The Suicide of Hermann Göring was the final event in the career of one of the Nazi regime’s most powerful figures: after a Nuremberg conviction and death sentence, Göring killed himself two hours before his execution was due to take place.

Position in the Nazi regime

Göring founded and became the first head of the Gestapo, and was responsible for creating the Luftwaffe. In 1940, Adolf Hitler named him as his successor, placing him at the center of the regime’s succession plans.

That position did not last until the regime’s end. Hitler dismissed Göring near the close of the war, a reversal that preceded his trial and death sentence.

Conviction and suicide

At Nuremberg, Göring was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death. He died by suicide two hours before he was to be executed, ending his life on the eve of the sentence’s enforcement.