XXI
Profound white clay nourishes the rock,
which from an abyss will emerge lactose:
In vain the troubled will not dare touch it,
Ignoring to be basically clay.
Original
Profonde argille blanche nourrit rochier,
Qui d'un abisme istra lactineuse:
En vain troublez ne l'oseront toucher,
Ignorans estre au fond terre argilleuse.
We can synonymize the term "profound" by deep, hidden, concealed, hidden, even secret. Let’s know something about the "white clay." White clay, also called kaolin because its first known deposit was found in the Ling Kao region, China, was used since old times as a healing agent in many cultures. The term "nourishes" that appears in the translation is "Nourrit" which in modern French is "nourrir", which translates as feed, so we can change it to sustain, maintain, hold. Likewise, we can change the term "rock" to stone, pebble, vein.
Thus, that white clay is somehow related to medicine. Obviously rocks do not eat, so clearly we are dealing with an assignment. Let’s change what we have to get a better look, and improve the syntax:
"(The) deep white clay that holds the vein."
The next verse tells us: "That from an abyss will emerge milk white." When we changed the concept "deep" for "hidden" we did not do it on a whim, and the second verse again uses another synonym, "abyss." But this time we will replace it by deep. We can change the term "emerge" by will appear, will sprout. And the term "milky" that translates the quatrain into Spanish is not that, because it is in rhyming position with "arguilleuse", therefore it would result in "lactose". Let's change what we already have and join it with the first verse:
"(The) hidden white clay that holds the vein
which from the depths will sprout lactose "
Now this is the main idea or main clause or image. It covers the first two verses, because then Nostradamus ends the second verse with the usual colon to open in the third and fourth verses a secondary or detached image from the main image (the first two verses) which I call paraclause.
Let’s proceed. Although White Clay was no longer routinely used in the nineteenth century due to the advances in chemistry applied to daily lives, its therapeutic prestige had already been losing importance since the Middle Ages, and was despised by the Church.
Now let’s concretize these brief encyclopedic passages. If Nostradamus compares with white clay, it is because he is willing to talk about an environment pertaining to medicine.
Let’s see something: The term "rock" is also a Christian symbol. In Matthew 16.15-18, "...”And I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church”... But the metaphorical concept of "Stone" indicates that Peter is not a rock in a literal sense, but basically he is invested as the cornerstone of the spiritual church of Christ.
On the other hand, other etymological origins of the word “Church” are seen in languages other than Spanish. While in the Romance languages “Church” derives from the Greek ekklēsía, it comes from the popular Byzantine Greek that could mean something "concerning the Lord"; however, there is no unanimity on the matter. But in other passages of the Bible, particularly in the Pauline epistles, “Church” is used to describe what Christians have defined throughout history as the Mystical Body of Christ
In short, for Nostradamus, the term "Rock" is the metaphor that alludes to the mystical Body of Jesus, but when inferring "Rock", he infers that it refers to the physical body because Peter is a physical being. And the body is life. And this idea is not so absurd; let’s remember that the man in Genesis was modeled in mud and modeled mud is clay, right?
We can change the term "white" for crisp, clear, pure. Let’s change
"(The) hidden pure mud that sustains life"
And we have what Nostradamus really meant to tell us, given his deep religiousness.
Here Nostradamus tries to tell us that in physical life, that clay is present in a profound way. In short he is referring to microbes. When he infers "that from the depths will emerge lactose", we see how to he tries to assign it to an apparatus that does not know any other concept ("abyss"); in any case he is referring precisely to the microscopic world. The world of microbes. That is “(the) hidden pure mud that sustains life”
With the verse "will emerge lactose" and the subsequent one, it is clear that he is referring to the Vaccine (from the Latin cow or bovine), in other words, “lactose”. And let’s see why it “emerges lactose”:
At the time smallpox had become a tremendous plague that scourged mainly Europe and America, and in a quantitatively serious way; and although it was hard to find a method that could fight it, it came to pass that one Edward Jenner, while visiting a farm, paid acute attention to the words of a young woman who said: “I will not get sick because I'm vaccinated” (this was because the girl milked cows.) From this reasoning, Jenner made a thorough investigation and proved that all those who performed this task had been immunized, infecting themselves with "silly smallpox."
