took refuge in trivia and minor postwar problems. British code-
breakers intercepted his instruction, passed to troops on the
Russian front, that all air-force personnel summoned to his or
the Führer’s presence “must be free of lice.” His leather-bound
diary shows him at Carinhall on January , , discussing
with Nazi labor leader Robert Ley plans for postwar pensions
that would embrace even the lowest income groups, and a “sug-
gestion for a luncheon where party veterans can meet and talk
to me.” Another diary note, “Assistance for evacuees,” reflects,
however, the one nightmare that would not go away with the
dawn: the RAF’s bombing offensive. Nor did it escape his atten-
tion that when he now left East Prussia for Berlin, one after an-
other, sixteen locomotives pulling his train broke down in the
cold. For his next conference with Hitler he dictated this re-
minder: “Responsibility for provision of sufficient locomotives in
good time for winter –, capable of trouble-free operation
at temperatures below ‒°C.”
Hitler sent him down to see Benito Mussolini and reassure him
about Germany’s will to fight on. After taking explicit instruc-
tions from Hitler on what to say in Rome, Göring departed
aboard Asia taking valet, nurse, doctor, and a multitude of staff
officers, including his nephew Lieutenant Göring, Görnnert and
Bodenschatz with him. The hapless Hoffmann von Waldau,
scandalized by this new extravagance, cynically recorded that
Göring made “considerable preparations, mainly of a sartorial
nature” for the jaunt. He added, “How I hate to go swanning off
at times like these!” Waldau’s tender gaze was spared the more
scandalous displays of opulence. Becoming restless once during
the journey, Göring sent for the pot of diamonds, tipped them
out and counted them, then paraded them across the table,
mixed them up, and calmed down completely.