One man who would escape execution following the Second World War was Heinrich Himmler.
The Reichsfuhrer SS was in charge of the SS, the paramilitary organisation that was responsible
for the running of the concentration camps.
Himmler was a despicable Nazi, who would during the Second World War would be responsible
for the deaths of millions.
He would form the einsatzgruppen that would execute civilians en mass following advancements
by the Wehrmacht, and he would at the end of the war turn on Hitler.
Himmler was smart, and he knew that the war was lost by spring 1945, and he would go into
self-preservation mode, as he would try to negotiate peace talks with the Allies himself
without Hitler having any clue this was going on.
When Hitler found this out, he was furious and he ordered the arrest of arguably the
second most powerful man in the Third Reich.
But Himmler would never be brought to the nuremberg trials, as on the 23rd May 1945
whilst in British Custody he took his own life, and prevented the hangman doing it for
him.
He would have most definitely been the most high profile to go to the gallows along with
Hermann Goring, but his death is something that remains debatable to this day.
But after his death, a death mask was cast of Himmler’s face, and it shows the evil
Ss man with a smug countenance and almost an arrogance as if he has had the last laugh
against his captors.
Join us today as we look at the haunting death mask of Heinrich Himmler, as always to support
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Himmler by April 1945 was a wanted man, Hitler had ordered his arrest for going behind his
back to try and make pace with the allies.
Because of this, he went on the run.
But he was also being hunted by the Allies, and the net around him was closing in.
He had no friends in the Nazi Party, and he was being searched for heavily by his enemies.
He had been stripped of all his party and state offices and expelled from the Nazi Party,
and even when Admiral Donitz took control as the President, Himmler would offer himself
as the second in command, but Donitz rejected him.
Heinrich Himmler had not made any previous preparations to go on the run and to hide
out, and at the time he could have possibly escaped down one of the established ratlines,
and somehow evaded capture and to flee to South America.
After the war many Nazis would turn up in countries such as Argentina, including Adolf
Eichmann and Josef Mengele.
Himmler and his companions on the 11th May 1945 went to Friedrichskoog, and it was clear
they did not know where to go.
They slept wherever they could, and would sleep in barns and even at the side of the
roads in concealed positions.
They continued to travel throughout the countryside, and they wanted to avoid towns and cities
which were under allied control, but on the 22nd May Himmler and his group fell into British
custody.
He was trying to cross a bridge, but the British did not know who they had in their captivity.
The report of the arrest stated, ‘At 5pm on the 22nd May, a party of three German civilians
were detained a the bridge control at Bremervorde.
Their papers indicated they were recently discharged from the German Army, and the tell
tale SD stamp was again present.
They were put under arrest by Sergeant Britton.
In interrogation it became clear that they were the rearguard and stated they were en
route for Munich.
One of the party was sergeant Heinrich Hitzinger, an unimpressive figure with several days growth
of beard, long hair, no glasses and patch over one eye.
He was dressed in an odd collection of civilian garments with a blue raincoat on top.
Himmler had been seized, and then he was moved to different camp before he was taken to the
31st Civilian Interrogation Camp near to Luneburg on the 23rd May.
Inside this camp, he was recognised by a number of Nazi prisoners, and he then took his eye
patch off.
But he must have known that he would be given over by a prisoner, and that his real identity
would be given up.
Because of this, he asked for a meeting with the camp’s commandant, the Captain Thomas
Sylvester.
Sylvester asked the prisoner his name, and Himmler declared his real name, and with this
it was reported to the British military hierarchy that Himmler was in their custody.
The game was up.
The British officer told Himmler to take off his clothes for a search, and a brass capsule
was found on his possession.
This was a cyanide capsule which is what Himmler may have intended to take his own life with.
But there was another brass capsule which was empty.
But this missing cyanide capsule was nowhere to be seen.
His mouth was not checked, but later Himmler would have some food and tea, meaning that
it was not in his mouth at that point.
A military doctor was prepared to give him a thorough body search to locate the missing
cyanide capsule.
