On April 4, 2023, during the prime time program of the Georgian pro-Kremlin TV channel “Sezoni TV” (1,2), guest historian Dito Chubinidze spoke about MEP Viola von Cramon, claiming that her maiden name is Gehring, which makes her is a genetic and spiritual descendant of Luftwaffe Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring. The guest of the program also claimed that the purpose of von Cramon’s visit to Georgia was to implement what Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, Bormann and others did against humanity in the 30s and 40s of the twentieth century.
On March 15, 2023, a similar claim was voiced by a Georgian-language Facebook user, “Davit Loria,” who attached a screenshot of the Wikipedia article and photos of von Cramon and Göring to the post.
The claim that Viola von Cramon is a descendant of Hermann Göring is false. The high-ranking official of Nazi Germany and the MEP have different surnames, and there is no evidence that they are related. Before marriage, Viola von Cramon’s last name was Gehring, which, in fact, is spelt differently than Göring.
The claim voiced by historian Dito Chubinidze that Viola von Cramon’s maiden name was Gehring is, in fact, true, although the German spelling of the word is Gehring, which is different from the last name of Hermann Göring, one of the most famous figures of Nazi Germany.
As for Davit Loria’s post, he uses a screenshot of the Wikipedia article as a source, where von Cramon’s maiden name is marked by an arrow. In this article as well, Gehring, not Göring, is mentioned as von Cramon’s maiden name. Identical information can be found in the German Wikipedia article.
“Myth Detector” contacted the office of Viola von Cramon on the mentioned topic, where it was confirmed that there is no relation between von Cramon and Göring and that the surnames Gehring and Göring are different from each other.
Hermann Göring was the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force), head of the four-year economic plan, and Hitler’s declared successor in party and state positions. Göring was tried at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.
The association of Viola von Cramon with Hermann Göring serves the aim of discrediting the MEP. Chubinidze also mentions in the program that, in his opinion, von Cramon has the same goals in Georgia as Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, and others had in Germany in the 30s and 40s of the 20th century.
It is not the first case when false information has been disseminated on social media to discredit Viola von Cramon. In early April, after she appeared at a rally supporting Lazare Grigoriadis, Facebook accounts circulated an altered video claiming to show von Cramon under the influence of alcohol. For more information, see the article by “Myth Detector.”
About the Source
Facebook user “Davit Loria” often publishes information of anti-Western content. In November 2022, the user posted a video that he claimed to depict fraud during the US elections. See more in the “Myth Detector” article:
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