Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (October 7, 1900 — May 23, 1945) was the Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel, otherwise known as the SS, and one of the most powerful figures in Nazi Germany. In his capacity as the Chief of German Police he was also the head of The Gestapo. He is regarded by many historians to be one of the chief architects of The Holocaust along with his subordinate Reinhard Heydrich. Creepily enough, Himmler looked more like an amiable nerd than the head of one of the most terrifying armed forces in history.
One of the younger Nazis, he started out as a chicken breeder who carried the swastika flag during rallies. He has always been somewhat of a paradox for both historians and psychologists; despite damning millions to the gas chambers, and planning the further butchery and enslavement of tens if not hundreds of millions, Himmler hated the sight of blood—he repeatedly forced himself to watch recordings of the massacres he had ordered, and fainted in horror. However, despite this personal disgust for the realities of what he was ordering, he remained the key player of many of Nazi Germany's most evil crimes, in particular the Holocaust, painting the mass murders as "heroic" and "necessary" actions that would prove the heroism of the SS; he was also a highly intelligent bureaucrat and organizer, one of the reasons the SS was able to elevate itself into an elaborate and sophisticated State-Within-A-State, and helped to organize Nazi Party machinery in the 1920s and 1930s. Adolf Hitler considered him his most loyal and competent henchman, and Himmler's decision to negotiate (unsuccessfully) with the Allies was one of the things that drove Hitler to consider suicide.note
He was also probably the most notable Nazi (along with Alfred Rosenberg and to a lesser extent, Rudolf Hess) with an interest in esoteric mysticism, which has fueled many a Ghostapo story. The Nazis were varied in their religious views, some identifying themselves as Christians (of various denominations; Germany has had a sizable Protestant and Catholic population since the Reformation) and some not, but the official NSDAP policy was to strip Christianity of its "Judaic" elements in favor of an alternative, "positive" Christianity once they would be done with Jews and the war. Himmler instead sought to resurrect worship of Germanic pagan gods such as Wotan (Odin) and Thor and sponsored archeological digs inside Germany through the Ahnenerbe organization to prove the "superiority" of the German race. Many of his peers were critical of Himmler's preoccupation with Atlantian myths and occult rituals.
Despite being one of the primary ideological driving forces of the Third Reich's crimes, he was also one of the first individuals to throw these ideals out the window the moment it suited him. For example, when the war started to go downhill for Germany, he justified and even applauded the enlistment of Slavs, Asians, Muslims and even Indians in the SS, despite all four groups being very much part of the "untermensch" to the Nazis, his view of loyalty to the Fuhrer being an ultimate virtue was abandoned when it became clear Hitler would not give in, thus Himmler abandoned ship and tried to negotiate for peace and his own protection with the British, and finally in what must be the most sickening display of cowardice in history he tried to better his position during these "negotiations" by cheerfully telling a representative of the World Jewish Congress that after everything he had done, he wanted to "bury the hatchet" with the Jews by trading the lives of thousands of concentration camp inmates for guarantees he would be spared, while also claiming that the vast majority of inmates who died were killed by typhus and that the inmates of his concentrations camps had been treated humanely. In short, the death, misery, and suffering he had knowingly inflicted had all been for a delusional ideology which he never really cared about anyway, and he was all too happy to lie about actions he once deemed necessary.
Having never served during World War Inote , he volunteered to command the Army Group Vistula during the last months of the war as the Soviets were closing in on Berlin. Proving quite the General Failure, he soon buckled under the pressure and abdicated his command. After his denouncement by Hitler for the aforementioned peace offerings and the few remaining Nazi leaders who succeeded Hitler making it clear they wanted nothing to do with him either, he attempted to escape by posing as a Wehrmacht soldier until he was captured by British forces.note He apparently killed himself with a cyanide capsule before he could be questioned — although the exact circumstances are murky. If he had lived, he would have undoubtedly stood trial in Nuremberg before his inevitable execution, easily meeting the standard for all 4 of the major charges.note On a minor note, he is one also one of the few leading Nazis who is known to have kept a journal throughout the war (along with Goebbels) after parts of it were found in Russian military archives in 1990 and 2013.
Himmler's daughter Gudrun Burwitz became a leading figure in German neo-Nazi movements her entire adult life until her death in 2018 at age 88note .
As a key figure of World War II, Himmler has appeared in many documentaries and works of fiction with varying degrees of artistic license.
Documentaries:
- Triumph of the Will (1935). The medal scene that ends Star Wars is a direct lift from a scene here where Hitler, Himmler and Viktor Lutze lay a wreath at the memorial for President Hindenburg.
- Night and Fog (1956) takes its title from Hitler's Nacht und Nebel order Himmler carried out for political activists and resistance helpers to be imprisoned, deported, murdered, or made to disappear.
