Himm·ler  (hĭm'lər)  German Nazi leader. Second in power to Hitler, he directed the Nazi elite forces, the SS (1929-1945); commanded the Third Reich's police and secret police, the Gestapo (1936-1945); and coordinated the operation of the concentration and extermination camps (1941-1945). Captured by the British, he killed himself. |
A German police official of the twentieth century. Himmler, a confidant of the leader Adolf Hitler, organized the Nazi elite forces (SS) and secret police (Gestapo). He supervised the execution of millions of Jews in concentration camps during World War II. He committed suicide in 1945.