Betrayal, Escape, Disguise, Suicide: The Final Moments of Heinrich Himmler, the Senior Leader of the Nazi SS during World War II

Rather than face humiliation at a military tribunal, Himmler chose to end his life by poisoning himself

In the spring of 1945, as Germany faced successive defeats, the hastily assembled Vistula Army Group, meant to defend Berlin, quickly collapsed.

Seeing Berlin on the brink of encirclement, the cunning Himmler decided that retreat was the best strategy and secretly slipped away from the city.

On April 23, Himmler reached out through Swedish diplomat Folke Bernadotte to propose to Eisenhower an unconditional surrender of Germany to the British and Americans alone.

At this time, Himmler was still indulging in his delusions.

He believed that his influential position within Nazi Germany would surely make the British and Americans accept his proposal to surrender, thus facilitating their control over Germany to jointly counter the Soviet Union.

Himmler even fantasized about forming a government himself and establishing a “Fourth Reich.” As for Hitler, simply handing him over to the Allies would suffice.

By then, the Allies were already confident of their impending victory. Upon…