Beginnings

Hangman Heydrich, the Young Evil God of Death and the Most Dangerous Man in Germany. All were nicknames that became synonymous with the second in command of the SS, Reinhard Heydrich. He was born in Hulle, Germany and into a upper class family. The Heydrich family had a taste for music and the young Reinhard trained to be a violinist.

Although Heydrich had an elevated social status, he was far from a happy boy. In school he was a target for bullies who beat him up on many occassions. Their reasons ranged from his high pitched voice to rumors of Jewish blood in the Heydrich family.

His home life was no better. His mother believed in harsh discipline and he was often beat by her for minor offenses. Because of his childhood years, Heydrich became a very unhappy and withdrawn boy. A trait that would keep with him for years to come.

Joining the Freikorps

At the age of 16, Heydrich joins the para-military unit called the Freikorps. The Freikorps were a rightist organization that excelled in anti-Semitism and anti-Communism. Their racist views helped mold Heydrich and many thought that he was a perfect example of Aryan manhood, becuase of his impressive height, blonde hair and blue eyes. Yet, this wasn't shared by everyone and rumors of his Jewish ancestory persisted.

The Navy Years

After leaving the Freikorps and following Germany's defeat in the Great War, Heydrich joined the small German Navy.(The Kreigsmarine) But if Heydrich thought it would command the respect he wanted, he was dead wrong. The other cadets called him "Billy Goat" for his high voice and "Moses Handel" for the rumor of Jewish blood that would not go away.

Despite all the taunting, Heydrich managed to rise rapidly through the ranks under Admiral Wihelm Canaris. A man who would become very important to Germany and Heydrich later on. He dreamed about becoming an Admiral but was cut short when he was dismissed from the Navy. Why was he kicked out? "Conduct unbecoming to an officer and a gentleman." is what the report said. But what does that mean? There are two stories. The first is that Heydrich was a shameless womanizer. He had many sexual relations with women and was kicked out for having one with an unmarried daughter of a shipyard captain, or so the story goes. There is no conclusive proof of this.

The second story is that he didn't have a sexual relation with a daughter or even a woman. Heydrich's godfather, Ernst von Eberstein had a son named Karl von Eberstein who Heydrich became good friends with. Eberstein was ten years older than Reinhard and served in the Kreigmarine during the Great War. Eberstein was the man who helped Heydrich into the Navy and many say was the reason was kicked out of it. Eberstein was an open homosexual, and Heydrich could have had sexual relations with him. Admiral Raeder discovered this and on the report of why we was expelled simply read "Conduct unbecoming to an officer and a gentleman." Of course that could mean anything, but these two stories are probably the most likely causes.

Becoming a Nazi

Eberstein was also a Nazi party Stormtrooper leader and after Heydrich was discharged and in 1931 he tried to get the 27 year old man to join the Black Shirted group called the Schutzstaffel. Heydrich accepted. Eberstein arranged an interview with Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler which worked to Hwydrich's advantage. Himmler was very impressed. When asked about creating an SS Security Service, Heydrich took only twenty minutes to write down his ideas for the future. Heydrich proceeded to create the intelligence gathering organization known as the SD (Sicherheitsdienst), or SS Security Service.

It started in a small office with a single typewriter. But Heydrich's determination soon grew the organization into a vast network of informers that developed dossiers on anyone who might oppose Hitler and conducted internal espionage and investigations to gather information down to the smallest details on Nazi Party members and storm trooper (SA) leaders.

Heydrich also had a taste for gossip and maintained folders full of rumors and details of the privates lives and sexual activities of top Nazis, later resorting to planting hidden microphones and cameras. Yet still, Heydrich's old demons came back to haunt him. The rumor of Jweish ancestory kept plagueing him throught his career and would not let go. Plus, rivals tried to have him removed from the Nazi Party with accusations of the homosexual affair that he had with Eberstein.

Because of the many rivals he had, Heydrich trained himself to be utterly ruthless. He especially developed an unrelenting hatred of Jews, because of the rumor that had dogged him so much in his life.

Before the War

Heydrich rose to Himmler's right hand man, and helped with the running of Dachau and Buchenwald, the Night of Long Knives, and with the growth of the SS. Heydrich became obbessesed with rooting out all pro-Communist or anti-Nazi groups all over Germany. He sent scores of SD and Gestapo agents to hunt them down without pity and toture or kill anyone they have to. Unlike many other high SS men, Heydrich was rarely seen in public, and when he was, the photos show a haunted man looking mysteriously into the lens from the background. Other Nazis looked at him with unease, and were often tense around him. Hitler had once considered Heydrich to be an acceptable successor to him, even though he was never offically named it.

Heydrich was married to Lina von Osten and they had a son. (whose name escapes me.) Their relationship was very uneasy, with Osten usually trying to appease her husband and Heydrich not caring either way. Information on their son is scarce but I'd be grateful if someone would send me info if they have any.

