Editing Heinrich Himmler (section)

== Command of army group ==
On 6 June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed in northern France during [[Operation Overlord]].{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1036}} In response, [[Army Group Upper Rhine]] (''Heeresgruppe Oberrhein'') group was formed to engage the advancing [[United States Army Europe and Africa|US 7th Army]] (under command of General [[Alexander Patch]]{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1086}}) and [[1st Army (France)|French 1st Army]] (led by General [[Jean de Lattre de Tassigny]]) in the [[Alsace]] region along the west bank of the [[Rhine]].{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=715}} In late 1944, Hitler appointed Himmler commander-in-chief of Army Group Upper Rhine.

On 26 September 1944, Hitler ordered Himmler to create special army units, the ''[[Volkssturm]]'' ("People's Storm" or "People's Army"). All males aged sixteen to sixty were eligible for conscription into this militia, over the protests of Armaments Minister [[Albert Speer]], who noted that irreplaceable skilled workers were being removed from armaments production.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1087}} Hitler confidently believed six million men could be raised, and the new units would "initiate a people's war against the invader".{{sfn|''The Battle for Germany'' 2011}} These hopes were wildly optimistic.{{sfn|''The Battle for Germany'' 2011}} In October 1944, children as young as fourteen were being enlisted. Because of severe shortages in weapons and equipment and lack of training, members of the ''Volkssturm'' were poorly prepared for combat, and about 175,000 of them died in the final months of the war.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=675–678}}

On 1 January 1945, Hitler and his generals launched [[Operation Nordwind|Operation North Wind]]. The goal was to break through the lines of the US 7th Army and French 1st Army to support the southern thrust in the [[Battle of the Bulge]] (Ardennes offensive), the final major German offensive of the war. After limited initial gains by the Germans, the Americans halted the offensive.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=884, 885}} By 25 January, Operation North Wind had officially ended.

On 25 January 1945, despite Himmler's lack of military experience, Hitler appointed him as commander of the hastily formed [[Army Group Vistula]] (''Heeresgruppe Weichsel'') to halt the Soviet [[Red Army]]'s [[Vistula–Oder offensive]] into [[Pomerania]]{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=891}} – a decision that appalled the [[German General Staff]].{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1095}} Himmler established his command centre at [[Piła|Schneidemühl]], using his special train, ''Sonderzug Steiermark'', as his headquarters. The train had only one telephone line, inadequate maps, and no signal detachment or radios with which to establish communication and relay military orders. Himmler seldom left the train, only worked about four hours per day, and insisted on a daily massage before commencing work and a lengthy nap after lunch.{{sfn|Duffy|1991|p=178}}

General [[Heinz Guderian]] talked to Himmler on 9 February and demanded that [[Operation Solstice]], an attack from Pomerania against the northern flank of [[Marshal of the Soviet Union|Marshal]] [[Georgy Zhukov]]'s [[1st Belorussian Front]], should be in progress by the 16th. Himmler argued that he was not ready to commit himself to a specific date. Given Himmler's lack of qualifications as an army group commander, Guderian convinced himself that Himmler tried to conceal his incompetence.{{sfn|Ziemke|1968|p=446}} On 13 February Guderian met Hitler and demanded that General [[Walther Wenck]] be given a special mandate to command the offensive by Army Group Vistula. Hitler sent Wenck with a "special mandate", but without specifying Wenck's authority.{{sfn|Ziemke|1968|p=446-447}} The offensive was launched on 16 February 1945, but soon stuck in rain and mud, facing mine fields and strong antitank defenses. That night Wenck was severely injured in a car accident, but it is doubtful that he could have salvaged the operation, as Guderian later claimed. Himmler ordered the offensive to stop on the 18th by a "directive for regrouping".{{sfn|Ziemke|1968|p=447}} Hitler officially ended Operation Solstice on 21 February and ordered Himmler to transfer a corps headquarter and three divisions to Army Group Center.{{sfn|Ziemke|1968|p=448}}

Himmler was unable to devise any viable plans for completion of his military objectives. Under pressure from Hitler over the worsening military situation, Himmler became anxious and unable to give him coherent reports.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=715–718}} When the counter-attack failed to stop the Soviet advance, Hitler held Himmler personally liable and accused him of not following orders. Himmler's military command ended on 20 March, when Hitler replaced him with General [[Gotthard Heinrici]] as Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Vistula. By this time Himmler, who had been under the care of his doctor since 18 February, had fled to the [[Hohenlychen Sanatorium]].{{sfn|Duffy|1991|p=241}} Hitler sent Guderian on a forced medical leave of absence, and he reassigned his post as chief of staff to [[Hans Krebs (Wehrmacht general)|Hans Krebs]] on 29 March.{{sfn|Duffy|1991|p=247}} 
Himmler's failure and Hitler's response marked a serious deterioration in the relationship between the two men.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=891, 913–914}} By that time, the inner circle of people whom Hitler trusted was rapidly shrinking.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=914}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1987-128-10, Rede Heinrich Himmler vor Volkssturm.jpg|thumb|Himmler (at podium) with [[Heinz Guderian]] and [[Hans Lammers]] in October 1944]]

