Subtly playing on underlying American fears, Göring
spoke of the seductive Russian propaganda methods and re-
minded Gans that once before Germany and Russia had collabo-
rated for a century. “At first,” he continued, referring to most
recent history, “the Germans were very afraid of the Russians.
... Immediately after the collapse, the Russians did a skillful job
over the radio: they proclaimed that Germany must not be par-
titioned again, and they started to reopen the German theaters.
In this zone you have adopted the opposite approach.”
The Americans found it hard to undermine his morale al-
though he was now deeply concerned about Emmy and Edda.
On June Lieutenant Herbert Dubois took over the grilling.
“Do you know that Hitler, Himmler, and Goebbels are dead?...
You are the last great Nazi. How did you manage to survive?
Why haven’t you died?”
“It was an accident,” responded Göring. Dubois dis-
comfited him by asking about the billion-Reichsmark fine that
he had levied on the Jewish community in November . “Is a
German field marshal never ashamed?” he challenged.
At first the Reichsmarschall was evasive “I don’t have to
answer that question under the Geneva Convention” but he
immediately afterward softened enough to utter one of his rare
expressions of personal remorse. “I regret it. You have to take
the times into account.”
On May , , Dr. Robert Kempner, a former Prussian civil
servant who had emigrated to Pennsylvania, wrote to the Penta-
gon pointing out that during Göring’s jurisdiction over police
matters in many people had been tortured and killed.
“Such cases,” Kempner continued, “were brought to his per-
sonal attention. At that time bribery was one of the chief means
of obtaining release from concentration camps. The money, jew-