Editing Heinrich Himmler (section)

=== 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}}