The Himmler Brothers

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I found her revelations about other members of the Himmler family who were also loyal, card carrying Nazi's to be very interesting as well. It is not the authoritative book on Heinrich Himmler but does lend context and perspective on the man. Furthermore, if those who decide the allocations of the real and unreal are cruel, mad or colossally wrong, what then?

Despite her family being told her grandfather Ernst had had no interest in politics, Katrin discovered that he was an enthusiastic Nazi who had joined the party in 1931, and was also an officer in the Schutzstaffel (SS). What was surprising was the intense nationalism and militarism which permeated German culture as well as the intense pride Germans held for their past. Despite the opportunity to take her spouse's surname, she chose to keep the name Himmler, rather than deny her heritage. She interweaves each brother's story of their journey as a soldier during World War I through to their involvement in the Nazi Party and their work during the war. I bought this book having seen the author on a television programme about the family members of the most notorious Nazis.Gebhard served in the German Army in World War I, but Heinrich, who at 18 was still an officer cadet when the war ended, was too young to see frontline service. Katrin Himmler’s cool but meticulous examination of the Himmler story reveals – in all its dark complexity – the gulf between the ‘normality’ of bourgeois family life and the horrors perpetrated by one member. This riveting family memoir provides essential new information on the private life and background of one of the twentieth- century’s most notorious killers – not a lone evil executioner, but a middle-class family man, loved and fully supported by his respectable German family. Her great-grandfather was a Headmaster and he and his wife look kindly German people who lived through to the 1930s where they were convinced that Hitler would be good for Germany. Katrin Himmler is a freelance author, holding readings and lectures in Germany and abroad, above all for students.

Impelled by a request from her father, Ms Himmler began her journey believing her family's narrative. Yes', she stammered, at which there was a deathly hush in the classroom and the teacher, embarrassed and unsure, quickly moved the lesson on. She is the author of Die Brüder Himmler: Eine deutsche Familiengeschichte, published in English as The Himmler Brothers: A German Family History.I think Katrin Himmler has been very brave to tackle this subject , imagine having had Heinrich in YOUR family ? Once upon a time the Himmlers were just a normal German family, middle-class, hard-working, well-educated. She told an interviewer: "When my husband and I had our son, it became clear I had to break with the family tradition of not speaking about the past.

It is written by the great-niece of Heinrich Himmler who suspected that her grandfather, Ernst, Heinrich’s younger brother, was not as innocent as the family would have liked to think.

The shame seems understandable from Katrin Himmler's own father's perspective as he is one of the children born to these brothers. Having seen Germany prosper and then disintegrate during the years between the wars, they would have felt Hitler had help make Germany strong again. I commend her for moving forward and telling the back story to Himmler that no one other then a relative could possibly tell. Katrin Himmler speculates that it was frustration at this and envy of his brother that led Heinrich to join the extreme right-wing Freikorps in 1919.

This is a very well-written and profoundly honest story of the family of a monster - but an ordinary man who lived in extraordinary times.

This book is a remarkable document - it seems quite apparent that the 1939-1945 years of the family tree should have been expunged but Katrin seems to want to explain that history is what happened and this is why these three brothers took the paths they did. He brought his brothers and family down with him and the book shows how self delusion can mask the most horrible of crimes against humanity.