SAIC/X/5: Göring Interrogation (May 1945)

interrogations about Himmler From NA: RG.332, entry ETO MIS-Y Sect., Box 73 : optically scanned. Please report obvious scanning errors. [ Report ] SAIC/X/5 dated 24.5.1945 AMERICAN OFFICER: When was the last time that you personally saw Hitler alive?

GÖRING: On the evening of April 20, around half past eight. We raced away. AMERICAN: To get away that same evening?

GÖRING: Yes, yes. Afterwards he retracted his order that I was to go South — in his usual manner — and ordered me to be at his Bunker on the following day. The room was very small. He sat at a large table and we all stood around it, about twenty of us. . . You should have seen him. His whole body shook violently. And he grew more vicious with every moment. . . Himmler said [to me] that Count Bernadotte [a Swedish diplomat] had come to see him [at Hohenlychen in April 1945]. He told me, "You know, he must have been the man Eisenhower sent as a negotiator." I replied: "I can't believe that. Don't take offence, but I doubt whether they will accept you as a negotiator." Then he retorted, "Sorry to contradict you, but I have undeniable proof that I am considered abroad to be the only person who can maintain peace and order." . . And I thought he might have more proof than I, and restrained myself; so I said, "I just can't picture that." And he kept coming