Himmler (Peter Padfield's Second World War)

by Peter Padfield

It was up to him (Himmler) to make the first move though. He had the SS. ‘That’s exactly it, Herr Kersten. I cannot make a move against the Führer – I who am Reichsführer-SS, whose motto is “My honour is my loyalty”.’[25] Whatever part Himmler had been playing before in encouraging the peace-feelers to the west, from now on the pressures on him to effect Hitler’s removal as a precondition for negotiations increased almost by the week. On the one hand were reports from Führer headquarters and his own observations of Hitler’s behaviour which must have tended to confirm the diagnosis in his secret medical report; on the other hand the situation was worsening on every front, naturally strengthening the opposition’s call for Hitler’s removal before it was too late, naturally converting others, especially in the Army and the industrial community, to the same view.