Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler was born to Christian parents, and religious belief and church life were part of his parents' upbringing of their children. Himmler was taught at the cathedral school on Salvatorplatz and at religious education, he was graded "very good". He attended Catholic mass, confession and took on communion, and joined the Nazi party shortly after a speech by Nazi supporter and Roman Catholic Alban Schachleiter at a St. Boniface mass for Schlageter. As a leading Nazi, Himmler was one of the people most directly responsible for the Holocaust.

Quotes

 * "I shall always love God and pray to him, and belong to the Catholic Church and defend it ...", Heinrich Himmler, diary, December 15, 1919.


 * "We were standing at the front in the choir and the solemn mass was a powerful experience. The church reaches people through its imposing ritual and God through a sweet and simple child.", Heinrich Himmler, about the Christmas Eve mass he attended with his family, 1919.


 * "God will come to my aid.", Heinrich Himmler, diary, 1919-1924.


 * "In ideological training I forbid every attack against Christ as a person, since such attacks or insults that Christ was a Jew are unworthy of us and certainly untrue historically.", Heinrich Himmler, June 28, 1937.
 * "Atheism is the only world-view or religious view that is not tolerated within the SS.", Heinrich Himmler, 1937.


 * "... Jesus was no Jew, and Christianity was and is the most important protest of the Aryans against the Jews, of good against evil.", Heinrich Himmler.


 * "You Einsatzgruppen (task forces) are called upon to fulfill a repulsive duty. But you are soldiers who have to carry out every order unconditionally. You have a responsibility before God and Hitler for everything that is happening. I myself hate this bloody business and I have been moved to the depths of my soul. But I am obeying the highest law by doing my duty. Man must defend himself against bedbugs and rats-- against vermin.", Heinrich Himmler.


 * "We believe in a God Almighty who stands above us; he has created the earth, the Fatherland, and the Volk, and he has sent us the Führer. Any human being who does not believe in God should be considered arrogant, megalomaniacal, and stupid and thus not suited for the SS.", Heinrich Himmler.