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[[Image:Himmler.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Heinrich Himmler]]

[[Image:Himmler.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Heinrich Himmler]]

'''Heinrich Himmler''' (1900-1945), was a German Nazi Party leader, head of the Schutzstaffel (Protective squadron; [[SS]]) and of the dreaded [[Gestapo]] (Secret state police). Starting from a junior position in the SS, by 1941 he was the second most powerful Nazi and designed many of the [[National Socialist]] programs. His loyalty to [[Adolf Hitler]] (until near the end), combined with his organizational skills, ambition, and his sadistic nature, made him one of the most notorious war criminals of [[World War II]]. As chief of police for all of Germany, Himmler was responsible for establishing concentration camps and death camps. Himmler oversaw the [[Holocaust]], the mass murder of 6 million Jews. During the war he built up the military strength of his SS, which became a de facto fourth branch of the German military. After Hitler dismissed him from all his offices in April 1945, Himmler was captured at war's end by the British Army. However, he committed suicide before the Allies could put him on trial for war crimes at the [[Nuremberg Trials]].

'''Heinrich Himmler''' (1900-1945), was a [[German]] [[Nazi]] Party leader, head of the Schutzstaffel (Protective squadron; [[SS]]) and of the dreaded [[Gestapo]] (Secret state police). Starting from a junior position in the SS, by 1941 he was the second most powerful Nazi and designed many of the [[National Socialist]] programs. His loyalty to [[Adolf Hitler]] (until near the end), combined with his organizational skills, ambition, and his sadistic nature, made him one of the most notorious [[war criminal]]s of [[World War II]]. As chief of police for all of [[Germany]], Himmler was responsible for establishing [[concentration camp]]s and death camps. Himmler oversaw the [[Holocaust]], the mass murder of 6 million [[Jew]]s. During the war he built up the military strength of his SS, which became a de facto fourth branch of the German [[military]]. After Hitler dismissed him from all his offices in April 1945, Himmler was captured at war's end by the [[British]] Army. However, he committed suicide before the Allies could put him on trial for war crimes at the [[Nuremberg Trials]].

==Background==

==Background==

Himmler was born near Munich on October 7, 1900. His father Gebhard Himmler was a teacher and his mother a Roman Catholic. Himmler was the middle child of the family. He had an older brother, Gebhard (born 1898) and a younger brother, Ernst (born 1905).

Himmler was born near [[Munich]] on October 7, 1900. His father Gebhard Himmler was a teacher and his mother a [[Roman Catholic]]. Himmler was the middle child of the family. He had an older brother, Gebhard (born 1898) and a younger brother, Ernst (born 1905).

A leading psychohistorian, UCLA Professor Peter Loewenberg, has attempted a retrospective psychoanalysis of Himmler's childhood and youth, using his diaries, shows him to have been systematic, rigid, controlled, and blocked of affect. His character structure was of the obsessive-compulsive schizoid type, meaning withdrawn emotionally from the external world and existing in a repressed internal psychic world. He used his diary to guard against feelings rather than to express them. The period 1919-22 was marked by acute identity diffusion. His sexual, social, vocational, and religious identities were in flux. The diary shows gender role confusion, a desire to emigrate from Germany, vacillation between animal husbandry and a bourgeois vocation, and strong conflict on the issue of dueling, which contravened his Roman Catholic faith. Himmler, as an adolescent, was a conventional rather than pathological anti-Semite. He acquired virulent anti-Semitism after 1919 because of his identification with nationalistic xenophobic paramilitary groups. He joined the Nazi Party in 1923 and the SS in 1925. Himmler became a professional bureaucrat par excellence. As Reichsführer-SS, he carried out the most sadistic orders without any show of feeling. Thus the flat, cold, emotionally colorless, adolescent Himmler became a writing desk murderer as an adult - a consistency that relates the child to the man.<ref>Peter J. Loewenberg, "The Unsuccessful Adolescence of Heinrich Himmler." ''American Historical Review'' 1971 76(3): 612-641. Issn: 0002-8762 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-8762(197106)76%3A3%3C612%3ATUAOHH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D Fulltext: in Jstor] and Werner T. Angress and Bradley F. Smith,  "Diaries of Heinrich Himmler's Early Years." ''Journal of Modern History'' 1959 31(3): 206-224. Issn: 0022-2801 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-2801(195909)31%3A3%3C206%3ADOHHEY%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23 Fulltext: in Jstor ]</ref><ref>Weale, (2010)</ref>

