Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler played a leading role in the Nazi party, as leader of the SS  and one of the masterminds behind the Holocaust, He was the cause of mass genocide and Terror throughout the entirety of World War II. On October 7, 1900, Heinrich Himmler was born in Munich, Germany. He was born into a middle-class family of conservative Catholics. (“Heinrich Himmler | Holocaust Encyclopedia.”) In 1913, he and his family moved away to a small town about 45 miles out of Munich — called Landshut — after his father took a job as an assistant principal. Ever since he was young Himmler was a patriotic man, during World War I he imagined himself as an officer out on the front lines and the honor and satisfaction he would have by serving his country (“Heinrich Himmler | Holocaust Encyclopedia”.) In 1919, Himmler graduated high school and went to attend The Technical University of Munich to study agriculture. (“Heinrich Himmler: Key Dates | Holocaust Encyclopedia”.) Then, in 1922, Himmler graduated and earned his degree. Only a year later in 1923, Himmler committed his full life to the Nazi party, trying to idolize Adolf Hitler. (“An Architect of Terror: Heinrich Himmler and the Holocaust.”)

The first major thing that Himmler did in the Nazi party was March in the Beer Hall Putsch,  which was an attempt to overthrow the German government (“Heinrich Himmler | Biography, Crimes, Death, & Facts.”) About five years later, in 1928 Himmler married his wife Margarete Boden. Only a year later, Hitler personally appointed Himmler as chief of the SS Officially becoming one of Hitler's main Elite bodyguards (“Heinrich Himmler: Key Dates | Holocaust Encyclopedia.”) Over the next three years, the Nazis work hard to gain control over the German government, and they achieve their goal in 1933 when they appointment Hitler as Chancellor of Nazi Germany (“Heinrich Himmler: Key Dates | Holocaust Encyclopedia”.) Throughout the entirety of this time, Himmler had been working hard to expand the SS and also got appointed head of police in Munich, Almost right after that he became head of all police units outside of Prussia(“Heinrich Himmler | Biography, Crimes, Death, & Facts.”) Hitler was then finally appointed as head of all police units, and leader of the Gestapo. Then, a mere three years later Germany invaded Poland officially beginning World War II. 

Later this year, Himmler Creates The Reich Security main office and begins to plan the eradication of Jews throughout Europe. Furthermore, he was appointed by Hitler himself to be Commissioner of German ethnic stock and was now allowed to put in policies for the population in their newly taken land of Poland. (“Heinrich Himmler: Key Dates | Holocaust Encyclopedia.”) About 2 years later Hitler,  Himmler, and a bunch of others finally decided to begin the physical execution and annihilation of Jews throughout Europe. Shortly after, military and police all over German territories begin shooting at Soviet Jews. Hitler, in July 1941, Gave Himmler the responsibility of racial Control Slowly inching towards their goal of the eradication of Jews in Europe. Hitler begins to invade Jewish settlements in the Soviet Union From December 1941 to August of 1942, And then, finally, with permission from authorities, Himmler puts in place killing centers in Polish Germany (“Heinrich Himmler: Key Dates | Holocaust Encyclopedia.”) Right here is the point where Himmler starts to show his involvement in the security of race and World War II eventually starting the Holocaust. We see how Himmler and Hitler slowly engineered this plan into life and created concentration camps officially beginning the holocaust. 

In 1944, It became evident to Himmler that the Germans were not going to come out on top in this war. He thought that the Nazis must be preserved and must go on to survive so he tried to negotiate a surrender with the Allies behind Hitler's back. Unfortunately, Hitler found out and immediately stripped Himmler of all duties and ordered his arrest immediately (“Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) | American Experience | Official Site.”) Later in this year, Hitler committed suicide. (“Heinrich Himmler: Key Dates | Holocaust Encyclopedia.”) Almost immediately after Hitler dies, Himmler, who still believes that Nazis should be preserved and survive, tries to write another agreement with the Supreme Court of the Allies. However, the Allies classified him as a severe war criminal (“Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) | American Experience | Official Site.”) Then, shortly after, Nazi Germany signed the surrender document officially ending World War II.  Not much later, Himmler was captured by Russians Under a fake identity who then turned him over to the British where he ended up confessing his real identity. Then, in 1945 while undergoing a body search, he killed him by biting on a cyanide capsule hidden inside of his mouth (“Heinrich Himmler | Holocaust Encyclopedia.”) 

As you can see, Himmler was an absolutely twisted and terrible person. Nevertheless, he was highly effective and organized the killing of 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust that he orchestrated during World War II. He was a ruthless chief of police and all German territories during World War II and truly believed that the idealism of Nazis was true. As we saw, he tried to surrender to the Allies in hopes of keeping the Nazi party alive (“Heinrich Himmler | Biography, Crimes, Death, & Facts”). Overall, Himmler was a cold-blooded, racist Nazi leader whose Twisted ideologies ended up crafting the Terrible events that took place during World War II which we know today as the Holocaust. 

Works Cited

Nicholson, Esme. “A Heinrich Himmler Documentary, In His Own Words.” NPR, 17 February 2014. Accessed 31 October 2024.

Sonnenschein, Mara. “In Memory of the Girl in the Red Coat: Heinrich Himmler's Annotated Volumes of Mein Kampf.” Museum of Jewish Heritage, 16 June 2022. Accessed 31 October 2024.

Heinrich Himmler: A Life from Beginning to End. Hourly Histories, May 15, 2023. 

“Heinrich Himmler Biography: The Greatest Betrayal in History.” YouTube, 24 May 2018. Accessed 7 Jan. 2020.

“Inside Nazi Leader Heinrich Himmler’s WW2 Journals.” YouTube. Accessed 5 May 2024.

‌Military History. “Himmler: What Were the LAST Days of the SS Leader’s LIFE Like?” YouTube, 8 Sept. 2022,. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023.

Artist Statement

I chose Heinrich Himmler because he plays a very important role in World War II and his terrorizing actions aren’t recognized enough. Originally, my plan was to do a reenactment of every important event in his life, but after hearing about my peers’ projects, I decided to take a more comedic approach. Immediately, I thought of doing interviews for SS applicants, that went wrong. The most challenging part was filming, I would say on average, the three scenes that were filmed took about 20-30 tries each. Regardless of that, I loved the experience I had creating this video.