Himmler diary notes give insight into life of Holocaust architect
More than 1,000 pages of notes have been unearthed, providing chilling new details into the role and life of the infamous Nazi chief
Newly-found diary notes from Holocaust architect Heinrich Himmler are being serialised in German magazine Bild, showing how he ordered patrol dogs at Auschwitz that could “rip apart everyone but their handlers”.
More than 1,000 pages have been unearthed at a research institute in Russia covering 1938, 1943 and 1944, adding to Himmler’s known diary details, which are housed in Tel Aviv.
In the new notes, Himmler describes having a snack at Buchenwald concentration camp and witnessing the “effectiveness” of engines at Sobibor, where 250,000 people were gassed.
He also records how he “almost fainted” in Belarussian capital Minsk after being splashed with the blood of a Jewish victim who had just been shot.
Nikolaus Katzer, the director of the German Historical Institute, said the documents “provide insight into the changing role of Himmler and insight into the SS elite and overall the entire German leadership”.
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