Himmler, Heinrich (1900-1945)

German Nazi leader, head of the SS elite corps from 1929, the police and the Gestapo secret police from 1936, and supervisor of the extermination of the Jews in Eastern Europe. During World War II he replaced Hermann Goering as Hitler's second-in-command. He was captured in May 1945 and committed suicide.

Born in Munich, he joined the Nazi Party in 1925 and became chief of the Bavarian police in 1933. His accumulation of offices meant he had command of all German police forces by 1936, which made him one of the most powerful people in Germany. He was appointed minister of the interior in 1943 in an attempt to stamp out defeatism and following the July Plot in 1944 became commander-in-chief of the home forces. In April 1945 he made a proposal to the Allies that Germany should surrender to the USA and Britain but not to the USSR, which was rejected.