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126-725: The municipality Bremervörde consists beside the town Bremervörde of the villages Bevern, Elm, Hesedorf, Hönau-Lindorf, Nieder Ochtenhausen, Iselersheim, Mehedorf, Minstedt, Ostendorf, Plönjeshausen and Spreckens. By 1111 the Saxon Duke Lothair of Supplinburg , later king of the Holy Roman Empire , erected castrum vorde , the Vörde Castle at an Oste ford , important for the Oxen Way , an ancient trackway connecting Jutland with Westphalia . Because of

252-609: A Völkisch youth group. There he met Rudolf Höss , who was later commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp , and Walther Darré , whose book The Peasantry as the Life Source of the Nordic Race caught Hitler's attention, leading to his later appointment as Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture. Darré was a firm believer in the superiority of the Nordic race , and his philosophy was a major influence on Himmler. Upon

378-537: A pretext for the invasion of Poland in 1939, Himmler, Heydrich, and Heinrich Müller masterminded and carried out a false flag project code-named Operation Himmler . German soldiers dressed in Polish uniforms undertook border skirmishes which deceptively suggested Polish aggression against Germany. The incidents were then used in Nazi propaganda to justify the invasion of Poland , the opening event of World War II. At

504-691: A 743 Frankish campaign led by the Carolingian Mayor of the Palace Carloman against the Saxons, followed by a second expedition together with his brother Pepin the Short the next year. In 747 their rebellious brother Grifo allied with Saxon tribes and temporarily conquered the stem duchy of Bavaria . Pepin, Frankish king from 750, again invaded Saxony and subdued several Westphalian tribes until 758. In 772, Pepin's son Charlemagne started

630-645: A Prussian secret police force, the Geheime Staatspolizei or Gestapo in 1933 and appointed Rudolf Diels as its head. Göring, concerned that Diels was not ruthless enough to use the Gestapo effectively to counteract the power of the SA, handed over its control to Himmler on 20 April 1934. Also on that date, Hitler appointed Himmler chief of all German police outside Prussia. This was a radical departure from long-standing German practice that law enforcement

756-588: A State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior. In this role, Himmler was still nominally subordinate to Frick. In practice, however, the police were now effectively a division of the SS, and hence independent of Frick's control. This move gave Himmler operational control over Germany's entire detective force. He also gained authority over all of Germany's uniformed law enforcement agencies, which were amalgamated into

882-685: A close relative of Charlemagne. Ida of Herzfeld may have been an ancestor of the Saxon count Liudolf (d. 866), who married Oda of Billung and ruled over a large territory along the Leine river in Eastphalia, where he and Bishop Altfrid of Hildesheim founded Gandersheim Abbey in 852. Liudolf became the progenitor of the Saxon ducal, royal and imperial Ottonian dynasty ; nevertheless his descendance, especially his affiliation with late Duke Widukind, has not been conclusively established. Subdued only

1008-730: A few decades earlier, the Saxons rose to one of the leading tribes in East Francia ; it is however uncertain if the Ottonians already held the ducal title in the ninth century. Liudolf's elder son Bruno (Brun), progenitor of the Brunswick cadet branch of the Brunonen , was killed in a battle with invading Vikings under Godfrid in 880. He was succeeded by his younger brother Otto the Illustrious (d. 912), mentioned as dux in

1134-468: A good old strain which has been adulterated and debased; we started from the principles of plant selection and then proceeded quite unashamedly to weed out the men whom we did not think we could use for the build-up of the SS." Few dared mention that by his own standards, Himmler did not meet his own ideals. Himmler's organised, bookish intellect served him well as he began setting up different SS departments. In 1931 he appointed Reinhard Heydrich chief of

1260-439: A hundred were immediately re-captured and killed. Some of the escapees joined partisan units operating in the area. The camp was dismantled by December 1943. The Nazis also targeted Romani (Gypsies) as "asocial" and "criminals". By 1935, they were confined into special camps away from ethnic Germans. In 1938, Himmler issued an order in which he said that the "Gypsy question" would be determined by "race". Himmler believed that

1386-488: A life of politics. He was questioned by the police about his role in the putsch but was not charged because of insufficient evidence. However, he lost his job, was unable to find employment as a farm manager, and had to move in with his parents in Munich. Frustrated by these failures, he became ever more irritable, aggressive, and opinionated, alienating both friends and family members. In 1923–24, Himmler, while searching for

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1512-475: A market town. Administrator John Frederick extended the fortified castle by a Vorwerk , including stables and the prince-archiepiscopal Chancery (built in 1608), since 1960 housing a museum, called Bachmann-Museum for regional archeology, geology and history since 1985. The capital function caused the town to be named Bremer vörde since the mid-17th century. In 1648 the Prince-Archbishopric

1638-538: A military career. Although he was not successful, he was able to extend his involvement in the paramilitary scene in Munich. It was at this time that he first met Ernst Röhm , an early member of the Nazi Party and co-founder of the Sturmabteilung ("Storm Battalion"; SA). Himmler admired Röhm because he was a decorated combat soldier, and at his suggestion Himmler joined his antisemitic nationalist group,

1764-697: A positive impetus: in this case that means the reconstruction of the German heritage in the widest and most comprehensive sense. In early 1937, Himmler had his personal staff work with academics to create a framework to replace Christianity within the Germanic cultural heritage. The project gave rise to the Deutschrechtliches Institut, headed by Professor Karl Eckhardt, at the University of Bonn . When Hitler and his army chiefs asked for

1890-609: A reputation for good organisational skills as well as for selecting highly competent subordinates, such as Reinhard Heydrich . From 1943 onwards, he was both Chief of the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) and Minister of the Interior, which gave him oversight of all internal and external police and security forces (including the Gestapo ). He also controlled the Waffen-SS , a branch of the SS that served in combat alongside

2016-630: A speech to the party elite—the Gauleiters and Reichsleiters —Himmler referred explicitly to the "extermination" ( German : Ausrottung ) of the Jewish people. A translated excerpt from the speech of 4 October reads: I also want to refer here very frankly to a very difficult matter. We can now very openly talk about this among ourselves, and yet we will never discuss this publicly. Just as we did not hesitate on 30 June 1934 , to perform our duty as ordered and put comrades who had failed up against

