Heinrich Himmler.

The godson of a Bavarian prince, Heinrich Himmler was born in Munich in 1900. His father, Joseph Gebhard Himmler, was a headmaster; his mother, Anna Heyder, was devoutly Catholic. He served as an officer cadet in World War I but never saw combat. After the war, he studied agriculture at the Technical University of Munich and worked as a poultry farmer. During the turbulent 1920s, he joined paramilitary groups and participated in the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, even though he was not yet a Nazi Party member.

In 1929, Himmler became Reichsführer-SS when the Schutzstaffel numbered only 280 men. He rapidly expanded it, introducing racial screening and the iconic black uniform. In 1934, he orchestrated the Night of the Long Knives, purging the SA to secure SS independence. By 1936, he was named Chief of German Police, merging all police forces into the SS. During World War II, he set in motion the Final Solution, resulting in the genocide of over six million Jews and hundreds of thousands of others, a task assigned to Reinhard Heydrich. He also commanded the Waffen-SS but left its military operations to generals like Paul Hausser and Sepp Dietrich. By 1944, the SS had total security and police authority. As the war turned against Germany, Himmler was appointed military commander of the Home Army and an army group, but his lack of experience led to his relief. In 1945, he secretly offered to surrender to the Allies, but General Dwight Eisenhower refused. When Hitler learned of this, he stripped Himmler of all ranks and ordered his arrest.

Himmler married Margarethe Boden on July 3, 1928. Their only child, Gudrun Margarete Elfriede Emma Anna Himmler, was born on August 8, 1929, in Munich. Himmler worked as a poultry farmer before his political rise. He had two brothers: Gebhard Ludwig and Ernst Hermann. Contemporaries described him as inconspicuous and amiable, contrasting sharply with his brutal policies. He believed Adolf Hitler was the Messiah appointed by God to lead Germany, a view that shaped his fanatical loyalty.

Heinrich Himmler orchestrated the Holocaust, the systematic genocide of six million Jews and other groups. Under his leadership, the SS grew from a 280-member bodyguard in 1929 to a 52,000-strong force by 1933, eventually controlling the concentration camps, the Gestapo, and the Waffen-SS. His death by suicide in 1945 while in British custody sealed his infamy. The 1985 film Der Vater eines Mörders is based on a novel about the school run by his father. His daughter Gudrun later became known for her connections to neo-Nazi groups. Himmler’s legacy remains a stark symbol of organized evil and the dangers of unchecked power.