A sentinal appeared carrying one of Goering’s fine leather cases. ’I felt you should see this, sir.’ He opened it to reveal the big- gest collection of pills I had ever seen in my life. There were approximately twenty thousand pills in the case that Goering claimed were for a heart ailment. He would take them by the handfull, 20 in the morning and 20 at night. They were Paracodin a German syn- thetic drug used when morphine was not available. Also found among his clothes and personal effects were several ’tiny vials of Potas- sium Cyanide’. Examined each vial had enough cyanide to bring in- stant death to a dozen men. One of these vials, Goering managed to keep concealed for over a year until he committed "suicide with it only hours before he was to be hanged.

"As well as his ’secret weapons’, Herr Goering’s valuables listed on the inventory and deposited under lock and key in the Gun room, were: 1 gold Luftwaffe badge; 1 gold Luftwaffe badge with diamonds; 1 deskwatch; 1 travelling clock by Movado; I large personal toilet case; 1 gold cigarette case, inlaid with amethyst and monogrammed by Prince Paul of Yugoslavia; 1 silver pill-box; 1 gold and velvet cigar-case; 1 square watch by Cartier, set with diamonds; 1 gold chain, gold pencil and cutter; 3 keys; 1 emerald ring; 1 diamond ring; 1 ruby ring; 1 semi-precious buttons; 1 small eagle with di- amond chips; 1 diamond A/C brooch; 4 cuff-links with semi-precious stones; 1 gold pin (evergreen twig); 1 pearl stick-pin; 1 gold stick- pin with swastika of diamond chips; 1 watch fob (platinum, onyx stones, diamond, inlaid AC insignia); 1 personal seal (in silver); 1 medal Pour le Merite; i Iron Cross, class I, 1914; 1 Gross Kreuz; 1 gold Cigarette lighter; lwristwatch; 2 old Norse collar buckles; 1 brass compass; 1 fountain pen inscribed ’Hermann Goering’; 1 sil- ver cigar cutter; 1 brooch; 1 silver watch; 1 set of lapis-lazuli cuff buttons; 1 silver box, heart-shaped; 1 platinum Iron Cross; 1 gilded pencil; I large Swiss wristwatch; 81,268 Reichmarks."

After the trial, those defendants who were sentenced to death were isolated from the others. On the day before their execution their best clothes and uniforms (less insignia) were pressed and returned to them. At 10:45 the evening of 14 October 1946 Goering took his cyanide vial and committed suicide. Shortly after mid- night on October 15th the others were marched off to the gallows and executed. Again I quote from Col. Andrus:

"At 4:00 a.m., the bodies were loaded aboard two heavily guarded lorries which swung out of the prison towards Munich. Scores of pressmen, who had been waiting all night outside the prison in the rain, set off after them. An escort vehicle, however, swung across the road and sent the press cars back under threat of fire. The lorries continued on with their macabre load to a secret destina- tion: DACHAU. The terrible ovens that had claimed so many lives were once more lighted and the bodies of the men who had filled them tossed inside. Then their ashes were raked out, collected and secretly thrown into a river.

"One more important duty remained. I wanted to make absolutely sure that none of Goering’s huge collection of jeweled insignia would remain to be glorified by an imitator. I had every piece of jewel-encrusted decoration torn apart. The precious metals were melted and the stones put together. They were handed over, unrec- ognizable so far as origin was concerned, to the new German econ- omy. The rest of his inventory of valuables was given to his widow."

