The Death of Himmler - Ep 2: The Reichsführer on the Run

At the end of the first video in this series, Himmler the Peacemaker, the Reichsführer SS was in a tricky situation. He had exhausted avenues with both the Allies, who wanted nothing to do with him, and Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz's new Nazi government in northern Germany, who eventually dismissed him from his offices of state on the 6th May 1945, following Hitler's earlier instructions. Himmler had drastically reduced his entourage from several hundred officers and men to only fourteen faithful officers and NCOs. Since the 6th May, Himmler and this group were staying at a farmhouse in Zattrup, and Himmler announced his intention to go south to Bavaria. The obvious question is, why? In the previous video we saw that Himmler had plenty of opportunities to flee to neutral Sweden, but did not go. To travel south throughout Germany was extremely risky. Though the country was in an uproar with millions of displaced civilians and demobilized German soldiers wandering about, British and US troops were starting to exercise control over their territories, and Allied patrols and checkpoints were everywhere. One of their purposes was the identification and apprehension of persons of interest to the new occupiers, and Himmler was at the top of that long list. Whilst at Zattrup, Himmler and his remaining followers changed their appearances. Primarily this meant removing all insignia from their uniforms and obtaining false documentation. All of them, including Himmler, would pretend to be recently demobilized German secret field police, Geheime Feldpolizei, Himmler himself carrying papers that identified him as lately of a special armored company attached to the secret field police, demobilized on the 3rd of May 1945. The collective story was that the group were ill and making their way back home, just another 15 German soldiers among millions roving the highways and byways of recently surrendered Germany. Himmler also altered his physical appearance, as he was the most recognizable among the group, due to the many hours of wartime newsreel appearances, thousands of photographs and public speeches. He shaved off his moustache and wore a black eye patch over his left eye. The choice of a secret field police unit was, on the surface, actually quite a good one. Such units were often staffed by middle-aged soldiers, many unfit due to war wounds or illnesses. Himmler was 44 years old at the time, and several others in the group were also middle-aged. Any Allied troops should have dismissed such a shambolic group as unimportant, after a cursory glance at their papers. But the group had made a mistake. They didn't know that members of the secret field police were subject to immediate arrest by the Allies, including NCOs. This was because the secret field police was part of the Sicherheitsdienst, the SD, the SS security police. Himmler's cover name, Heinrich Hitzinger, was not made up. Hitzinger was a real person, a rural policeman, tried and sentenced to death for defeatism some months before. His papers had been in the possession of the Gestapo, and appropriated for Himmler's use, as Hitzinger apparently bore a strong resemblance to the Reichsführer. All this suggests that Himmler had been making preparations for just such an eventuality for some weeks or months. Himmler made his move south on the 10th of May 1945, two days after the German surrender. The fifteen men, undoubtedly well armed with pistols and machine guns, used four large Wanderer W11 field cars, much favoured by Himmler during his earlier visits to the front. The next day, the group arrived in the small village of Delver, a few miles south-east of Friedrichstadt on the Eider River. The next day, the convoy arrived at Marne. It had taken due to the confusion on the roads, caused by refugees, German troops, and destroyed vehicles, two days, to travel a mere sixty miles south. They were now stuck on the north bank of the Elbe river estuary, with no way to move the cars over. Instead, the four big field cars were abandoned, and the group walked down to the river bank at Brunsbüttel. After some searching and negotiations, Himmler's party paid a fisherman five hundred Reichsmarks to ferry them across the river to the town of Neuhaus, the mouth of the Oster river. From now on, Himmler's party would be on foot. Whatever plan the Reichsführer or any other member of the party had is not known, but they continued south. For another five days, Himmler's party trudged along country lanes, sleeping in farms, barns, or even beside the road, becoming increasingly dirty and dishevelled, foot sore and exhausted. By the 18th of May, the group reached Bremerwerder, a small town on the river Oster. The plan was to walk through the open countryside, to avoid getting tangled up in the towns and villages between Hamburg and Bremerhaven, which were both under full British occupation. On the 18th of May, the group moved into a farmhouse on Waldstrasse in Bremerwerder, the owners having no idea at the time of the identification of the men. SS-Sturmbannführer Kiermeier, Himmler's personal aide, went forward to investigate the Oster river bridge, which was guarded by British troops. For two days, Kiermeier tried to obtain special movement passes from the local mayor, the Landrat, who had been appointed to a new administration under British authority. He wanted chits of paper allowing the group to pass through the checkpoint for some manufactured reason, such as a group of sick German troops returning home to Munich. But the Landrat, probably realising that Kiermeier represented some group of Nazi fugitives, and probably not keen on antagonising his new masters, refused all entreaties. Himmler's