By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers

Nobody told me I’m Himmler’s grandson.

One summer evening last year, a couple’s therapist, Henrik Lenkeit, 49, was watching a TV documentary about German Nazi SS master Heinrich Himmler, architect of the Holocaust.

After the show ended, Lenkeit poked around the Internet for information about Hedwig Potthast, Himmler’s rather gruesome mistress featured in the documentary. Suddenly, Lenkeit saw his grandmother’s face in an image of Potthast posing with Himmler.

After months of amateur genealogical research, Lenkeit concluded Lenkeit was the notorious SS chief’s grandson. The process included consulting with political scientist Katrin Himmler, great-niece of the late Reichsführer-SS.

Beginning in 1936, Potthast, Lenkeit’s grandmother, was Himmler’s private secretary and, starting in 1938, his mistress. She gave birth to two of Himmler’s children, including Lenkeit’s mother, Nanette-Dorothea, in 1944.

Throughout her lifetime, Lenkeit’s mother, who died in 2019, diligently kept the secret of her paternity. But those efforts were upended by Lenkeit’s investigation last year, particularly when the therapist uncovered his mother’s birth certificate, signed by Himmler.

SS officials, including Heinrich Himmler, visit the Mauthausen concentration camp in 1941.

After months of amateur genealogical research, Lenkeit and German newspaper Der Spiegel concluded Lenkeit was the notorious SS chief’s grandson. The process included consulting with political scientist Katrin Himmler, great-niece of the late Reichsführer-SS.

Jews arriving at Auschwitz II in German-occupied Poland, May 1944

Beginning in 1936, Potthast, Lenkeit’s grandmother. was Himmler’s private secretary and, starting in 1938, his mistress. She gave birth to two of Himmler’s children, including Lenkeit’s mother, Nanette-Dorothea, in 1944.

Throughout her lifetime, Lenkeit’s mother, who died in 2019, diligently kept the secret of her paternity. But those efforts were upended by Lenkeit’s investigation last year, particularly when the therapist uncovered his mother’s birth certificate. signed by Himmler.

Growing up in Germany, Lenkeit was not close with his parents, he said. “Back even then, I had some issues with my parents. They were quite distant with me,” said Lenkeit.

The Holocaust and Nazi rule could not be avoided in school, said Lenkeit. His parents showed him the film “Schindler’s List” when he was in school, and neither of them appeared to be Nazis. In fact, Lenkeit’s father expressed admiration for Israel, he said.

“But they never told me I was Himmler’s grandson,” said Lenkeit.

Heinrich Himmler’s mistress, Hedwig Potthast, at the Nuremberg Trials

Since going public with his discovery, some of Lenkeit’s relatives have cut off communication with him.

“My uncle said not to call anymore,” said Lenkeit. Other people from his mother’s side of the family followed suit, said Lenkeit, who pointed out his own struggles since learning about his blood ties to Himmler.

Lenkeit called the past year a “mourning process. I sort of lost my identity. You go to God, because who else do you go to? It was tough for me to pray,” he said.

Himmler committed suicide shortly after being captured by the Allies. As the man Hitler tasked with implementing Germany’s genocidal policies, Himmler toured Holocaust death camps and has been called “second in actual power” by historians.

Adolf Hitler (left) shakes hands with Heinrich Himmler somewhere in Germany on May 18, 1944. From left to right: Hitler, Minister Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Admiral Karl Doenitz, Himmler and Field Marshal General Erhard Milch.

Convinced since early 1942 that Germany would loose the War, in August 1942, Himmler proceeded to Zhitomir, where he explained to the head of the "Sicherheitsdienst" Schellenberg, how to unseat Hitler in a putsch that would be followed by a secret deal for a negotiated peace with the Western Allies in exchange for license to continue Germany's war with the Soviet Union.

Jews on the selection ramp at Auschwitz, May 1944

Lenkeit also learnt more about Himmler himself, struck in particular by how the man responsible for the deaths of six million Jews would play tennis after visiting the gas chambers and watching people die. “I watched the film The Decent One, a 2014 German-Austrian-Israeli film about Himmler. in which he says that yes, the Nazis did all these things, but out of duty to the people. They still maintained they were decent human beings. Hearing that was such a blow to me in that moment.”

Henrik Lenkeit, on October 8 in Benalmádena (Málaga).

 

 

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