Silly smallpox is a slight manifestation of smallpox that almost always occurs in the udders of cows. Jenner then noticed that those who had previously suffered bovine smallpox – a cow disease that causes only minor symptoms in humans - showed resistance when exposed to the disease; therefore, he removed pus from a pustule on the hand of Sarah Nelmes, a milkmaid who had contracted smallpox from her milk cow.
When Nostradamus infers the concept "troubled", he is referring to those who are nervous, and that nervousness suggests that they are not very safe, and that even makes more sense given the previous verses of this quatrain. They "will not dare touch it", i.e., they will be afraid to use those microbes or living beings ignoring that it is only "clay", or rather, that they are part of us too. This fear of being inoculated, so to speak, is given historically by the idea, during those years, that disease can not be transmitted among living creatures. Such idea was anathema to many.
We are in 1796, when Edward Jenner on May 14, 1796 inoculated a boy named James Phips (who had not suffered the illness), and as a result of such experiment, that young man was immune.
Despite the good results of the experience with the young James, scientists of the time, other doctors, and even the London Medical Association opposed Jenner’s treatment (which was even banned from the latter), with the argument that those who used that method, would end, little by little - resembling a cow. ("In vain the troubled will not dare touch it, ignoring to be basically clay.") The quatrain has been clarified.
XXII
What will live and not having any sense,
Will come to mortally harm its creator:
Autun, Chalons, Langres and the two Seines,
Hail and ice will make great curse.
Original
Ce que vivra & n'ayant ancien sens,
Viendra leser mort son artifice:
Austun, Chalan, Langres & les deux Sens,
La gresle & glace fera grand malefice.
What Nostradamus says in his verse "What will live and not having any sense” is curious; in short, it is something that lives and has no sense" or rather something that has life and has no purpose at all. But let’s know that the word "ancien" that the quatrain translates as "any" is translated as old, ancient. Past. The concept "ce" is a demonstrative pronoun. We can change the concept "sense" within the context for reason, judgment, knowledge. Also we can change the concept "live" for “exist”, Let's change what we have and improve the syntax:
"This that will exist and not having (an) ancient knowledge"
Then he adds "Death will come to mortally harm its creator". The term "creator" can be replaced by author, inventor, architect, artist. Let’s join both verses to see what we have: we can change the concept "will come" for “will arrive”, “will emerge”, “will reveal”.
"This that will exist and not having (an) ancient knowledge,
Will mortally hurt its creator”
Now, let’s know that the first two verses, according to the punctuation structure that is observed in the original quatrain, form a main unit or rather a clause or main image. Then after the colon, with the third and fourth verses, Nostradamus builds a secondary image or paraclause derived from the main clause.
The paraclause begins with the verse: "Autun, Chalons, Langres and the two Seines." When referring to Chalons he means Chalons-en-Champagne, which is a commune of France, from the Department of Marne, in the Champagne-Ardennes region. When he refers to Autun, this is a French town and commune in the Bourgogne region. And when he refers to Langres, this is a town and commune in eastern France, in the Champagne-Ardennes region. And when he mentions "the two Seines", he is referring to Paris.
So that we are all aware of how Nostradamus works, let’s know that he usually names cities to interpret the regions or places related with those regions. Nostradamus knows that doing so helps him to hide what he trying to tell us. And that infers that he does not use secret numbers or esoteric combinations, etc. So, let’s relate these cities. As an exception I have written Champagne-Ardennes only once.
"Burgundy, Champagne – Ardennes and Paris
The last verse says: "La gresle & glace fera grand malefice." “Hail and ice will make great curse”. If we put hail and ice together it is obvious that we are facing a weather combination. But the concept "curse" ("Malefice") has a somewhat magical connotation, and can be replaced by sorcery, enchantment. It is obvious that we are not facing hail and ice. Let’s know that hail is a solid, whitish ice formation. Ice chunks of various sizes that precipitate from the clouds in the form of heavy rain. What we really have is that they fall from the sky, are white, and fall intensely. The idea that follows, accompanied by the concept "and", I mean "ice”, is a redundancy with respect to hail.
