Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring ( or Goering ; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946 ) , was a German politician , military leader , and leading member of the Nazi Party ( NSDAP ) . A veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot , he was a recipient of the coveted " Pour le Mérite " , also known as the " Blue Max " . He was the last commander of " Jagdgeschwader " 1 , the fighter wing once led by Manfred von Richthofen , the " Red Baron " . A member of the NSDAP from its early days , Göring was wounded in 1923 during the failed coup known as the Beer Hall Putsch . He became permanently addicted to morphine after being treated with the drug for his injuries . After helping Adolf Hitler take power in 1933 , he became the second - most powerful man in Germany . He founded the Gestapo in 1933 . Göring was appointed commander - in - chief of the Luftwaffe ( air force ) in 1935 , a position he held until the final days of World War II . By 1940 he was at the peak of his power and influence ; as minister in charge of the Four Year Plan , he was responsible for much of the functioning of the German economy in the build - up to World War II . Adolf Hitler promoted him to the rank of " Reichsmarschall " , a rank senior to all other " Wehrmacht " commanders , and in 1941 Hitler designated him as his successor and deputy in all his offices . Göring ' s standing with Hitler was greatly reduced by 1942 , with the Luftwaffe unable to fulfill its commitments and the German war effort stumbling on both fronts . Göring largely withdrew from the military and political scene and focused on the acquisition of property and artwork , much of which was confiscated from Jewish victims of the Holocaust . Informed on 22 April 1945 that Hitler intended to commit suicide , Göring sent a telegram to Hitler asking to assume control of the Reich . Considering it an act of treason , Hitler removed Göring from all his positions , expelled him from the party , and ordered his arrest . After World War II , Göring was convicted of war crime s and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials ; he was the highest - ranking Nazi to be tried there . He was sentenced to death by hanging , but committed suicide by ingesting cyanide the night before the sentence was to be carried out . Early life . Göring was born on 12 January 1893 at the Marienbad sanatorium in Rosenheim , Bavaria . His father , Heinrich Ernst Göring ( 31 October 1839 – 7 December 1913 ) , a former cavalry officer , had been the first Governor - General of the German protectorate of South - West Africa ( modern - day Namibia ) . Heinrich had five children from a previous marriage . Göring was the fourth of five children by Heinrich ' s second wife , Franziska Tiefenbrunn ( 1859 – 15 July 1923 ) , a Bavarian peasant . Göring ' s elder siblings were Karl , Olga , and Paula ; his younger brother was Albert . At the time Göring was born , his father was serving as consul general in Haiti , and his mother returned home briefly to give birth . She left the six - week - old baby with a friend in Bavaria and did not see the child again for three years , when she and Heinrich returned to Germany . Göring ' s godfather was Dr . Hermann Epenstein , a wealthy physician and businessman his father had met in Africa . Epenstein provided the Göring family , who were surviving on Heinrich ' s pension , with a family home in a small castle called Veldenstein , near Nuremberg . Göring ' s mother became Epenstein ' s mistress around this time , and remained so for some fifteen years . Epenstein acquired the minor title of Ritter von Epenstein through service and donations to the Crown . Interested in a career as a soldier from a very young age , Göring enjoyed playing with toy soldiers and dressing up in a Boer uniform his father had given him . He was sent to boarding school at age eleven , where the food was poor and discipline was harsh . He sold a violin to pay for his train ticket home , and then took to his bed , feigning illness , until he was told he would not have to return . He continued to enjoy war games , pretending to lay siege to the castle Veldenstein and studying Teutonic legends and sagas . He became a mountain climber , scaling peaks in Germany , at the Mont Blanc massif , and in the Austrian Alps . At sixteen he was sent to a military academy at Berlin Lichterfelde , from which he graduated with distinction . In 1946 psychologist Gustave Gilbert measured him as having an intelligence quotient ( IQ ) of 138 . Göring joined the Prince Wilhelm Regiment ( 112th Infantry ) of the Prussian army in 1912 . The next year his mother had a falling - out with von Epenstein . The family was forced to leave Veldenstein and moved to Munich ; Göring ' s father passed away shortly afterward . When World War I began in August 1914 , Göring was stationed at Mulhouse with his regiment . First World War . During the first year of World War I , Göring served with his infantry regiment in the Mülhausen region , a garrison town only a mile from the French frontier . He was hospitalized with rheumatism , a result of the damp of trench warfare . While he was recovering , his friend Bruno Loerzer convinced him to transfer