Hermann Wilhelm Goering

Goering, Hermann Wilhelm (1893–1946), German political leader and Hitler's deputy, 1939–45. He organized the Gestapo (secret police) and, as commander of the German Air Force, prepared for the aerial blitzkrieg campaigns of World War II. By 1936 Goering was economic dictator of Germany, but his power dwindled when he failed to stop Allied air attacks. Convicted of war crimes at the Nuremburg trials in 1946, he poisoned himself in prison.

See also: World War II.