Himmler could dismantle the extermination machinery without Hitler’s knowledge or consent

Evidence

The first step of Himmler in this direction occurred in the fall of 1944, when he ordered on his own initiative that the gas installations in the extermination camps be dismantled and the mass slaughter be stopped. This was his way of initiating peace negotiations with the Western powers. Interestingly enough. Hitler apparently was never informed of these preparations; it seems that no one dared tell him that one of his most important war aims had already been given up. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2747

Categorization

• XREF: Evidence for Arendt’s claim that the Nazi state generated a plurality of competing power centers rather than a single unified command — echoes Neumann’s ‘gang’ model referenced at 2750.