Hermann Göring told his fellow Germans, “If planes drop bombs on Germany, you can call me MEYER.” What does this mean?
Jeff
? ? ?
Dear Jeff,
Although it has been cited in several variations, the original quotation was given by Resichsmarschall Hermann Göring in a speech to his Luftwaffe in September 1939, after France and Britain declared war and the industrial Ruhr district fell within range of their aircraft. “No enemy bomber can reach the Ruhr,” he assured them. “If one reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Göring. You can call me Meyer.” Meyer and its other regional spellings is a very common name in Germany. Some sources, for added irony, later re-quoted his boast as “If one enemy bomb falls on Berlin, you can call me Meyer.” The fact that Allied bombers did pound the Ruhr, however, was reason enough for Germans to start calling air raid sirens “Meyer’s trumpets,” among numerous other sarcastic references.
Sincerely,
Jon Guttman
Research Director
World History Group
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