=== Peace negotiations ===
In March 1945, the German war effort was on the verge of collapse and Himmler's relationship with Hitler had deteriorated. Himmler considered independently negotiating a peace settlement.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=724}} His masseur, [[Felix Kersten]], who had moved to Sweden, acted as an intermediary in negotiations with Count [[Folke Bernadotte]], head of the [[Swedish Red Cross]]. Letters were exchanged between the two men,{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2007|pp=230–233}} and direct meetings were arranged by [[Walter Schellenberg]] of the RSHA.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=943–945}}

Also in March 1945, Himmler issued a directive that Jews were to be marched from the [[South-east wall]] (''Südostwall'') fortifications construction project on the Austro-Hungarian border, to Mauthausen. He desired hostages for potential peace negotiations. Thousands died on the marches.{{sfn|Rathkolb|2022|p=138}}{{sfn|Nuremberg Trials|1946}}

[[File:Himmler45.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Himmler in 1945]]
Himmler and Hitler met for the last time on 20 April 1945—Hitler's birthday—in Berlin, and Himmler swore unswerving loyalty to Hitler. At a military briefing on that day, Hitler stated that he would not leave Berlin, in spite of Soviet advances. Along with Göring, Himmler quickly left the city after the briefing.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=923–925, 943}} On 21 April, Himmler met with [[Norbert Masur]], a Swedish representative of the [[World Jewish Congress]], to discuss the release of Jewish concentration camp inmates.{{sfn|Penkower|1988|p=281}} As a result of these negotiations, about 20,000 people were released in the [[White Buses]] operation.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=724}} Himmler falsely claimed in the meeting that the crematoria at camps had been built to deal with the bodies of prisoners who had died in a typhus epidemic. He also claimed very high survival rates for the camps at Auschwitz and [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp|Bergen-Belsen]], even as these sites were liberated and it became obvious that his figures were false.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=727–729}}

On 23 April, Himmler met directly with Bernadotte at the Swedish consulate in [[Lübeck]]. Representing himself as the provisional leader of Germany, he claimed that Hitler would be dead within the next few days. Hoping that the British and Americans would fight the Soviets alongside what remained of the Wehrmacht, Himmler asked Bernadotte to inform General [[Dwight Eisenhower]] that Germany wished to surrender to the Western Allies, and not to the Soviet Union. Bernadotte asked Himmler to put his proposal in writing, and Himmler obliged.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=1122}}{{sfn|Trevor-Roper|2012|pp=118–119}}

Meanwhile, Göring had [[Göring telegram|sent a telegram]], a few hours earlier, asking Hitler for permission to assume leadership of the ''Reich'' in his capacity as Hitler's designated deputy—an act that Hitler, under the prodding of [[Martin Bormann]], interpreted as a demand to step down or face a coup. On 27 April, Himmler's SS representative at Hitler's HQ in Berlin, [[Hermann Fegelein]], was caught in civilian clothes preparing to desert; he was arrested and brought back to the ''[[Führerbunker]]''. On the evening of 28 April, the [[BBC]] broadcast a [[Reuters]] news report about Himmler's attempted negotiations with the western Allies. Hitler had long considered Himmler to be second only to [[Joseph Goebbels]] in loyalty; he called Himmler "the loyal Heinrich" ({{langx|de|der treue Heinrich}}). Hitler flew into a rage at this betrayal, and told those still with him in the bunker complex that Himmler's secret negotiations were the worst treachery he had ever known. Hitler ordered Himmler's arrest, and Fegelein was court-martialed and shot.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=943–947}}

By this time, the Soviets had advanced to the [[Potsdamer Platz]], only {{convert|300|m|yd|abbr=on}} from the [[Reich Chancellery]], and were preparing to storm the Chancellery. This report, combined with Himmler's treachery, prompted Hitler to write his [[Last will and testament of Adolf Hitler|last will and testament]]. In the testament, completed on 29 April—one day prior to [[death of Adolf Hitler|his suicide]]—Hitler declared both Himmler and Göring to be traitors. He stripped Himmler of all of his party and state offices and expelled him from the Nazi Party.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=724}}{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2007|p=237}}

Hitler named [[Grand Admiral]] [[Karl Dönitz]] as his successor. Himmler met Dönitz in [[Flensburg]] and offered himself as second-in-command. He maintained that he was entitled to a position in [[Flensburg Government|Dönitz's interim government]] as ''Reichsführer-SS'', believing the SS would be in a good position to restore and maintain order after the war. Dönitz repeatedly rejected Himmler's overtures{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=733–734}} and initiated peace negotiations with the Allies. He wrote a letter on 6 May—two days before the [[German Instrument of Surrender]]—formally dismissing Himmler from all his posts.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2007|pp=239, 243}}