A leading psycho[[historian]], UCLA Professor Peter Loewenberg, has attempted a retrospective psychoanalysis of Himmler's childhood and youth, using his diaries, shows him to have been systematic, rigid, controlled, and blocked of affect. His character structure was of the obsessive-compulsive schizoid type, meaning withdrawn emotionally from the external world and existing in a repressed internal psychic world. He used his diary to guard against feelings rather than to express them. The period 1919-22 was marked by acute identity diffusion. His sexual, social, vocational, and religious identities were in flux. The diary shows gender role confusion, a desire to emigrate from Germany, vacillation between animal husbandry and a bourgeois vocation, and strong conflict on the issue of dueling, which contravened his Roman Catholic faith. Himmler, as an adolescent, was a conventional rather than pathological anti-Semite. He acquired virulent [[anti-Semitism]] after 1919 because of his identification with nationalistic [[xenophobic]] paramilitary groups. He joined the Nazi Party in 1923 and the SS in 1925. Himmler became a professional bureaucrat par excellence. As Reichsführer-SS, he carried out the most sadistic orders without any show of feeling. Thus the flat, cold, emotionally colorless, adolescent Himmler became a writing desk murderer as an adult - a consistency that relates the child to the man.<ref>Peter J. Loewenberg, "The Unsuccessful Adolescence of Heinrich Himmler." ''American Historical Review'' 1971 76(3): 612-641. Issn: 0002-8762 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-8762(197106)76%3A3%3C612%3ATUAOHH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D Fulltext: in Jstor] and Werner T. Angress and Bradley F. Smith,  "Diaries of Heinrich Himmler's Early Years." ''Journal of Modern History'' 1959 31(3): 206-224. Issn: 0022-2801 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-2801(195909)31%3A3%3C206%3ADOHHEY%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23 Fulltext: in Jstor ]</ref><ref>Weale, (2010)</ref>

He attended the Technical College in Munich and enlisted with the reserve battalion of the Eleventh Bavarian Infantry Regiment in late 1917. He served during [[World War I]] as a clerk and was disappointed he did not see any combat service before the war ended in November 1918. He joined the ranks of a nationalistic paramilitary group known as the Reichskriegsflagge (Imperial War Flag) in 1919. Its leader was future chief of the Nazi SA storm troopers, [[Ernst Röhm]]. This paramilitary group was closely affiliated with the [[Nazi Party]]. Himmler also joined the Nazi Party in August 1923. He took part in the [[Beer Hall Putsch]] of November 1923. After the failure of the Putsch to seize power, Himmler returned home after losing his job over taking part in the event. Soon after, he became a propaganda assistant in the Nazi Party, serving under Gregor Strasser in Bavaria. He then was promoted to being charge of the party office in the area. In 1925, Himmler joined the SS and by January 1929 he was appointed the fourth leader of the SS. He went on to become its longest and most influential leader. When he took over, it was made up of only 280 men and considered an elite bodyguard unit.<ref>Weale, (2010); Gerwarth (2011)</ref>

He attended the Technical College in Munich and enlisted with the reserve battalion of the Eleventh Bavarian Infantry Regiment in late 1917. He served during [[World War I]] as a clerk and was disappointed he did not see any combat service before the war ended in November 1918. He joined the ranks of a nationalistic paramilitary group known as the Reichskriegsflagge (Imperial War Flag) in 1919. Its leader was future chief of the Nazi SA storm troopers, [[Ernst Röhm]]. This paramilitary group was closely affiliated with the [[Nazi Party]]. Himmler also joined the Nazi Party in August 1923. He took part in the [[Beer Hall Putsch]] of November 1923. After the failure of the Putsch to seize power, Himmler returned home after losing his job over taking part in the event. Soon after, he became a propaganda assistant in the Nazi Party, serving under Gregor Strasser in Bavaria. He then was promoted to being charge of the party office in the area. In 1925, Himmler joined the SS and by January 1929 he was appointed the fourth leader of the SS. He went on to become its longest and most influential leader. When he took over, it was made up of only 280 men and considered an elite bodyguard unit.<ref>Weale, (2010); Gerwarth (2011)</ref>

Himmler created a powerful "state within a state" as the the SS acquired more than forty businesses with some 150 plants and factories. Together with money and valuables seized from Jews they paid for the Holocaust and financed the training and equipping of 38 SS divisions.

