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"Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (German: Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich; March 7, 1904, Halle, Saxony, German Empire - June 4, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Third Reich) - statesman and political leader of Nazi Germany, head of the Imperial Directorate Security (1939-1942), Deputy (Acting) Imperial Protector of Bohemia and Moravia (1941-1942) SS Obergruppenführer and Police General (from 1941).
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Reinhard Heydrich's mother Elisabeth, née Krantz, came from a wealthy family: her father headed the Royal Conservatory in Dresden. Reinhard's father, Bruno Heydrich, was an opera singer and composer. Operas by Bruno Heydrich were staged in theaters in Cologne and Leipzig. In 1899, he founded a music school for middle-class children in Halle, but he was never able to enter urban high society. For the townspeople, he remained a stranger, aided by rumors of his Jewish origin.
On March 7, 1904, Reinhard Heydrich was born in Halle an der Saale.
From an early age, Reinhardt was interested in politics. His parents read the works of the racial theorist Houston Chamberlain, devoted to the issues of "race struggle." When the First World War began, Heydrich was 10 years old. At the end of the war, Heydrich had the opportunity to observe demonstrations and street clashes in Halle.
In the summer of 1904, the Heydrich family moved to the four-story conservatory building in Halle, where his father, as director, was supposed to live.
In 1919, at the age of 15, Heydrich, still a schoolboy, began to get involved in politics and joined the freikor Georg Ludwig Rudolf Merker, a paramilitary nationalist organization. Heydrich begins to actively engage in sports, fostering a spirit of competition.
On October 6, 1904, Reinhard Heydrich was baptized in the Catholic Church of St. Francis and Elisabeth in Halle
In 1918-1919 he was a member of the National Association of Pan-German Youth - the "German National Youth Union" in Halle. This organization seemed too moderate to Reinhard, and in 1920 he joined the "German People's Union for Defense and Offensive" (German: Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund). In the same year, eager to participate more actively in the political life that was raging around, Heydrich became a liaison in the Lucius division, which was part of the volunteer units in Halle, where he became interested in the ideas of youth militaristic pro-patriotic movements. In 1921 he created a new association - "German People's Youth Squad"
1908 year. In the photo, four-year-old Reinhard Heydrich with his brothers and sisters in Halle near the house where the Bruno Heydrich Conservatory was located
The economic crisis that hit post-war Germany put Father Heydrich's music school on the brink of ruin. A career as a musician did not promise any success now, although Reinhard Heydrich played the violin well. Just as financially unpromising seemed to Heydrich and the career of a chemist, about which he dreamed.
Reinhard Heydrich as a child with his sister Maria.
On March 30, 1922, Heydrich entered the naval school in Kiel. The navy, with its tough code of honor, seemed to young Heydrich the elite of the nation. In 1926, after graduating from college and receiving the rank of lieutenant, Heydrich was sent to serve in naval intelligence. The future leader of the Abwehr and the future Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, then a senior officer on the cruiser Berlin, began to contribute to his career. The relationship of the Canaris family with Heydrich was very close - for example, Heydrich often played in a string quartet with Canaris' wife
Fencing school in Halle. Here Reinhard Heydrich learned fencing
However, Heydrich's relationship with his co-workers was not particularly good. As in his time to his father, he was hindered by rumors that he had Jewish ancestors. While serving in the Navy, Heydrich was even more active in sports, in particular pentathlon.
Admiral Felix Count von Lackner, who awakened interest in navigation in Reinhard Heydrich
Heydrich had a reputation for red tape. In December 1930, at one of the balls, Heydrich met his future wife, a rural teacher Lina von Osten, whom he married in December of the following year. According to another, more romantic version, Reinhard and a friend were on a boat ride and saw a boat with two girls overturned nearby. Of course, the young people heroically came to the rescue. One of the rescued girls was Lina von Osten.
March 1922. Reinhard Heydrich was recruited to serve in the navy as a midshipman.
Earlier, Heydrich developed an affair with another woman, the daughter of the head of the naval shipyard in Kiel (according to other sources, the daughter of the owner of the largest metallurgical holding IG Fabernim). Heydrich broke this connection by mailing an advertisement cut from the newspaper about his engagement to Lina. The girl's father turned to the head of the Navy, Admiral Erich Raeder, with a request to influence Heydrich. According to the Navy's honor code, Heydrich committed a grave offense by having two novels at the same time. The behavior of the young lieutenant was examined at the court of honor, which for some reason was headed by Raeder himself. At the meeting of the court of honor, Raeder noted that the daughter of "such a person" was worthy of the "village simpleton", while Heydrich replied with a request not to interfere in his choice. In April 1931, Admiral Raeder dismissed Heydrich for "misconduct"
On April 1, 1924, Reinhard Heydrich, ensign entered the Naval Academy, where he remained until March 1925
In June 1931, Reinhard Heydrich joined the NSDAP, having received a party card number 544 916, and the SS (ticket number 10 120). Together with militants from the SA, Heydrich took part in battles with socialists and communists.
