Hermann Wilhelm Goering was second in command to Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. He was a German politician and air force commmander.

Hermann Wilhelm Goering was born in Rosenheim, Bravaria, Germany on January 12, 1893. He was born into a upper-middle-class family and his father was a lawyer and diplomat. Goering was educated at a military school and attended a military cadet college in Berlin. Upon graduation he entered the army in 1912 as an infantry lieutenant and then became a pilot in the air force. He was a courageous combat pilot and earned many high awards including the Iron Cross.

After the war Goering left the Republican Army and went to Denmark to fly as a private pilot. He returned in 1922 where he met Hitler. At that time he offered his services to the Nazi party and became the commander of the Nazi storm troopers in Munich. His household became the center of Nazi social activities. In 1923 they planned to over take the German government but were unsuccessful. He was wounded during the unsuccessful Beer Hall Putsch and fled Germany for a few years to recover from his injury.

In 1927 Goering returned to Germany and in 1928 he ran for the Reichstag (lower house of the legislature) as a Nation Socialist. In 1932 he was re-elected and became the president of the Reichstag. Once Hitler was appointed chancellor in 1933 Goering was given the post of Minister of the Interior for Prussia. This was when he created the Nazi Gestapo, or secret police. He became the prime minister of Prussia and minister of air travel in the central government. During the time of 1934 - 1938 he was given a lot of power and led many attacks on the Jews including "Night of Broken Glass"
(Kristallnacht).

In 1939 when Germany attacked Poland marking the beginning of World War II Goering was considered to be second in command to Hitler. He received the title of Reich Marshall from Hitler and was even referred to as being Hitler's successor. He played a very important role in the rise and development of the Nazi Party and the Third Reich. Goering was a ruthless ambitious man and loyal to the Nazi Party. In 1942 he fell into disfavor with Hitler and was growing pessimistic about the outcome of the war.

Near the end of the war in May of 1945 Goering was arrested by the Allies. In 1946 he was brought in front of the Nuremberg Tribunal and charged with belonging to an illegal organization, planning a war of aggression, and crimes against peace and humanity. He testified on his on behalf at trial and pleaded not guilty. He was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.Just a few hours before he was scheduled to be hanged on October 15, 1946, he committed suicide with a cyanide capsule.

"Hermann Goring." People of the Holocaust. U*X*L, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

"Hermann Wilhelm Goring." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biogrpahy Resource Center.Farmington Hills, Mich. Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

"Hermann Wilhelm Goering." World of Criminal Justice. 2 vols. Gale Group, 2002. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center.Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008 http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC