Hanke was appointed SS leader in April 1945, but not informed until early May. He was killed on June 8, 1945, while attempting to escape a Czech POW camp. Historians have often speculated that Reinhard Heydrich would have eventually held the rank had Himmler in some way been killed or removed from his position earlier in World War II, and indeed Heydrich was often seen as Himmler's heir apparent by senior SS leaders.