Editing Heinrich Himmler (section)

== World War II ==
[[File:Himmler and mannerheim.jpg|thumb|Himmler with [[Chief of Defence (Finland)|commander-in-chief]] of the [[Finnish Defence Forces]], [[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim|C.G.E. Mannerheim]], in [[Mikkeli]], July 1942]]
When Hitler and his army chiefs asked for a [[casus belli|pretext]] for the [[invasion of Poland]] in 1939, Himmler, Heydrich, and [[Heinrich Müller (Gestapo)|Heinrich Müller]] masterminded and carried out a [[false flag]] project code-named [[Operation Himmler]]. German soldiers dressed in Polish uniforms undertook border skirmishes which deceptively suggested Polish aggression against Germany. The incidents were then used in [[Nazi propaganda]] to justify the invasion of [[Poland]], the opening event of World War II.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=518–520}} At the beginning of the war against Poland, Hitler authorised the killing of Polish civilians, including Jews and ethnic Poles. The ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'' (SS task forces) had originally been formed by Heydrich to secure government papers and offices in areas taken over by Germany before World War II.{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=118, 122}} Authorised by Hitler and under the direction of Himmler and Heydrich, the ''Einsatzgruppen'' units—now repurposed as [[death squad]]s—followed the ''Heer'' (army) into Poland, and by the end of 1939 they [[Intelligenzaktion|had murdered some 65,000 intellectuals and other civilians]]. Militias and ''Heer'' units also took part in these killings.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=518, 519}}{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=14–15}} Under Himmler's orders via the RSHA, these squads were also tasked with rounding up Jews and others for placement in [[ghetto]]s and concentration camps.

Germany subsequently invaded [[Operation Weserübung|Denmark and Norway]], [[Battle of the Netherlands|the Netherlands]], and [[Battle of France|France]], and began [[Battle of Britain|bombing Great Britain]] in preparation for [[Operation Sea Lion]], the planned invasion of the United Kingdom.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=118–145}} On 21 June 1941, the day before [[Operation Barbarossa|invasion of the Soviet Union]], Himmler commissioned the preparation of the ''[[Generalplan Ost]]'' (General Plan for the East); the plan was approved by Hitler in May 1942. It called for the [[Baltic States]], Poland, [[Western Ukraine]], and [[Belarus|Byelorussia]] to be conquered and resettled by ten million German citizens. The current residents—some 31&nbsp;million people—would be expelled further east, starved, or used for forced labour. The plan would have extended the borders of Germany to the east by {{convert|1000|km|mi|sigfig=1|spell=in|abbr=off}}. Himmler expected that it would take twenty to thirty years to complete the plan, at a cost of {{Reichsmark|67&nbsp;billion|link=yes}}.{{sfn|Evans|2008|pp=173–174}} Himmler stated openly: "It is a question of existence, thus it will be a racial struggle of pitiless severity, in the course of which 20 to 30 million Slavs and Jews will perish through military actions and crises of food supply."{{sfn|Cesarani|2004|p=366}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Alber-064-03A, Subhas Chandra Bose bei Heinrich Himmler.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.325|Himmler with [[Indian nationalism|Indian nationalist]] [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] in 1942]]
Himmler declared that the war in the east was a pan-European crusade to defend the traditional values of old Europe from the "Godless [[Bolshevik]] hordes".{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=93, 98}} Constantly struggling with the [[Wehrmacht]] for recruits, Himmler solved this problem through the creation of Waffen-SS units composed of Germanic folk groups taken from the [[Balkans]] and eastern Europe. Equally vital were recruits from among the Germanic considered peoples of northern and western Europe, in the [[Netherlands]], [[Norway]], [[Belgium]], [[Denmark]] and [[Finland]].{{sfn|Koehl|2004|pp=212–213}} Spain and Italy also provided men for Waffen-SS units.{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=81–84}} Among western countries, the number of volunteers varied from a high of 25,000 from the Netherlands{{sfn|van Roekel|2010}} to 300 each from [[Sweden]] and [[Switzerland]]. From the east, the highest number of men came from [[Lithuania]] (50,000) and the lowest from [[Bulgaria]] (600).{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=84, 90}} After 1943 most men from the east were [[conscripts]]. The performance of the eastern Waffen-SS units was, as a whole, sub-standard.{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=94}}

In late 1941, Hitler named Heydrich as Deputy Reich Protector of the newly established [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]]. Heydrich began to racially classify the Czechs, deporting many to concentration camps. Members of a swelling resistance were shot, earning Heydrich the nickname "the Butcher of Prague".{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=274}} This appointment strengthened the collaboration between Himmler and Heydrich, and Himmler was proud to have SS control over a state. Despite having direct access to Hitler, Heydrich's loyalty to Himmler remained firm.{{sfn|Gerwarth|2011|p=225}}

With Hitler's approval, Himmler re-established the ''Einsatzgruppen'' in the lead-up to the planned invasion of the Soviet Union. In March 1941, Hitler addressed his army leaders, detailing his intention to smash the Soviet Empire and destroy the Bolshevik intelligentsia and leadership.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=598, 618}} His special directive, the "Guidelines in Special Spheres re Directive No. 21 (Operation Barbarossa)", read: "In the operations area of the army, the ''Reichsführer-SS'' has been given special tasks on the orders of the ''Führer'', in order to prepare the political administration. These tasks arise from the forthcoming final struggle of two opposing political systems. Within the framework of these tasks, the ''Reichsführer-SS'' acts independently and on his own responsibility."{{sfn|Hillgruber|1989|p=95}} Hitler thus intended to prevent internal friction like that occurring earlier in Poland in 1939, when several German Army generals (including [[Johannes Blaskowitz]]) had attempted to bring ''Einsatzgruppen'' leaders to trial for the murders they had committed.{{sfn|Hillgruber|1989|p=95}}

[[File:Himmler besichtigt die Gefangenenlager in Russland. Heinrich Himmler inspects a prisoner of war camp in Russia, circa... - NARA - 540164.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Himmler inspects a [[prisoner of war]] camp in Russia, {{circa|1941}}.]]

Following the army into the Soviet Union, the ''Einsatzgruppen'' rounded up and killed Jews and others deemed undesirable by the Nazi state.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|p=958}} Hitler was sent frequent reports.{{sfn|Longerich, Chapter 15|2003}} In addition, 2.8&nbsp;million [[Nazi crimes against Soviet POWs|Soviet prisoners of war]] died of starvation, mistreatment or executions in just eight months of 1941–42.{{sfn|Goldhagen|1996|p=290}} As many as 500,000 Soviet prisoners of war died or were executed in Nazi concentration camps over the course of the war; most of them were shot or [[Gas chamber|gassed]].{{sfn|POWs: Holocaust Memorial Museum}} By early 1941, following Himmler's orders, ten concentration camps had been constructed in which inmates were subjected to forced labour.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=480–481}} Jews from all over Germany and the occupied territories were deported to the camps or confined to ghettos. As the Germans were pushed back from Moscow in December 1941, signalling that the expected quick defeat of the Soviet Union had failed to materialize, Hitler and other Nazi officials realised that mass deportations to the east would no longer be possible. As a result, instead of deportation, many Jews in Europe were destined for death.{{sfn|Evans|2008|p=256}}{{sfn|Longerich, Chapter 17|2003}}