This Day In History | World War II October 15, 1946 Herman Goering commits suicide

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[mainepatsfan]

This Day In History | World War II

October 15

1946 Herman Goering dies

On this day in 1946, Herman Goering, 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.

Goering 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 Goering became increasingly addicted to painkillers. Not long after Hitler's accession to power, Goering 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 Goering 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.

Goering'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.

When Goering fell into U.S. hands after Germany's surrender, he had in his possession a rich stash of paracodin pills, a morphine derivative. He was tried at Nuremberg and charged with various crimes against humanity. Despite a vigorous attempt at self-acquittal, he was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged, but before he could be executed, he committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide tablet he had hidden from his guards.

[mainepatsfan]

He didn't suffer nearly enough.

[Skooz]

Later, dude.

[Grut]

The best of a bad lot. Goering contributed materially to the Allied victory thru his bureaucratic determination to stay on top of the heap and his incompetence while there.

[mainepatsfan]

It's a good thing the Luftwaffe didn't have a competent commander in chief, especially during the Battle of Britain.

[son of caesar]

you know, when i think of nazi germany, im simply astounded at the confluence of criminal personalities that all converged. or is it that when free wealth is available, these types simply find the road? digesting new data, im a little surprised that it always points to hitlers underlings as the catalysts for the holocaust, maybe i shouldnt be surprised but i am none the less. one more point, this could happen again so very easily, it makes the head spin. our words should be NEVER AGAIN.

[mainepatsfan]

I'm just glad the International Criminal court didn't try them. Too many would have escaped justice.

[saganite]

An interesting part left out of this article was the assistance in committing suicide from an American Captain assigned as one of his guards. The Captain snuck the suicide pill into Goering's cell.

[mainepatsfan]

I've heard that as well. Has that been confirmed or is it still just a theory?

[spanalot]

"He didn't suffer nearly enough."

Hold on there General!

He and 15000 other Nazis were very successfully prosecuted.

The big question is what is preventing the prosecution of the FIRST Communist Genocidal heathen - you know, one of the thousands that are currently living on nice retirement checks in the US, Canada, etc.

After all, they did kill 100 million in the last century.

[johnny7]

You can call him 'Meyer'.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

you know, when i think of nazi germany, im simply astounded at the confluence of criminal personalities that all converged.

Goering was a homosexual pedophile...

[mainepatsfan]

True but he should have at least been strangled to death.

[mainepatsfan]

Many Germans were doing that from 1940 on. What an idiot.

[saganite]

It's confirmed. I believe the officer in question admitted his complicity. It's been a while since I read that book.

[mainepatsfan]

It seems the only likely scenario considering what precautions the Allies were taking to prevent the prisoners from taking their own lives.

[Fighter@heart]

Some-how I'm SURE this will also be "Bush's Fault!!" Besides driving the "hurricaine machine" into New Orleans, it is obvious that he is now in possession of a "Time Machine" and has gone back in time to assassinate a foreign political figure, surely an impeachable offense!! (sarcasm off!!)

[johnny7]

I never read he was queer... I knew he was a drug-addict... and turned out to be the 'backbone' of the nazi's at Nuremberg.

Being one of the inner clique that brought Hitler to power, Goering fully deserved the gallows death he cheated.

[bkepley]

A slow day in history I guess.

[son of caesar]

you bring up an interesting topic. i sincerely think that people of this caliber usually have sexual issues. wasnt the night of the long knives used to get rid of some homosexuals? most democratic names that are familiar have to be sexually dysfunctional too. imo

[backhoe]

You have to wonder what happened to Goering- did he go bad, or was he bad all along?

Not mentioned in the article was his status as a fighter ace in WWI:

Hermann Goering

... Hermann Göring. German Ace of WWI, CO of Richthofen Group ... is impossible to consider Hermann Göring (frequently rendered as Herman Goering) as just another flying ace of World ...

It is impossible to consider Hermann Göring (frequently rendered as Herman Goering) as just another flying ace of World War One. His role in instigating and perpetrating the horrors of Naziism in World War Two overwhelms anything else he did earlier in his life. While this article focuses on his WWI experiences, his heinous role in WWII can never be forgotten.