According to the 1999 dated accompanying letter of provenance by Norbert Ertel, president of Adams & Spencer, Inc., this Hermann Goering presentation inscribed Mauser rifle was brought to the U.S. by Chicago native glider pilot Carl Gray of the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II and was purchased by Adams & Spencer, Inc. from Gray's son in October 1992. The initials on the trigger guard are that of Franz Gurtner, the Reich Minster of Justice from 1932 until his death in 1941. Goering's presentation inscription is featured on the silver oval stock inlay and reads, "Waidmannsheil/Weihnachten 1940" ("Good Hunting/Christmas 1940") above a facsimile of Goering's signature. A similar rifle owned by Goering is pictured in "The Commercial Mauser 98" on pages 267-268. The matted rib on the part octagon barrel is signed "L. SCHIWY, BERLIN S.W.68" and is fitted with a beaded blade ramp front sight and fixed notched rear sight. The claw mounted 6x scope was manufactured by Carl Zeiss. The casehardened Mauser 98 action and floorplate are lightly scroll and border engraved. An "eagle/N" commercial proof is stamped on the left side of the receiver ring. Relief engraved initials "FG" appear on the scroll engraved blued trigger guard. The action has double set triggers and a Greener safety. The nicely figured pistol grip stock features checkering in the grip area, a horn grip cap, an extendable cheekpiece, Goering's presentation oval inlay and solid recoil pad. Hermann Goering (1893-1946) was a fighter ace during World War I and the last commander of Jagdgeschwader 1, the fighter wing once led by Manfred von Richthofen, "The Red Baron". During the interwar years, Goering was appointed Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe, and he held this position until the final days of World War II. At the peak of his wartime career, Goering was appointed by Hitler to the rank of Reichsmarschall, making Goering senior to all other Wehrmacht commanders, but, as the war dragged on and the German military was pushed back towards Berlin, Goering's military and political influence was greatly reduced. Following his capture after the war, Goering was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials, but before he was hanged for his crimes, Goering committed suicide by ingesting cyanide. Franz Gurtner (1881-1941) played a crucial role in the rise of Adolf Hitler after the failed Bear Hall Putsch in 1923. Sympathetic to post-WWI right-wing extremists, Gurtner used his influence within the Bavarian judicial system to reduced Hitler’s five year jail term to only 9 months of incarceration in relative comfort and persuaded the court system to allow Hitler to speak in public again and give the Nazi Party a second chance. As the Reich Minister of Justice during the early years of the Third Reich, Gurtner was responsible for legalizing the murderous actions carried out on the Night of the Long Knives, packing the courts with right-wing judges, and establishing the court system that tried the Jews and Poles in occupied Poland. In short, Gurtner provided the legal foundation for Hitler’s heinous atrocities. Goering and Gurtner served together in Hitler's first cabinet.