"If someone like Goring dances totally out of line, then he must be called to order. Bemedalled idiots and vain perfumed coxcombs have no place in our war leadership. Either they must mend their ways or be eliminated. I should not rest or repose until the Führer has put this in order. He must change Goring both inside and outside or show him the door. For instance it is simply grossly bad style for the senior officer of the Reich, in the present wartime situation, to strut round in a silver-grey uniform. What effeminate behavior in face of present developments! It is to be hoped that the Führer will succeed in turning Goring into a man again. The Führer is glad that Göring's wife has now moved to the Obersalzberg because she was a bad influence on him. Anyway Göring's whole entourage is not worth a row of beans. It encouraged instead of restraining his tendency to effeminacy and pleasure-seeking. By contrast the Führer had high praise for the simplicity and purity of my family Ufe. This is the only way to meet the demands of the present times." February 27, 1945

"It is a pity that the Party is represented, not by a man like that but by Goring, who has as much to do with the Party as a cow with radiology." February 27, 1945

"I then revert to the subject of the Luftwaffe. The Führer gives vent to the most violent criticism of Goring and the Luftwaffe. He regards Goring as the real scapegoat for the collapse of the Luftwaffe. I put to him the question: why then has there been no change in command of the Luftwaffe? The Führer opines that there is no suitable successor. Industry's experts, he says, are miles superior to those of the Luftwaffe. No outstanding brain has emerged from the Luftwaffe itself The Me 262s have been in action as fighters for the first time and achieved considerable success. The Führer is somewhat hesitant, however, about using the Me 262s for fighter defense on a large scale. He sees some hope here." March 4, 1945

"Letters I am now receiving show that German fighting morale has reached its nadir. My correspondents bemoan the defeatist attitude to be seen on large sections of the front and also the considerable breakdown in morale among the civil population. Even the optimists are now beginning to waver, a sign that we have now reached the zenith of the crisis. Almost all letters describe Goring as the nigger in the woodpile responsible for the German set-backs on all fronts. For many of the letter-writers the fact that he is still in office is a sign that we are now in the midst of a latent crisis of state." March 9, 1945

"I cannot prevent myself voicing sharp criticism of Goring and the Luftwaffe. But it is always the same story when one talks to the Führer on this subject. He explains the reasons for the decay of the Luftwaffe, but he cannot make up his mind to draw the consequences therefrom. He tells me that after the recent interviews he had with him Goring was a broken man. But what is the good of that! I can have no sympathy with him. If he did lose his nerve somewhat after his recent clash with the Führer..." March 13, 1945

"The Führer wishes to make a renewed attempt to stabilize the fronts. He hopes for some success in the U-boat war, particularly if our new U-boats now come into action which for the moment they have not yet done. What a difference between Dönitz and Goring! Both have suffered a severe technical set-back in their arm of the service. Goring resigned himself to it and so has gone to the dogs. Dönitz has overcome it." March 13, 1945

"The Joachimsthaler newspaper reports that Goring has shot a bison and presented it to refugees on the road. \* The newspaper's report abounds in psychological errors and more or less demonstrates the height of degeneracy reached by Goring and his entourage. I pass this report to the Führer with a note reminding him of the Bourbon princess who, as the mob stormed the Tuileries shouting "Bread!" asked the naive question: "Why don't the people eat cake?" The Führer seizes on this comment and is extraordinarily sharp with Goring during his briefing conference, following it with a long private interview. One can imagine how he reproached Goring during this interview! But what's the good of that? The public hears nothing about it; the public sees only the debacle of the Luftwaffe and the incompetence of Goring and his staff in dealing with it. The Führer will not bring himself to appoint a new Commander in-Chief of the Luftwaffe. From many quarters Dönitz is being proposed for the post and I think this proposal is not too wide of the mark." March 20, 1945

"Everything the Führer says about the Luftwaffe is one long indictment of Goring. Yet he cannot bring himself to take a decision about Goring personally." March 21, 1945

"I rage inwardly when I think that, despite all the good reasons and arguments, it is not possible to persuade the Führer to make a change here. But what am I to do? I cannot do more than go on tirelessly urging the Führer and bringing my criticism to his notice. Inwardly I am facing a severe crisis of conscience. I know well that the Luftwaffe can never be revived under Goring. Equally I know well that the Luftwaffe will lead to the loss of the war and the ruin of the German people if it continues to be run as it is at present." March 21, 1945

"During the course of discussion on the situation in the West the Führer again had a dramatic clash with Goring. Goring has once more been guilty of a series of irregularities and gradually this becomes infuriating. I cannot understand how the Führer has allowed this to go on for so long." March 31, 1945

Hermann Goring shaking hands with Joseph Goebbels on January 12, 1941. The photo was taken during a birthday celebration for Goring. Goebbels detested Goring in his diary. Goebbels's diary excerpts of what he thought of Goring in the comments. [1080x1448]