The Strange Death of Heinrich Himmler: A Forensic Investigation

Rating:
Summary: Might give you bad dreams
Review: A very well researched and written book. To look upon such a person as Himmler, one would never guess the evil and the genius that was rolled up in one man. Thomas lays an excellent foundational ground work which leads to the "death" of Himmler. The forensic investigation is first class. Illustrations and pictures detail much of the technical language used. After reading this excellent book, I cring when watching documentaries on the death of Himmler and wonder why they missed what Thomas makes to be OBVIOUS about the non-death of Himmler.

Rating:
Summary: Tiresome rehashing and an X-Files style conspiracy
Review: At least the first 25 or 30 pages of this book are spent 'examining' the personality of Heinrich Himmler.
The author offers no new insights into the Reichsfuhrer, he falls back on old suppositions and translations of books. Most notably he relies on the translations of Himmler's diaries. Personally, I have no respect for a 'serious' researcher who likes to state as fact something that he hasn't translated for himself.

His portrait of Himmler's personality is the same old 'brilliantly scheming monster' that we've all seen before. It is dull and uninteresting, and falls back on old legends and anecdotes about Himmler without really touching on what kind of person he may have been. Granted, this isn't a biography, but still, a more objective presentation might have been a reasonable alternative.

My biggest problem, though (and this is with just the first 30 pages) is the fact that the author basically shoots himself in the foot right from the start. He runs hot and cold between Himmler being not especially intelligent, then decides that the man WAS intelligent, then goes back and decides that he wasn't, and so forth.

Clearly Himmler was an organizational genius, but if the author isn't willing to give Himmler credit for being at least semi-bright, how in the world does he expect the reader to believe the level of quick thinking and long-term planning that he goes on to describe?

Beyond that, for a forensic expert, the author certainly has some antiquated ideas of post-mortem physiological happenings. I was initially very excited to pick up this book, but I lost my appetite before I even hit a double-digit page number, and was ready to throw the book into the street before I hit a three-digit page number.

Ultimately, the reader will have to decide for his or herself whether or not the book is good, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're very, very bored and are ready to have to swallow poor writing and research and half-baked theories and evidence.

Rating:
Summary: Tiresome rehashing and an X-Files style conspiracy
Review: At least the first 25 or 30 pages of this book are spent 'examining' the personality of Heinrich Himmler.
The author offers no new insights into the Reichsfuhrer, he falls back on old suppositions and translations of books. Most notably he relies on the translations of Himmler's diaries. Personally, I have no respect for a 'serious' researcher who likes to state as fact something that he hasn't translated for himself.

His portrait of Himmler's personality is the same old 'brilliantly scheming monster' that we've all seen before. It is dull and uninteresting, and falls back on old legends and anecdotes about Himmler without really touching on what kind of person he may have been. Granted, this isn't a biography, but still, a more objective presentation might have been a reasonable alternative.

My biggest problem, though (and this is with just the first 30 pages) is the fact that the author basically shoots himself in the foot right from the start. He runs hot and cold between Himmler being not especially intelligent, then decides that the man WAS intelligent, then goes back and decides that he wasn't, and so forth.

Clearly Himmler was an organizational genius, but if the author isn't willing to give Himmler credit for being at least semi-bright, how in the world does he expect the reader to believe the level of quick thinking and long-term planning that he goes on to describe?

Beyond that, for a forensic expert, the author certainly has some antiquated ideas of post-mortem physiological happenings. I was initially very excited to pick up this book, but I lost my appetite before I even hit a double-digit page number, and was ready to throw the book into the street before I hit a three-digit page number.

Ultimately, the reader will have to decide for his or herself whether or not the book is good, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're very, very bored and are ready to have to swallow poor writing and research and half-baked theories and evidence.

Rating:
Summary: Himmler Conspiracy Theory!
Review: Here's an interesting and well documented book that seems to inject a lot of theorizing ino the mix. Suppose the accepted death of Heinrich Himmler were not true? Interesting reading with some real revelations and chilling photographs. Collectors of WWII history might be especially interested in this work.

