5. Katrin Himmler looked into her past – and found that Heinrich Himmler was not the only Nazi in her family
In some cases, the descendants of infamous Nazis chose to change their names – and understandably so. For instance, up until 1945, while Hitler was not a very common name in Germany or Austria, the few people that did have it as their surname opted to change it, including relatives of the dictator. Katrin Himmler, however, took a different view. Her great-uncle, Heinrich Himmler, was unquestionably one of the vilest men of the Third Reich, and the architect of the Holocaust. But still, Katrin has refused to deny her family history. Instead, she has chosen to confront it head-on.
Born in 1967, Katrin Himmler is the granddaughter of Ernst Himmler. His brother was the infamous Heinrich, and Katrin was in no doubt about his role in the worst crimes of the Second World War. However, in researching her landmark book The Himmler Brothers, A German Family History, she discovered that he wasn’t the only member of the family to embrace Nazism. Indeed, she revealed that Ernst was also an enthusiastic Nazi. What’s more, far from being an innocent German who tried to keep his head down during the years of terror, her grandfather actively denounced a Jewish neighbor, leading to his deportation and probably death.
The book proved to be a best-seller, not just in Katrin’s native Germany but across the world. Alongside this, she has also taken part in several documentary films on the Nazi regime and its legacy in Germany. Though she did once consider changing her name, she has chosen to remain a Himmler. Indeed, even when she married an Israeli man, she chose to keep the name and own up to her heritage. She has claimed that in doing so she has broken with the family tradition – and a tradition quite common among German families – of not speaking about the past. She also explained of the book: “I wanted to give my son as much information as possible, so that when he starts asking questions about my family, at least I can answer him.”