2142-433: A student of agriculture and a farmer, Himmler was acquainted with the principles of selective breeding , which he proposed to apply to humans. He believed that he could engineer the German populace, for example, through eugenics , to be Nordic in appearance within several decades of the end of the war. On 4 October 1943, during a secret meeting with top SS officials in the city of Poznań (Posen), and on 6 October 1943, in

2268-594: A useful face of the party, and he later admired and even worshipped him. To consolidate and advance his own position in the Nazi Party, Himmler took advantage of the disarray in the party following Hitler's arrest in the wake of the Beer Hall Putsch. From mid-1924 he worked under Gregor Strasser as a party secretary and propaganda assistant. Travelling all over Bavaria agitating for the party, he gave speeches and distributed literature. Placed in charge of

2394-415: A victim. He went very green and pale and swayed. Karl Wolff jumped forward, held him steady and led him away from the grave. Nauseated and shaken by the experience, he was concerned about the impact such actions would have on the mental health of his SS men. He decided that alternate methods of killing should be found. On his orders, by early 1942 the camp at Auschwitz had been greatly expanded, including

2520-432: A world view, came to abandon Catholicism and focused on the occult and in antisemitism. Germanic mythology, reinforced by occult ideas, became a religion for him. Himmler found the Nazi Party appealing because its political positions agreed with his own views. Initially, he was not swept up by Hitler's charisma or the cult of Führer worship. However, as he learned more about Hitler through his reading, he began to regard him as

2646-522: Is a splendid Jew. But none has observed it, endured it. Most of you here know what it means when 100 corpses lie next to each other, when there are 500 or when there are 1,000. To have endured this and at the same time to have remained a decent person—with exceptions due to human weaknesses—has made us tough, and is a glorious chapter that has not and will not be spoken of. Because we know how difficult it would be for us if we still had Jews as secret saboteurs, agitators and rabble-rousers in every city, what with

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2772-480: The Bund Reichskriegsflagge (Imperial War Flag Society). In 1922, Himmler became more interested in the " Jewish question ", with his diary entries containing an increasing number of antisemitic remarks and recording a number of discussions about Jews with his classmates. His reading lists, as recorded in his diary, were dominated by antisemitic pamphlets, German myths, and occult tracts. After

2898-572: The Deutsche Wirtschaftsbetriebe (German Economic Enterprise) in 1940. Under the auspices of the SS Economy and Administration Head Office, this holding company owned housing corporations, factories, and publishing houses. Pohl was unscrupulous and quickly exploited the companies for personal gain. In contrast, Himmler was honest in matters of money and business. In 1938, as part of his preparations for war, Hitler ended

3024-718: The Wehrmacht in World War II . As the principal enforcer of the Nazis' racial policies , Himmler was responsible for operating concentration and extermination camps as well as forming the Einsatzgruppen death squads in German-occupied Europe . In this capacity, he played a central role in the genocide of an estimated 5.5–6 million Jews and the deaths of millions of other victims during

3150-711: The Einsatzgruppen rounded up and killed Jews and others deemed undesirable by the Nazi state. Hitler was sent frequent reports. In addition, 2.8 million Soviet prisoners of war died of starvation, mistreatment or executions in just eight months of 1941–42. As many as 500,000 Soviet prisoners of war died or were executed in Nazi concentration camps over the course of the war; most of them were shot or gassed . By early 1941, following Himmler's orders, ten concentration camps had been constructed in which inmates were subjected to forced labour. Jews from all over Germany and

3276-726: The Electorate , the Prussian Province of Saxony (in present-day Saxony-Anhalt), and the Kingdom of Saxony , the latter corresponding with the German Free State of Saxony , which bears the name today, despite its territory not having been part of the medieval duchy (see map on the right). According to the Res gestae saxonicae by tenth century chronicler Widukind of Corvey , the Saxons had arrived from Britannia at

3402-709: The German alliance with China and entered into an agreement with the more modern Japan. That same year, Austria was unified with Nazi Germany in the Anschluss , and the Munich Agreement gave Nazi Germany control over the Sudetenland , part of Czechoslovakia . Hitler's primary motivations for war included obtaining additional Lebensraum ("living space") for the Germanic peoples, who were considered racially superior according to Nazi ideology . A second goal

3528-656: The Heer (army) into Poland, and by the end of 1939 they had murdered some 65,000 intellectuals and other civilians . Militias and Heer units also took part in these killings. Under Himmler's orders via the RSHA, these squads were also tasked with rounding up Jews and others for placement in ghettos and concentration camps. Germany subsequently invaded Denmark and Norway , the Netherlands , and France , and began bombing Great Britain in preparation for Operation Sea Lion ,

3654-462: The Netherlands , Norway , Belgium , Denmark and Finland . Spain and Italy also provided men for Waffen-SS units. Among western countries, the number of volunteers varied from a high of 25,000 from the Netherlands to 300 each from Sweden and Switzerland . From the east, the highest number of men came from Lithuania (50,000) and the lowest from Bulgaria (600). After 1943 most men from

3780-500: The Third Crusade , Henry returned to Brunswick in 1189 and briefly tried to regain the lost lands. After several setbacks, Henry made peace with Barbarossa's son and heir, King Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor . The ancient stem duchy of Saxony was partitioned in some dozens of territories of imperial immediacy by Barbarossa, and ceased to exist. The western part was split amongst several minor counties and bishoprics, as well as

3906-664: The Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia , and the Holstein region ( Nordalbingia ) of Schleswig-Holstein . In the late 12th century, Duke Henry the Lion also occupied the adjacent area of Mecklenburg (the former Billung March ). The Saxons were one of the most robust groups in the late tribal culture of the times, and eventually bequeathed their tribe's name to a variety of more and more modern geopolitical territories, such as Old Saxony ( Altsachsen ), Upper Saxony ,

