Göring. A Biography

(Michael S) #1
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jotted down what the others told him of Göring’s sleazy dealings
with Heinkel, Siebel, Koppenberg, and aluminum factories in
Norway. Told of Göring’s apparent interest in Professor Mo-
rell’s pharmaceutical empire, General Kreipe chimed in that the
Reichsmarschall had also been the majority shareholder in a
certain brand of contraceptives. “Do you know,” replied Milch,
capping that tidbit, “that our commander in chief received
money personally for each picture hanging in a barracks?!” He
banged his fist on the table. “Do you know that our commander
in chief pocketed a fine of fourteen million Dutch guilders im-
posed for a rebellion somewhere in Holland and transferred
them to Switzerland for his personal use?* The SS told me all
this, and backed it up with evidence. But there is such a thing as
poetic justice, gentlemen!... Göring’s chauffeur made off with a
case containing all Mrs. Göring’s jewelry.”


Emmy Göring had been allowed to return to a little cottage near
Veldenstein. One day an American army sergeant arrived and
told her in confidence that her husband had been secretly tried
and acquitted, and would be released the next day. Emmy had
never been noted for political acuity. She happily gave the mes-
senger a precious emerald ring, scraped together some victuals
for a welcoming feast, and waited for several days before she
could accept that the man had been a trickster.
Confined at Mondorf still, Göring paced his cage like a
trapped lion. For a man born and bred in the mountains, who



  • General Christiansen, military commander of the Netherlands, had im-
    posed a fourteen-million-guilder levy on a Dutch community. The British
    informed Allied officials at Nuremberg of the overheard allegation, namely
    that Göring had given one million guilders of this fine to Christiansen and
    transferred the remainder to Switzerland. Challenged about this on Decem-
    ber , , Göring dismissed it as “nonsense” and pointed out that
    “Krischan” came directly under the high command, not the air force.

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