group hung around at the farmhouse from the 18th to the 21st of May, before a decision was taken to try and get past the checkpoint and continue their journey. Himmler and his two adjutants, Grottmann and Macher, would hold back while the rest of the group attempted to cross the bridge. At three p.m. Kiermeier and Himmler's personal doctor, Gephardt, went to the bridge, apparently not realising that there was an unguarded ford some distance down the river, where everyone could have crossed without any problems. Kiermeier and Gephardt intended to cross the bridge, and if there were no problems, come back and fetch the others. At four p.m. the two Germans were stopped on the bridge by Sergeant Ken Baysbrown of 1003 Field Security Reserve Detachment, the British Army's intelligence corps. He examined the men's demobilisation passes, and knew immediately that, as secret field police, they must be arrested. But keeping this to himself, Baysbrown quickly learned from Dr. Gephardt that he was but the vanguard of a much larger group of sick ex-secret field police. Baysbrown quickly organised two army trucks, and an escort, to bring in the rest of Gephardt's comrades. Baysbrown, using Lohse's mill on the river as an office, informed his commander, Staff Sergeant John Hogg, that a party of secret field police were shortly to arrive. The trucks duly returned with Gephardt and the rest of the group, but minus three men, these being Himmler and his adjutants. Another NCO, Sergeant Arthur Britton, who was actually Dutch-born, examined the Germans' documents. They all bore secret field police stamps dated 1st or 3rd May, 1945, with smudged SD stamps. Some of the Germans now denied being members of the group. The youngest German was taken into the mill and interrogated by Britton and Baysbrown. He quickly confessed that the secret field police stamp was from SD headquarters, and they all belonged in one group. At 6 p.m. everyone was arrested, and trucks drove them to the civilian internment camp at Westertimker near Zeven. However, Sergeant Hogg retained Dr. Gephardt, and together they drove to the farm to collect the three remaining men. But on arrival Himmler and his cohorts had made themselves scarce. British intelligence was alerted to three secret field police suspects on the run in the area. Himmler's little group assumed that Kiermeier and Gephardt's group had successfully crossed the bridge-checkpoint. They waited, and then tried themselves on the 22nd May. The trio walked through the streets of Bremerwerder. Grotmann and Macker wore long SS officers' raincoats, minus insignia, and walked either side of the much shorter Himmler, who wore bits of German army uniform, a blue raincoat, and an eyepatch. Before they reached the bridge, a British patrol stopped them and escorted them to the mill for questioning. Sergeant Britton received them, and reported their arrival by phone to Staff Sergeant Hogg. Heinrich Himmler was now in Allied hands, but for the time being his real identity was not known to them. He was just another low-ranking German soldier to be processed into a holding camp because of his unit's World War II role. Himmler spent his first night in British captivity with Grotmann and Macker, sleeping on the floor of the mill, using grain sacks as mattresses. The important point was that if Himmler's false identity continued to hold up, he could expect to be released after a few weeks or months, perhaps earlier, enabling him to continue with his plan, as he had told Dönitz's foreign minister, Count Schwerin von Kroesig, in early May 1945, during which he said that the Allies would never find him, that he would lie low, and await political developments. When questioned, Himmler and his companions all claimed to be sergeants in the secret field police, but the smudged SD stamps on their papers were suspicious. When the British examined Himmler's baggage, they confiscated a large magnifying glass embossed with Nazi eagle wings, but apparently thought little of it. The rest of Himmler's personal items, some of them inscribed with his monogram, H.H., or even his title, R.F.S.S., had been hidden at the farm, and would be found much later by intelligence corps NCOs. At 7 a.m. on the 23rd of May, Himmler and his companions were driven to Westertimker camp, via Zeven, headquarters, the 45th field security station, for the British army, arriving around 9 a.m. After processing, Himmler and his adjutants were next driven 45 miles southeast to Kolkhagen, a special interrogation camp near the village of Bahnstedt, arriving after several stops around 6.30 p.m. Himmler was immediately recognized by some of the prisoners standing by the wire watching new arrivals, despite his shaved-off moustache and black eye-patch, particularly by prisoner Karl Kaufmann, the former Gauleiter of Hamburg, who had met Himmler on multiple occasions. Kaufmann said that Himmler didn't recognize him, or at least pretended not to do so, and shortly afterwards removed his eye-patch. Before long most of the prisoners knew that Himmler was in residence. It appears that Himmler now knew that the game was up. Sooner or later the British would be informed by a prisoner regarding his identity. But Himmler still had some aces up his sleeve. He was, after all, the most senior Nazi in Allied captivity, and privy to a vast amount of secret information that he might use in his favor, including information embarrassing to the British. Perhaps, thought Himmler, he might yet be able to make a deal of some kind. In any case, he could expect months or even years of questioning by Allied intelligence and war-crimes investigators before he would ever be brought to trial, and what he knew of hidden treasures, secret bank-accounts, even more secret