Evening star., 1946-10-16

| Sketch hes of N
HERMANN WI ILHELM GoERNG
the No. Nazi who thwarted the gal.
lows by suicide, was considered, mex,
to Hitler himself, the most power
full man in prewar Germany. AS All
Minister, Goering built up a pow
erful air force with which Ger
many dominated the skies until late
in the war.
During World War Georing be-
came an outstanding flyer. In 1917
he was a squadron leader and re-
ceived Germany's highest decora-
tions With the death Of Baron
Won Richthofen in 1918, Goering was
regarded as Germany's leading ace
and succeeded to Richthofen's COM
mand.
He had been q friend Of Hitler
ever since the beer cellar" putsch
and often was called the Fuehrer's
Iron Fist" When the Nazis came
into power in 1888, it was Goering
who organized a secret police pat
termed on the Russian OGPU-the
dreaded Gestapo. Goering was ruth
less in stamping out opposition to
Hitler and, like the Nazi chancellor,
an uncompromising anti-Semite.
| Goering, who traced his ancestry
back to 1870 and was related to the
former ruling houses Of Hohenzol-
lern and Wittelsbach, was So. He
loved uniforms and wore his many
decorations constantly. He was,
among many other things, presi-
dent of the Reichstag, and the press,
bewildered by his various titles.
often called him 'minister-presi-
dent colonel-general."
JOACHIM Won RIBBENTROP
Hitler's foreign minister, the most
prominent internationally of the 10
who were hanged. Like Goering, Won
Ribbentrop fought in the first World
War, winning two classes OF the
Iron Cross. Toward the close OF
that war, he was transferred to the
German embassy at Constantinople
where his doplimatic talents soon
became apparent.
Hitler was attracted to Won Rib
bentrop at once, because OF the
diplomats knowledge of nterna-
tional affairs. Won Ribbentrop
spoke English and French with
hardly an accent. He was one OF
the first prominent Germans to
espouse Hitler's cause, and the
leader rewarded him with increas-
ingly important assignments until
Won Ribbentrop became foreign min
lister, a post he held during most OF
the years the Nazis were in power.
In the period between wars, Won
Ribbentrop was a champagne sales
man, but he used the experience to
learn the ways Of other countries.
His first important job for Hitler
was to head the German naval dele
CATION to Great Britain in 1885.
From that came his first great sue
cess, the Anglo o-German naval agree
ment. Ribbentrop was made ambas-
sador to London. Later he was
credited with major share in Hit
ler's achievement in negotiating the
most conspicuous success of Won Rib
"appeasement of Munich" The
bentrop's career as foreign minister
was regarded as the nonaggression
pact with Russia which was nego-
tiated shortly before the outbreak
of the European war.
ALFRED ROSENBERG. called the
philosopher of the Nazi movement,
wrote or directed most of the Nazi
propaganda which engulfed Ger
many and spread over the world. He
was head of the Nazi Foreign Al
fairs Bureau and editor of the party
organ, the Voelkischer Beobachter.
He was born in 1893 and studied
architecture at a technical insti-
tute at Riga. Becoming one OF
Hitler's most ardent followers, Ro-
senberg preached the racial doc
trines of the Nazis through every
modern medium of expression. He
was regarded as the genius" behind
the movement, and organized the
youth movement and all the other
means by which Hitler's idea were
forced on the people.
After World War II started, Ro-
senberg was made general in the
SIS and became Reich minister for
the Eastern occupied territories.
FIELD MARSHAL WILLIAM
KEITEL, chief of the German high
command, was present at two cere-
monies which will 60 down in history
and signed the documents that rati-
fed them. One of them was the
armistice which marked the defeat
OF France in June, 1910. The other
was the unconditioral surrender OF
Germany to Russian Marshal Zhu-
kov at Berlin May 8. 1945.
With Hitler's rise to power, Keitel
became the chief political general.
Heading the high command, he re-
organized the German Army and
made it the power that dominated
Europe for years.
Keitel was born in 1882, son OF a
big landowner. He was a captain
at the outbreak of World War I. He
became general staff officer before
the close of the war and afterward
was assigned to the War Ministry.
During the Nal regime. Keitel