Sunday, 1 September 1940
Despite the fact that summer still reigned Karl Langenscheidt felt cold as he approached the high stone walls of Spandau prison in the half-light. His duties required him to attend to his client this morning. At the small gate he signed his name in the visitor’s book, and a guard escorted him across the forecourt and into the prison proper. Langenscheidt was in shadow, bearing a duty that would, he feared, defame him for the rest of his life. No one would ever seek out the attorney who had been defence counsel for a monster.
Through the corridors they passed until at last the guard brought Langenscheidt to the door of the confinement cell in which his client was lodged. The guard slid back the grill and barked, “It is your lawyer. Stand back!”
Keys rattled in the door and the guard carefully opened the cell. Langenscheidt entered and heard it close and lock behind him. Before him sat his client, wiping his chin having finished his morning’s breakfast; an all too early breakfast.
“Good morning Herr Göring,” he began. “You have reviewed the papers I left for you to sign?”
The former Air Minister and politician looked up, amused by the question. He looked at Langenscheidt and smiled, “Yes, yes – I have – but they will not be necessary. I will not die today!”
Langenscheidt marveled at his client’s misplaced confidence. He had argued against allowing Göring to take the stand at his trial – his words had condemned him. The court was unmoved by the fiery rhetoric he had spewed forth; and yet the man was not insane – at least in the legal sense. He was aware of the crimes he had committed – merely he judged them of small importance compared to what he saw as a national mission.
“Today has been set as your date of execution,” Langenscheidt said, deadpan. “There has been no reprieve from the Office of the Chancellor.”
“Bah,” Göring rejoined. “Politicians do not matter. I do not fear… no German worth his soul would take his place in the firing party. True Germans will set me free today!”
“Herr Göring, you will not face a firing squad,” Langenscheidt advised. “The court has ordered that you will be hung; such is the method prescribed for criminals.”
For a moment Langenscheidt saw fear pass over Göring’s face. He had obviously expected to meet a hero’s end; not that of a wretch. Fear turned to anger and he spoke, “Here, take them!” he said, practically throwing his will and other papers at Langenscheidt. “Take this too!” He thrust a sheet of foolscap into Langenscheidt’s hands – on it were scrawled the final words of the man who would have cast Germany down into the pit of tyranny.
Wordlessly Langenscheidt gathered up the documents and knocked on the cell door. After a moment it was opened and he withdrew; a guard now escorted him to a small room overlooking the inner courtyard of the prison, in which stood a gallows and rope. There he was to wait. He filed Göring’s will and documents in his briefcase. The piece of foolscap he read through – and it churned his empty stomach. Wild words, hate-filled words. As he waited he considered…
He struck a match and touched it to the paper, and the flame charred and consumed it rapidly. He dropped it to the table before him, allowed it to burn itself out, and then stamped and scattered the ashes. Perhaps by destroying the last words of Göring he might atone for the part he had played in the drama now ending.
It was time. Below he could see Göring, escorted by four guards, shuffle out into the courtyard and mount the gallows. He was no longer the proud airman, the ambitious politician, but a quaking human being at the center of a tragedy of his own making. Langenscheidt saw the noose placed around Göring’s neck, watched as the hangman adjusted it, making certain it was snug.
The lever was pulled, the floor below Göring’s feet gave way and his body fell with a jerk. A moment later the prison doctor walked to the body to confirm the execution. From the window Langenscheidt could see him nod. Absent-mindedly Langenscheidt pulled out his watch to check the time: 7.55AM.
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Originally posted by AdmKuznetsov
Tuesday, May 7th 2024, 7:09pm
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