Newly reveled diaries of the notorious Nazi SS chief Heinrich Himmler's put on full display his evil character and the ease with which he integrated the killing of Jews into his daily routine, according to extracts published by the German daily Bild on Tuesday. The diaries are in fact notes Himmler wrote on his service calendar for 1938, 1943 and 1944, mentioning dates, meetings and military decisions. They were seized by the Red Army toward the end of World War II and were only recently discovered in a Russian military archive near Moscow. The entries include details of his conversations with his wife Margarete and daughter Gudrun, whom he called Pueppi, but also details of the executions he ordered. In one entry, he wrote that he almost fainted after witnessing the execution of Jews near Minsk, when brain tissue from one of the victims splattered onto his coat. The entry notes that the Jews were shot to death in a pit, in August 1941. According to the Daily Mail, Himmler "was known to be squeamish at the sight of blood." The diaries further reveal that Himmler's personal doctor would give him a massage on a daily basis. This massage routine was listed alongside executions and other activities. On January 3, 1943, the diary notes that he had a massage scheduled for 10 a.m. and then lunch with other SS officers at 2 p.m. At 8 p.m. he ate supper, and an hour later held a meeting to discuss reports that 10 Polish officers refused to cooperate with the Nazis. He concludes the meeting by ordering the Poles' execution and the deportation of their families to concentration camps. The diaries also suggest that Himmler enjoyed playing cards, stargazing and watching Nazi propaganda movies. He did not allow his leisure time to interfere with his determination to exterminate Jews. In one entry he wrote that during his visit to Buchenwald, he "ate a snack at the SS casino's cafe." "The most interesting thing for me is this combination of doting father and cold-blooded killer," The Bild's Damian Imoehl, who helped uncover the old diaries, told The Times of London on Tuesday. "He was very careful about his wife and daughter, as well as his affair with his secretary. He takes care of his comrades and friends. Then there is the man of horror. One day he starts with breakfast and a massage from his personal doctor, then he rings up his wife and daughter in the south of Germany, and after that he decides to have 10 men killed or visits a concentration camp."