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4032-493: The "principle of Christian mercy", both of which he saw as dangerous obstacles to his planned battle with "subhumans". In 1937, Himmler declared: We live in an era of the ultimate conflict with Christianity. It is part of the mission of the SS to give the German people in the next half century the non-Christian ideological foundations on which to lead and shape their lives. This task does not consist solely in overcoming an ideological opponent but must be accompanied at every step by

4158-537: The 777 diet at Paderborn , retired to Nordalbingia and afterwards led several uprisings against the occupants, avenged by Charlemagne at the Massacre of Verden in 782. Widukind allegedly had to pledge allegiance in 785, having himself baptised and becoming a Frankish count. Saxon uprisings continued until 804, when the whole stem duchy had been incorporated into the Carolingian Empire. Afterwards, Saxony

4284-577: The Ascanian dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg , the latter obtaining the title of Electors of Saxony by the Golden Bull of 1356 . The Saxon stem duchy covered the greater part of present-day Northern Germany , including the modern German states ( Länder ) of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt up to the Elbe and Saale rivers in the east, the city-states of Bremen and Hamburg ,

4410-637: The Bear. During Barbarossa's fourth Italian campaign in 1166, a league of German Nobles declared war on Henry. The war continued until 1170, despite several attempts of the Emperor to mediate. Ultimately, Henry's position remained unchallenged, due to Barbarossa's favourable rule. In 1168, Henry married Matilda Plantagenêt , the daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and sister of Richard Lionheart . The following years led to an estrangement between Barbarossa and Henry. Henry ceased to support

4536-570: The Bremian cathedral chapter had its seat in the city of Bremen. Maurice of Oldenburg (d. 1368), serving as Diocesan Administrator of Bremen since 1345, ruled the prince-archbishopric from Vörde. When the new Prince-Archbishop Albert II , invested in 1360, tried to depose him Maurice entrenched in Vörde Castle. Only after Albert's brothers Magnus II Torquatus , Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg , Prince of Wolfenbüttel , and Louis , and

4662-558: The British Special Operations Executive for the mission to kill Heydrich. During the two funeral services, Himmler—the chief mourner—took charge of Heydrich's two young sons, and he gave the eulogy in Berlin. On 9 June, after discussions with Himmler and Karl Hermann Frank , Hitler ordered brutal reprisals for Heydrich's death. Over 13,000 people were arrested, and the village of Lidice was razed to

4788-477: The Emperor's Italy campaigns, which were all proven unsuccessful, as massively as he used to, and instead focused on his own possessions. In 1175 Barbarossa again asked for support against the Lombard League , which Henry is said to have refused bluntly, even though Barbarossa kneeled before him. Records of this event were not written until several years later, and sources are contradictory, depending on whom

4914-792: The Holocaust . A day before the launch of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, Himmler commissioned the drafting of Generalplan Ost , which was approved by Hitler in May 1942 and implemented by the Nazi regime, resulting in the deaths of approximately 14 million people in Eastern Europe . In the last years of the Second World War , Hitler appointed Himmler as Commander of the Replacement Army and General Plenipotentiary for

5040-744: The Jews—for the economic hardships. In September 1930, Himmler was first elected as a deputy to the Reichstag . In the 1932 election, the Nazis won 37.3 percent of the vote and 230 seats in the Reichstag. Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933, heading a short-lived coalition of his Nazis and the German National People's Party . The new cabinet initially included only three members of

5166-470: The Munich Police. Himmler appointed Heydrich commander of Department IV, the political police . Thereafter, Himmler and Heydrich took over the political police of state after state; soon only Prussia was controlled by Göring. Effective 1 January 1933, Hitler promoted Himmler to the rank of SS- Obergruppenführer , equal in rank to the senior SA commanders. On 2 June Himmler, along with the heads of

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5292-485: The Nazi Party in 1923. In 1925, he joined the SS, a small paramilitary arm of the Nazi Party that served as a bodyguard unit for Adolf Hitler . Subsequently, Himmler rose steadily through the SS's ranks to become Reichsführer-SS by 1929. Under Himmler's leadership, the SS grew from a 290-man battalion into one of the most powerful institutions within Nazi Germany. Over the course of his career, Himmler acquired

5418-622: The Nazi Party: Hitler, Hermann Göring as minister without portfolio and Minister of the Interior for Prussia , and Wilhelm Frick as Reich Interior Minister . Less than a month later, the Reichstag building was set on fire . Hitler took advantage of this event, forcing Hindenburg to sign the Reichstag Fire Decree , which suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. The Enabling Act , passed by

5544-445: The Nazi regime; most estimates range closer to 6 million. Himmler visited the camp at Sobibór in early 1943, by which time 250,000 people had been killed at that location alone. After witnessing a gassing, he gave 28 people promotions and ordered the operation of the camp to be wound down. In a prisoner revolt that October, the remaining prisoners killed most of the guards and SS personnel. Several hundred prisoners escaped; about

5670-415: The Nazis came to power, Himmler set up the first official concentration camp at Dachau . Hitler had stated that he did not want it to be just another prison or detention camp. Himmler appointed Theodor Eicke , a convicted felon and ardent Nazi, to run the camp in June 1933. Eicke devised a system that was used as a model for future camps throughout Germany. Its features included isolation of victims from

5796-485: The Reichstag on 23 March 1933, gave the Cabinet—in practice, Hitler—full legislative powers, and the country became a de facto dictatorship. On 1 August 1934, Hitler's cabinet passed a law which stipulated that upon Hindenburg's death, the office of president would be abolished and its powers merged with those of the chancellor. Hindenburg died the next morning, and Hitler became both head of state and head of government under

5922-505: The Romani were originally Aryan but had become a mixed race; only the "racially pure" were to be allowed to live. In 1939, Himmler ordered thousands of Gypsies to be sent to the Dachau concentration camp and by 1942, ordered all Romani sent to Auschwitz concentration camp. Himmler was one of the main architects of the Holocaust, using his deep belief in the racist Nazi ideology to justify

