A priest was left in utter disbelief upon uncovering that he is a descendant of one of Nazi Germany’s most notorious figures, second only to Hitler.

Henrik Leinket, originally from Germany and now residing on Spain’s Costa del Sol, was unwinding in front of the TV when he came across a documentary about Heinrich Himmler, the infamous SS leader and Hitler’s trusted lieutenant.

The 48-year-old, who splits his time between counseling German couples and spreading Biblical teachings, found himself captivated by the program that delved into the life of the architect behind the Holocaust.

His curiosity piqued, Leinket turned to his laptop to delve deeper into the life of Himmler, the mastermind behind the horrific ‘Final Solution to the Jewish Question.’

During his research, he stumbled upon a startling revelation—Himmler’s mistress bore a striking resemblance to his grandmother, Hedwig Potthast, and they shared identical birth and death dates.

Himmler and Potthast, a committed Nazi who worked at the Gestapo headquarters, began a clandestine relationship in 1940, shortly after the Nazi regime seized power, lasting five years.

Though Himmler was married to Margarate Boden, he believed in spreading the ‘Aryan’ race as far as possible and would go on to have two children with Potthast, a son named Helge and a daughter named Nanette-Dorothea.

After the SS leader died by suicide, a month after Hitler, Potthast went on to marry a businessman named Hans Staeck, whose surname would be passed on to her children with Himmler – one of which was Mr Leinket’s mother.

Henrik Leinket (above) discovered he is the son of Heinrich Himmler, the Reich Leader of the SS and Adolf Hitler’s right-hand man

Himmler (above) was Nazi Germany ‘s second most feared man behind Adolf Hitler

Himmler had an affair with Hedwig Potthast, Mr Leinket’s grandmother, between 1940 to 1945

The priest says he had his true identity was concealed from him all his life, but after some digging he uncovered that Himmler had formally stated he was Nanette-Dorothea’s father on her birth certificate.

Disgusted by the news, which he only uncovered because he was too tired to read the Bible and no football was on TV that night, Mr Leinket said it deeply troubled him in the days that followed as he tried to ‘find the mistake’ in it all.

He told German publication Der Spiegel: ‘If one could resurrect people, I’d grab Grandpa and give him a good thrashing.’

His grandmother, he recalled, had always been a ‘friendly old woman’ who gave him chocolate when he visited her in the spa town of Baden-Baden, and whom he affectionately nicknamed ‘Mutti’.

But Mr Leinket’s recollections are a far cry from the rumours that surround Potthast.

The son of Hitler’s personal assistant Martin Bormann once claimed she had proudly displayed a copy of the Nazi leader’s manifesto Mein Kampf, which was allegedly bound in human skin. 

So too, Mr Bormann claimed, were her tables and chairs – which were also said to be fashioned from body parts.

Mr Leinket, who asked ‘How could my grandmother love such a monster?’, is unlikely to ever receive any closure over the situation with Potthast dying in 1994 and his mother in 2019.

He also pondered on why they called him Henrik, wondering whether it could be a hidden homage to his Nazi grandfather, whose name is strikingly similar – more questions he will never know the answer to.

He added: ‘Suddenly you’re the grandson of a mass murderer.’

Himmler’s daughter – and Mr Leinket’s mother – Nanette-Dorothea (pictured as a child) died in 2019 

Himmler is pictured greeting Hitler with a painting as a 50th birthday present for him in 1939

Himmler – who had been on the run with two SS henchmen after the Nazi surrender to the Allies – was stopped by British troops in northern Germany on May 22, 1945.

Wearing an eye patch and posing as a lowly sergeant called Heinrich Hizinger, Himmler had handed over his false identity documents in the hope that they would pass muster.

Instead, he was given away by a stamp that his own people had placed on the document.

British military intelligence had already spotted it being used by members of the SS who were trying to flee, and so Himmler was held.

The following day, having been taken to a detention camp, he made the stunning admission to his captors that he was the most wanted man in Germany.

It was a fantastic result. The hunt for one of the world’s most wanted Nazis was at an end less than a month after Adolf Hitler’s suicide, and it was the British who had pulled it off.

But what happened next was catastrophic. Medical officer Captain CJ ‘Jimmie’ Wells was asked to check Himmler.

The examination initially proceeded as normal.

The Mail front page on May 25, 1945, announcing that Himmler had killed himself

Knowing that he might have a cyanide capsule hidden somewhere, Captain Wells looked at Himmler’s chest, between his buttocks, inside his nostrils and ears and between his toes and fingers.

Two capsules had already been found about his person.

So when it came to checking his mouth, Himmler realised the game was up.

Having seen that Captain Wells had spotted the blue capsule hidden in the corner of his mouth, Himmler clamped down on his finger.

After a struggle, Himmler wrenched himself away and then cracked open the capsule with his teeth.

It was 11.14pm. Within minutes, Himmler – now in agony – would be dead.