13. Goering the Star Exhibit
Commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Goering was Hitler’s anointed successor and had been at the Fuhrer’s side for over twenty long years. Goering also first suggested the idea of a “Final Solution” - the extermination of the Jews. At the end of World War 2, Goering was the only top Nazi left alive. As the Allies closed in, one after the other, top Nazis had chosen suicide. Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, all gone. Hermann Goering was the last man standing and the Allies were desperate to put him in the dock. He was soon apprehended and any idea of a happy ending rapidly vanished. At the trial of the century in Nuremberg, he became the “Star exhibit”, his guilt, “unique in its enormity”… However the outcome would be as mysterious as it was controversial and would take everyone by surprise.
