These reels of film
were missing for decades. Nobody guessed
that Hitler's second-in-command had a secret passion. Films from his private collection
show him in his favorite role. At the height of his power
amidst the cheering masses. Hermann Goering's reception
in Austria in May, '38. For a long time,
he was Hitler's closest confidant. As Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe,
Goering created a powerful weapon. Hitler and Goering,
their careers were closely entwined. How far do they follow a common path? What do these films reveal about the most flamboyant character
in National Socialism? Schorfheide, north of Berlin, idyllically located
between lakes and forests, Goering's castle-like residence,
once stood here. Carinhall. The residence of a man
who said about himself, I am indeed a Renaissance man,
I love splendor. He wants to be the jovial face
of dictatorship. However, Hermann Goering,
Marshal of the Third Reich, was involved in everything
for which the regime was responsible. Elimination of political opponents. Millionfold crimes. A murderous world war. Carinhall, named after his first wife,
was a symbol of a brilliant career. The once modest hunter's lodge
becomes a grand estate, which the proud lord of the manor
filmed with his own camera. During the war, as the defeats increased and German cities
fell beneath a hail of bombs, it was to here
that he more and more frequently withdrew to a private world far from reality. He watches films like this
in his home cinema. The population
suffering under the bombings. The Luftwaffe's immense losses. The millions of victims
all whose unfulfilled promises, such images distract. At least we lived well for 12 years,
he will say later. In 1945, following Hitler's death, Goering, a prisoner of war
is the highest-ranking living Nazi. He's taken to a camp
for German war criminals who are to be tried
in front of an Allied court. He will never acknowledge
his responsibility, not even at the Nuremberg trials. You must plead guilty or not guilty. "I plead not guilty." In the end, he takes the law
into his own hands with poison. It was the unexpected last move
in an astonishing career. Hermann Wilhelm Goering,
the son of a former colonial civil servant grows up in an old knight's castle
in south-German Franconia. It belongs to his Jewish godfather
with whom his mother has an affair. Goering is considered a difficult child and his mother
prophesizes that he will become "either an influential man
or a big-time criminal." If you want to understand my brother,
said his sister, Paula, you must go to Veldenstein Castle,
where he spent his romantic youth reading the sagas
and playing knights, day in, day out. Even as a child, Goering
enthused about all things military. If there is a war, he said, I will sure
to be a credit to the name of Goering. During World War I, he had his first battle experience
as a young soldier in Alsace. He's injured and makes new plans
in a military hospital. Second Lieutenant Goering is aiming high. He wants to be a military pilot
and a war hero. He can report
the shooting down of 22 planes. From the Kaiser himself,
he receives the highest Prussian award, Pour Le Mérite. As the last commander of the legendary
Richthofen Fighter Squadron, he becomes known throughout the country. However, defeat puts an end
to his breathtaking career. His world falls apart. After the war, Germany
is no longer permitted an air force, but Goering wants to continue flying and goes to Sweden
to become an air taxi pilot. One day,
the explorer, Count Eric von Rosen, brings Goering
to his castle in Rockelstad. This visit changes his life. He meets Carin, to be his first wife. She leaves her husband and children
and marries Goering, the World War I fighter pilot. A scandal for society at the time. After Carin's death in 1931,
Goering cultivates her memory. He names his yachts after her. There are paintings of her
and even a room to her memory. Goering has a penchant
for Nordic mythology. He named his retreat in Schorfheide,
Carinhall. It sounds like Valhalla, the afterworld for slain warriors
who fought courageously in battle. Later, Goering will have
his wife's remains removed from Sweden to Carinhall. Shortly after their wedding in 1922,
they moved to Munich, where the National Socialist
German Workers' Party starts making a name for itself. Face-to-face with Hitler
for the first time, Goering, as he himself says,
is completely captivated. Hitler makes Goering commander
of the party's own military troops, the SA,
saying a war hero with a Pour le Merite, excellent propaganda. In a putsch in Munich in November 1923,
Hitler attempts to seize power. However, the Bavarian police
