted by irrefutable documentary evidence. The further the proceedings went on this subject, the less impressive Göring became as the vast majority of documents received into evidence provided ample proof of his complicity. Maxwell-Fyfe eventually asked Göring if, in light of all that had been revealed about the horrors of the Nazi regime, he was still loyal to Hitler. A hush fell over the court. This was a question with far-reaching consequences, and Göring knew it. Choosing his words carefully, he replied that he believed in being loyal in good times and in times of hardship. Hitler, he declared, had more than likely known as little about the atrocities as he had himself. In a revealing observation, Göring later assured Dr. Gilbert that the Allies need not worry about the Hitler legend living on: “When the German people learn all that has been revealed at this trial, it won’t be necessary to condemn him: he has condemned himself.” The success of Maxwell-Fyfe’s and of the Russian Chief Prosecutor, General R.A. Rudenko, had been achieved through a willingness to allow incriminating documents to do the talking for them. Rudenko, for example, was blunt and to the point and would simply show Göring documents that were already in evidence, then demand that the witness acknowledge his complicity in the crimes they disclosed. Göring and Rudenko understood each other well and battled like two prize fighters squaring up privately outside the ring, typified in selected portions of the following exchange: Rudenko alleged that the German attack on Russia had as its primary aim the complete annexation of most of the western Soviet Union as stated by Hitler during a conference on July 16, 1941. Göring was present at this meeting but under Rudenko’s cross-examination denied having agreed with talk of annexations because, in his view, the war in Russia had not yet been won. The record then continues. Göring: “[I did not mean] ‘I protest against the annexation of the Crimea [or the] Baltic States.’ I had no reason to do so [but at] that moment we had not finished the war … Rudenko: “In that case, you considered the annexation of these regions as a step to come later … after the war was won.” Göring: “[Being] an old hunter, I acted according to the principle of not dividing the bear’s skin before the bear was shot.” Rudenko: “I understand. And the bear’s skin should be divided only when the territories were seized completely, is that correct?” Göring: “Just what to do with the skin could be decided … only after the bear was shot.” Rudenko: “Luckily, this did not happen.” Goring: “Luckily for you.” Rudenko then wisely concentrated heavily on Göring’s driving influence behind the forced labor program, which had been brutally implemented in the conquered territories. From these exchanges, he drew very explicit admissions from Göring, who did not deny his culpability in this area. These acknowledgments proved to be the foundation for his conviction under counts three and four (war crimes and crimes against humanity) of the indictment. In the main, Göring’s days in the witness box provided an incredibly lucid and often enthralling insight into the workings of the Third Reich. Yet, despite his candid and masterly performance, most found it incomprehensible that he could now, in defeat, plead total ignorance of the horrors of which he surely must have known or at least suspected. In many respects, his position appears consistent with a leader who, only concerned that his armies succeeded, deliberately avoided learning of the unpleasant methods his forces would employ in achieving victory. The Göring case had taken up over 12 days of court time, and as the trials of the other defendants continued, few managed to capture world attention the way Göring had. He sat through the remainder of the trial, appearing at times to be either totally disinterested or completely disgusted when his codefendants shamefully incriminated each other, shuffled off blame to subordinates, or claimed documents were forged. It struck some observers as ironic that in defeat many prisoners had denied involvement in events for which, had Germany triumphed, they would have undoubtedly clamored for recognition. Many would feel Göring’s icy stare as they desperately tried to save their skins by selling out, but he reserved special loathing for German prosecution witnesses who were paraded through the courtroom to provide often damning testimony against the accused. “These boiling fowls,” he cynically observed, “will be allowed to cackle [and] lay an egg for the Americans and then they too will go into the big pot [with the rest of us].” Göring’s rage spilled over, however, when Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, the commander of the Sixth Army captured at Stalingrad, appeared on behalf of the Russians. “Ask that dirty swine if he knows he’s a traitor,” he roared to his defense attorney. With the press already laying bets on who would be hanged, this unique and mammoth trial was coming to its climax. Justice Jackson, who regained his proper form as the trial continued, gave what many authoritative lawyers regard as the greatest summation ever delivered at a criminal trial. In closing, he stated: “If you were to say of these men that they were not guilty, it would be true to say there has been no war, there have been no slain, there has been no crime.” On August 31, after 216 court days, 300,000 documents, and over 10 million words, the accused were called upon to make their final addresses. As defendant No. 1, Göring spoke first, and his statement mirrored the sentiments of most of those alongside him in the dock. “The prosecution, in the final speeches, has treated the defendants and their testimony as completely worthless … statements made under oath were accepted as absolutely true when they could serve to support the Indictment, but conversely the statements were characterized as perjury when they refuted the Indictment.” Condemning the mass murders to the utmost, he claimed, “He [Hitler] had never decreed the murder of a single individual at anytime and neither did I decree any other atrocities or tolerate them. The German people trusted the Führer … Ignorant of the crimes of which we know today, the people have fought with loyalty, self-sacrifice, and courage, and they have suffered, too, in this life-and-death struggle into which they were arbitrarily thrust. The German people are free from blame.” Tuesday, October 1, 1946, was judgment day. when addressing the case against Göring, the president of the court, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence, described his guilt as “unique in its enormity… [for which] … the record discloses no excuses. There is nothing to be said in mitigation,” he continued, 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 labor program and the creator of the oppressive program against the Jews and other races at home and abroad.” Göring was pronounced guilty on all four counts of the indictment, and everyone watched for his reaction, but other than to shake his head, he showed not a hint of emotion. At 3 pm that afternoon, he entered the courtroom alone to hear his sentence. Sir Lawrence came straight to the point. “Defendant Hermann Wilhelm Göring, the International Military Court sentences you to death by hanging.” On October 4, Göring’s defense lawyer, against his client’s wishes, formally petitioned the court control council to commute the death sentence or at least change it to a firing squad. Predictably, the motion was denied. Despite security being tightened following sentencing, Göring was allowed one last visit from his wife on October 7. It was a highly emotional moment in which the two managed to say their farewells with dignity. He would not be hanged, he calmly assured her before she was whisked out of the room. Back in his cell, an anguished Göring confided to the prison doctor, “I’ve seen my wife for the last time … now I am dead.” During the night of October 13, the defendants could hear trucks loaded with gallows equipment arriving at the prison yard, closely followed by the sounds of construction. On the night of October 15, with the prison block bathed in light, the prisoners suspected their executions were imminent. At 8:30 that evening, Göring was observed lying on his cot reading a book, still bitterly disappointed that he had not been allowed to die by firing squad and annoyed that he had been denied the last rites for showing no sign of repentance. He had somehow obtained a cyanide capsule which, at about 10:40 pm, he slipped into his mouth and bit down. Pandemonium broke out as doctors rushed to his cell and tried desperately to revive him, but it was too late. The 53-year-old Hermann Göring was dead. It is generally believed that either Göring had the poison with him all the time or that a third party inside the prison, perhaps a guard, had smuggled the cyanide into his cell. Among the letters found in his cell was the following: “I find it tasteless in the extreme to stage our deaths as a show for the sensation-hungry reporters, photographers, and the curious. This grand finale is typical of the abysmal depths plumbed by the court and prosecution. Pure theater, from start to finish! … I understand perfectly well that our enemies want to get rid of us—whether out of fear or hatred. But it would serve their reputation better to do the deed in a soldierly manner. I myself shall be dying without all this sensation and publicity…. I feel not the slightest moral or other obligation to submit to a death sentence or execution by my enemies and those of Germany. I proceed to the hereafter with joy, and regard death as a release.” News of Göring’s suicide spread throughout the world like wildfire, but in the wider German community, reports that he had cheated the hangmen’s noose were generally greeted with delight. In death at Nuremberg, as in life, many were pleased to know that Göring had had the last word. Vainly conscious of his historical image, he believed that his uncompromising defiance in Nuremberg would see him revered as a hero of the German nation and his body entombed in a marble sarcophagus like Napoleon’s. In a last letter to his wife, Göring wrote: “In 50 or 60 years there will be statues of Hermann Göring all over Germany. Little statues, maybe, but one in every German home.” For Göring, the posthumous rehabilitation he craved would not be realized. He had, without doubt, risen to impressive heights in the witness box at Nuremberg; the popularity and respect he had earned, however, were only fleeting. When, in the months following the trial, the true extent of the Third Reich’s murderous legacy became known to the wider German population, Göring and the other Nazi leaders were regarded with revulsion. Hermann Göring may well have denied his captors their pound of flesh, but the passage of time has deemed his true punishment to be that history would forever condemn him as a key conspirator in one of the most malignant regimes the world has ever known. Richard Rule writes from his home in Heathmont, Victoria, Australia. A veteran of the Australian Army, he works in sales management, enjoys fly fishing, and has written several books.
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"https://www.combatreform.org/r-reich.of.the.black.sun_59.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/r-reich.of.the.black.sun_60.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/r-reich.of.the.black.sun_61.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/r-reich.of.the.black.sun_62.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/r-reich.of.the.black.sun_63.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/r-reich.of.the.black.sun_64.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/r-reich.of.the.black.sun_65.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/r-reich.of.the.black.sun_66.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/r-reich.of.the.black.sun_67.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/r-reich.of.the.black.sun_68.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/r-reich.of.the.black.sun_69.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/sameshitdifferentdictator.jpg", "https://www.combatreform.org/video2.gif" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null	UPDATED 12 September 2009 Preface When I was a boy, oddities fascinated me, particularly if they appeared to make no sense. Historical oddities or anomalous news stories especially attracted my interest, lingering in my mind for years to come. Like many Americans, I well remember where I was when President Kennedy was assassinated. I was home, sick, and watching television, sipping an endless stream of the chicken noodle soup that my mother always made for me when I was ill. My mother sat on the sofa, sewing and watching her shows. Then, the programs were interrupted by the familiar voice of Walter Cronkite, and the news began to break. Like many children in America, I cried that night. A year or so later when the Warren Report was published and excerpted in almost every newspaper in the country, I remember thinking "bullets just don't do that." And I listened intently as family members debated the official conclusions of Oswald, the "lone nut" in his Texas School Book Depository, versus what was beginning to emerge with the "Grassy Knoll." As a teenager I became fascinated with the history of World War Two, and particularly the European theater and the race for the atomic bomb. Physics was also an interest for me, and another oddity lodged in my mind as I read the standard histories: the United States had never tested the uranium bomb it dropped on Hiroshima. I thought that was an extremely odd oddity indeed. It seemed to have the same sharp angles and corners as the Warren Commission's "magic bullet". It just didn't fit. Other odd facts accumulated over the years as if to underline the strangeness of the war's end in general and that fact in particular. Then, in 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and the two post-war Germanies raced toward reunification. The events seemed to unfold faster than the news media's ability to keep pace. I remember that day too, for I was driving with a friend in his van in Manhattan. My friend was Russian, as was his family, some of whom were veterans of the harsh conflict on the Russian front. We listened to the reports on the radio with a kind of breathlessness and anxiety. My friend hurried to me and said "Now it will start to come out in the wash." I nodded in agreement. We had often discussed what would happen in the eventuality of German reunification, and were agreed that many things from the end of the war would begin to surface, answering old questions and raising new ones. Our long talks about World War Two had convinced us that there was much about the war that did not make sense, Hitler's and Stalin's genocidal paranoia notwithstanding. Gradually, and one must say, predictably, the Germans themselves raced to uncover what lay hidden in the formerly inaccessible archival vaults of East Germany and the Soviet Union. Witnesses came forward, and German authors endeavored to come to grips with yet another aspect of the darkest period in their nation's history. Much, if not all, of their work remains ignored in the USA., both by mainstream and by alternative researchers. This present book is based in part on these Germans' efforts. It, like them, raises dangerous questions, and often presents dangerous and disturbing answers. As a consequence, while the Nazi regime's "image" becomes even more blackened, the image of the victorious Allies also suffers to a great degree. This book presents not only a radically different history of the race for the bomb, but also outlines a case that Germany was making enormous strides toward acquisition of a whole host of second and third and even fourth generation weapons technologies even more horrific in their destructive power. That in itself would not be too unusual. After all, there have been a wealth of books on World War Two German secret weapons projects and their astonishing results. Those seeking new technical data on these weapons will find some new material here, for the thrust of the book is not on the weapons per se. Rather, the present work seeks a context within Nazi ideology and in some aspects of contemporary theoretical physics for these projects. This book argues that the Nazis' quest for this barbarous arsenal of prototypical "smart weapons" and weapons of mass destruction was intimately linked to the Nazi racial and genocidal ideology and war aims, to the machinery, bureaucracy, and technologies of mass death and slavery that the Nazis had perfected. Even more darkly, this relationship points to a hidden core of occult beliefs and practices that, allied with certain very "German" advances in physics, e.g., quantum mechanics, drove their quest for ultimate weapons. Accordingly, this is not a work of history. But neither is it a work merely of fiction. It is best described as a case of possibilities, of speculative history. It is an attempt to make sense, by means of a radical hypothesis placed within a very broad context, of events during and after the war that make no sense. I would like to thank Mr. Frank Joseph of Fate magazine for encouraging me to write about these ideas, after he had patiently listened to me outline them while we were both attending a conference in 2003. And I would like to thank the many people-too numerous to mention -who listened, read, and critiqued the book along the way. Joseph P. Farrell Tulsa, Oklahoma PART ONE: GOTTERDAMMERUNG "A comprehensive February 1942 (German) Army Ordnance report on the German uranium enrichment program includes the statement that the critical mass of a nuclear weapon lay between 10 and 100 kilograms of either uranium 235 or element 94.... In fact the German estimate of critical mass of 10 to 100 kilograms was comparable to the contemporary Allied estimate of 2 to 100.... The German scientists working on uranium neither withheld their figure for critical mass because of moral scruples nor did they provide an inaccurate estimate as the result of gross scientific error." --Mark Walker, Nazi Science: Myth, Truth, and the German Atomic Bomb, p. 216. Reich of the Black Sun Chapter 1: A Badly Written Finale "In southern Germany, meanwhile, the American Third and Seventh and the French First Armies had been driving steadily eastward into the so-called 'National Redoubt'.... The American Third Army drove on into Czechoslovakia and by May 6 had captured Pilsen and Karlsbad and was approaching Prague." --F. Lee Benns, Europe Since 1914 In Its World Setting [1] The end of the Second World War in Europe, at least as normally recounted, does not make sense, for in its standard form as learned in history books that history resembles nothing so much as a badly written finale to some melodramatic Wagnerian opera. On a night in October 1944, a German pilot and rocket expert by the same of Hans Zinsser was flying his Heinkel 111 twin-engine bomber in twilight over northern Germany, close to the Baltic coast in the province of Mecklenburg. He was flying at twilight to avoid the Allied fighter aircraft that at that time had all but undisputed mastery of the skies over Germany. Little did he know that what he saw that night would be locked in the vaults of the highest classification of the United States government for several decades after the war. And he certainly could not have been aware of the fact when his testimony finally was declassified near the end of the millennium, that what he saw would require the history of the Second World War to be rewritten, or at the very minimum, severely scrutinized. His observations on that one night on that one flight resolve at a stroke some of the most pressing questions and mysteries concerning the end of the war. By the same token, what he saw raises many more mysteries and questions, affording a brief and frightening glimpse into the labyrinthine world of Nazi secret weapons development. His observations open a veritable Pandora's 1. F. Lee Benns, Europe Since 1914 In Its World Setting (New York: F.S. Crofts and co., 1946), p. 630. 3 box of horrifying research the Third Reich was conducting, research far more horrendous in its scope and terrible promise than mere atomic bombs. More importantly, his observations also raise the disturbing question of why the Allied governments - America in particular - kept so much classified for so long. What, really, did we recover from the Nazis at the end of the war? But what precisely is that badly written finale? To appreciate how badly written a finale it truly is, it is best to begin at the logical place: in Berlin, far below ground, in the last weeks of the war. There, in the bizarre and surreal world of the Fuhrerbunker, the megalomaniac German dictator huddles with his generals, impervious to the rain of Allied and Soviet bombs that are reducing the once beautiful city of Berlin to piles of rubble. Adolph Hitler, Chancellor and Fuhrer of the ever-diminishing Greater German Reich is in conference. His left arm shakes uncontrollably and from time to time he must pause to daub the drool that occasionally oozes from his mouth. His complexion is gray and pallid; his health, a shambles from the drugs his doctors inject in him. His glasses are perched on his nose as he squints at the map before him. [2] Generaloberst [3] Heinrici, commander of the vastly outnumbered Army Group Vistula that faces the massed armies of Marshal Zhukov poised less than sixty miles from Berlin, is pleading with his leader for more troops. The general is questioning the disposition of the forces he sees displayed on the battle map, for it is clear to him that some of Germany's finest and few remaining battle worthy formations are far south, facing Marshal Koniev's forces in Silesia. These forces were thus, incomprehensibly, poised to make a stiff defense of Breslau and Prague, not Berlin. The general pleads for Hitler to release some of these forces and transfer them north, but 2. Contributing yet another nuance to the end of the war Legend of Hitler's delusional insanity, some have proposed that the German dictator's doctors had diagnosed him with heart disease and/or Parkinson's disease, and were keeping him drugged at the behest of Misters Bormann, Gobbels, Himmler et al. in a desperate attempt to keep him functioning 3. Generaloberst: i.e., Colonel General, the equivalent of a four-star American general. 4 to no avail. "Prague," the Fuhrer responds stubbornly, almost mystically, "is the key to winning the war." Generaloberts Heinrici's hard-pressed troops must "do without." [4] One may also perhaps imagine Heinrici and the other assembled generals perhaps casting a doleful glance at Norway on the situation map, where thousands of German troops are still stationed, occupying a country that had long since ceased to be of any strategic or operational value to the defense of the Reich. Why indeed did Hitler maintain so many German troops in Norway up to the very end of the war?[5] These paradoxical German troops deployments are the first mystery of the badly written finale of the war in Europe. Both Allied and German generals would ponder it after the war, and both would write it off to Hitler's insanity, a conclusion that would become part of the "Allied Legend" of the end of the war. This interpretation does make sense, for if one assumed that Hitler were having a rare seizure of sanity when he ordered these deployments, what possibly could he have been thinking? Prague? Norway? There were no standard or conventional military reasons for the deployments. In other words, the deployments themselves attest his complete lack of touch with military reality. He therefore had to have been quite insane. But apparently his "delusional insanity" did not stop there. On more than one occasion during these end-of-the-war conferences with his generals in the Fuhrerbunker, he boasted that Germany would soon be in the possession of weapons that would snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at "five minutes past midnight." All 4. They did in fact "do without" and yet managed to put up a fierce resistance against overwhelming odds in the initial stages of Zhukov's final offensive on Berlin. 5. The standard versions, of course, are that he wished to maintain the supply line of iron ore from Sweden to Germany, and that he wished to continue to use the country as a base to interdict the lend-lease supply route to Russia. But by late 1944, with the huge losses of the German Kriegsmarine, these explanations no longer were militarily feasible, and hence do not make military sense. One must look for other reasons, if indeed there are any beyond Adolph Hitler's delusions. 5 the Wehrmacht had to do was hold out a bit longer. And above all, it must hold Prague and lower Silesia. Of course, the standard historical interpretation of these and similar utterances by the Nazi leadership near the end of the war explains them - or rather, explains them away - by one of two standard techniques. One school understands them to refer to the more advanced versions of the V-1 and V-2, and on rare occasions, the intercontinental A-9/10 rockets, the jet fighters, anti-aircraft heat-seeking missiles, and so on that the Germans were developing. Sir Roy Fedden, one of the British Specialists sent to Germany to investigate Nazi secret weapons research after the war, left no doubt as to the deadly potential these developments held: "In these respects (the Nazis) were not entirely lying. In the course of two recent visits to Germany, as leader of a technical mission of the Ministry of Aircraft Production, I have seen enough of their designs and production plans to realize that if they had managed to prolong the war some months longer, we would have been confronted with a set of entirely new and deadly developments in air warfare." [6] The other standard school of interpretation explains such remarks of the Nazi leadership as the utterances of madmen desperate to prolong the war, and hence their lives, by stiffening the resistance of their exhausted armies. For example, to make the insanity gripping the Reich government complete, Hitler's ever-faithful toady and propaganda minister, Dr. Josef Gobbels also boasted in a speech near the end of the war that he had seen "weapons so frightening it would make your heart stand still." More delusional ravings of a Nazi madman. But on the Allied side of the Allied Legend, things are equally peculiar. In March and April of 1945, U.S. General George S. Patton's Third Army is literally racing across southern Bavaria, as fast as is operationally possible, making a beeline for: (1) the huge Skoda munitions works at Pilsen, a complex all but 5. Sir Roy Fedden, The Nazis' V-Weapons Matured Too Late (London: 1945), cited in Renato Vesco and David Hatcher Childress, Man-Made UFOs: 1944-1994, p. 98. blown off the map by Allied bombers; (2) Prague; and (3) A region of the Harz Mountains in Thuringia known to Germans as the Dreiecks or Three Corners," a region encompassed by the old mediaeval towns and villages of Arnstadt, Jonastal, Wechmar, and Ohrdruf.[7] One is informed by countless history books that this maneuver was thought to be necessary by the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHEAF) because of reports that the Nazis were planning to make a last stand in the "Alpine National Redoubt", a network of fortified mountains stretching from the Alps to the Harz Mountains. The Third Army's movements, so the story goes, were designed to cut off the "escape route" of Nazis fleeing the carnage of Berlin. Maps are produced in old history books, accompanied in some cases by de-classified German plans-some dating from the Weimar Republic! - for just such a redoubt. Case settled. However, there is a problem with that explanation. Allied aerial reconnaissance would likely have told Eisenhower and SHAEF that there were precious few fortified strong points in the "National Redoubt". Indeed, it would have told them that the "Redoubt" was no redoubt at all. General Patton and his divisional commanders would most certainly have been privy to at least some of this information. So why the extraordinary and almost reckless speed of his advance, an advance the post-war Allied Legend would have us believe was to cut off the escape route of Nazis fleeing Berlin, who it turns out weren't fleeing, to a redoubt that didn't exist? The mystery deepens. Then, remarkably, in a strange twist of fate, General Patton himself, America's most celebrated general, dies suddenly, and, some would say, suspiciously, as a result of complications from injuries he sustained in a freak automobile accident soon after the end of the war and the beginning of the Allied military occupation. For many, there is little doubt that Patton's death is suspicious. But 4. Arnstadt is where the great German composer and organist J.S. Bach first began his career. 7 what of the explanations offered for it by those who do not think it was accidental? Some propose he was eliminated because of his remarks about turning the Germans "right back around" and letting them lead an Allied invasion of Russia. Others believe he was eliminated because he knew about the Allies' knowledge of the Soviets' execution of British, American, and French prisoners of war, and threatened to make it public. In any case, while Patton's barbed tongue and occasional outbursts are well known, his sense of military duty and obligation were far too high for him to have entertained such notions. These theories play out best, perhaps, on the internet or in the movies. And neither seems a sufficient motivation for the murder of America's most celebrated general. But then, if he was murdered, what was sufficient motivation? Here too, the lone German pilot Hans Zinsser and his observations afford a speculative key as to the possibilities, if General Patton was murdered, of why he had to be silenced. Let us return, for a moment, to a less-well publicized explanation for his end-of-the war lightening-like strikes into south central Germany and into Bohemia: In Top Secret, Ralph Ingersoll, an American liaison officer at S.H.A.E.F., gives a version of the facts much more in line with German intentions: "(General Omar) Bradley was complete master of the situation.... in full command of the three armies that had broken through the Rhine defenses and were free to exploit their victories. Analyzing the whole situation, Bradley felt that to take battered Berlin would be an empty military victory.... The German War Department had long since moved out, leaving only a rear echelon. The main body of the German War Department, including its priceless archives, had been transferred to the Thuringian forest..."[8] But what exactly did Patton's divisions discover in Pilsen and the forests of Thuringia? Only with the recent German reunification and declassification of East German, British, and American documents are enough clues available to allow this fantastic story - and the reason for the post-war Allied Legend - to be outlined and its questions answered. 8. Vesco and Childress, op. cit., p. 97. 8 Thus, finally, one arrives at the main theme of the post-war Allied Legend. As the Allied forces penetrated ever deeper into the German fatherland itself, teams of scientists and experts and their intelligence coordinators were sent in literally to scour the Reich for German patents, secret weapons research, and above all, to find out about the state of the German atomic bomb project.