But let’s know something concrete: "gresle" can be inferred as hail, because it derives in the French word grêle and grêler, but is also a sound adjective which translates as sharp, and can also be applied in reference to hail, like “damage” and “devastate”. And "Glace", which translates as ice, figuratively can be applied to freeze, paralyze, stupefy. Therefore, we can deduce that Nostradamus uses a term that refers to heaven on one side, (because hail falls from the sky), to sharpness in terms of sound, and indirectly to devastate, wipe out; and with the concept "glace", he implies freezing, paralyzing.
Now let’s show all the verses we have:
This that will exist and not having (an) ancient knowledge,
will mortally harm its creator:
Burgundy, Champagne - Ardennes and Paris
The sharp sky will devastate and cripple with great witchcraft
Let’s go to history:
The first uses of chemical agents as weapons were in the form of irritating tear gas, rather than fatal or disabling poisons. Although it is generally believed that gases were first used in World War I, there is vaguely founded information that the Spartans used sulfur dioxide gas in the V century BC ("This that will exist and not having (an) ancient knowledge)
During the First World War, the French were the first to use gas, using grenades filled with tear gas (xylyl bromide) in August 1914. Germany replied in kind in October 1914, firing fragmentation shells filled with chemical irritants against French positions at Neuve Chapelle, although the concentration achieved was so small that it was barely noticed.
However, it was the beginning. ("Will come to mortally harm its creator")
Let us learn something first: the river Marne is a river of France, a tributary of the Seine that irrigates an area east and southeast from Paris. Its course is about 525 km. The river gives its name to the department of Marne; during World War I, two major battles were fought along the River. ("The two Seines")
And let us know even more: the river Marne is born in the Langres Plateau ("langres"), and that plateau (Plateau de Langres-Châtillonais), for your further knowledge, lies in the metropolitan areas of Central-Eastern France between Burgundy (Autun) and Champagne-Ardennes (Champagne - Ardennes "). The river continues its course northward until it turns west between Saint-Dizier (Champagne-Ardennes) and Châlons-en-Champagne ("Chalons"), joining the river Seine at Charenton, near Paris ("the two Seines"). Therefore, the river Marne is "the two Seines"
Therefore, this quartet is unequivocally related to the first use of chemical weapons in World War I (main clause or main image), and specifically to the Battle of the Marne and the first one, because it is related to the gas. (Paraclause or secondary image)
The battle of the Marne or the First Battle of Marne was fought between September 5 and 9, and marks the failure of the Schlieffen plan and the beginning of the war of positions ("and ice will make big curse”)
The Germans reached the Marne and threatened to corner the eastern armies on September 2nd. Thanks to the first aircraft, which made their appearance in the military field as mere observers, ("Hail" (sound) sharpness) the French realized the threat. General Joffre created a new army in Paris. In addition, a German radio broadcast was detected thanks to the 24-m antenna placed at the tip of the Eiffel Tower. That broadcast, which by mistake was not sent encrypted, revealed that the German army was stalled due to the exhaustion of its troops.
On September 5th, the Sixth French Army, commanded by General Maunoury, began fighting the German First Army, commanded by General von Kluck, between Nanteuil-le-Haudouin and Meaux. General Joseph Gallieni, Governor of Paris, gathered all the taxis in the city (about 600, mostly Renault AG) in order to urgently send 6000 reservists to the battlefield, where General Maunoury suffered a violent German attack on September 7th.
