Göring the Flamboyant

Göring the flamboyant Hermann Göring was a  large loud flamboyant man he was genuinely   charismatic but also a figure of ridicule  he is well Remembered in many movies and   TV series as such his uniforms weight and  obsession with glamor made him as notorious   as his actual military and political functions  Goring was commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe   managed the economy and was the second most  powerful man in Nazi Germany behind Hitler [Music]   A young Göring was Charming fit and a genuine  war hero he earned Imperial Germany's highest   award the poor Le Merit or Blue Max for gallantry  serving as a World War One fighter pilot while   flying with the Richtoven Squadron when Göring  ring joined the Nazi party in 1922 he considered   himself socially Superior to most members but he  fit in he was anti-semitic Nationalist and liked   authoritarianism as a war hero he provided  credibility to the party and quickly became   a prominent figure when World War II started  Göring focused as much energy on the war as he   did his own image and Status he accumulated vast  wealth he collected art and antique stolen from   Jewish collections he liked flashy cars and  weapons his opulent collections went as far   as World War One aircraft a full-size luxury  train and castles he kept lion cubs borrowed   from the Berlin Zoo which would be swapped for  new Cubs once they grew too large to manage [Music]   thank you [Music] Göring liked to Showcase his  wealth as much as he did his military importance   one of his favorite ways was wearing his three  neck awards at once Goring would wear his Blue   Max Knight's cross and his Grand Cross together  he received his Grand Cross for the victories of   the Luftwaffe in 1940 during the French campaign  Göring was the only individual to receive this   award during World War II Göring liked to stand  out and designed his own uniforms and was well   known to change uniforms multiple times a day on  at least one hilarious occasion he was forced to   change due to one of his lion cubs soaking him in  urine his typical uniform was a soft Pearl gray   departing from the blue-gray uniform scheme of  the Luftwaffe Göring liked to stand out in a crowd in July of 1940 Hitler promoted  Göring to the rank of Reich Marshall   a specially created rank which made  him senior to all other military ranks   Göring helped design new insignia for his  new special rank shown here are his custom   shoulder boards and color tabs showing crossed  martial batons surrounded by Laurel leaves   this was his special breast Eagle design which  had extra long and more pointed Wings growing   further were many hats and visors this  one features a laurel wreath embroidered   completely around the cap band also notice how  the eagle is stitched directly to the visor cloth Beyond his uniform Göring had his own  unique command Flags equally lavish and   bombastic shown here is Göring's standard for his  position of Reich Marshall in 1940 left and right   this was made yet more extravagant in 1941. it  featured more command batons and gold Laurel   leaves Göring also had a command flag for  his position as commander-in-chief of the   German air force which was last frequently  used once he was promoted to Reich Marshall   this flag features his Luftwaffe of field  Marshal batons and his Blue Max award likely Göring's most recognizable Badge  of office was his baton or batons he had   too baton signified the highest of military  rank and prestige in the German military with   no other purpose than to display achievement the  custom had several Origins the most common being   the trend of carrying ceremonial mazes in 16th  century Europe these became symbols of status   or royalty one example are Maces frequently  used in Parliament where the House of Commons   can only operate lawfully when the Royal mace  is present at the table away with this bubble in World War II Germany field Marshals were the  only rank to carry batons 26 batons in total were   awarded to 25 individuals gurring was unique in  that he was the only individual to receive two   one for his command of the luftwaffe and one  for his Superior position of Reich Marshall   his Reich Marshall baton was one of the most  extravagant batons created during World War II   with over 600 diamonds guring's Reich martial  baton is displayed at the West Point Museum in   West Point New York and his luftwaffe baton at  the National Infantry Museum in Georgia [Music]   gurring further stood out for his white uniforms  but they were not always admired they earned him   some scorn from the German people who would watch  him on newsreels in the theater they wondered how   he kept his uniform so pearly white when many of  them rationed soap to wash their own clothes this   skepticism was warranted growing particularly  in the second half of the war tended to neglect   his martial roles though he did remain an  Outdoorsman he seemed willing to get dirty   in his uniforms for sport guring had a love for  the outdoors he was Reich master of hunting and   forests but of course when he hunted he loved to  dress up Hans ulrish rudel the top Stuka pilot   of the war recalled twice meeting during finding  his costumes outlandish 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  likely the best quote on goring's fashion is   from Italian foreign minister galliazo Channel  who once noted Goring wearing a fur coat that   looked like what a high-grade prostitute wears  to the Opera guring's use of makeup for events   likely added to this mockery Goring was said  to have taken to using makeup after meeting   his second wife Emma a well-known celebrity  of the time