deals than of Soviet intelligence operations, plus the vast SS spy-networks which still existed, were surely of immense value to his captors, who were at that moment combing Germany for men useful to them in the new Cold War that was in its opening stages. With self-preservation in mind, Himmler now demanded to see the camp commandant, Captain Thomas Sylvester, and after some argument with British NCOs he was duly granted an interview at 7 p.m. Himmler led the trio into Sylvester's office. The British officer described Himmler as small, ill-looking, and shabbily dressed. His companions looked different, evidently military men, by their tall erect bearing and severe haircuts. Sylvester ordered Grotmann and Mucker removed from his office and kept under close guard. Himmler now put on a pair of glasses. Sylvester asked him his name, to which the prisoner replied quietly, Herr Heinrich Himmler. Sylvester immediately phoned British Second Army headquarters at Lüneburg, speaking to Major Rice, an intelligence officer, who initially didn't believe him. However, after a slightly muddled conversation, Major Rice announced that he was starting out for Kolkhagen immediately. While Sylvester waited for help, he ordered Himmler to strip, and NCOs carefully examined his clothing. A brass capsule container was found, containing a glass ampoule, evidently a cyanide capsule. Sylvester asked Himmler what it was. He replied, That is my medicine. It cures stomach cramp. The second brass container was found. This one was empty. Sylvester ordered a full body search, but did not search Himmler's mouth, fearful that Himmler had the glass ampoule of cyanide in his mouth ready to kill himself with. Here things become a bit bizarre. Himmler dressed, and Sylvester ordered tea and thick British Army sandwiches, and Himmler tucked into both. If, as was later claimed, Himmler had concealed a glass ampoule of cyanide in his mouth, measuring thirty-five by nine millimetres, how could he have eaten thick sandwiches and drunken tea? Clearly nothing was in his mouth at the time, and the missing ampoule was not on his person or in his clothing, which had been thoroughly searched. Either that, or the afternoon tea scenario was invented by Sylvester for some reason. It appears, though Sylvester later denied it, that Himmler was allowed to shave and freshen up, due to the growth of stubble reported on his corpse a short time later, expressly against regulations concerning war-crime suspects. Major Rice and his team of intelligence officers arrived at Colkagan about 7.30 p.m. Rice carried with him a photograph of Himmler in his black Allgemeine SS uniform, plus a short biography that included both his date of birth, his Nazi and SS membership numbers, and a copy of his signature. However, Rice didn't have any details of Himmler's weight, height, or any other personal information like this, or a set of fingerprints. Rice's task was simple—establish Himmler's identity beyond a reasonable doubt. Himmler gave a vague answer when asked for his NSDAP membership number, and an equally imprecise, though reasonably accurate, SS number. He gave his correct days of birth. Asked to provide a signature, Himmler agreed, on the strange condition that it be destroyed immediately afterwards. The signature matched the specimen Rice had brought with him, and Himmler was formally identified as the Reichsfuhrer SS. Himmler was very chatty, and mentioned a letter he had written to Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery on the 8th May, and even told Rice that his intention had been to lie low for a few weeks until things in Germany had calmed down, and as he said, circumstances were more favourable for an interview. He told Rice that the Soviet Union was the greater enemy, predicting war between the Allies very soon. Overall, Himmler tried to cultivate a cooperative demeanour with his captors—the exact opposite, in fact, of a man preparing to commit suicide. Rice telephoned Lunenburg, and spoke with his boss, Colonel Michael Murphy, Chief of Intelligence, British Second Army. Murphy now set out to take charge of Himmler, the prize prisoner. Murphy was at the time rather out of sorts, suffering the effects of a string of victory parties. He got a lift to Kolkhagen in the car of Colonel M. A. C. Osborne, G. S. O. 1, General Staff Officer 1, Military Intelligence Operations, Second Army. They arrived at the camp at 9.45 p.m. Rice and Murphy conferred, then Murphy ordered Himmler to strip for a second time, which he refused to do. Murphy threatened him with being forcibly stripped, and Himmler reluctantly complied. Afterwards, Himmler refused to don British battle-dress, and wore only a grey German Army shirt, his underpants, and socks, his original uniform being retained by the British. An Army blanket was handed to him in lieu of a coat. Murphy was, according to his later statements, concerned about the missing cyanide ampule. He decided to have a search, not at the camp, but at a requisitioned house in Lüneburg, ominously called the House for Special Purposes, located at 31A Ulstnerstrasse. A doctor was to meet them at the house. This again is rather strange. Why didn't Murphy order the camp doctor to simply conduct the body-cavity search? Allowing Himmler to go for a nice drive in a car, of course, would give him opportunity once again to kill himself. At 10.40pm, Himmler got into a car, sitting in the back between Murphy's second-in-command and a guard, Murphy in the front passenger seat. Himmler even offered driving directions when Murphy became lost on the way to Lüneburg. It would prove to be Himmler's last journey, as we shall see in the next episode, when we examine what exactly occurred that resulted in the Reichsfuhrer's death.