Heinrich Himmler | |
|---|---|
 Himmler in 1942 | |
| 4th Reichsführer-SS | |
| In office 6 January 1929 – 29 April 1945 | |
| Deputy | Reinhard Heydrich |
| Preceded by | Erhard Heiden |
| Succeeded by | Karl Hanke |
| Chief of the German Police | |
| In office 17 June 1936 – 29 April 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Karl Hanke |
| Reichsminister of the Interior | |
| In office 24 August 1943 – 29 April 1945 | |
| Chancellor | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Wilhelm Frick |
| Succeeded by | Paul Giesler |
| General Plenipotentiary for Administration of the Reich | |
| In office 20 August 1943 – 29 April 1945 | |
| Appointed by | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Wilhelm Frick |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Additional positions | |
| January—March 1945 | Commander of Army Group Vistula |
| 1944—1945 | Commander of the Replacement Army |
| 1944–1945 | Commander of Army Group Upper Rhine |
| 1942–1943 | Acting Director of the Reich Security Main Office |
| 1939–1945 | Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood |
| 1933–1945 | Member of the Prussian State Council |
| 1933–1945 | Reichsleiter of the Nazi Party |
| 1933—1945 | Member of the Greater German Reichstag |
| 1930–1933 | Member of the Reichstag |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Heinrich Luitpold Himmler 7 October 1900[1] Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire |
| Died | 23 May 1945 (aged 44) Lüneburg, Germany |
| Cause of death | Suicide by cyanide poisoning |
| Political party | Nazi Party (1923–1945) |
| Other political affiliations | Bavarian People's Party (1919–1923) |
| Spouse | |
| Domestic partner | Hedwig Potthast (1939–1944) |
| Children |
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| Relatives |
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| Education | Technical University of Munich |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 1917–1918 (Army) 1925–1945 (SS) |
| Rank | |
| Unit | 11th Bavarian Infantry Regiment |
| Commands | Army Group Upper Rhine Army Group Vistula Replacement (Home) Army |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (German: [ˈhaɪnʁɪç ˈluːɪtpɔlt ˈhɪmlɐ] ; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German politician who was the 4th Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the German Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. He is primarily known for being a principal architect of the Holocaust.
After serving in a reserve battalion during the First World War without seeing combat, Himmler went on to join the Nazi Party in 1923. In 1925, he joined the SS, a small paramilitary arm of the Nazi Party that served as a bodyguard unit for Adolf Hitler. Subsequently, Himmler rose steadily through the SS's ranks to become Reichsführer-SS by 1929.
Under Himmler's leadership, the SS grew from a 290-man battalion into one of the most powerful institutions within Nazi Germany. Over the course of his career, Himmler acquired a reputation for good organisational skills as well as for selecting highly competent subordinates, such as Reinhard Heydrich. From 1943 onwards, he was both Chief of the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) and Minister of the Interior, which gave him oversight of all internal and external police and security forces (including the Gestapo). He also controlled the Waffen-SS, a branch of the SS that served in combat alongside the Wehrmacht in World War II.
As the principal enforcer of the Nazis' racial policies, Himmler was responsible for operating concentration and extermination camps as well as forming the Einsatzgruppen death squads in German-occupied Europe. In this capacity, he played a central role in the genocide of an estimated 5.5–6 million Jews and the deaths of millions of other victims during the Holocaust.[2] A day before the launch of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, Himmler commissioned the drafting of Generalplan Ost, which was approved by Hitler in May 1942 and implemented by the Nazi regime, resulting in the deaths of approximately 14 million people in Eastern Europe.
In the last years of the Second World War, Hitler appointed Himmler as Commander of the Replacement Army and General Plenipotentiary for the administration of the Third Reich (Generalbevollmächtigter für die Verwaltung). He was later given command of the Army Group Upper Rhine and the Army Group Vistula. However, after he failed to achieve his assigned objectives, Hitler replaced him in these posts. Realising the war was lost, Himmler attempted, without Hitler's knowledge, to open peace talks with the western Allies in March 1945. When Hitler learned of this on 28 April, he dismissed Himmler from all his posts and ordered his arrest. Thereafter, Himmler attempted to go into hiding but was captured by British forces. He committed suicide in British custody on 23 May 1945.
- ^ Manvell & Fraenkel 2007, p. 13.
- ^ Evans 2008, p. 318.