Photo: Robert Röhr · Public domain

Born in Germany · Nationality German — Politics / Nazi regime / war / Holocaust / international crimes

Hermann Göring

Authoritarian regimes, wars and mass atrocities Politics and government

Documented profile covering 10 controversies, including “1946: convicted on all four counts at Nuremberg, sentenced to death, then suicide by cyanide” and “1938–1945: industrial dispossession, plunder of occupied territories and extensive forced labour”.

Are you concerned? Right of reply

Profile No. 2692 · Updated on 12 October 2026

10Documented controversies+ 1 background event

6Sources

1 followed by a conviction

§ Legal statuses reflect the documented sources as of the date shown; they replace neither court decisions nor the presumption of innocence. Counts are not a rating. Methodology

I. Documented controversies

Case · 6 documented stages

1946: convicted on all four counts at Nuremberg, sentenced to death, then suicide by cyanide

Conviction

1–15 October 1946

1946: convicted on all four counts at Nuremberg, sentenced to death, then suicide by cyanide

Conviction

The International Military Tribunal found Göring guilty of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death by hanging. On the eve of his execution, he committed suicide using cyanide.

Attribution: Accused

Sources · 4

[1]
Avalon Project / Yale Law SchoolJudgment: GoeringCourt decisionVery high reliability
[2]
Avalon Project / Yale Law SchoolJudgement: SentencesCourt decisionVery high reliability
[3]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumHermann Göring's Role in the HolocaustOfficial documentVery high reliability
[4]
Deutsches Historisches Museum — LeMOHermann GöringArchiveVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

1938–1945

1938–1945: industrial dispossession, plunder of occupied territories and extensive forced labour

Conviction

The Reichswerke absorbed industries seized in Austria, Czechoslovakia and subsequently occupied territories. During the war, more than half a million forced labourers passed through mines and factories belonging to the industrial empire under Göring's authority; he also organised the plunder of assets and works of art.

State of the evidence: Established by a court
Attribution: Directly implicated

Sources · 2

[1]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumHermann Göring's Role in the HolocaustOfficial documentVery high reliability
[2]
Avalon Project / Yale Law SchoolJudgment: GoeringCourt decisionVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

31 July 1941

1941: written order to Heydrich to prepare “Final Solution to Jewish Question”

Conviction

Göring ordered Heydrich to coordinate state resources and submit an overall plan for a “total solution” to the Jewish question within the German sphere of influence, a central mandate in coordinating the genocide.

State of the evidence: Documented
Attribution: Directly implicated

Sources · 3

[1]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumHermann Göring's Role in the HolocaustOfficial documentVery high reliability
[2]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumReinhard Heydrich: TimelineOfficial documentVery high reliability
[3]
Avalon Project / Yale Law SchoolJudgment: GoeringCourt decisionVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

1936–March 1939

1936–1939: active involvement in German expansion in Spain, Austria and Czechoslovakia

Conviction

Göring sent the Luftwaffe to support Franco in Spain, contributed to the Anschluss, participated in the Munich settlement and threatened to bomb Prague during the final dismemberment of Czechoslovakia.

State of the evidence: Well documented
Attribution: Directly implicated

Sources · 2

[1]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumHermann Göring's Role in the HolocaustOfficial documentVery high reliability
[2]
Avalon Project / Yale Law SchoolJudgment: GoeringCourt decisionVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

November 1938–1939

1938–1939: after Kristallnacht, “Aryanisation”, one-billion-Reichsmark fine and economic plunder of Jews

Conviction

Following the November 1938 pogrom, Göring coordinated anti-Jewish economic policy: exclusion of Jews from commercial activities, forced sales of property and businesses, confiscation of insurance payments and a collective fine of one billion Reichsmarks.

