The son of a distinguished army officer, Hermann Göring was commissioned in the Prussian army during March 1912. In 1914, he served with an infantry regiment in the Vosges region before he was hospitalized with rheumatoid arthritis. While recovering, his friend Bruno Loerzer convinced him to transfer to the German Air Service. Later that year, Göring completed his training with FEA 3 and joined FFA 25 in 1915, often flying as Loerzer's observer. After training to become a pilot, he scored his first victory on 16 November 1915. Serving with various units over the next three years, he accumulated seventeen more victories. Following the death of Wilhelm Reinhard, Göring assumed command of Manfred von Richthofen's JG 1 on 8 July 1918. When Göring joined the Nazi Party in 1922, Hitler gave him command of the SA Brownshirts. Badly wounded in the Munich beer hall putsch of 1923, Göring fled the country for four years. Upon his return, he aided Hitler's rise to power and later become President of the Reichstag, Prime Minister of Prussia and Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe. As founder of the Gestapo, Göring was instrumental in creating the first concentration camps for political dissidents. Hitler's designated successor was captured by the American Seventh Army at the end of the war. In 1946, Göring was tried for conspiracy to wage war, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to death by hanging. Two hours before his scheduled execution, Göring committed suicide by taking a poison capsule. |