[9] Literally vacuuming the Reich of every conceivable technological development, this effort became the largest technology transfer in history. Even at this late stage of the war, as Allied armies advanced across western Europe, there was fear on the Allied side that the Germans were perilously close to the A-bomb, and might actually use one on London or other Allied targets. And Dr. Gobbels and his speeches about fearsome heart-stopping weaponry were doing nothing to alleviate their fears. It is here that the mystery of the Allied Legend only deepens. It is here that the badly written finale would be truly comical, were it not for the vast scale of human suffering involved with it, for the facts are clear enough if one examines them independently of the explanations we have become accustomed to apply to them. Indeed, one must wonder if we were not conditioned to think about them in a certain way, for as the Allied armies advanced deeper and deeper into the Reich, famous German scientists and engineers were either captured, or they surrendered themselves. Among them were first-class physicists, many of them Nobel laureates. And most of them were involved, at some level, with the various atomic bomb projects of Nazi Germany. [9] Among these scientists were Werner Heisenberg, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, Kurt Diebner, a nuclear physicist, Paul Hartek, a nuclear chemist, Otto Hahn himself, the chemist who actually discovered nuclear fission, and curiously, Walter Gerlach, whose specialty was not nuclear, but gravitational physics. Gerlach had written esoteric papers before the war on such abstruse concepts as spin polarization and vorticular physics, hardly the 9. "Alsos" was the code name of this effort. "Alsos" is a Greek word meaning "Grove", an obvious pun on General Leslie Groves, chief of the Manhattan Project. It is the name of the book about the Manhattan Project by Dutch-Jewish physicist Samuel Goudsmit. 9 basics of nuclear physics, and certainly not the sort of scientist one would expect to encounter working on atom bombs.[10] Much to the Allies' puzzlement, their scientific teams found but crude attempts by Heisenberg to construct a functioning atomic reactor, attempts that were wholly unsatisfactory and unsuccessful, and almost unbelievably inept. This "German ineptitude" in basic bomb physics became, and remains, a central component of the Allied Legend. And yet, that itself raises yet another mystery of the badly written finale. Top German scientists - Werner Heisenberg, Paul Hartek, Kurt Diebner, Erich Bagge, Otto Hahn, Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker, Karl Wirtz, Horst Korsching, and Walter Gerlach - were carted off to Farm Hall, England, where they were kept in isolation, and their conversations recorded. The transcripts, the celebrated "Farm Hall Transcripts", were only declassified by the British government in 1992! If the Germans were so far behind and so incompetent, why keep them classified for so long?" Bureaucratic oversight and inertia? Or did they contain things the Allies did not wish to be known even at that late date? What a surface reading of the transcripts reveals only deepens the mystery considerably. In them, Heisenberg and company, after hearing of the a-bombing of Hiroshima by the Americans on the BBC, debate the endless moral issues of their own involvement in the atomic bomb projects of Nazi Germany. But that is not all. In the transcripts, Heisenberg and company, who had suffered 10. Nick Cook, The Hunt for Zero Point, p. 194. Cook notes that these areas have little to do with nuclear physics, much less A-bomb design, but "much to do with the enigmatic properties of gravity. A student of Gerlach's at Munich, O.C. Hilgenberg, published a paper in 1931 entitled "About Gravitation, Vortices and Waves in Rotating Media".... And yet, after the war, Gerlach, who died in 1979, apparently never returned to these matters, nor did he make any references to them; almost as if he had been forbidden to do so. That, or something he had seen...had scared him beyond all reason." 11. It was Manhattan project chief General Leslie Groves who, in fact, revealed in his 1962 book about the bomb, Now It Can Be Told, that the German scientists' conversations had been recorded by the British. Apparently, however, not everything could be told in 1962. 10 some inexplicable mathematical and scientific dyslexia during the whole six years' course of the war, the same Heisenberg and company who could not even design and build a successful atomic reactor to produce plutonium for a bomb, suddenly become Nobel laureates and first rank physicists after the war. Indeed, Heisenberg himself within a matter of a few days of Hiroshima, gave a lecture to the assembled German scientists on the basic design of the bomb. In it, he defends his first assessment that the bomb would be about the size of a pineapple, and not the one or two ton monster he maintained throughout most of the war. And as we shall discover in the transcripts nuclear chemist Paul Hartek is close - perilously close - to the correct critical mass of uranium for the Hiroshima bomb.[12] This demonstrable mathematical prowess raises yet another question directly confronting the Allied Legend, for some versions of that Legend would have it that the Germans never aggressively pursued bomb development because they had - via Heisenberg -overestimated the critical mass by several order of magnitude, thus rendering such a project impractical. Hartek had clearly done the calculations before, so Heisenberg's estimates were certainly not the only calculations the Germans had available to them. And with a small critical mass comes the practical feasibility of an atomic bomb. 11. In his August 14, 1945 "lecture" to the assembled German Farm Hall physicists, Heisenberg, according to Paul Lawrence 12. Q.v. Paul Lawrence Rose, Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb project: A Study in German Culture (Berkeley: 1998), pp. 217-221. Thomas Powers notes of Heisenberg's lecture that "this was something of a scientific tour de force -to come up with a working theory of bomb design in so short a time, after years of laboring under fundamental misconceptions." (Thomas Powers, Heisenberg's War: The Secret History of the German Bomb (1993), pp. 439-440). Samuel Goudsmit, of course, used the transcripts to construct his version of the Allied Legend: "That the German scientists were at odds with one another, that they didn't understand bomb physics, and that they concocted a false story of moral scruples to explain their scientific failures.... The sources of Goudsmit's conclusions are all obvious in the transcripts, but what leaps out at the reader now are the many statements which Goudsmit failed to notice, forgot, or deliberately overlooked." (Ibid., p. 436) 11 Rose, used a tone and phrasing that indicated that "he has only just now understood the solution" to a small critical mass for the bomb,[13] since "others" reported a critical mass of about 4 kg. This too only deepens the mystery. For Rose, an adherent of the Legend- though now in its highly modified post-Farm Hall declassification mode -the "others" could be the Allied press reports themselves.[14] In the years immediately after the war, the Dutch-Jewish Manhattan Project physicist Samuel Goudsmit explained the whole Dutch-Jewish Manhattan Project Physicist Samuel Goudsmit 13. Q.v. Paul Lawrence Rose, Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project: A Study in German Culture (Berkeley: 1998), pp. 217-221. Thomas Powers notes that this lecture was "something of a scientific tour de force - to come up with a working theory of bomb design in so short a time, after years of laboring under fundamental misconceptions." (Heisenberg's War: The Secret History of the German Bomb (1993), pp. 439-440). 14. Ibid., p. 218. 12 mystery, alone with many others, as being simply due to the Allies having been "better" nuclear scientists and engineers than the very Germans who had invented the whole discipline of quantum mechanics and nuclear physics. That explanation, in conjunction with Heisenberg's own sell-evidently clumsy attempts to construct a functioning reactor, served well enough until these transcripts were declassified. With the appearance of the transcripts and their stunning revelations of Heisenberg's actual knowledge of atomic bomb design, and some of the other scientists' clear understanding of the means to enrich enough weapons grade uranium without having to have a functioning reactor, the Legend had to be "touched up" a bit. Thomas Powers' Heisenberg's War appeared, arguing somewhat persuasively that Heisenberg had actually sabotaged the German bomb program. And almost as soon as it appeared, Lawrence Rose countered with Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project, arguing even more persuasively that Heisenberg had remained a loyal German and had not sabotaged anything, but that he simply labored under massive misconceptions of the nature of nuclear fission, and consequently over-calculated the critical mass needed to make a bomb during the war. The Germans never obtained the bomb, so the new version goes, because they never had a functioning reactor by which to enrich uranium to plutonium to make a bomb. Besides, having grossly overestimated the critical mass, they had no real impetus to pursue it. Simple enough, case closed once again. But again, neither Powers' nor Rose's books really go to the heart of the mystery, for the Legend still requires the belief that "brilliant nuclear physicists including Nobel prize winners before the war, apparently struck by some strange malady which turned them into incompetent bunglers during the...War,"[15] were suddenly and quite inexplicably cured of the malady within a few days of the bombing of Hiroshima! Moreover, two such widely diverging contemporary interpretations of the same material - Rose's and Powers' - only highlights the ambiguity of their contents in general, 15. Philip Henshall, The Nuclear Axis: Germany, Japan, and the Atom Bomb Race 1939-45, "Introduction." 13 and Heisenberg's knowledge - or lack of it - in particular. Matters are not helped by events on the other side of the world in the Pacific theater, for there American investigators would uncover similarly strange goings on after the war ended. There, after Nagasaki, the Emperor Hirohito, overriding his ministers who wanted to continue the war, decided that Japan would surrender unconditionally. But why would Hirohito's ministers urge continuance of the war in the face of overwhelming Allied conventional arms superiority, and, from their point of view, facing a potential rain of atomic bombs? After all, "two" bombs could just as easily have turned into twenty. One could, of course, attribute the ministers' objections to the Emperor's intentions to "proud samurai traditions" and the Japanese sense of "honor" and so on. And that would indeed be a plausible explanation. But another explanation is that Hirohito's cabinet ministers knew something. What his ministers probably knew was what American intelligence would soon discover: that the Japanese, "just prior to their surrender, had developed and successfully test fired an atomic bomb. The project had been housed in or near Konan(Japanese name for Hungnam), Korea, in the peninsula's North."[16] It was exploded, so the story goes, one day after the American plutonium bomb, "Fat Man", exploded over Nagasaki, i.e., on August 10, 1945. The war, in other words, depending on Hirohito's decision, could have "gone nuclear". By that time, of course it would have done Japan no good to prolong it, with no viable means of delivery of an atomic weapon to any worthwhile strategic American targets. The Emperor stood his ministers down.[17] These allegations constitute yet another difficulty for the Allied Legend, for where did Japan obtain the necessary uranium for its (alleged) A-bomb? And more importantly, the technology to enrich 16. Robert K. Wilcox, Japan's Secret War, p. 15. 17. The Japanese were, in fact, developing large cargo submarines to transport a bomb to West Coast American port cities to be detonated there, much like Einstein warned in his famous letter to President Roosevelt that initiated the Manhattan Project. Of course, Einstein was more worried about the Germans using such a method of ship-born delivery, than the Japanese. 14 it? Where did it build and assemble such a weapon? Who was responsible for its development? The answers, as we shall eventually see, possibly explain events far in the future, and even possibly down to our own day. Yet even now, we have only begun to penetrate into the heart of this "badly written finale." There are also the "odd little, and little known, details" to consider. Why, for example, in 1944, did a lone Junkers 390 bomber, a massive six engine heavy-lift ultra long-range transport aircraft capable of round trip intercontinental flight from Europe to North America, fly to within less than twenty miles of New York City, photograph the skyline of Manhattan, and return to Europe?[18] Germany launched several such top secret long-distance flights during the war, using these and other heavy-lift ultra-long range aircraft. But what was their purpose, and more importantly, the purpose of this unique flight?[19] That such a flight was extremely risky goes without saying. What were the Germans up to with this enormous aircraft, and why would they even risk such an operation just to take pictures, when they only ever had two of these enormous six engine monsters available? Finally, and to round out the Legend, there are the odd details of the German surrender and the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunals. Why does former Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler, mass murderer and one of human history's most notorious criminals, try to negotiate a surrender to the Western Allies? Of course, one can dismiss this as delusion, and Himmler was certainly delusional. But what could he possibly have thought he had to offer the Allies in return for a surrender to the West, and the sparing of his own wretched life? What of the strangeness around the Nuremberg Tribunals themselves? The Legend is well known: obvious war criminals like Reichmarschall Goring, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Army Chief of Operations Staff Colonel-General Alfred Jodl, are sent swinging from the gallows, or, in Goring's case, cheating the hangman by 18. v. Nick Cook, op. cit., p. 198, Henshall, op. cit., pp. 171-172. 19. Italy, as well, launched long-range air missions to Japan. 15 swallowing cyanide. Other Nazi bigwigs like Grand Admiral Karl Donitz, mastermind of Germany's devastating U-boat campaign against Allied shipping, or Minister of Armaments Albert Speer, or Finance Minister and Reichsbank President Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht, were imprisoned. Missing from the docket of the accused, of course, were the Pennemunde rocket scientists headed by Dr. Werner von Braun and General Walter Dornberger, already headed to America to take charge of America's ballistic missile and space programs along with a host of scientists, engineers and technicians under the then super secret Project Paperclip.[20] They, like their nuclear physics counterparts in Germany, had seemingly suffered from a similar "bungler's malady", for once having produced the first successful V-1 and V-2 prototypes comparatively early in the war, they suffered a similar lack of inspiration and ingenuity and (so the Legend goes) managed to produce only "paper rockets" and theoretical study projects after that.[21] But perhaps most significantly, by joint agreement of the Allied and Soviet prosecutors at Nuremberg, missing from evidence in the tribunal was the vast amount of documentary evidence implicating the Nazi regime in occult belief systems and practice,[22] a fact that 20. The best sources on the overall outlines of Operation Paperclip are Mark Aaron's and John Loftus' Unholy Trinity: the Vatican, Nazis, and Soviet Intelligence (New York: St Martin's Press. 1991), and Christopher Simpson's Blowback: America's Recruitment of Nazis and Its Effects on the Cold War (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 1988). 21. Henshall, op. cit, "Introduction." 22 v., Jean-Michel Angebert, The Occult and the Third Reich (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974); Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on nazi Ideology (New York: New York University Press. 1992); Michael Howard, The Occult Conspiracy: Secret Societies- Their Influence and Power in World History (Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books, 1989); Peter Levenda, Unholy Alliance: A History of Nazi involvement with the Occult (New York: Avon Books, 1995); Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier, The Morning of the magicians, trans from the French by Rollo Meyers (New York: Stein and Day, 1964); Dusty Sklar, The Nazis and the Occult (New York: Dorset Press, 1977); James Webb, The Occult Establishment and The Occult Underground (LaSalle, Illinois: Open Court) 16 has given rise to a whole "mythology, and one that has never been adequately explored in connection with its possible influence on the development of German secret weapons during the war. Finally, a curious fact, one of those obvious things that one lends to overlook unless attention is drawn to it: the atomic bomb test that took place at the Trinity site in New Mexico was a test of America's implosion-plutonium bomb, a test needed to see if the concept would actually work. It did, and magnificently. But what is immensely significant - a fact missing from almost all mainstream literature on the subject since the end of the war - is that the uranium bomb with its apparatus of a cannon shooting the critical mass of uranium together, the bomb that was actually first used in war, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, was never tested. As German author Friedrich Georg notes, this tears a rather gaping hole in the Allied Legend: Also another question is of great importance: Why was the uranium bomb of the USA, unlike the plutonium bomb, not tested prior to being hurled on Japan? Militarily this would appear to be extremely dangerous.... Did the Americans simply forget to test it, or did others already do it for them? [23] The Allied Legend accounts for this in various ways, some ingenious, some not so ingenious, but basically they boil down to the assertion that it was never tested because it did not need to be, so confident were Allied engineers that it would work. So we have been asked to believe, by the post-war Allied spin, that the American military dropped an atomic bomb of untested design, based on concepts of physics that were very new and themselves very untested, on an enemy city, an enemy also known to be working on acquiring the atomic bomb as well! It is indeed a badly written, truly incredible, finale to the world's most horrendous war. 1988). It should be noted that the SS Ahnenerbedienst did come under the tribunal's scrutiny. 23. Friedrich Georg, Hitlers Siegeswaffen: Band 1: Luftwaffe und Marine: Geheime Nuklearwaffen des Dritten Reiches und ihre Tragersysteme (Schleusingen: Amun Verlag, 200), p. 150, my translation. 17 So, what exactly did the German pilot Hans Zinsser see on that night of October, 1944, as he flew his Heinkel bomber over the twilight skies of northern Germany? Something that, had he known it, would require the previous badly written Wagnerian libretto to be almost completely revised. His affidavit is contained in a military intelligence report of August 19, 1945, roll number A1007, filmed in 1973 at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. Zinsser's statement is found on the last page of the report: 47. A man named ZINSSER, a Flak rocket expert, mentioned what he noticed one day: In the beginning of Oct, 1944 I flew from Ludwigslust (south of Lubeck), about 12 to 15 km from an atomic bomb test station, when I noticed a strong, bright illumination of the whole atmosphere, lasting about 2 seconds. 48.The clearly visible pressure wave escaped the approaching and following cloud formed by the explosion. This wave had a diameter of about 1 km when it became visible and the color of the cloud changed frequently. It became dotted after a short period of darkness with all sorts of light spots, which were, in contrast to normal explosions, of a pale blue color. 49.After about 10 seconds the sharp outlines of the explosion cloud disappeared, then the cloud began to take on a lighter color against the sky covered with a gray overcast. The diameter of the still visible pressure wave was at least 9000 meters while remaining visible for at least 15 seconds. 50.Personal observations of the colors of the explosion cloud found an almost blue-violet shade. During this manifestation reddish-colored rims were to be seen, changing to a dirty-like shade in very rapid succession. 51.The combustion was lightly felt from my observation plane in the form of pulling and pushing. 52.About one hour later I started with an He-111 from the A/D[24] at Ludwigslust and flew in an easterly direction. Shortly after the start I passed through the almost complete overcast (between 3000 and 4000 meter altitude). A cloud shaped like a mushroom with turbulent, billowing sections (at about 7000 meter altitude) stood, without any 24. "A/D" probably "aerodrome". 18 seeming connections, over the spot where the explosion took place. Strong electrical disturbances and the impossibility to continue radio communication as by lightning, turned up. 53. Because of the P-38s operating in the area Wittenberg-Mersburg I had to turn to the north but observed a better visibility at the bottom of the cloud where the explosion occured (sic). Note: It does not seem very clear to me why these experiments took place in such crowded areas. [25] In other words, a German pilot had observed the test of a weapon, having all the signatures of a nuclear bomb: electromagnetic pulse and resulting malfunction of his radio, mushroom cloud, continuing fire and combustion of nuclear material in the cloud and so on. And all this on territory clearly under German control, in October of 1944, fully eight months before the first American A-bomb test in New Mexico! Note the curious fact that Zinsser maintains that the test took place in a populated area. There is yet another curiosity to be observed in Zinsser's statement, one that his American interrogators either did not pursue, or, if they did pursue it, the results remain classified still: How did Zinsser know it was a test? The answer is obvious: Zinsser knew, because he was somehow involved, for clearly the Allies would not have control over a test site deep in Nazi Germany. Earlier in the same report, there are clues that unravel the mystery: 14. When Germany was at this stage of the game, the war broke out in Europe. At first investigations on this disintegrating of [235U (sic) were somewhat neglected because a practical application seemed too far off. Later, however, this research continued, especially in finding methods of separating isotopes. Needless to say that the center of gravity of Germany's war effort at that time lay in other tasks. 25. The entire documentation of this report is as follows: "Investigations, Research, Developments and Practical use of the German Atomic Bomb," [A.P.I.U. (Ninth Air Force) 96/1945 APO 696, U.S. Army, 19 August 1945." The report is classified secret. Note that the report begins in no uncertain terms: "the following information was obtained from four German scientists: a chemist, two physical chemists, and a rocket specialist. All four men contributed a short story as to what they knew of the atomic bomb development." (Emphasis added). Note also the suggestive title of the report. 19 15. Nevertheless the atomic bomb was expected to be ready toward the end of 1944, if it had not been for the effective air attacks on laboratories engaged in this uranium research, especially on the one in Ryukon in Norway, where heavy water was produced. It is mainly for this reason that Germany did not succeed in using the atomic bomb in this war. These two paragraphs are quite revealing for several reasons. First, what is the source for the assertion that the Germans expected the bomb to be ready in late 1944, well ahead of the Manhattan Project, and a statement in flat contradiction to the post-war Allied spin that the Germans were actually far behind? Indeed, during the war, Manhattan Project estimates consistently placed the Germans ahead of the Allies, and project chief General Leslie Groves also thought they were. But after the war, everything suddenly changed. Not only was America ahead, but according to the Legend, it had been consistently far ahead throughout the war. Manhattan Project Chief General Leslie Groves Zinsser's account raises a disturbing possibility -besides completely contradicting the Allied Legend - and that is, did the Allies learn of a German A-bomb test during the war? If so, then we may look for certain types of corroborating evidence, for the 21 other Statements of the post-war report containing Zinsser's affidavit would seem to indicate that the Allied Legend is already beginning to take tenuous shape. The intelligence report talks, for example, only of laboratories being the facilities conducting isotope enrichment and separation research. But mere laboratories would simply be incapable of development of an actual functioning atom bomb. So one component of the Legend emerges in this early report: the German effort was lackadaisical, being confined to laboratories. Secondly, note the clear assertion that Germany did not succeed in "using the atomic bomb in this war." The language of the report is very clear. Yet it would also appear to be designed to obfuscate in aid of the then emerging Allied Legend, for the statement does not say that the Germans never tested a bomb, only that they did not use one. The language of the report is oddly careful, deliberate, and for that reason, all the more thought provoking. Thirdly, note how much is actually - and inadvertently it would seem -revealed about German atomic bomb research and development, for the statements make it clear that the Germans were after a uranium based A-bomb. A plutonium bomb is never mentioned. The theory of plutonium development and the possibility of a plutonium based A-bomb were clearly known to the Germans, as a Top Secret memorandum to the Heereswaffenamt (Army Ordnance Bureau) in early 1942 makes abundantly clear.[26] So it is the absence of plutonium from this report that affords us a first significant clue into what was probably the real nature of 26. This memorandum obviously constitutes another sore spot for the Allied Legend that emerged after the war, namely, that the Germans never knew the correct amount of the critical mass of a uranium fission bomb, but that it had been grossly overestimated by several orders of magnitude, hence rendering the project "unfeasible" within the span of the war. The problem of the HWA memorandum is that the Germans had a good ball-park estimate as early as January-February of 1942. And if they knew it was so small, then the resulting "decision" of the German High Command as to the impracticality of its development becomes immensely problematical. On the contrary, because of this memorandum -most likely prepared by Dr. Kurt Diebner or Dr. Fritz Houtermans - they knew that the undertaking was not only practical but feasible within the span of the war. 22 German atom bomb research. It is this absence that explains why the Germans never placed much emphasis on achieving a functioning reactor in order to enrich uranium to make weapons grade plutonium for an atom bomb: they did not need to do so, since there were other methods of enriching and separating enough U-235 to weapons grade purity and a stockpile of critical mass. In a nutshell: the Allied Legend about the German failure to obtain the atom bomb because they never had a functioning reactor is simply utter scientific nonsense, because a reactor is needed only it one wants to produce plutonium. It is an unneeded, and expensive, development, if one only wants to make a uranium A-bomb. Thus, there is sufficient reason, due to the science of bomb- making and the political and military realities of the war after America's entry, that the Germans took the decision to develop only a uranium bomb, since that afforded the best, most direct, and technologically least complicated route to acquisition of a bomb. Let us pause a moment to put the indications of the German project in the context of the Manhattan Project taking place in the United States. There, with a production capacity larger than Germany's, and with an industrial base not being targeted by enemy bombing, the American project decided to concentrate on development of all available means to production of working atom bombs, i.e., uranium and plutonium bombs. But the production of plutonium could only be achieved in the construction of a functioning reactor. No reactor, no plutonium bomb. But it should also be noted that the Manhattan Project also constructed the giant Oak Ridge facility in Tennessee to enrich uranium to weapons grade by gaseous diffusion and Lawrence's mass spectrometer processes, a facility that at no stage of its operation relied upon a functioning reactor in order to enrich uranium. So, if the Germans were pursuing a similar approach to that employed at Oak Ridge, then we must find indicators to corroborate it. First, to enrich uranium by the same or similar methods as employed in Tennessee, the Reich would have had to build a similarly huge facility, or smaller facilities scattered throughout Germany, transporting the various levels of dangerous 23 uranium isotope from one point to another as feedstock until the desired level of purity and enrichment was achieved. The material would then have to be assembled in a bomb, and tested. So one must first look for a facilities or facilities. And given the Oak Ridge operation and its massive size, we know exactly what to look for: enormous size, close proximity to water, an adequate transportation infrastructure, enormous electrical power consumption, and finally, two other significant factors: an enormous labor pool, and enormous cost. Secondly, in order to verify or corroborate Zinsser's astonishing affidavit, we must look for corroborating evidence. We must look for indications that the Germans had stockpiled enough weapons grade uranium to constitute a critical mass for an atom bomb. And then we must hunt for the test site or sites and see if it(or they) bear(s) the signature(s) of an atomic blast. Fortunately, the information is now slowly coming available with the recent declassification of documents by Great Britain, the United States, the former Soviet Union, and as the archives of the former East Germany are being opened by the German government itself. This allows us to examine each of these aspects of the problem in a detail not possible until the last few years. The answers, as we shall see in the remaining chapters of part one, are disturbing, and horrifying. 