75 years after his death, a file essential to the capture of top Nazi Heinrich Himmler has been discovered in the UK. Now on show are objects belonging to the SS leader discovered in the belongings of a judge.
A patrol near a checkpoint in Bremervörde, northern Germany, observed three unusual-looking men on May 22, 1945.
Though many Nazis were still at large and there were concerns some would try to organise or flee, it was just a few weeks after World War Two had finished.
Walking ahead of a third man, two of the men had smart long green overcoats on. Wearing an eye patch, the trailing figure appeared dishevellled and broken. The pair in front kept staring back as though to check he was still there.
They arrived at a checkpoint where British troops requested to view their paperwork. At the end of the war, they turned over the A4-sized identity paperwork German soldiers received, which included their name, rank, date of birth, other details. According to his papers, the third man was Heinrich Hizinger, a serjeant.
He had to have hoped that his lowly position and the paperwork would pass through security. He misinterpreted things.
Official stamps on the document matched the same stamp and unit details used by SS members attempting to flee, and British military intelligence had observed this. And so word had spread that everyone else with those specifics was under detention. Once there, Hizinger inquired to see a senior officer. His cover was still intact, but he must have worried it would not last long and maybe hoped he could negotiate his way out of the matter. He removed his eye patch then coolly showed his true identity.
He was Heinrich Himmler, the SS chief executive officer and principal designer of the Holocaust.
This made Hitler among the most sought-after Nazis still alive and a man accountable for many of the worst crimes of the Third Reich after his death in his bunker.
The British team started to probe him to be sure he was the person he claimed to be.