Himmler created a powerful "state within a state" as the the SS acquired more than forty businesses with some 150 plants and factories. Together with money and valuables seized from Jews they paid for the Holocaust and financed the training and equipping of 38 SS divisions.

At first Himmler's SS was underfunded because his enemies in the party controlled the money. As late as 1938, only 3,500 of 14,000 SS officers received monthly pay; the rest were volunteers. Himmler turned to the concentration camps--not yet killing camps--to raise money. Prisoners could be ransomed for a large sum; others had to pay for their keep. Factories were set up in the camps as the prisoners became slave laborers for commercial enterprises owned by the SS.  For example the Gesellschaft fur Textil- und Lederverwertung GmbH (Society for Textile and Leather Work, Ltd.), in Ravensbruck, the women's concentration camp, produced uniforms.<ref>Goldin (1998)</ref> The possessions were salvaged and resold from the Jews who were killed in the gas chambers.  SS officials took bribes from Jews and employers of Jews.

At first Himmler's SS was underfunded because his enemies in the party controlled the money. As late as 1938, only 3,500 of 14,000 SS officers received monthly pay; the rest were volunteers. Himmler turned to the concentration camps -- not yet killing camps -- to raise money. Prisoners could be ransomed for a large sum; others had to pay for their keep. Factories were set up in the camps as the prisoners became slave laborers for commercial enterprises owned by the SS.  For example the Gesellschaft fur Textil- und Lederverwertung GmbH (Society for Textile and Leather Work, Ltd.), in Ravensbruck, the women's concentration camp, produced uniforms.<ref>Goldin (1998)</ref> The possessions were salvaged and resold from the Jews who were killed in the gas chambers.  SS officials took bribes from Jews and employers of Jews.

==War years==

==War years==

In 1943 Himmler was appointed Minister of the Interior and strengthened his grip on the civil service and the courts.  The SS grew rapidly as Himmler sought a new human type, men keeping their various professional competences but each becoming a part of the intricate fabric of the SS.  To its police activities the SS added protection of the German Volk in Poland and elsewhere, their "blood" and their unity, and also the protection of the Nazi leadership. For Himmler the paradoxical mystical motif of his understanding was the SS's great struggle against what Himmler called the two pillars of evil, the Jews and the Slavs.

In 1943 Himmler was appointed Minister of the Interior and strengthened his grip on the civil service and the courts.  The SS grew rapidly as Himmler sought a new human type, men keeping their various professional competences but each becoming a part of the intricate fabric of the SS.  To its police activities the SS added protection of the German Volk in Poland and elsewhere, their "blood" and their unity, and also the protection of the Nazi leadership. For Himmler the paradoxical mystical motif of his understanding was the SS's great struggle against what Himmler called the two pillars of evil, the Jews and the Slavs.

===Holocaust===

===Holocaust===

==Finale==

==Finale==

As the Allied forces penetrated into Germany from east and west, Himmler opened negotiations for a separate peace with the U.S. and Britain. After this move failed, Himmler fled in disguise as Hitler disowned him. On May 21, 1945, Himmler, disguised as an German soldier, was captured by the British. Two days later, during a routine interrogation, Himmler removed his eyepatch, put on his spectacles and told the British officer who he was. He then commited suicide by biting down onto a concealed cyanide capsule<ref>Weale, (2010)</ref>; a sensible course of action, as he would certainly have been executed after the Nuremburg trials for his actions.

As the Allied forces penetrated into Germany from east and west, Himmler opened negotiations for a separate peace with the U.S. and Britain. After this move failed, Himmler fled in disguise as Hitler disowned him. On May 21, 1945, Himmler, disguised as an German soldier, was captured by the British. Two days later, during a routine interrogation, Himmler removed his eyepatch, put on his spectacles and told the British officer who he was. He then committed suicide by biting down onto a concealed [[cyanide]] capsule<ref>Weale, (2010)</ref>; a sensible course of action, as he would certainly have been executed after the [[Nuremburg trials]] for his actions.

He was buried in an unmarked grave. There are no monuments, and indeed everything he built was systematically eradicated.

He was buried in an unmarked grave. There are no monuments, and indeed everything he built was systematically eradicated.