to the " Luftstreitkräfte " ( " air combat force " ) of the German army , but the request was turned down . Later that year , Göring flew as Loerzer ' s observer in " Feldfliegerabteilung " 25 ( FFA 25 ) – Göring had informally transferred himself . He was discovered and sentenced to three weeks ' confinement to barracks , but the sentence was never carried out . By the time it was supposed to be imposed , Göring ' s association with Loerzer had been made official . They were assigned as a team to FFA 25 in the Crown Prince ' s Fifth Army . They flew reconnaissance and bombing missions , for which the Crown Prince invested both Göring and Loerzer with the Iron Cross , first class . After completing the pilot ' s training course , Göring was assigned to " Jagdstaffel " 5 . Seriously wounded in the hip in aerial combat , he took nearly a year to recover . He then was transferred to " Jagdstaffel " 26 , commanded by Loerzer , in February 1917 . He steadily scored air victories until May , when he was assigned to command " Jagdstaffel " 27 . Serving with " Jastas " 5 , 26 , and 27 , he continued to win victories . In addition to his Iron Crosses ( 1st and 2nd Class ) , he received the Zaehring Lion with swords , the Friedrich Order , the House Order of Hohenzollern with swords third class , and finally in May 1918 , the coveted " Pour le Mérite " . According to Hermann Dahlmann , who knew both men , Göring had Loerzer lobby for the award . He finished the war with 22 victories . Specialist research has since shown only two of his claimed victories were doubtful . Three were possible , but 17 were certain , or highly likely , after a thorough examination of Allied loss records showing a high degree of veracity . On 7 July 1918 , following the death of Wilhelm Reinhard , successor to Manfred von Richthofen , Göring was made commander of the famed " Flying Circus " , " Jagdgeschwader " 1 . Because of his arrogance , he was not popular with the men of " Jagdgeschwader " 1 . In the last days of the war , Göring was repeatedly ordered to withdraw his squadron , first to Tellancourt airdrome , then to Darmstadt . At one point he was ordered to surrender the aircraft to the Allies ; he refused . Many of his pilots intentionally crash - landed their planes to keep them from falling into enemy hands . Like many other German veterans , Göring was a proponent of the Stab - in - the - back legend , the belief that held the German Army had not really lost the war , but instead was betrayed by the civilian leadership : Marxists , Jews , and especially the Republicans , who had overthrown the German monarchy . Post - war . Göring remained in aviation after the war . He tried barnstorming and worked briefly at Fokker . After spending most of 1919 living in Denmark , he moved to Sweden and joined Svensk Lufttrafik , a Swedish airline . Göring was often hired for private flights . During the winter of 1920 – 1921 he was hired by Count Eric von Rosen to fly him to his castle from Stockholm . Invited to spend the night , Göring may at this time have first seen the swastika emblem , which von Rosen had set in the chimney piece as a family badge . This was also the first time Göring saw his future wife ; the count introduced his sister - in - law , Baroness Carin von Kantzow ( " née " Freiin von Fock , 1888 – 1931 ) . Estranged from her husband of ten years , she had an eight - year - old son . Göring was immediately infatuated and asked her to meet him in Stockholm . They arranged a visit at the home of her parents and spent much time together through 1921 , when Göring left for Munich to take political science at the university . Carin obtained a divorce , followed Göring to Munich , and married him on 3 February 1922 . Their first home together was a hunting lodge at Hochkreuth in the Bavarian Alps , near Bayrischzell , some from Munich . After Göring met Hitler and joined the Nazi Party ( NSDAP ) in 1922 , they moved to Obermenzing , a suburb of Munich . Early Nazi career . Göring joined the Nazi Party in 1922 and was given command of the " Sturmabteilung " ( SA ) as the " Oberster SA - Führer " in 1923 . He was later appointed an " SA - Gruppenführer " ( Lieutenant General ) and held this rank on the SA rolls until 1945 . At this time , Carin — who liked Hitler — often played hostess to meetings of leading Nazis , including her husband , Hitler , Rudolf Hess , Alfred Rosenberg , and Ernst Röhm . Hitler later recalled his early association with Göring : Hitler and the Nazi Party held mass meetings and rallies in Munich and elsewhere during this period , attempting to gain supporters in a bid for political power . Inspired by Benito Mussolini ' s March on Rome , the Nazis attempted to seize power on 8 – 9 November 1923 in a failed coup known as the Beer Hall Putsch . Göring , who was with Hitler heading up the march to the War Ministry , was shot in the leg . Fourteen Nazis and four policemen were killed ; many top Nazis , including Hitler , were arrested . With Carin ' s help , Göring was smuggled to Innsbruck , where he received surgery and was given morphine for the pain . He remained in hospital until 24 December . This was the beginning of his morphine addiction , which lasted until his imprisonment