Home > World War II > Hermann Göring Biography

Born January 12, 1893
Rosenheim, Germany
Died October 15, 1946
Nuremberg, Germany
Nazi political leader and commander of the
Luftwaffe, the German air force; second in
command to Adolf Hitler

In the years leading up to World War II, Hermann Göring achieved a position of great power in Germany because of his relationship with Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; see entry), Germany's dictator from 1933 through 1945. Hitler put Göring in charge of such important matters as the organization of the police force and rebuilding Germany's air power. Although he had held fairly liberal beliefs as a young man, Göring adopted Hitler's views on the superiority of the German people and the need to eliminate their enemies. He played an active role in carrying out the horrors of the Holocaust (the period between 1933 and 1945 when Nazi Germany systematically murdered millions of Jews, Roma,...