Heinrich Himmler: A Life

Book Description

Heinrich Himmler, an unremarkable looking man, was Hitler’s top enforcer, in charge of the Gestapo, the SS, and the so-called Final Solution. We can only wonder, as biographer Peter Longerich asks, how could such a banal personality attain such an historically unique position of power? How could the son of a prosperous Bavarian Catholic public servant become the organizer of a system of mass murder spanning the whole of Europe?

In the first comprehensive biography of this murderous enigma, Longerich answers those questions with a superb account of Himmler’s inner self and outward acts. Masterfully interweaving the story of Himmler’s personal life and political career with the wider history of the Nazi dictatorship, Longerich shows how skillfully he exploited and manipulated his disparate roles in the pursuit of his far-reaching and grandiose objectives. Himmler’s actual strength, he writes, consisted in redrawing every two or three years the master plans for his sphere of power. Himmler expanded that sphere with ruthless efficiency. In 1929, he took the SS–a small bodyguard unit–and swelled it into a paramilitary organization with elite pretensions. By the end of 1934 he had become Reich Chief of the Political Police, and began to consolidate all police power in his own hands. As Germany grabbed neighboring territory, he expanded the Waffen SS and organized the “Germanization” of conquered lands, which culminated in systematic mass murder. When the regime went on the defensive in 1942, Himmler changed his emphasis again, repressing any opposition or unrest. The author emphasizes the centrality of Himmler’s personality to the Nazi murder machine–his surveillance of the private lives of his men, his deep resentments, his fierce prejudices–showing that man and position were inseparable.

Carefully researched and lucidly written, Heinrich Himmler is the essential account of the man who embodied Hitler’s apparatus of evil.

中文：

书名：海因里希·希姆莱：生活

海因里希·希姆莱，一个相貌平平的人，是希特勒的头号执行者，负责盖世太保、党卫军和所谓的最终解决方案。正如传记作家彼得·朗格里奇所问的那样，我们只能想知道，这样一个平庸的人格怎么会获得这样一个历史上独特的权力地位？一个富裕的巴伐利亚天主教公务员的儿子怎么会成为横跨整个欧洲的大屠杀体系的组织者？

在第一本关于这一凶残之谜的全面传记中，朗格里奇对希姆莱的内在自我和外在行为进行了极好的描述，回答了这些问题。朗里奇巧妙地将希姆莱的个人生活和政治生涯与纳粹独裁统治的更广泛历史交织在一起，展示了他如何巧妙地利用和操纵他的不同角色，以追求他深远而宏伟的目标。他写道，希姆莱的实际优势在于，每隔两三年就会重新制定他的权力范围的总体规划。希姆莱以无情的效率扩大了这个领域。1929年，他带领党卫军成立了一个小型保镖部队，并将其发展成为一个以精英自居的准军事组织。到1934年底，他已成为帝国政治警察局长，并开始将所有警察权力巩固在自己手中。随着德国夺取邻国领土，他扩大了武装党卫军，并组织了征服土地的日耳曼化，最终以系统性的大屠杀告终。当政权在1942年处于守势时，希姆莱再次改变了他的重点，镇压任何反对派或动乱。作者强调了希姆莱的人格对纳粹谋杀机器的中心地位，他对手下私生活的监视，他深深的怨恨，他强烈的偏见表明，人和地位是密不可分的。

仔细的研究和清晰的写作， 海因里希·希姆莱。 是希特勒邪恶机器化身之人的重要记述。