7 October: Heinrich Himmler

Born this date in 1900 was Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi official, Hitler's second in command. Ten things you might not know about him:

1. His full name was Heinrich Luitpold Himmler. His father was a teacher and once taught Prince Heinrich of Bavaria. Heinrich Himmler was named after the prince, who was also his godfather.
2. He was a shy child, preferring religion and mysticism to sports.
3. During the first world war, he was an officer cadet, but never saw any actual combat.
4. After the war, he went to college. He wanted to be a doctor, but his parents couldn't afford to put him through medical school so he studied agronomy, a branch of agriculture, instead. He worked as a Chicken farmer for a while and was involved in paramilitary activities.
5. In 1928 he married Margarete Boden, a nurse who was seven years older than him. They shared a common interest in herbal remedies and natural medicines. The couple had one daughter, named Gudrun, and fostered a boy called Gerhard von Ahe, who was the son of an SS officer who'd died. Himmler also had an affair with his secretary, Hedwig Potthast. She became his mistress and he fathered two more daughters with her.
6. In 1929 Himmler became Leader of the SS, which at the time numbered less than 200. He built it up until it became an army of 50,000 men. Himmler transformed this army into the Gestapo, charged with getting rid of "undesirables" which would mean anyone opposed to the political regime or who belonged to a race the Nazis didn't like.
7. He was still interested in mysticism and ancient civilizations. He set out to prove that Aryan and Nordic races had always been superior and promoted a cult of ancestor worship among members of the SS. He attempted to replace Christianity with a new moral code that rejected humanitarianism and challenged the Christian concept of marriage. The latter motivated, no doubt, by the fact he was having it off with his secretary. The stylised Lightning bolt symbol used by the SS was derived from ancient runes.
8. While Himmler was unswervingly obedient to Hitler as the regime demanded, the two men were never friends. They didn't see each other socially, with Himmler preferring to socialise with other SS officers. Towards the end of the second world war, Himmler began to see himself as a replacement for Hitler. When Himmler saw that Germany was going to lose the war, he went behind Hitler's back and tried to initiate peace talks with the Allies. Though I suspect he was less interested in peace than in gaining power for himself. When Hitler found out what Himmler was up to, he ordered his arrest. Himmler fled and as the war ended, was wandering aimlessly around Bavaria.
9. He was captured by the British, and rather than be interrogated by them, he committed suicide by biting down on a cyanide capsule hidden in his teeth. He was 44.
10. Himmler was Hitler’s overseer for the Nazi concentration camps. Under his direction, the Nazis killed over six million Jews and nearly 500,000 Romani people. Altogether, Himmler was responsible for the deaths of nearly 14 million people.

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