Hitler’s support

Adolf Hitler knew that the concentration camps were not universally popular in Germany. Conscious of his image, he publicly kept his distance: apparently, he never toured a camp. But in private, Hitler supported Himmler’s vision of a camp system based on extreme terror. In 1935, Hitler made several crucial interventions. He secured long-term financing for the camps and pardoned guards convicted of prisoner abuses. The following letters of 6 November 1935 also make clear that Hitler sided with Himmler against the Reich Ministry of Justice, which had raised concerns about prisoner deaths and demanded legal representation for prisoners.

012 – Letters by Heinrich Himmler to the Reich Minister of Justice, regarding Hitler’s views (1935)

Hitler and Himmler at the 1938 Nuremberg rally

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Estelle Bechoefer

I showed your letter of 16 October and also the summary of deaths in the concentration camps to the Führer himself on the occasion of my presentation to him on 1 November 1935. As the concentration camps are already run in a meticulous manner, special measures are considered unnecessary. H. Himmler

In the matter referred to us concerning permission for lawyers to be involved in cases of protective custody, I put the request to the Führer and Reich Chancellor on 1 November 1935. The Führer prohibited the involvement of lawyers and told me to convey his decision to you. H. Himmler

Source: M. Broszat, “Nationalsozialistische Konzentrationslager”, in H. Buchheim et al. (eds), Anatomie des SS-Staates (Munich, 1994), p. 353

Translation: Lesley Sharpe and Jeremy Noakes