German troops, more vulnerable, less numerous and far away from their bases, relented and withdrew between September 10th and September 13th. The strength of the advance was contained dramatically with the Battle of the Marne. Both sides entrenched themselves in a meandering line of fortified positions stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss border with France. This line remained substantially unchanged for nearly the entire war. In an effort to break this deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new military technologies, including poison gas and tanks. But only after the adoption of improved tactics, some degree of mobility was recovered. (“And ice will make great curse ") But we still need more. This year, I mean1914, also saw the introduction of specifically modified aircraft for air combat and bombardment. ("And the hail ...")
And still more: once again, the French were the ones to conceive adapting the first war aircraft out of their reconnaissance fleet. Precisely, on April 1st, the French pilot Roland Garros became the first pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft using machine guns which fired forward through the propeller blades. This was achieved by reinforcing the blades so that the bullets would bounce off them.
Several weeks later, Garros was forced to land behind German lines. His plane was captured and sent to the Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker, which soon developed a substantial improvement: the gear switch on the machine gun was synchronized with the propeller, so that bullets were fired only when the propeller was not in the firing line. ("This that will exist and not having (an) ancient knowledge will come and mortally harm its creator")
This improvement came into service quickly, and Max Immelmann was the first pilot to record the first death, by using it on August 1st.
This initiated an arms race, since both sides kept developing better weapons, better engines, etc., until the end of the war. It also inaugurated the cult of the aces, the most famous of which was the Red Baron, but that is another quatrain and another story. The quatrain has been clarified.
XXIII
The third month, with the sun rising
Boar Leopard, in the field of Mars to fight:
Leopard lying extends his eye to heaven,
And sees an eagle brought down around the sun.
Original
Au mois troisiesme se levant le soleil
Sanglier, Liepard au champ Mars pour combattre:
Liepard laiss, au ciel extend son oeil,
Un aigle autour de Soleil voit s'esbattre.
Being literal, "The third month” is March. And "sun rising" refers to the morning. But the obvious is not typical of Nostradamus. We can change the concept "rise" for lift, soar, elevate. And we know that for Nostradamus, the symbol "sun" is associated, at the absence another too obvious context, with the monarchy in France. The term "sun" from the last verse is part of a metaphorical figure, hence the term "sun" from the first verse follows this same line. And in turn expresses the typical word play that Nostradamus uses. Let’s change what we have from the first verse:
"The third month, when the monarchy rises"
Now, we know that on February 26th, 1815, taking advantage of a distraction from the French and British guard, Napoleon Bonaparte embarked in Portoferraio with about 600 men, and landed on March 1st near Antibes. ("The third month, the sun rising"). Except in Provence (which was always prone to the Bourbon monarchy), he was welcome everywhere, attesting the attractiveness of his personality in contrast to the absence of it in the case of the Bourbons. Without firing a single shot in its defense, his little band grew to become an army. Ney, who had said that Napoleon should be taken to Paris in an iron cage, joined him with 6000 men on March 14th. Five days later, the Emperor entered the capital, where Louis XVIII had fled in haste.
The second verse says: "Boar leopard, in the field of Mars to fight"
We know that the leopard is an animal whose habitat is not in Europe but in Africa and Asia, and the basic color of its hair is reddish-yellow. Likewise, the boar is a very common animal in Europe, especially in the Iberian Peninsula. The best place on earth to hunt a trophy boar is Russia. The Russian wild boar is essentially the same animal that is found throughout Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia. Its uniqueness is the size of the trophies. The harsh winters with heavy snowfall allow only the survival of larger specimens,
The second verse of the quatrain translated into Spanish does not respect a comma between boar and leopard. This is important because it could be interpreted as a single entity. And it could be two. We must be careful.
Also in the second verse we see that there is a redundancy of meaning; when saying "Field of Mars", it is literally obvious that this is a combat or battlefield. Therefore we deduce that the concept "Field of Mars" has a different intention.