6048-445: The SS as a separate organisation, although it was officially still subordinate to the SA. To gain political power, the Nazi Party took advantage of the economic downturn during the Great Depression . The coalition government of the Weimar Republic was unable to improve the economy, so many voters turned to the political extreme, which included the Nazi Party. Hitler used populist rhetoric, including blaming scapegoats—particularly

6174-449: The Soviet Empire and destroy the Bolshevik intelligentsia and leadership. His special directive, the "Guidelines in Special Spheres re Directive No. 21 (Operation Barbarossa)", read: "In the operations area of the army, the Reichsführer-SS has been given special tasks on the orders of the Führer , in order to prepare the political administration. These tasks arise from the forthcoming final struggle of two opposing political systems. Within

6300-419: The addition of gas chambers , where victims were killed using the pesticide Zyklon B . Himmler visited the camp in person on 17 and 18 July 1942. He was given a demonstration of a mass killing using the gas chamber in Bunker 2 and toured the building site of the new IG Farben plant being constructed at the nearby town of Monowitz . By the end of the war, at least 5.5 million Jews had been killed by

6426-564: The administration of the Third Reich ( Generalbevollmächtigter für die Verwaltung ). He was later given command of the Army Group Upper Rhine and the Army Group Vistula . However, after he failed to achieve his assigned objectives, Hitler replaced him in these posts. Realising the war was lost, Himmler attempted, without Hitler's knowledge, to open peace talks with the western Allies in March 1945. When Hitler learned of this on 28 April, he dismissed Himmler from all his posts and ordered his arrest. Thereafter, Himmler attempted to go into hiding but

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6552-439: The arrangements with Frick. Himmler and Heydrich had greater bargaining power, as they were allied with Frick's old enemy, Göring. Heydrich drew up a set of proposals and Himmler sent him to meet with Frick. An angry Frick then consulted with Hitler, who told him to agree to the proposals. Frick acquiesced, and on 17 June 1936 Hitler decreed the unification of all police forces in the Reich and named Himmler Chief of German Police and

6678-427: The author favoured. Nevertheless, lacking the support of the Saxons the following Battle of Legnano was a complete failure for the Emperor. When the majority of the realm's princes had returned from Italy, Henry's refusal was instantly exploited to weaken his position. Views differ, whether Barbarossa initiated Henry's downfall or if it was orchestrated by the princes first and foremost. Between 1175 and 1181, Henry

6804-431: The authority of Himmler, the Waffen-SS developed a fully militarised structure of command and operations. It grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, serving alongside the Heer (army), but never being formally part of it. In addition to his military ambitions, Himmler established the beginnings of a parallel economy under the umbrella of the SS. To this end, administrator Oswald Pohl set up

6930-435: The beginning of the war against Poland, Hitler authorised the killing of Polish civilians, including Jews and ethnic Poles. The Einsatzgruppen (SS task forces) had originally been formed by Heydrich to secure government papers and offices in areas taken over by Germany before World War II. Authorised by Hitler and under the direction of Himmler and Heydrich, the Einsatzgruppen units—now repurposed as death squads —followed

7056-516: The benefits of German citizenship. These laws were among the first race-based measures instituted by the Third Reich. Himmler and Heydrich wanted to extend the power of the SS; thus, they urged Hitler to form a national police force overseen by the SS, to guard Nazi Germany against its many enemies at the time—real and imagined. Interior Minister Frick also wanted a national police force, but one controlled by him, with Kurt Daluege as his police chief. Hitler left it to Himmler and Heydrich to work out

7182-468: The borders of Germany to the east by one thousand kilometres (600 miles). Himmler expected that it would take twenty to thirty years to complete the plan, at a cost of 67 billion  ℛ︁ℳ︁ . Himmler stated openly: "It is a question of existence, thus it will be a racial struggle of pitiless severity, in the course of which 20 to 30 million Slavs and Jews will perish through military actions and crises of food supply." Himmler declared that

7308-416: The brothers Albert III, Eric I and John II, and Saxe-Wittenberg ( German : Herzogtum Sachsen-Wittenberg ), ruled by Albert II, took place before September 20, 1296. The Vierlande , Sadelbande (Land of Lauenburg), the Land of Ratzeburg , the Land of Darzing (today's Amt Neuhaus ), and the Land of Hadeln are all mentioned as the separate territory of the brothers. Albert II received Saxe-Wittenberg around

7434-414: The camps housed political opponents; over time, undesirable members of German society—criminals, vagrants, deviants—were placed in the camps as well. In 1936 Himmler wrote in the pamphlet "The SS as an Anti-Bolshevist Fighting Organization" that the SS were to fight against the "Jewish-Bolshevik revolution of subhumans". A Hitler decree issued in December 1937 allowed for the incarceration of anyone deemed by

7560-402: The city of Goslar , which he had coveted for several years already. During the following war, Henry's domestic policy and the treatment of his vassals proved fatal, and his power quickly crumbled. In 1182, Henry the Lion ultimately went into exile, joining the court of his father-in-law, Henry II of England. Following the death of his wife and also of the Emperor, the latter while participating in

7686-407: The coast of Land Hadeln in the Elbe-Weser Triangle , called by the Merovingian rulers of Francia to support the conquest of Thuringian kingdom, a seeming reversal of the English origin myth where Saxon tribes from the region, under the leadership of legendary brothers Hengist and Horsa , invade post-Roman Britannia. (see Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ). The Royal Frankish Annals mention

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7812-401: The collaboration between Himmler and Heydrich, and Himmler was proud to have SS control over a state. Despite having direct access to Hitler, Heydrich's loyalty to Himmler remained firm. With Hitler's approval, Himmler re-established the Einsatzgruppen in the lead-up to the planned invasion of the Soviet Union. In March 1941, Hitler addressed his army leaders, detailing his intention to smash

7938-401: The contemporary annals of Hersfeld Abbey , which, however, seems to have been denied by the Frankish rulers. His position was strong enough to wed Hedwiga of the Babenberg , daughter of mighty Duke Henry of Franconia , princeps militiae of King Charles the Fat . As all of Hedwiga's brothers were killed in the Franconian Babenberg feud with the rivalling Conradines , Otto was able to adopt

