Goring's SS Driver Permit

Recently discovered in a veteran's safety deposit box was an SS Vehicle Permit issued by the office of Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler to Hermann Goring, head of the Luftwaffe and Reichsmarshall of the greater German Reich.

The permit is dated "Berlin, den 5. Juni 1942" and was issued for the authorization of the distinguishing blue light on the official military staff automobile of Reichsmarshall Hermann Goring with the vehicle identification number of "I A 206368."

The blue distinguishing light was used only in urgent necessity. The permit was to be in Goring's possession at all times and was to be produced by him upon demand of any SS-Police official. The reverse of the permit is stamped and signed by an officer of the SS- Police.

The reverse of the permit also has a four-and-a-half-line handwritten request by Goring, ending it with his -full signature and handwritten title-Reichsmarshall. Goring writes (translated from German):

I am returning this permit to the highest office of Himmler with the request that I be issued a new permit that will allow the use of the blue distinguishing light on my personal automobile as well as my military official staff car. Hermann Goring Reichsmarshall

Goring was born in 1893. He served in World War I as a fighter pilot scoring 22 victories in which he received the highest honor of the Pour Le Merite. He joined the Nazi Party in 1922 and was wounded in the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. By 1933 Goring was second in command after Adolf Hitler and was in charge of the Gestapo, but turned it over on April 20, 1934 to Himmler, thus making Himmler chief of the Gestapo. In 1935 Hitler appointed Goring as the Commander of the Luftwaffe (Air-Force). In April 1945 Hitler, thinking Goring betrayed him, put him under house arrest. He was captured and put on trial at the Nuremberg Trials and found guilty of war crimes, being sentenced to death by hanging. On the morning of Oct. 15, 1946, the day he was to be executed, Goring swallowed, a cyanide capsule and committed suicide.

The vehicle permit belonging to Goring was taken from Himmler's Berlin office along with 13 photos from Himmler's personal photo album which have never been published before. There are many with handwritten notations by Himmler on the reverse of the photos.

These items were taken from Himmler.'s office by an officer on his staff. At the end of the war the SS-officer gave the photos to his daughter. Marly years later she married an American and moved to the United States. Her husband had no use for the photos or permit and gave them to a friend of his who collected guns. They laid for many years in his safety deposit box until he contacted me. I purchased the photos, permit and a Christmas card sent by Hitler in December 1944, in the original envelope, all of which originated and came from Himmler's office in Berlin. This is one of the most historical finds in many years of two of the most powerful people of the Third Reich - Hermann Goring and Heinrich Himmler.

Don Boyle is a noted authority and author of "SS -Totenkopf H. Himmler Honor Ring 1933-1945" and is a life member to the prestigious MAX Show.

Don Boyle, "Himmler's Personal Photos, Goring's Driver's Permit Discovered", Military Trader, 1998