Tag: Hermann Göring

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“Children of the Damned”

We all have our personal demons. It’s the magnitude of the demons which ultimately determine the hold they have on someone. Most of us can adequately deal with them but for others, some demons are just too great, and their lives are affected each and every day.

Today’s blog introduces you to some of the children of high-ranking Nazis including Hermann Göring, Martin Bormann, Heinrich Himmler, Hans Frank, and Rudolf Hess. Each child or relative dealt with or continues to deal with the infamous legacy of their father in different ways. The spectrum ranges from those who continued to embrace Nazi philosophy, ignore Nazi crimes and the complicity of their father in those crimes to those who essentially disowned and distanced themselves from the father and their family. In-between, there are the children who acknowledge the father’s crimes but cannot bring themselves to completely detach themselves from his evil legacy.

Did You Know?

Did you know that Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens was not the first Tivoli Gardens? Jardin de Tivoli or, Tivoli Gardens was located in Paris in the late 18th– and mid 19th-centuries and there were actually, three different parks by the same name. Located in what is now the 9th arrondissement and south of Place de Clichy, the first Jardin de Tivoli opened in 1795 and is considered the ancestor of amusement parks. It was a public garden where high-society type folks would gather for entertainment such as panoramas, marionettes, and magic lantern shows. It was closed in 1810 after Napoléon’s troops trashed the place. A second Tivoli was quickly reopened, and it lasted until 1825 when it was destroyed one night by people celebrating the coronation of King Charles X. The third and last Tivoli opened in 1826. This one was a “real” amusement park with roller coasters, labyrinths, and fireworks. One of the most popular “games” was pigeon shooting. Unfortunately, more than 300,000 pigeons were killed during an eleven-year period. This park was closed in 1842 and never reopened. One year later, the iconic entrance gates to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark opened, and the park has run continuously since then despite much of it being burned down by the Nazis in 1943.

Main entrance to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo by Dilveen (May 2019). PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.
Main entrance to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo by Dilveen (May 2019). PD-CCA-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons.
Marketing poster for Jardin de Tivoli, Paris. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Bibliothèque nationale de France. PD-70+. Wikimedia Commons.
Marketing poster for Jardin de Tivoli, Paris. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Bibliothèque nationale de France. PD-70+. Wikimedia Commons.

Edda Göring/Hermann Göring

Second in command behind Hitler for most of the war, Hermann Göring (1893-1946) committed suicide only hours before he was scheduled to hang for war crimes. His only daughter, Edda Göring (1938-2018) was eight years old at the time. Hitler was her godfather and like many daughters of high-ranking Nazi officials, she was referred to as Kleine Prinzessin or, “Little Princess.”

Emmy Göring (left) and Edda Göring (center) meet with Adolf Hitler. Photo by anonymous – presumably by Heinrich Hoffman (c. 1940).
Emmy Göring (left) and Edda Göring (center) meet with Adolf Hitler. Photo by anonymous – presumably by Heinrich Hoffman (c. 1940).

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The White Buses

Norway and Denmark were occupied by the Nazis in April 1940 (Sweden was a neutral country during the war). Almost immediately, the Germans began arresting targeted individuals and threw them into detention camps scattered throughout Norway. Soon, they would be deported to concentration camps such as Sachsenhausen. As more people were arrested, detained, and deported, various Scandinavian humanitarian organizations became active in gaining access to the prisoners, ensuring correspondence was reached by their families, as well as engaging directly with the Germans concerning their fates.

Towards the end of the war, one major attempt at obtaining the release of concentration camp inmates was successful. It liberated more than 15,000 prisoners of which half were Scandinavian. Believe it or not, the White Bus evacuations were approved by Heinrich Himmler.

Count Folke Bernadotte. Photo by anonymous (c. 1945). USHMM, courtesy of National Archives, http://www.ushmm.org/. PD-70+. Wikimedia Commons.
Count Folke Bernadotte. Photo by anonymous (c. 1945). USHMM, courtesy of National Archives, http://www.ushmm.org/. PD-70+. Wikimedia Commons.

Did You Know?

Rina Fried, then 16-years-old, was crammed into a cattle car with a hundred other women whose skin barely hung to their skeletons. They were all being transported from their concentration camp to an extermination camp to be murdered by the Nazis. The end of the war was closing in and the women knew they wouldn’t survive to see it.

However, the train stopped suddenly and the women were approached by people offering them food and drink. They told the women, “Vi aker till Sverige.” — “We are going to Sweden.”

“Your enslavement is over.”

One of the White Bus platoons rescued Rina and the other women.

Folke Bernadotte

Count Folke Bernadotte (1895−1948), Swedish diplomat, was the grandson of King Oscar II of Sweden and nephew of King Gustav V. Entering the military in 1915, Bernadotte eventually rose to the rank of major. By 1933, he was representing Sweden at various world events such as the New York World’s Fair in 1939. Bernadotte became director of the Swedish Boy Scout organization in 1937 and when World War II broke out, he helped train the boy scouts in defense (i.e., anti-aircraft guns) and as medical assistants. However, his greatest role during the war would be played as the vice chairman of the Swedish Red Cross.

Folke Bernadotte (right) in his role with the Swedish Boy Scouts. Photo by anonymous (24 June 1934). PD-70+. Wikimedia Commons.
Folke Bernadotte (right) in his role with the Swedish Boy Scouts. Photo by anonymous (24 June 1934). PD-70+. Wikimedia Commons.

Beginning in 1943, Count Bernadotte organized multiple prisoner exchanges with Germany (his first mission targeted disabled Scandinavian POWs). A total of approximately 11,000 Scandinavian POWs were repatriated as a result of these exchanges. He also personally led several rescue missions into Germany. Read More The White Buses