Heinrich Himmler

Reichsleiter 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 (1900-10-07)7 October 1900[1] Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Died	23 May 1945(1945-05-23) (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	Margarete Boden ​ (m. 1928)​
Domestic partner	Hedwig Potthast (1939–1944)
Children	Gudrun Helge Nanette
Relatives	Gebhard Ludwig Himmler (older brother) Ernst Hermann Himmler (younger brother)
Education	Technical University of Munich
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire Nazi Germany
Branch/service	Bavarian Army Schutzstaffel
Years of service	1917–1918 (Army) 1925–1945 (SS)
Rank	Fahnenjunker Reichsführer-SS
Unit	11th Bavarian Infantry Regiment
Commands	Army Group Upper Rhine Army Group Vistula Replacement (Home) Army
Battles/wars	World War II
Heinrich Himmler's voice Heinrich Himmler explaining Nazi views on racial purity (Recorded October 1943)

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 Nazi Party of Germany, and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, primarily known for being a main architect of the Holocaust.

As a member of a reserve battalion during the First World War, Himmler did not see active service or combat. He joined the Nazi Party in 1923 and the SS in 1925, and in 1929 Adolf Hitler appointed him Reichsführer-SS. Over the next sixteen years, Himmler developed the SS from a 290-man battalion into a million-strong paramilitary group. He was known for good organisational skills and for selecting highly competent subordinates, such as Reinhard Heydrich in 1931. From 1943 onwards, he was both Chief of the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) and Minister of the Interior, overseeing all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo (Secret State Police). He also controlled the Waffen-SS, the military branch of the SS.

Himmler's interest in occultism and Völkisch topics influenced the development of the racial policy of Nazi Germany, and he also incorporated esoteric symbolism and rituals into the SS. He was the principal overseer of Nazi Germany's genocidal programs, forming the Einsatzgruppen and administering extermination camps. In this capacity, Himmler directed the killing of some six million Jews, between 200,000 and 500,000 Romani people, and other victims. A day before the launch of Operation Barbarossa, Himmler commissioned the drafting of Generalplan Ost, which was approved by Hitler in May 1942 and implemented by the Nazi regime, killing approximately 14 million people, mostly Polish and Soviet citizens.

Late in the Second World War, Hitler briefly appointed Himmler as military commander and later Commander of the Replacement (Home) Army and General Plenipotentiary for the administration of the entire Third Reich (Generalbevollmächtigter für die Verwaltung). Specifically, he was given command of the Army Group Upper Rhine and the Army Group Vistula. After Himmler failed to achieve his assigned objectives, Hitler replaced him in these posts. Realising the war was lost, Himmler attempted to open peace talks with the western Allies without Hitler's knowledge, shortly before the end of the war. Hitler learned of this, dismissed him from all his posts in April 1945, and ordered his arrest. Himmler attempted to go into hiding but was detained and arrested by British forces and died by suicide in British custody on 23 May 1945.