Biography on Heinrich Himmler

Biography on Heinrich Himmler Born on 7 October 1900 in Munich, Germany. His father is a Roman Catholic secondary-school master who was once tutor to the Bavarian crown prince. 917 - He joins the army as an officer cadet but does not see active service during the First World War. Following the war, he studies agriculture and economics at the Munich School of Technology and becomes involved in right-wing political groups. 923 - On 8 November he participates in an abortive attempt by Hitler and 600 armed members of the Sturmabteilung (SA) - the 'Brownshirts', Hitler's storm troopers - to seize power in Munich. 925 - He joins the Nazi Party, acting as the party's propaganda director until the 1930 elections, when he wins a seat in the Reichstag (parliament). 929 - He is appointed Reichsführer of the Schutz-Staffel (SS) - the 'Blackshirts', Hitler's elite bodyguard - on 6 January. He immediately begins expanding the SS. From a base of 300, membership swells to more than 50,000 in just three years. 933 - The Nazis seize power on 30 January when Hitler is appointed chancellor. Following the Reichstag fire on 27 February basic civil rights are suspended. On 28 February the Reichstag passes the Enabling Law, transferring all legislative power from the parliament to the cabinet. Hitler is now the Führer, the leader of the fascist Third Reich, an empire where the individual

  • Word count: 1609
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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Goebbels was more influential than Himmler. Discuss

Goebbels was more influential than Himmler. Discuss Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) was the most educated of the Nazis and in 1921 he became the doctor of philology. He even tried to pursue his career as a playwright instead joined the Nazis in 1922. As a Nazi he demanded that the "Bourgeois Hitler" is expelled from the party but in 1926 he changed his mind and sided with Hitler. This enabled him to become the propaganda chief in 1928 and later in 1930 he was elected in the Reichstag. His power progressed as by March 1923 he was the leader of the Reich Ministry of Propaganda (RNVP) and in November he organised Kristallnacht. By 1943 he managed to play a major role in organising the war efforts and was made General Plenipotentiary but in May 1945 he persuaded Hitler to commit suicide and also killed himself. In contrast to Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler was also an influential Nazi. As he became the leader of the SS in 1929 and his dedication to Hitler and hard work enabled him to become the chief of German police in 1936 hence he was in charge of both the SS and Gestapo. His power further progressed by running the concentration camp and having total control of the Holocaust. In addition the SS was the most extreme supporters of Nazi ideology and he wanted the SS to become the racial elite. Moreover he was rewarded for his role in the Night of the Long Knives and his power derived

  • Word count: 1707
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Bis zu welchem Punkt ist Heinrich Himmler verantwortlich fr die Holokaust?

Candidate name: Ellenor Bryan Candidate number: 1003 Piece number: 1 Bis zu welchem Punkt ist Heinrich Himmler verantwortlich für die Holokaust? Year: 2005/2006 Candidate name: Ellenor Bryan Candidate number: 1003 Plan for my coursework: Bis welcher Punkt ist Heinrich Himmler verantwortlich für die Holokaust? Einleitung: - Was war der Holokaust? - Welche Rolle spielt er im Holokaust? Hauptteil: - Kindheit und Familienhintergrund von Heinrich Himmler. - Engagement für Deutschland als ein junger Erwachsener. - Wie er seine Militärische Stellung verbessert hat. - Seine Teilnahme am Holokaust. Schluß: - Der Verrat von Heinrich Himmler. - Heinrich Himmlers Lebensende. Candidate name: Ellenor Bryan Candidate number: 1003 Was war der Holokaust? Der Holokaust ist der Name für eine systematische Verfolgung und Genozid von verschieden Leuten in Deutschland während des 2. Weltkrieg Es hat über fünf Millionen Leute getötet durch Konzentrationslagern, Ghettos und Hungersnot. Ich möchte Himmlers Rolle in der Planung und Ausführung des Holokaust besprechen. Heinrich Himmler war in 1900 in der Nähe von München geboren. Er war der Sohn vom ein Schuldirektor, also hatte er eine gute Ausbildung. Nachdem er die Schule verlassen hatte, verband Himmler das 11. Bayerische Regiment. Ich denke, dass er beinflusst auf der politische und economisch

  • Word count: 737
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Modern Foreign Languages
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Himmler and the SS illustrate the total power that Hitler had over Germany. How far do you agree with this viewpoint?

