During the Nazi era, Heinrich Müller was a high-ranking German Schutzstaffel (SS) and police official. He was the head of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany’s secret state police, for the majority of World War II in Europe. But did you know that they never found Muller?
Heinrich Muller, the Gestapo’s leader during WWII, was never found. There are numerous conflicting stories about his death or survival, and he is one of the highest-ranking missing Nazis.
The Flying Policeman
Heinrich Müller was the son of poor Catholic parents and was born on April 28, 1900. After finishing high school, he began a three-year apprenticeship as an aircraft mechanic. He worked in a Bavarian aircraft factory before joining the German army at the age of 17. He was a pilot in the German Imperial army during World War One. He received the EK I and II in recognition of his wartime achievements, Eisernes Kreuz or Iron Cross. After Germany’s defeat in 1919, he left the army.
Müller found work at the police headquarters in Munich in December 1919. He was appointed Polizeisekretär in 1929 and Kriminalinspektor in 1933. He spent a significant portion of his police career gathering intelligence on the German Communist Party (KPD). Müller was a known anti-Communist, and it appeared that he frequently broke the law during his work. Ignoring the law would not be a problem in the future.
From the moment Hitler took power, all sorts of measures were put in place to ensure that police and security officials were not bound by any law meant to protect arrested people while on the job. (Source: Traces of War)
Switching to Nazi
Müller was not allowed to join the NSDAP or a similar
سرعان ما أصبح مولر معروفًا بين النازيين بفضل احترافيته كضابط شرطة، ولاحظ هينريش هيملر تفانيه المتعصب في الواجب والانضباط. عُين مولر مشرفًا على الـ Kriminalpolizei في عام 1935. وفي الوقت نفسه، انضم مولر إلى الـ S.S. في أبريل 1934 كـ SS-Untersturmführer وتم ترقيته إلى SS-Obersturmführer في 4 يونيو 1934. كما تم إسناده إلى جهاز الاستخبارات للـ S.S.، وهو Sicherheitsdienst (SD). وقد وُضع الأساس لمسيرة ناجحة في الرايخ الثالث.
عندما عيّن هيملر هايدريش رئيسًا للغستابو في أبريل 1934، جعل مولر رئيسًا للقسم الثاني، الذي كان مسؤولًا عن تعقب أعداء الرايخ الثالث المحتملين، بما في ذلك اليهود. في 30 يناير 1937، تمت ترقيته إلى SS-Standartenführer داخل الـ S.S. في يونيو، تم تعيينه مستشارًا إداريًا للـ Kriminalpolizei بالإضافة إلى وظيفته كرئيس لقسم الغستابو. كان لمولر موقع متزايد الأهمية داخل قوة الشرطة. شارك مولر في حدث تاريخي للمرة الأولى في عام 1938، ليلة الكريستال (Reichskristallnacht). (المصدر: Traces of War)
صورة من History