- The World At War (1973-1974) features an interview of his adjutant, Karl Wolff, and features Himmler's capture and suicide.
- De Nuremberg à Nuremberg (1989) briefly touches upon the genocide of Romani he ordered.
- Heinrich Himmler - The Decent One (2014) is entirely about him, based on a cache of letters and diary entries that were purchased by the director's parents.
Appearances in media:
- In the Alternate History comic book Block 109, Himmler only appears in the prologue, briefly becoming Führer after Hitler is assassinated in 1941 and having executed all his rivals for "treason". Himmler subsequently dies (by "accident"), likely by Heydrich's hand, in 1947.
- Hitler's Madman (1943): Probably the earliest depiction of him. Portrayed by Howard Freeman.
- Operation Eichmann (1961): Portrayed by Luis van Rooten.
- Days of Betrayal (1973): Portrayed by Josef Vorel.
- The Eagle Has Landed (1976): Himmler is behind the plot to kill Churchill, instructing Colonel Radl to investigate and put together the mission on his own, faking Hitler's signature and intending to use Radl as the Fall Guy if anything goes wrong. When the plot inevitably fails, Himmler has Radl executed for "insubordination". Portrayed by Donald Pleasence.
- Die Wannseekonferenz (1984): Heydrich has a brief conversation with Himmler on the phone, briefing him on the outcome of the conference. However, he does not appear in person.
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989): Himmler briefly appears at the Nazi book burning rally in Berlin along with Hitler and the rest of the party leadership. Portrayed by Ronald Lacey, who had previously portrayed Gestapo agent Arnold Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- Downfall (2004): Himmler leaves Berlin right before the Red Army arrives, privately announcing his intent to negotiate with the Allies behind Hitler's back. When word of this gets back to the increasingly paranoid Hitler, he has a massive Villainous Breakdown, then orders Himmler to be stripped of his ranks and executed. Portrayed by Ulrich Noethen.
- My Führer (2007), comedy in which Hitler needs a speech coach to help with his depression. He phones Himmler so he can take him out of a concentration camp and have it brought to him. Portrayed by Ulrich Noethen once again.
- Valkyrie (2008): Himmler makes a brief appearance when Stauffenberg visits Hitler's Berghof residence to get him to sign off on the mobilization orders necessary to enact the army coup. Himmler is a big concern for the plotters, who believe he will immediately seize power in the event of Hitler's death and undo all their efforts. Portrayed by Matthias Freihof.
- The Man with the Iron Heart (2017): He's seen working on a chicken farm early on, appoints Heydrich as head of the SS counter-intelligence (SD) and shows up for a Due to the Dead moment for Heydrich at the end. Portrayed by Stephen Graham.
- T-34 (2018): Himmler appears in person to meet with the fictional Standartenführer Klaus Jäger and the non-fictional General Heinz Guderian to discuss the creation of the new panzer unit under Jäger's command, giving him free reign to use concentration camp prisoners as cannon fodder. Portrayed by Robinson Reichel.
- The Last Vampire: Heinrich Himmler is one of the major antagonists of the book The Sacred Veil. He serves as a follower of the main antagonist of the series, Tarana/Satan. He is depicted as an icy cold sociopath who murdered his own parents as a child and as the de facto architect of The Holocaust. He tries to torture heroine Sita in Auschwitz concentration camp to gain knowledge of Time Travel from her.
- World War: Himmler is a secondary character in the Colonization trilogy, serving as Chancellor of the Reich after a stalemated Alien Invasion leaves Nazi Germany in control of most of Europe. He continues Hitler's genocidal policies and starts making moves to reclaim Poland from The Race even at the risk of nuclear war.
- 'Allo 'Allo!: Herr Otto Flick of the Gestapo often reminds everyone that he is the godson of Heinrich Himmler and often uses said connection to get his way. He never appears in person, but Flick has a photograph of the Reichsfuehrer hanging in his office.
- The Man in the High Castle: Himmler has a major role in the series starting at the end of season 2, portrayed by Kenneth Tigar. Still alive twenty years after the Nazis won, Himmler ultimately succeeds Hitler as Fuhrer of the Greater Nazi Reich and proceeds to implement a cultural revolution in America while grooming John Smith as his heir.
- The End of the Night is a 2022 play about Himmler's 1945 meeting with Norbert Masur
where he infamously stated that he wanted to "bury the hatchet" with the Jews and was Just Following Orders.
- Himmler is the leader of Burgundy in The New Order Last Days Of Europe, a hellish country like Oceania in Nineteen Eighty-Four but much, much worse.
- Himmler shows up at the end of Return to Castle Wolfenstein just in time to witness the destruction of Heinrich I by B.J. Blazkowicz and therefore the utter failure of an occult black magic plan of his, then he leaves the scene to report to the Führer.