guring's wedding to Emma was a   state-sponsored event for which Hitler was the  best man he's followed by Germany's basement Göring's popularity was short-lived during World  War II respect for growing declined first when the   Luftwaffe lost the Battle of Britain then steeply  once German cities began to be regularly bombed   furthermore the liftoff could not be relied  on to resupply troops in the east in places   like Stalingrad the war became unglamorous  and Göring lost interest he focused more and   more on himself continuing to accumulate and  hide wealth amongst his many Properties by   War's end he possessed up to 200 million  dollars worth of looted Art and treasure champagne much of this art and treasure would  never be seen again gurin kept much of what he   collected that is to say stole at his lavish  country hunting estate Karen Hall Northeast of   Berlin here he hunted and hosted large parties  where he displayed his wealth for all to see   to prevent Karen Hall from falling into the hands  of the advancing Red Army Göring had the compound   blown up in April of 1945. though many of his  treasures were moved to Birches Garden not all   of the work could be moved so late in the war art  was left behind much of it was in fact buried in   bunkers on the estate these were of course  discovered and looted or simply vandalized   either by citizens in the area or the advancing  Soviet soldiers several pieces were recovered   however and some are on display in public museums  such as this Roman sarcophagus decorated with   lions on display in Berlin guring had acquired  it in 1942 from an art dealer in Rome [Music]   Hitler finally turned on guring in April  of 1945 guring believing Hitler was unable   to govern over Germany from the besieged city of  Berlin telegrammed him on the 23rd of April 1945   asking for permission to take over his leader of  Germany this telegram was intercepted by guring's   rival Martin Foreman Who convinced Hitler Goring  was a traitor subsequently the SS were ordered   to play scoring under arrest he was held at  his Martin dwarf Castle until the 5th of May   when he was freed by passing luftwaffe a unit  he made his way to the U.S lines to surrender   where he did so peacefully under Arrangement he  carried with him many uniforms and possessions   including a significant stash of opioid pills his  surrender created some controversy he was treated   for a time as a VIP or Statesman this surrender  is exaggerated in the 2000 production Nuremberg   though it's still a well worth watching  film covering guring's arrest and trial   I prefer to surrender to a fellow Airman there was however real truth to Göring  's preferential treatment he is shown   here taking a stroll with an American  servicemen after his capture he is even   shown here still wearing his Diamond Luftwaffe  pilot Observer badge while in custody he gave   a full press interview where he was allowed  to present himself as a diplomat of sorts to   reporters Göring believed he was going to  get special treatment and that Eisenhower   want to use him in a command or governance  role he carried with him at his surrender a   gold-plated Walter pistol which he hoped  to surrender to a top Allied Commander during special treatment didn't last long however  he would be taken to Nuremberg for trial part of   his imprisonment meant going on a diet and kicking  his drug addiction so he'd be fit to stand trial   guring's confidence in dominating presence  rarely diminished during his trial gurring   was always sure to enter the courtroom first  Goring relished his time on the stand he was   a skilled speaker who took every opportunity to  frame himself as a peacemaker and Diplomat who   either tried to mitigate Nazi Germany's crimes  or claim He was unaware of them his refusal to   accept any accountability at the trial only  solidified him as an evil manipulative man   in history adding to his courtroom image where  no doubt his famous sunglasses these were one   item Goring did not wear as an ostentatious  fashion choice these were Polaroid glasses   meant to help protect the eyes of the defendants  the Nuremberg trials were meticulously filmed   and at the time this required bright studio  lights which were blinding during the long   hours of the trial though Goring always tried  to dominate the trial with flair here he is   trying to read a special statement to the  Court's disapproval during his plea foreign [Music]   that defendants were not entitled   to make a statement ultimately Göring was found  guilty and sentenced to death he was second in   command in the world's most brutal War and the  director of the slave labor program of Nazi   Germany after being found guilty Göring may have  used his Charisma One Last Time Göring managed to   escape the hangman he obtained a cyanide capsule  perhaps from a guard Göring took every opportunity   to charm anyone with influence he met he presented  one Army Lieutenant with his gold watch Penn and   a cigarette case in exchange for gaining access  to some of his personal confiscated belongings   but the drug may have also been smuggled  to him by an honor guard for the trial a few values I have they are in my blue briefcase  in the package after Göring 's death his body was   displayed at the execution ground for Witnesses  he was cremated and his ashes scattered all right I'm Johnny thanks for watching  this video on Hermann Goering I hope you   have a nice rest of your day and  we'll see in the next one yesterday

Channel: Johnny Johnson

Views: 882,624

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Id: RPV-iabHjdo

Length: 12min 9sec (729 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 04 2023