24 2. ELECTRICITY, SLAVES, AND "BUNA" "Assertions made by General Groves after the war... were probably designed to divert attention from the German isotope separation program. The idea being that if the existence of the German uranium enrichment program could be hidden, then the cover story could be established that Germany's atomic bomb effort consisted only of failed attempts to create a reactor pile to bread plutonium" --Carter P. Hydrick: Critical Mass: the Real Story of the Birth of the Atomic Bomb and the Nuclear Age.[1] " The men who interrogated Heisenberg and other German scientists, read their reports, and gaped at the primitive reactor vessel in a cave in southern Germany were hard put to explain what had gone wrong. Germany had begun the war with every advantage: able scientists, material resources, and the support and interest of the highest military officials. How could they have achieved so little?" [2] These are the basic facts, and the central question, that have plagued every researcher into the subject of German secret weapons research since the end of World War Two. How indeed could Germany have not obtained the atom bomb? The thesis of this book, among many others, is radical, namely, that Germany did acquire atomic bombs during the war. What must be explained, rather, is why Germany apparently did not use this and other dreadful weapons available to her, or, if she did, why we have not heard about it. But of course, to maintain such a radical thesis, one must argue persuasively that Germany had the bomb to begin with. 1. Carter Hydrick, Critical Mass: the Real Story of the Atomic Bomb and the Birth of the Nuclear Age, Internet published manuscript, www.3dshort.com/nazibomb2/CRITICALMASS.txt, 1998, p. 21. Hydrick's research is painstaking and meticulous, and his speculative reconstructions of the detailed history of the war's end merit close attention. It is earnestly hoped he will eventually publish this important work in book form. 2. Thomas Powers, Heisenberg's War, p. viii. This implies a relatively easy set of corroborative evidence to search for. If Germany had an uranium based atom bomb, one must look for the following things: (1) A method or methods of separating and enriching uranium-235 isotope, the necessary isotope for an uranium atom bomb, to weapons grade quality, and in sufficient quantity to stockpile enough material for the critical mass, without the use of a functioning atomic reactor. (2) An actual facility or facilities where such technologies are used en masse; This implies in turn (a) enormous electrical power consumption; (b) adequate water and transportation supplies; (c) an enormous labor pool; (d) a physically large facility or facilities that are relatively shielded from Allied and/or Russian bombing; (3) The necessary basic theory for the design of a uranium bomb; (4) Available and adequate supplies of uranium for use in enrichment; (5) A site or sites to assemble and test the bomb Fortunately, all these aspects of the investigation afford the researcher several clues, all of which corroborate the existence, at the minimum, of a very large and successful German uranium refinement and enrichment program during the war. We begin by looking in a very unlikely spot: Nuremberg. At the War Crimes Tribunal after the war, several formerly elegantly attired business executives and senior managers of the huge, enormously powerful, and quite notorious German chemicals cartel, I.G. Farben A.G., had their time in the dock. They story of this early "global corporation", its bankrolling of the Nazi regime and its central role in its "military-industrial complex", as well as its role in producing the deadly Zyklon-B poison gas for the death camps has been chronicled elsewhere.[3] 3. Joseph Borkin, The Crime and Punishment of I. G. Farben; Anthony C. Sutton, Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler. 26 I.G. Farben had been more than just complicit in Nazi atrocities by its construction of a large Buna, or synthetic rubber, production plant at Auschwitz in the Polish part of Silesia during the war, committing atrocities against the concentration camp victims during its construction and operation. For Farben, the choice of Auschwitz as the site for the Buna plant was logical, and made for "sound business reasons." The concentration camp nearby the site selected for the enormous facility guaranteed an endless supply of slave labor for its construction, and, conveniently, when the slaves had exhausted themselves in its secret construction and operation, they could be permanently "laid off". Farben director Carl Krauch assigned one of its top Buna synthetic rubber experts, Otto Ambros, to investigate the sites for the proposed plant and make a recommendation. The site eventually selected - Auschwitz - was "particularly suited for the installation" over a competing site in Norway for one very important reason. A coal mine was nearby and three rivers converged to provide a vital requirement, a large source of water. Together with these three rivers, the Reich railroad and autobahn afforded excellent transportation to and from the area. These were not decisive advantages, however, over the Norwegian site. But the Silesian location had one advantage that was overwhelming: the S.S. had plans to expand enormously a concentration camp nearby. The promise of an inexhaustible supply of slave labor was an attraction that could not be resisted.[4] The selection having been approved by the Farben board, Krauch then wrote a top secret letter to Ambros: In the new arrangement of priority stages ordered by Field Marshal Keitel, your building project has first priority.... At my request, (Goring) issued special decrees a few days ago to the supreme Reich authorities concerned.... In these decrees, the Reich Marshal obligated the offices concerned to meet your requirements in skilled workers and laborers at once, even at the expense of other important building projects or plans which are essential to the war economy.[5] 4. Borkin, op. cit, p. 115. 5. Ibid., pp. 115-116. 27 I.G. Farben Auschwitz "Buna" Expert Otto Ambros With the Wehrmacht poised to blast its way into Russia soon, and sensing enormous profits to be made in the effort, the Farben directors decided to finance the enormous plant privately, rather than in concert with the Nazi regime, earmarking 900,000,000 Reichsmarks - nearly $250,000,000 in 1945 dollars or over $2 billion in contemporary dollars - to the project. It was to be the Buna plant to dwarf all other Buna plants. However, as the testimony at the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal unfolded, the Auschwitz Buna factory emerged as one of the big mysteries of the war, for in spite of the enormous sum of money set aside for its construction, in spite of the personal blessings of Hitler, Himmler, Goring, and Keitel, and in spite of an endless supply both of skilled company contract laborers and an endless supply of slave labor from Auschwitz, "the project was continually disrupted by shortages, breakdowns, and delays.... Some malign influence seemed to be affecting the entire operation" to such an extent that Farben appeared to be faced with the first failure in its long corporate history of technological success.[6] By 1942, the whole effort was viewed by many directors not only as a failure, but as a near disaster.[7] 6. Ibid., p. 118. 7. Ibid., p. 120. 28 Disaster notwithstanding, the huge synthetic rubber and gasoline plants were completed, after 300,000 concentration camp workers had passed through the corporations construction mills. 25,000 of these inmates were simply and cruelly worked to death from exhaustion. The plants themselves were nothing less than gigantic. So gigantic, in fact, that "they used more electricity than the entire city of Berlin."[8] During the war crimes tribunals, however, it was not this gruesome catalogue of facts about the plant that puzzled the Allied prosecutors. What puzzled them was that, in spite of such an enormous investment of lives, money, and material, "not a single pound of Buna was ever produced"[9] The Farben directors and managers in the docks were almost obsessively insistent on this point. More electricity than the entire city of Berlin - the eighth largest in the world at that time - to produce absolutely nothing? If this was true, then the enormous outlay of capital and labor and the huge electrical consumption contributed nothing significant to the German war effort whatsoever. Needless to say, there is something very wrong with this picture. None of it made sense the, none of it makes sense now, unless of course the plant was not a Buna plant at all... *** When I.G. Farben began its construction of the "Buna" plant at Auschwitz, one of the more unusual events to being the process was the removal of over 10,000 Polish inhabitants from their homes to make way for the thousands of German scientists, technicians, contract works and their families who were moved into the area. The parallel with the Manhattan Project in this respect is obvious. It is simply unbelievable in the extreme that, with such a technical and scientific effort on the part of the corporation with the most successful track record in advanced technologies and production 8. Ibid., p. 127. 9. Ibid., emphasis added. 29 facilities, and a plant consuming more electricity than Berlin, that nothing whatsoever was ever accomplished or produced.[10] One contemporary researcher who is also mystified by the whole "Buna plant affair" is Carter P. Hydrick. Contacting Ed Landry, an expert in the field of synthetic rubber production from Houston, Texas, and informing him of the I.G. Farben plant, its huge electrical consumption, and the directors' claims that it produced no Buna at all, Landry responded: "That was not a rubber plant - you can bet your bottom dollar on that." Landry simply does not believe the primary purpose of the "Buna plant" was the production of rubber at all.[11] How then to account for the enormous electrical consumption and post-war insistence of Farben directors that the plant never produced any synthetic rubber at all? What other technology would require such enormous electrical power consumption, such an enormous technical and unskilled labor staff, and such close proximity to plentiful water supplies? At that time, there was only one other technological process that could conceivably require all these things. Hydrick puts the case this way: Certainly there is something wrong with this picture. A compilation of the three central and readily known facts just outlined - electrical consumption, construction costs, and I.G. Farben's previous record -does not readily form a picture that a Buna processing plant was the type of project being constructed at Auschwitz. Such a compilation does sketch a picture, however, of another important wartime production process, though secret at the time. The process is uranium enrichment.[12] So why call it a Buna plant? And why protest so vociferously to the Allied prosecutors that the plant never produced any Buna at all? One answer is that with so much labor being provided by the slave labor from the SS concentration camp nearby, the plant fell under SS security jurisdiction, and an effective "cover" would therefore been at the head of the list of Farben's and the SS' concerns. In the 10. Carter P. Hydick, op. cit., p. 34. 11. Hydrick, op. cit., p. 35. 12. Ibid., p. 38. 30 unlikely event, for example, of an escape by one or more inmates, the "Buna" plant would have offered a plausible cover story should the Allies ever learn of it. Since isotope separation would have been such a secret and costly process, "it becomes hard to imagine the so-called Buna installation being anything but a cover for a uranium enrichment facility."[13] Indeed, there is odd corroboration as we shall see from the Farm Hall transcripts. The "Buna plant" became the cover story to explain the construction to the laborers - in the event that explanations were offered at all! - and to the Farben company contract employees who were "out of the loop." In this respect, the delays in its construction and the difficulties Farben encountered are also best explained by its being a huge isotope separation facility, not unlike those the Manhattan Project encountered when constructing its own similarly sized plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Like its American counterpart, shortages and delays and technical difficulties dogged the project from its inception, and like its American counterpart, these delays were experienced in spite of its enjoying a similarly privileged position in the hierarchy of Nazi priorities as Oak Ridge.[14] So the strange assertions and behavior of the Farben directors on trial after the war begins to make sense. Faced already with an emerging "Allied Legend" about German incompetence in nuclear matters, the Farben directors and managers were perhaps trying in a subtle way to "set the record straight" in the only way that would not overtly challenge that Legend. They were attempting, perhaps, to provide a clue as to the real nature and achievements of the German bomb program that would only be noticed over time and with careful scrutiny. The selection of the site - near the concentration camp at Auschwitz and its hundreds of thousands of hapless victims - also makes strategic, if not gruesome, sense. Much like dictators of more recent times, it would appear that the Nazi regime had placed the facility near the camp in a deliberate attempt to use "human shields" to protect the facility from Allied bombing. If so, the decision was a correct one, as no Allied bombs ever fell on 13. Hydrick, op. cit., p. 38. 14. Ibid. 31 Auschwitz. The plant was dismantled only in the face of the approaching Russian armies in 1944. The Isotope Separation Facility at Oak Ridge, Tennessee To establish that the "Buna plant" was most likely an isotope separation facility, however, requires that one prove the Germans possessed the technological means for isotope separation. Additionally, if such technology was employed at the "Buna plant", then it implies that there was more than one atom bomb project in Germany, for the "Heisenberg" wing of the project, and all the subsequent debates that surround it, are well known. So in addition to ascertaining whether or not Germany possessed the technology to separate isotopes, one must also attempt a broad reconstruction of the actual outlines and relationships of the various German atom bomb projects. By stating the problem in this fashion, one is again confronted by the post-war Allied Legend: In the traditional history of the bomb, (Manhattan project chief General Leslie) Groves has positioned the German plutonium effort as the only nuclear initiative Germany ever pursued. And he has magnified this misinformation, couched in a cushion of half-truths, to immense proportions- large enough to hide what appears to be a huge 32 German uranium enrichment project behind it - and thus he has shielded the Nazi near-success from the view of the world.[15] Did Germany have isotope enrichment technology available? And could it have employed that technology in sufficient quantity to make significant amounts of enriched uranium available for a bomb program? There can be no doubt that Germany certainly had a sufficient supply of uranium ore, for the region of the Sudetenland - annexed by Germany after the infamous Munich conference in 1938 - is a region known for its rich deposits of some of the highest grade uranium ore in the world. The region, coincidentally, lies close to the "Three Corners" region of Thuringia in south central Germany, and therefore close to Silesia and the various installations that will be examined in parts two and three. So the Farben directors may have had another reason for choosing Auschwitz as the site for an enrichment facility. Auschwitz was close not only to water, an adequate transportation network, and abundant labor, it was conveniently close to the uranium fields of the German-Czech Sudentenland. These facts raise a speculative possibility. It is well-known that the announcement by nuclear chemist Otto Hahn of his discovery of nuclear fission did not occur until after the Munich conference and the surrender of the Sudetenland to the Third Reich by Chamberlain and Daladier. But might the reality have been something different? Might, in fact, the discovery of fission taken place before the conference, and its results withheld by the Reich until after Europe's only uranium supply was firmly in Nazi hands? It is perhaps significant that Adolf Hitler was prepared to go to war over the matter. In any case, before we investigate the question of the technology available to the Germans, we must first answer the question of why they apparently concentrated almost exclusively on 15. Hydrick, op. cit., p. 3. Obviously, Hydrick himself does not appear ready to go all the way and acknowledge that the Germans actually successfully tested an atom bomb before its American Manhattan project counterpart produced and tested one. 33 obtaining a uranium atom bomb in their program. After all, the American Manhattan Project had elected to pursue both a uranium and a plutonium bomb. The theoretical possibility of plutonium bombs - "element 94" as it was officially called in German documents of the period - was certainly known to the Nazis. And, as the early 1942 memorandum to the Heereswaffenamt also makes clear, the Germans also knew that this element could only be synthesized in an atomic reactor. So why did they apparently concentrate only on a uranium bomb and isotope separation and enrichment almost exclusively? With the destruction of the Norwegian heavy water plant at Ryukon in 1942 by Allied commandos, and German failures in obtaining sufficient purity of graphite for use as a moderator in a reactor, the only other moderator available to them - heavy water - was now in critically short supply. Thus, according to the Legend, a functioning reactor leading to a critical mass supply of "element 94" was not feasible to them in the projected span of the war. But let us, for a moment, assume that the Allied commando raid had not taken place. The German failures with graphite moderated reactors were already a matter of record, and it was obvious to them that there were significant technological and engineering hurdles to be surmounted before a reactor came into production. On the other hand, the Germans already had the necessary technology to enrich U-235 for a bomb, and thus uranium enrichment constituted the best, most direct, and technologically feasible route to the acquisition of a bomb within the expected span of the war for the Germans. More on that technology in a moment. One now has to deal with yet another component of the Allied Legend. American progress in the plutonium bomb, from the moment Fermi successfully completed and tested a functioning reactor in the squash court at the University of Chicago, appeared to be running fairly smoothly, until fairly late in the war, when it was discovered that in order to make a bomb from plutonium, the critical mass would have to be assembled much faster than any existing Allied fuse technologies could accomplish. Moreover, there was so little margin of error, since the fuses in an implosion device 34 would have to fire as close to simultaneously as possible, that Allied engineers began to despair of making a plutonium bomb work. Thus one is confronted with a rather interesting scientific picture, one directly in contradiction to the traditional history of the bomb. If the Germans indeed had a successful and large scale uranium enrichment project running ca. 1941-1944, and if their bomb project was devoted almost exclusively on acquiring a uranium atom bomb, and if at the same time Allied engineers were coming to realize the problems inherent in plutonium bomb design, then this means, in one respect at least, that the Germans have not wasted time or effort" on what is admittedly a more difficult task, namely, the plutonium bomb. As we shall see in the next chapter, this fact gives rise to serious doubts about the state of "success" in the Manhattan Project in late 1944 and early 1945. So what were the actual technologies available to Nazi Germany for isotope enrichment and separation, and how did it compare to similar technologies employed at Oak Ridge for efficiency and output? Difficult as it seems to accept, the fact of the matter is that Nazi Germany had "at least five, and possibly as many as seven, serious isotope separation development programs underway."[16] One of these, an "isotope sluice" developed by Drs. Bagge and Korsching, two of the scientists interred at Farm Hall, was brought to such a state of efficiency by mid-1944 that a single pass of uranium through it would enrich it to four times that produced by a single pass through the gaseous diffusion gates at Oak Ridge![17] 16. Hydrick, op. cit., p. 25. 17. Ibid. 35 Contrast this with the end-of-war difficulties being faced by the Manhattan Project. Even with the enormous gaseous diffusion plant at Oak Ridge, stocks of fissionable uranium were still woefully short of critical mass requirements as late as March 1945. Passes 36 through the Oak Ridge facility would enrich uranium from approximately a .7 percent concentration in around 10-12 percent, and thus the decision was taken to use the Oak Ridge production as feedstock for Earnest O. Lawrence's far more efficient and effective "beta calutrons," which were essentially a cyclotron with separation tanks, using electromagnetic means to enrich and separate isotope via mass spectrography.[18] Consequently, one may assume that if a similar quantity of Bagge and Korsching's "isotope sluices" were used en masse, the result would have been a more rapid build-up of enriched uranium feedstock. Similarly, the more efficient German technology may also have allowed for relatively smaller separation facilities. Good as it was, however, the isotope sluice was not Germany's most efficient or technologically advanced means of uranium enrichment. This was the centrifuge, and its progeny - designed by nuclear chemist Paul Hartek - the ultracentrifuge.[19] American engineers, of course, knew of this possibility, but there was a significant drawback they had to face: the highly corrosive uranium gases used in this technology made it unfeasible to rely on centrifuges as a means of enrichment. On the German side, however, this was a solved problem. A special alloy called Bondur was developed precisely for use in centrifuges.[20] But even centrifuge technology was not, however, the best available method the Germans had. 18. Hydrick, op. cit., p. 25. 19. The same technology was captured by the Soviet Union and further perfected in its own bomb program. On the post-war German side, such ultra-centrifuges were provided by the Siemens company and other German firms first to South Africa in its own bomb program (q.v. Rogers and Cervenka, The Nuclear Axis: West Germany and South Africa, pp. 299-310). In other words, the technology is not only originally German, but is advanced enough to be employed today. It should be noted that, as of the mid-1970s, several of the Germans involved in the corporate development of centrifuge enrichment facilities for the Federal Republic (West Germany) had ties to the Third Reich's bomb project, among them Prof. Karl Winnacker, a former member of the I.G. Farben board (p. 300). 20. Hydrick, op. cit., p. 25. 37 Baron Manfred von Ardenne, a rich eccentric and self-taught nuclear physicist and inventor, and his close associate of physicist Fritz Houtermanns, both correctly calculated the critical mass for a U-235 atom bomb in 1941, and with funds from Dr. Ing. Ohnesorge's money-rich Deutsche Reichspost, constructed a huge underground laboratory in his baronial manor in Lichterfelde, outside eastern Berlin. This laboratory included a 2,000,000 volt electrostatic generator and the only other cyclotron known to exist in the Third Reich besides that of the Curies in France. It is the only cyclotron acknowledged by the post-war Allied Legend.[21] 21. Hydrick, p. 26. 38 At thus juncture it is necessary to pause to examine the German bomb program more closely, for we now have evidence of at least three different, and seemingly separate, technological efforts: (1) The Heisenberg-Army program, centered around Heisenberg himself and various associates at the Kaiser Wilhelm and Max Planck institutes, a purely "small laboratory" effort concentrating, or rather, dibbling and dabbling in the construction of a reactor. This is the "program" the Allied Legend focuses on, and the one most people think of when they think of the German atom bomb effort. It is the program deliberately inculcated by that Legend as proof of German nuclear incompetence and bungling;[22] (2) The I.G. Farben "Buna plant" at Auschwitz, whose relationship to the other programs, and to the SS, is not entirely clear; 22. It should be noted again, however, that the German Army's Ordnance Bureau was in possession of essentially correct estimations of the critical mass for a uranium bomb in early 1942, and that Heisenberg himself after the war suddenly reassumed his commanding position by detailing the construction of the Hiroshima bomb along essentially correct principles, and allegedly from information gleaned only from the BBC! (3) The Bagge-Korsching-von Ardenne-Houtermanns circle, developing an array of advanced separation technologies, and apparently, via von Ardenne, tied somehow to, of all things, the German postal service! Why the Reichspost? For one thing, it afforded an effective cover for the program, which, like its American counterpart, appears to have been compartmentalized under a number of government agencies, many having no plausible connection with a large secret weapons research effort. Secondly, and more significantly, the Reichspost was awash with money, and could therefore have provided some of the massive funding necessary to the project, a true "black budget" operation in every sense. And finally, the head of the Reichspost was, perhaps not coincidentally, an engineer: Dr. Ing. Ohnesorge. It is, from the German point of view, a logical choice. Even his last name, "Ohnesorge", meaning "without sorrow or regret", is an ironic twist to the story. The Uranium 235 needed to fuel the Atomic Bomb was separated from the more plentiful Uranium 238 using "Calutrons" at Y-12. The word "Calutron" comes from CALifornia University CycloTRON to recognize that it was designed by E. O. Lawrence. This photo shows six of the original "D-Coil" magnets. These magnets were placed on either side of a vacuum chamber where the unique and scarce material was collected. What was the method of separation and enrichment developed by von Ardenne and Houtermanns? Very simply, it was the cyclotron itself. Von Ardenne had invented a modification of the cyclotron - electromagnetic separation tanks- very similar to Ernst O. Lawrence's "beta calutrons" in the United States. It is to be noted, however, that von Ardenne had completed his modifications in April of 1942, whereas General Groves in the Manhattan Project would not have Lawrence's beta calutron at Oak Ridge for fully a year and a half after that![23] "In addition, the ion plasma source Ardenne had designed for his isotope separator to sublime the uranium compound was far superior to that provided for the calutrons." So efficient, in fact, was Von Ardenne's version as a source for emitting particle rays, that to this day it is known as "the Ardenne source."[24] Von Ardenne himself is a mysterious figure, for after the war he was one of the few German scientists to deliberately opt to cooperate with the Soviet Union rather than the Western Allies. His contribution to the Soviet acquisition of the atomic bomb in 1949 23. Hydrick, op. cit, p. 26. 24. Hydrick, op. cit., p. 27. 40 was to earn him the "Stalin Prize" in 1955, the Soviet equivalent to the Nobel Prize. He was the only non-Russian and non-Soviet ever to win the prize.[25] In any case, Von Ardenne's work, plus that of the other German scientists working on separation and enrichment - Bagge, Korsching, Harteck and Houtermanns - indicates one thing: that there was a sound and solid basis in Allied wartime estimations of German progress and capabilities, for they were, in mid-1942, running a dead heat with the Manhattan Project, and were not "far behind" as the post-war Allied Legend would subsequently have us believe. So what is the likely scenario, as it has emerged thus far? What conclusions may be drawn? (1) There were several German bomb and enrichment projects, compartmentalized to maintain security, perhaps being coordinated by some as yet or hitherto unknown entity. In any case, it appears that one such serious program was at least nominally being coordinated by the Deutsche Reichspost under its chief, Dr. Ing. Wilhelm Ohnesorge; (2) The most significant enrichment and separation projects were not being conducted by Heisenberg or his circle, or for that matter, by any of the more "high profile" German scientists, save perhaps Harteck and Diebner. This suggests that perhaps the more famous scientists were being used as "fronts" and being kept out of the loop of the most serious and significant technological achievements as a matter of security. Had they been involved in such efforts and then subsequently kidnapped or assassinated by the Allies - a thought that certainly occurred to the OSS [26] - then the German program would have been severely crippled and exposed; 25. Henshall, op. cit, p. 156. 26. Powers, op. cit., pp. 379-382. Samuel Goudsmit was at one point being considered as a member of the team that would attempt to kidnap or assassinate Heisenberg. 41 (3) At least three German technologies were arguably more efficient and technologically advanced than their American counterparts: (a) Bagge and Korsching's "isotope sluice"; (b) Harteck's centrifuges and ultra-centrifuges; (c) Von Ardenne's modified cyclotrons, the "Ardenne source"; (4) At least one known facility was large enough in terms of its physical size, labor requirements, and electrical consumption, to have conceivably been sued as a large separation facility, the I.G. Farben "Buna plant" at Auschwitz. The case is strong because: (a) No Buna was ever produced there in spite of thousands of scientists, technicians, engineers, contract and slave laborers working there; (b) The site was close to the uranium ore fields of the Czech and German Sudentenland, being located in Polish Silesia; (c) The site was close to plentiful water supplies, also needed in isotope enrichment; (d) It was close to rail and road networks; (e) It was close to plentiful (slave) labor; (f) And finally -though not yet discussed - it was close to several large underground secret weapons production and research facilities in lower Silesia, and was close to one of the two alleged test sites of German atom bomb tests during the war; (5) it may reasonably be assumed, in addition to the "Buna factory", that the Germans constructed smaller facilities in the area for separation and enrichment of isotope, using the Buna plant's production as feedstock for these other facilities.[27] 27. Powers, op. cit., p. 74. Powers also mentions another problematical fact concerning the Clusius-Dickel method of thermal diffusion, that we will encounter in chapter 7: "One pound of U-235 was not a daunting figure, and Frisch calculated that 1,000,000 Clusius-Dickel tubes for thermal diffusion of uranium isotopes could produce it in a matter of weeks. Such a large industrial effort would not be cheap, but the two men concluded, 'Even if this plant costs as much as a battleship, it would be worth having.'" 