World War II: Heinrich Himmler’s Wife Margarete Himmler Interrogation Report and Diary

Description

Himmler: A Chronology of Power and Demise

1893:

• Margarete Boden (later Himmler) is born.

1900:

• Heinrich Himmler is born.

1928:

• Margarete Boden and Heinrich Himmler marry.

1929:

• Adolf Hitler appoints Heinrich Himmler as Reichsführer-SS of the Nazi Party.

1937:

• Margarete Himmler begins writing her diary entries, which span until 1945.

April 1945:

• Heinrich Himmler realizes that Germany will lose World War II.
• Himmler attempts to negotiate a peace settlement with the Allies without Adolf Hitler’s consent.
• Upon learning of Himmler’s actions, Hitler removes Himmler from all his positions of power and orders his arrest.

May 20, 1945:

• Heinrich Himmler is captured by Russian soldiers in Lower Saxony while attempting to flee.

May 23, 1945:

• Himmler is turned over to the British.
• He confesses his identity to the British.
• While undergoing a body search, Himmler commits suicide by biting down on a cyanide capsule hidden in his mouth.

September 26, 1945:

• Margarete Himmler is interrogated in Nuremberg by the Interrogation Division of the U.S. Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality (OCCPAC). She is questioned about her husband’s practice of carrying suicide pills and her knowledge of his role in the concentration camp system.

1945:

• Margarete Himmler’s diary entries conclude.

1967:

• Margarete Himmler dies.

Cast of Characters

• Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945): Reichsführer-SS of the Nazi party from 1929. He was the second most powerful man in Germany after Adolf Hitler during World War II and held primary responsibility for imagining, overseeing, and executing the “Final Solution,” including being in charge of Nazi concentration camps and the Einsatzgruppen death squads. He committed suicide in May 1945 after attempting to negotiate peace with the Allies without Hitler’s knowledge.
• Margarete Himmler (née Boden) (1893–1967): Also known as Marga Himmler, she was the wife of Heinrich Himmler. They married in 1928. Her diary entries from 1937 to 1945 are part of the collection, and she was interrogated by U.S. authorities in September 1945 about her husband’s actions and her knowledge of the concentration camp system.
• Adolf Hitler: The leader of the Nazi party who appointed Heinrich Himmler as Reichsführer-SS in 1929. He was the most powerful man in Germany during World War II and removed Himmler from his positions in April 1945 for attempting unauthorized peace negotiations.

World War II: Heinrich Himmler’s Wife Margarete Himmler Interrogation Report and Diary

Margarete (née Boden) Himmler (1893–1967), also known as Marga Himmler, was the wife of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. They married in 1928.

Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) was appointed Reichsführer-SS of the Nazi party by Adolf Hitler Iin 1929.  Himmler’s role was to marshal the Third Reich’s vast ideological and bureaucratic realm.

Himmler, the second most powerful man after Adolf Hitler in Germany during World War II, was the most senior Nazi official responsible for imagining, overseeing, and executing the “Final Solution,” the Nazi plan to murder the Jews of Europe. He was in charge of the Nazi concentration camps and the Einsatzgruppen death squads.

By April 1945, he realized Germany would lose the war and attempted to negotiate a peace settlement with the Allies without the consent of Hitler. When Hitler learned of this in April 1945, he removed Himmler from all his positions of power and ordered his arrest. Himmler attempted to flee and was captured by Russian soldiers on May 20, 1945 in Lower Saxony. He was turned over to the British to whom he confessed his identity. While undergoing a body search on May 23, 1945, Himmler killed himself by biting down on a cyanide capsule hidden in his mouth.

This collection includes:

Margarete Himmler Interrogation 9-26-1946 – Office of the U.S. Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality

An English-language pretrial interrogation transcript from her September 26, 1945 questioning in Nuremburg by the Interrogation Division of the U.S. Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality (OCCPAC). She was questioned about her husband’s practice of carrying suicide pills and of her knowledge of her husband’s role in the concentration camp system.

Margarete Himmler Diary 1937 – 1945 (Original German & English Translation)

169 pages of handwritten diary entries in German and English translation.