But beyond this vision, the concrete intention is that it alludes to the Champ de Mars in Paris. The Field of Mars (Champ de Mars, in French) is a large public garden located on the seventh district, between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the Military Academy to the southeast. Its name comes from the Roman Campus Martius (Roman god Mars, the god of war) or Champs of March. On July 14th, 1790, the feast of the Federation was celebrated there to commemorate the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event considered as the starting point of the French Revolution. In short, let’s change "field of Mars" by Paris. And the verse results thus:
"Wild boar, leopard in Paris to fight"
Obviously when reading it, one word seems to be missing, but in virtue of Nostradamus’ constant manipulation of the rhyme, (combattre: - esbattre.) we must improve the syntax.
"Boar, Leopard for combat in Paris"
Let’s also know that the idea "Boar, Leopard" does not mean that these two symbols will confront each other, but rather that they are willing to fight; but it could also represent a single character.
The concept “laiss” in the third verse derives in the current French word "laisse," which translates as strap. So the concept “liepard (en) laisse" is translated as Leopard bound, tied. Also, the concept "oeil" is translated as eye. However, its translation is adapted, ("its look"); obviously, if the leopard is tied, bound, and somehow "extends its eye to heaven," it is a representation; or else it is because it has fallen; or it could be a prayer.
It is curious that he repeats "un," because if he uses the term Eagle, it is understood as singular. The article "un" is an indefinite article and is used to refer to something not defined or nonspecific. Thus the concept "Eagle" refers to an eagle different to the one that everyone is used to symbolize.
The concept “Esbattre” has two compounds, "es" "battre". The first is indicative of a verbal derivation of the verb “to be” - and “battre” is “to defeat”. The term "voit" derives in "Vois", which combined with "se" is translated as is seen, or be seen.
Thus the verse would say: "An eagle around the sun (which) is seen defeated"
Finally, the last two verses refer to us the sad end of both. I mean Napoleon and Marshal Nely. Let's see.
We know that Michel Ney (“Boar, Leopard ") was born in Saarlouis, on January 10, 1769 - and died in Paris on December 7, 1815; he was also called “Rougeaud" (“the ruddy”), or the red or reddish lion because of his skin tone and hair color ("Leopard"). He was also called "le Brave des Braves” (“the bravest of the brave") for his bravery in combat. He was Marshal in the French army and fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. This character takes heroic part in Napoleon's campaigns against the Russian Empire ("boar") and in the campaigns in Spain ("boar")
On March 6, 1815, Ney was appointed by Marshal Soult, War Minister of Louis XVIII, and received in audience by the monarch himself ("Boar"). He was informed that Napoleon had escaped from Elba and landed on the 1st, so he received direct orders to "make him see reason and stop him." Ney, eager to win the royal favor, answered that he would bring Napoleon “in an iron cage", and left Paris (“Boar, Leopard for combat in Paris"). Since the route that Bonaparte was taking was unknown, four bodies were organized against him, but Ney was the one who would finally find him in Lones-le-Saunier.
When he realized he was near the Emperor, Ney began to doubt and perceived a great stir among his men. Napoleon was received with singing wherever he went, and had already gathered 14,000 supporters to accompany him on his way to Paris. Ney's doubts peaked when on March 14 he received a letter through General Bertrand. Opening it, he realized that was drafted and handwritten by Napoleon himself, whom, in affectionate terms, wrote: "Let me welcome you as I received you after the Battle of the Moskva."
Ney spent the night thinking and at dawn the next day he made a double resolution. On the one hand, he read a proclamation to his army exalting his loyalty to Napoleon, recognizing him as the sole and legitimate ruler of France, and ended it shouting "Long live the Emperor!" among the cheers of the soldiers and officers, who quickly hoisted the tricolored flag. However, on the other hand he answered Bonaparte through a private letter, where he wrote: "I will join you, but not through consideration or affection for your person. I’d rather be your prisoner than advocate for your cause, if you are going to rule as a tyrant. Swear to me that in the future you will only devote yourself to right the wrongs you've caused ..."
When Napoleon was defeated, dethroned and exiled for the second time in the summer of 1815, Ney was tried for treason before a court-martial. Louis XVIII ordered the mission to the military officers who felt hostility for Ney, especially those with whom he had discussed during the war in Spain. The veteran Marshall Moncey was the only one who refused to take part in the trial, so the King dismissed him. Nevertheless, Ney could have expected mercy when judged by soldiers, but he thought the opposite and renounced that right.