open fire on Hitler's followers in front of the Feldherrnhalle. Goering is seriously wounded. Doctors give him morphine
to relieve the pain. Thus begins a lifelong drug addiction. In 1924, Hermann and Carin Goering
travel to Venice. At the behest of Hitler,
who was in prison, Goering is to ask Mussolini,
Italy's fascist leader, for money. Goering is on a wanted list. He needs several injections
of morphine daily. He's a man with no perspectives. For a whole year, Goering tried to arrange
a meeting with Mussolini. However, he has no interest
in meeting the messenger of a leader whose party is at rock bottom in Germany. Goering's mission is a failure. He returns to Sweden to Carin's family. A political failure
marked by drug addiction, he has reached his lowest point. The doctor in a psychiatric hospital
describes him as suicidal, depressive, egocentric, a hater of Jews. Released from prison in Germany, Hitler sets about attaining power
by other means. Goering is determined to get involved. He's back in Germany in 1927,
seemingly restored to health, determined to bring about the downfall
of the Weimar Republic at Hitler's side. The political atmosphere is charged. The world economic crisis
gives rise to fears about the future and mass unemployment. Hitler's followers
and communists battle on the streets. Hitler appoints Goering,
his plenipotentiary in Berlin, because the highly decorated war hero
has excellent contacts to the aristocracy
and the world of high finance. In 1932, the Nazis become
the most powerful party in the Reichstag, and Goering, president. That Hitler is able to seize power
is also due to his helper, Goering. As Minister for the Interior in Prussia, Goering immediately begins
to clamp down on political opponents. Shortly afterward,
the Reichstag is burning. The causes of the fire are disputed,
though the consequences are decisive. Fundamental rights are suspended,
and persecution becomes legal. Jewish businesses are boycotted. The SA hunts down
Communists and Social Democrats, and the construction
of wild concentration camps begins. From the 11th of April 1933,
Goering is Minister President of Prussia. Elected to this high office by a majority of the representatives
of the German people and as the candidate
of the strongest party, I am determined to run this office for the utmost benefit
of the German people. Above all, I am determined
to restore this parliament to its former state of dignity, as conceived
by our former great statesman, Bismarck. Goering founded the Gestapo,
the secret police, and he takes on a key role
in the establishment of the dictatorship. He will not tolerate any competition. The SA begins to make demands for power. Together with SS Commander Himmler, Goering plans an intrigue
against the leadership of party troops. These pictures
were taken on May 23rd, 1934, at Golzheimer Heide near Dusseldorf. Goering commemorates
Albert Leo Schlageter, a member of German
paramilitary resistance troops shot by the French in 1923. Just a month later,
on the Night of the Long Knives, 200 people are murdered, including all the prominent members
of the SA and their leader, Ernst Röhm. Goering retreats to his house
at Obersalzberg in close proximity to Hitler. The dictator admires
the ruthlessness of Goering's actions and appoints him his successor
should he himself die. Hello, Caesar. Are you coming to visit me? Have you had your meal? Are you full up? Go on, jump. Jump, go, it's good. I have no conscience says Goering. Adolf Hitler is my conscience. Following Rohm's murder, his reputation abroad
becomes as bad as ever. Caricatures portray him
in a bloody butcher's apron wielding an axe. However,
Goering wants to be seen differently. He wants to engage in foreign policy and knows that such an image
will make things difficult. He wants to be popular,
and adored by the masses, like here in Austria in May 1938. He leaves the Gestapo and the police
in the hands of Himmler, Heydrich, and the SS. Goering, second-in-command after Hitler, wants to enjoy power
and take on a representative role. For this purpose, Hitler
places a special fund at his disposal and at state expense
makes him a present of a house. What was initially a Swedish-style
modest log hut becomes Carinhall, the splendid residence at Schorfheide. These pictures are also
from among Goering's private possessions. Diplomats and state visitors
are entertained here. His drug addiction
still affects him badly. His fondness for dressing up and self-aggrandizement
seems really grotesque. However, inwardly,
Goering remains true to himself. It is forbidden for German nationals
