Today in infamous people history: this date in 1893 was the birthdate of Hermann Goering. 10 facts about him.
Göring was born in Bavaria, the son of Heinrich Ernst Göring, who was the German consul general in Haiti at the time. As a child he lived in a castle owned by Hermann, Ritter (knight) von Epenstein, who was Göring’s godfather and was also having an affair with his mother. Von Epenstein also happened to be Jewish.
He served in the first world war, having entered the German Army as an infantry lieutenant in 1912. He transferred to the air force and was a flying ace. He reportedly shot down 22 allied aircraft during the war, and received the Pour le Merite and Iron Cross 1st class. In 1918 he became commander of the same squadron in which Manfred, Freiherr (Baron) von Richthofen, had served.
Unimpressed with how veterans were treated in Germany after the great war, he went to live in Scandinavia and worked as a commercial pilot in Denmark and Sweden.
In 1923 he married a Swedish baroness Carin von Kantzow, who divorced her husband in order to marry him. She died in 1931 and in 1935 he married his second wife, an actress called Emmy Sonnemann. A large reception was held the night before their wedding at the Berlin Opera House with fly pasts by fighter aircraft both on the night of the reception and the day of the ceremony. Hitler was best man. Goering had his only child with Emmy, a daughter named Edda. Hitler was her godfather and she was treated like a princess. She remained protective of her father as an adult, and said her ‘only memories of him are loving ones, I cannot see him any other way.’
Goering was a drug addict. He took part in the Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923, in which Hitler tried to seize power prematurely. During this, Goering was severely injured in the groin and fled to Sweden to escape arrest. He was given morphine for the pain of his injuries and became so hooked on it that he had to go through two rounds of treatment at the Långbro mental hospital in Sweden.
He had a younger brother called Albert who worked against the Nazi regime. Albert was a film maker in Vienna in 1938, and he would defend Jews who were being bullied in the street and arranged exit visas for his Jewish friends. Albert was the subject of numerous Gestapo reports, 4 arrest warrants and finally a death warrant in 1944, which called for execution on sight. Goering once said of his younger brother, ‘he was always the antithesis of myself.’
Goering was known for his extravagant dress and love of Opera and art, though a lot of his art collection was plundered from Jewish collections in occupied countries. He grew very fat due to a glandular problem and dressed in outlandish costumes such as a medieval hunting costume for practising Archery with his doctor, a red toga fastened with a golden clasp while smoking an unusually large pipe; and a fur coat described by Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano as like something "a high-grade prostitute wears to the opera". Despite his obesity he liked to be called "der Eiserne" (the Iron Man).
He had a large estate in in the Schorfheide, north of Berlin which he named Carinhall in honour of his first wife. He borrowed Lion cubs from the zoo to keep there, and in his house at Obersalzberg, as pets.
He made a fatal tactical error during the Battle of Britain, by switching to bombing London at night which gave the British defences time to recover. After that Goering pleaded ill health and tried to retire, at least as much as Hitler would let him. However, he still had his eye on the top job. In April 1945 Goering sent Hitler a telegram, in anticipation of his likely death, asking permission to take up control over Germany, having been named as successor in 1941. It was not to be as Hitler and Martin Bormann condemned Goering as a traitor and rescinded the 1941 decree. Goering was forced to resign from his posts, and was expelled from the party in Hitler’s will.
He was condemned to hang as a war criminal in 1946. His request to be shot instead was declined and so he killed himself by taking poison capsule which he had secreted in a container of pomade.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
No comments:
Post a Comment