Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler initialled document. Full 'Der Reichsführer-SS' headed paper. Document of typical inter department light-weight type dated 7 Februar 1934 and sent to the SS Personal Amt. Typed document. Good dominant ink initials, H.H.

The document relates to promotional appointments for SS-Brigadeführer Von dem Bach-Zelewski, and SS-Standartenführer Harnys.

Condition report: One light fold. Four file holes. Clean. Free from fading. Slight crinkling around base from storage.

Rarity status (Up to 10 rarest):6/10.

Additional notes: If documents were being sent inter-department, he often simply used his initials rather than undertake a full signature each time.

Background to Himmler:  Born 7 October 1900 – Died 23 May 1945. Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) of Nazi Germany. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler briefly appointed him a military commander and later Commander of the Replacement (Home) Army and General Plenipotentiary for the administration of the entire Third Reich (Generalbevollmächtigter für die Verwaltung).

As a member of a reserve battalion during World War I, Himmler did not see active service. He studied agronomy in college, and joined the Nazi Party in 1923 and the SS in 1925. In 1929, he was appointed Reichsführer-SS by Hitler. Over the next 16 years, he developed the SS from a mere 290-man battalion into a million-strong paramilitary group, and, following Hitler's orders, set up and controlled the Nazi concentration camps. He was known to have good organisational skills and for selecting highly competent subordinates, such as Reinhard Heydrich in 1931. From 1943 onwards, he was both Chief of German Police and Minister of the Interior, overseeing all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo (Secret State Police). Himmler had a lifelong interest in occultism, interpreting Germanic neo-pagan and Völkisch beliefs to promote the racial policy of Nazi Germany, and incorporating esoteric symbolism and rituals into the SS.

Late in World War II, Hitler charged Himmler with the command of the Army Group Upper Rhine and the Army Group Vistula; he failed to achieve his assigned objectives and Hitler replaced him in these posts. Realising that the war was lost, Himmler attempted to open peace talks with the western Allies without Hitler's knowledge shortly before the war ended. Hearing of this, Hitler dismissed him from all his posts in April 1945 and ordered his arrest. Himmler attempted to go into hiding, but was detained and then arrested by British forces once his identity became known. While in British custody, Himmler committed suicide on 23 May 1945.