heinrich himmler (1900 to 1945)
Heinrich Himmler, born October ninth, 1900, was probably the most important figure in the history of WWII, second only to Hitler or Stalin. Everyone has heard of the infamous Holocaust, but few know that this man organized it all. He was also the Reichfuehrer-SS, leader of the secretive Einsatzgruppen, a group of specialized soldiers who killed an estimated 1,500,000. Heinrich's Nazi career began young. At the age of twenty-three he joined the DAP and, not long later, participated in the famous Munich Beer-Hall putsch of November 1923. In 1929 he was designated head of Hitler's personal bodyguard unit; the Schutzsaffel (SS), which at the time consisted of only two hundred men. This small group of men eventually evolved into a group of 52,000.
Later, in 1930, he was elected to the Reichstag as Nazi deputy for the Wester-Ems. Himmler's main focus at the time was extending SS membership. He rose up the ranks of importance in the Nazi Empire and secured his spot as Hitler's favorite. Among other "acheivements", he set up the first concentration camp in 1933 at Dachau and was the leader and supervisor of the Einsatzgruppen; mobile killing squads sent out to murder Jews and strip them of their possessions and property. He lived to the age of forty-five, when he refused to open his mouth during an interrogation medical exam and instead bit a hidden cyanide pill and died.
Later, in 1930, he was elected to the Reichstag as Nazi deputy for the Wester-Ems. Himmler's main focus at the time was extending SS membership. He rose up the ranks of importance in the Nazi Empire and secured his spot as Hitler's favorite. Among other "acheivements", he set up the first concentration camp in 1933 at Dachau and was the leader and supervisor of the Einsatzgruppen; mobile killing squads sent out to murder Jews and strip them of their possessions and property. He lived to the age of forty-five, when he refused to open his mouth during an interrogation medical exam and instead bit a hidden cyanide pill and died.