Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) was the head of the Nazi SS (Schutzstaffel) organisation. One of the most powerful individuals in Nazi Germany, Himmler built up the SS from a small paramilitary unit to a vast organisation, which included armoured divisions, the Gestapo secret police, the Einsatzgruppen extermination squads, and the Death's Head units, which were responsible for the Holocaust, that is the murder of 6 million European Jews.
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Definition
Timeline
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1900 - 1945Life of the SS chief Heinrich Himmler.
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7 Oct 1900Heinrich Himmler is born near Munich.
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1923Heinrich Himmler joins the Nazi Party.
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1925Heinrich Himmler joins the SS.
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1927Heinrich Himmler becomes deputy leader of the SS.
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Jun 1928Heinrich Himmler marries Margarete Siegroth.
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6 Jan 1929Heinrich Himmler becomes Reichsführer-SS, head of the SS.
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Aug 1929Heinrich Himmler's daughter Gudrun is born.
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1930Heinrich Himmler is elected a member of the Reichstag.
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1931Heinrich Himmler leads the new SS Race and Settlement Office.
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1933Heinrich Himmler is appointed head of the Munich police.
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Mar 1933Heinrich Himmler creates the Dachau concentration camp.
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1934Heinrich Himmler takes over from Hermann Göring as figurehead of the Gestapo.
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30 Jun 1934The Night of the Long Knives when Adolf Hitler purges the Sturmabteilung (SA) Nazi paramilitary group.
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Dec 1935Heinrich Himmler founds the Lebensborn Registered Society.
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Jun 1936Heinrich Himmler is appointed the overall head of the German police forces.
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Oct 1939Heinrich Himmler is appointed the Reich Commissioner for the Strengthening of German Nationhood.
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Aug 1943Heinrich Himmler is appointed Minister of the Interior.
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Jul 1944Heinrich Himmler is appointed head of Germany’s reserve army.
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Jan 1945Heinrich Himmler is briefly appointed head of Army Group Vistula.
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Apr 1945Adolf Hitler strips Heinrich Himmler of all his positions and titles.
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22 May 1945Heinrich Himmler is arrested on the run at an Allied road block.
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23 May 1945Heinrich Himmler commits suicide in British custody.
