Free Goering by Roger Manvell Page B

Eve, and the Tiroler Hof gave them a party. Hitler’s sister Paula was also a constant visitor. Carin had caught a feverish chill over Christmas, and the reaction to the strain under which she had been put made her illness worse. Goering kept himself going with morphine. By February 3, their wedding anniversary, Carin was somewhat better, and Goering managed to give her a portable typewriter, which delighted her and encouraged her to write more letters home.
    Goering’s first assignment after his recovery was an invitation to speak to a group of nationalists at Innsbruck, but by February he was taken up with the organization of the party in Austria, following instructions received from Hitler, who was now in prison awaiting trial. Hitler refused to let Goering return, as he had offered to do, to stand trial alongside his Leader. He preferred him to gather the party together in Vienna, holding meetings, taking up collections and working with Austrian Nazis such as Walter Riehl. The Goerings continued to live at the Tiroler Hof, occasionally managing to pay their way, but their money and property in Munich had been impounded by the Bavarian authorities.
    The trial in Munich of the leaders of the putsch began on February 26, and in April the news of the outcome reached Innsbruck: Ludendorff was acquitted, Hitler and the others, either in the dock or in exile, were declared guilty, and Hitler was to serve a five-year sentence in Landsberg fortress, though it was thought that his sentence was unlikely to last much more than six months. The trial had been a “soft” one, with Hitler acting aggressively throughout, his words filling the German press. Hess voluntarily returned from Austria to be his faithful companion in prison. In the fortress Hitler lived well, like some kind of guest; he spent the time in the composition of Mein Kampf. Goering appealed for an amnesty, but failed to achieve it. This was all the more galling because the Nazis did well in the April elections in Bavaria and were for the first time entitled to take seats in the Reichstag. Had Goering been allowed to return to Germany, Hitler might have been prepared to let him represent the party as a Reichstag deputy. Carin ventured back to Munich to try to free their property so that it could be sold to relieve their financial plight; she was unsuccessful. But on April 15 she visited Hitler at Landsberg and received from him a personal photograph inscribed, “To the honored wife of my S.A. commander.”
    However poor they were, the Goerings apparently chose not to show it. According to Hanfstaengl, they lived ostentatiously at their hotel and caused a great deal of resentment among the other exiles who had no means of support. Goering, apparently, had little conscience over money; he borrowed freely without attempting to pay back, as Hanfstaengl found out to his cost.
    Meanwhile, the authorities in Vienna were troubled about the disturbances Goering’s presence was causing in Austria. He and Carin were politely requested to leave. Goering’s leg was painful and Carin felt ill, but it seemed best to accept this further stage of exile with good grace. With the help of the manager of the Tiroler Hof they moved at the end of April for a brief stay at the Hotel Britannia in Venice; the managers were friends and the Goerings received privileged treatment. Carin went on sending sentimental letters to her mother. While she rested, Goering forgot his politics and became a student of art. He found the galleries inspiring and in these days of sight-seeing laid the foundations of his future interest in the treasures of art. In May they went through Florence and Siena to Rome, where they were to stay until the spring of 1925.
    In Rome Goering met Mussolini, whom he admired for having achieved in Italy what Hitler had just failed to do in Germany. He wanted to study fascism as well as art while he was there. He achieved an audience with Mussolini