42 To round out this unpleasant picture, one must also mention two further interesting facts: Von Ardenne's close associate and theoretical mentor, Dr. Fritz Houtermanns' specialty was thermonuclear fusion, indeed as an astrophysicist, he had staked his claim to fame in physics by describing precisely the type of nuclear process at work in stars. Interestingly enough, there does exist, from 1938, an Austrian patent for a device known as a "Molecular Bomb," a bomb that upon examination is an early version of a hydrogen bomb. Atomic bombs, of course, supply the necessary heat to get hydrogen atoms to collide and produce the much more enormous and terrible energies of thermonuclear hydrogen fusion bombs. Secondly, it may now clearly be seen why, of all the German scientists working on the atom bomb, that Manfred Von Ardenne was the one nuclear scientist that Adolf Hitler most often went personally to visit. [28] In any case, all the evidence points to the conclusion that there was a large, very well-funded, and very secret German isotope enrichment program during the war, a program successfully disguised during the war by the Nazis, and covered-up after war by the Allied Legend. But this too raises its own questions. How close was that program to acquiring sufficient stocks of weapons grade uranium to make a bomb (or bombs). And secondly, why did the Allies after the war go to such stupendous lengths to cover it up? As a final note to this chapter, and a tantalizing indication of further mysteries that will be investigated subsequently in this work, there is a report, declassified by the National Security Agency only in 1978; the report is apparently a decoded intercept from the Japanese embassy in Stockholm to Tokyo. It is entitled simply 28. Hydrick, op. cit, p. 29. Rose notes that von Ardenne had written him and stated that he had never tried to persuade the Nazis to develop his process and employ it in large quantities. He then notes that the Siemens company did not develop it (Rose, op. cit., p. 140, n. 38). This would appear to be pure obfuscation on Von Ardenne's part, for it was not Siemens, but I.G. Farben, that had developed the processes and employed them in large amounts at Auschwitz. 43 "Reports on the Atom-Splitting Bomb." It is best to cite its amazing contents in their entirety, with their original breaks where they occurred in the text for transmission: This bomb is revolutionary in its results, and it will completely upset all ordinary precepts of warfare hitherto established. I am sending you, in one group, all those reports on what is called the atom-splitting bomb: It is a fact that in June of 1943 the German Army tried out an utterly new type of weapon against the Russians at a location 150 kilometers southeast of Kursk. Although it was the entire 19th Infantry Regiment of the Russians which was thus attacked, only a few bombs (each round up to 5 kilograms) sufficed to utterly wipe them out to the last man. Part 2. The following is according to a statement by Lieutenant-Colonel UE(?) I KENJI, advisor to the attaché' in Hungary and formerly (?on duty?) in this country, who by chance saw the actual scene immediately after the above took place: "All the men and the horses (?within the area of?) the explosion of the shells were charred black and even their ammunition had all been detonated." Moreover, it is a fact that the same type of war material was tried out in the Crimea, too. At that time the Russians claimed that this was poison-gas, and protested that if Germany were ever again to use it, Russia, too, would use poison-gas. Part 3. There is also the fact that recently in London - in the period between October and the 15th of November - the loss of life and the damage to business buildings through fires of unknown origin was great. It is clear, judging especially by the articles about a new weapon of this type, which have appeared from time to time recently in British and American magazines - that even our enemy has already begun to study this type. To generalize on the basis of all these reports: I am convinced that the most important technical advance in the present great war is in the realization of the atom-splitting bomb. Therefore, the central authorities are planning, through research on this type of weapon, to speed up the matter of rendering the weapon practical. And for my part, I am convinced of the necessity for taking urgent steps to effect this end. Part 4. The following are the facts I have learned regarding its technical data: 44 Recently the British authorities warned their people of the possibility that they might undergo attacks by German atom-splitting bombs. The American military authorities have likewise warned that the American east coast might be the area chosen for a blind attack by some sort of flying bomb. It was called the German V-3. To be specific, this device is based on the principle of the explosion of the nuclei of the atoms in heavy hydrogen derived from heavy water. (Germany has a large plant (?for this?) in the vicinity of Rjukan, Norway, which has from time to time been bombed by English planes.). Naturally, there have been plenty of examples even before this of successful attempts at smashing individual atoms. However, Part 5. as far as the demonstration of any practical results is concerned, they seem not to have been able to split large numbers of atoms in a single group. That is, they require for the splitting of each single atom a force that will disintegrate the electron orbit. On the other hand, the stuff that the Germans are using has, apparently, a very much greater specific gravity than anything heretofore used. In this connection, allusions have been made to SIRIUS and stars of the "White Dwarf" group. (Their specific gravity is (?6?) 1 thousand, and the weight of one cubic inch is 1 ton.) In general, atoms cannot be compressed into the nuclear density. However, the terrific pressures and extremes of temperature in the "White Dwarfs" cause the bursting of the atoms; and Part 6. There are, moreover, radiations from the exterior of these stars composed of what is left of the atoms which are only the nuclei, very small in volume. According to the English newspaper accounts, the German atom- splitting device is the NEUMAN disintegrator. Enormous energy is directed into the central part of the atom and this generates at atomic pressure of several tons of thousands of tons (sic) per square inch. This device can split the relatively unstable atoms of such elements as uranium. Moreover, it brings into being a store of explosive atomic energy. A-GENSHI HAKAI DAN. That is, a bomb deriving its force from the release of atomic energy. The end of this amazing intercept then reads "Inter 12 Dec 44 (1,2) Japanese; Rec'd 12 Dec 44; Trans 14 Dec 44 (3020-B)," apparently references to when the message was intercepted by American intelligence, its original language (Japanese), when the message was 45 received, when it was translated (14 Dec 44), and by whom (3020-B).[29] The date of this document - after the lest allegedly seen by Hans Zinsser and two days before the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge -must have set off alarm bells in the offices of Allied Intelligence personnel both during and after the war. While it is certainly clear that the Japanese attaché in Stockholm seems to be somewhat confused bout the nature of nuclear fission, a number of startling things stand out in the document: (1) The Germans were, according to the report, using weapons of mass destruction of some type on the Eastern Front, but had apparently for some reason refrained from using them on the Western Allies; (a) The areas specifically mentioned were Kursk, in the approximate location of the southern pincer of the German offensive, which took place in July, and not June, of 1943, and the Crimean peninsula; (b)The time mentioned was 1943, though since the only major action to have occurred in the Crimea was in 1942 with the massive German artillery bombardment, one must also conclude that the time frame stretched back into 1942; (At this juncture is it worth pausing to consider briefly the German siege of the Russian fortress of Sevastopol, scene of the most colossal artillery bombardment of the war, as it bears directly on the interpretation of this intercept. The siege was led by Colonel-General (later Field Marshal) Erich Von Manstein's 11th Army. Von Manstein assembled 1,300 artillery pieces - the largest concentration of heavy and super-heavy artillery deployed by any Power during the war - and pounded Sevastopol with this mighty 29. Edgar Mayer and Thomas Mehner, Hitler und die Bombe" (Rottenburg: Kopp Verlag, 2002), pp. 110-114, emphasis added, citing "Stockholm to Tokyo, No. 232.9 December 1944 (War Department), National Archives, RG 457, SRA 14628-32, declassified October 1, 1978. 46 arsenal twenty-four hours a day for five clays. These were no ordinary heavy field pieces. Two mortar regiments - the 1st Heavy Mortar Regiment and the 70th Mortar Regiment -as well as the 1st and 4th Mortar Battalions, had been concentrated in front of the fortress under the special command of Colonel Nieman - altogether 21 batteries with 576 barrels, including the batteries of the 1st Heavy Mortar regiment with the 11- and 12 1/2 inch high explosive and incendiary oil shells... Even these monsters were not the largest pieces deployed at Sevastopol. Several of the 16 1/2-inch "Big Bertha" Krupp cannon and their old Austrian Skoda counterparts were massed against the Russian positions, along with the even more colossal "Karl" and "Thor" mortars, gigantic self-propelled 24-inch mortars firing shells that weighed over two tons. VIDEO: rare footage of it in action But even "Karl" was not quite the last word in gunnery. That last word was stationed at Bakhchisary, in the "Palace of Gardens" of the ancient residence of the Tartar Khans, and was called "Dora," or occasionally "Heavy Gustav." It was the heaviest gun of the last war. Its caliber was 31 1/2-inches. Sixty railway carriages were needed to transport the parts of the monster. Its 107-foot barrel ejected high-explosive projectiles of 4800 kg -i.e., nearly five tons-over a distance of 29 miles. Or it could hurl even heavier armor-piercing missiles, weighing seven tons, at targets nearly 24 miles away. The missile together with its cartridge measured nearly twenty-six feet in length. Erect that would be about (the) height of a two-story house.... These data are sufficient to show that here the conventional gun had been enlarged to gigantic, almost super-dimensional scale - indeed, to a point where one might question the economic return obtained from such a weapon. Yet one single round from "Dora" destroyed an ammunition dump in Severnaya Bay at Sevastopol although it was situated 100 feet below ground.[30] 30. Paul Carrell, Hitler Moves East, 1941-1943 (Ballantine Books, 1971) pp. 501-503, emphasis added. So horrendous was the bombardment from this 47 Why are these details significant? First, note the reference to "incendiary oil shells." These shells are the indication that unusual weaponry was deployed by the Germans at Sevastopol and delivered through conventional - though quite large - artillery pieces. The German Army did possess such shells and deployed the frequently and with no little effectiveness on the Eastern Front. But might there have been an even more fearsome weapon? In subsequent chapters we will present evidence that the Germans indeed developed an early version of a modern "fuel-air" bomb, a conventional explosive with the explosive power of a tactical nuclear weapon. Given the great weight of such projectiles, and the German lack of sufficient heavy-lift aircraft to deliver them, it is possible if not likely that super-heavy artillery was used to deploy them. This would also explain another curiosity in the Japanese military attaché's statement: the Germans apparently did not deploy weapons of mass destruction against cities, but only against military targets that would have been within the range of such weapons. We may now resume with the analysis of the Japanese statement. (2) The Germans may have been seriously pursuing the hydrogen bomb, since reactions of the nuclei of heavy water atoms - containing deuterium and tritium - are essential in thermonuclear fusion reactions, a point highlighted by the Japanese delegate(though he confuses these reactions with fission reactions of atom bombs), and corroborated by Fritz Houtermans' pre-war work in the thermonuclear fusion process at work in stars; massed heavy and super-heavy artillery that the German General Staff estimated that over 500 rounds fell on Russian positions per second during the five days' artillery and aerial bombardment, a massive expenditure of ammunition. The rain of steel on the Russian positions pulverized Russian morale and was often so thunderous that eardrums burst. At the end of the battle, the city and environs of Sevastopol were ruined, two entire Soviet armies had been obliterated, and over 90,000 prisoners were taken, (pp. 501-502, 511) 48 (3) The enormous temperatures of atom bombs are used as detonators in conventional hydrogen bombs; (4) In desperation the Russians appeal to have been ready to resort to the use of poison gas against the Germans if they did not "cease and desist"; (5) The Russians believe the weapons to have been "poison gas" of some sort, either a cover story put out by the Russians, or a result of field reports being made by Russian Soldiers who were ignorant of the type of weapon deployed against them;[31] and finally, and most sensationally, (6) According to the Japanese cable, the Germans appeared to have gained their specialized knowledge via some connection to the star system of Sirius and that knowledge involved some exotic form of very dense matter, a statement that strains credulity even today. It is this last point that directs our attention to the most fantastic and arcane recesses of wartime German secret weapons research, for if the allegation has even a partial basis in truth, then it indicates that at some highly secret level, physics, and the esoteric, were being pursued by the Nazi regime in some very extraordinary ways.[32] In this regard it is important to note that the extreme density of the material described by the Japanese envoy resembles nothing so much as a construct of modern post-war theoretical physics called "dark matter". In all likelihood his report greatly overestimates the mass of this material - if it existed at all - but nonetheless it is crucial to observe that it is material far beyond the ordinary density of matter. 31. The detail of "charred bodies" and exploded ammunition certainly point to non-conventional weaponry. A fuel-air device would at least account for the charring. The tremendous heat produced by such a bomb could also conceivably detonate ammunition. Likewise, radioactive burns with its characteristic blistering effects might well have been misunderstood by Russian field Soldiers and officers, who would most likely not have been familiar with nuclear energy, as the effects of poison gas. 32. To anyone familiar with the wealth of material on alternative research into the Giza compound in Egypt, the reference to Sirius will immediately conjure images of Egyptian religion, its preoccupation with death, with the Osiris myth, and to the Sirian star system. 49 Strangely, the German-Sirian connection pops up again, long alter the war, in an unusual context. In my previous book, The Giza Death Star Deployed, I mentioned the research of Robert Temple into the mysterious African Dogon tribe, a tribe of primitive peoples that nonetheless appears to have preserved an accurate knowledge of the Sirian star system for many generations, from a period long before modern astronomy knew anything about it. In that book, I noted that Temple also alleges serious Soviet KGB and American CIA and NSA interest in his book.... An odd mention, perhaps significant in the light of our later discussion of possible German involvement in scalar physics research during World War Two and after, is Temple's allegation that Baron Jesco von Puttkamer wrote him a denunciatory letter on NASA stationary, only later to retract that, stating that it did not represent an official NASA position. Temple believes that Puttkamer was one of the Germans brought to the USA during the notorious Operation Paper Clip in the days immediately following the Nazi surrender (pp. 9-10).[33] As I then go on to observe in that book, Karl Jesco von Puttkamer was no ordinary German, being a member of Adolf Hitler's military staff throughout the war as his naval adjutant to staff, beginning the war with the rank of captain and ending with the rank of admiral. Puttkamer was subsequently employed by NASA. So the investigation of the German atom bomb, via this recently declassified Japanese cable, has already led us far afield, into a realm of frightening potentialities, into a world of
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"https://www.picclickimg.com/d3wAAOSwUR9cpWwE/HAMMER-CODEX-DA-VINCI-Facsimile.webp", "https://picclick.com/img/amazon-logo-white-png-transparent-icon.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	Manuscripts, Antiques. Shop the Largest Selection, Click to See! Search eBay faster with PicClick. Money Back Guarantee ensures YOU receive the item you ordered or get your money back.	en	/apple-touch-icon.png	PicClick	https://picclick.com/Antiques/Manuscripts/	39 watchers Codex Mellon, 1513 Architectural Sketchbook $149.99 Buy It Now or Best Offer 37 watchers Voynich Manuscript leather Reproduction $299.99 Buy It Now or Best Offer 22 watchers Malleus Maleficarum 1519 , Hammer Of Witches. Facsimile $249.99 Buy It Now or Best Offer 75 watchers Book of Kells Facsimile. 678 page full color facsimile $500.00 Buy It Now or Best Offer 6 watchers c. 1240 MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPT BIBLE LEAF in LEATHERBOUND BOOK w ESSAY by FERRINI $695.00 Buy It Now 13 watchers Medieval BoH manuscript leaf,very fine vellum,2 painted Miniatures.France,c.1460 $845.00 0 Bids 2d 11h 27 watchers 1479 EXTREMELY RARE* Large Medieval Incunabula Bible Leaf. 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correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	33	http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/meetthedefendants.html	en	The Nazi Defendants in the Major War Criminal Trial in Nuremberg			[ "http://famous-trials.com/images/newfamoustrials.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Karl_Donitz.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Frank.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Frick.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80HFritzsche.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Funk.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Goering.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Hess_Spandau.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Jodl1.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Kaltenbrunner_Prison.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Keitel_Court.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Neurath&Goering.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80vonPapen.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Raeder.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Ribbentrop.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Rosenberg_DuringTrial.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Sauckel.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Schacht&Hitler.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Schirach_Youth.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Seyss_Inquart.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80Speer2.jpg", "http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/80StreicherCell.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Doug Linder" ]	null					null	DEFENDANT IMAGE (click on image to see larger photo) I.Q. IN THE DEFENDANT'S WORDS PROSECUTION POINTS NOTES IN THE END Doenitz, Karl German admiral who would eventually command entire navy. Chosen by Hitler to succeed him as fuhrer. Negotiated surrender following Hitler's suicide. 138 "Politicians brought the Nazis to power and started the war. They are the ones who brought about these disgusting crimes, and now we have to sit there in the dock with them and share the blame!" (5/27/46) On 9/17/42 Doenitz issued the "Laconia Order" to the German submarine fleet. The order forbid rescuing enemy survivors of sunken ships: "Be hard. Remember, the enemy has no regard for women and children when he bombs German cities." Called by Hitler "the Rommel of the Seas"....Said "I would rather eat dirt than have my grandson grow up in the Jewish spirit and faith"...Went on radio after assassination attempt on Hitler to call it "a cowardly attempt at murder." Served 10-year-sentence. Died in 1981. Frank, Hans Governor-general of Nazi-occupied Poland, called the "Jew butcher of Cracow." 130 " Don't let anybody tell you that they had no idea. Everybody sensed there was something horribly wrong with the system." (11/29/45) "Hitler has disgraced Germany for all time! He betrayed and disgraced the people that loved him!...I will be the first to admit my guilt." (4/17/46) "The Jews must be eliminated. Whenever we catch one, it is his end"...."This territory [Poland] is in its entirety the booty of the German Reich"...."I have not been hesitant in declaring that when a German is shot, up to 100 Poles shall be shot too."--from the diary of Hans Frank. In April of 1930, Hitler asked Frank to secretly investigate a rumor that he had Jewish blood. Frank reported back that there was a 50-50 chance that Hitler was one-quarter Jewish. Hanged--wearing a beatificsmile--in Nuremberg on Oct. 16, 1946 Frick, Wilhelm Minister of the Interior 124 "Hitler didn't want to do things my way. I wanted things done legally. After all, I am a lawyer." (4/24/46).... "The mass murders were certainly not thought of as a consequence of the Nuremberg Laws, [though] it may have turned out that way." Frick drafted, signed, and administered laws that abolished opposition parties, and suppressed trade unions and Jews (including the infamous Nuremberg Laws). Frick knew that the insane, aged, and disabled ("useless eaters") were being systematically killed, but did nothing to stop it. Frick claimed not to be an anit-Semite. He said he drafted the Nuremberg Laws for "scientific reasons": to protect the purity of German blood. Frick was one of eleven defendants sentenced to death. He said, "Hanging--I didn't expect anything different....Well, I hope they get it over with fast." (10/1/46) Frick was hanged on Oct. 16, 1946. Fritzsche, Hans Head of the Radio Division, one of twelve departments in Goebbel's Propoganda Ministry 130 " I have been tricked and trapped by the Himmler murder machine, even when I tried to put a check on it...Let us explain our position to the world, so that at least we won't die under this awful burden of shame." (11/21/45) "I have the feeling I am drowning in filth....I am choking in it."--(2/21/46, after watching film of atrocities). Fritzsche's radio broadcasts (he was a popular commentator) included strong Nazi propoganda. Fritzsche was one of two defendants turned over to the IMT by Russians.... Fritzsche often appeared on the verge of a breakdown during the trial. Fritzsche was acquitted by the IMT. He said, "I am entirely overwhelmed--to be set free right here, not even to be sent back to Russia. That was more than I hoped for." He was later tried and convicted by a German court, then freed in 1950. He died in 1953. Funk, Walther Minister of Economics 124 "I signed the laws for the aryanization of Jewish property. Whether that makes me legally guilty or not, is another matter. But it makes me morally guilty, there is no doubt about that. I should have listened to my wife at the end. She said we'd be better off dropping the whole minister business and moving into a three-bedroom flat." (7/8/46) Funk agreed with Himmler to receive gold from the SS (including gold teeth and rings taken from those killed in concentration camps) and deposit in the Reichsbank. Funk told subordinates not to ask questions about the shipments. He either knew or should have known the source of the gold received. Funk said, "The only accusation I can make to myself is...that I should have resigned in 1938 when I saw how they robbed and smashed Jewish property." (12/15/45)....Funk was often seen crying during the presentation of prosecution evidence and needed sleeping pills at night. Funk was sentenced to life imprisonment by the IMT. He was released in 1957 because of poor health. He died in 1959. Goering, Hermann Reichsmarschall and Luftwaffe (Air Force) Chief; President of Reichstag; Director of "Four Year Plan" 138 "I joined the Party precisely because it was revolutionary, not because of the ideological stuff." (12/11/45)...."The whole conspiracy idea is cockeyed. We had orders to obey the head of state. We weren't a band of criminals meeting in the woods in the dead of night to plan mass murders...The four real conspirators are missing: The Fuhrer, Himmler, Bormann, and Goebbels." (1/5/46)..."This is a political trial by the victors and it will be a good thing when Germany realizes that..." (6/13/46) As Director of the Four Year Plan, Goering bore responsibility for the elimination of Jews from political life and for the destruction and takeover of Jewish businesses and property....He was quoted as saying, "I wish you had killed 200 Jews and not destroyed such valuable property"...He looted art treasures from occupied territories and arranged for use of slave labor.... Goering surrendered to American officers. The officers offered Goering drinks and sang songs with him, but the next day were reprimanded by an outraged Dwight Eisenhower...Goering was the most popular prisoner with the American guards because he seemed to take an interest in their lives....He seemed to wield a great deal of influence with the other defendants, and prison administrators sought to isolate him as much as possible....Goering said, "We don't have much to say about our fate. The forces of history and politics and economics are just to big to steer." (3/9/46) Goering committed suicide on the day before his scheduled hanging by taking a cyanide pill that was smuggled into his cell. Goering wrote in his suicide note, "I would have no objection to getting shot," but he thought hanging was inappropriate for a man of his position. Hess, Rudolf Deputy to the Fuhrer and Nazi Party Leader 120 "It is just incomprehensible how those things [atrocities] came about...Every genius has the demon in him. You can't blame him [Hitler]--it is just in him...It is all very tragic. But at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that I tried to do something to end the war." (12/16/45) Jackson called Hess "the engineer tending to the Party machinery." He maintained the organization as a ready and loyal instrument of power. He signed decrees persecuting Jews and was a willing participant in aggression against Austria, Czechoslavakia, and Poland. During his detention following his failed putsch, Hitler dictated Mein Kampf to Hess...Hess mysteriously flew to England in 1941 in an attempt to end the war on his own terms. He stayed there until the war ended....Hess suffered from paranoid delusions, apathy, amnesia, and was diagnosed as having a "hysterical personality." Hess was sentenced to life in prison. He remained--lost in his own mental fog-- in Spandau prison (for many years as its only prisoner) until he committed suicide in 1987 at age 93. Jodl, Alfred Chief of Operations for the German High Command 127 " The indictment knocked me on the head. First of all, I hand no idea at all about 90 per cent of the accusations in it. The crimes are horrible beyond belief, if they are true. Secondly, I don't see how they can fail to recognize a soldier's obligation to obey orders. That's the code I've live by all my life." (11/1/45) Jodl gave orders for the German army's campaign against Holland, Belgium, Norway, and Poland. He also planned attacks against Greece and Yugoslavia....Jodl was quoted as saying, "Terror attacks against English centers of population ...will paralyze the will of the people to resist." Jodl signed Germany's unconditional surrender on May 7, 1945, ending the war in Europe....He strongly disagreed with many of Hitler's harsh orders: "The order to kill the escaped British fliers--there was absolutely no justification for that. From then on, I knew what kind of a man Hitler was." (4/6/46) Jodl was hanged in Nuremberg on Oct. 16, 1946. Critics have called Jodl's death sentence harsh in relation to the sentences received by other German officers of similar rank. Kaltenbrunner, Ernst Chief of RSHA (an organization which includes offices of the Gestapo, the SD, and the Criminal Police) and Chief of Security Police 113 "When I saw the newspaper headline 'GAS CHAMBER EXPERT CAPTURED' and an American lieutenant explained it to me, I was pale in amazement. How can they say such things about me?" (4/11/46)..."I have only done my duty as an intelligence organ, and I refuse to serve as an ersatz for Himmler." Kaltenbrunner and RSHA bear responsibity for "The Final Solution" to the Jewish question--and the 6 million jews killed by Einsatzgruppen (2 million) and in concentration camps (4 million). Kaltenbrunner ordered prisoners in Dachau and other camps liquidated just before the camps would have been liberated by Allies. Kaltenbrunner was described as "a Nazi out of central casting:" six-foot-six, a huge neck, cruel mouth, and a scar across his left cheek...He was shunned by most of the other defendants...His lawyer tried to portray him as a stooge for Himmler, rather than his right-hand man....Kaltenbrunner believed fertile German women had a duty to produce babies, and if their husbands couldn't get them pregnant, other men ought to be given the job. Kaltenbrunner was hanged on Oct. 16, 1946 in Nuremberg. Keitel, Wilhelm Chief of Staff of the German High Command 129 "We all believed so much in him [Hitler]--and we stand to take all the blame--and the shame! He gave us the orders. He kept saying that it was all his responsibility." 912/25/45)..."I will suffer more agony of conscience and self-reproach in this cell than anybody will ever know." (1/6/46)..."the only thing that is impossible is for me to there [in court] like a louse and lie." (4/6/46) Keitel signed orders authorizing the killing of captured commandos and reprisals against the families of Allied volunteers...He drafted the "Night and Fog" decree that authorized the nighttime arrests and secret killings of suspected members of the resistance..He planned attacks on Czechoslavakia, Poland, Belgium, Holland, and other countries. Keitel's sons were killed in the German attack on the Soviet Union that Keitel helped execute...Keitel, on Hitler's orders, sent two generals to Rommel (who had supported attempts to assassinate Hitler) offering him the the choice of a court-martial or suicide....In prison, Keitel worked on his autobiography....Prison pyschiatrist G. M. Gilbert said Keitel "had no more backbone than a jellyfish." Keitel was one of ten defendants hanged in the Palace of Justice in the early morning hours of October 16, 1946. Neurath, Konstantin von Minister of Foreign Affairs (until 1938), then Reich Protector for Bohemia and Moravia 125 "Hitler was a liar, of course--that became more and more clear. He simply had no respect for the truth. But nobody recognized it at first...He must have done his conspiring with his little gang of henchmen late at night. Sometimes he would call at 1, 2, or 3 in the morning."