Heinrich Himmler (TNO:ANM)
Heinrich Himmler | |
|---|---|
 Himmler as Reichsführer-SS, 1938 | |
| Reichsführer of the Ordensstaat Burgund | |
| In office 26 February 1957 – 1 August 1972 | |
| Preceded by | Josef Grohé (as Reichskommissar of Belgium and North France) |
| Succeeded by | Adolf Heusinger (as Chairman of the Pact Commission for France) |
| Reichsführer of the Burgundian SS | |
| In office 26 February 1957 – 1 August 1972 | |
| Preceded by | Position established (Himself as Reichsführer-SS) |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| 4th [[Reichsführer-SS]] | |
| In office 6 January 1929 – 7 January 1957 | |
| Preceded by | Erhard Heiden |
| Succeeded by | Reinhard Heydrich (as Reichsführer of the German SS) Himself (as Reichsführer of the Burgundian SS) |
| Chief of the German Police | |
| In office 17 June 1936 – 7 January 1957 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Reinhard Heydrich |
| Reichsminister of the Interior | |
| In office 24 August 1943 – 7 January 1957 | |
| Preceded by | Wilhelm Frick |
| Succeeded by | Herman Göring |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Heinrich Luitpold Himmler 7 October 1900 Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire |
| Died | August 1972 (presumed) |
| Political party | Nazi Party (1923-1972) (Himmlerite) (1957-1972) |
| Other political affiliations | Bavarian People's Party (1919-1923) |
| Spouse | Margarete Boden |
| Children | 3, including Gudrun |
| Relatives | Gebhard Ludwig Himmler (older brother) Ernst Hermann Himmler (younger brother) |
| Education | Technical University of Munich |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | German Empire Nazi Germany Ordensstaat Burgund |
| Branch/service | Bavarian Army Schutzstaffel Burgundian SS |
| Years of service | 1917-1918 (Army) 1925-1957 (Schutzstaffel) 1957-1972 (Burgundian SS) |
| Rank | Fahnenjunker Reichsführer-SS |
| Unit | 11th Bavarian Infantry Regiment |
| Battles/wars | World War II, West Russian War |
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (7 October 1900 - unknown date of death, commonly believed to be August 1972) was a German politician and statesman who served as the dictator and only leader of the Ordensstaat Burgund from 1957 until 1972. He additionally served as the Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel from 1929 until 1957, (then the Burgundian SS until 1972) Chief of the German Police from 1936 to 1957 and as Minister of the Interior from 1943 until 1957. He was initially a leading member of the Nazi Party and was one of the main architects of the Holocaust.
Born to a conservative middle-class family in Munich in 1900, Himmler served as a member of a reserve battallion for Germany in late World War I, never seeing active service. He joined the Nazi Party in 1923 and participated in the Beer Hall Putsch, after which he joined the Schutzstaffel. Himmler was appointed Reichsführer-SS, the leader of the Schutzstaffel, by Adolf Hitler in 1929. Under Himmler's leadership, the SS became one of the largest and premier paramilitary groups of the Nazi Party in Germany. In his position as Chief of the German Police and Interior Minister, Himmler headed the Gestapo. He additionally controlled the Waffen-SS, the military branch of the Schutzstaffel. Himmler was intimately involved with and influenced the Racial policy of Nazi Germany. He was an architect and the overseer for the Holocaust and Generalplan Ost, which combined killed tens millions of people.
After World War II, Himmler's relationship with Hitler and the Nazi Party strained as the country began to stagnate. In 1957, Himmler attempted a coup of the German government during the West Russian War. He was relieved of all of his positions by Hitler and was assumed to be executed, but to avoid civil war, Hitler personally ordered the creation of the Ordensstaat Burgund out of the Reichskommissariat of Belgium and North France, which acted as a personal fiefdom for the Reichsführer in exchange for his withdrawal from German politics. Himmler headed Burgundy as its draconian dictator, establishing a cult of personality for himself and enacting his vision of Nazism known as the Burgundian System. Himmler sought to manipulate the world's nuclear powers into a nuclear holocaust, which according to him would result in the 'lesser races' of the Earth dying out and the 'Aryan race' survived. Despite working for 15 years towards this goal, this never came to fruition, and Himmler spent most of his leadership managing over a heavily unstable country.
After the Burgundian Spring, in which Burgundy collapsed, Himmler disappeared on 1 August 1972. He is presumed to have died within the month of August- his cause of death remains unknown to this day. The Ordensstaat did not survive the disappearance of its creator, and a German invasion resulted in the formation of a commission to restructure and rebuild the former territory of Belgium and North France. Historian John Toland referred to Himmler as "the most uniquely evil human being in our history", and he has consistently been ranked as one of the worst dictators.