or other blood-related persons to marry Jews. Anti-Semitism becomes the word of law. The Nuremberg race laws
are announced by Goering being passing at the Party rally in 1935. Of all the high offices
which Goering stockpiles, one is of particular importance
to the former fighter pilot Reich Air Minister,
with a brief to build up a new air force. In 1935, at the Party rally,
Goering presents the weaponry, which has been manufactured secretly
over the past years. The Treaty of Versailles is broken openly
in front of the eyes of the world. At the end of the year,
Goering has 1,800 planes at his command. The new air force is to play
a decisive role in Hitler's strategy. In 1936, it comes to a baptism of fire
in the Spanish Civil War. Goering presenting medals
to soldiers of the Legion Condor. One soldier films the proceedings. The bombing
of the Spanish town of Guernica demonstrates to a shocked world
what the air force is capable of. It's Goering who paves the way
for that in the new air ministry, the center of Berlin. The man who wields power here
also plays a pivotal role in the economy. In 1936, Goering becomes
commissioner of the four-year plan, and with that, dictator
of the economy and armaments. It's Hitler's will for the economy
to be ready for war in four years' time. So far, this is his most important task. This new office shows how very much
Hitler trusts his second-in-command because war
was given the highest priority. Imports, raw materials, currency, Goering has control of almost everything
and already has his eye on the next goal. Hitler demands the annexation of Austria,
and Goering seizes the opportunity. Uses threats to put pressure
on the Austrian government until Chancellor Schuschnigg steps down,
making the way free for Hitler. On the 4th of April 1938,
Canton's chief forester, Aurelius Meyer, films Hitler's arrival in Klagenfurt. Private filmed footage
shows Hitler's return staged as a triumphant procession
throughout the land. The annexation of Austria
is the height of the alliance between Hitler and Goering. If the dictator expresses doubts,
Goering sweeps them aside and acts. They complement each other. In times of crisis,
says Hitler, Goering shows cold blood. On the 15th of May 1938, Goering
travels to the scenes of his youth. As an old-school nationalist, seizing Austria was the fulfillment
of his dreams of a greater Germany. Here too though,
unobserved by the cameras, Jews and political opponents
are humiliated on the streets and arrested. Goering travels
to Mauterndorf in the area of Salzburg to one of the castles he knew as a child, and there, celebrates meeting his sisters,
Olga and Paula, again. Both are married to Austrian lawyers. Goering sensed
great business opportunities at the annexation of Austria. Hermann Goering's Reichswerke, one of the largest industrial complexes
in Europe, is striving to expand southeast. Now Austria, the gateway to the Balkans,
is under German control. Goering is pleased. While he is indulging
in memories of childhood, Hitler is preparing
the next step toward war. He is planning to crush Czechoslovakia and Goering is to organize
the economic mobilization. However, he wants to prevent a great war
because he doubts it would be successful. Goering knows the necessary economic
and military conditions are lacking. However, he does not dare
to say this openly. On the contrary, in front of representatives
of the aviation industry, he seems confident
"that there will be a huge mess up" "and that we will have to go
into a great war," "which I would not shy away from." Germany would then be
the number one power in the world and would have control
of the world markets and be a wealthy country. However, we would have to take a risk,
says Goering. He avoids open conflict,
does as Hitler wants, and behind the scenes
practices peace diplomacy. In Carinhall, he receives diplomats
from Hungary, Poland, and Great Britain. First and foremost, Goering
wants to improve relations with London. He sees Germany as a great imperial power,
but he does not want a world war. In September '38,
at the Munich Conference, Goering presents the text of a treaty designed to maintain
the fragile peace for the moment. For this,
Hitler will criticize him severely. October '38, German troops
marched into the Sudetenland as stipulated in the Munich Agreement. However, Hitler wants
more than what he calls flower wars. November '38, the christening
of Goering's daughter, Edda, in Carinhall. At his side, his new wife, Emmy Sonnemann. The relationship between Hitler
and Goering is disturbed. For the first time,
the dictator talks of him as a coward. March '39. While Hitler