(12/15/45) While Neurath was Foreign Minister, Germany "was only breaking one treaty at a time."...While serving at Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Neurath abolished political parties and trade unions....He knew war crimes were being committed under his authority. At 73, Neurath was the oldest defendant in the Major War Figures Trial. He seemed to be showing signs of incipient senility...When Chamberlain offered to come to Germany to discuss ways of averting war, Neurath urged Hitler to receive him..."I was always against punishment without the possibility of a defense." Neurath was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He was released because of poor health in 1954, and died two years later. Papen, Franz von Reich Chancellor prior to Hitler, Vice Chancellor under Hitler, Ambassador to Turkey 134 "I think [Hitler] wanted the best for Germany at the beginning, but he became an unreasoning evil force with the flattery of his followers--Himmler, Goering, Ribbentrop, etc...I tried to persuade him he was wrong in his anti-Jewish policies many a time. He seemed to listen at first, but later on, I had no influence on him." (10/30/45) Von Papen helped consolidate Nazi control in 1933. He strengthened the position of Nazis in Austria to help pave the way for the takeover. He appealed to the Pope to support Hitler. Von Papen remained in office even after learning of political killings and other crimes. While the trial was in progress, Von Papen had many heated exchanges with Goering....Von Papen was a moderating force in the early years of the Nazi regime. In 1934, he gave a speech highly critical of restrictions on individual liberties...Von Papen said, "I've been portrayed as an intriguing devil. But I can prove I have always worked for peace....I am confident in American justice, and am glad to have the truth brought to light through this trial." Von Papen was acquitted. Raeder, Erich Commander in Chief of the German Navy 134 "I have no illusion about this trial. Naturally, I will be hanged or shot. I flatter myself to think that I will be shot; at least I will request it. I have no desire to serve a prison sentence at my age." (5/20/46) Raeder advocated attacks by submarines on neutral ships in violation of international law. Raeder was one of two defendants handed over by the Russians, and was put on the list of major war trial defendants at the insistence of the Soviet Union...Raeder retired in 1943...He opposed invading Russia, but then attacked Russian submarines six days before the invasion began. Raeder was sentenced to life in prison. He served nine years before his release in 1955. He died in 1960 at age 84. Ribbentrop, Joachim von Foreign Minister 129 "We are only living shadows--the remains of a dead era--an era that died with Hitler. Whether a few of us live another 10 or 20 years, it makes no difference." (3/27/46) Rippentrop participated in aggressive plans against Czechoslavakia...He helped plan attacks on Poland and Russia...Ribbentrop played a role in the "Final Solution" when he acted to hasten the deportation of Jews to concentration camps in the East. In prison, Ribbentrop kept asking everyone from doctors to cell guards to barbers for legal advice....Prison pyschiatrist G. M. Gilbert saw Rippentrop as "a confused and demoralized opportunist.".... Ribbentrop's erratic behavior caused his lawyer to complain, "This man is impossible to defend." Rippentrop was hanged on October 16, 1946. Rosenberg, Alfred Chief Nazi Philosopher and Reichminister for the Eastern Occupied Territories 127 "I didn't say that the Jews are inferior. I didn't even maintain they are a race. I merely saw that the mixture of different cultures didn't work." (1/12/46)..."We let 50,000 Jewish intellectuals get across the border. Just as I wanted Lebensraum for Germany, I thought Jews should have a Lebensraum for themselves--outside of Germany." (12/15/45) Rosenberg helped plan attack on Norway....Developed policies of Germanization, exploitation, and extermination of opponents of Nazi rule...His directives provided for the segregation of Jews in Ghettos, facilitating their mass killing. He set quotas of laborers to be sent to the Reich. Rosenberg was born in Estonia and did not move to Germany until he was 25.....Rosenberg's book promoting the Nazi philosophy was called The Myth of the Twentieth Century....He arranged the theft of fine art and furniture from Jewish apartments in Paris. Rosenberg was hanged on October 16, 1946. Sauckel, Fritz Chief of Slave Labor Recruitment 118 "I was given this assignment which I could not refuse--and besides, I did everything possible to treat [the foreign slave laborers] well." (2/23/46) Soon after taking office, Sauckel had the governing authorities in the occupied territories establish compulsory labor service in Germany...His program resulted in the deportation for slave labor of 5 million people, many of whom had to endure cruel working conditions. Sauckel seemed confused during most of the trial....Historian Joseph Persico described Sauckel as "the least imposing figure among the defendants, a little man with a shining dome, sad brown eyes, and a silly mustache patterned after the Fuhrer's." Sauckel was hanged on October 16, 1946. Schacht, Hjalmar Reichsbank President and Minister of Economics before the War 143 "I have full confidence in the judges, and I am not afraid of the outcome. A few of the defendants are not guilty; most of them are sheer criminals." (10/23/45)..."All I wanted was to build up Germany industrially....The only thing they can accuse me of is breaking the Versailles Treaty." (11/1/45) Schacht was an early supporter of the Nazi Pary and supported the appointment of Hitler to the post of Chancellor. Schacht used the facilities of the Reichsbank to facilitate the German rearmament effort and organize the economy for war. Schacht spent 10 months in 1944 in a concentration camp because of suspicion he was plotting against Hitler....Said Schacht of the experience, "I could hear the people being forced to undress and march out to their death--and the shooting in the woods. It was beastly.".....Schacht had the highest IQ of any of the defendants. Schacht was found not guilty by the IMT. Schacht was later convicted by a German court and sentenced to eight years. He was freed in 1950. He died in 1970 at age 93. Schirach, Baldur von Hitler Youth Leader 130 "I had no reason to be anti-Semitic...until someone made me read the American book, The International Jew, at the impressionable age of 17. You have no idea what a great influece this book had on the thinking of German youth...At the age of 18, I met Adolf Hitler. I must admit I was inspired by him...and became one of his staunchest supporters." (10/27/45) Von Schirach subjected German youth to an extensive program of Nazi propaganda....He participated in the deportation of the Jews from Vienna. Schirach began to become disillusioned with Hitler around 1942: "About 1942, I think I first began to notice that Hitler was becoming slightly insane...In 1943 we had a serious quarrel [over the treatment of Jews]. He flew at me in a rage...I fell from grace after that." Schirach was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the IMT. He was released from Spandau Prison in 1966. He died in 1974 at age 67. Seyss-Inquart, Arthur Austrian Chancellor, then Reich Commissioner for the Netherlands 141 "The southern German has the imagination and emotionality to subscribe to a fanatic ideology, but he is ordinarily inhibited from excesses by his natural humaneness. The Prussian does not have the imagination to conceive in terms of abstract racial and political theories, but when he is told to do something, he does it." (4/46) Seyss-Inquart ruthlessly suppressed opposition to the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. He, in collaboration with the SS, was involved in the shooting or sending to concentration camp of opponents of occupation. In Seyss-Inquart's fiefdom of the Netherlands, over 40,000 Dutch were shot as hostages, and another 50,000 died of starvation. In all, 56% of Dutch Jews died during the Nazi occupation....He limped from an injury received in an old mountain-climbing accident. Seyss-Inquart was hanged on October 16, 1946. Speer, Albert Reichminister of Armaments and Munitions 128 "I would like to sit down and write one final blast about the whole damn Nazi mess and mention names and details and let the German people see once and for all what rotten corruption, hypocrisy, and madness the whole system was based on!-I would spare no one, including myself." (2/46) Speer transmitted to Sauckel estimates of numbers of slave workers needed, then allocated those workers to various armaments and munitions plants. Speer, an architect, was for years the closest anyone came to being a friend of Hitler. Hitler at one time gave Speer a watercolor of a Gothic church....Speer was the leader of the anti-Goering faction of defendants: those willing to condemn Nazi policies and accept some degree of blame. Speer served his 20-year sentence. He wrote two books about his life. He died in 1981 at age 76.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	66	https://www.americanheritage.com/how-i-didnt-kill-hermann-goering	en	How I Didn’t Kill Hermann Goering	https://www.americanheri…es/favicon_0.png	https://www.americanheri…es/favicon_0.png	[ "https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=455462789272959&ev=PageView&noscript=1", "https://www.americanheritage.com/sites/default/files/AH%20LOGO%202%20line%20transparent%20%281%29-1.png", "https://www.americanheritage.com/sites/default/files/pictures/2017-03/flower.jpg", "https://www.americanheritage.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/020118HelpSaveAH-01.jpg", "https://www.americanheritage.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/020118FreeSubscriptions-01.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	(CONFESSIONS OF A THEORETICAL ASSASSIN)	en	/sites/default/files/favicon_0.png	AMERICAN HERITAGE	https://www.americanheritage.com/how-i-didnt-kill-hermann-goering	My father, David Davidson, wrote about serving as a journalist attached to the U.S. Army in immediate postwar Germany, publishing a well-received novel, The Steeper Cliff , in 1947 and a memoir in American Heritage (June 1982). That time in Germany always remained fresh in his mind, and not long before he died in 1985, he committed to paper this recollection of the Nuremberg trials. —C.D. It was not only Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, the number-two man of the Thousand-Year Reich and Hitler’s own onetime choice for his successor, that I refrained from assassinating on a leaden December day. I also had in my sights—potential sights—Hess, Streicher, Rosenberg, Frank, Speer, von Schirach, et cetera. In short, the whole Nazi top command, except for those who had escaped the Nuremberg trials by suicide and Martin Bormann, who was tried in absentia . They were easy targets, the infamous defendants, over weeks and months, because of an astonishing laxness of security rivaling that during Lee Harvey Oswald’s short captivity in 1963. And at Nuremberg I gave considerable thought to the possibility of doing away with at least a couple of brace. That ultimately I did not go through with it was because there was missing from my makeup a certain factor that enabled not only Oswald but assassins like Sirhan Sirhan and James Earl Ray to see their opportunities through. I did, however, travel far enough along their path to give me, I believe, a rather special and disconcerting understanding of the compulsions that led them to kill as they did. The possibilities of mass assassination that opened to me in December 1945 came about, one way or another, through the work I was doing with the U.S. Army as a civilian specialist in Bavaria. My job was to help find and recruit dedicated anti-Nazis (and there were some) to serve as editors and publishers of a new German press that could be trusted to publish without censorship (and from which grew a number of distinguished dailies that flourish in Bavaria to this day.) It was the publisher of the Munich newspaper, the now greatly esteemed Süddeutsche Zeitung , who first turned my thoughts to assassination. A hot-tempered 110-pound bantam rooster, Herr August Schwingenstein was a deeply devout man who quit all press work during the Nazis’ twelve-year rule, choosing instead to labor at every kind of odd job rather than compromise one inch. One day the name of the Munich native who most flourished under Hitler came up: Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, chief of the secret police, the SS, Security Service, and so forth. “For long,” Herr Schwingenstein recalled, “I had been brooding about the fact that so beautiful and Christian a lady as the empress Elisabeth of Austria could have fallen victim to the assassin’s blade, yet a beast like Himmler could live such a charmed life. Again and again I heard it said that Himmler was guarded by so many thousands of his troops that he was even more assassin-proof than Hitler himself. “It tortured me to think of that. Was it really true? Could nobody ever get within murdering distance of Himmler? “I kept all this on a completely theoretical plane until one day it happpened that Himmler’s mother came to the end of her years. She was as saintly a lady as her offspring was a beast, as, in fact, was all the family Himmler with the exception of the single monster it had spawned, and even he gave his mother an undying respect. “So it was that a thought suddenly seized me. Without a doubt Himmler would be coming to Munich to attend his mother’s funeral. Here, then, was my opportunity to test whether it was possible to kill him. “On the morning of the funeral I went to the church where a mass was to be said. Hopeless. I got as far as the door of the church to find a wall of SS men blocking the way. Without a special pass there was no admittance. Just then the coffin was brought out, a long string of limousines drew up along the curb, and various civilian officials—dressed like myself in black frock coats and tall silk hats—began getting into automobiles. Suddenly I heard my name spoken by some civil servant I had known from schooldays. ‘Schwingenstein,’ he called, ‘let’s go out to the cemetery together.’ “When we reached the Waldfriedhof cemetery, where are buried centuries of the families of Munich, I walked in some fifty meters or so behind Himmler, drawing closer and closer. By the time his mother was being lowered to her rest, I was standing directly behind him. I could have killed him ten times over. But I had not brought a weapon with me. Not a pistol. Not a hunting knife. I had proved—such a victory!—that in theory Himmler could be murdered. And I let him walk away with not a hair of his head out of place.” It was a day after that that the chief of our Nuremberg detachment, David Manby, phoned to say he could get me a pass to attend the Nuremberg trials. At this time there was still talk of possible “were-wolf” ambushes from diehard Nazis (they never materialized), so I drove the bomb-shattered road to Munich wearing a “liberated” Luger 9 mm in a shoulder holster under my jacket and carrying a trim little Walther automatic in my pants pocket. “Weapons will definitely not be worn” was Manby’s firm instruction as we set out for the courthouse the morning after my arrival. “You can understand why.” Sitting in the front row of the spectators’ gallery, at a distance of perhaps ten yards beyond and above the defendants’ box, I was stunned at this, my first sight of the Hitler gang in person and alive. As a newspaperman I had written hundreds of times about these legendary monsters. But seeing them face-to-face, I could not for the first moments believe that they actually existed. I had come over the years to think of them, in their incredible evil, as fictitious creatures out of one of the more gruesome German fairy tales. Oh, but they did exist, and chat among themselves, and even take the witness stand, where one of them was at the moment defending himself with justifications from the smoky Nazi mythology. As he droned on, a sudden observation struck me with the blinding light of St. Paul’s epiphany on the road to Damascus. No one had bothered to frisk me as I had entered the courthouse and made my way down the corridors past several roadblocks where the photo on my ID card was matched against my face. Furthermore, the heavily armed MPs standing guard in the balcony with .45s in their hip holsters were anything but alert. The trial was now weeks along, and the inevitable boredom had set in among the guards. They were lounging, yawning, half-dozing on their feet. There immediately followed the thought that the dozen Nazis—had I brought my arsenal with me—were completely at my mercy if I should start shooting with both weapons at once, spraying the defendants’ box with eighteen rounds from the two automatic clips. Before the MPs could possibly move in on me, or even shoot me down, I would have done a noteworthy moment’s work. And I suddenly realized that by the one deed I could make myself modestly immortal. I would go down in history books for all time —even if only as a footnote—as the man who assassinated one or more of the Nuremberg defendants. And history, liberal history, might not frown on the deed. After all, these evildoers had death coming to them. I could even turn out, in the end, a kind of popular, esteemed footnote. Of course, on a perfectly rational level, there was no pressing need for early execution of the Hitler gang. It was a certainty they would get what was coming to them from the panel of international jurists trying them. And the reasoned purpose of the trials was to spread out the record of all the monstrous things they had done, the enormities they had committed against mankind—in the defendants’ own words, defiant or penitent. But for me, from the viewpoint of my personal career and ambitions, the major consideration was the ease with which I could purchase renown. Renown, or the hope of it, was a vital matter to me at that stage in my life. What I had to look forward to, just then, was to finish my tour of duty some seven or eight months later, return stateside, and attempt to support a family by picking up the raveled strands of my profession as a newspaperman or radio writer, in neither of which the prospects for fame were great. I could seize immortality in a bold instant before a world audience, much of which would applaud the performance. A death sentence for the benign crime would be beyond the thought of possibility. A prison sentence with a pardon after a few years at the most. The next day, when I came back to the Nuremberg courthouse, again I passed through the weak, crumbling wall of security. Again, after a mere glance at my uniform and ID card, I was waved through. And again my opportunity lay spread out before me, overwhelmingly tempting. But exactly like Herr Schwingenstein, I achieved only a theoretical triumph. I had brought no weapon with me. Why not? Something was missing in me after all. Overnight my violent fantasy had been displaced by thoughts about family responsibilities and other bloodless, more conventional possibilities for celebrity. In fact, I did get my moment in the spotlight, for a novel that grew out of my German experience, but I will never become a footnote in history. What was lacking, I can see now, was a true dedication to the possibility of immortality. And there I fell far short of the single-mindedness of those assassins who did shoot their way into history.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	0	3	https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/joseph-goebbels	en	Children, Death & Facts	https://assets.editorial…es-541067717.jpg	https://assets.editorial…es-541067717.jpg	[ "https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=3005002&cs_ucfr=1&cv=3.6&cj=1", "https://www.history.com/assets/images/history/logo.svg", "https://www.history.com/assets/images/history/logo.svg", "https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/03/gettyimages-541067717.jpg?width=640&height=426.66666666666663&crop=640%3A426.66666666666663%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 640w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/03/gettyimages-541067717.jpg?width=750&height=500&crop=750%3A500%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 750w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/03/gettyimages-541067717.jpg?width=828&height=552&crop=828%3A552%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 828w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/03/gettyimages-541067717.jpg?width=1080&height=540&crop=1080%3A540%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 1080w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/03/gettyimages-541067717.jpg?width=1248&height=624&crop=1248%3A624%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 1248w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/03/gettyimages-541067717.jpg?width=1920&height=960&crop=1920%3A960%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 1920w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/03/gettyimages-541067717.jpg?width=2048&height=1024&crop=2048%3A1024%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 2048w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/03/gettyimages-541067717.jpg?width=3840&height=1920&crop=3840%3A1920%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp 3840w", "https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=16&quality=75&auto=webp 16w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=32&quality=75&auto=webp 32w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=48&quality=75&auto=webp 48w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=64&quality=75&auto=webp 64w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=96&quality=75&auto=webp 96w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=128&quality=75&auto=webp 128w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=256&quality=75&auto=webp 256w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=392&quality=75&auto=webp 392w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=640&quality=75&auto=webp 640w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=750&quality=75&auto=webp 750w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=828&quality=75&auto=webp 828w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp 1080w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=1248&quality=75&auto=webp 1248w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp 1920w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=2048&quality=75&auto=webp 2048w, https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2024/06/IHBANNER-1.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp 3840w" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Joseph Goebbels - Children, Death & Facts", "History.com Editors" ]	2010-03-24T12:22:22+00:00	Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945), was the Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany. He was charged with presenting Hitler to the public in the most favorable light, regulating the content of all German media and fomenting anti-Semitism. On May 1, 1945, the day after Hitler committed suicide, Goebbels and his wife poisoned their six children and then killed themselves.	en	https://www.history.com/…e-touch-icon.png	HISTORY	https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/joseph-goebbels	Joseph Goebbels: Early Years Paul Joseph Goebbels was born on October 29, 1897, in Rheydt, Germany, an industrial city located in the Rhineland. Because of a club foot that he acquired during a childhood bout with osteomyelitis, a swelling of the bone marrow, the young Goebbels was exempted from service in the German army during World War I (1914-18). Instead, he attended a series of German universities, where he studied literature and philosophy, among other subjects, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in German philology from Heidelberg University. In the first half of the 1920s, after unsuccessfully attempting to establish a career as a journalist, novelist and playwright, Goebbels became a member of the National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party, which promoted German pride and anti-Semitism. Goebbels eventually became acquainted with the organization’s leader, Adolf Hitler. At this time, inflation had wrecked the German economy, and the morale of the German citizenry, who had been defeated in World War I, was low. Hitler and Goebbels were both of the opinion that words and images were potent devices that could be used to exploit this discontent. Hitler was impressed with Goebbels’ ability to communicate his thoughts in writing, while Goebbels was enamored of Hitler’s talent for speaking in front of large crowds and employing words and gestures to play on German nationalistic pride. Goebbels: Rising in the Nazi Party Ranks Goebbels quickly ascended the ranks of the Nazi Party. First he broke away from Gregor Strasser (1892-1934), the leader of the more anti-capitalistic party bloc, who he initially supported, and joined ranks with the more conservative Hitler. Then, in 1926, he became a party district leader in Berlin. The following year, he established and wrote commentary in Der Angriff (The Attack), a weekly newspaper that espoused the Nazi Party line. In 1928, Goebbels was elected to the Reichstag, the German Parliament. More significantly, Hitler named him the Nazi Party propaganda director. It was in this capacity that Goebbels began formulating the strategy that fashioned the myth of Hitler as a brilliant and decisive leader. He arranged massive political gatherings at which Hitler was presented as the savior of a new Germany. In a masterstroke, Goebbels oversaw the placing of movie cameras and microphones at pivotal locations to accentuate Hitler’s image and voice. Such events and maneuverings played a pivotal role in convincing the German people that their country would regain its honor only by giving unwavering support to Hitler. Joseph Goebbels: Hitler’s Propaganda Minister In January 1933, Hitler became the German chancellor, and in March of that year he appointed Goebbels the country’s minister for public enlightenment and propaganda. In this capacity, Goebbels had complete jurisdiction over the content of German newspapers, magazines, books, music, films, stage plays, radio programs and fine arts. His mission was to censor all opposition to Hitler and present the chancellor and the Nazi Party in the most positive light while stirring up hatred for Jewish people. In April 1933, at Hitler’s directive, Goebbels orchestrated a boycott on Jewish businesses. The following month, he was a guiding force in the burning of “un-German” books in a public ceremony at Berlin’s Opera House. The works of dozens of writers were destroyed, including German-born authors Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970), Arnold Zweig (1887-1968), Thomas Mann (1875-1955), Albert Einstein (1879-1955) and Heinrich Mann (1871-1950), and such non-Germans as Émile Zola (1840-1902), Helen Keller (1880-1968), Marcel Proust (1871-1922), Upton Sinclair (1878-1968), Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), H. G. Wells (1866-1946), Jack London (1876-1916) and André Gide (1869-1951). In September 1933, Goebbels became director of the newly formed Reich Chamber of Culture, whose mission was to control all aspects of the creative arts. An offshoot of the formation of the chamber was the forced unemployment of all Jewish creative artists, including writers, musicians and theater and film actors and directors. Because the Nazis viewed modern art as immoral, Goebbels instructed that all such “decadent” art be confiscated and replaced by works that were more representational and sentimental in content. Then in October came the passage of the Reich Press Law, which ordered the removal of all Jewish and non-Nazi editors from German newspapers and magazines. Joseph Goebbels: The Power of the Moving Image At the start of World War II in 1939, Goebbels was entrusted with the task of uplifting the spirit of the German people and employing the media, and specifically the cinema, to convince the population to support the war effort. A typical project he instigated was “Der ewige Jude,” also known as “The Eternal Jew” (1940), a propaganda film that ostensibly charted the history of the Jews. In the film, however, Jews are depicted as parasites who disrupt an otherwise tidy world.Goebbels also orchestrated the production of “Jud Süss” (1940), a feature film depicting the life of Josef Süss Oppenheimer (1698-1738), a Jewish financial consultant who collected taxes for Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg (1684-1737), ruler of the Duchy of Württemberg, in the early 18th century. After the duke’s sudden death, Oppenheimer was put on trial and executed. Under Goebbels’s stewardship of the project, the story of Jud Süss was transformed from a human tragedy to an allegory about Jewish self-importance and greed. Joseph Goebbels: The Beginning of the End In 1942, Goebbels organized “The Soviet Paradise,” a large Nazi propaganda show that was exhibited in Berlin. Its purpose was to bolster the resolve of the German people by exposing the chicanery of Jewish Bolsheviks. On May 18, Herbert Baum (1912-42), a Berlin-based German-Jewish Resistance leader, and his accomplices partly demolished the exhibition by setting it on fire. Goebbels refused to allow this act to be reported in the German media. Nonetheless, Baum and his small but determined group succeeded in striking a sizeable psychological blow to Goebbels and his propaganda machine. Joseph Goebbels: Final Years As the war plodded on and German casualties mounted, Goebbels became a proponent of an all-out battle to the death against the Allied forces. In this regard, he employed his own abilities as a public speaker to further incite the German populace. On one occasion, in August 1944, speaking from the Sports Palace in Berlin, he commanded the German people to support a total war effort. If Germany was destined to lose the war, he reasoned, it was fitting that the German nation and people be obliterated. As 1944 segued into 1945, the German defeat seemed inevitable to the Nazi regime. While other Nazi higher-ups made contact with the Allies in the hope of negotiating lenient treatment after the German surrender, Goebbels remained steadfastly devoted to Hitler. During the last days of April 1945, as Soviet troops were on the threshold of Berlin, Hitler was holed up in his bunker. Goebbels was the lone senior Nazi official at his side. On April 30, Hitler committed suicide at age 56 and Goebbels replaced him as Germany’s chancellor. However, Goebbels’ reign was short-lived. The following day, he and his wife, Magda (1901-45), fatally poisoned their six children. The couple then took their own lives, although accounts of exactly how they died vary.
