Heinrich Himmler

{{Audio|de-Heinrich Himmler.ogg|Heinrich Himmler}} (October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. As Reichsführer-SS, he controlled the SS and the Gestapo, and was the leading organizer of the Holocaust. As founder and officer-in-charge of the Nazi concentration camps and the Einsatzgruppen death squads, Himmler was responsible for implementing the industrial scale murder of between six and twelve million of people. Among the victims were Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Communists, Slavs, and Catholic priests.

Peace negotiations, capture, and death

By 1945, Himmler's Waffen-SS numbered 800,000 members, with the Allgemeine-SS (at least on paper) hosting a membership of nearly two million. However, by the spring of 1945 Himmler had lost faith in German victory, probably partially due to his discussions with his masseur Felix Kersten and Walter Schellenberg{{fn|2}}, and came to the realization that if the Nazi regime was to have any chance of survival, it would need to seek peace with Britain and the United States. Toward this end, he contacted Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden at Lübeck, near the Danish border, and began negotiations to surrender in the West. Himmler hoped the British and Americans would fight their Russian allies with the remains of the Wehrmacht. When Hitler discovered this, Himmler was declared a traitor and stripped of all his titles and ranks. At the time of Himmler's denouncement, he held the positions of Reich Leader-SS, Chief of the German Police, Reich Commissioner of German Nationhood, Reich Minister of the Interior, Supreme Commander of the Volkssturm, and Supreme Commander of the Home Army.

Related Topics:
Waffen-SS - Allgemeine-SS - Felix Kersten - Walter Schellenberg - Britain - Folke Bernadotte - Sweden - Lübeck - Danish - Russia - Traitor - Volkssturm

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Unfortunately for Himmler, his negotiations with Count Bernadotte failed. Since he could not return to Berlin, he joined Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, who by then was commanding all German forces in the West, in nearby Ploen. Somehow, Hitler's orders concerning him never reached Dönitz. After Hitler's death, Himmler joined the short-lived Flensburg government headed by Dönitz but was dismissed on May 6, 1945 by its leader in a move he hoped would gain him favour with the Allies.

Related Topics:
Karl Dönitz - Flensburg government

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Himmler next turned to the Americans as a defector, contacting the headquarters of Dwight Eisenhower and proclaiming he would surrender all of Germany to the Allies if he was spared from prosecution as a Nazi leader. In a final example of Himmler's mental state at this point, he sent a personal application to General Eisenhower stating he wished to apply for the position of "Minister of Police" in the post-war government of Germany. Eisenhower, however, refused to have anything to do with him, and Himmler was subsequently declared a major war criminal.

Related Topics:
Dwight Eisenhower - War criminal

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Unwanted by his former colleagues and hunted by the Americans, Himmler wandered for several days around Flensburg near the Danish border, capital of the Dönitz government. Attempting to evade arrest, Himmler disguised himself as a member of the Gendarmerie in the hope that he could return to Bavaria, but was captured on May 22nd in Bremen, Germany, by a British Army unit. In captivity he was soon recognized. Himmler was scheduled to stand trial with other German leaders as a major war criminal at Nuremberg, but committed suicide in Lüneburg by swallowing a cyanide capsule before interrogation could begin. His last words were, "I am Heinrich Himmler!"

Related Topics:
Gendarmerie - Bremen - British Army - Nuremberg - Suicide - Lüneburg - Cyanide

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Some claims would later state that the man who committed suicide in Bremen was not in fact Himmler, but a double. Further statements by ODESSA claimed that Himmler has escaped to South America where he was running the reborn SS in exile. Such claims are dismissed, however, and most believe that Heinrich Himmler died by his own hand in 1945.

Related Topics:
Double - ODESSA - South America

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Feared by many, but respected by some of his colleagues {{fn|3}}, many historians have argued Himmler was more made by those who worked under him rather than by his own designs, although others note how he visited the concentration camps much more frequently than his job would have required, urging the SS men to increase atrocities and personally witnessing many mass shootings—unlike Hitler, who never visited one of the camps. He was survived by his wife and daughter Gudrun (Burwitz) (b. 1929), who still lives in Germany.

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