Definitions for "Himmler, Heinrich"
Head of SS and principal planner of Jews’ total extermination.
"Reichsfuhrer" (commander-in-chief) of the SS, who was responsible for carrying out Hitler's orders to exterminate the Jews.
(October 7, 1900 - May 21, 1945) The Reichsführer-SS. Head of the SS, the Gestapo, and the German police. Under his direction, the SS grew into a massive "racially pure" Nazi elite. He was in charge of the concentration camps. Believed that the liquidation of the unhealthy and bad genes from society would help better and purify the Aryan race. In April 1945, he tried to negotiate a peace with the Allies, bypassing Hitler. For this, Hitler expelled him from the Nazi Party and from all offices he held. On May 21, 1945, he attempted to escape but was stopped and held by the British. After his identity was discovered, he swallowed a hidden cyanide pill that was noticed by an examining doctor. He died twelve minutes later.