After Hitler appointed him Reichsführer SS and Chief of German Police on June 17, 1936, Himmler centralized the various criminal police detective forces in Germany into the Reich Criminal Police Office and united the Gestapo and Criminal Police in the Security Police Main office.

Himmler was the 2nd most powerful man in Germany behind hitler. He Was the key and a senior official responsible for conceiving and overseeing implementation of the so called Final Solution. Captured by Russian soldiers on May 20, 1945, he was turned over to the British, to whom he eventually confessed his identity. On May 23, 1945, while undergoing a body search, Himmler killed himself by biting down on a cyanide capsule hidden in his mouth for that very purpose.