Himmler would in his final moments try to be co-operative with his captors and was transported
to the headquarters of the Second British Army in Luneburg where a doctor was to conduct
a more thorough search.
The hunt was on for the missing cyanide capsule, and he was examined all over.
He was asked to open his mouth, and it was claimed by the officer that inside of his
mouth was a small object.
When this was spotted, Himmler bit down on the cyanide capsule and then he took the poison.
The British officers tried their best to clear out the poison, but within 15 minutes he was
dead.
One of the officers would state, ‘We immediately upended Himmler and got his mouth into the
bowl of water which was there to wash the poison out, there were terrible groans and
grunts coming from the swine.’
The highest profile prisoner of the Second World War was no more, and the British would
have been incredibly angry, based on the fact he would have had so much information on the
inner workings of the SS and also the Nazi Party.
As mentioned, it he was ever taken to Nuremberg, he would have certainly been executed.
But what is strange is that Himmler must have believed at some point that he would escape
and evade capture, as he would not bite down on the cyanide capsule until it was about
to be found.
He would have carried the capsules for miles on his journey before capture, and he could
have done the deed at any point.
He may have believed that the Allies would have spared him, in this blind sense of delusion
but this would never have been the case.
Lying on the floor of the room where he had died, Himmler’s remains told a rather strange
story.
He had been half covered by a blanket, and he had his arms crossed over his chest.
His eyes remained closed and his glasses were still on his face, and his lips were closed
and pursed together and in some images it seems as if he is almost smiling, as if he
has had the last laugh against his captors.
His hair is receding to the back of his head, and the lies there peaceful which is bizarre
considering he was a man who caused so much brutality, evil, and death during the Second
World War and before inside of Germany.
He was responsible for the deaths of millions, but on the floor of a British headquarters
he lay motionless.
But at some point in the moments after his death there were a number of things that occurred.
Himmler’s body was autopsied and it was said that ‘the body was that of an adult
male, well nourished and physique up to average standard.’
He had an average sized head, and few grey hairs were noticeable and that his hair had
been recently cut whilst he was in captivity.
He was found to have no necessary deformatiies, but then a death mask was cast of Himmler’s
face.
A death mask was a plaster impression of a corpse which was pressed after an individual
had passed, and these were done of very high profile historical figures.
Kings and Queens had death masks, but what was strange was to think why did the British
take this impression of Himmler’s face.
They may have done this for a number of reasons, firstly to show people a likeness of the former
Head of the SS’ face and to use it to confirm that he had died.
There were very few death masks cast during the Second World War, especially of those
prominent and high ranking Nazis who were involved in such crimes as Himmler was.
Another reason why it may have been cast is to make sure that his face and the image of
evil could be used as a chilling reminder of the Nazi Party.
But as mentioned his death mask shows him almost smiling and asleep, and it’s bizarre
to think that the man who’s face it was cast on is linked to so much terror.
There were other prominent Nazis who were subjected to a death mask, including Reinhard
Heydrich who was killed in Prague in 1942.
The Butcher of Prague was killed by SOE trained assassins, but it was strange for the British
to take the imprint of Himmler especially after his death.
There were more than one death mask taken of Himmler also, and these were made from
latex.
One of them was sent to General Eisenhower’s headquarters to show that the Allies had got
Himmler.
It’s believed that another death mask was cast secretly and that this was kept in private.
It’s believed also that Himmler’s brain was removed before it was then buried in secret.
The British surgeons’ also took casts of Himmler’s ears and skull too, but the location
of these are not known.
Heinrich Himmler was one of the most evil men of the Second World War, and he was responsible
for the deaths of millions of people.
He would oversee the concentration camps and the SS throughout a period in which they massacred
and killed scores of people.
He was one of the most evil Nazis in history, but today his death mask shows a very strange
image.
When viewing the death mask, it’s hard to think that the face that was underneath this
contributed to such horror, terror and evil during world war 2.
It’s strange to stare into the face of one of the most despicable men to ever walk planet
earth.
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