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correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	8	https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/death-hanging-nuremberg-trials/	en	'Death by hanging': the Nuremberg Trials	https://cdn.nationalarch…als_featured.jpg	https://cdn.nationalarch…als_featured.jpg	[ "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/logo-white.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/logo-white.png", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160232/Defendants_in_the_dock_at_the_Nuremberg_Trials.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160233/a-matter-that-has-been-causing-us-a-bad-headache-TS-26-171-768x361.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160234/4-nations-v-defendants-FO-1060-1378-768x564.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160235/correspondence-from-German-public-Fo-1019-55-768x317.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160236/entrance-of-a-Hitler-Youth-camp-FO1019-55.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160237/anonymous-photograph-FO-1019-55.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160238/statements-goering-hess-seyss-inquart-FO-371-57517.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160239/sentences-FO-1060-1379.jpg", "https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/01160240/Those-Last-Words-TS-26-172.jpg", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/236f74ddaa5c9f0da5c0b308a67c0622?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b788ca1ba5a367596093febb085d56db?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c94d13967efd42eb532bca5a028035a8?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6584891c3f16d06113384d2f013cabfd?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/484b22cefced1b7269bfeff4e4e45506?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b8e58e984be6e1d30e8a198cabf8e517?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/095e62e2ac4b9d310b67b7f0795feee9?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f5b467a721af05c985184573bde95126?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7a5f85578a6f4cbd69d7027b2e9027f7?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4fad429fb9a59066db2c1f051872a889?s=42&d=mm&r=g", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/tna-square-white-logo.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/twitter.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/youtube-play.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/flickr.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/facebook.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/instagram.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/social/rss.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/logo-ogl.png", "https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/gov-uk.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "cbishop", "Dr Juliette Desplat", "The National Archives" ]	2015-11-20T08:00:58+00:00	‘Nicht schuldig.’ (Not guilty.) These two German words pronounced somewhat defiantly, and almost flippantly, by 21 Nazi leaders, echoed through a very silent room of the Nuremberg Court on 21 November 1945, the second day of what the world would come to know as the Nuremberg Trials. Establishing the International Military Tribunal had not been […]	en	/wp-content/themes/tna-base/img/favicon.png	The National Archives blog	https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/death-hanging-nuremberg-trials/	‘Nicht schuldig.’ (Not guilty.) These two German words pronounced somewhat defiantly, and almost flippantly, by 21 Nazi leaders, echoed through a very silent room of the Nuremberg Court on 21 November 1945, the second day of what the world would come to know as the Nuremberg Trials. Establishing the International Military Tribunal had not been an easy task. The London Charter of 8 August 1945 (FO 93/1/266) had defined its principles and procedures but, in practice, it was a judicial nightmare. There was no precedent for such an international tribunal combining different legal traditions. These crimes were of such atrocity and on such a scale that they went beyond the scope of any existing legal system. How could they be judged? Who should be judged? Britain, France, the United States and the Soviet Union all had their own list. After difficult negotiations, they settled on 24 men (FO 371/51402). In the meantime, the British delegation was going through a crisis of its own. On 25 October 1945, Sinclair, the British prosecutor’s secretary, wrote to the Chief of Staff of the Control Commission to discuss ‘a matter that has been causing us here a bad headache’. Although the Court had been largely spared, Nuremberg was a ruined city and there was ‘no source of outside entertainment’. Yet the outcome of the negotiations also depended on the delegation’s capacity to display lavish hospitality. At the beginning of November, the prosecutor himself wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, reiterating the request for ‘sufficient tobacco and liquor to smooth the way of these negotiations with our Allied colleagues’. In the end, spirits were provided by the Government Hospitality Fund, and Sinclair was able to write, just after the opening of the trials, that he was ‘hoping that soon a more frequent resort to the cup that cheers may serve to illume the sojourn of colleagues in a strange land’ (TS 26/171). All being well on the liquor front, and the Allies having come to an agreement, the trial could begin. There were only 21 men sitting in the dock, as Robert Ley had committed suicide in prison, Martin Bormann was never found, and Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach was deemed to ill to stand trial. They were: Hermann Goering (Hitler’s number two) Rudolf Hess (Hitler’s official successor until he flew to Scotland in 1941 to negotiate a separate peace) Joachim von Ribbentrop (Minister for Foreign Affairs) Wilhelm Keitel (Chief of the High Command of Armed Forces) Ernst Kaltenbrunner (Chief of the Security Police) Alfred Rosenberg (the party’s ideologist) Hans Frank (Governor of Poland) Wilhelm Frick (Protector of Bohemia and Moravia) Julius Streicher (Gauleiter of Franconia and ‘Jew-Baiter Number One’) Walter Funk (Minister of Finance) Hjalmar Schacht (former president of the Reichsbank) Karl Dönitz (Commander in Chief of the German Navy and Head of State from 1 May 1945) Erick Raeder (Admiral Inspector of the Navy) Baldur von Schirach (Head of the Hitler Youth) Fritz Sauckel (in charge of slave labour) Alfred Jodl (Chief of the Operation Staff of the High Command of Armed Forces) Franz von Papen (Ambassador to Turkey) Artur Seyss-Inquart (Reichskommissar for the Occupied Dutch Territories and Chancellor of Austria for two days) Albert Speer (Minister for Armament and Munitions) Konstantin von Neurath (former Minister for Foreign Affairs) Hans Fritzsche (Head of the Radio Division of the Ministry of Propaganda) All these men had held senior positions and now stood before eight judges, two for each victorious nation, in what had been the Holy City of Nazism. The trial opened on 20 November 1945, presided over by British judge Lord Justice Lawrence, and was going to last four months and hold 403 open sessions in four languages (German, English, French and Russian) with simultaneous translation (FO 371/57435-57517). The defendants were indicted on four counts: ‘common plan or conspiracy to commit, or which involved the commission of Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes against humanity’, Crimes against Peace, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity – all of which had been defined by Article 6 of the London Charter. Robert Jackson, the chief American prosecutor, was afraid the trial might be hampered by lack of evidence. The judges and their staff, however, were absolutely swamped with evidence. Witnesses gave oral evidence, which had a substantial impact, and the Tribunal received thousands of letters from the German public, volunteering information and submitting pictures and press cuttings. One of them insisted that it should be forbidden to use the title ‘Führer’ when referring to Hitler (FO 1019/55). He also included a picture showing the entrance of a Hitler Youth camp – the inscription reads: ‘We were born to die for Germany’ (FO 1019/55). An anonymous sender provided photographs of excellent (technical) quality, with captions in strikingly poor German, depicting ‘the victims and work of destruction by the SS’. Most of them are extremely shocking, others merely highly unpleasant and disturbing. One shows a very pale, bespectacled, black-clad woman standing threateningly in front of a cupboard. The inscription above her reads ‘everyone in this room must act and speak courteously’ (although English doesn’t really do justice to the chilling tone of command of the German phrase), and the poster on the wall advertises rules for parents. The caption on the back of the photograph states: ‘I am not guilty’ (FO 1019/55). The final statements made by the defendants on 31 August 1946 show how dangerous these men still were, and how necessary a public trial was. Goering denied having anything to do with murder, Hess claimed to have acted out of his ‘ardent love for [his] people,’ and Seyss-Inquart reasserted his loyalty to Hitler (FO 371/57517). The sentences were finally read in the afternoon of 1 October 1946: ‘Defendant Hermann Wilhelm Goering, on the Counts of the Indictment on which you have been convicted, the International Military Tribunal sentences you to death by hanging’. The other sentences were: Rudolf Hess – imprisonment for life Joachim von Ribbentrop – death by hanging Wilhelm Keitel – death by hanging Ernst Kaltenbrunner – death by hanging Alfred Rosenberg – death by hanging Hans Frank – death by hanging Wilhelm Frick – death by hanging Julius Streicher – death by hanging Walter Funk – imprisonment for life Karl Doenitz – 10 years’ imprisonment Erick Raeder – imprisonment for life Baldur von Schirach – 20 years’ imprisonment Fritz Sauckel – death by hanging Alfred Jodl – death by hanging Artur Seyss-Inquart – death by hanging Albert Speer – 20 years’ imprisonment Konstantin von Neurath – 15 years’ imprisonment Despite the ‘dissenting opinion’ of Soviet judge Nikitchenko regarding Schacht, von Papen and Fritzsche, the three of them were acquitted. Martin Bormann, judged in abstentia, was sentenced to death by hanging (FO 371/57517). The executions of those defendants condemned to death were an additional problem. The Americans wanted to carry them out in Berlin, but it was deemed preferable to remain in Nuremberg for security reasons, but also because it was imperative that their bodies ‘shouldn’t become objects of cult at a later date’ (FO 945/346). All were executed on 16 October 1946 in the gymnasium of the prison, except Goering who committed suicide in his prison cell the day before. The Daily Express correspondent reported from Nuremberg: ‘I fear that in the bomb-blasted gymanasium of the Nuremberg prison a new legend of heroic militant Teutonism may have been born’ and quoted their last words. ‘Consider,’ he wrote, ‘the theme of “God save Germany and make her great once more”, which was the gist of all the hanged men’s last words. And, above all, consider Goering’s final defiance’(TS 26/172). To prevent this legend from growing, the bodies were incinerated in Munich and the ashes scattered over the river Isar. This trial which opened 70 years ago was only the first and best known of the Nuremberg Trials. It was followed by 12 others, lasting until December 1949. It was at the time, and still is today, criticised for being the ‘victors’ justice administered over the losers’ and its moral legitimacy had been questioned – some had pointed out that the Soviets had committed Crimes against Humanity at Katyn and Crimes against Peace when they had signed a non-aggression pact with Germany (FO 371/56474). However imperfect the Tribunal may have been, it led to the definition of international law, and of the very new notion of crime against humanity. It established the principle of individual responsibility. It was a civilised alternative to mob justice. Germany, its former allies and its former enemies could take the first step on the long road to reconciliation and recovery. Let’s finally remember some of Justice Jackson’s opening words: ‘The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating that civilisation cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated.’
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Heinrich Himmler. Joseph Goebbels. Hermann Göring. His name fits with those synonymous with Nazism. On 1 October 1946, Hermann Göring...	en	/app/themes/history/favicon/apple-icon-57x57.png?x24183	History Hit	https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-hermann-goring/	Adolf Hitler. Heinrich Himmler. Joseph Goebbels. Hermann Göring. His name fits with those synonymous with Nazism. On 1 October 1946, Hermann Göring was found guilty at the Nuremberg for his crimes during the Nazi regime. What do we know about the man who committed these crimes? 1. He was born into an aristocratic family Hermann Göring was born on 12 January 1893 to Heinrich Göring, a diplomatic consul to German South-West Africa (now Namibia), and his second wife Franziska Tiefenbrunn. His godfather, Hermann von Epenstein, was of Jewish descendance and also Franziska’s lover. The family lived in von Epenstein’s castles, Burg Veldenstein and Burg Mauterndorf, throughout the year. 2. He was a fighter pilot in the First World War After a childhood of military interests, and an education at military academy, Göring entered the German Army as an infantry lieutenant in 1912. He transferred to the air force and was an ace. He reportedly shot down 22 allied aircraft during the war, and received the Pour le Merite and Iron Cross 1st class. 3. He was wounded in the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923 Göring became a member of the National Socialists in 1922 after circulating the anti-Weimar and anti-reparations scene. With his military experience, he was placed in command of the SA (‘Sturmabteilung‘ – ‘brownshirts’) in December. This fulfilled his desires for action, comradeship and power. When the Beer Hall Putsch staged by the party in 1923 was met with police firepower, 14 Nazis were killed alongside 4 policemen, and Göring was hit in the groin and hip. With a warrant out for his arrest he fled to Austria. He soon became addicted to the morphine prescribed for his pain, leading to his institutionalisation in Sweden in 1925 and 1926. He only returned to Germany in 1927 when a full amnesty was granted. 4. He was Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe On 1 March 1935 Göring took on the leadership of the Luftwaffe. Without the knowledge or strategic understanding necessary, he overestimated the German force’s potential, and underestimated that of his enemies. He made a fatal tactical error during the Battle of Britain, when his switch to massive night bombings of London on 7 September 1940 actually gave the British fighter defences time to recover – just when they were reeling from losses in the air and on the ground. 5. His brother worked in opposition to the Nazi regime Heinrich Göring had 3 children from a previous marriage, and 5 from his marriage to Franziska. The youngest of these, Albert, was born in 1895. He was rumoured to be von Epenstein’s son because of his dark eyes and central European features, as opposed to his brother’s blue eyes and northern profile. The differences didn’t stop there. Albert was in Vienna pursuing a career in filmmaking at the time of the Anschluss in 1938. When Nazi policies began to threaten many of his friends, he arranged and funded exit visas, sometimes by playing on his older brother’s ego, and reportedly defended Jews who were being bullied in the street. Albert was the subject of numerous Gestapo reports, 4 arrest warrants and finally a death warrant in 1944, which called for execution on sight. He was often protected from punishment by his name, shared with his powerful brother. This name would, however, haunt him. Albert was imprisoned for two years after the fall of the Nazi regime. This was despite producing a list of the people who he had saved during the Second World War. In conversation with an American psychiatrist, Leon Goldensohn, Hermann said of his younger brother, ‘he was always the antithesis of myself.’ 6. He quickly became one of the richest men in the country When the Nazis enacted their Four Year Plan to provide for the rearmament and self-sufficiency of Germany in 1936, Hermann Göring was made plenipotentiary (having the full power of independent action on behalf of the government). In this role he established the Reichswerke Hermann Göring, employing 700,000 workers and profiting 400 million marks. He lived in luxury with a palace in Berlin and a hunting mansion. He decorated both with his art collection, which was bolstered by gifts from those seeking favours and by the spoils of stolen Jewish collections. 7. He had one child Despite his earlier groin injury, during his second marriage to actress Emmy Sonnemann, Hermann fathered a daughter, Edda. Born in 1938, she was the recipient of many gifts of artwork and jewellery, and was treated like a princess as any of the daughters of Nazi leaders were. Hitler was her godfather. After her father’s death, she maintained connections with his former colleagues. She remained protective of her father, stating that her ‘only memories of him as such loving ones, I cannot see him any other way.’ She cited Hermann’s loyalty to Hitler as the reason for his downfall, and noted that he had always supported her uncle in his actions. Edda was subject to a number of court cases regarding the gifts that she had been given, some of which had been acquired illegally. She unsuccessfully petitioned in 2015 for compensation for the money and possessions taken from her father when he was captured. 8. He was expelled from the Nazi party In April 1945 Göring sent a telegram to Hitler, in anticipation of his likely death, asking permission to take up control over Germany. He had been named as successor in 1941. Hitler and Martin Bormann condemned Göring as a traitor and rescinded the 1941 decree. Göring was forced to resign from his posts, and was expelled from the party in Hitler’s will. 9. He was convicted as a War Criminal Göring was captured by the US Seventh Army on 9 May 1945. He was one of the highest ranking Nazi officials to be tried at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, the others having committed suicide or escaped. Having been weaned off his drug addiction, Göring made an attempt to acquit himself. He pleaded that he had not known of many of the crimes that he was accused of and gave excuses for his role in the others. The prosecutors were able, however, to prove his knowledge and found him guilty of all four counts – crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. 10. He committed suicide On 15 October 1946, two hours before his execution was due to take place, Göring took a cyanide capsule in his cell. His request to be shot rather than hanged had been rejected. The former Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe’s ashes were thrown to obscurity in a river, rather than being buried in the family plot near his brother.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	64	https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-nuremberg-trials-70-years-later	en	The Nuremberg trials, 70 years later			[ "https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=584974621891389&ev=PageView &noscript=1", "https://constitutioncenter.org/assets/svg/ncc-credit-logo.svg", "https://constitutioncenter.org/assets/svg/icn-mobile-nav-toggle-open.svg", "https://constitutioncenter.org/assets/img/card-global-nav-c101-500.jpg", "https://constitutioncenter.org/images/uploads/general/news-debate-home-page-promo-1024.jpg", "https://constitutioncenter.org/assets/img/card-global-nav-online-classes-500.jpg", "https://constitutioncenter.org/images/uploads/general/1A_Gallery_500.jpg", "https://constitutioncenter.org/images/uploads/blog/Nuremberg-judges_640.jpg", "https://constitutioncenter.org/images/uploads/general/Con-101-card_2.jpg", "https://constitutioncenter.org/images/uploads/callout/online-classes-footer-380.jpg", "https://constitutioncenter.org/assets/img/founders-card.jpg", "https://constitutioncenter.org/assets/svg/ncc-footer-logo.svg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	A look back at "one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason."	en		National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org	https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-nuremberg-trials-70-years-later	Last month marked the 70th anniversary of the end of the Nuremberg trials. The tribunal, which consisted of judges from the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Great Britain, was created to try prominent members of the Nazi Party for war crimes after the conclusion of World War II. During the trials, which began in November 1945 and concluded in October 1946, 24 German officials and party members were tried, including Hermann Goering and Martin Bormann. Of the 24 officials indicted at Nuremberg, 12 were sentenced to death; seven were sentenced to imprisonment spanning from 10 years to life; three were acquitted; and two trials never proceeded. After World War II, the most feasible options for the Allies were to release the Nazi officials, an almost unthinkable act which would have essentially affirmed that no crimes took place; to hold the Nazi leadership accountable outside through extra-judicial means; or to create a tribunal and hold trials. The atrocities committed by the Nazis during the war were unprecedented. For that reason, international law had not addressed a course of action for punishing war crimes on such a grand scale. Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, claimed that the “guilt” of the accused war criminals was “so black that they fell outside … any judicial process.” Indeed, the suggested method of justice for Axis leaders by top British officials, including Winston Churchill, was death by firing squad without trial. However, both the Soviet Union and the United States insisted on some sort of war tribunal to legitimize the punishments. Whether this insistence was for political reasons or moral reasons—or a mix of the two—is a matter of debate. The trials have been called one of the greatest feats of international law until that time. The scale and scope of the trials was immense. While many believe that the Nuremberg trials were responsible for delivering justice to the most evil force the Earth had ever seen, some have taken a more critical stance on the trials and the precedents they established. During his trial, Hermann Goering wrote in the margins of his indictment, “The victor will always be the judge and the vanquished the accused.” While acknowledging the horrific atrocities carried out by Goering and other Nazi officials, some historians have had similar qualms, even going so far as to call the trials “Victor’s Justice.” Criticism stems from what could be called a “retroactive” creation of international law. Because of the unprecedented nature of the Holocaust and the Nazi regime, international law as it existed at the time did not suffice to prosecute those indicted, “so the Allies fudged a new law and applied it ex post facto.” Those laws prohibited what became known as “crimes against humanity.” At the time, some legal experts believed that if the trials were to be considered legitimate, law must be applied as it was written when the crimes took place. Even the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the time, Harlan Fiske Stone, claimed that the trials were a “lynching party.” Despite these criticisms, the Nuremberg trials were momentous, for a number of reasons. They are remembered by many as an important development in how justice is carried out for war crimes on both the international and state levels. The trials acknowledged that the crimes committed by the Nazis were not done by some intangible entity; they were committed by men. Even further, the trials held those men accountable for their actions. By establishing that individuals were responsible for the crimes of a state, the Allied Powers hoped to prevent such crimes from occurring again in the future. As Nuremberg prosecutor Whitney Harris explained, “For the first time in history, absolute rulers were brought to account before the law. There is no longer any state, or any ruler of any state, who can claim total immunity from the law. … The age of empires has passed. At Nuremberg we put tyranny on trial.” In addition, much of the information that we now know about the Holocaust was disclosed during the trials, including reports regarding the more than six million people systematically killed by the Nazis. Robert Jackson, chief U.S. prosecutor and future Supreme Court Justice, declared, “Unless record was made … future generations would not believe how horrible the truth was.” Perhaps the greatest contribution of the Nuremberg trials was to elevate the rule of law and procedural justice above the urge for retribution and retaliation—even in one of humanity’s darkest moments. As Justice Jackson stated, the existence of the Nuremberg trials was "one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason." This commitment to law and international cooperation defined a principal difference between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers. To this day, the trials have influenced how war crimes are tried, not just internationally but also within the jurisdiction of the United States. For example, under the Alien Tort Statute, foreign citizens are able to be convicted or seek justice for human rights violations within the U.S. court system. Indeed, within the last 10 years, numerous “federal district courts have relied on the Nuremberg trials in finding that corporations can be found liable for aiding and abetting human rights violations abroad.” The Obama administration has also used the Nuremberg trials as support for closing the military prison at Guantánamo Bay. Seventy years after the final verdicts at Nuremberg, it is clear that it was one of the most important legal moments in modern history, if not the “greatest trial in history.” Maggie Baldridge is an intern at the National Constitution Center. She is also a recent graduate of Dickinson College.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	31	https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/20/albert-goering-hermann-goering-brothers	en	Albert Göring, Hermann's anti-Nazi brother	https://i.guim.co.uk/img…3614a48cb2557383	https://i.guim.co.uk/img…3614a48cb2557383	[ "https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&cs_ucfr=0&comscorekw=Family%2CLife+and+style%2CGermany%2CSecond+world+war%2CAdolf+Hitler%2CEurope", "https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2010/2/17/1266420696203/albert-goering-001.