Heinrich Himmler : A Life (200 page)

cynical approach to 267

immortality 267–8

reincarnation 269

Teutonic myths 266–7

see also
Christianity

repression in occupied countries:

contradictory policy 654

counter-terror 657, 705

dead zones in Soviet Union 659–60

Denmark 654–5

expansion in areas covered by 658–9

Netherlands 655–6

opposition to 652, 653

Poland 657–8

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia 654

securing labour 660

south of France 648–51

as Reserve Army commander 698–704

appointed by Hitler 698–9

appoints SS leaders 701

army organization 702

brutalization of military justice 703

context of appointment 699–700

preventing retreat 711

responsibilities of 699

responsibility for prisoners of war 702

rocket programme 703–4

Russian forces for Wehrmacht 702–3

Volkssturm (home guard) 711–14

Werewolfs 714–15

SA (Storm Troops):

exploitation of Röhm’s homosexuality 120

Night of the Long Knives 174

relationship with Röhm 119–20

Stennes crisis (1930) 118

Samurai 281

SD (Security Service):

appoints Heydrich as head of 165

cooperation with Gestapo 188–9

raised in status within SS 165

role of 188

Second World War as opportunity 424–5

seeks control of police and security in east 515–16, 527, 535–6

settlement policy:

becomes focus of attention for 414–15

comprehensive European plan 578

deportation of Jews to General Government 444, 455–7

disagreement with Rosenberg 629–30

eastern occupied countries 535, 536, 579

female east European domestic staff 592–3

France 498, 588–92

gains control of 434–6

General Government 581–4

Germanization 441–50, 452–4, 572, 578, 582

limited interest in 413

link with final solution 578–9

military peasant 443

military settlements 450

negotiations with Rosenberg 538–9

opportunity for expanding SS empire 415

Poland 434,
453

progress with 579

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia 420–2, 580–1

racial selection 445, 446–7

racial zones of Europe 575–7

re-Germanization 452–4, 592–3

secures Darré’s dismissal 416–17

seizure of children 595–9

South Tyrol 417–20, 458–61

Soviet Union 527, 528, 535, 584–6

standardization of 575

Ukraine 622

Yugoslavia 577

sexuality:

changed views on 373

illegitimate births 370–1

pre-marital sex 368–70

Procreation Order 462–4

regulation of intercourse 594–5

sex between Germans and ethnic aliens 593–4

significance of 4–5

Slovakia:

deportation of Jews 547, 562, 563, 705–6

security regime in 490

Waffen-SS recruitment in 608–9

Soviet Union:

campaign against partisans 628–9

dead zones 659–60

deployment of Russian troops with Wehrmacht
661
, 702–3

deployment of SS and police units in 520, 530–1

inspection visits 525–7, 530–1, 533–5,
537
, 538, 554,
597

intervention in extermination process 621–2

mass murder of Jews 525–7, 531–4, 537, 538, 539, 622

mass murder planned 520, 522

opposes strategy of gaining allies in 660

order for massacre of Pinsk ghetto 622

personal responsibility for Jewish murders 539

preparations for invasion 517–24

radicalization of Jewish policy 528–30

settlement policy 584–6

visits Crimea
587

witnesses executions 534

Spain, visit to 504–5

spiritualism 78

SS:

appointed Reichsführer-SS 113–14

appoints Darré as head of Racial Office 127–8

businesses established by 260–1

as a clan 352–3

on conduct in war 249

development of mass organization 138

establishes separate intelligence service 125

establishment of armed units 157

expansion crisis 168

Friends of the Reichsführer-SS 259

future development of SS 139

ideological indoctrination 276, 286, 312–14

issues Service Regulations (1931) 124–5

leadership corps loyal to Himmler 128–35, 305–7

lectures at leadership course 136

militarization of 181–3

Nuremberg party rally (1929) 114–15

as an order 256, 352–3

organizational structure 121, 135–6, 169, 181, 182, 257–8

organizational talent 138–9

pre-war expansion of armed units 247–9

racial selection of members 123–4, 126–7

speech on ‘Purposes and Aims of the SS’ (1931) 122–4

takeover of political police 147–79

on task of SS 248

terror campaign against opponents (1932) 140–1

unity of 255–6

wives of members 352, 353

see also
separate entry for SS

SS cult 742–3

ceremonies 288–94

Germanic view of history 269–74

motives for adopting 274

sacred sites 294–8

symbols 286–8

SS judicial system 485–9

control of 487–8

expansion of jurisdiction 486

motives for introducing 485–6

penal guidelines for 489

punishment of SS members 488–9

right to confirm sentences 486–7

sexual relations with alien women 486–7

state protection corps 204, 424

amalgamation of police and SS 204–5, 249–51

imprinted by his phobias and prejudices 251

Sudetenland 406

symbolic gifts distributed within SS

birth lights 288

brooch for mothers 288

death’s head ring 287–8

life lights 287

swords of honour 288

Yule lights 286–7

Teutonic myths 266–7

interest in 80–1

Tibet myth 281–2

total war 684, 700

treatment of Polish POWs and workers in Germany 475–6

virtues of SS members 304–12, 742

comradeship 308

decency 308–11

loyalty 304–7

obedience 307–8

Volkssturm (home guard) 711–14

Waffen-SS 424

ambitions for 680

army corps established 601

creation of 427

ethnic German recruitment 609–16, 673–4

expansion of 601

Germanic volunteers 605–9

Muslim divisions 675–7

national legions 602–5

new German SS divisions 672–3

organizational structure 499

recruitment of non-Germans 498–504, 602, 675–80

Wehrmacht:

complaints over SS atrocities in Poland 461–2

Procreation Order 461, 462

Werewolfs 714–15

wins seat in Reichstag 116

women, relationships with:

as agricultural student 48–50

Fifi (dancer) 49–50

Hedwig Potthast 334, 375

ideal woman 50, 53, 56, 77, 80, 766n17

impact of reading 41–2, 42–3

interference in brother’s engagement 73–4

Käthe Loritz 50, 56–7

lack of success 48

Luisa Hager 35

Maja Loritz 35–6, 37–8

Maria Rauschmayer 75–7

moral inhibitions 49

repression of sexuality 50–1

sexual abstinence 50

sexual curiosity 38, 48–9

Wegener’s influence on 42–3, 53

see also
marriage; mistress

Yugoslavia, settlement policy 577

Himmler, Johann (HH’s grandfather) 12

Himmler, Katrin 750n5, 754n5

Himmler, Margarete (née Boden) (HH’s wife)
55
, 107,
108
,
524

Anschluss with Austria 402

birth of daughter 109

Blomberg-Fritsch crisis (1938) 402

in British internment camp 732

dissatisfaction with marriage 373, 374–5

doubts over relationship with HH 105

embittered woman 104

first meets HH 103

impact of HH’s affair 468

Italy:

holiday in 395–7

refuses to follow court protocol 404

loyalty of 731–2

marriage 109, 741

pessimism 106

political position 107

pre-marriage correspondence with HH 103–8

professional confidence 105

reassures HH about his weaknesses 104–5

war work for Red Cross 467–8

Himmler, Mathilde (HH’s sister-in-law)
55