is marching into Czechoslovakia, Goering is holidaying in Italy. All of a sudden, he's lost influence. Hitler has now other advisors. Joachim von Ribbentrop
for foreign affairs. Goering senses that war is inevitable, though he does not dare
to contradict openly. Each time I stand in front of the Führer,
he says, my heart sinks to my boots. These pictures
from Goering's private archive were taken at an air show
on the island of Usedom. Ernst Udet, responsible
for strengthening the air forces, out of his depth. He is to commit suicide in November '41. New types of planes are presented. Goering assures Hitler
that the Luftwaffe is ready for war. In control of the economy and armaments,
no one can judge better than Goering whether the Reich is really capable
of waging a great war. However, he suppresses reality and allows himself to be impressed
by 4,000 of the most up-to-date planes and numerous vamped-up fighter squadrons. By summer of 1939, there are 400,000 on duty
for the Luftwaffe. The four airborne fleets
seem to be perfectly equipped for an extensive war. The blunt sword has been sharpened
over the past four years. Even though in comparison
to the air forces of other countries, there is a lack of bombs and fuel. Commander in Chief Goering still tries
to prevent the threatening war. Sixth of June 1939 in Berlin. The capital is being decorated
for the reception of the Legion Condor. It is the eve of World War II. "We should stop playing poker,"
Goering almost pleads to Hitler. The answer was,
"I have always played poker." In Spain, 5,000 German soldiers
helped Franco to victory in his attempt for power. A trial run without too many losses. Now something of a far more
terrible dimension is threatening. Goering holds secret talks with England. He wants to preserve peace and to continue living
a life of luxury and splendor, just like a man of the Renaissance. He has a lot to lose. The attack against Poland
begins on the 1st of September, 1939. Goering's Luftwaffe gains control
of the skies almost effortlessly. The Poles don't stand a chance. Dive bombers
with ear-splitting sirens clear the path for the attack of ground forces. Goering is devoted to Hitler
as he owes him everything. Private films show him at the opening
of the winter relief on October, '39. His halfhearted attempts
to influence Hitler come to nothing. Goering remains obedient. It is he who orders
the dispossession of all Polish Jews. The German occupiers set up ghettos
like this one here in Litzmannstadt, today's Lodz,
where Jews live in appalling conditions. Soon, the ghettos are mere intermediary
stops before deportation to the extermination camps. Goering is also involved in this war. In November, '38,
when the synagogues are burning, it is Goering who decides
that the Jewish population in Germany not to pay one billion reichsmark
as "atonement", as he says. Jews are to be dispossessed
and forced into exile. Goering, however,
takes great care to ensure that his name is not associated with the crimes. In the French campaign, the Luftwaffe
shows distinct signs of weakness. The British Expeditionary Force
has withdrawn to Dunkirk on the Channel coast. Goering promises that his planes
will destroy the Allied troops, but things turn out differently. Three hundred and thirty-eight thousand
British, French, and Belgian soldiers managed to flee. Had Goering been able to keep his word, there would have been little chance
of England preventing a German invasion. Two weeks previously, Rotterdam
had been severely hit by the Luftwaffe. While negotiations
for Holland's surrender were taking place, Goering's planes razed
the defenseless city to the ground. The news of the negotiations
had reached the German command too late. The campaign on the Western Front
had ended unexpectedly quickly. Hitler awards
the victorious supreme commander the Marshal's baton. Goering alone does a little better. A title is created especially for him,
Marshal of the Reich. He is the highest-ranking officer
in the German army and has a residence, Carinhall,
that is becoming more and more splendid. A mansion full of art treasures
from all over the world. Goering collects old masters,
tapestries, and sculptures. There's no holding him back
when he is dead set on an object. To him, France's defeat
means rich opportunities for plunder. Paris is full of art, and the man
who is second-in-command in the state comes to take whatsoever he desires. The Louvre, sacred to every lover of art. For Goering, nothing more than
a self-service department store for art. On his shopping list,
great names such as Rubens, Velasquez, Cranach the Younger,
and Cranach the Older. That many of the paintings have been