State of the evidence: Well documented
Attribution: Directly implicated

Sources · 3

[1]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumHermann Göring's Role in the HolocaustOfficial documentVery high reliability
[2]
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum"Aryanization"Official documentVery high reliability
[3]
Avalon Project / Yale Law SchoolJudgment: GoeringCourt decisionVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

1935–1937

1935–1937: clandestine air rearmament, followed by leadership of Four Year Plan and Reichswerke

Conviction

Göring led the development of the Luftwaffe in breach of the Versailles restrictions, then assumed leadership of the Four Year Plan intended to prepare the economy for war and established Reichswerke Hermann Göring.

State of the evidence: Well documented
Attribution: Directly implicated

Sources · 2

[1]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumHermann Göring's Role in the HolocaustOfficial documentVery high reliability
[2]
Avalon Project / Yale Law SchoolJudgment: GoeringCourt decisionVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

23–29 April 1945

1945: attempt to assert succession to Hitler, arrest and expulsion from party

No legal proceedings

From Obersalzberg, Göring asked Hitler for permission to assume the duties of head of state under an earlier succession decree. Hitler, influenced particularly by Bormann, treated him as a traitor, had him arrested and stripped him of his positions.

State of the evidence: Well documented
Attribution: Directly implicated

Sources · 2

[1]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumHermann Göring's Role in the HolocaustOfficial documentVery high reliability
[2]
Deutsches Historisches Museum — LeMOHermann GöringArchiveVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

24 January 1939

1939: order to Heydrich to centralise forced Jewish emigration

No legal proceedings

Göring instructed Heydrich to prepare a “solution” to the Jewish question and establish a Central Office for Jewish Emigration intended to accelerate the forced expulsion of Jews from the Reich.

State of the evidence: Documented
Attribution: Directly implicated

Sources · 2

[1]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumHermann Göring's Role in the HolocaustOfficial documentVery high reliability
[2]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumReinhard Heydrich: TimelineOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

30 June–2 July 1934

1934: leading role in SA purge and elimination of opponents

No legal proceedings

Göring pressed Hitler to neutralise the SA and, with Himmler, organised arrests and executions in Berlin targeting SA leaders and other political opponents during the “Night of the Long Knives”.

State of the evidence: Well documented
Attribution: Directly implicated

Sources · 2

[1]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumHermann Göring's Role in the HolocaustOfficial documentVery high reliability
[2]
Avalon Project / Yale Law SchoolJudgment: GoeringCourt decisionVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

8–9 November 1923

1923: participation in Beer Hall Putsch and flight after serious injury

No legal proceedings

As SA leader, Göring participated in Hitler's Munich putsch. Injured when the coup failed, he fled Germany and returned only after an amnesty.

State of the evidence: Well documented
Attribution: Directly implicated

Sources · 1

[1]
United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumHermann Göring's Role in the HolocaustOfficial documentVery high reliability

Last verified: 14 September 2026

Add to this entry

II. Documented background

Documented biographical or institutional milestones (elections, appointments, foundings, acquisitions…). These are not controversies and are not counted as such.

February–April 1933
1933: Prussian police, SA/SS auxiliaries, mass arrests and creation of Gestapo
As Prussian Interior Minister and then Minister-President, Göring ordered police to shoot opponents, made SA and SS members auxiliary police officers, initiated mass arrests following the Reichstag fire and created the Secret State Police Office, the future nucleus of the Gestapo.
Sources · 2
1. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum — Hermann Göring's Role in the Holocaust
2. Avalon Project / Yale Law School — Judgment: Goering

III. Constellation of documented links

No documented link with another published profile for now.

Two profiles are linked when a documented controversy of one names the other. The link points to that controversy and its sources; it does not indicate a personal relationship.

IV. Has something changed?

A new court decision, a missing source, a mistake? Tell us what should be updated: every request is read by the editorial team.

Support the archive

Controversia checks and updates its profiles independently. Support is optional and has no effect on the content of profiles.

Donate

I. Documented controversies

Sources · 4

Sources · 2

Sources · 3

Sources · 2

Sources · 3

Sources · 2

Sources · 2

Sources · 2

Sources · 2

Sources · 1

II. Documented background

1933: Prussian police, SA/SS auxiliaries, mass arrests and creation of Gestapo

III. Constellation of documented links

IV. Has something changed?

Support the archive