8064-428: The continuous attacks by Hungarian forces, whereby the Saxon troops about 928/929 occupied large territories in the east settled by Polabian Slavs . Henry's eastern campaigns to Brandenburg and Meissen , the establishment of Saxon marches as well as the surrender of Duke Wenceslaus of Bohemia marked the beginning of the German eastward expansion ( Ostsiedlung ). In 1142, King Conrad III of Germany granted

8190-426: The ducal title to the Welf scion Henry the Lion (as Duke Henry III). Henry gradually extended his rule over northeastern Germany, leading crusades against the pagan Wends . During his reign, Henry massively supported to the development of the cities in his dominion, such as Brunswick , Lüneburg and Lübeck , a policy ultimately contributing to the movement of the House of Welf from its homelands in southern Germany to

8316-451: The east were conscripts . The performance of the eastern Waffen-SS units was, as a whole, sub-standard. In late 1941, Hitler named Heydrich as Deputy Reich Protector of the newly established Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . Heydrich began to racially classify the Czechs, deporting many to concentration camps. Members of a swelling resistance were shot, earning Heydrich the nickname "the Butcher of Prague". This appointment strengthened

8442-410: The end of the Second World War , the fleeing senior Nazi Heinrich Himmler was captured at an Allied roadblock in Bremervörde. Bremervörde is the end point of the " Deutsche Fährstraße " established in May 2004, an institution similar to the American National Scenic Byways . It connects various places between Bremervörde and Kiel with relation to the history of ferries and crossing of rivers, like

8568-588: The enfeoffment of his son and heir Duke Rudolph I with the Palatinate of Saxony , which ensued a long-lasting dispute with the eager clan of the House of Wettin . When the County of Brehna was reverted to the Empire after the extinction of its comital family, the king enfeoffed Duke Rudolph. In 1290, Albert II gained the County of Brehna and in 1295 the County of Gommern for Saxony. King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia succeeded in bringing Albert II in favour of electing Adolf of Germany , as new emperor (Albert II signed an elector pact on 29 November 1291 that he would vote

8694-450: The eponymous city and Belzig . Albert II thus became the founder of the Ascanian line of Saxe-Wittenberg. Members of the Welf cadet branch House of Hanover later became prince-electors of the Hanover (as of 1692/1708), kings of Great Britain , Ireland (both 1714), the United Kingdom (1801), and the Hanover (1814). A number of seceded territories even gained imperial immediacy , while others only changed their liege lord on

8820-431: The extermination of the Jewish people. It is one of those things that is easily said. "The Jewish people is being exterminated", every Party member will tell you, "perfectly clear, it's part of our plans, we're eliminating the Jews, exterminating them, ha!, a small matter." And then they turn up, the upstanding 80 million Germans, and each one has his decent Jew. They say the others are all swines, but this particular one

8946-453: The final conquest of the Saxon lands. Though his ongoing campaigns were successful, he had to deal with the fragmentation of the Saxon territories in Westphalian, Eastphalian , Angrian , and Nordalbingian tribes, demanding the conclusion of specific peace agreements with single tribes, which soon were to be broken by other clans. The Saxons devastated the Frankish stronghold at Eresburg ; their leader ( Herzog ) Widukind refused to appear at

9072-584: The framework of these tasks, the Reichsführer-SS acts independently and on his own responsibility." Hitler thus intended to prevent internal friction like that occurring earlier in Poland in 1939, when several German Army generals (including Johannes Blaskowitz ) had attempted to bring Einsatzgruppen leaders to trial for the murders they had committed. Following the army into the Soviet Union,

9198-571: The ground ; its male inhabitants and all adults in the village of Ležáky were murdered. At least 1,300 people were executed by firing squads. Himmler took over leadership of the RSHA and stepped up the pace of the killing of Jews in Aktion Reinhard ( Operation Reinhard ), named in Heydrich's honour. He ordered the Aktion Reinhard camps—three extermination camps —to be constructed at Bełżec , Sobibór , and Treblinka . Initially

9324-498: The highest formal SS rank, equivalent to a field marshal in the army. The SA was converted into a sports and training organisation. On 15 September 1935, Hitler presented two laws—known as the Nuremberg Laws —to the Reichstag. The laws banned marriage between non-Jewish and Jewish Germans and forbade the employment of non-Jewish women under the age of 45 in Jewish households. The laws also deprived so-called "non-Aryans" of

9450-642: The historic transporter bridges in Osten and Rendsburg . Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( Low German : Hartogdom Sassen ) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages , when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 AD and incorporated into the Carolingian Empire ( Francia ) by 804. Upon the 843 Treaty of Verdun , Saxony

9576-557: The latter's father-in-law William II, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg (Celle line) and their Wolfenbüttelian and Cellean troops had beleaguered the Vörde in January 1362, Maurice signed his resignation. The prince-archbishops added up for the development of Vörde. Prince-Archbishop John III (d. 1511), founded a hospital and infirmary, renovated in 1576 by Administrator Henry III , who also else contributed to Vörde's prosperity as

9702-455: The medieval chronicler Widukind of Corvey , King Conrad designated Henry his heir, thereby denying the succession of his own brother Eberhard of Franconia , and in 919 the Saxon duke was elected King of East Francia by the assembled Saxon and Franconian princes at Fritzlar . Henry was able to integrate the Swabian, Bavarian and Lotharingian duchies into the imperial federation, vital to handle

9828-463: The murder of Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau on 24 June, Himmler's political views veered towards the radical right, and he took part in demonstrations against the Treaty of Versailles . Hyperinflation was raging, and his parents could no longer afford to educate all three sons. Disappointed by his failure to make a career in the military and his parents' inability to finance his doctoral studies, he

9954-606: The murder of millions of victims. Longerich surmises that Hitler, Himmler, and Heydrich designed the Holocaust during a period of intensive meetings and exchanges in April–May 1942. The Nazis planned to kill Polish intellectuals and restrict non-Germans in the General Government and conquered territories to a fourth-grade education. They further wanted to breed a master race of racially pure Nordic Aryans in Germany. As

