Essay/Term paper: Himmler"s reign of terror and ingenious

Essay, term paper, research paper:  World War

One man"s sick

mind led to the extermination of an entire generation of

people. These ideas came at the worst possible time,

during World War II. The ideas were horrific and evil and

today they would be viewed as satanic but at the time they

were thought to be glorious and wonderful. This gave

Hienrich Himmler a place as one of the most devious

persons ever. Himmler went to grade school at the

Cathedral where he was an excellent student. It was during

this time that Himmler became interested in Germany"s

history and war (Shrirer 130-131). After he finished grade

school he went to Technical High school. He once again

resumed the role of a good student. At this time Himmler

felt he had no rules or discipline so he dropped out of high

school and enlisted in the Army. While in the Army

Himmler got special tutoring to finish high school (Shrirer

137-138). Himmler attended a small college outside of

Munich. While there he did not fit in very well and did

poorly in his studies. After a short time Himmler left college

and rejoined the military (Stewart 97). Himmler joined a

paramilitary unit outside of Bayer-Munich. He was in a

class of 200 and was the best soldier. His commanding

officer said, "He"s the best natural soldier I"ve ever seen"

(Goralski 103-104). Himmler did not do much in World

War I. He was rumored to have killed Gihi Rhambal.

People are not one hundred percent sure if he did, but

many believed it was he (Jarmon 132). During this time he

was mainly taking care of his family. He married a lady

Miller 2 named Marga Stoenbauer. Himmler also had a

daughter named Gudren. Gudren was Himmler"s daughter

but not Marga"s. He had Gudren with a mistress. The

mistress left the baby with Himmler right after she was born

and she was never heard from again (Bauer 84-85).

Shortly after World War II broke out, Himmler was

chosen for a special assignment. He received the

assignment because he was probably the best soldier in the

German Army. He was appointed the head of the Gestapo,

the most feared people in Germany. The Gestapo was

formed in 1933 and the massive killings began in 1934

(Rogaski 187-188). Himmler and his men dressed in all

black, so that people would recognize and respect them

(Stewart 131). Himmler was respected for two main

reasons. The first was that many people thought he was

next in command to Hitler. People figured that they

probably should not get involved with the boss. The other

reason people liked Himmler was that Hitler liked him and

if he found out anyone was saying anything about him that

person would be killed. At the beginning of the war

Himmler was a proud follower of Hitler. He thought that

Hitler was next to God. Hitler and Himmler thought

Germany should fight to the end. Himmler was loyal to

Hitler until he too saw Hitler was going crazy. Himmler

decided that he would kill Hitler, take control and end the

war. At the same time he was talking to the Allies about a

peace treaty (Fest 142-144). Himmler felt superior to other

people. He appointed his soldiers to watch over the death

camps. He got rid of all the regular soldiers because he did

not feel they were good enough to be put in charge of such

an important task (Speer 116-117). He was also proud of

the fact he was killing so many Jews. Yet he was not

pleased and thought that they should be killed Miller 3

faster. He then came up with the idea of sterilization and the

use of other medical experiments to kill off Jews (Speer

221). There were many ways to sterilize or kill people. The

people were injected with so many hormones that there

reproductive organs would be destroyed or they

themselves would die (Stewart 306). Himmler was

pleased, but once again it was not good enough. Himmler"s

friend Dr. Porkony came up with the idea of releasing gas

in the showers (Stewart 308). This would kill people at a

tremendous rate. The gas they used was Zyclon-B. This

gas released into the blood stream and clogged up the

arteries causing heart attacks or strokes (Goralski 208).

Himmler was so pleased with this method that he ordered it

to go to every concentration camp. Another man, Dr. Hirt,

also caught Himmler"s eye, but he did it in a strange way.

He showed Himmler his collection of severed and mutilated

heads. Himmler liked Hirt"s ideas and eventually made him

chief doctor for all the concentration camps. After a while

though Himmler found out that Hirt was letting Jews go.

Himmler then put Hirt into a concentration camp as if he

were a Jew (Rogasky 124-125). Many of Himmler"s ideas

were insane. He stated that he was not a killer, but a patron

of science. He believed that not only should a country be

conquered but it should also be exterminated. He also had

a scale for how each death camp was doing. First, there

was the total body count. Second, was the number of dead

bodies. Finally, there was the count of how many people

were experimented on (Bauer 117-120). Miller 4 Towards

the end of the war, Himmler did not want to keep fighting

and killing. Himmler decided to stop the entire killing

because he realized that the war was over and there was

nothing left to fight for. He changed his name and fled

Germany. He was almost out of Germany when he was

captured at a British patrol booth. He was captured on

May 23, 1945 (Podfield 300-301). Himmler died in late

May of 1945. The exact date is unknown. He took a

cyanide pill that he kept in his boot just in case he ever got

caught (Shrirer 281). " Himmler"s death took away

suffering from millions of people and their families", quoted

Albert Speer a World War II expert. When it came time to

bury Himmler, he was buried in a false grave. Two nuns

buried him in the middle of a field. These were the only two

people to know where he was buried (Speer 258-259).

Himmler died like many other leaders of the past, with a

murderous impact. He fought bravely and courageously for

what he believed. He died as one of the most infamous

people ever. He was ingenious and smart, yet evil and

sinister. He was worshiped by many, but also hated by

more. His name struck fear into the hearts of millions,

knowing they could have been the next victims. Himmler"s

nature was evil and smart and because of this he will be

remembered forever.