The diary of Nazi SS leader Heinrich Himmler was discovered filed in an archive in Russia.
The diary, actually a service calendar including dates, meetings and military decisions, was discovered earlier this year in the Russian Military Archive in Podolsk. It was filed under Dnewnik, which is Russian for diary, the Daily Mail reported.
The diary will be serialized in the German newspaper Bild beginning on Tuesday.
An entry in the 1,000-page diary in August 1941 revealed that Himmler, who was known to be squeamish at the sight of blood, almost fainted when the brains of a Jewish mass shooting victim at the edge of a pit outside of Minsk splattered on his coat, according to the Mail.
He writes in 1943 about witnessing the “effectiveness” of the diesel engines used to gas prisoners at the Sobibor death camp. That same day SS men threw a banquet in his honor, he recorded. He also calls for new guard dogs at the Auschwitz complex “capable of ripping apart everyone but their handlers,” according to the Mail.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
In 1945, Himmler was captured by British soldiers in northern Germany, carrying falsified papers. He was recognized during his interrogation, which led him to bite down on a cyanide capsule hidden in one of his teeth. He died moments later.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this