Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was
Reichsführer of the
Schutzstaffel (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the
Nazi Party (NSDAP) of
Nazi Germany. Nazi leader
Adolf Hitler briefly appointed him a military commander and later Commander of the Replacement (Home) Army and
General Plenipotentiary for the administration of the entire Third Reich (
Generalbevollmächtigter für die Verwaltung). Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and one of the people most directly responsible for
the Holocaust.