Heinrich Himmler

Anatomy of a Mass Murderer

First Run Features

R1 DVD

“The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us, but we don’t ask for their love; only for their fear”

Himmler certainly achieved terror. His policies for treatment of the Jews in World War II kept them in terror of the Nazis, and his elite private army, the SS, kept the Nazis themselves in line.

This documentary tries to explain how a man of modest background, certainly no example of the pure Aryan type so beloved of Hitler, came to be the second highest-ranking Nazi. He had a powerful influence over Hitler and controlled a slave-powered industrial system that was a source of profit and power for the Nazis. In his fairly short career he was responsible for the enslavement of hundreds of thousands of workers from the occupied countries and indirectly responsible for the extermination of millions of Jews.

Such a man deserves a better examination than history seems to have given him. This documentary goes a long way to redress the balance and show how such a monster could reach such a high position. His early life was comfortable. Although he longed to be a soldier in World War I he proved sickly and unsuited for the military life. Between the wars he developed an anti-Semitic tendency that only flowered when Hitler rose to power. In Himmler, Hitler found a brother anti-Semite who had the organisational ability that Hitler lacked. Hitler became the demagogue, Himmler the power behind the scene. As part of this power Himmler was given the post of Deputy Head of the SS. At this time the SS was a party protection group. Himmler set about reorganising it into a more paramilitary operation as Nazi party rallies began to cover more of Germany. He finally achieved the post of head of the Munich Police and used this position to eventually take control of the German Police force.

The documentary mentions some of the oddities of the SS. It covers the almost religious nature of many SS ceremonies, and mentions Himmler’s plan that SS members, being selected for their Aryan qualities, should be allowed two wives each so they could produce more blond-haired children. Himmler himself was the antithesis of these ideals although he did have a secret second wife.

As control of Europe tightened he was able to plan the development of the massive slave labour camp system that Germany depended on for so much of its industrial wealth. Many of the camps were for Jews and came to have extermination facilities built alongside them. Although the extermination work was initially allotted to Heydrich under Goering’s general administration, Himmler maintained a strong interest in the system. It was his SS troops that manned the camps.

Eventually it all came crashing down as the Allies took Germany. Himmler tried to escape dressed as an ordinary soldier but was captured and committed suicide.

There is a lot of documentary footage that I haven’t seen before, plus a rare recording of Himmler addressing SS officials about the extermination of the Jews and warning them that it must not be mentioned outside the room. Interviews are concentrated on three individuals – Katrin Himmler (Heinrich’s grand-niece), John Steiner, a surviving SS officer, and Lucille Eichengreen, a survivor of the camps. Between the three they paint a good picture of this dreadful man and his organization.

Interestingly the documentary is a little different from many on the subject of the concentration camps. The commentary is held to fairly matter-of-fact details without so much of the emotional hand-wringing. This, I think, makes the documentary more of historical record rather than emotional impact. It is still a powerful insight into the man / monster.

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This review will appear in Volume 3 No. 3 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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