10080-567: The name Saxony from north-western Germany to the location of the modern Free State of Saxony . The deposed ducal House of Welf could maintain its allodial possessions, which did not remain as part of the Duchy of Saxony after the enfeoffment of the Ascanians. The Welf possessions were elevated to the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (also Brunswick and Lunenburg) in 1235. This duchy continued to use

10206-484: The new Ordnungspolizei (Orpo: "order police"), which became a branch of the SS under Daluege. Shortly thereafter, Himmler created the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo: criminal police) as an umbrella organisation for all criminal investigation agencies in Germany. The Kripo was merged with the Gestapo into the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo: security police), under Heydrich's command. In September 1939, following

10332-536: The new Ic Service (intelligence service), which was renamed the Sicherheitsdienst (SD: Security Service) in 1932. He later officially appointed Heydrich his deputy. The two men had a good working relationship and a mutual respect. In 1933, they began to remove the SS from SA control. Along with Interior Minister Frick, they hoped to create a unified German police force. In March 1933, Reich Governor of Bavaria Franz Ritter von Epp appointed Himmler chief of

10458-463: The newly formed Duchy of Westphalia . In the east, the Ascanians, the Welf's old rivals, finally gained a severely belittled Duchy of Saxony, occupying only the easternmost, comparably small, territories along the river Elbe around Lauenburg upon Elbe and around Wittenberg upon Elbe . Limiting the lands the Ascanians gained along with the ducal title to these eastern territories caused the migration of

10584-920: The north. In 1152, Henry supported his cousin Frederick III of Swabia , to be elected King of Germany (as Frederick I Barbarossa), likely under the promise of granting the Duchy of Bavaria back to Henry. Henry's dominion now covered more than two thirds of Germany, from the Alps to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea , making him one of the mightiest rulers in central Europe, and thus also a potential threat for other German princes and even Barbarossa. To expand his rule, Henry continued to claim titles of lesser families, who left no legitimate heir. This policy caused unrest among many Saxon nobles and other German princes, first and foremost his father's old enemy, Albrecht

10710-668: The notion that people who were racially inferior had no right to live, date back to the earliest days of the party; Hitler discusses this in Mein Kampf . Around the time of the German declaration of war on the United States in December 1941, Hitler resolved that the Jews of Europe were to be "exterminated" . Heydrich arranged a meeting, held on 20 January 1942 at Wannsee , a suburb of Berlin. Attended by top Nazi officials, it

10836-643: The occasion. The following list includes states that existed in the territory of the former stem duchy in addition to the two legal successors of the stem duchy, the Ascanian Duchy of Saxony formed in 1296 centered around Wittenberg and Lauenburg , as well as the Duchy of Westphalia , held by the Archbishops of Cologne , that already split off in 1180. Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( German: [ˈhaɪnʁɪç ˈluːɪtpɔlt ˈhɪmlɐ] ; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945)

10962-557: The occupied territories were deported to the camps or confined to ghettos. As the Germans were pushed back from Moscow in December 1941, signalling that the expected quick defeat of the Soviet Union had failed to materialize, Hitler and other Nazi officials realised that mass deportations to the east would no longer be possible. As a result, instead of deportation, many Jews in Europe were destined for death. Nazi racial policies, including

11088-469: The old Saxon coat-of-arms showing the Saxon Steed in argent on gules , while the Ascanians adopted for the younger Duchy of Saxony their family colours, a barry of ten, in sable and or , covered by a crancelin of rhombs bendwise in vert , symbolising the Saxon dukedom. In 1269, 1272, and 1282 the co-ruling brothers John I and Albert II gradually divided their governing competences within

11214-735: The other two Nazi paramilitary organizations, the SA and the Hitler Youth , was named a Reichsleiter , the second highest political rank in the Nazi Party. On 10 July, he was named to the Prussian State Council . On 2 October 1933, he became a founding member of Hans Frank 's Academy for German Law at its inaugural meeting. Himmler further established the SS Race and Settlement Main Office ( Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt or RuSHA). He appointed Darré as its first chief, with

11340-776: The outbreak of World War II, Himmler formed the SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA: Reich Security Main Office) to bring the SiPo (which included the Gestapo and Kripo) and the SD together under one umbrella. He again placed Heydrich in command. Under Himmler's leadership, the SS developed its own military branch, the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), which later evolved into the Waffen-SS . Nominally under

11466-508: The outside world, elaborate roll calls and work details, the use of force and executions to exact obedience, and a strict disciplinary code for the guards. Uniforms were issued for prisoners and guards alike; the guards' uniforms had a special Totenkopf insignia on their collars. By the end of 1934, Himmler took control of the camps under the aegis of the SS, creating a separate division, the SS-Totenkopfverbände . Initially

11592-597: The party office in Lower Bavaria by Strasser from late 1924, he was responsible for integrating the area's membership with the Nazi Party under Hitler when the party was re-founded in February 1925. That same year, he joined the Schutzstaffel (SS) as an SS-Führer (SS-Leader); his SS number was 168. The SS, initially part of the much larger SA, was formed in 1923 for Hitler's personal protection and

11718-475: The party, and following his strong need for control, he developed an elaborate bureaucracy. In September 1927, Himmler told Hitler of his vision to transform the SS into a loyal, powerful, racially pure elite unit. Convinced that Himmler was the man for the job, Hitler appointed him Deputy Reichsführer-SS , with the rank of SS-Oberführer . Around this time, Himmler joined the Artaman League ,

11844-775: The planned invasion of the United Kingdom. On 21 June 1941, the day before invasion of the Soviet Union , Himmler commissioned the preparation of the Generalplan Ost (General Plan for the East); the plan was approved by Hitler in May 1942. It called for the Baltic States , Poland, Western Ukraine , and Byelorussia to be conquered and resettled by ten million German citizens. The current residents—some 31 million people—would be expelled further east, starved, or used for forced labour. The plan would have extended