in Jewish possession only shortly before, is of no consequence. Goering, the collector,
does not negotiate. In most cases,
he alone determines the price. Then he has his shopping
loaded onto a special train to be brought to Carinhall. There is something addictive in the way
he collects for his Hermann Goering Museum erecting a memorial to himself. Experts search everywhere
in the occupied countries for art treasures
for Goering's collection. Any owner refusing to cooperate
puts his life at risk. Following the campaign
on the Western Front, the Luftwaffe has bases
in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the north of France. The British Isles are within reach. Hitler wants to invade England and Goering's Luftwaffe
is to achieve air supremacy and bomb the island into submission. Goering believes that his planes
can destroy the Royal Air Force in just five weeks. A visit to an airbase in France
in the summer of 1940, with Goering's old World War 1 comrade,
Bruno Loerzer, an air force general left of Goering. They've known each other
since September 1914. Loerzer's vivid reports of air warfare attracted Goering
to the Luftwaffe at the time. Now in 1940, Goering says
Loerzer is his laziest general. Nevertheless, he leaves him be,
because, as Goering says, I need someone to drink a bottle
of red wine with in the evening. The Battle of Britain
will be his first serious defeat. The Royal Air Force
is equal to the Luftwaffe. British Spitfires inflict serious losses. At the end of September 1940, plans to invade
are set aside indefinitely. The Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe
withdraws from public view. From October 1940 until January 1941, Goering is on holiday
on the lakes at Carinhall. Even at the height
of the battle for the air, he doesn't forego
going to East Prussia to hunt, because in the meantime,
he's become imperial master of the hunt, Reich's Jagermeister. The mistakes in the building up
and planning of the Luftwaffe are glaringly obvious,
but Goering blames others. He is in the middle of a war
which he did not want, but which he is, however,
waging with all the consequences. The 22nd of June 1941. With the attack on the Soviet Union, the war of annihilation
demanded by Hitler begins. Goering is well-informed
about the shootings of civilians behind the front line. What is more, in the spring of '41,
he gave Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the SS Security Service, orders to draw up
a set of guidelines for troops on who to put in front of a firing squad. Above all, political officers and Jews. Millions of Soviet prisoners
lose their lives in this war. In the capital, Berlin, Goering,
as Hitler's second-in-command, has almost unlimited power. In July '41, victory over the Soviet Union
seems to be within reach. Reinhard Heydrich, whose special troops on the Eastern Front
shoot thousands every day as Goering gives him sweeping powers. Goering orders Heydrich to prepare the way for "the final solution
of the Jewish question" in German areas of influence in Europe. Everywhere in Germany,
the deportations begin. These private film recordings
show the last 293 Jews from Dresden being loaded onto a train
at the beginning of March 1942. The destination is the ramp
at the extermination camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Only ten are believed to have survived. Goering's signature is a further step
towards organized murder. However, officially,
he doesn't want to have anything to do with the crimes at all. The Luftwaffe
is not prepared for this war. Its defense system is chaotic. Even engineers like Willy Messerschmitt
cannot solve the central problem. There are not enough planes
and too few powerful engines. Besides soldiers, these gliders also transport
light military equipment, and they played an important role
in the battle for Crete. Other new technological developments
come too late or are of no use. Ernst Udet is responsible
for the defense disaster. He breaks down
under the weight of responsibility and takes his own life. Preliminary decisions
are made on the Eastern Front. The attack on Moscow fails. A whole army falls in Stalingrad. Goering had promised a daily delivery
of 500 tons of supplies by air. Only a fraction
of that reached the encircled troops. His standing with Hitler
sinks to its lowest point. Night after night, British bombers carry out
devastating attacks on German cities. He'd eat his hat if an enemy plane
ever reached the Reich, says Goering. His Luftwaffe is powerless. The anti-aircraft units
can only obstruct the stream of bombers, not stop them. Goering is also responsible
for air raid defense. The Reich Air Defenses Association,
