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Triumph and Tragedy

Alone and penniless, Hermann Göring did not find it easy to
rebuild his career in Germany. The Richthofen Veterans Asso-
ciation had blackballed him  their own last commander!  be-
cause of unresolved allegations about his war record. For Carin’s
sake, Ernst Röhm asked Munich musician Hans Streck to give
the returning prodigal a roof over his head. Göring settled
down on the Strecks’ sofa, rising before the cleaning lady came
each morning to put on his black kimono embroidered with
gold dragons, manicure his hands, and then sally forth to put
out feelers to the ungrateful party.
His first meeting with Hitler was unpromising. The Führer
coldly recommended that perhaps his most useful accomplish-
ment would be if he could establish a foothold in Berlin society.
Göring obediently rented a room in a hotel off Berlin’s Kurfür-
stendamm. He struck up a friendship with Paul (“Pili”) Körner.
Körner, ten years his junior, would become like a son to him: a