| The Architect of Genocide: Himmler and the Final Solution |
| In history, there has been a long-standing debate over who is ultimately to blame for the holocaust. At first, this question seems easy. After all, Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany and Nazi Germany carried out these crimes. However, it is more complicated than that. First, very few documents exist that detail Nazi policy towards the Jews. Even fewer that link Hitler to them. In addition, how many other people were involved in the planning and carrying out of these terrible crimes. Some have argued that men like Himmler and Heydrich were really the masterminds behind the final solution and that Hitler only gave it his approval. Richard Breitman�s book looks at this very problem. Breitman attempts to show that in actuality Hitler was the driving force of the Final Solution. Himmler just worked out the details of how it was to be implemented. Of course, this is not an attempt to lessen Himmler�s guilt in this matter. This also brings us to the second, and perhaps far more interesting point of Breitman�s book. What drove Himmler to commit the crimes he committed? What drives an ordinary man to come up with a plan to kill six million people?
Breitman gives the reader a sobering insight to who Henrich Himmler was. Very few people realize just how deeply involved Himmler was in the planning and execution of the Final Solution. Nor do they understand how calculated and cold he was in his application of this policy. Himmler was the ultimate bureaucrat. He was meticulous about record keeping. He logged every appointment he had. This attitude was also carried over into his application of the Final Solution. It was a numbers game. True, this was motivated by a deep seeded hatred of the Jews, but in the end, it was still about the numbers. For Himmler there were so many Jews to kill and only so much time. That of course begs the question, how can some one be so cold and calculated about mass murder? The answer to this question is not easily found. To begin with, we all want to believe that there was something drastically wrong with Himmler. After all, it would be scary if anyone off the street were capable of mass murder. However, there is little to support this. If anything, Himmler�s normalness is part of what makes him so disturbing. If Himmler was insane, it was the worse kind of insanity, the kind that doesn�t distract you from your goal. Instead, it focuses you on your goal with the utmost attention and clarity. This was what drove Himmler on. Himmler was completely dedicated to Hitler, the Nazi movement, and Aryan supremacy. However, this still doesn�t answer the big question. Why did Himmler cross the line in the first place? If Himmler had been this fanatical about shoes, he would have been considered eccentric. Something had to push Himmler to go down this path. Some would immediately point to Himmler�s childhood hoping that something there might explain Himmler�s actions later in life. However, Breitman points out that Himmler�s childhood was normal. He was brought up in an upper-middle class, Catholic household. Young Himmler did ok in well in school, although always got poor marks in gymnastics. Despite his lack of physical prowess, he always styled himself as a soldier and struggled through Officer Training, but to his credit, he did complete it. However, the First World War ended before Himmler could join the army. This drive would continue through his life. This aspect may be of some importance. This militaristic attitude can be seen in the SS. The SS embodied everything militarily that Himmler wanted for himself. Ironically, though Himmler was the opposite of everything he idealized. He was short, balding, and nearsighted. Far from the blonde haired, blue-eyed, physically perfect superman. Many historians have suggested that Himmler�s fascination with the Aryan ideal might have stemmed from Himmler�s resentment of his own physical limitations. Another important factor was that when Himmler was in his twenties he lost faith in his religion. This has two implications. One was that once he rejected his religion he was able to reject the ethics and morals that came with it. That of course would be important for a man who would commit mass murder. The other implication was that it opened the door to other pseudo-religious ideas. It is no big secret that Himmler was a firm believer in the Aryan myth. In addition, that he was a believer in the occult. Himmler�s faith had been an important part of his life until 1924, his last recorded church visit. Himmler�s rejection of Christianity would have left a large whole in his life. Himmler himself said that you could only replace a religion with another religion. It was just an unfortunate circumstance that Nazi race theory fit so well with the ideas that Himmler had already developed. These ideas also included and anti-semetic attitude. However, Himmler�s anti-semitism was common for the time. When we look at Himmler this way we can see how he was able to carry out this crime. However, we still don�t know why he did it, and to answer that we must look even deeper. There were many members of the Nazi party who believed in the Aryan race and who hated the Jews. However, Himmler was the one developed the Final Solution and then carried it out. It had not always been Himmler�s job though. As commander of the SS, Himmler was able to wield great power. His position also kept him close to Hitler. Himmler was always seeking more power for himself and the SS. This was actually encouraged in Nazi Germany by the dualistic nature of the government. Three or four agencies might be competing for the same task. The same thing was true for the Jewish Question. Himmler certainly wanted to keep his power. He knew that to do so he had to keep Hitler happy. One could view Himmler as the ultimate �Yes� man trying to appease his boss. Himmler was meticulous in his record keeping. However, Himmler did realize that secrecy was necessary when it came to policy towards the Jews. He took great pains to use euphemisms when discussing Jewish policy. It wasn�t mass murder; instead, it was �mass deportations� or �mass immigrations�. Furthermore, any discussion of Jewish policy in meetings would not be recorded. However, there is a lot of indirect evidence of this discussion. At including some of Himmler�s personal notes, which imply that Himmler held discussions with Hitler concerning the Jewish question. From this we can conclude that the General Jewish policy came from Hitler. Himmler was responsible for the details of how that policy was carried out. So, what is the answer to the question? Why did Himmler commit mass murder? The answer probably lies with a combination of factors. Himmler�s personal views left him receptive to Nazi idealism. Furthermore, personal insecurity about his physical limitations might have led him to overcompensate later in life. Himmler also had an overwhelming desire for power and his willingness to anything to please Hitler. Each of these factors alone would not have been enough to turn Himmler into a mass murderer. However, when these factors combined it cost the lives of six million Jews. There is no doubt that Henrich Himmler was an evil man. He cared nothing about those he had killed. However, at the same time Himmler was always deeply concerned about the men under his command. Himmler�s actions and thoughts were surreal. He understood that having to kill all of these men, women, and children would be detrimental to the moral of his men. Himmler witnessed this first hand when he visited the sites of the early mass murders. These early killings were done by hand. Himmler was aware that not only was this inefficient, but it was hard on his men. Therefore, Himmler was always on the lookout for more efficient methods of killing that removed his men from the process as much as possible. Himmler himself considered mass murder an unpleasant necessity. He constantly reminded them that they were not responsible and that they were just following the orders of Himmler who was following the orders of Hitler. The Final Solution was the final manifestation of Himmler�s evil. This was the process of mechanized mass murder. We get this image when we think of the holocaust. In any other setting, Himmler�s actions would have been mundane. He wasn�t crazed megalomaniac like Hitler. He was just doing a job. A job that he himself admitted was distasteful, but one he considered necessary for the survival of Nazi Germany. This weird normalcy to Himmler�s actions makes him the most evil Nazi. So what can we say about Henrich Himmler? It is obvious that Himmler approached mass murder in a cold, calculated manner. However, it is also obvious that Himmler was not born a mass murderer. That only developed over time. In addition, the killing of the Jews was originally Hitler�s idea. Himmler just carried it out. However, it can be said that Himmler had the kind of methodic personality that made him a tragically successful mass murderer. This may be the scariest part of this whole discussion, for many people in this world have that same methodic personality. Who else out there would be capable of these kinds of crimes if they were place in the right conditions? We may find that in answering our questions over Himmler and others like him, we will be faced with deeper questions that we might not want to answer. |