with its millions of members, comes under his command. Private film recordings
from March 1943. Air raid defense police units carrying out
an emergency drill in central Berlin. The greatest worry is about gas attacks. Youths and adults
wear the so-called people's gas mask. People think they are well-equipped
for the coming attacks. Nobody has any idea
of the devastating power of high explosives and firebombs. Like in Hamburg, July '43. A fire stormed the streets destroying
large parts of the Hanseatic city. Temperatures reach up to 1,000 degrees. Over 40,000 people die. How will Goering react
to such a catastrophe? He seems unperturbed and lethargic. He doesn't make any decisions. At the most, he distributes medals. His Luftwaffe cannot stop
the Allied attacks. Technical developments
such as airborne radar, a so-called Lichtenstein sense, bring short-term benefits
to aerial warfare. However, the British find
a means to ward off the attacks, blinding the radar
with strips of aluminum foil. This was a crucial factor
in the attack on Hamburg. The attacks are also directed
at the civilian population, designed to demoralize them. Germany under bomb attack. Uncensored pictures
never shown in newsreels of the time. Air supremacy on the Eastern Front
has been long lost, while Goering
is holding court in Carinhall and showing off
his latest art acquisitions. The Commander in Chief
does not want to see such pictures. He is alienated from his troops. Hunting interests him more than anything. With his camera, he records what
seems to him more important than the high losses of his pilots
or the falling cities. Stags on his private hunting grounds. Since spring of 1944, the US Air Force
had control of the air over Germany. Goering's fighter planes can do little
against this superior strength. There is a lack of everything,
engines, petrol, pilots. Above all, a lack
of clear decisions coming from above. The bombing
reaches its destructive climax. As yet,
Hitler's Berghof escapes the attacks. The warlord is outraged
by the defeat of the Luftwaffe and the empty promises
of his designated successor. In May '44,
American forces bomb the fuel industry. The backbone
of the German war industry is broken. Transport routes
are systematically destroyed. When the Allies land
in Normandy on the 6th of June '44, the German Luftwaffe plays no role. It has been defeated. The extent of the losses is catastrophic. In November '44 alone, 404 fighter planes are lost
and 244 pilots killed. Some miracle weapon
might've turn the tide. The greatest and only hope
of regaining air supremacy lies in the jet fighter, Me 262. One thousand four hundred of these jets
are delivered to the air force, but more than 200 never leave the ground. However, even the greater number of jets would've been powerless
against the superior strength of the fleet of bombers. Adolf Galland, Luftwaffe general,
is known for calling a spade a spade. Again and again, he calls attention
to the hopeless material inferiority of their weapons. However,
Goering does not suffer any criticism. Galland falls out of favor. He will be made the scapegoat responsible for the collapse
of the Luftwaffe. At the end of January '45,
he is replaced as Luftwaffe general. The battle for air supremacy
over Germany is over. German pilots,
ever younger and badly trained, are sent on suicide missions. At the end of the war,
Goering withdraws to Berchtesgaden. In Berlin,
the Red Army is fighting its way toward Hitler's bunker in the city center. In a radio message, Goering announces
that he will take over the government if Hitler does not make contact. The second-in-command thinks
that his time as successor has come. In Berlin however, Hitler senses betrayal and orders the SS
to arrest Goering in his house. He is divested of all his offices. As the US Army
is approaching Obersalzberg, the SS brings Goering
to Mauterndorf in Austria to one of the castles of his childhood. After Hitler's suicide, he plans to negotiate
with the US General Eisenhower. He still believes
that he cannot be bypassed. On the 7th of May 1945, Hermann Goering
voluntarily becomes an American prisoner, mistakenly believing
that the victors will negotiate with him as a German emissary. The surprise GIs
seize the weapons, medals, and the emerald ring
of the former Marshal of the Reich. His wife, Emmy, and Edda, his daughter
are taken prisoner by American soldiers. Despite the arrest,
Goering's self-confidence is unbroken. He holds a press conference. Will he admit his guilt? He had no idea
about what was happening in the concentration camps, says Goering. It's all Himmler's doing. He, as Marshal of the Reich, would never have permitted
