Hitler's Commanders (30 page)

dr. heinz goering
was the eldest nephew of Hermann Goering, the Reichsmarschall and commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe—which also had its panzer units.

Heinz was born in Wiesbaden on September 4, 1907, the son of Heinrich Goering. Heinz attended college and received his doctorate in law from Wiesbaden in 1936. He was called up for active duty late that year and initially served as a gunner in the 9th Flak Regiment in Muenster. Heinz made no attempt to evade service, as he easily could have done. He was promoted to corporal in 1937, sergeant in 1938, and second lieutenant on August 1, 1940. Meanwhile, he became a platoon leader in the 141st Reserve Flak Battalion, which was stationed at Duesseldorf.

Heinz volunteered for duty with the Motorized Flak Regiment “General Goering” in the fall of 1940 and served as a platoon leader on the Eastern Front. He returned to Germany the following spring, married Charlotte Seelhof, and was assigned to the replacement (Ersatz) battalion of the Brigade “Hermann Goering.” Eventually, he became a platoon leader in its panzer engineer replacement company. In late 1942, he became a company commander in the Hermann Goering Replacement Training Regiment. He was promoted to first lieutenant on July 1, 1942.

Heinz joined the Hermann Goering Panzer Regiment of the Hermann Goering Panzer Division in Italy in October 1943, and became the IIa (chief personnel officer) of that unit. He fought in the Italian campaign, where he was wounded and temporarily blinded by an exploding bomb. He nevertheless transferred to the III Battalion of the Hermann Goering Panzer Regiment, a
Stug
(assault gun) unit. He was advanced to company commander in March 1944.

Meanwhile, Army Group Center was overrun in June 1944, and the Hermann Goering Panzer Division was transferred to Poland, to help stem the tide, which it succeeded in doing. On July 29, Heinz Goering left his
Jagdpanzer
IV
(a very modern assault gun) when the Reds launched an attack and a Russian shell exploded in the trees above him. Badly wounded, he was put aboard another Jagdpanzer IV and was about to be transported to the rear when three Soviet T-34 appeared and knocked out the assault gun. It is not clear whether Heinz Goering was already dead when his body fell into Russian hands, but, if not, he died shortly thereafter.

Despite a certain physical resemblance, Heinz Goering was nothing like his uncle. He was not corrupt, he was not lazy, he was not addicted to luxury or drugs, and he did not attempt to evade his responsibilities. He was, in fact, a credit to his family. He was promoted to captain posthumously.