11970-480: The racial investigation, the person concerned was excluded from the SS. Each man was issued a Sippenbuch , a genealogical record detailing his genetic history. Himmler expected that each SS marriage should produce at least four children, thus creating a pool of genetically superior prospective SS members. The programme had disappointing results; less than 40 per cent of SS men married and each produced only about one child. In March 1933, less than three months after

12096-446: The rank of SS- Gruppenführer . The department implemented racial policies and monitored the "racial integrity" of the SS membership. SS men were carefully vetted for their racial background. On 31 December 1931, Himmler introduced the "marriage order", which required SS men wishing to marry to produce family trees proving that both families were of Aryan descent to 1800. If any non-Aryan forebears were found in either family tree during

12222-502: The regime to be an undesirable member of society. This included Jews, Gypsies , communists, and those persons of any other cultural, racial , political, or religious affiliation deemed by the Nazis to be Untermensch (sub-human). Thus, the camps became a mechanism for social and racial engineering. By the outbreak of World War II in autumn 1939, there were six camps housing some 27,000 inmates. Death tolls were high. In early 1934, Hitler and other Nazi leaders became concerned that Röhm

12348-489: The reserve battalion of the 11th Bavarian Regiment in December 1917. His brother, Gebhard, served on the western front and saw combat, receiving the Iron Cross and eventually being promoted to lieutenant. In November 1918, while Himmler was still in training, the war ended with Germany's defeat, denying him the opportunity to become an officer or see combat. After his discharge on 18 December, he returned to Landshut. After

12474-503: The resignation of SS commander Erhard Heiden in January 1929, Himmler assumed the position of Reichsführer-SS with Hitler's approval; he still carried out his duties at propaganda headquarters. One of his first responsibilities was to organise SS participants at the Nuremberg Rally that September. Over the next year, Himmler grew the SS from a force of about 290 men to about 3,000. By 1930 Himmler had persuaded Hitler to run

12600-646: The rubble bricks moved to Stade for the construction of the Swedish Warehouse (Schwedenspeicher) there. After another Danish occupation between 1712 and 1715 during the Great Northern War the Duchy of Bremen was handed over to the House of Hanover , ruling the area until 1866. In 1823 the Duchy was abolished and its territory became part of the Stade Region . On May 21, 1945, shortly after

12726-405: The same as Wenceslaus). On April 27, 1292, Albert II, with his nephews still minor, wielded the Saxon electoral vote , electing Adolf of Germany. The last document mentioning the joint government of Albert II with his nephews as Saxon fellow dukes dates back to 1295. The definite partitioning of the Duchy of Saxony into Saxe-Lauenburg ( German : Herzogtum Sachsen-Lauenburg ), jointly ruled by

12852-516: The school later remembered him as studious and awkward in social situations. Himmler's diary, which he kept intermittently from the age of 10, shows that he took a keen interest in current events, dueling, and "the serious discussion of religion and sex". In 1915, he began training with the Landshut Cadet Corps . His father used his connections with the royal family to get Himmler accepted as an officer candidate, and he enlisted with

12978-644: The strategically advantageous location between the rivers Elbe and Weser it was a matter of conflicts in the following centuries. Later it came under the control of Henry the Lion and then, in 1219, it fell under the control of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen , providing functions as capital with the prince-archiepiscopal residence and seat of government. The parliament, the Bremian Estates , convened at other places (usually in Basdahl ),

13104-668: The strong position of his father-in-law and to evolve the united Saxon duchy under his rule. In 911, the East Frankish Carolingian dynasty went extinct with the death of King Louis the Child , whereafter the dukes of Saxony, Swabia and Bavaria met at Forchheim to elect the Conradine duke Conrad I of Franconia king. One year later, Otto's son Henry the Fowler succeeded his father as Duke of Saxony. According to

13230-453: The then three territorially unconnected Saxon areas (Hadeln, Lauenburg, and Wittenberg), thus preparing a partition. After John I had resigned in 1282 in favour of his three minor sons Eric I , John II and Albert III , followed by his death three years later, the three brothers and their uncle Albert II continued the joint rule in Saxony. In 1288, Albert II applied to King Rudolph I for

13356-485: The title Führer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor). The Nazi Party's rise to power provided Himmler and the SS an unfettered opportunity to thrive. By 1933, the SS numbered 52,000 members. Strict membership requirements ensured that all members were of Hitler's Aryan Herrenvolk ("Aryan master race"). Applicants were vetted for Nordic qualities—in Himmler's words, "like a nursery gardener trying to reproduce

13482-453: The vanguard in overcoming Christianity and restoring a 'Germanic' way of living" as part of preparations for the coming conflict between "humans and subhumans". Longerich wrote that, while the Nazi movement as a whole launched itself against Jews and Communists, "by linking de-Christianisation with re-Germanization, Himmler had provided the SS with a goal and purpose all of its own". Himmler was vehemently opposed to Christian sexual morality and

13608-458: The victims were killed with gas vans or by firing squad, but these methods proved impracticable for an operation of this scale. In August 1941, Himmler attended the shooting of 100 Jews at Minsk . A "military virgin" this was the first time he heard a shot fired in anger or seen dead people, and in Minsk while looking into the open grave his coat and perhaps his face were splashed by the brains of

13734-418: The wall and execute them, we also never spoke about it, nor will we ever speak about it. Let us thank God that we had within us enough self-evident fortitude never to discuss it among us, and we never talked about it. Every one of us was horrified, and yet every one clearly understood that we would do it next time, when the order is given and when it becomes necessary. I am talking about the "Jewish evacuation":

13860-552: The war in the east was a pan-European crusade to defend the traditional values of old Europe from the "Godless Bolshevik hordes". Constantly struggling with the Wehrmacht for recruits, Himmler solved this problem through the creation of Waffen-SS units composed of Germanic folk groups taken from the Balkans and eastern Europe. Equally vital were recruits from among the Germanic considered peoples of northern and western Europe, in

