Racial elite of the nation. Heinrich Himmler’s project of the SS family community

Abstract

Adolf Hitler’s protective squadrons (Schutzstaffel), commonly known as the SS, owed its dynamic development to Heinrich Himmler, who during the Third Reich transformed it into an elite formation. The SS became both an instrument of executive power and a political and military power base for the National Socialist regime. Since Himmler was appointed the Reichsführer, the SS became the most crucial project for him as on this very formation he based his concept of the racial family community which he meticulously implemented over the years.

Proclaiming the theory that “humans can be successfully bred just as animals are”, Himmler dreamed of building a racially pure society with genetic traits most valued by the National Socialist power. To carry out this project Himmler, vested with the power of the Reichsführer, introduced a range of various directives; only candidates who met racial criteria set by Himmler could enter the ranks of the SS. These rigorous requirements later extended also to candidates for future wives of the SS men. Over the next years all these criteria were to guarantee a construction of racially elitist kinship of families as well as the genetic continuity of the most desirable traits. Himmler did not just claim the right to issue marriage permits to his subordinate SS men, but he also began to interfere with their family lives, expecting couples to produce a specified number of offspring to the community of the SS. He also demanded the SS families to adapt to specific social roles.

This paper aims to describe theoretical and practical prerogatives of Heinrich Himmler’s actions to build the racial elite of the German nation based on the power of the SS. In this study I also attempt to answer the question whether Himmler’s directives were actually observed and, to what extent these practical guidelines proved to be effective; how they influenced the number of marriages concluded by SS men and the number of children born in these relationships.