The German politician and air force commander Hermann Wilhelm Göring (1893-1946) was second in command to Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.

Hermann Göring was born in Rosenheim, Bavaria, on Jan. 12, 1893, son of the consul general of the German Empire in Haiti. He was educated in the Kadettenkorps (military school), where he performed outstandingly and earned a commission in the army in 1912.

After the outbreak of World War I, Göring moved to the newly created air force and in October 1915 became a fighter pilot. The daring young flier quickly distinguished himself and by 1918 had been shot down once and had won all the important military distinctions, including the highest award of the German army. After the famous Manfred von Richthofen ("Red Baron") was killed in the spring of 1918, Göring was chosen to succeed him in his former command.

After the German...