At the same time, Heinrich Himmler began to streamline the activities of the SS. For better coordination of SS actions, as well as for spying on political opponents and participating in SS force actions, a trained intelligence service was required. Through his friend Karl von Eberstein, Heydrich made the acquaintance of Himmler and made him suggestions for the creation of an SS intelligence service; Himmler liked them, and he instructed Heydrich to create a security service known as the SD. At first, the main task of the SD was to collect incriminating materials on people occupying a prominent position in society, as well as to conduct information campaigns to discredit political opponents.
Heydrich soon became an important person for the Nazi party, and his career took off quickly. In December 1931 he was promoted to SS Obersturmbannfuehrer, and in July 1932 - SS Standartenfuehrer. At the same time, Heydrich changed the spelling of his name from Reinhardt to Reinhard.
1924 year. Reinhard Heydrich midshipman.
The appointment of Adolf Hitler in 1933 to the post of Reich Chancellor meant for the SA and SS the coming to power and the beginning of reprisals against the opposition. Officials who held their posts in the Weimar Republic were largely replaced by people from the SA and SS.
The year is 1929. Reinhard Heydrich as lieutenant
Meanwhile, the SA stormtroopers, under the leadership of Ernst Rohm, caused Hitler more and more anxiety. SA officers and rank and file, who largely ensured Hitler's rise to power, were unhappy with the fact that, in their opinion, the SA received insufficient powers. The situation was heated by the presence of two wings within the National Socialist Party - one who leaned more towards national politics (Adolf Hitler) and the other, who believed that the party should first of all implement a socialist program (Gregor Strasser). Among the stormtroopers, there was more and more talk about the need for a second, truly socialist revolution. At this time, it was Heydrich's SD that was collecting incriminating material on Rohm and his closest associates. The materials collected by Heydrich pointed to the imminent putsch preparing in the bowels of the SA. After the forces of the SS during the so-called "Night of Long Knives" the SA were defeated, and Rem himself was killed, on June 30, 1934, Heydrich received the title of SS Gruppenfuehrer.
December 26, 1931. Reinhard Heydrich and Lina's wedding.
As part of the apparatus struggle between the two power departments - the SS and the Wehrmacht - Heydrich's SD took a serious part in the removal from power of the commander-in-chief of the ground forces, Colonel-General Werner von Fritsch and Defense Minister Werner von Blomberg. Compromising files were collected on both military personnel. Von Blomberg's young wife was a former prostitute, a scandal erupted and Hitler dismissed him. Fritsch was accused of homosexual affairs on false testimony and was also removed from his post. At the same time, several dozen more senior military ranks were removed or demoted.
Lina and Reinhard Heydrich shortly after their wedding in 1931.
Serious friction also existed between the SD of Heydrich and the military intelligence - the Abwehr, which was led by the former patron of Heydrich, Wilhelm Canaris. In public, both leaders remained friendly and even met every morning for a walk. However, behind the scenes, each tried to take the other out of the game: Heydrich gave orders to conduct secret searches in the office of Canaris, and he diligently sought evidence of Heydrich's Jewish origin.
SD office in Munich. Here Reinhard Heydrich was hired as head of department
In 1934, the SD became part of the secret police (Gestapo). In 1936, Himmler became chief of the German police, and Heydrich became chief of the Security Police (Sicherheitspolizei, Sipo), which united the criminal and political police. With the help of this instrument of violence, Heydrich was given the opportunity to deal with both the enemies of the regime and his personal enemies. Security police agents also spied on Jews, communists, liberals and religious minorities. The SD staff consisted of about 3,000 agents, and up to 100,000 people were part-time informants. After the Anschluss, Heydrich, together with Himmler, organized terror against the opponents of the regime in Austria, and also created the Mauthausen concentration camp near Linz.
In 1939, the SD, the Zipo and the Gestapo were transferred to the subordination of the newly created department of the RSHA - the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) General Directorate, headed by Heydrich. The RSHA has become a powerful organization for collecting and analyzing information, as well as suppressing opposition.
In 1933, Reinhard Heydrich at his office at the Wittelsbach Palace in Munich.