such atrocities. Not a trace of remorse. Anybody of any standing
in Goering's Luftwaffe is now prisoner of war. Adolf Galland,
talking shop with American pilots. Field Marshal Kesselring, till recently Commander in Chief
on the Western Front. Hans-Ulrich Rudel, no German pilot
flew as many sorties as he did, 2,350. Hermann Goering
seems to be indeed surprised to find himself
on the list of war criminals. An American journalist reporting
from Goering's press conference. The big man felt rather uncomfortable. He was sweating
as he asked the translator to point out that because of some row,
he, the Marshal of the Reich, had not been on speaking terms
with the Führer for a long time. Completely incommunicado,
he emphasized, waving his finger. Please emphasize this,
it's important, he said. Goering, the highest-ranking living Nazi,
is brought to Nuremberg. In the city
where once the Party rallies were held and now laid waste by carpet bombing, the most important war criminals
are to stand trial before an Allied court. Nuremberg
had been singled out for air attacks and was a wasteland of ruins. However, the one building
that has escaped is the court, the scene of the Nuremberg trials
of the major war criminals. The prisoners are held in these cells. The man whom the Allies call
Nazi number one is also watched day and night. Goering, who until recently
swallowed dozens of pills, is off drugs and on a diet. On the 25th of November '45,
Goering enters the courtroom. For the first time in history, politicians and military personnel
are held accountable for their crimes before a court. The wrongs which we seek
to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilization
cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated. Goering expects the death penalty. He is completely without remorse. The once most powerful man,
next to Hitler, claims to have known nothing
about the millionfold crimes. I have never expressed agreement with the idea that one race can be said
to be the master race over all the others. On the contrary, I have always stressed
the differences in the races. During the cross-examination,
the American chief prosecutor, Robert Jackson,
tries to corner the accused, but with Goering,
it always leads to a dead end. That is right, isn't it? I have already answered
that quite clearly, but these explanations
belong to what has already been said. Your counsel will see to that. Self-confident and verbose,
Goering plays to the gallery one last time and accuses the Allies of having done
the same things as the Nazis. His goal is to leave
a positive image of himself for posterity. However, the weight
of the evidence is enormous. The Soviet prosecutors show
a film that destroys any illusions. Auschwitz. The most appalling crime
against humanity ever. Amongst others,
it is Goering who's responsible. He is found guilty of all indictments
and sentenced to death. Right to the bitter end,
he shows no sign of remorse. All of these things were necessary things, as I understood you, to protect… Yes, these things were necessary
because of what we were up against. The judgment
did not affect him in any way, Goering told
the American court psychologist. The execution is to be held
on the 16th of October, 1946. He plans his last coup and writes a letter
to the prisoner commander. He had three capsules
of poison in his possession when he was brought to prison. I put the first one
in my clothes so that it would be found when I was searched. I hit the second one so well
in my cell that it could not be found in spite of the frequent
and thorough searches. I had it with me
at the court sessions in my boots. The third capsule
was in my small toilet bag in a round pot of skin cream. It was downright impossible to find. This hidden capsule of poison
was Goering's final secret. Another secret
is uncovered in Berchtesgaden shortly after the end of the war. American troops
reach the ruins of Hitler's Berghof and Goering's country house
in the immediate vicinity. Goering's mountain guide befriends a GI and gives him rolls of film
from Goering's private property as a souvenir. For decades,
they gathered dust in a cellar in the US until they were found again
and carefully restored. Goering's private films show key scenes in the life of the most powerful man
after Hitler in the NS dictatorship. Hitler's closest confidant. The jovial face of the regime. A man with many faces. Carinhall,
his castle-like residence near Berlin, was blown up
during the last days of the war. Prior to that,
the art treasures were brought to safety and then later confiscated by the US Army. Rubble clearance troops,
in an attempt at erasing history, but traces always remain.