at Nuremberg . Meanwhile the authorities in Munich declared Göring a wanted man . The Görings — acutely short of funds and reliant on the good will of Nazi sympathizers abroad — moved from Austria to Venice . In May 1924 they visited Rome , via Florence and Siena . Göring met Mussolini , who expressed an interest in meeting Hitler , who was by then in prison . Personal problems continued to multiply . By 1925 , Carin ' s mother was ill . The Görings — with difficulty — raised the money in spring 1925 for a journey to Sweden via Austria , Czechoslovakia , Poland , and Danzig ( now Gdańsk ) . Göring had become a violent morphine addict ; Carin ' s family were shocked by his deterioration . Carin , who was ill with epilepsy and a weak heart , had to allow the doctors to take charge of Göring ; her son was taken by his father . Göring was certified a dangerous drug addict and was placed in Långbro asylum on 1 September 1925 . He was violent to the point where he had to be confined to a straitjacket , but his psychiatrist felt he was sane ; the condition was caused solely by the morphine . Weaned off the drug , he left the facility briefly , but had to return for further treatment . He returned to Germany when an amnesty was declared in 1927 and resumed working in the aircraft industry . Hitler , who had written " Mein Kampf " while in prison , had been released in December 1924 . Carin Göring , ill with epilepsy and tuberculosis , died of heart failure on 17 October 1931 . Meanwhile , The NSDAP was in a period of rebuilding and waiting . The economy had recovered , which meant fewer opportunities for the Nazis to agitate for change . The SA was reorganised , but with Franz Pfeffer von Salomon as its head rather than Göring , and the " Schutzstaffel " ( SS ) was founded in 1925 , initially as a bodyguard for Hitler . Membership in the party increased from 27 , 000 in 1925 to 108 , 000 in 1928 and 178 , 000 in 1929 . In the May 1928 elections the party only obtained twelve seats out of an available 491 . Göring was elected as a representative from Bavaria . The Wall Street Crash of 1929 led to a disastrous downturn in the German economy , and in the next election , the NSDAP won 6 , 409 , 600 votes and 107 seats in the Reichstag . In May 1931 Hitler sent Göring on a mission to the Vatican , where he met the future Pope Pius XII . Reichstag fire . The Reichstag fire occurred on the night of 27 February 1933 . Göring was one of the first to arrive on the scene . Marinus van der Lubbe — a communist radical — was arrested and claimed sole responsibility for the fire . Göring immediately called for a crackdown on communists . The Nazis took advantage of the fire to advance their own political aims . The Reichstag Fire Decree , passed the next day on Hitler ' s urging , suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial . Activities of the were suppressed , and some 4 , 000 communist party members were arrested . Göring demanded that the detainees should be shot , but Rudolf Diels , head of the Prussian political police , ignored the order . Researchers , including William L . Shirer and Alan Bullock , are of the opinion that the NSDAP itself was responsible for starting the fire . At the Nuremberg Trials , General Franz Halder testified that Göring admitted responsibility for starting the fire . He said that at a luncheon held on Hitler ' s birthday in 1942 , Göring said , " The only one who really knows about the Reichstag is I , because I set it on fire ! " In his own Nuremberg testimony , Göring denied this story . Second marriage . During the early 1930s Göring was often in the company of Emmy Sonnemann ( 1893 – 1973 ) , an actress from Hamburg . They were married on 10 April 1935 in Berlin ; the wedding was celebrated on a huge scale . A large reception was held the night before at the Berlin Opera House . Fighter aircraft flew overhead on the night of the reception and the day of the ceremony . Göring ' s daughter , Edda , was born on 2 June 1938 . Nazi potentate . When Hitler was named chancellor of Germany in January 1933 , Göring was appointed as minister without portfolio , Minister of the Interior for Prussia , and Reich Commissioner of Aviation . Wilhelm Frick was named Reich Interior Minister . Frick and head of the " Schutzstaffel " ( SS ) Heinrich Himmler hoped to create a unified police force for all of Germany , but Göring on 30 November 1933 established a Prussian police force , with Rudolf Diels at its head . The force was called the " Geheime Staatspolizei " , or Gestapo . Göring , thinking that Diels was not ruthless enough to use the Gestapo effectively to counteract the power of the SA , handed over control of the Gestapo to Himmler on 20 April 1934 . By this time the SA numbered over two million men . Hitler was deeply concerned that Ernst Röhm , the chief of the SA , was planning a coup . Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich plotted with Göring to use the Gestapo and SS to crush the SA . Members of the SA got wind of the proposed action and thousands of them took to the streets in violent demonstrations on the night of 29 June 1934 . Enraged , Hitler ordered the arrest of the SA leadership . Röhm was shot dead in his cell when he refused to commit suicide ; Göring personally went over the lists of detainees — numbering in the thousands — and determined who else should be shot . At least 85 people were killed in the period of 30 June to 2 July , which is now known as the Night of the Long Knives . Hitler admitted in the Reichstag on 13 July that the killings had been entirely illegal , but claimed a plot had been underway to overthrow the Reich . A retroactive law was passed making the action legal . Criticism was met with arrests . One of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles , which has been in place since the end of World War I , stated that Germany was not allowed to maintain an air force . After the 1926 signing of the Kellogg – Briand Pact , police aircraft were permitted . Göring was appointed Air Traffic Minister in May 1933 . Germany began to accumulate aircraft in violation of the Treaty , and in 1935 the existence of the Luftwaffe was formally acknowledged , with Göring as Reich Aviation Minister . During a cabinet meeting in September 1936 , Göring and Hitler announced that the German rearmament programme must be sped up . On 18 October Hitler named Göring as Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan to undertake this task . Göring created a new organisation to administer the Plan and drew the ministries of labour and agriculture under its umbrella . He bypassed the economics ministry in his policy - making decisions , to the chagrin of Hjalmar Schacht , the minister in charge . Huge expenditures were made on rearmament , in spite of growing deficits . Schacht resigned on 8 December 1937 , and Walther Funk took over the position , as well as control of the Reichsbank . In this way both of these institutions were brought under Göring ' s control under the auspices of the Four Year Plan . In 1938 Göring was involved in the Blomberg – Fritsch Affair , which led to the resignations of the War Minister , Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg , and the army commander , General von Fritsch . Göring had acted as witness at Blomberg ' s wedding to Margarethe Gruhn , a 26 - year - old typist , on 12 January 1938 . Information received from the police showed that the young bride was a prostitute . Göring felt obligated to tell Hitler , but also saw this event as an opportunity to dispose of the field marshal . Blomberg was forced to resign . Göring did not want Fritsch to be appointed to that position and thus be his superior . Several days later , Heydrich revealed a file on Fritsch that contained allegations of homosexual activity and blackmail . The charges were later proven to be false , but Fritsch had lost Hitler ' s trust and was forced to resign . Hitler used the dismissals as an opportunity to reshuffle the leadership of the military . Göring asked for the post of War Minister but was turned down ; he was appointed to the rank of field marshal . Hitler took over as supreme commander of the armed forces and created subordinate posts to head the three main branches of service . As minister in charge of the Four Year Plan , Göring became concerned with the lack of natural resources in Germany , and began pushing for Austria to be incorporated into the Reich . The province of Styria had rich iron ore deposits , and the country as a whole was home to many skilled labourers that would also be useful . Hitler had always been in favour of a takeover of Austria , his native country . He met on 12 February 1938 with Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg , threatening invasion if peaceful unification was not forthcoming . The Nazi party was made legal in Austria to gain a power base , and a referendum on reunification was scheduled for March . When Hitler did not approve of the wording of the plebiscite , Göring telephoned Schuschnigg and Austrian head of state Wilhelm Miklas to demand Schuschnigg ' s resignation , threatening invasion by German troops and civil unrest by the Austrian Nazi Party members . Schuschnigg resigned on 11 March and the plebiscite was cancelled . By 5 : 30 the next morning , German troops that had been massing on the border marched into Austria , meeting no resistance . Although Joachim von Ribbentrop had been named Foreign Minister in February 1938 , Göring continued to involve himself in foreign affairs . That July , he contacted the British government with the idea that he should make an official visit to discuss Germany ' s intentions for Czechoslovakia . Neville Chamberlain was in favour of a meeting , and there was talk of a pact being signed between Britain and Germany . In February 1938 Göring visited Warsaw to quell rumours about the upcoming invasion of Poland . He had conversations with the Hungarian government that summer as well , discussing their potential role in an invasion of Czechoslovakia . At the Nuremberg Rally that September , Göring and other speakers denounced the Czechs as an inferior race that must be conquered . Chamberlain met with Hitler in a series of meetings that led to the signing of the Munich Agreement ( 29 September 1938 ) , which turned over control of the Sudetenland to Germany . Second World War . Göring and other senior officers were concerned that Germany was not yet ready for war , but Hitler insisted on pushing ahead as soon as possible . The invasion of Poland , the opening action of World War II , began at dawn on 1 September 1939 . Later in the day , speaking to the " Reichstag " , Hitler designated Göring as his successor " if anything should befall me . " Initially , decisive German victories followed quickly one after the other . With the help of the Luftwaffe , the Polish Air Force was defeated within a week . The " Fallschirmjäger " seized vital airfields in Norway and captured Fort Eben - Emael in Belgium . Göring ' s Luftwaffe played critical roles in the Battles of the Netherlands , Belgium and France in the spring , 1940 . 