He requested being tried by the House of Lords in full, despite knowing it was full of monarchists. When he was granted this request, he wrote to his attorneys: "Gentlemen, you have rendered me great service. Those people would have killed me like a rabbit. "
During his trial at the House, he declared: "When I had him near me (Napoleon) I acted with my heart and lost my head ... But how could I stop the sea water with my hand?" Ney was declared guilty of high treason and sentenced to death by 128 votes in favor and 33 against.
On November 20, 1815 he was led by a patrol to the back wall of the Luxembourg Gardens. He refused to wear a blindfold over his eyes and was granted the right to give the orders to shoot, to which he added: "Soldiers, I reject before God and the Fatherland the trial that condemns me! I have fought a hundred times for France and never against it. I appeal to men, to posterity, to God. Aim straight to the heart. Vive la France! ". ("Leopard lying extends his eye to heaven”)
Finally on June 25, after Waterloo, Napoleon received from Fouché, president of the newly formed provisional government, the suggestion that he should leave Paris. He then retired to Malmaison, Josephine's former home, where she had died shortly after the first abdication. On June 29, the approach of the Prussians, who had orders to capture him, dead or alive, made him retreat to Rochefort, where he hoped to embark for the United States ("an eagle"). The final reinstatement of Louis XVIII (“the boar") took place after the departure of the Emperor. Napoleon, however, never came to America, but was captured by British forces and sent to exile at the island of St. Helena, where he spent the rest of his life "An eagle around the sun (which) is brought down" Interesting, isn't it? The quatrain has been clarified.
XXIV
In the new city, thoughtful about condemning,
The bird of prey has offered itself to heaven:
After the victory prisoners are pardoned,
Cremona and Mantua great evils will have suffered.
Original
A cit neufue pensif pour condemner,
L'oisel de proye au ciel se vient offrir:
Apres victoire captifs pardonner,
Cremone & Mantoue grands maux aura souffert.
The first verse contains the word "pensif", which correctly translates as "thoughtful"; however, such concept suggests that someone is being "thoughtful." It is not applicable to objects. The term "New City" indicates that Nostradamus does not know it. That is why this quatrain involves regions that are beyond the world known by Nostradamus
We can replace the term "condemn" by punish, penalize, harm. We can synonymize the term "Thoughtful" by reflexive, worried, concerned. Let’s change what we have:
"In the new city, concerned about punishing"
The second verse says: "The bird of prey has offered itself to heaven". We know the literal translation of the verse says, "has come to offer itself" (“se vient offrir"). As it derives from “come”, the concept "has come" can be synonymized as “presents itself”, “appears”. Let’s change what we have and add the first verse:
"In the new city, concerned about punishing,
The bird of prey has come from heaven to offer itself"
We know that a bird does not present or offer itself; therefore we are faced with an assignment. Let´s agree that the concept "oisel" derives in the French word "oiseau", which translates as bird. However, the combination "L'oisel de proye" is translated as "L'oiseau de proie", which translates as a bird of prey. We'll see what the sense of that "bird of prey is. Let’s change once more:
"In the new city, concerned about punishing
The bird of prey has come from heaven to offer itself"
The first and second verses end in the colon and are grouped in a main image or main clause. The third and fourth verses are grouped after the colon, in what I call image paraclause or detached image from the main image.
Let’s know that if someone is "concerned about punishing”, obviously we are facing some sort of crime or offense.
The third verse, or rather the line that starts paraclause, tells us: "Prisoners to be pardoned after the victory”. If there are "captives" ("captifs") and if there is "victory" ("victoire"), this means that we are in the presence of a conflict which has defeated and victorious parties. Therefore we can change, respecting the context "captives" by “prisoners”, and "pardon" for exempt, condone, forgive. Now let’s add the first two verses.