Himmler and the SS illustrate the total power that Hitler had over Germany. How far do you agree with this viewpoint? Traditionalist historians would agree with this interpretation of Hitler's Germany, viewing it as a totalitarian state supported by terror and repression. Undoubtedly, one of the most powerful instruments of this policy was the SS, created in 1925 as Hitler's personal bodyguard. This role expanded as the Schutzstaffel developed into a mass organisation under Heinrich Himmler's careful leadership and grew to represent one of the most powerful and feared tools of the Nazi State with 240,000 members by 1939, allowing it to achieve dominance in the Third Reich. Under Hitler's authorisation, the SS became an auxiliary police force and was able to take suspects into 'protective custody.' This allowed the Nazi's to target any opposition and by 1939, approximately 385,000 German's had been convicted and imprisoned for political crimes without trial. This is one example which illustrates the power the Nazi's imposed through their stringent policy of terror. Their persecution of non-conformists allowed Nazism to increase its hold over Germany with little opposition. It is this role which has led to historians describing the mass organisation of the SS as a virtual state within a state. As the American historian Sax describes, 'The SS evolved from a police organisation

  • Word count: 938
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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The SS was the most powerful and most sinister element of the part movement. Originally formed as Hitler's elite body guard in 1925, it was turned into a formidable private party by its leader Herinrich Himmler.

The SS was the most powerful and most sinister element of the part movement. Originally formed as Hitler's elite body guard in 1925, it was turned into a formidable private party by its leader Herinrich Himmler. The SS was modelled on the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church. Its members were subjected to strict discipline. They were expected to show complete obedience to the Fuhrer. The SS were the radical elite of the Nazi Party. This is shown from the late 1930s when the SS had become a vast organisation, involved in most aspects of the Third Reich. The SS alongside the Gestapo, was the most powerful and feared in Nazi Germany. There are older and newer interpretations of the SS created by historians. Older interpretations, by historians such as Brancher, see Hitler exercising his authority through a clearly defined set of Government institutions. They regard Germany as a totalitarian state where the SS performed the essential function of terror. However newer interpretations differ. These historians, such as Ian Kershaw, believe that Hitler's authority came from popular consent combined with a sense of terror. The difference of the interpretations will be looked at within the essay. One way to see the power of the SS is their role in the Nazi State. After the Night of the Long Knives in June 1934, the SS became the main police arm of the Nazi Party with the aim of

  • Word count: 860
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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Heinrich Himmler was Reichsfhrer-SS (Reich SS Leader) and Chief of the German police. In this capacity, he was responsible for the implementation of the Final Solution - the extermination of the Jews - as ordered by the Fhrer, Adolf Hitler.

Heinrich Himmler was Reichsführer-SS (Reich SS Leader) and Chief of the German police. In this capacity, he was responsible for the implementation of the Final Solution - the extermination of the Jews - as ordered by the Führer, Adolf Hitler. He was born in Munich on October 7, 1900. His father was the son of a police president, a former tutor to the princes of the Bavarian court, and a headmaster by profession. Himmler originally intended to be a farmer and in fact acquired a degree in agronomy. He fought in World War I at the every end, and afterwards drifted into one of the many right wing soldier's organizations that were so prevalent at the time. It is here that he came into contact with Hitler. He took part in the Hitler Putsch (the attempt to overthrow the government) of 1923 as a standard-bearer. He married Margret Boden in 1926. In 1929, Hitler appointed him head of the SS, which at that time numbered about 300 men and served mainly as a bodyguard for Hitler. A superb organizer, he had already expanded the SS to 50,000 men by 1933. By 1936, he had consolidated police power in Germany and was named Chief of the German police on June 17 of that year. With all organs of the police, especially the Gestapo (secret state police), now under his control, his power was virtually without limit. In addition to his other responsibilities, he was also responsible for the

  • Word count: 1563
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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The SS (Schutzstaffel).