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Guardian staff", "William Hastings Burke" ]	2010-02-20T00:00:00	Hermann Göring was an infamous Nazi, his brother Albert a sercret saviour of Jews and dissidents. William Hastings Burke tells the remarkable story of two very different brothers	en	https://assets.guim.co.u…e-touch-icon.svg	the Guardian	https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/20/albert-goering-hermann-goering-brothers	On the outskirts of Munich, among gnarled oak trees and sculpted angels, stands the grave of Albert Göring. I have made a pilgrimage to bid farewell to this man I never met, yet have grown to know so well. For three years I have retraced his footsteps, visiting his old haunts, trying to put a face to the Göring that history has forgotten. The surname is familiar, thanks to Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, the notorious Nazi leader and war criminal. Albert, his younger, little-known brother, was his antithesis – a Holocaust hero who devoted himself to saving hundreds of Jews and political dissidents, persecuted by the very regime his brother had helped to forge. My journey to uncover the extraordinary story of the Göring brothers began in 2005. I was standing in the main quad in the University of Sydney at my graduation ceremony. My parents were trying to operate the camera. My thesis supervisor shook my hand, strangers wished me luck and they all asked: where to now? Would I be going on to study for a PhD, or perhaps a career in finance? No. I told them I wanted to find out more about the story that had haunted me since I chanced upon a documentary alleging that Hermann Göring – Nazism personified – had an anti-Nazi brother. So, a month after graduation, armed with a round-the-world ticket, I left Sydney. On the face of it, it looked like the proverbial Australian backpacker's adventure. But for me it was a fact-finding mission to cut through the rumour and conjecture that has shrouded the truth of Albert's story and the relationship that developed with his brother. First stop: the US and the National Archives in Washington, DC. There I stumbled across Albert's list of the 34 most prominent people he saved during the second world war. These five dog-eared pages would become the compass of my journey. With the voices of those rescued by Albert whispering the coordinates of my expedition, I headed to Germany. Hermann and Albert survived an aristocratic mess of a childhood, with three siblings. Their father, Heinrich, enjoyed a distinguished diplomatic career as consul to German South-West Africa (Namibia today) and subsequently Haiti. He was often apart from his family and later became a melancholic recluse. His wife, Fanny, became infatuated with a wealthy society physician, Dr Hermann von Epenstein. He was at Fanny's side when his namesake, Hermann, was born and upon the birth of her youngest child, Albert Günther, he announced that he would become the Göring children's godfather and house the family in his southern castles. The family spent most of the year at Burg Veldenstein − an imposing, medieval bastion in Franconia − and summers at Burg Mauterndorf, a fairytale castle in the Tauern mountains of Austria. Meals were announced by a hunting horn, staff were adorned in medieval regalia and an army of minstrels was at their disposal. When Von Epenstein visited the Görings at Burg Veldenstein, he always requested the choicest of the castle's 24 rooms, a short late-night scamper from Fanny's room, fuelling rumours that he and Fanny were having an affair. "We never had any doubt about it," says Professor Hans Thirring, who enjoyed summers with the Görings. "Everyone who stayed at Mauterndorf accepted the situation, and it did not seem to trouble Hermann or the other Göring children." It was also thought that Albert was the love child of the affair. "Pate [godfather] had made Hermann his favourite godchild, but after Albert's birth he was always fussing over him," the boys' sister, Olga Rigele, recalls. The rumours intensified as Albert grew up and people began to notice a physical likeness to his half-Jewish godfather. Albert had Epenstein's dark brown eyes and central European physiognomy; whereas his brother Hermann was the inheritor of his mother's piercing blue eyes and Aryan features. Hermann was a rebellious boy. Ill at ease in the confines of the classroom, he bounced from one boarding school to another. At his final one, he cut the strings of every violin and cello in the school band, before absconding. This act had him sent off to military school, where his warrior spirit could flourish. He later distinguished himself as an ace fighter pilot in the first world war. Albert was said to be a sad boy, preferring a book and the security of the indoors. In school he sat at the back of the class. There seemed to be little other than name to link the two boys. "He was always the antithesis of myself," Hermann told the American psychiatrist Leon Goldensohn, who interviewed him at the Nuremberg war crime trials in 1946. "He was not politically or militarily interested; I was. He was quiet, reclusive; I like crowds and company. He was melancholic and pessimistic, and I am an optimist. But he's not a bad fellow, Albert." As the brothers began to forge their separate paths in life, their adolescent idiosyncrasies morphed into an ideological chasm. After serving as a communication engineer in the first world war, Albert enrolled in 1919 at the Technical University of Munich to study mechanical engineering. Here he rubbed shoulders with the future leaders of the Third Reich, including Heinrich Himmler, then an agronomy student active in the fraternities, a breeding ground for the budding student nationalist movement. Albert appeared to remain politically passive, yet he studied his future foe intently. Meanwhile, Hermann, the disenfranchised war hero, began to circulate in the Munich beer hall scene, all ears to its rhetoric against the Weimar government and the postwar reparations imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. In 1922, he was particularly impressed by an orator named Adolf Hitler. An infamous love affair blossomed and, as in classic love stories, a test of devotion was required. It came with the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch − Hitler's first attempt to prise power from the government. Bullet wounds to the groin and hip proved Hermann true, but the coup was quickly quashed and Hermann went on the run. Four dark years of exile followed. Hermann became addicted to morphine, lost his grip on sanity and was institutionalised in Sweden. This period also marked the beginning of 12 years of silence between the brothers. Albert shunned Hermann and his political ideals. He felt betrayed as a brother and representative of the Göring family. "Oh, I have a brother in Germany who is getting involved with that bastard Hitler," Albert would tell his close friend Albert Benbassat. "And he is going to come to a bad end if he continues that way." Hermann later rationalised: "We never spoke to each other because of Albert's attitude toward the party. Neither of us was angry at the other. It was a separation due to the situation." The 1938 Anschluss − when the Germans annexed Austria − and looming war would bring an end to the brothers' feud. The two met at Albert's lodge in the peaceful town of Grinzing, north-west of Vienna. Albert was an exhausted mess. Ever since the first swastika appeared in Vienna, he had tirelessly arranged exit visas and funds for his Jewish friends. He came head to head with Nazi thugs in Vienna, defending elderly Jewish ladies who were mocked and forced to scrub the cobblestone streets on their knees. In contrast, Hermann brimmed with excitement. He had just arrived in Austria to much fanfare and delivered a chilling speech inciting wholesale antisemitism. Buoyed by his political conquest, he granted each of his family a wish. But his mood soured when Albert and his sister Olga pleaded for Hermann to intervene on behalf of Archduke Josef Ferdinand of Austria, the last Habsburg Prince of Tuscany, then detained at Dachau concentration camp. "Hermann was very embarrassed. But the next day the imprisoned Habsburger was free," Albert recollected to his old friend Ernst Neubach. This element of their relationship puzzled me. The brothers could somehow detach themselves from their public roles when they came together in this private Göring family sanctuary. It was as though their fraternal bond conjured amnesia in Albert, and he could temporarily put aside the ire and grief caused by his brother's regime. Albert used this arrangement to his benefit and that of others. "He could certainly help people in need himself financially and with his personal influence," says Edda Göring, Hermann's only child. "But, as soon as it was necessary to involve higher authority or officials, then he had to have the support of my father, which he did get." Albert regularly went to his brother's Berlin office to curry favour on behalf of a Jewish friend or political prisoner, manipulating Hermann's ego and playing on his sense of familial duty. In this sense, Hermann was a safety net for Albert. As Albert became ever more audacious in his subversiveness, a mountain of Gestapo reports piled up against him. Four arrest warrants were issued in his name during the war and yet he was never convicted. Big brother always came to his aid, however politically damaging it might have been. In 1944, a death warrant hung over Albert, demanding his execution on sight. He was on the run, hiding in Prague. Hermann dropped everything to save him. "My brother told me then that it was the last time that he could help me, that his position [had] also been shaken, and that he had to ask Himmler personally to smooth over the entire matter," Albert testified in Nuremberg. The brothers met for the last time in May 1945, in a transit jail in Augsburg. Hermann was the Allies' prize catch, while Albert was detained for simply being his brother. In the courtyard of the jail, they embraced and Hermann said: "I am very sorry, Albert, that it is you who has to suffer so much for me. You will be free soon. Then take my wife and child under your care. Farewell!" Two years later, Hermann was convicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He cheated the hangman's noose with a smuggled cyanide capsule. Albert spent two years in prison, unable to convince his interrogators of his innocence. One report reads: "The results of the interrogation of Albert Göring, brother of the Reichsmarschall Herman [sic], constitutes as clever a piece of rationalisation and 'white wash' as SAIC [Seventh Army Interrogation Center] has ever seen. Albert Göring's lack of subtlety is matched only by the bulk of his obese brother." The surname that once enabled Albert to save hundreds of victims of Nazism became the ultimate burden. Even when Albert was freed in 1947, he could not shake his brother's shadow. No employer would take him on. He refused to take the easy route and relinquish the Göring name. He fell into depression, alcoholism and then infidelity. His Czech wife, Mila, requested a divorce and took his only child, Elizabeth, to a live in Peru. He never saw or spoke to his daughter again, nor answered any of her letters. Now in her late sixties, a successful businesswoman with two talented sons, Elizabeth seems to be resigned to her fatherless childhood. "I was not angry: I was nothing," Elizabeth says. "My mother forced me to write until I was about 10 … But he never answered, you see, he never, never answered! So why should I keep writing to someone who doesn't want me? That was very clear to me – he didn't want me." Yet Albert's wife and daughter still seemed to maintain respect and, perhaps, love for him. "One thing I have to say," Elizabeth adds. "I don't know what happened between them and how long it took my mother to decide the divorce or whatever, but [my mother and grandmother] never said a word against him." Albert, she says, was the only German her Czech grandmother respected. Albert died on 20 December 20, 1966, as a penniless pariah, his chest bare of medals and formal accolades. His body was laid to rest in the Göring family plot in Munich. Hermann was given no such honour. As a war criminal, his ashes were tossed into a muddy creek in Munich. Yet, in death, Hermann has continued to hijack the Göring family name; it will forever be smeared with the blood of his ruthless ideology and murderous actions. As I stand at Albert's grave, it dawns on me that this is as close as I will come to my companion for the past three years. Albert took me into smoky cabaret dens and bohemian cafes. He threw me into the centre of an angry Viennese mob. I was there in Hermann's office as he pleaded the case of a colleague, the Gestapo hot on his heels. Etched on the grave's copper base is the Göring family motto: "Wir sind nicht von denen die da weichen sondern von denen die da glauben" – "We are not among those who yield, but among those who believe." I take one last look and realise it was only Albert who held true to that promise.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	0	28	https://www.myheritage.com/names/wilhelm_keitel	en				[]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null
correct_death_00048	FactBench	1	72	https://today.uconn.edu/2015/11/the-legacy-of-nuremberg-70-years-on/	en	The Legacy of Nuremberg, 70 Years On	https://today.uconn.edu/…448037061436.jpg	https://today.uconn.edu/…448037061436.jpg	[ "https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-DoddJackson-e1448037061436.jpg 2857w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-DoddJackson-e1448037061436-300x235.jpg 300w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-DoddJackson-e1448037061436-1024x804.jpg 1024w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-DoddJackson-e1448037061436-535x420.jpg 535w", "https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-DoddJackson-e1448037061436.jpg", "https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-DoddJackson-e1448037061436-1024x804.jpg 1024w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-DoddJackson-e1448037061436-300x235.jpg 300w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-DoddJackson-e1448037061436-535x420.jpg 535w", "http://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-DoddJackson-e1448037061436-1024x804.jpg", "https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-Defendants-e1448037178871-1024x814.jpg 1024w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-Defendants-e1448037178871-300x238.jpg 300w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-Defendants-e1448037178871-528x420.jpg 528w", "http://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Nuremberg-Defendants-e1448037178871-1024x814.jpg", "https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Reality_240419a072.png 1500w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Reality_240419a072-300x200.png 300w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Reality_240419a072-1024x683.png 1024w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Reality_240419a072-768x512.png 768w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Reality_240419a072-630x420.png 630w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Reality_240419a072-150x100.png 150w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Reality_240419a072-998x665.png 998w", "https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Reality_240419a072.png", "https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/commencement_2024-5-05-a_0025-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/commencement_2024-5-05-a_0025-300x200.jpg 300w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/commencement_2024-5-05-a_0025-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/commencement_2024-5-05-a_0025-768x512.jpg 768w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/commencement_2024-5-05-a_0025-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/commencement_2024-5-05-a_0025-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/commencement_2024-5-05-a_0025-630x420.jpg 630w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/commencement_2024-5-05-a_0025-150x100.jpg 150w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/commencement_2024-5-05-a_0025-998x665.jpg 998w", "https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/commencement_2024-5-05-a_0025-scaled.jpg", "https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/podcast-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/podcast-300x225.jpg 300w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/podcast-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/podcast-768x576.jpg 768w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/podcast-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/podcast-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/podcast-560x420.jpg 560w, https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/podcast-887x665.jpg 887w", "https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/podcast-scaled.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[ "Kenneth Best" ]	2015-11-20T11:35:13	The impact of the trials of Nazi leaders, which established a baseline for universal human rights, is felt directly in UConn's human rights programs an ...	en		UConn Today	https://today.uconn.edu/2015/11/the-legacy-of-nuremberg-70-years-on/	After spending the summer of 1945 as the executive trial counsel and supervisor for the United States team in Nuremberg, Germany, 70 years ago this week, while preparing the prosecution against the 23 leaders of Nazi Germany about to be tried before the International Military Tribunal, Thomas J. Dodd of Connecticut wrote one of his nightly letters home to his wife Grace. “This is a date to be remembered,” the then-38-year-old Dodd wrote on Nov. 19, 1945, of what has become known as the Nuremberg Trials. “The courtroom was crowded. The defendants made quite an appearance … I had the feeling that I was witnessing and participating in a history-making event.” Dodd’s preparation of the 50,000 documents used in the prosecution was essential in bringing to conclusion the record of Germany’s atrocities leading up to, and throughout, the Second World War. The Nuremberg Trial Papers, as well as materials from his years in the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971, are housed in the Archives and Special Collections Department of UConn’s Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, which was dedicated in his memory 20 years ago during ceremonies featuring remarks by President Bill Clinton and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, who was a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps. “The main legacy of the Nuremberg Trials is the melding of international, global commitment to holding individuals accountable for human rights abuses, regardless of where they are in positions of power in the state,” says Glenn Mitoma, director of the Dodd Research Center and assistant professor of human rights and education. “The trials are the kind of ‘Big Bang’ moment in the emergence of human rights in the second half of the 20th century. The Dodd Center is, in fact, the result of that legacy of Nuremberg. It was part of a resurgence of a concern for international justice.” Setting a baseline for universal human rights The charges brought against Nazi leadership – Hermann Göring, Reichsmarschall and first head of the Gestapo; Karl Donitz, who initiated the U-Boot (German for U-Boat) campaign; Rudolf Hess, deputy Führer; and Martin Borman, the Nazi Party secretary, among others – included participating in a conspiracy to commit crimes, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Three individuals were acquitted of charges, seven were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 years to life, 11 were sentenced to death by hanging, and one was neither acquitted nor found guilty. Borman died while escaping Germany in 1945 and was tried in absentia. Göring committed suicide before his scheduled execution. The Geneva Conventions of 1864, 1906, and 1929 had established international standards that were understood to encompass the humanitarian treatment of prisoners and of citizens in occupied territories during war. Mitoma says, however, that at the time of the trials, criticism centered on the charges brought against the defendants for crimes against peace and crimes against humanity because such charges had not previously been established as part of international law. “The kind of guiding ideology of the Nuremberg Trials was laying down principles that there is a baseline of natural law of universal human rights that’s there at all times,” he says. “That guiding theory informs the emergence of human rights; the idea [is] that we have to advocate for human rights on a global level, and there are dimensions to our basic humanity that give us moral rights that form the fundamental basis of our morality and our humanity.” In late 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was championed by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who served as U.S. delegate to the UN General Assembly and chair of its Human Rights Commission. However, human rights issues did not become a top concern for the United States until the Cold War with the Soviet Union worsened, says Frank Costigliola, professor of history and a scholar on the Cold War. “The United States was kind of shy of any international controls,” he says. “They were afraid the Soviet Union would make up charges. After Eleanor Roosevelt left the Truman Administration, no one else was arguing for human rights. Setting up international controls could impinge on U.S. sovereignty.” Confronting the past Meanwhile, in postwar Germany, a movement had been gaining momentum to bring to justice German citizens who had carried out many of the atrocities ordered by Nazi leadership. This movement focused on violations of German law, even as the divided nation – separated as one of the opening salvos in the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union — began to confront its past. In late 1958, the Central Office of the State Justice Administration for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes was created in West Germany to find those who had carried out the Nazi agenda and, if appropriate, to hand them over for prosecution. Over the next 50 years, more than 7,000 investigations were conducted, involving more than 100,000 Germans, says Charles Lansing, associate professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, who specializes in the history of the Third Reich. He is writing a book about the Central Office investigations with the working title, The German Nazi Hunters: The Central Agency and Germany’s Belated Search for Justice. “Those tried at Nuremberg are the tip of the iceberg,” says Lansing. “We estimate there were at least 100,000 Germans who were shooters, camp guards, or who had an active role in persecution of the Jews. The Germans began a process to figure out who committed what crimes, when, where, and against whom. It’s a difficult story of confronting the Nazi past. It’s a story full of progress and setbacks. I don’t think there’s any other country that’s faced a criminal past as honestly and fully.” The trials also provided a template for the international courts and tribunals that subsequently were established during the remainder of the 20th century and in the new millennium, notes Richard Wilson, Gladstein Distinguished Chair of Human Rights and professor of anthropology and law. International tribunals to prosecute a variety of criminal actions, trade disputes, and human rights violations have covered issues throughout the world, including Africa, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, and in such countries as Lebanon, Cambodia, and East Timor. Wilson says subsequent international tribunals, such as those held starting in the 1990s for criminal prosecutions in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda, “looked back to Nuremberg and were greatly influenced by it. They learned from [Nuremberg’s] successes and mistakes. They gave defendants much stronger due process protections. They also drew from the body of law created in Nuremberg, such as the idea of joint criminal enterprise as a way of encapsulating the orchestrated collective nature of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.” A ‘double-edged sword’ The establishment of the International Court of Justice in 1945 as the judicial branch of the United Nations to address general disputes between nations, followed by the creation of the International Criminal Court in 2002 to handle criminal prosecutions, have provided a forum for addressing international legal issues, but with mixed results, according to Mark Janis, William F. Starr Professor of Law at UConn Law. “The International Criminal Court has been less successful than Nuremberg,” Janis says. “It’s been hampered by all sort of things. People who are with it say there are good things about it, which there are. So far all of the ICC prosecutions have been aimed after Africans, which has been criticized as neo-colonialism. It seems to be specific toward smaller countries.” He adds that the use of international law has proven to be a double-edged sword, with nations accusing others of human rights violations while being criticized for their own domestic practices. Still, the focus on international law that began with the Nuremberg Trials 70 years ago has continued to expand interest in the issues connected to the conduct of nations and human rights issues. “All of this activity is hugely important for international lawyers,” Janis says. “There’s much more going on in all of these areas than 20 years ago. There is more international law for students to study, and there are possible careers. Nuremberg and its legacy informs a lot of the work I do in international law.” Scholarly interest in the Nuremberg Trial Papers is ongoing. The Archives and Special Collections Department of the Dodd Research Center opened up the digitized files in 2013, and through 2014 the papers were accessed online 3,700 times by those seeking information. The blog Nuremberg at 70 was also established by the staff of the Dodd Research Center to address various aspects of the trials. Soon after the dedication of the Dodd Research Center, UConn designated human rights as a University priority and, in 2003, the Human Rights Institute was established. Uniquely organized around joint faculty appointments made in partnership with the departments of anthropology, economics, history, philosophy, political science, sociology, and the schools of law and business, the Human Rights Institute currently runs undergraduate majors and minors in human rights, offers a Graduate Certificate in Human Rights, and sponsors three thematic research clusters centered on health and human rights, humanitarianism, and economic and social rights. .