13986-605: The war, Himmler completed his grammar-school education. From 1919 to 1922, he studied agriculture at the Munich Technische Hochschule (now Technical University Munich ) following a brief apprenticeship on a farm and a subsequent illness. Although many regulations that discriminated against non-Christians—including Jews and other minority groups—had been eliminated during the unification of Germany in 1871, antisemitism continued to exist and thrive in Germany and other parts of Europe. Himmler

14112-592: Was a German politician who was the 4th Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the German Nazi Party , and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany . He is primarily known for being a principal architect of the Holocaust . After serving in a reserve battalion during the First World War without seeing combat, Himmler went on to join

14238-450: Was a state and local matter. Heydrich, named chief of the Gestapo by Himmler on 22 April 1934, also continued as head of the SD. Hitler decided on 21 June that Röhm and the SA leadership had to be eliminated. He sent Göring to Berlin on 29 June, to meet with Himmler and Heydrich to plan the action. Hitler took charge in Munich, where Röhm was arrested; he gave Röhm the choice to commit suicide or be shot. When Röhm refused to kill himself, he

14364-531: Was antisemitic by the time he went to university, but not exceptionally so; students at his school would avoid their Jewish classmates. He remained a devout Catholic while a student and spent most of his leisure time with members of his fencing fraternity, the "League of Apollo", the president of which was Jewish. Himmler maintained a polite demeanor with him and with other Jewish members of the fraternity, in spite of his growing antisemitism. During his second year at university, Himmler redoubled his attempts to pursue

14490-591: Was captured by British forces. He committed suicide in British custody on 23 May 1945. Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was born in Munich on 7 October 1900 into a conservative middle-class Roman Catholic family. His father was Joseph Gebhard Himmler (1865–1936), a teacher, and his mother was Anna Maria Himmler (née Heyder; 1866–1941), a devout Roman Catholic. Heinrich had two brothers: Gebhard Ludwig (1898–1982) and Ernst Hermann (1905–1945). Himmler's first name, Heinrich,

14616-465: Was charged with several accusations, such as violating the honour of the realm (honor imperii), breach of the peace, and treason. If he were to follow the summons to the Hoftag , Henry would've acknowledge the charges as rightful, and therefore refused all summons. In 1181, he was ultimately stripped of his titles. Unwilling to give up without a fight, Henry already had dealt the first blow in 1180 against

14742-485: Was forced to take a low-paying office job after obtaining his agricultural diploma. He remained in this position until September 1923. Himmler joined the Nazi Party on 1 August 1923, receiving party number 14303. As a member of Röhm's paramilitary unit, Himmler was involved in the Beer Hall Putsch —an unsuccessful attempt by Hitler and the Nazi Party to seize power in Munich. This event would set Himmler on

14868-595: Was one of the five German stem duchies of East Francia ; Duke Henry the Fowler was elected German king in 919. Upon the deposition of the Welf duke Henry the Lion in 1180, the ducal title fell to the House of Ascania , while numerous territories split from Saxony, such as the Principality of Anhalt in 1218 and the Welf Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1235. In 1296, the remaining lands were divided between

14994-524: Was planning a coup d'état. Röhm had socialist and populist views and believed that the real revolution had not yet begun. He felt that the SA—now numbering some three million men, far dwarfing the army—should become the sole arms-bearing corps of the state, and that the army should be absorbed into the SA under his leadership. Röhm lobbied Hitler to appoint him Minister of Defence , a position held by conservative General Werner von Blomberg . Göring had created

15120-437: Was re-formed in 1925 as an elite unit of the SA. Himmler's first leadership position in the SS was that of SS- Gauführer (district leader) in Lower Bavaria from 1926. Strasser appointed Himmler deputy propaganda chief in January 1927. As was typical in the Nazi Party, he had considerable freedom of action in his post, which increased over time. He began to collect statistics on the number of Jews, Freemasons , and enemies of

15246-515: Was ruled by Carolingian officials, e.g. Wala of Corbie (d. 836), a grandson of Charles Martel and cousin of the emperor, who in 811 fixed the Treaty of Heiligen with King Hemming of Denmark , defining the northern border of the Empire along the Eider River. Among the installed dukes were already nobles of Saxon descent, like Wala's successor Count Ekbert, husband of Saint Ida of Herzfeld ,

15372-516: Was shot dead by two SS officers. Between 85 and 200 members of the SA leadership and other political adversaries, including Gregor Strasser, were killed between 30 June and 2 July 1934 in these actions, known as the Night of the Long Knives . With the SA thus neutralised, the SS became an independent organisation answerable only to Hitler on 20 July 1934. Himmler's title of Reichsführer-SS became

15498-517: Was that of his godfather, Prince Heinrich of Bavaria , a member of the royal family of Bavaria who had been tutored by Himmler's father. He attended a grammar school in Landshut , where his father was deputy principal. While he did well in his schoolwork, he struggled in athletics. He had poor health, suffering from lifelong stomach complaints and other ailments. In his youth he trained daily with weights and exercised to become stronger. Other boys at

15624-470: Was the elimination of those considered racially inferior, particularly the Jews and Slavs, from territories controlled by the Reich. From 1933 to 1938, hundreds of thousands of Jews emigrated to the United States, Palestine, the United Kingdom, and other countries. Some converted to Christianity. According to Himmler biographer Peter Longerich , Himmler believed that a major task of the SS should be "acting as

15750-711: Was transformed into the Duchy of Bremen , which was first ruled in personal union by the Swedish Crown. The Swedes relocated the capital to Stade . During the Swedish reign the Danish King Frederick III (as of 1648, deposed by the Swedes as Bremian Administrator Frederick II in 1645) invaded the Duchy and bombed his former residence in 1657. In 1682 the damaged castle and the castle church, burial place of many prince-archbishops, were demolished,

15876-665: Was used to outline the plans for the " final solution to the Jewish question ". Heydrich detailed how those Jews able to work would be worked to death ; those unable to work would be killed outright. Heydrich calculated the number of Jews to be killed at 11 million and told the attendees that Hitler had placed Himmler in charge of the plan. In June 1942, Heydrich was assassinated in Prague in Operation Anthropoid , led by Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš , members of Czechoslovakia's army-in-exile. Both men had been trained by

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