Editing Heinrich Himmler (section)

=== Nazi activist ===
Himmler joined the Nazi Party on 1 August 1923,{{sfn|Gellately|2020|p=54}} receiving party number 14303.{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2007|p=11}}{{sfn|Biondi|2000|p=7}} As a member of Röhm's paramilitary unit, Himmler was involved in the [[Beer Hall Putsch]]—an unsuccessful attempt by Hitler and the Nazi Party to seize power in Munich. This event would set Himmler on a life of politics. He was questioned by the police about his role in the putsch but was not charged because of insufficient evidence. However, he lost his job, was unable to find employment as a farm manager, and had to move in with his parents in Munich. Frustrated by these failures, he became ever more irritable, aggressive, and opinionated, alienating both friends and family members.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=72–75}}{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2007|pp=11–12}}

In 1923–24, Himmler, while searching for a world view, came to abandon Catholicism and focused on the occult and in antisemitism. Germanic mythology, reinforced by occult ideas, became a religion for him. Himmler found the Nazi Party appealing because its political positions agreed with his own views. Initially, he was not swept up by Hitler's charisma or the cult of Führer worship. However, as he learned more about Hitler through his reading, he began to regard him as a useful face of the party,{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=77–81, 87}}{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2007|pp=11–13}} and he later admired and even worshipped him.{{sfn|Evans|2003|p=227}} To consolidate and advance his own position in the Nazi Party, Himmler took advantage of the disarray in the party following Hitler's arrest in the wake of the Beer Hall Putsch.{{sfn|Evans|2003|p=227}} From mid-1924 he worked under [[Gregor Strasser]] as a party secretary and propaganda assistant. Travelling all over Bavaria agitating for the party, he gave speeches and distributed literature. Placed in charge of the party office in Lower Bavaria by Strasser from late 1924, he was responsible for integrating the area's membership with the Nazi Party under Hitler when the party was re-founded in February 1925.{{sfn|Gerwarth|2011|p=51}}{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=70, 81–88}}

That same year, he joined the {{lang|de|[[Schutzstaffel]]}} (SS) as an {{lang|de|SS-Führer}} (SS-Leader); his SS number was 168.{{sfn|Biondi|2000|p=7}} The SS, initially part of the much larger SA, was formed in 1923 for Hitler's personal protection and was re-formed in 1925 as an elite unit of the SA.{{sfn|Evans|2003|p=228}} Himmler's first leadership position in the SS was that of {{lang|de|SS-[[Gauführer]]}} (district leader) in Lower Bavaria from 1926. Strasser appointed Himmler deputy propaganda chief in January 1927. As was typical in the Nazi Party, he had considerable freedom of action in his post, which increased over time. He began to collect statistics on the number of Jews, [[Freemasons]], and enemies of the party, and following his strong need for control, he developed an elaborate bureaucracy.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=89–92}}{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2007|pp=15–16}} In September 1927, Himmler told Hitler of his vision to transform the SS into a loyal, powerful, racially pure elite unit. Convinced that Himmler was the man for the job, Hitler appointed him Deputy {{lang|de|[[Reichsführer-SS]]}}, with the rank of {{lang|de|SS-Oberführer}}.{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=18}}

Around this time, Himmler joined the [[Artaman League]], a {{lang|de|[[Völkisch]]}} youth group. There he met [[Rudolf Höss]], who was later commandant of [[Auschwitz concentration camp]], and [[Walther Darré]], whose book ''The Peasantry as the Life Source of the Nordic Race'' caught Hitler's attention, leading to his later appointment as Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture. Darré was a firm believer in the superiority of the [[Nordic race]], and his philosophy was a major influence on Himmler.{{sfn|Evans|2003|p=228}}{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=84}}{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=148}}