Himmler's Uniform

[Music] by 1944 Hamish Himmler was indisputably the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany after Hitler but he was a man who had missed war service in World War one unlike nearly all other Nazi leaders he was definitely conscious of his lack of frontline experience and his uniform and decorations reveals both his insecurities and his unswerving and even pathological loyalty to the Nazi cause so let's examine what we see Himmler joined the SS in 1925 when the organization was very small he worked in the SS headquarters in Munich in 1926 he was appointed SS district leader for Bavaria and a year later deputy to rise for SS Erhard Leiden in 1929 at the age of just 29 Himmler succeeded Lydon to become leader of the SS eventually growing the organization to nearly a million men and wielding power in the Reich second only to Hitler himself [Music] compared to higher SS leaders such as generals F Dietrich seen here with Hitler at the Berghof Himmler was not in the same league as a soldier he had never commanded men in battle nor had he earned any of these high combat decorations we see of Dietrich on the upper right sleeve of his uniform he wore a single Chevron this badge marked him out as an old fighter one of the Nazi Party originals called the honour chevron of the old guard it was awarded to all party and SS members who joined before the 30th of January 1933 when Hitler assumed power in Germany in the buttonhole of his right breast pocket was the ribbon of the blood order a highly exclusive Nazi medal for those who had directly taken part in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch when Hitler had attempted to stage a coup in Munich Himmler had carried the old imperial battle flag drum the a coup attempt this was probably the only time Himmler heard a shot fired in anger on his left breast pocket he wore his golden nazi party badge a long service award for high nazis the golden Hitler Youth badge and later the SA sports badge a very common award also seen on the pocket is this wing badge this was the combined pilot's observation badge in gold with diamonds or brilliance awarded by Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering this was an honorary and rather blingy tacky award in true Goering style awarded not only to Himmler but also to Admiral donitz and Field Marshal Rommel above his left breast pocket is also a ribbon bar containing several different awards mostly SS and Nazi Party long service awards and a few army medals such as the Angelus medal for Austria the Sudetenland medal and the west wall medal issued in 1944 so Himmler fell somewhere between reichsmarschall Goering whose uniforms were festooned with decorations many of the highest combat awards are the old German Empire and the rike and those of Hitler whose uniform was particularly austere Hitler only ever wore three badges his golden party badge his Iron Cross first class from World War one and his wound badge from World War one Hitler kept his bling very simple the idea was to show that he was a world war one soldier an ordinary grunt who had suffered in the trenches it is said that Himmler was very conscious of his lack of military decorations earned the hard way and that Goering and Hitler used to often mock him behind his back about this very subject this probably affected what he wore and why I hope that you found this short film interesting and I also that you will consider subscribing to my channel many thanks you

Channel: Mark Felton Productions

Views: 1,798,907

Keywords: Himmler's Uniform, Heinrich Himmler, Nazi Germany, Mark Felton Productions

Id: SUKiygrE1qI

Length: 4min 44sec (284 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 22 2018