Rating:
Summary: Persevering With Himmler
Review: Hugh Thomas, as we know, writes a good story. Here he argues that the guy caught by the British and buried (later cremated) after committing suicide in May 1945 may not have been Heinrich Himmler but a near look-a-like Heinrich Hitzinger. The Himmler of this book is not the Hitler sychophant but a scheming, power hungry warlord who accepted the war was lost as early as 1943 and laid plans to succeed his master by treachery if necessary. Thomas argues that the devious Himmler, who amassed a huge personal fortune via SS income, would not have been so stupid as to fall into the hands of the British so soon after hostilities ceased. The chapters range far and wide and include discussion of the goings-on in the British legation in Stockholm as well as the part played by spies such as Philby and Blunt. It's interesting stuff, but is it convincing? This reviewer does not think so. Sometimes Thomas actually misleads. Thus he argues that Himmler during the war never wore the horn rimmed spectacles seen in the presumed death photographs after he swallowed poison. This is patently untrue. You have only to flick, for example, through Martin Mansson's pictorial chronicle of the Reichsfuhrer for lots of wartime photos of him with hornrimmed glasses. Another problem is that some of the key source material in Thomas' book is not verifiable, being unpublished theses or private information or rumours from published secondary sources. The author casts doubt on the dental charts from the first British autopsy, claiming they are not Himmler's, but the argument is not proven. The British records on Himmler's death will not be publicly released until 2045 which allows Thomas to smell a conspiracy. And that's the point. If you enjoy conspiracies, you're gonna love this book. But whether it's fiction or non fiction is another matter. Never mind, it's a brisk and enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: Resurrection of the long dead
Review: I muddled through this book hoping to glean some gem of insight into the death of Himmler, but instead found a most fantastic survival myth in the making. As soon as the author declared that hair grows after a person's death I knew I was dealing with an armchair expert, and certainly not an experienced forensic pathologist that would know that as an old wives tale. The same goes for his misinterpretations of post -mortem photographic evidence. Mr. Thomas seems to be under the impression that the celebratory British Army at the end of WW2 should have prepared a complete inquest into this fortunate suicide as if it were a present-day police homicide investigation, or somehow should have been able to prevent the suicide (I guess like they prevented Goerings?). There were literally hundreds of high (and low) ranking Nazis killing themselves in May 1945, following their estemed leaders example. Himmler was but one of many. That creature simply saved the allied powers the cost of housing him for a year and a length of rope.

Rating:
Summary: Poor Sensationalist Fiction
Review: I received the "Himmler conspiracy" book as a gift and struggled through most of it; my only surprise was that it is even worse than I had imagined. The book is poor research, poor forensic science, and not even very good conspiracy pulp.

There are numerous sources on Himmler's death that the author has failed to mention, obviating the troublesome necessity of refuting them. Even a cursory glance at the debriefings of Himmler's SS assistants who were with him shortly before his arrest, for example, attest to his intent to take his own life if made prisoner. The author similarly ignores myriad statements from British and German individuals, military and civilian, who were present at the various stages of Himmler's arrest, suicide, and eventual internment.

Beyond the weak "research"-- much of it apparently relying on translations rather than primary source materials since the author does not read German (?)-- is the central question of motivation.

Why would the British or the Allies acquiesce in such a ruse? To avoid embarassment at having "negotiated" with Himmler during the war's final stages? Rubbish! The Western Allies used plenty of ex-Nazis to counter the Soviet threat, from the technicians of Werner von Braum's shop to intelligence assets like Himmler's erstwhile svengali Walter Schellenberg. Some of these associations were unsavory, but neither London nor Washington has ever been overly reluctant to acknowledge them given the uncertain and dangerous period in which they were forged.

Himmler had nothing to offer the Allies after the war. He would have been far more useful in the prisoner's dock at Nuremburg than as an intelligence asset. And to suggest that Himmler took up captaincy of an Odessa-like werewolf organization pushes the bounds of credulity to the limit.

For readers interested in leading Third Reich personalities who did escape justice and went on to lead interesting and unusual lives, try bios of Josef Mengele, Adolf Galland, Otto Skorzeny, or maybe the Flemish Nazi leader, Leon de Grelle. But as for Himmler-- not really the most interesting Nazi in any case-- leave the conspiracy theories well enough alone!

Rating:
Summary: Might give you bad dreams
Review: Regardless of speculation based on such circumstantial material as whether hair grows or not after death or what eyeglasses Himmler preferred, Thomas' theory that the No. 2 Nazi survived the war comes down to one question: whose body did British Intelligence conceal in an unmarked grave in May 1945? According to the author, the dental assistant who worked on Himmler until November 1944 did not recognize the teeth shown in the British autopsy report as belonging to the suicide identified as Himmler. The author presents a convincing case that the SS Reichsfuhrer was no suicide. If so, this book --- which shows the Nazis had business dealings with British & American intelligence agencies, US-based multinational corporations and European aristocracy that amounted to treason --- may prove of particular interest to conspiracy "buffs" who see disturbing parallels, if not outright linkage, between the rise of fascism in Germany and America under the "neo-cons."

Rating:
Summary: THE DEATH OF A MASS MURDER
Review: The strange death of Heinrich Himmler by Hugh Thomas was a well done-put together product. It is highly likely that this book will be a slow seller since few readers are interested in such subject matter. The book is very detailed and has some rather good photos-some I have never seen before. The book, in my opinion, is a "4" star item. Himmler, the greatest mass murderer in history, was no doubt, a very unusual person and questionable. When he was captured by Allied forces, he revealed his real self, a little man with no powers at all without Hitler and the Third Reich. He was weak,had a bad stomach (probably from his mass murder approvals of 7 million Jews and Poles), was a paper general, never a true Reich soldier, never won any awards, except political, loved his black uniform, and was viewed by other Nazi Generals as a political party member only, and wasn't well respected. No other person in world history can lay the unfortunate claim of killing so many human beings. His photos in this book, and those of his death, indicates that he was finished, at the end of the line, and show that he knew his fate, thus escaping justice by swallowing poison, a easy way out on earth, but he is likely paying the price now as we speak.