 Another portion of the agreement , point # 10 , stated that the German command would ensure the preservation of remaining public and private property as well as the evacuation or protection of objects and buildings of " artistic , cultural or sacred value " . However , soon after the fighting was over at a conference held on October 9 , 1944 , Heinrich Himmler , Reichsführer of the SS , ordered the total destruction of the city . Himmler stated : " The city must completely disappear from the surface of the earth and serve only as a transport station for the Wehrmacht . No stone can remain standing . Every building must be razed to its foundation . " The task of carrying out the destruction was assigned to SS @-@ Brigadeführer Paul Otto <unk> . Subsequently , the buildings of the city were systematically reduced to ruin , one by one . 