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 des Grossdeutschen Reiches " ( Reich Marshal of the Greater German Reich ) , a special rank which made him senior to all other army and Luftwaffe field marshals . Göring had already received the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross on 30 September 1939 as Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe . Britain had declared war on Germany immediately after the invasion of Poland . In July 1940 Hitler began preparations for an invasion of Britain . As part of the plan , the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) had to be neutralised . Bombing raids commenced on air installations and on cities and centres of industry . Though he was confident the Luftwaffe could defeat the RAF within days , Göring , like Admiral Erich Raeder , commander - in - chief of the " Kriegsmarine " ( Navy ) , was pessimistic about the chance of success of the planned invasion ( codenamed Operation Sea Lion ) . Göring hoped that a victory in the air would be enough to force peace without an invasion . The campaign failed , and Sea Lion was postponed indefinitely on 17 September 1940 . After their defeat in the Battle of Britain , the Luftwaffe attempted to defeat Britain via strategic bombing . By the end of the year it was clear British morale was not being shaken by the Blitz , though the bombings continued through May 1941 . In spite of the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact , signed in 1939 , Nazi Germany began Operation Barbarossa — the invasion of the Soviet Union — on 22 June 1941 . Initially the Luftwaffe was at an advantage , destroying thousands of Soviet aircraft in the first month of fighting . Hitler and his top staff were sure that the campaign would be over by Christmas , and no provisions were made for reserves of men or equipment . But by July the Germans had only 1 , 000 planes remaining in operation , and their troop losses were over 213 , 000 men . The choice was made to concentrate the attack on only one part of the vast front ; efforts would be directed at capturing Moscow . After the successful Battle of Smolensk , Hitler ordered Army Group Centre to halt its advance to Moscow and temporarily diverted its Panzer groups north and south to aid in the encirclement of Leningrad and Kiev . The pause provided the Red Army with an opportunity to mobilize fresh reserves ; historian Russel Stolfi considers it to be one of the major factors that caused the failure of the Moscow offensive , which was resumed in October 1941 with the Battle of Moscow . Poor weather conditions , fuel shortages , and overstretched supply lines were also factors . Hitler did not give permission for even a partial retreat until mid - January 1942 ; by this time the losses were comparable to French invasion of Russia in 1812 . Hitler decided that the summer 1942 campaign would be concentrated in the south ; efforts would be made to capture the oilfields in the Caucasus . The Battle of Stalingrad , a major turning point of the war , began on 23 August 1942 with a bombing campaign by the Luftwaffe . German forces entered the city , but because of its location on the front line , it was still possible for the Soviets to encircle the Germans and trap them there without reinforcements or supplies . When the city was surrounded by the end of December , Göring promised that the Luftwaffe would be able to deliver 300 tons of supplies to the trapped men every day . On the basis of these assurances , Hitler demanded that there be no retreat ; they were to fight to the last man . Though some airlifts were able to get through , the amount of supplies delivered never exceeded 120 tons per day . The remnants of the German Sixth Army — some 91 , 000 men out of an army of 285 , 000 — surrendered in early February 1943 ; only 5 , 000 of these captives survived the Russian prisoner of war camps to see Germany again . Meanwhile , the strength of the American and British bomber fleets had increased . Based in Britain , they began operations against German targets . The first thousand - bomber raid was staged on Cologne on 30 May 1942 . Air raids continued on targets further from Britain after auxiliary fuel tanks were installed on American fighter aircraft . Göring refused to believe reports that American fighters had been shot down as far east as Aachen in winter 1943 . His reputation began to decline . The American P - 51 Mustang , with a range of , began to accompany the bombers in large numbers to and from the target area in early 1944 . From that point onwards , the Luftwaffe began to