Germany 1918-1939: Key figures

Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) was the Reich Leader (Reichsführer) of the dreaded SS of the Nazi Party from 1929 until 1945. Himmler presided over a vast ideological and bureaucratic empire that defined him for many—both inside and outside the Third Reich—as the second most powerful man after Adolf Hitler in Germany during World War II. Given overall responsibility for the security of the Nazi empire, Himmler was the key and senior Nazi official responsible for conceiving and overseeing implementation of the "Final Solution," the Nazi plan to murder the Jews of Europe.

Heinrich Himmler, known for his role in the implementation of the “Final Solution,” is remembered today for his heinous acts across Europe during World War II.

Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and an architect of Nazi genocide.

Hermann Göring was a leader of the Nazi Party and one of the primary architects of the Nazi police state in Germany. He was condemned to hang as a war criminal by the International Military Tribunal at Nürnberg in 1946 but took poison instead and died the night his execution was ordered.

In the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, the world was faced with a challenge—how to hold individually accountable those German leaders who were responsible for the commission of monstrous crimes against humanity and international peace. The International Military Tribunal (IMT) held in Nuremberg, Germany, attempted to face this immense challenge. On October 18, 1945, the chief prosecutors of the IMT brought charges against 24 leading German officials, among them Hermann Göring.

Hermann Goering was a Nazi military leader, Commander of the Luftwaffe, President of the Reichstag, Prime Minister of Prussia and Hitler’s designated successor.

Joseph Goebbels, in full Paul Joseph Goebbels, (born October 29, 1897, Rheydt, Germany—died May 1, 1945, Berlin), minister of propaganda for the German Third Reich under Adolf Hitler. A master orator and propagandist, he is generally accounted responsible for presenting a favourable image of the Nazi regime to the German people. Following Hitler’s suicide, Goebbels served as chancellor of Germany for a single day before he and his wife, Magda Goebbels, had their six children poisoned and then took their own lives.

Joseph Goebbels was a National Socialist politician and propagandist. He held several roles in the Nazi Party. He served as Nazi Party chief for Greater Berlin from 1926 until 1945. From 1929 until 1945 he was Reich leader of propaganda. In 1933, Adolf Hitler appointed Goebbels Reich Minister for Propaganda and Public Enlightenment, a position he held until 1945. Goebbels was an unconditional follower of Hitler and a radical antisemite.

Master propagandist of the Nazi regime and dictator of its cultural life for twelve years, Joseph Goebbels was born into a strict Catholic, working-class family from Rheydt, in the Rhineland, on October 29, 1897. He was educated at a Roman Catholic school and went on to study history and literature at the University of Heidelberg under Professor Friedrich Gundolf, a Jewish literary historian renowned as a Goethe scholar and a close disciple of the poet Stefan George.

The role of propaganda in the Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Nazi Germany is examined on this BBC site. A series of six posters is analysed: Election; Sower of Peace; One Nation, One People, One Leader; Saving for a Volkswagen; Jews and Anti-Bolshevism. Additional references are provided.

Joachim von Ribbentrop, (born April 30, 1893, Wesel, Ger.—died Oct. 16, 1946, Nürnberg), German diplomat, foreign minister under the Nazi regime (1933–45), and chief negotiator of the treaties with which Germany entered World War II.

In the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, the world was faced with a challenge—how to hold individually accountable those German leaders who were responsible for the commission of monstrous crimes against humanity and international peace. The International Military Tribunal (IMT) held in Nuremberg, Germany, attempted to face this immense challenge. On October 18, 1945, the chief prosecutors of the IMT brought charges against 24 leading German officials, among them Joachim von Ribbentrop.

Joachim von Ribbentrop, the son of a German Army officer, was born in Wesel, Germany, on April 30, 1893. Educated at a boarding school at Switzerland he also spent time in France and England as a child.

Philipp Bouhler was born in Munich on 11 September 1899, the son of a retired colonel. Bouhler rose to become Chief of the Fuhrer's Chancellery and head of the infamous euthanasia programme, code named T-4 after its address of 4-Tiergartenstrasse in Berlin, which murdered physically handicapped and mentally-ill people in the Reich.

Ernst Röhm, Röhm also spelled Roehm, (born November 28, 1887, Munich, Germany—died July 1, 1934, Munich-Stadelheim), German army officer and chief organizer of Adolf Hitler’s Storm Troopers (Sturmabteilung, or SA; Brownshirts). Feared as a rival by Hitler, he was murdered at the Führer’s order.

Ernst Rohm was born in Munich in 1887. Like Hitler, Rohm was the youngest son of a petty civil servant, who was also a stern and sometimes violent father.

The Röhm Purge was the murder of the leadership of the SA (Storm Troopers), the Nazi paramilitary formation led by Ernst Röhm. The murders took place between June 30 and July 2, 1934. The ruling elites and ultimately Hitler saw the SA as a threat to their hold on power. The purge demonstrated the Nazi regime’s willingness to go outside of the law to commit murder as an act of state for the perceived survival of the nation.

Franz von Papen, (born Oct. 29, 1879, Werl, Ger.—died May 2, 1969, Obersasbach, W.Ger.), German statesman and diplomat who played a leading role in dissolving the Weimar Republic and in helping Adolf Hitler to become German chancellor in 1933.

In the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, the world was faced with a challenge—how to hold individually accountable those German leaders who were responsible for the commission of monstrous crimes against humanity and international peace. The International Military Tribunal (IMT) held in Nuremberg, Germany, attempted to face this immense challenge. On October 18, 1945, the chief prosecutors of the IMT brought charges against 24 leading German officials, among them Franz von Papen.

Franz von Papen was born to a wealthy Catholic family in Westphalia. He served as a soldier on the Turkish front in World War I. Returning to Germany, he entered politics, joining the Catholic Centre Party, in which the monarchist Papen formed part of the far right wing. On June 1, 1932, he was plucked from relative obscurity when President Paul von Hindenburg chose him as Chancellor to replace Heinrich Brüning, the leader of Papen's own party. This was largely due to the influence of General Kurt von Schleicher, at the time Hindenburg's closest advisor.

Leni Riefenstahl (Helene Riefenstahl) was a German dancer, actress, and film director best known for her imposing propaganda films in support of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party.

Leni Riefenstahl, original name Berta Helene Amalie Riefenstahl, (born August 22, 1902, Berlin, Germany—died September 8, 2003, Pöcking), German motion-picture director, actress, producer, and photographer who is best known for her documentary films of the 1930s dramatizing the power and pageantry of the Nazi movement.

She was Hitler's favorite director. She was beautiful and talented. She was a woman in a man's field.