Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945), also known as the "Father of the Concentration Camps", was born October 7, 1900. Himmler commanded the SS troops and headed the Gestapo. Along with Adolf Hitler, they became the two most ruthless men in Nazi Germany. He was born to middle class parents. His mother was a homemaker and his father was a tutor for the royal family. Though he was a weak, sickly child, Himmler wanted to be a soldier. He was drafted into the Bavarian Army in 1917, but did not serve in the front. After the war, he studied agriculture at Munich Technical University and earned a diploma. He participated in many activities orchestrated by right wing extremist groups. He even participated in Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch in Munich in 1923. He soon joined the Nazi Party and became the propaganda chief.

In 1927, Himmler met Margerete Concerzowo, a Polish nurse. They married the next year. After they sold the nursing home that Margarete owned, the couple bought a farm near Munich. They had a daughter together, Gudrun.

In 1929, Heinrich Himmler was appointed as commander of the German SS troops. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Himmler took over and expanded the Gestapo (secret police). Himmler answered directly to Adolf Hitler. His assignment was to "Germanize" the occupied areas, and to deport all of the undesirables. This included Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, etc. They were in search of a "racially pure" national community. Hitler gave Himmler more authority to handle the "population problems". The entire German population was screened for "Aryan" racial purity. Himmler's goal was for the SS to be the elite of Germany. He screened marriages of SS members and set down strict rules. Himmler was adamant about producing a Master Race. They were to be a race of tall, blond and blue-eyed elite people. Anyone who did not fit into this mold would be exterminated. The reason Himmler gave for sacrificing these people was that it was necessary for the future of the German people. He maintained that the Jews were the cause of too much trouble in Europe.

At a meeting in 1942 called the Wannsee Conference, 15 top Nazis met to discuss The Final Solution. This was Nazi code for the extermination of all the Jews. Before this meeting, the job was for the SS men to travel through Europe rounding up the undesirables and forcing them to leave Germany and resettle someplace else. The Final Solution said that the SS would now round them up and transport them to Poland into Labor Camps and Concentration Camps. The Final Solution planned o keep the conditions at the camps so bad, that the people would die in large numbers. If they were to old or too young to work they would immediately be killed.

Himmler insisted on the secrecy of these camps and he ordered the SS soldiers not to photograph the dead. He raised money for the war effort by removing the gold teeth of the prisoners and of the dead bodies. Toward the end of the war, Himmler began to doubt Hitler and the Germans winning the war. He attempted to negotiate with the Allies. He offered to trade Jews for favor from the Allies, and his role in the war crimes. When Hitler learned of Himmler's plot against him, he ordered Himmler's arrest. Himmler tried to flee the country, but was captured by the British. He later committed suicide.

Bibliography

"Heinrich Himmler." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.
Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.:Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

"Himmler, Heinrich (1900-1945)."Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction. Ed.
John Merriman and Jay Winter. Vol. 3. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. 1319-1321.Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale.Nova Southeastern Univ. 15 May 2008 http://0-gogalegroup.com.novacat.nova.edu/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=novaseu_main.

"Heinrich Himmler." People of the Holocaust. U*X*L, 1990.
Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.:Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC