The Battle of Britain Was The First Defeat For The German Luftwaffe.

[ATAG_Dutch]

Originally Posted by Kurfürst

Göring seems to be most likeable Nazi character. He wasn't anti-semitic or dogmatic.

Good Grief.

[xnomad]

Originally Posted by Dutch_851

Good Grief.

I remember seeing something similar about the Nuremberg trials that the captors, prosecutors etc had trouble trying not to get caught up by his (Goering's) charm.

Apparently he was quite a likable person and had a great character. This is also probably the reason he ended up getting cyanide to kill himself, wasn't it the US guard that gave it to him after he became a bit chummy with Hermann?

[csThor]

I, actually, think a statement Göring was heard to utter when he was arrested does characterize him much better: "At least 12 years of decent life." ("Wenigstens 12 Jahre anständig gelebt.")

He was greedy, he was pompous, he was boasting, a coward and absolutley ruthless in pursuing his own ambitions. As such he fit into the shark pool that was Hitler's inner circle.

[ATAG_Dutch]

Originally Posted by cheesehawk

Haha, while I agree with the sentiment, Goering's position during the Nuremburg trials is quite intellegent and rational. I was surprised thinking I would be reading frothing at the mouth, bombastic statements based off the impressions we've always been fed about the Nazi leaders. His quotes above are more true than what most politicians are willing to admit in public.

I wasn't disputing the man's evident 'charm', more the statement that he 'wasn't anti-semitic or dogmatic'.

Although I saw one documentary about his brother who apparently assisted thousands of Jewish people to flee.

[Kurfürst]

AFAIK Göring wasn't particularly anti semitic, he was pragmatic about not going the party line though.

IIRC there is a story about when Erhard Milch was being put under the magnifying glass for his - allaged - Jewish ancestry. Göring stepped in told Himmler along the lines that 'Dear Heinrich, it is I who decide who is jewish in the Luftwaffe and who is not'. As for dogmatic... I don't know, he strikes me as a rather pragmatic, and opportunistic character, rather than the fanatic nazis like Hess, Hitler or Himmler. Politics probably only interested him as long as it was practical. At least this is my take on him.

Personally, after the war I think many LW commanders simply pointed fingers to the 'fat man' and blamed their own failures on him, much like the infallible Wehrmacht generals did after the war when saying: '...it was all Hitler's fault'. I mean Galland especially. I like Galland a lot a man and a fighter pilot, but I am realistic about that he only tells his side of the story, and there were plenty of people who did not like his leadership, and whom Galland did not like either. But Galland got to wrote his memoir and others did not. IMHO he probably wasn't as good as a staff officer as he was a Gruppe or Geschwader commander. His failure in Italy and the naivity of his 'big blow' plan are striking examples imho, but he always had Fat Hermann as an excuse. IMHO Molders was classes better for that role.

In reality, Göring was interfering very little with the Luftwaffe during the war, he was more of a political connection to the nazi party, rather than a real actor; Milch was the actual man who was behind organisation and such, Göring did little more than preside over GL meetings.