correct_death_00048	FactBench	3	84	https://www.explorica.ca/blog/historical-sites-nuremberg	en				[]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null					null
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	27	https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/educational-magazines/goring-hermann	en	Encyclopedia.com			[ "https://www.encyclopedia.com/themes/custom/trustme/images/header-logo.jpg" ]	[]	[]	[ "Hermann GöringBorn January 12", "1893 Rosenheim", "Germany Died October 15", "1946 Nuremberg", "Germany Nazi political leader and commander of the Luftwaffe", "the German air force; second in command to Adolf Hitler" ]	null	[]	null	Hermann GöringBorn January 12, 1893 Rosenheim, Germany Died October 15, 1946 Nuremberg, Germany Nazi political leader and commander of the Luftwaffe, the German air force; second in command to Adolf Hitler Source for information on Göring, Hermann: World War II Reference Library dictionary.	en	/sites/default/files/favicon.ico		https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/educational-magazines/goring-hermann	Hermann Göring Born January 12, 1893 Rosenheim, Germany Died October 15, 1946 Nuremberg, Germany Nazi political leader and commander of the Luftwaffe, the German air force; second in command to Adolf Hitler In the years leading up to World War II, Hermann Göring achieved a position of great power in Germany because of his relationship with Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; see entry), Germany's dictator from 1933 through 1945. Hitler put Göring in charge of such important matters as the organization of the police force and rebuilding Germany's air power. Although he had held fairly liberal beliefs as a young man, Göring adopted Hitler's views on the superiority of the German people and the need to eliminate their enemies. He played an active role in carrying out the horrors of the Holocaust (the period between 1933 and 1945 when Nazi Germany systematically murdered millions of Jews, Roma, homosexuals, and other innocent people). Dreams of greatness Born in Rosenheim, Bavaria (a state in the southeastern part of Germany), a little town located south of Munich, Göring was the son of a German government official. He was the youngest of four children born to his father's second wife (he had five siblings from his father's first marriage). When Göring was three months old, his parents went to live in Haiti, where his father was to serve as consul general. They left their new baby in the care of family friends for three years, a period that was very difficult and unhappy for him. As a young boy Göring was sent to live with his godfather, an Austrian physician named Hermann von Epstein, who had been born Jewish but had converted to Christianity. When Göring wrote a school essay praising his godfather, his teacher scolded him because it was not considered proper to think well of Jewish people. This disturbed Göring so much that he left the school. Next Göring attended two military academies where he proved an excellent student and a self-confident, athletic boy who enjoyed mountain climbing and horseback riding. One day he hoped to become a great German hero. He graduated at the top of his class in 1912. A World War I hero Göring joined the military after graduation. During World War I (1914-18; a war that started as a conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia and escalated into a global war involving thirty-two nations) he proved to be an exceptionally brave pilot who won his country's highest military honor, the Pour le Merite or "Blue Max." In July 1918 he was made commander of the Richthofen Squadron, a famous and daring group of aviators that was also known as the "Flying Circus." Discouraged after the war When World War I ended, many Germans resented the outcome of the war and its aftermath. They had been led to believe that their country would win, but they had lost. Now the German people were being punished by the victorious Allies (including Great Britain, the United States, France, and Russia), who insisted Germany pay reparations (huge sums of money) for the damages incurred during the war. Germany also faced a terrible depression (an economic downturn that causes many businesses to close and people to lose their jobs) that started around 1930. Although this depression began in the United States, it soon spread to all of the industrial countries in Europe. Germany was hit harder than any other major European country. Germany relied heavily on exports and the countries that had been buying its goods could no longer buy them. There were few jobs available—one out of every three Germans was out of work—which led to widespread poverty and dissatisfaction with the government. Like many former soldiers, Göring felt that he had no future in Germany. He went to Sweden and became a pilot and salesman for a Swedish airline. There he met a Swedish baroness, Carin von Lock-Kantzoa, a delicate beauty with an interest in mysticism. Even though she was already married, Carin and Göring fell in love. Carin soon divorced her husband. She married Göring in 1923, and the couple returned to Germany. Becoming Hitler's follower Meanwhile, an ambitious politician named Adolf Hitler took advantage of the widespread dissatisfaction in Germany. He formed the National Socialist German Workers' Party, better known as the Nazis. Hitler's party was based on the belief that the Germans were a superior race whose purity was threatened by the harmful presence of Jews and other people they considered undesirable. In particular, the Nazis blamed Jews for their country's defeat in World War I. Even though Göring had not previously been anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish), he was so impressed by Hitler that he became a devoted follower, gradually dropping all of his more liberal views and adopting the Nazi philosophy. Recognizing his potential, Hitler put Göring in charge of the SA or Sturmabteilung —also called Storm Troopers and Brown Shirts— an organized group of men who terrorized anyone who opposed the Nazis. And it was in Göring's hometown— Munich—where the Nazis planned to take over the German government. Their attempt, called the Munich Beer Hall Putsch (1923), failed and led to the arrest and imprisonment of Hitler and other Nazi leaders. Göring was badly wounded but managed to escape to Austria, finally making his way to Switzerland. In severe pain, he was given morphine (a strong pain medication related to opium) and quickly became addicted, a condition that led to stints in several psychiatric institutions. He was off drugs by 1926, but his addiction would continue to plague him throughout the rest of his life. Göring had also become obese, and over the next two decades his enemies would often make fun of him, nicknaming him "der Dicke" (the fat one). Returning to success in Germany In 1927, Germany's president pardoned all political prisoners, including Hitler and the other Nazi leaders arrested after the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. Göring no longer had to fear being arrested and punished for his involvement in the Putsch and returned to his country. He and his wife settled in Berlin, where Göring became successful selling BMW cars. He again got involved with Hitler, who realized that Göring's many social, business, and military connections could be helpful to the Nazi party. Running on the Nazi ticket, Göring was elected to the Reichstag (Germany's legislative or law-making body) in 1928 and became its president in 1932 (the top office in the Reichstag, but not the same as president of a country). Hitler was also gaining power during this period, and in January 1933 he was made chancellor (chief executive or top leader) of Germany. In only a few months, Hitler took control of the government and outlawed all political parties except the Nazis. He made himself not only Germany's head of state but also its military commander. In other words, Hitler had become a dictator (a ruler with absolute authority). A prominent role in Hitler's government Hitler gave Göring the job of interior minister to Prussia (a large state within Germany that ceased to exist after July 1945). Later that year, acting as commandant of police, Göring replaced the regular police force with the Secret State Police. This ruthless group became known as the Gestapo and quickly gained a reputation for brutality. They carried on a reign of terror against Jews and Catholics and members of other minority groups as well as anyone who disagreed with Hitler. So many arrests were made that the jails overflowed, so Göring constructed concentration camps where large numbers of these so-called "enemies of the state" could be confined. Ironically, Göring did not have the stomach for violence and soon turned his Gestapo and concentration camp duties over to others. In 1931, Göring's beloved wife Carin died. Now verywealthy (due to income from his various political offices, investments, and business interests), he built a grand estate that he named Carin Hall in his dead wife's memory. He furnished this home with fine art and spent much of his time there. In 1935 Göring married a German actress, Emmy Sonnemann, and the couple's daughter Edda was born three years later. Over the next few years the Görings entertained many famous visitors from all over the world at their lavish estate. The Luftwaffe leads the war effort The terms of the treaty signed at the end of World War I prohibited Germany from having an air force, but Göring— who had been named reichminster of aviation in 1933—built one anyway, in secret. By 1936, his Luftwaffe (the name by which the German air force was known) was ready, just as Hitler's plans to wage war began to take shape. Hitler's stated goal at this time was to make sure that all of the German-speaking people in the world were under Nazi rule; later it would become clear that he also wanted to acquire more territory for Germany. At the same time, he was restricting the freedom of ordinary Germans while totally eliminating that of the Jews who lived in Germany. Germany launched World War II in September 1939 by invading Poland. Much of the credit for this successful attack was given to the air force, and as head of the Luftwaffe Göring became a hero. When Holland, Belgium, and France also surrendered to the Germans he received even more attention and praise. In these first few years of the war, the German air force was considered the best in the world. Pleased with his second-in-command and with the progress of the war, Hitler made Göring a field marshal—the highest rank in the German army—and even spoke of him as his successor (the person who would take over his position when he left office). Out of favor with "der Führer" As the war continued, though, Göring fell out of favor with Hitler even though he never stopped idolizing "der Führer" (the leader). The main cause for Hitler's displeasure was the failure of the air force on three occasions. The first was the Battle of Britain, at which the Germans were defeated. On the second occasion, the Luftwaffe was unable to defend Germany against air raids by the Allies. The third was when the air force could not rescue the German Sixth Army when they were stranded in Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Hitler blamed Göring for these disasters and began treating him with scorn, and leaving him out of important military decisions. Disillusioned with the way things were going, Göring began taking drugs again. He retreated into the fantasy world he had created for himself, neglecting his official duties while traveling around Europe in his private train. He was notorious for stealing priceless works of art from the countries Germany had conquered and decorating his various homes with them. As the war drew to a close, Soviet troops invaded Germany and made their way toward Berlin, where Hitler had gone into hiding in an underground bunker. Having fled (and destroyed) Carin Hall, Göring was convinced—quite logically—that Hitler might soon be captured. He sent his leader a message that he was prepared to take over: "If I should receive no reply by 10 P. M., I shall assume that you have been deprived of your freedom of action and shall act in the best interests of our country and people." Hitler was enraged by Göring's assumption, and on April 23 he ordered him charged with treason and arrested. By April 30, Hitler knew that the war was lost, and he committed suicide in his bunker. On May 9, having been freed by his Nazi captors, Göring surrendered to the American troops who had occupied Germany. He was pleased with the special treatment he received at first, when he was given good food and wine. But this had just been a trick to make him offer up information about the Nazis, and he soon became an ordinary prisoner of war. Tried and convicted at Nuremberg The Allies (the countries that had joined together to fight Germany) tried the surviving Nazi leaders for their war crimes in a series of famous trials held in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1946. This well-publicized event exposed the full horror of Nazi Germany, in particular the Holocaust. After months in prison, Göring was drug-free and much slimmer. Observers agreed that he gave a brilliant performance at the trial, speaking with intelligence and confidence as he tried to justify what he and others had done. He argued that government officials could not be judged by the same standards as ordinary citizens. Nevertheless, Göring was found guilty of conspiracy to wage war, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to death by hanging, and his request to be executed by firing squad, in the military tradition, was denied. Just two hours before he was to be executed, Göring took poison (it is still not known how he got it) and died. The next day, his body was cremated and the ashes thrown away, along with those of others who had been executed that night. Where to Learn More Books Butler, Ewan, and Gordon Young. The Life and Death of Hermann Göring.San Bernardino, CA: Borgo Press, 1990. Hoyt, Edwin P. Angels of Death: Göring's Luftwaffe. New York: Forge, 1994. Irving, David. Göring: A Biography. New York: William Morrow, 1989. Mosley, Leonard. The Reich Marshal: A Biography of Hermann Göring. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974. Skipper, G.C. Göring and the Luftwaffe. Chicago: Children's Press, 1980. Web Sites Sauer, Wolfgang. "Hermann W. Goering." [Online] Available http:/www.grolier.com/wwii/wwii_goering.html (January 21, 1999). The Chief of the SS Members of the SS—which stood for Schutzstaffel or security squad—served as Hitler's bodyguards and also worked as guards in the various concentration camps. They were involved in many cruel acts against those in the camps, and they murdered millions of innocent victims. The man who commanded the SS was Heinrich Himmler, a weak, dull person who had once dreamed of becoming a soldier. Born in Munich, Germany, in 1900, Himmler was the son of a poor soldier who taught his children to develop ties to the upper classes; he also advised his son to keep a daily diary, in which Himmler would later record all of his murderous activities. Himmler wanted very much to serve in Germany's army during World War I but he had only just completed officer training when the war ended. He spent a brief period as a farmer, then entered the University of Munich. Giving up his dream of military glory, Himmler studied agriculture. It was during his years at college that he became an anti-semite (person who hates Jews) and was drawn toward politics. Graduating from college in 1922, Himmler got a job with a fertilizer company. The next year, he joined Adolf Hitler's (1889-1945; see entry) National Socialist German Workers' Party (the Nazis). Later he moved with his new wife Marga to a chicken farm. He continued to work for the Nazis and proved himself efficient and alert to details, even if he did have a very dull personality. In 1929, Himmler was promoted to the rank of Reichsfuhrer (equivalent to a general in the U.S. Army) of the SS. Himmler remained in charge of the SS for the next 16 years. Although the organization had originally been intended to provide protection for Hitler and other high-ranking Nazis, Himmler expanded it to include 50,000 soldiers who could carry out anything Hitler ordered, including the punishment and murder of those the Nazis considered "enemies of the state." The Nazi idea of "racial purity" made Germans the highest form of humanity, and the ideal German was tall, blonde, and blue-eyed. Those considered racially impure included Roma (commonly known as Gypsies), handicapped people, homosexuals, and others but especially Jews, who were blamed for all of Germany's troubles. Since the SS was to provide the leaders of a new German race, Himmler ruled that SS soldiers who wanted to marry had to prove that their fiancees were of pure blood and not "contaminated" by that of other, lesser races. At the SS Bride School, women were taught how to be good Nazi wives. Much more alarmingly, though, Himmler began to set up concentration camps where those arrested by the Nazis were sent to be imprisoned, interrogated, tortured, and often murdered. Himmler himself stayed in the background while gangs of crisply uniformed SS soldiers in shiny black boots terrorized the Jewish population, rounding up and killing thousands of people. In May 1945, several weeks after Germany had surrendered to the Allies, Himmler was caught by British soldiers while—disguised as a low-ranking soldier— he was trying to flee the country. Several days later, Himmler realized that he was not going to receive any special treatment from the Allies, and he bit into a cyanide capsule he had managed to conceal in his mouth. He died almost immediately.
correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	70	https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/year-10/nuremberg-trials/	en	The Nuremberg Trials: How the Nazis were finally brought to justice	https://image.jimcdn.com…mberg-trials.jpg	https://image.jimcdn.com…mberg-trials.jpg	[ "https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=320x10000:format=png/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/ia6a34c0c86a2a7ce/version/1651873774/image.png 320w, https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=481x10000:format=png/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/ia6a34c0c86a2a7ce/version/1651873774/image.png 481w, https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=640x10000:format=png/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/ia6a34c0c86a2a7ce/version/1651873774/image.png 640w, https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=960x10000:format=png/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/ia6a34c0c86a2a7ce/version/1651873774/image.png 960w, https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=962x10000:format=png/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/ia6a34c0c86a2a7ce/version/1651873774/image.png 962w", "https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=320x10000:format=jpg/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/if55d69fa62d6cf0d/version/1699486784/nuremberg-trials.jpg 320w, https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=640x10000:format=jpg/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/if55d69fa62d6cf0d/version/1699486784/nuremberg-trials.jpg 640w, https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=960x10000:format=jpg/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/if55d69fa62d6cf0d/version/1699486784/nuremberg-trials.jpg 960w, https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=1040x10000:format=jpg/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/if55d69fa62d6cf0d/version/1699486784/nuremberg-trials.jpg 1040w, https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=1280x10000:format=jpg/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/if55d69fa62d6cf0d/version/1699486784/nuremberg-trials.jpg 1280w, https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=1920x10000:format=jpg/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/if55d69fa62d6cf0d/version/1699486784/nuremberg-trials.jpg 1920w, https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=2080x10000:format=jpg/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/if55d69fa62d6cf0d/version/1699486784/nuremberg-trials.jpg 2080w", "https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=135x100:format=jpg/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/i7bebe45fd82e439d/version/1708197401/image.jpg", "https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=135x100:format=jpg/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/ic5aeb627b73958a6/version/1713035434/image.jpg", "https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=135x100:format=png/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/ie852ad90909eeaed/version/1654390743/image.png", "https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=135x100:format=jpg/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/if080fecc07df4712/version/1710702531/image.jpg", "https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=135x100:format=png/path/s2217cd0bb1220415/image/i85306598f5d32988/version/1674898264/image.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	The Nuremberg Trials, a series of military tribunals held after World War II, were groundbreaking in their pursuit of justice on an international scale. Convened in the aftermath of humanity's most devastating conflict, these trials sought to bring high-ranking Nazi officials to account for atrocities that defied comprehension. The city of Nuremberg, already scarred by war and symbolic as a site of Nazi propaganda rallies, was chosen as the location for this unprecedented legal endeavor.	en	https://u.jimcdn.com/cms…png?t=1558602595	History Skills	https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/year-10/nuremberg-trials/	The origins of the Nuremberg Trials can be traced back to the early declarations of the Allied powers during World War II, as they began to address the need for legal action against Axis war criminals. On October 30, 1943, the Moscow Declaration was signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, which stated that major war criminals whose offenses had no particular geographical location would be punished by a joint decision of the Allies. This set the stage for what would eventually become the Nuremberg Trials. Following the end of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945, the Allied powers took concrete steps to establish the legal basis for the trials. On August 8, 1945, they signed the London Charter, formally known as the Charter of the International Military Tribunal (IMT). The Charter defined the tribunal's constitution, functions, and, crucially, the laws and procedures according to which it would operate. It outlined three broad categories of crimes: crimes against peace (planning, initiating, and waging wars of aggression), war crimes (violations of the laws and customs of war), and crimes against humanity (including murder, extermination, enslavement, and deportation). The London Charter was a legal innovation, as it codified the principles that the international community would use to prosecute individuals for actions committed during wartime. It also established the precedent that heads of state and responsible government officials could be held accountable for aggression and mass atrocities. The Nuremberg Trials were thus grounded in a legal framework that was created to address the unprecedented scale and nature of the crimes committed during the Second World War. The Nuremberg Trials brought to the dock 24 of the most prominent leaders of Nazi Germany, representing a cross-section of military, political, and economic power. Among these defendants were names that had become synonymous with the Nazi regime's wartime atrocities and its machinery of death. Hermann Göring, the highest-ranking Nazi official tried at Nuremberg and Hitler's designated successor for much of the war, faced charges alongside Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Reich's Foreign Minister, and Wilhelm Keitel, head of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces. The trials also targeted architects of the Holocaust and the oppressive policies of the regime, such as Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the highest-ranking SS leader to be tried, and Alfred Rosenberg, the chief racial theorist and overseer of the occupied Eastern territories. Economic leaders, like Walther Funk, the Minister of Economics, and Hjalmar Schacht, the Reichsbank President, were charged for their roles in supporting the Nazi war effort, including the plunder of occupied territories. The charges leveled against these individuals were as comprehensive as they were severe, reflecting the vast scope of Nazi criminality. They included participation in a common plan or conspiracy to commit crimes against peace; planning, initiating, and waging wars of aggression; war crimes, such as the mistreatment and murder of prisoners of war, and the killing of hostages; and crimes against humanity, which encompassed the extermination of racial, religious, and political groups, enslavement, and other acts of inhumanity on a civilian population. Organizations integral to the Nazi state were also in the tribunal's crosshairs. The leadership corps of the Nazi Party, the Gestapo, the SS (including the Waffen-SS), and the General Staff and High Command of the German Armed Forces were indicted as criminal organizations. Their members faced the possibility of being declared criminal en masse, subject to arrest and trial in other proceedings. The first and most significant of the hearings was the Trial of the Major War Criminals, began on November 20, 1945. The prosecution team, comprising members from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and France, presented their cases against the defendants, each taking turns to address the different charges laid out in the indictments. The prosecution's case was built on a vast collection of documents, which included official military orders, reports from concentration camps, and correspondence between the defendants that detailed their involvement in the war crimes. The prosecutors supplemented these documents with witness testimonies, both from survivors and former Nazis who had turned state's evidence. The testimonies were harrowing and detailed the extent of the atrocities committed, from the planning and execution of the Holocaust to the aggressive wars waged against neighboring countries. The defendants were given the right to a defense, a fundamental principle of justice that the Allies upheld even in the face of the heinous nature of the crimes. Each defendant had legal counsel and was given the opportunity to present evidence, call witnesses, and cross-examine the prosecution's witnesses. The defense strategies varied: some defendants claimed ignorance or that they were following orders, while others argued that the trials were ex post facto justice and therefore illegitimate. Some even attempted to justify their actions by citing the brutalities of the Soviet regime. The judges, drawn from the four Allied powers, were tasked with the challenging job of ensuring a fair trial and also with interpreting the new and untested international laws under which the tribunal was established. The proceedings were complex and lengthy, with the tribunal sitting for 216 days. The final judgments were delivered between September 30 and October 1, 1946. Of the 24 original defendants, one had committed suicide before the trial, and another was deemed unfit to stand trial due to health reasons. The Nuremberg Trials, while groundbreaking, were not without their legal challenges and criticisms. One of the primary legal challenges was the concept of "ex post facto" law. This principle, rooted in Roman law and enshrined in many national legal systems, holds that one cannot be charged with a crime that was not classified as such at the time it was committed. Critics argued that the London Charter established laws specifically for the purpose of the trials, thereby prosecuting individuals for actions that were not criminal at the time they were committed. The prosecution countered this by asserting that the acts committed by the defendants were morally reprehensible and inherently criminal, and that the trials were enforcing existing international principles that prohibit such conduct. Another significant legal challenge was the principle of "tu quoque" (Latin for "you also"), a defense raised by the accused, arguing that the Allies had also committed similar acts during the war, such as the bombing of civilian areas in Germany and Japan. The tribunal addressed this by distinguishing between the legality of the war itself, which the Axis powers had initiated, and the conduct of the war, which could include questionable acts by the Allies. However, the tribunal did not consider the "tu quoque" argument relevant to the determination of the defendants' guilt for their own crimes. The concept of "superior orders," often summarized by the phrase "I was only following orders," was another contentious legal issue. Many defendants claimed they were not personally responsible for their actions because they were acting under the orders of higher authorities. The tribunal rejected this defense, establishing the principle that following orders is not a sufficient defense for war crimes or crimes against humanity, especially when the orders in question are unlawful and the crimes are as egregious as those committed by the Nazi regime. Critics also pointed to the trials as an example of "victor's justice," suggesting that the trials were a form of judicial retribution where the victors of the war imposed their will on the vanquished. This criticism was underscored by the fact that only the Axis powers were tried for war crimes, while any questionable actions by the Allies were not subject to similar scrutiny. The culmination of the Nuremberg Trials came with the delivery of judgments and sentences, a process that unfolded between September 30 and October 1, 1946. The International Military Tribunal handed down its decisions after months of testimony, evidence presentation, and legal arguments that had been closely followed by the international community. The verdicts were a mix of death sentences, prison terms, and acquittals, reflecting the varied roles and degrees of involvement of the defendants in the Nazi regime's crimes. Hermann Göring, once the second-most powerful man in the Third Reich, was sentenced to death by hanging, as were eleven other defendants, including Joachim von Ribbentrop, the former Foreign Minister, and Wilhelm Keitel, the head of the Armed Forces High Command. These sentences were meant to signify the gravity of their crimes and the responsibility they bore for the war and the Holocaust. The tribunal did not impose collective punishment; each defendant was judged on the basis of individual guilt, with the sentences reflecting their level of involvement and complicity in the regime's criminal activities. Seven defendants, such as Rudolf Hess, Hitler's former deputy, were given prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. These individuals were deemed culpable but to a lesser extent than those who received the death penalty. The tribunal recognized different levels of responsibility and sought to administer justice accordingly, rather than meting out a one-size-fits-all punishment. Notably, the tribunal acquitted three of the defendants: Hjalmar Schacht, Franz von Papen, and Hans Fritzsche. These acquittals were significant as they demonstrated the tribunal's commitment to the principle of fair trial and due process, acknowledging that not all members of the Nazi government or its functions were equally responsible for the commission of war crimes or crimes against humanity. Following the conclusion of the main Nuremberg Trials, a series of additional proceedings were held to bring lower-ranking officers and officials to justice, as well as those who played key roles in the Nazi regime's economic and administrative apparatus. These subsequent trials, twelve in total, took place between December 1946 and April 1949, and were conducted before U.S. military tribunals rather than the International Military Tribunal. They are often referred to collectively as the "Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings" or the "Nuremberg Military Tribunals." One of the most notable of these was the Doctors' Trial, which began on December 9, 1946. This trial prosecuted 23 defendants, including doctors and administrators, who were involved in the horrific medical experiments conducted on prisoners in concentration camps. The trial resulted in the conviction of 16 of the accused, with seven receiving death sentences, and it brought to light the extent to which medical professionalism had been perverted under the Nazi regime. Another significant proceeding was the Judges' Trial, where 16 legal officials and lawyers were tried for their roles in the implementation of the racial purity laws of the Third Reich, which included the sterilization laws and other policies integral to the regime's genocidal practices. This trial underscored the complicity of the judiciary in the crimes of the Nazi state. The subsequent trials also included the Pohl Trial, which focused on officials who ran the economic enterprises of the SS, including the exploitation of forced labor, and the Flick Trial, which targeted industrialists who used slave labor and plundered occupied territories. These trials highlighted the collusion between industry and the Nazi government in the exploitation and destruction of millions of lives. The outcomes of these trials varied, with some defendants receiving death sentences, others long prison terms, and some being acquitted. The sentences reflected the tribunals' assessments of the individual's level of involvement and culpability in the crimes of the Nazi regime. The trials' influence extended to the establishment of permanent international judicial bodies. The International Law Commission, created in 1947, was tasked with developing a new international code of crimes against the peace and security of mankind. This work eventually led to the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1998, which was designed to prosecute individuals for international crimes, building on the legacy of Nuremberg. The Nuremberg Trials also had a significant cultural and educational legacy. They brought the horrors of the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes to light, documenting them in an unprecedented legal and historical record. This documentation has been crucial in countering Holocaust denial and educating subsequent generations about the dangers of totalitarianism, racism, and the violation of human rights. Moreover, the trials influenced the development of human rights law. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, was inspired by the revelations of human rights abuses during the war and the subsequent trials. The Nuremberg Trials thus played a role in the emergence of a global human rights movement, emphasizing the protection of individual rights irrespective of nationality or government.
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correct_death_00048	FactBench	2	26	https://museums.nuernberg.de/memorium-nuremberg-trials/the-nuremberg-trials/the-international-military-tribunal/verdicts	en	Memorium Nuremberg Trials	https://museums.nuernberg.de/favicon.ico	https://museums.nuernberg.de/favicon.ico	[ "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/media/images/logos/logo_nuernberg.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/media/images/logos/logo_nuernberg_mobile.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/_migrated/media/memo_Themen_01.jpg", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/_migrated/media/Logo_17.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/mdsn/images/content/Memorium/Themen/Nuernberger_Prozesse/Militaergerichtshof/gefaengnis-spandau.jpg", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/typo3conf/ext/museenprovider/Resources/Public/img/google_arts_culture.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/typo3conf/ext/museenprovider/Resources/Public/img/facebook.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/mdsn/images/basic/mdsn_twitter_logo.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/mdsn/images/basic/mdsn_instagram_logo.png", "https://museums.nuernberg.de/fileadmin/mdsn/images/basic/mdsn_youtube_logo.png" ]	[]	[]	[ "" ]	null	[]	null	Museen	en	/favicon.ico		https://museums.nuernberg.de/memorium-nuremberg-trials/the-nuremberg-trials/the-international-military-tribunal/verdicts	After nine months, the verdicts in the Major War Criminals Trial were read on September 30 and October 1, 1946. Twelve defendants were sentenced to death, three to life imprisonment, and four to long prison terms. The Tribunal found three defendants not guilty. Defendants and counts of indictment:Martin Bormann:Death by hanging (in absentia)Karl Dönitz:10 years imprisonmentHans Frank:Death by hangingWilhelm Frick:Death by hangingHans Fritzsche:Not guiltyWalther Funk:Lifelong imprisonmentHermann Göring:Death by hangingRudolf Hess:Lifelong imprisonmentAlfred Jodl:Death by hangingErnst Kaltenbrunner:Death by hangingWilhelm Keitel:Death by hangingKonstantin Freiherr von Neurath:15 years imprisonmentFranz von Papen:Not guiltyErich Raeder:Lifelong imprisonmentJoachim von Ribbentrop:Death by hangingAlfred Rosenberg:Death by hangingFritz Sauckel:Death by hangingHjalmar Schacht:Not guiltyBaldur von Schirach:20 years imprisonmentArthur Seyß-Inquart:Death by hangingAlbert Speer:20 years imprisonmentJulius Streicher:Death by hanging The IMT declared the leadership of the NSDAP, the Gestapo, the SD and SS (with the exception of the Reiter SS) to be criminal organizations. Execution The death sentences were executed in the old gymnasium on the grounds of the Nuremberg Prison on October 16, 1946. Hermann Göring committed suicide just a few hours before the execution of his sentence. After the hangings, the bodies were transported to Munich and cremated in the crematorium of the Ostfriedhof Cemetery. The ashes were then strewn in a tributary of the Isar River. Those sentenced to imprisonment remained first in Nuremberg and were then transported on July 18, 1947, to the Allied War Criminals Prison in Berlin-Spandau, where they remained until their terms were served.