suffer casualties in aircrews it could not sufficiently replace . By targeting oil refineries and rail communications , Allied bombers crippled the German war effort by late 1944 . German civilians blamed Göring for his failure to protect the homeland . Hitler began excluding him from conferences , but continued him in his positions at the head of the Luftwaffe and as plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan . As he lost Hitler ' s trust , Göring began to spend more time at his various residences . On D - Day ( 6 June 1944 ) , the Luftwaffe only had some 300 fighters and a small number of bombers in the area of the landings ; the Allies had a total strength of 11 , 000 aircraft . End of the war . As the Soviets approached Berlin , Hitler ' s efforts to organize the defence of the city became ever more meaningless and futile . His last birthday , celebrated at the Führerbunker in Berlin on 20 April 1945 , was the occasion for leave - taking for many top Nazis , Göring included . By this time Carinhall had been evacuated , the building destroyed , and its art treasures moved to Berchtesgaden and elsewhere . Göring arrived at his estate at Obersalzberg on 22 April , the same day that Hitler , in a lengthy diatribe against his generals , first publicly admitted that the war was lost and that he intended to remain in Berlin to the end and then commit suicide . He also stated that Göring was in a better position to negotiate a peace settlement . In 1941 — a week after the start of the Soviet invasion — Hitler had issued a decree naming Göring his successor in the event of his death . OKW operations chief Alfred Jodl was present for Hitler ' s rant , and notified Göring ' s chief of staff , Karl Koller , at a meeting a few hours later . Sensing its implications , Koller immediately flew to Berchtesgaden to notify Göring , who feared being accused of treason if he tried to take power . On the other hand , if he did nothing he feared being accused of dereliction of duty . After some hesitation , Göring reviewed his copy of the 1941 decree naming him Hitler ' s successor . It not only placed Göring first in the line of succession , but also stated that if Hitler ever lost his freedom of action , Göring had complete authority to act on Hitler ' s behalf as his deputy . After conferring with Koller and Hans Lammers , the state secretary of the Reich Chancellery , Göring concluded that Hitler had effectively incapacitated himself by remaining in Berlin , and he therefore had a clear duty to take power in Hitler ' s stead . He was also motivated by fears that his rival , Martin Bormann , would seize power upon Hitler ' s death and would have him killed as a traitor . With this in mind , Göring sent a carefully - worded telegram asking Hitler for permission to take over as the leader of Germany . He added that if Hitler did not reply by 22 : 00 that night , he would assume that Hitler had indeed lost his freedom of action , and would assume leadership of the Reich . The telegram was intercepted by Bormann , who convinced Hitler that Göring was a traitor . Hitler sent a telegram to Göring — prepared with Bormann ' s help — informing him that unless he resigned immediately , he would be executed for high treason . Soon afterward , Hitler sacked Göring from all of his offices and ordered Göring , his staff , and Lammers placed under house arrest at Obersalzberg . Bormann made an announcement over the radio that Göring had resigned for health reasons . By 26 April the complex at Obersalzberg was under attack by the Allies , so Göring was moved to his castle at Mauterndorf . In his last will and testament , Hitler expelled Göring from the party and formally rescinded the decree making him his successor . He then appointed Karl Dönitz as president of the Reich and leader of the armed forces . Hitler and his wife , Eva Braun , committed suicide on 30 April 1945 . Göring was released from his imprisonment on 5 May by a passing Luftwaffe unit , and he made his way to the American lines in hopes of surrendering to them rather than the Russians . He was taken into custody near Radstadt on 6 May . This move likely saved Göring ' s life ; Bormann had ordered him executed if Berlin had fallen . Trial and death . Göring was flown to Mondorf - les - Bains , Luxembourg , the site of a temporary prisoner - of - war camp housed in the Palace Hotel . Here he was weaned off the codeine pills — he had been taking the equivalent of three or four grains ( 260 to 320 mg ) of morphine a day — and was put on a strict diet ; he lost . His IQ was tested while in custody and found to be 138 . Top Nazi officials were transferred in September to Nuremberg , which was to be the location of a series of military tribunals beginning in November . Göring was the second - highest - ranking Nazi official tried at Nuremberg , behind Reich President ( former Admiral ) Karl Dönitz . The prosecution levelled an indictment of four charges , including a charge of conspiracy ; waging a war of aggression ; war crimes , including the plundering and removal to Germany of works of art and other property ; and crimes against humanity , including the disappearance of political and other opponents under the " Nacht und Nebel " ( Night and