Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler was born on October 7th, 1900 in Munich, Germany. He was born into a middle class family and lived very comfortably. There were no psychological signs that pointed to cruelty or abnormality in the visible workings of his family. Himmler was described to have  “rat-like” appearance with his small eyes, thin lips, and his weak chin. He got married, but was a very unfaithful husband having many children out of wedlock. When WWI arrived, he served for a year in a Bavarian infantry regiment and later joined a rightist paramilitary organization where he met Hitler and also joined the National Socialists. In 1923, Himmler attended the Beer Hall Putsch and in the six years following the failed Putsch, Himmler functioned in various places in the Nazi Party. Hitler was so impressed by Himmler’s loyalty that he assigned him to be the head of the SS.
Himmler is often called the architect of the Holocaust. Himmler was the supervisor of the day- to- day killing process. He was the most feared man of the Third Reich because he spread terror not only to the Jews, but to the general population also. Himmler silenced opposition to the Nazis by making people believe that his agents were everywhere, saw everything, and even heard private conversations. The original duty of the SS was to protect Hitler during public appearances and membership consisted of about 300 men when Himmler first took over. The SS was prepared to do any job no matter how repulsive and became the instrument of the Holocaust. Himmler was also very obsessed with using the SS to advance the Aryan race. Himmler believed that Aryan blood must be nurtured and inferior blood, such as Jewish, Gypsy, or Slavic blood, must be prevented from polluting the purity of the Aryan race. Along with inferior races, Himmler also killed people with physical and/or mental distortions. These people were considered “unfit to live” and were killed off so that the perfect and pure Aryan race could take over. In order to create this pure race, Himmler created a program called Lebensborn, or fountain of life.  This program captured racially perfect young children from conquered countries and gave them to German Aryans to further the race. At the height of his power, Himmler commanded a virtual empire. He was the head of the SS, Chief of the German Police, Gestapo, and Later the Minister of the Interior.
Himmler was directly responsible for six million deaths in concentration camps and for the deaths of over 46 million Europeans throughout the war. Himmler also was responsible for expanding the SS from only 300 men to about 50,000 men in just three years. Himmler spread fear all across the country and did all the dirty work. He forced his men to do disgusting deeds in the name of the Fuehrer.  Overall, he had a huge impact on the course of the Holocaust and was the reason for the horrible destruction and loss of innocent lives.