This is a crazy moment in history since everybody thought Göring would be walking in broken-weak, pathetic, barely functional. Instead, he showed up sharp. Prison detoxed him. No drugs. Clear mind. And the courtroom suddenly had to contend with a man who was capable of thought.
Robert Jackson was to ruin him. Famous American prosecutor. Brilliant reputation. But he had underrated Göring, and that was a mistake that plagued him.
Jackson went after the Nazi system of protective custody, hoping to win the battle on morals. Göring did not even defend it–he threw it. Said the Allies were also doing the same to Germans in the occupied territories. Same logic, different flag. The hypocrisy hit hard.
Then Jackson disrupted the Reichstag fire chronology. One witness was alleged to have been killed on the spot. Göring corrected him. The witness lived over a year. That made the prosecution appear careless.
It continued to occur–mistranslations, false assumptions, omissions. At the conclusion, Jackson lost his temper, throwing his headphones on the ground, pleading with the judges to restrict Göring in his responses.
Göring still lost. The crimes were too big.
But he was in charge of the room, at least momentarily–and that is what makes this part of history uncomfortable.
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