Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945)

Member of the Nazi Party from 1923. Reichsführer-SS (i.e.: Head of the SS) from 1929. Reich Minister of the Interior from 1943-1945. Himmler was able to develop the SS as an extremely powerful institution within the Nazi regime, almost as a ‘state within the state’. This was not least due to the fact that Himmler was appointed Chief of Police in 1936 and then subsequently merged the police with the SS. Among the many institutions belonging to the SS were the Security Police (lead by Reinhard Heydrich) and the concentration camps, equalling all the parts of the nazi extermination apparatus. Himmler was thus one of the very key people in the implementation of the Final Solution. In the last weeks of the war Himmler tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a peace agreement with the western powers. Instead, Hitler deposed him for treason. In April 1945 Himmler committed suicide, following his capture by the Allies.