Heinz Macher

Heinz Macher ( Chemnitz , Germany , 31 December of 1919 - Schenefeld , Pinneberg , 21 December of 2001 ) was a Sturmbannführer (major) of the Waffen SS , highly decorated in the Eastern Front and second personal assistant Reichsführer-SS , Himmler During World War II .

Macher born in the town of Chemnitz in 1919, he joined the SS in 1940 and joined the 3. ^er . Regiment Panzergrenadiers SS Standarte Deustchland. He obtained the First Class Iron Cross in March 1942. In 1943, he was awarded a Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross for his courage in close combat on the Eastern Front, in 1944 he was awarded the Leaves Of Roble de la Cruz de Caballero and an ascent toSturmbannführer . ¹

He was appointed second assistant to Himmler in 1944, followed by Werner Grothmann . At the beginning of the collapse of Nazism, Macher by order of Himmler, led a group of 15 men to go to the SS castle in Wewelsburg with the mission of hiding objects of worship and veneration of the SS order of esoteric use and destroy compromising files To prevent them from falling into the hands of allies. He blew up a main tower of the castle and prevented firefighters from coming to the scene, hiding thousands of rings of the skull that commemorated the fallen SS men in action. ²

At the end of May 1945, when Nazism was at an end, Macher together with Grothmann accompanied Himmler to Flensburg with the intention of incorporating the SS into the new transitional government led by Karl Dönitz and Albert Speer ; But were rejected so they had to withdraw. They were detained in the outskirts of Bremen disguised as police gendarmes. Himmler was recognized and separated of his assistants, later he committed suicide. Macher was taken to a barracks in Lübeck, reviewed and interrogated. The details of his imprisonment, trial and subsequent release are unknown. ³

Macher appeared publicly in April 1966, along with other SS leaders at the funeral of Josef Dietrich wearing the medals of the late SS leader. ⁴

Heinz Macher died in the town of Schenefeld just 10 days to turn 82 in 2001.

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