Fog ) decree ; the torture and ill - treatment of prisoners of war ; and the murder and enslavement of civilians , including what was at the time estimated to be 5 , 700 , 000 Jews . Not permitted to present a lengthy statement , Göring declared himself to be " in the sense of the indictment not guilty . " The trial lasted 218 days ; the prosecution presented their case from November through March , and Göring ' s defence — the first to be presented — lasted from 8 to 22 March . The sentences were read out on 30 September 1946 . Göring , forced to remain silent while seated in the dock , communicated his opinions about the proceedings using gestures , shaking his head , or laughing . He constantly took notes and whispered with the other defendants , and tried to control the erratic behaviour of Hess , who was seated beside him . During breaks in the proceedings , Göring tried to dominate the other defendants , and he was eventually placed in solitary confinement when he attempted to influence their testimony . Captain Gustave Gilbert , a German - speaking American intelligence officer and psychologist , interviewed Göring and the others in prison during the trial . Gilbert kept a journal , which he later published as " Nuremberg Diary " . Here he describes Göring on the evening of 18 April 1946 , as the trials were halted for a three - day Easter recess : On several occasions over the course of the trial , the prosecution showed films of the concentration camps and other atrocities . Everyone present , including Göring , found the contents of the films shocking ; he said that the films must have been faked . Witnesses , including Paul Koerner and Erhard Milch , tried to portray Göring as a peaceful moderate . Milch stated it had been well nigh impossible to oppose Hitler or disobey his orders ; to do so would likely have meant death for oneself and one ' s family . When testifying on his own behalf , Göring emphasised his loyalty to Hitler , and claimed to know nothing about what had happened in the concentration camps , which were under Himmler ' s purview . He gave evasive convoluted answers to direct questions and had plausible excuses for all his actions during the war . He used the witness stand as a venue to expound at great length on his own role in the Reich , attempting to present himself as a peacemaker and diplomat before the outbreak of the war . During cross - examination , chief prosecutor Robert H . Jackson read out the minutes of a meeting that had been held shortly after Kristallnacht , a major pogrom in November 1938 . At the meeting , Göring had callously plotted to steal Jewish property in the wake of the pogrom . Later , Maxwell - Fyfe proved it was impossible for Göring not to have known about the Stalag Luft III murders — the shooting of fifty airmen who had been recaptured after escaping from Stalag Luft III — in time to have prevented the killings . He also presented clear evidence that Göring knew about the extermination of the Hungarian Jews . Göring was found guilty on all four counts and was sentenced to death by hanging . The judgment stated that : Göring made an appeal asking to be 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 . One theory as to how Göring obtained the poison holds that U . S . Army Lieutenant Jack G . Wheelis , who was stationed at the Nuremberg Trials , retrieved the capsules from their hiding place among Göring ' s personal effects that had been confiscated by the Army . In 2005 former U . S . Army Private Herbert Lee Stivers , who served in the 1st Infantry Division ' s 26th Infantry Regiment — the honor guard for the Nuremberg Trials — claimed he gave Göring " medicine " hidden inside a fountain pen a German woman had asked him to smuggle into the prison . Göring ' s body was displayed at the execution ground for the witnesses of the executions . The bodies were cremated and the ashes were scattered . Personal properties . The confiscation of Jewish property gave Göring the opportunity to amass a personal fortune . Some properties he seized himself or acquired for a nominal price . In other cases , he collected bribes for allowing others to steal Jewish property . He took kickback s from industrialists for favourable decisions as Four Year Plan director , and money for supplying arms to the Spanish Republicans in the Spanish Civil War via Pyrkal in Greece ( although Germany was supporting Franco and the Nationalists ) . Göring was appointed Reich Master of the Hunt in 1933 and Master of the German Forests in 1934 . He instituted reforms to the forestry laws and acted to protect endangered species . Around this time he became interested in Schorfheide Forest , where he set aside as a state park , which is still extant . There he built an elaborate hunting lodge , Carinhall , in memory of his first wife , Carin . By 1934 her body had been transported to the site and placed in a vault on the estate . The main lodge had a large art gallery where Göring displayed works that had been plundered from private collections and museums around Europe from 1939 onward . Göring worked closely with the " Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg " ( Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce ) , an organisation tasked