It was Heydrich who developed the plan for staging the border incident, called the Gleiwitz incident. The purpose of the staging was to show that the German attack on Poland is only Germany's response to the acts of violence against German residents committed by the Polish side. In August 1939, SS men dressed in Polish uniforms attacked a German radio transmitter in the town of Gleiwitz. The corpses of the "Poles" were presented to the world media outlets. In fact, the killed Poles were the deceased prisoners of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. On September 1, 1939, German troops attacked Poland and World War II began. During the occupation of Poland, the SS Einsatzgruppen, subordinate to Heydrich, exterminated the Polish intelligentsia, communists and Jews
August 7, 1934. Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich oversee preparations for the funeral of President Hindenburg
In the early years of World War II, Heydrich did more than just organizational work. As a reserve officer of the Air Force, Heydrich took part in combat missions of German aviation (first as a radio operator on a bomber, then as an attack pilot) during campaigns against France, Norway and the USSR. This was consistent with Heydrich's ideas about the ideal SS officer, who not only sits at his desk, but also participates in hostilities. After Heydrich's plane was shot down east of the Berezina River in 1941 and Heydrich was rescued only by German soldiers who arrived in time, Himmler, by personal order, forbade him to participate in hostilities.
Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich in 1934.
After the occupation of Poland, Heydrich gave the order to create for Jews special areas of compact settlement in large cities, ghettos, where Jews were to be resettled from the countryside, as well as from Germany itself, and also to form “Jewish councils” from the local Jewish population dealing with Jewish affairs ( German Judenräte). Thus, Heydrich managed to force the Jews themselves to participate in the policy of their own destruction. In December 1939, Heydrich appointed Eichmann head of the RSHA special unit for Jewish affairs and then with his help carried out the mass deportations of Jews from Germany and Austria to the Polish ghettos.
Reinhard Heydrich welcomes the leaders to Nuremberg. 1935 year
After German troops occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939, changing the government there, for the regions of Bohemia and Moravia, which had passed under the German protectorate, the position of imperial protector was created, who took up residence in the Prague district of Hradcany. Initially, the former German Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath was appointed to this position. His tenure in office was accompanied by a rivalry between bodies loyal to the protector, special services and party structures, caused by the overlapping competence of different branches of government. This, as well as the lack of rigidity of Neurath in the suppression of the Czech resistance, led to his actual removal from office. Special services with the participation of Heydrich prepared a report to Hitler on the Czech resistance criticizing Neurath
June 18, 1936. Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick delivers a speech on the occasion of the appointment of Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler as Chief of the German Police. Right Reinhard Heydrich
At the end of September 1941, A. Hitler summoned Konstantin von Neurath, Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, and announced that he had decided to appoint Heydrich as his deputy. Von Neurath did not agree with this decision and announced his resignation from this post. Then Hitler sent von Neurath on "indefinite leave." His duties were transferred to Heydrich as "the acting Reich protector of Bohemia and Moravia" (German: "Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor von Böhmen und Mähren").
July 2, 1936. Commemoration of the memory of the German king Henry I the Birdcatcher (876-936) revered as the founder of the empire and fighter against Slavism
Thus, Heydrich became a de facto imperial protector (von Neurath never returned to perform his duties), retaining the post of chief of the Main Directorate of the RSHA. On September 27, 1941, Heydrich took over his residence in Hradcany. Heydrich set up his country residence, to which he moved his family, in the so-called "Lower Palace" inherited after K. von Neurath's resignation in the town of Panenské Břežany, 15 km north of Prague, confiscated from the Jewish sugar manufacturer Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer
Reinhard Heydrich (left in civilian clothes) during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
January 2, 1937 Heydrich at Hermann Goering's birthday party
January 29, 1937. Lieutenant Colonel Richard Prashnow, Lina Heydrich, Brigadier Karl Wolf, Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler at a family celebration.
Reinhard Heydrich with his wife Lina and son Klaus.
A week after his appointment, Heydrich initiated a trial against Czech Prime Minister Alois Eliash, who was suspected of having links with the resistance. The trial, chaired by Otto Tirak, took place in four hours, and Eliash was sentenced to death (which was carried out after the death of Heydrich). One of the first after the appointment of Heydrich's actions was the order to close all synagogues on the territory of the protectorate, and in November 1941, on his order, the Theresienstadt concentration camp was created, intended to contain Czech Jews before being sent to death camps. At the same time, Heydrich began to take measures to pacify the population: he reorganized the social security system, increased wages and food standards for workers.
