Heinrich Himmler : A Life (2 page)

Authors: Peter Longerich

Since their publication in 1952 the memoirs of his masseur, Felix Kersten,
Totenkopf und Treue
(translated as
The Kersten Memoirs 1940–1945
(1956)), based on so-called diaries, have been a popular source for works on Himmler. According to the author, under his soothing hands the Reichsführer spoke freely about his views and plans. In some cases Kersten’s accounts of Himmler’s comments correspond remarkably closely to other reports of his views, for example in respect of his attitude to homosexuality (pp. 67 ff.) or on the theme of the ‘rebirth of the clan’ (pp. 191 ff.); but, on the other hand, they also contain fanciful exaggerations, as for example when he attributes to Himmler remarks about alleged ‘studs’ (
Zeugungshelfer
) in the Spring of Life (
Lebensborn
) homes (pp. 230 ff.). And Kersten’s assertion that through his influence on Himmler he had managed to prevent the blowing up of the Zuidersee dyke and so saved large parts of Holland from being flooded (pp. 329 ff.) has long been disproved. Moreover, now that it is possible to compare his dates with those in the
Office Diary
a large number of discrepancies have emerged. In short, therefore, Kersten’s book cannot in the strict sense be regarded as a reliable source.

There are a number of previous biographies of Himmler, in particular
Himmler: The Evil Genius of the Third Reich
by Willi Frischauer from 1953, Heinrich Fraenkel’s and Roger Manvell’s
Heinrich Himmler
from 1965, and Peter Padfield’s
Himmler: Reichsführer SS
from 1990. These books use only a fraction of the primary sources on Himmler that are now available and, in view of the substantial research into the SS that has occurred in the meantime, must be regarded as completely out of date.

In 1970 Bradley Smith published a biography of the young Himmler (
Heinrich Himmler 1906–1926
) on the basis of his diaries. It is still very readable and provides important insights into the development of Himmler’s personality. Josef Ackermann’s
Heinrich Himmler as Ideologue
, published in 1970, is still considered a very sound work on this topic; also, Frank-Lothar Kroll’s
Utopia as Ideology
, published a few years ago, is a substantial study of this subject.

In 2005 Katrin Himmler, a great-niece of Heinrich Himmler, gave an account of the Himmler family from her perspective and based to some extent on family tradition.
The Himmler Brothers
contains above all important material on the biographies of his brothers and their relationship to Heinrich.

Richard Breitman’s study
The Architect of the ‘Final Solution’
from 1991, dealing with Himmler’s role in the extermination of the Jews, is largely restricted to the war years. Breitman has the merit above all of being the first person to have systematically studied the various Himmler office diaries available in Washington and placed them in the context of his correspondence. This has produced significant new insights into Himmler’s activities during the war.

Breitman’s main thesis, however, that Himmler had committed himself at an early stage—that is, at the turn of the year 1940/1—to murdering the European Jews is unconvincing and has not succeeded in winning support from fellow scholars. In contrast to Breitman this biography attempts to place Himmler’s ‘Jewish policy’ in the context of his other activities; this procedure leads to very different results.

On the question of the persecution of the Jews this book has been able to make use of the very substantial literature that has appeared in the meantime. I should mention in this context—without claiming it to be a comprehensive list—the names of Götz Aly, Christopher Browning, Christian Gerlach, Raul Hilberg, Dieter Pohl, and Thomas Sandkühler. I should also refer to the fact that, as far as the Holocaust is concerned, this book is based on my earlier works on this topic.

However, during the past two decades not only Jewish persecution but numerous other aspects of the history of the SS and police apparatus have been the subject of a vast number of research studies. I have endeavoured to make use of this substantial research for this biography, and indeed without it this book could not have been written. Among these works, to name only a small selection, are those concerning the police by George C. Browder, Robert Gellately, Eric A. Johnson, and Patrick Wagner; those concerning general aspects of the concentration camps by Karin Orth and Johannes Tuchel; the studies of Martin Cüppers, Ralf Ogorreck, and Andrej Angrick on the Einsatzgruppen and other murder units, which substantially supplement the ‘classic’ works by Helmut Krausnick and Karl-Heinz Wilhelm. In addition, there are various contributions dealing with particular groups of victims: Michael Zimmermann’s and Günther Lewy’s books on the persecution of the Gypsies, and the contributions of Helmut Neuberger on the Freemasons, of Burkhard Jellonek on the homosexuals, of Detlef Garbe on the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and of Wolfgang Dierker on the persecution of the churches.

Moreover, in the last few years substantial works have been written describing and analysing the activities of individual SS main offices and particular parts of the SS. Among these are, in particular, Torsten Querg’s dissertation on the SD’s foreign espionage, Michael Wildt’s book on the Reich Security Main Office, Isabel Heinemann’s book on the Race and Settlement Main Office, Jan Erik Schulze’s and Michael Allen’s studies of the Business and Administration Main Office, Bianca Vieregge’s analysis of the SS and police’s judicial system, Hermann Kaienburg’s detailed account of the SS’s business sector, and Gudrun Schwarz’s study of the role of women in the SS. These works supplement older studies of other parts of the SS, for example the books by George H. Stein and Bernd Wegner on the Waffen-SS, Michael Kater’s on the Ahnenerbe (which has still not been superseded), and Georg Lilienthal’s study of the Spring of Life (
Lebensborn
) organization.

By integrating biography and structural history this book offers a new perspective by which the history of the SS, which in recent years has fragmented into its individual parts, can be reintegrated. In this way it represents an attempt to continue the work begun in the earlier general histories of the SS by Heinz Höhne (
The Order of the Death’s Head: The Story of Hitler’s SS
, published in 1969) and by Robert Lewis Koehl (
The Black Corps
, published in 1983).

Glossary of Terms

TABLE OF SS OFFICERS’ RANKS