==Commentary==

==Commentary==

Himmler was one of the most sinister of all the Nazi leaders. Millions were killed by men under his command.

Himmler was one of the most sinister of all the Nazi leaders. Millions were killed by men under his command.

*[He was] meticulous, calculating and efficient, [with an] astonishing capacity for work and irrepressible power-lust. [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/himmler.html]

*[He was] meticulous, calculating and efficient, [with an] astonishing capacity for work and irrepressible power-lust. [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/himmler.html]

Hitler depended upon Himmler's loyalty up to nearly the end when it was discovered Himmler was negotiating with the Western Powers. <ref>  [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no1/article04.html Reichsführer Himmler Pitches Washington] Sweden, John H. Waller, Studies in Intelligence, CSI Publications, Unclassified Studies Volume 46, Number 1, 2002.</ref>  [[Friedrich Hayek]], an Austrian economist, in a chapter entitled "Why the worst get on top" of his contemporaneous ''Road to Serfdom'' observed "Advancement within a [[totalitarian]] group or party depends largely on a willingness to do immoral things. The principle that the end justifies the means, which in individualist ethics is regarded as the denial of all morals, in [[collectivist]] ethics becomes necessarily the supreme rule. There is literally nothing which the consistent collectivist must not be prepared to do if it serves ‘the good of the whole’, because that is to him the only criterion of what ought to be done." <ref>Friedrich A. Hayek, ''Road to Serfdom'', [http://www.iea.org.uk/files/upld-publication43pdf?.pdf  Why the worst get on top], pg. 43 - 49, Reader's Digest Condensed Version, April 1945.</ref> Himmler displayed the brutal nature of this collectivist mentality taken to its logical extreme wherein he explained,

Hitler depended upon Himmler's loyalty up to nearly the end when it was discovered Himmler was negotiating with the Western Powers. <ref>  [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no1/article04.html Reichsführer Himmler Pitches Washington] Sweden, John H. Waller, Studies in Intelligence, CSI Publications, Unclassified Studies Volume 46, Number 1, 2002.</ref>  [[Friedrich Hayek]], an [[Austrian]] [[economist]], in a chapter entitled "Why the worst get on top" of his contemporaneous ''Road to Serfdom'' observed "Advancement within a [[totalitarian]] group or party depends largely on a willingness to do [[immoral]] things. The principle that the end justifies the means, which in individualist ethics is regarded as the denial of all [[moral]]s, in [[collectivist]] [[ethics]] becomes necessarily the supreme rule. There is literally nothing which the consistent collectivist must not be prepared to do if it serves ‘the good of the whole’, because that is to him the only criterion of what ought to be done." <ref>Friedrich A. Hayek, ''Road to Serfdom'', [http://www.iea.org.uk/files/upld-publication43pdf?.pdf  Why the worst get on top], pg. 43 - 49, Reader's Digest Condensed Version, April 1945.</ref> Himmler displayed the brutal nature of this collectivist mentality taken to its logical extreme wherein he explained,

{{Cquote|Whether 10,000 Russian females fall down from exhaustion while digging an anti-tank ditch or not interests me only in so far as the anti-tank ditch for Germany is finished. <ref>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/himmler_remarks.html Reichsführer-SS Himmler speaking to SS Major-Generals, Poznan, October 4, 1943], Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression- Washington, U.S Govt. Print. Off., 1946, Vol. IV, p. 559. Retrieved from the jewishvirtuallibrary.org 06/16/07.</ref>}}

{{Cquote|Whether 10,000 Russian females fall down from exhaustion while digging an anti-tank ditch or not interests me only in so far as the anti-tank ditch for Germany is finished. <ref>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/himmler_remarks.html Reichsführer-SS Himmler speaking to SS Major-Generals, Poznan, October 4, 1943], Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression- Washington, U.S Govt. Print. Off., 1946, Vol. IV, p. 559. Retrieved from the jewishvirtuallibrary.org 06/16/07.</ref>}}

==Notes==

==Quotes==

<references/>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:Of all tyrannies, a [[tyranny]] sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most [[oppression|oppressive]]. It would be better to live under robber baron]]s than under omnipotent moral [[busybody|busybodies]]. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own [[conscience]]. [http://www.tsowell.com/quotes.html]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

==Bibliography==

==Bibliography==

[[Category:German History]]

[[Category:German History]]

[[Category:Holocaust]]

[[Category:Holocaust]]