September 1937. Reinhard Heydrich and his wife Lina during a visit to Germany Benito Mussolini
Heydrich had many of the stereotypically Nordic qualities: a tall, thin blond with an icy calmness. Contrary to this image, Heydrich had a very high voice, for which he received the nickname "goat" from his friends. This is probably why few records of his speeches have survived. Heydrich was a keen sportsman and gifted musician.
Reinhard Heydrich at his desk in 1937
He was able to become a good assistant for his boss Himmler (Heydrich held leading positions in the SD from the age of 29, headed the RSHA at 35). For example, he did almost all the work of integrating the political police into the party apparatus. A joke is attributed to Hermann Goering: it. HHHH, Himmlers Hirn heißt Heydrich, “H. H. H. H. - Himmler's brain is called Heydrich.
January 9, 1938. Reinhard Heydrich at the Imperial Hall of the Landwehr casino after the fencing competition
From his youth, Heydrich was accompanied by rumors of Jewish origin, and this information was later used by his political enemies to fight him. One of the arguments was that Heydrich's father, Bruno Heydrich, appeared in the 1916 "Riemann Encyclopedia of Music" as "Bruno Heydrich, the real name of Suess."
February 23, 1938. Reinhard Heydrich congratulates Scherer on his victory
In 1932, one of the leaders of the NSDAP, Gregor Strasser, ordered the party genealogist Achim Gerke to investigate information about a possible admixture of Jewish blood. Gerke came to the conclusion that the information in the Riemann Encyclopedia of Music was erroneous, and the second husband of Heydrich's grandmother bore the surname Suess (Bruno Heydrich was born from his first marriage). After the war, the hypothesis of Heydrich's Jewish origins was the subject of serious scientific research.
March 12, 1938. Reinhard Heydrich with Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler after the Anschluss of Austria at the entrance to the Hotel Metropol in Vienna
The Israeli historian Shlomo Aronson, while working on his doctoral dissertation on the topic "Heydrich and the Formation of the Gestapo and the SD" (published in 1966), built a family tree of Heydrich on the paternal side until 1738, and on the maternal side until 1688 and did not find among his ancestors Jews
July 2, 1938. Laying a wreath at the grave of the German king Henry I the Birdcatcher (876-936) in the crypt of the Cathedral of Quedlinburg.
August 20, 1938. The delegation congratulates the Fuehrer on his birthday. From left to right, General Dalyuge, SS General Karl Wolf, Reinhard Heydrich, August Hessmeier and Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler
January 30, 1939 Celebration at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Berlin. At the table Reinhard Heydrich, Kurt Dahluge, secretary, Mrs. Frick, Heinrich Himmler and others
Franz Josef Huber, Arthur Nebe, Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Gestapo chief Heinrich Müller. 1939
March 15, 1939. Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Karl Wolf in the courtyard of Prague Castle
Reinhard Heydrich describes the organization of the General Directorate of Imperial Security during the visit of the Spanish Police Delegation
April 9, 1939. Birthday of Reinhard Heydrich's daughter Silk.
Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich on the way to the Imperial Chancellery.
September 1939. Polish company. Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler receives progress report from Reinhard Heydrich
During the war, Reinhard Heydrich flew as a fighter pilot and was awarded the Iron Cross I and II degrees
November 1940. Funeral of Italian police chief Senator Boccini in Rome. Photo: Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler
Reinhard Heydrich with his family. 1941
1941 year. Visit of Gauleiter Karl Hanke. Welcome to Prague Castle.
September 28, 1941. Reinhard Heydrich during the ceremonial raising of the national flag in the courtyard of Prague Castle.
October 29, 1941. Karl Hermann Frank, Heinrich Himmler, Karl Wolf and Reinhard Heydrich at Prague Castle
In December 1941, a meeting of the Association of Southeast Europe was held in Prague in the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle
April 20, 1942 Protectorate President Dr. Emil Hacha demonstrates to Reinhard Heydrich a fully equipped ambulance train for the Führer's birthday
September 27, 1941. SS Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich on the day of the inauguration in Prague
Reinhard Heydrich examines the crown of St. Wenceslas in Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral
Opening of the imperial police and security school in Prague. Reinhard Heydrich speaks to Bruno Strechenbach
Reinhard Heydrich and Karl Hermann Frank meet with a delegation of Czech farmers
Reinhard Heydrich and Minister of Education Moravec at a meeting in Prague
May 26, 1942. The last lifetime snapshot of Heydrich. Musical evening at Wallenstein Palace.
The assassination attempt on Heydrich was planned by the Czechoslovak "government-in-exile" Edward Beneš with the participation of the British Special Operations Directorate. The murder of Heydrich was planned to simultaneously raise the prestige of the Resistance and provoke punitive actions of the Germans, which, in turn, would push the local population into active resistance to the invaders. The direct executors of the operation, called "Anthropoid", were agents trained by the British, Josef Gabczyk and Jan Kubis.
