Hermann Göring
In the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, the world was faced with a challenge—how to hold individually accountable those German leaders who were responsible for the commission of monstrous crimes against humanity and international peace. The International Military Tribunal (IMT) held in Nuremberg, Germany, attempted to face this immense challenge. On October 18, 1945, the chief prosecutors of the IMT brought charges against 24 leading German officials, among them Hermann Göring.
Hermann Göring (1893–1946) was the highest-ranking Nazi official tried during the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. A decorated fighter pilot during World War I, Göring joined the Nazi party in 1922 after hearing a speech by Adolf Hitler. He eventually found his way into the inner circles of Nazi power.
After Hitler's appointment as Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Göring took on many positions of power and leadership within the Nazi state: Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), Director of the Four Year Plan in the German economy, and, at the outbreak of war in Europe, Hitler's acknowledged successor. It was Göring who ordered Security Police chief Reinhard Heydrich to organize and coordinate a "total solution" to the "Jewish question."
The International Military Tribunal charged Göring on all four counts (crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity). He was convicted and sentenced to death. On the eve of his scheduled execution, he committed suicide in his prison cell.
Critical Thinking Questions
The Nazi regime required the active help or cooperation of professionals working in diverse fields who in many instances were not convinced Nazis. How did Goering and other Nazi leaders use their positions of power to put their radical ideas into practice?
Across Europe, the Nazis found countless willing helpers who collaborated or were complicit in their crimes. What motives and pressures led so many individuals to persecute, to murder, or to abandon their fellow human beings?