Friends were something Heydrich did not have any of. The only man he was considered to be on good terms with other than Hitler and Himmler was Wihelm Canaris, his former superior in the Kreigsmarine. Canaris and Heydrich were riding buddies and lived in the house next to eachother. The relationship between them is bizarre though. Canaris was an anti-Nazi spy for years, the same kind of people Heydrich tried to desperately wipe out. Some say Heydrich had no idea Canaris was a spy, others say he knew but was waiting for him to make a mistake so he could eliminate him and others say he knew but covered for him. Only Heydrich knows for sure.

Kristallnacht

One of the most brutal acts of the 20th century, Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) was staged by Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich. A Polish Jew named Herschel Grynszpan shot and killed the German diplomat Ernst vom Rath in France, in protest against the Nazis harsh treatment of his family. Propaganda minister Josef Goebbels gave Rath a hero's funeral and blamed the Jews completley.

Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich agreed and on November 9/10 1938, Heydrich unleashed a horde of angry SS and Gestapo men and Goebbels unleashed Stormtroopers along with militant students and Hitler Youth to vent their anger against the Jews. On Heydrich's orders, 25,000 Jewish men were sent to Concentration camps. Many more were arrested.

Einsatzgruppen and the Conference at the Wannasee

On September 1, 1939, World War Two began with the Nazi invasion of Poland. As a prelude to the invasion, Heydrich had engineered a fake Polish attack on a German radio station at Gleiwitz, Germany, a mile from the Polish border, thus giving Hitler an excuse for military retribution.

Six weeks finished Poland and she was divided amongst the invading Germans and Russians. However, in 1941 Germany invaded Russia as well and Heydrich mobilized his Einsatzgruppen (Action Units) often referred to as the "Death Squads", into four groups. Squad A, Squad B, Squad C and Squad D each occupied a different region of Poland and killed any Communist, Jew and anti-Nazi they could find. Often by making them dig mass graves which the Nazis would shoot them into. Their orders were "... search and execution measures that contribute to the political pacification of the occupied area are to be undertaken."

In September of 1941, Hitler named Heydrich Reich Protector of Bohemia-Moravia which was the Czech part of Czechoslovakia. SS-Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich was overjoyed. That meant the SS could do whatever they wished. They started with the brutal crackdown on Restinace men and setting up of Jewish ghettos.

On January 20th 1942 Heydrich held a conference of 15 top Nazi officials to finalize the plan for implementing the Final Solution whose aim is to exterminate Europe's 11,000,000 Jews. Minutes of the meeting taken by Eichman but later edited by Heydrich. "The Führer has ordered the physical extermination of the Jews," he told SS officer Eichmann. With that he ordred the Einsatzgruppen to concentrate specifically on Jews of all ages. With brute haste, Heydrich's Einsatzgruppen men would kill over two million Jews. Many SS men went insane or at least were demoralized with having to kill over a hundred people a day.

Both Himmler and Heydrich approved Adolf Eichmann's suggestion about using the gas Zyklon-B as a way to kill the Jews. In January 1942 the first Jews were gassed in Auschwitz. Heydrich however, was busy in his occupied kingdom. Heydrich was a cocky young man who liked to travel between his country home and headquarters in Prague in an open top green Mercedes car without an armed escort as a show of confidence in his intimidation of the resistance and successful pacification of the population. But his easy life was not to last.

Ambushed by the Resitance

On May 27th 1942, Heydrich's car turned a corner and shots blasted into his window. The Czech restistance fighters shot more and also threw a bomb, which exploded near the already wounded Heydrich. During the fight, Heydrich managaed to fire his gun several times before collapsing. The fighters retreated. Himmler rushed his personal doctors to save Heydrich's life. But it was too late. Blood poisioning from the metal shrapnel overtook him and on June 4, Reinhard Heydrich died.

In Germany, a huge elaborate funeral was planned. Complete with the double SS lightning bolt symbol present above his coffin. Hitler called Heyrich "The man with an iron heart." Himmler appointed Ernst Kaltenbrunner as Heydrich's sucessor. Kaltenbrunner wasn't nearly as influencial or intelligent as Heydrich, so Himmler took over many of Heydrich's old duties. Meanwhile, the SS hunted down anyone who they thought may have known the killers of their beloved SS-Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich. 3000 Jews were deported to the ghettos and 500 Jews were arrested in Berlin the day Heydrich died.

But the real legacy of Reinhard Heydrich was the town of Lidice. Lidice was a small Czech mining town which the SS vented it's rage on. On June 10th, 172 men and boys were shot in a barn and all women and children sent to Concentration camps where they eventually died. Lidice was then demolished and it's name was erased from all maps. Heydrich's blueprints on the Final Solution would be enacted out by his leader and Nazi subordinates.