OTHER NAZI LEADERS

The Third Reich was a creation of Adolf Hitler. It was, however, operated by a number of unscrupulous men who contributed in various ways to the upholding of the Nazi regime.

Herman Goering
Impressive and popular. Versatile/successful at first. Aristocratic connections, ace fighter in WWI. 1932 Speaker then President of Reichstag. Played role in setting up police state. Air Minister, founded Luftwaffe in 1933.

 Directed 4 year plan 36-40 to prepare for war. Reichsmarshall in 1940. Lived life of luxury. First wife died Swedish aristocrat died in 1931. 1935 married actress Emmy Sonnemann. Fat, glamorous and charming, he enjoyed his power and wealth. Clothes changed 5 times a day. Extravagance and sexual activity a focus of humour. After Luftwaffe failed to stop RAF bombing Germany, his influence declined. Nuremburg Trials 45-46 found guilty on all charges, but killed himself with cyanide before his execution. His body was burnt in a Dachau oven.

JOSEPH GOEBBELS.
Master of Propaganda born 1897 to poor Catholic manual worker parents. Leg crippled by polio, possibly made him embittered. Most educated and intelligent of Nazi leaders. 1921 Doctor of Philology. Failed playwright became journalist.

 Joined Nazi party in 1922, head of propaganda in 1929. 1930 elected to Reichstag, from 33-45 Hitlers Minister of Propaganda. Violently anti-Semitic, organised Kristallnacht 38 Affair with Czech Slav) actress led to row with Hitler. Colleagues ridiculed him behind his back, called little mouse doctor. Although he ridiculed decadence etc, he visited nightclubs and had mistresses. He owned several houses. After Stalingrad 43 played a part in domestic war effort. Dramatic suicide 45, poisoned his children, shot his wife and then ended his own life

Heinrich Himmler
One of the most notorious Nazis, looked more like a bank clerk Evolution from popular schoolboy to heartless exterminator is something of a mystery. Noakes describes him as a bizarre combo of nave crank, pedantic schoolmaster and coldly efficient bureaucrat.

 1929, made head of recently formed SS. Rose to have leadership of whole SS and Gestapo network. Absolutely no feelings of guilt, responsible for deaths of millions, but suffered psychosomatic illnesses, he could not watch mass execution (squeamish), opposed to hunting of animals. Believed in occult and homeopathic medicine. Yet he organised inhuman scientific experiments and modernised murder. He ran the concentration camps and had overall control of the Holocaust. Captured by Allies, he committed suicide on 23rd May 45.

Reynard Heydrich
Son of a musician, may have been Jewish. He served in the navy, but was dismissed over a sexual allegation. Tall, blond and athletic, he thus, unlike the other Nazi leaders, typified the ideal Aryan. 1932 joined the SS and rose rapidly in its ranks and became a close associate of Himmler. 1936- Chief of the Security Police and the SD, security service of the SS. He organised a vast police network.

 He became SS general in 1941. Established the first Jewish Ghetto and became the first administrator of the concentration camp system. At the Wannsee Conference in 42 he was chosen the administer the Final Solution. May 42killed by a grenade thrown by Czech hit squad. Known as the Blond Beast was one of the least attractive Nazis, being cold, suspicious and sadistic, with a morbid self-hatred. His savage treatment of the Jews may have been partly caused by his fear that he himself had Jewish blood.

Rudolph Hess
Hitlers earliest and most loyal supporter Served in same regiment as Hitler in WWI. Took part in Munich Putsch and was imprisoned with Hitler. Had many posts including: SS General, and Deputy Fuhrer in 33. He had to ok decrees and he had power to select all senior Nazi officials.

 He helped develop the cult of Fuhrer. He was shy and had a weak submissive character, totally dependent on Hitler as a father figure. Few political skills but compensated by his total belief in the infallible Fuhrer. From 39 increasingly cut of from Hitler. Dramatic decision to fly to Scotland in 41 hoping to arrange peace. He was imprisoned for the rest of the war and put on trial at Nuremberg in 46. He was sentenced to life at Spandau Prison, last 21 years only he was there. Committed suicide by strangling himself with a heater cable in 1987.

Martin Bormann
In many ways the most mysterious and sinister figure in the Third Reich. Used part machine and Hitlers trust to eventually become 2nd most powerful person in Germany. Son of a civil servant Bormann dropped out of school. Joined Nazi party in 1925

 He was a member of the supreme command of the SA and became Chief-of-Staff to Hess in 1933. He was brutish, ruthless and ambitious, a tireless administrator able to thrive in the Nazi machine. Was Hitlers secretary by 1943, controlling Hitlers appointments. He cut off Hitler from more cautious opinions, allowing Hitler to indulge his fanaticism, which Bormann shared. He pushed forward the Holocaust and the struggle against Christianity. In 1945 he vanished. Suicide? Killed by tank? Escape to South America? 1946 sentenced to death in absentia. In 1937 bones found in Berlin were officially stated to be his. This was confirmed by DNA test in 1998.

ALBERT SPEER architect

Born to middle-class parents like father became an architect. Joined Nazi Party in 1931, he arranged Berlin party rally, attracting Hitlers attention. 1934 Nuremberg Rally was a further triumph, where he produced a cathedral of light by borrowing the Luftwaffes searchlights. Speer then became Hitlers personal architect and unusually with Hitler a personal friendship developed. Head of Beauty of Work and Architectural Inspector of the Reich

 1942 became Minister of Armaments and War Production. He was now virtual dictator of the war economy. Towards the end of the war his influence with Hitler waned, he opposed Hitlers orders to destroy Germanys industrial base in front of the invading Allies. Tried at Nuremberg for using slave labour, he was the only defendant to plead guilty. Got 20 years, released from Spandau in 1966. In prison wrote a book Inside the Third Reich said to be economical with the truth, especially about his role. His true role is still being assessed.