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Partly-printed DS in German, signed “Hermann Göring,” one page, 8 x 12.75, January 15, 1946. Document headed (translated), "The International Military Tribunal, Defendant's Application for Summons for Witness," made while preparing his defense for the Nuremberg trials. Göring and his defense lawyer, Otto Stahmer, request testimony from "Bernd v. Brauchitsch, Colonel of the Luftwaffe, at present at the Nuremberg prison," citing his knowledge of the following facts: "The witness has been the chief adjutant of the defendant for many years; he has therefore, knowledge of all the orders issued by the defendant; especially a) Goering had not been informed of the shooting of 50 equipped airmen, and condemned the incident sharply when he learned of it. b) Goering was against the lynching of shot-down enemy terror pilots, and demanded—if necessary—legal proceedings. These facts are relevant…to refute the accusation, that Goering committed war crimes." In fine condition, with expected document wear. Accompanied by a contemporary English translation and an original 'mug shot' photograph of Bernd von Brauchitsch, who was the son of Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch.
The requested testimony addressed one of the most notorious war crimes involving the Luftwaffe: the murders following the March 1944 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III at Sagan. Of the 76 Allied airmen who escaped, 73 were recaptured and 50 were handed over to the Gestapo and shot, their deaths falsely reported as having occurred during further escape attempts. Göring’s defense sought to place responsibility farther up and outside the Luftwaffe chain of command—Hitler issuing the order, Keitel transmitting it, and Himmler’s SS carrying it out—while von Brauchitsch was expected to affirm that Göring had neither known of nor approved the executions.
The Sagan affair nevertheless became the specific catalyst that shattered Göring’s carefully constructed defense. On March 15, 1946, he professed complete innocence of the murders, but under cross-examination days later he retreated from earlier evidence that he had attended Hitler’s conference on the shootings, conceded that the official German notice claiming the prisoners had been shot while escaping was false, and admitted that he regarded the affair as 'the worst matter during the whole war.' The contradiction was devastating: Göring could not plausibly present himself as the all-powerful head of the Luftwaffe while simultaneously claiming ignorance of a nationwide manhunt and the execution of 50 airmen held under Luftwaffe authority.
The episode punctured his preferred image as a traditional, honorable soldier removed from the regime’s secret atrocities and exposed the weakness of his attempt to shift blame entirely to Hitler, Keitel, and Himmler. Although the Sagan murders were only one part of the vast case against him, they supplied the prosecution with a direct and morally unmistakable crime that helped destroy his credibility before the Tribunal. Göring was ultimately convicted on all four counts and sentenced to death, committing suicide shortly before his scheduled execution in October 1946.
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