NOTE: The gold evergreen twig mentioned in the inventory list is the symbol of the German Hunting Society of which Goering was the head. The terms AC and A/C, I believe, refer to Air Corps or Luftwaffe insignia. I had never heard of a Platinum Iron Cross un- 16 til reading Goering’s inventory list. Shortly after WWII Coi. Andrus retired and became a Protestant Minister. He did not write his book until the late 1960’s. He taught for a time at the University of Puget Sound, and after his death, several years ago, his two trunks of souvenirs and all the papers of his military career were given to the college and/or the Military Museum at Fort Lewis, Washington, where they are on dis- play. In these trunks were supposed to be the collar tabs, shoul- der boards, ribbon bars and some censored letters of all the de- fendants at the trials. In talking with members of his family and the curator of the museum, no one seems to know the whereabouts of these items. They were seen and verified some three years before his passing but ’were somehow overlooked or misplaced in his estate. Both his father and grandfather were Colonels in the U.S. Army, as were his son and nephew. Five generations of Colonels. What a story that would make.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOVIET AWARDS BY: IGOR V, VICTOROV There had been no classification of the Soviet awards until July 3, 1979. The numerous decrees of the Government concerning orders and medals of the USSR dealt with procedure of awarding people, various bonus given tO the persons awarded, etc. The first decree issued on September 16, 1918 established the first order of Soviet Russia -the Order of the Red Banner of the R.S.F.S.R. Only on May 7, 1936 the first General Regulations concerning orders were adop- ted. At that time there had been instituted only five orders (Or- der of the Red Banner, Order of the Red Banner of Labour, Order of Lenin, Order of the Red Star and Order of the Badge of Honour), and no medal.

According to the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adop- ted on July 3, 1979 all the awards are divided into the following groups:

(i) The Highest Degrees of Merit:

i. Title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. 2. Title of the Hero of Socialist Labour. 3. Title of Hero-Town and Hero-Fortress. 4. Title of Mother-Heroine. (2) Orders for Revolutionary, Labour Merits, Merits in Defense of the Socialist Motherland, Merits in Development of Friend- ship and Co-operation among the Peoples, Merits in Strength- ening Peace and other merits: I. Order of Lenin (Highest award in the USSR). 2. Order of October Revolution. 3. Order of the Red Banner of Labour. 4. Order of Friendship of Peoples. 5. Order of the Badge of Honour. 6. Order of the Labour Glory (3 Classes). (3) Orders for Merits in Defense of the Country and other Mil- itary Merits:

i. Order of Victory (Highest Military award). 17 2 Order of the Red Banner. 3 Order of Suvorov (3 Classes). 4 Order of Ushakov (2 Classes). 5 Order of Kutuzov (3 Classes). 6 Order of Nakhimov (2 Classes). 7 Order of Bogdan Khmelnitzky (3 Classes). 8 Order of Alexander Hevsky. 9 Order of the Patriotic War (2 Classes). i0 Order of the Red Star. II Order For Service to Motherland in the Armed Forces (3 Classes). 12. Order of Glory (3 Classes).

(4) Orders for Mothers of Many Children: i. Orders of Mother-Heroine. 2. Order of Glory of Motherhood (3 Classes). (s) Medals of Extraordinary Distinctions: I. Medal of the Golden Star (Hero of the Soviet Union). 2. Medal of Hammer and Sickle (Hero of Socialist Labour).

(6) Medals for Labour Merits:

i. Medal for Valiant Labour. 2. Medal for Labour Distinctions. 3. Veteran of Labour Medal.

(7) Medals for Military Merits and Defense of Motherland:

I. Medal for Valour. 2. Ushakov Medal. 3. Medal for Battle Distinctions (for Battle Merits). 4. Nakhimov Medal. 5. Medal of Partisan of the Patriotic War (2 Classes). 6. Medal for Distinctions in Frontier Defense. 7. Medal for Distinctions in Military Service (2 Classes). 8. Veteran of the Armed Forces Medal. 9. Medal for Strengthening of the Combat Co-operation. (8) Medals for Merits in Economic Achievements:

i. Medals for Restoration of Metallurg~cal Industry of the South of Russia. 2. Medal for Restoration of Coal Mines of the Don Coal Min- ing Fields. 3. Medal for Reclaiming Virgin Lands. 4. Medal for Constructing Baikal-Amur Railway Line. 5. Medal for Development of Non-Black Earth Zone of the Russian Federation. 6. Medal for Development of Oil-Gas Fields of Western Si- beria.

(9) Medals for Mothers of Many Children:

i. Medal of Motherhood (2 Classes).

(lO) Medals for Merits in Carrying out Civilian and Service Du- ties: i. Medal for Excellent Service in Preserving Public Order. 2. Medal for Valour in Fire. 3. Medal for Saving Life in the Water. 18