"In the new city, concerned about punishing,
The bird of prey has come from heaven to offer itself:
After the victory, prisoners are pardoned"
The last verse takes us back to Italy: “Cremona and Mantua will have suffered great evils"
Cremona is a city in the Lombardy region. And Mantua also corresponds to a city from the same region of Lombardy in Italy. Two cities in northern Italy; the last stronghold of the forces of Mussolini and their German allies. Let us recall that in the northern part of the Italian peninsula Italy's fascist republic was formed, based in Salo. In Italy the Allies take Verona, Mantua, Reggio, Parma and Cremona, (April 26, 1945) ("Cremona and Mantua will have suffered great evils.").
German forces surrender or retreat to Germany. The surrender of the forces from Wolff is enforced according to secret agreements. On May 1, SS General Karl Wolff, after prolonged unauthorized negotiations with the Allies and the Commander in Chief of the German Tenth Army, General Heinrich von Vietinghoff, ordered all German forces in Italy to cease hostilities and signed a surrender document which stipulated that all German forces in Italy surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on May 2nd. At that time, Hitler had committed suicide and the war in Europe had ceased.
It is obvious that the prisoners of war were not pardoned immediately, although many had already surrendered. Now, let's talk about Hermann Wilhelm Goering ("The bird of prey"): he was a German political and military member and a prominent figure of the Nazi Party, Hitler's deputy and supreme commander of the Luftwaffe ("The Bird").
Göring’s management as director of air operations was often ineffective, because he promised many results that were not able to be met by the Luftwaffe, which brought disrepute. Hitler did not have the courage to relieve him of his functions in honor to his past services and the reputation he enjoyed among the German people. While his pilots were fighting to death in the skies, Goering lead a sumptuous lifestyle paid with funds from the national income. Goeing used Martin Bormann as speaker before Hitler and in turn, the latter kept him informed about all the events in Hitler's environment
After the war, in 1945, Goering was captured by the victorious forces in the castle that he used as prison.
Wanting to adopt the role of German top figure, he organized an interview with the allied press, and even wanted to be received by the U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower.
This was not tolerated by the occupation authorities and after a final detoxification treatment from morphine he was tried at the Nuremberg trials for a multitude of crimes, including crimes against humanity and conspiracy to wage an assault war.
During the Nuremberg trials, Goering was the first of 24 defendants to take the bench and attempted to subordinate the other convicts trying to become their leader, so he was separated from them.
Goering, already in the process of recovery from his addiction, proved to be at his best and tried to rival with the intelligence of Attorney Robert H. Jackson, managing to cause a great impression in the press and set himself as an Aryan ideal emulating Hitler's rhetoric.
For a while, Jackson considered pleading incompetency ("In the new city, considering to condemn.”) However, the prosecutor gradually displayed documents and graphic evidence (films) and witness statements, and finally managed to check mate Goering. The strongest evidence that finally sank Goering was his participation in the so-called Wannsee Conference, which decided to accelerate the Final Solution.
Despite having defended himself, as well as Nazism and the late Hitler, the evidence produced and recognized by Goering himself about conspiracy, promotion of activities to favor war crimes and crimes against humanity was conclusive. At the end of the trial, Goering was defeated and answered only in monosyllables, verbiage, or pretended not to hear.
He was finally sentenced to death by hanging, mainly for being a promoter of crimes against humanity and also for constituting, for the victors, a prominent figure of Nazism that had to be eradicated at all costs from Germany.
Goering and Wilhelm Keitel rejected death by hanging because that punishment was only inflicted on traitors against Germany, and tried to be executed by a firing squad because of their high military rank; their petition was denied.
Just two hours before the execution, Goering committed suicide, swallowing a potassium cyanide capsule on Oct. 15, 1946. ("The bird of prey has offered itself to heaven"). How he got the cyanide has remained a mystery, because Nazi leaders were under strict surveillance. His wife Emmy was under suspicion, although he may also have bribed the guards, among several other theories. He left a letter in his cell, in which he assured that he had been the owner of his own destiny ("The bird of prey has offered itself to heaven"). The quatrain has been clarified.
