# Did Goering say this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2004, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020 "2004-06-18T11:32:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Faldage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Faldage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faldage)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/1 "2004-06-18T11:32:24Z")
I’m putting this in GQ because all I’m interested in is whether it is a legitimate quote. I received it in an email today, so it carries with it all the validity associated with such things: > [@](#): > > Naturally the common people don’t want war: Neither in Russia, nor in > England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after > all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is > always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, > or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. > Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the > leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being > attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing > the country to danger. It works the same in any country. > > **-Hermann Goering, President of the Reichstag, Nazi Party, and the Luftwaffe > Commander in Chief** ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/2 "2004-06-18T11:42:15Z")
[Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/quotes/goering.htm) says it’s true. Also a nice commentary from [Google answers](http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=235519). ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/3 "2004-06-18T11:42:26Z")
Snopes says that, yep, he said it alright. Specifically, it was a comment he made while he was in jail during the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/4 "2004-06-18T11:43:58Z")
Yes, and according to Snopes, he said it at the Nuremburg Trials. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/5 "2004-06-18T11:49:24Z")
Wow, a triple simulpost. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those before. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/6 "2004-06-18T11:51:52Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Yes, and according to Snopes, he said it at the Nuremburg Trials. [nitpick]He didn’t really say it _at_ the Trials. The trials were taking place, but he said this during a private conversation with a psychologist.[/nitpick] Also, I’ve seen this quote misattributed to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi’s minister of propaganda. But it was Goering who said it. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/7 "2004-06-18T12:14:49Z")
Ha ha! _Smoked_ you guys! And with an additional cite. _buffs knuckles on shirt while that Clint Eastwood/Sergio Leone spaghetti Western music plays in the background_ ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/8 "2004-06-18T12:51:37Z")
Yes, it’s an authentic quote, though I’m not sure what it’s supposed to prove… except that, after spending months spreading a bogus quote, supposedly from Julius Caesar, the anti-war Left needed some new quote to “prove” that G.W. Bush was evil and manipulative. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/9 "2004-06-18T13:32:55Z")
And sometimes you really are attacked, and sometimes so-called “peacemakers” really do expose the country to danger. Without commenting on the current situation, World War II held many examples of this. So **astorian** is right, this quote doesn’t demonstrate anything. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/10 "2004-06-18T13:42:17Z")
And the part of the OP which says that all that was wanted was authentication without accompanying commentary, that was what? Chopped liver? Or are the rules suspended if you can bash the “anti-war Left”? ---
**Author:** ![Faldage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Faldage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faldage)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/11 "2004-06-18T14:10:55Z")
Thank you all and shame on me for not snoping it in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/12 "2004-06-18T14:21:56Z")
He probably said that a lot. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/13 "2004-06-18T14:25:23Z")
Excuse my post. I opened the thread and it went no further than this: I’m putting this in GQ because all I’m interested in is whether it is a legitimate quote. I received it in an email today, so it carries with it all the validity associated with such things: Quote: which I’m sure he did say a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/14 "2004-06-18T15:33:59Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > And the part of the OP which says that all that was wanted was authentication without accompanying commentary, that was what? Chopped liver? Or are the rules suspended if you can bash the “anti-war Left”? Whenever I hear the word “chopped liver” I reach for my revolver. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/15 "2004-06-18T15:39:53Z")
Fortunately for you, given the “no death threats” rule here at the Dope, I get the allusion. ;j ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-goering-say-this/251020/16 "2004-06-18T16:49:59Z")
Asked. Answered. Closed. **DrMatrix** - GQ Moderator