with the looting of artwork and cultural material from Jewish collections , libraries , and museums throughout Europe . Headed by Alfred Rosenberg , the task force set up a collection centre and headquarters in Paris . Some 26 , 000 railroad cars full of art treasures , furniture , and other looted items were sent to Germany from France alone . Göring repeatedly visited the Paris headquarters to review the incoming stolen goods and to select items to be sent on a special train to Carinhall and his other homes . The estimated value of his collection — numbering some 1 , 500 pieces — was $ 200 million . Göring was known for his extravagant tastes and garish clothing . He had various special uniforms made for the many posts he held ; his " Reichsmarschall " uniform included a jewel - encrusted baton . Hans - Ulrich Rudel , the top " Stuka " pilot of the war , recalled twice meeting Göring dressed in outlandish costumes : first , a medieval hunting costume , practicing archery with his doctor ; and second , dressed in a red toga fastened with a golden clasp , smoking an unusually large pipe . Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano once noted Göring wearing a fur coat that looked like what " a high grade prostitute wears to the opera . " He threw lavish housewarming parties each time a round of construction was completed at Carinhall , and changed costumes several times throughout the evening . Göring was noted for his patronage of music , especially opera . He entertained frequently and sumptuously , and hosted elaborate birthday parties for himself . Armaments minister Albert Speer recalled that guests brought expensive gifts such as gold bars , Dutch cigars , and valuable artwork . For his birthday in 1944 , Speer gave Göring an oversize marble bust of Hitler . As a member of the Prussian Council of State , Speer was required to donate considerable portion of his salary towards the Council ' s birthday gift to Göring without even being asked . Field Marshal Erhard Milch told Speer that similar donations were required out of the Air Ministry ' s general fund . For his birthday in 1940 , Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano decorated Göring with the coveted Collar of Annunziata . The award reduced him to tears . The design of the " Reichsmarschall " standard , on a light blue field , featured a gold German eagle grasping a wreath surmounted by two batons overlaid with a swastika . The reverse side of the flag had the " Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes " ( " Grand Cross of the Iron Cross " ) surrounded by a wreath between four Luftwaffe eagles . The flag was carried by a personal standard - bearer at all public occasions . Though he liked to be called " " der Eiserne " " ( the Iron Man ) , the once - dashing and muscular fighter pilot had become corpulent . He was one of the few Nazi leaders who did not take offense at hearing jokes about himself , " no matter how rude , " taking them as a sign of popularity . Germans joked about his ego , saying that he would wear an admiral ' s uniform to take a bath , and his obesity , joking that " he sits down on his stomach . " One joke claimed he had sent a wire to Hitler after his visit to the Vatican : " Mission accomplished . Pope unfrocked . Tiara and pontifical vestments are a perfect fit . " Complicity in the Holocaust . Goebbels and Himmler were far more antisemitic than Göring , who mainly adopted that attitude because party politics required him to do so . His own deputy , Erhard Milch , had a Jewish parent . But Göring supported the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 , and later initiated economic measures unfavourable to Jews . He required the registration of all Jewish property as part of the Four Year Plan , and was livid at a meeting held after Kristallnacht that the financial burden for the Jewish losses would have to be made good by German - owned insurance companies . He proposed that the Jews be fined one billion marks . At the same meeting , options for the disposition of the Jews and their property were discussed . Jews would be segregated into ghettos or encouraged to emigrate , and their property would be seized in a programme of aryanization . Compensation for seized property would be low , if any was given at all . Detailed minutes of this meeting and other documents were read out at the Nuremberg trial , proving his knowledge of and complicity with the persecution of the Jews . He told Gilbert that he would never have supported the anti - Jewish measures if he had known what was going to happen . " I only thought we would eliminate Jews from positions in big business and government , " he claimed . In July 1941 Göring issued a memo to Reinhard Heydrich ordering him to organise the practical details of a solution to the " Jewish Question " . By the time this letter was written , many Jews and others had already been killed in Poland , Russia , and elsewhere . At the Wannsee Conference , held six months later , Heydrich formally announced that genocide of the Jews of Europe was now official Reich policy . Göring did not attend the conference , but he was present at other meetings where the number of people killed was discussed . Sources . Online sources