THE SS (Schutzstaffel) In 1925 Adolf Hitler formed his own personal bodyguard called the Schutzstaffel (SS). Four years later Hitler appointed Heinrich Himmler as the leader of the SS. By the time of Himmler's appointment the SS had only 280 members. They wore the same uniform as the SA except for a black cap with a silver death's head badge and a black tie. Over the next year Himmler obtained the independence of the SS from the Sturm Abteilung (SA). Sepp Dietrich was put in charge of Hitler's bodyguard whereas Himmler concentrated on building up the organization. With the agreement of Adolf Hitler, Himmler expanded the size of the SS. Himmler personally vetted all applicants to make sure that all were good 'Aryan' types. In 1932 Himmler introduced all-black uniform of the SS. By the time the Nazi Party gained power in 1933 Himmler's SS had grown to a strength of 52,000. He was also made head of all German political police outside Prussia, where Hermann Goering was the minister of the interior. Himmler agreed with Goering that the Sturm Abteilung (SA) posed a threat to the German Army and in June 1934, along with his loyal assistants, Reinhard Heydrich, Kurt Daluege and Walter Schellenberg, he arranged what became known as the Night of the Long Knives. As a result of this purge the SS was now the principal instrument of internal rule in Germany. In 1936 the Gestapo

  • Word count: 1921
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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growth in Himmler's power

Using the evidence of Sources 1, 2 and 3 and your own knowledge, what do you consider explains the growth of Himmler's power in the years 1933-39 With Himmler's appointment to Head of the SS, in order to explain the growth of Himmler's power, we have to ask; 'How did the SS become so powerful?', because essentially the more the SS grew, the more powerful Himmler became. The purging of the SA on the 'Night of Long Knives' and other decrees and acts that the SS used to their advantage and Himmler's personality and characteristics are important factors to look at when answering the question. At the end of WW1, bitter at Germany's defeat, Himmler joined a nationalist paramilitary group and participated in the Munich Putsch. For the first couple of years he wasn't very active but in 1925 became more active as he was appointed head of the SS; Hitler's personal bodyguard and a part of the SA. It was the SS that catapulted Himmler to the top of the Nazi political ladder. Over the next four years Himmler worked on increasing the membership of the SS and successfully did so, increasing the number of members from 280 to 50,000 by 1933. It is important to note that the tension between the Army and Hitler was always strong even though the former supported the rebuilding of the army and the occupation of the Rhineland. What's more, the SA hadn't always agreed with Hitler and had tried

  • Word count: 1318
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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To what extent was the SS a "state within a state"? How powerful was the SS?

To what extent was the SS a "state within a state"? How powerful was the SS? The role of the SS in Nazi Germany was very important. Many historians, such as Schoenbaum, have argued that Himmler created an organisation which, "potentially superseded the state and perhaps even the party as well." Its members were totally dedicated to the supreme virtues of Nazi ideology, loyalty and honour. They saw themselves as the protectors of the German way of life and the defenders of the people against agitators, the criminal classes and those they saw as being responsible for the Jewish-Bolshevik threat. They also saw it as their duty to supervise the process of gaining lebensraum or living space and the successful German colonisation of the newly acquired territories. However. Although it is true that the SS' power came from Hitler it is also true that the power of the SS lay in the fact that it was a symbol, of fear and terror. By 1941, the "SS state" was a reality. Schoenbaum said of it, "in one form or another the SS made foreign policy, military policy and agricultural policy." The power the SS gained began after The Night of the Long Knives in 1934. Himmler had demonstrated his loyalty to Hitler and thus gained his favour. This gave Himmler the "carte blanche" to create a racially pure SS empire. Himmler received preferential treatment. He had the pick of the crème

  • Word count: 1980
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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Assess Himmler's role and significance in WWII conflict

Himmler fueled by his extreme racial ideology of the destiny of a Great German Empire and his rooted hatred for Jews was one of the key mechanisms for which established his role and significance within the conflict of WWII as the architect of genocide through the propagandistic manipulation of the SS mentality in calcifying them against the sheer immorality of the elimination of the Jews. His philosophical belief of the war as a struggle of races nevertheless were occasionally compromised by the necessity of military personnel towards the end of the war and economic necessities which the Jewish population had the potential of providing. This leads to his role in directly implementing policies to fund the SS and thus ensure its ongoing influence throughout the war, as well as assisting the war effort through forced labour over building roads and canals. Despite this, Himmler's key contribution to the nature of the war was the elimination of the Jews. Himmler throughout the course of WWII maintained the fundamental and powerful racial ideology of the superiority and inevitable conquest of the Germanic-Nordic. The rooted hatred of Jews was the ultimate racial and ideological foe of Hitler, as he stated himself in a speech in 1943 to the SS "This is a struggle of races." It is through this belief of the war as a means of conquering a racial enemy and through such asserting

  • Word count: 1434
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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