Göring. A Biography

(Michael S) #1
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cessor in the event of his own death, and as his “deputy in all
offices.” This by no means eliminated the rivals. Himmler also
had ambitions, but as SS Obergruppenführer Gottlob Berger,
one of his principal aides, commented, Göring was still the more
powerful of the two. “However,” added Berger, under interro-
gation in May , “Himmler had a thing or two on Göring
even then.” The SS chief at The Hague, Wilhelm von Rauter,
had discovered, for instance, that the Reichsmarschall was qui-
etly buying up uncut diamonds from Jews in Amsterdam;
Himmler began filling dossiers with data like this. His Gestapo
chief, Reinhard Heydrich, also had ambitions. He coveted
Göring’s Currency Protection Unit because of its mouth-
watering harvest of seized foreign currency, but he trod very
warily. “Heydrich,” Göring would smugly comment later, “was
much too clever to pick a fight with me.” Heydrich preferred to
keep Göring’s power intact  so that he might pursue his own
evil causes under its gaudy, all-embracing cloak.
Göring established his headquarters east at Rostken, just
south of Lake Spirding in East Prussia, and parked his luxurious
train Asia here, about an hour’s drive from the Wolf’s Lair.
Jeschonnek had established the air staff’s mobile headquarters,
Robinson, at the neighboring Lake Goldap. The humid climate
that summer affected Göring’s health. There were almost daily
checkups by his cardiologist, Professor Heinrich Zahler. Zahler’s
name figures in Göring’s diary on July , , , ,  (“bed
rest, headaches”),  (“stomach upset, headaches”), and on
August  (“heart palpitations”), , and , and again in Sep-
tember  on the twenty-third the Reichsmarschall would re-
cord, “heart pains, bad night.” Determined to hang on to life
long enough to enjoy the fruits of power, Göring began a
strenuous program of daily swims, walks, horseback-riding, and
even an occasional game of tennis. He telephoned Emmy and

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