May 27, 1942. Reinhard Heydrich's Mercedes.
The delivery of Gabchik and Kubis took place on the night of December 28-29, 1941. The British Air Force Handley Page Halifax took off from Sussex at 22:00 and dropped Gabchik and Kubis at 02:12. Due to a navigational error, the saboteurs were not landed near Pilsen, as planned, but in the Negvizdy suburb of Prague. Then two more groups of Czech saboteurs were dropped, three and two people, respectively. Gabczyk and Kubish were equipped with Colt revolvers, Mills hand grenades, bombs of various types and fake documents. The saboteurs hid their equipment and, following the instructions received before the flight, reached Pilsen, where they stayed in pre-determined apartments with the members of the Resistance Vaclav Kral and Vaclav Stelik. Later they established contacts with many other active figures of the underground.
Josef Gabczyk
The assassination attempt took place on the morning of May 27, 1942, at a bend in the Prague suburb of Liben on the way from Heydrich's country residence Jungfern Breschan to the center of Prague. When Heydrich in a car with an open top (except for the SS Obergruppenfuehrer himself, only the driver was in it - Heydrich preferred to drive without any protection at all) at 10:32 was driving through a turn, Gabchik pulled out a "STEN" submachine gun and tried to shoot Heydrich at close range, but the cartridge jammed. Heydrich ordered the driver to stop the car and pulled out his service pistol.
Reinhard Heydrich's Mercedes. after the assassination attempt on May 27, 1942
At this moment, Kubish threw a bomb, but missed, so that the bomb exploded behind the right rear wheel of the car.
Jan Kubis
Heydrich, who received a fractured rib and a shrapnel wound to his spleen, which got metal parts of the car's upholstery and a piece of his uniform, got out of the car, but immediately fell down beside him. He was taken to the Bulovka hospital in a truck, which was stopped by a Czech policeman who happened to be at the scene of the assassination attempt.
A crime scene with a damaged car.
Heydrich was operated on around noon. The surgeon removed the damaged spleen. On May 27, Himmler's personal physician Karl Gebhardt arrived at the hospital. He prescribed large doses of morphine to the patient. On the morning of June 3, Heydrich's condition improved, but by about noon he fell into a coma and died the next day. The cause of death was the infection of internal organs, weakened due to the removal of the spleen.
Until late in the evening of June 5, 1942, the coffin with the body of Reinhard Heydrich was in the guarded room of the Bulovka hospital.
Immediately after the death of Heydrich, a huge number of telegrams of condolences came to Himmler, both from the leading officials of the Reich and military leaders from the Soviet-German front, and from representatives of the satellite countries (including Italian and Bulgarian police) and even from Ukrainian nationalists ...
On the night of June 5-6, 1942, the coffin was transported on a gun carriage from the Bulovka hospital to Prague Castle.
In Prague, state flags were lowered after the death of Reinhard Heydrich
After a two-day farewell to the body in Prague, the coffin was taken to Berlin.
On June 7, 1942, from the very early morning, tens of thousands of Germans and Czechs came to the courtyard of the Prague Castle to say goodbye to the deceased
June 7, 1942. Removal of the coffin from Prague Castle
7 June 1942. SS Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler, family members and leading officials
June 7, 1942. Heinrich Himmler with his two sons at the coffin in the courtyard of Prague Castle
June 7, 1942. A funeral procession marches through Prague to the railway station
June 7, 1942. From the Prague railway station, the coffin with the deceased was loaded onto a special train to Berlin. The next day, June 8, 1942, the train arrived at 12.00 at Berlin station
The funeral took place on June 9. The entire top of the country took part in the burial ceremony. Adolf Hitler himself held the farewell speech, calling Heydrich "a man with an iron heart."
June 9, 1942. The Fuhrer says goodbye to the body of the late Reinhard Heydrich
June 9, 1942. The Fuhrer speaks words of consolation to the sons of Reinhard Heydrich
Himmler later called Heydrich "a shining great man" and stressed that he "made a sacrificial contribution to the struggle for freedom" of the German people, "with the depth of his heart and blood he felt the worldview of Adolf Hitler, understood it and realized it." The London Times sarcastically remarked that one of the most dangerous men of the Third Reich had been given a "gangster's funeral." Hitler posthumously awarded Heydrich the "German Order", a rare award intended for senior party officials (most of the awards were also posthumous). The Ahnenerbe Society issued a mourning booklet in memory of Heydrich.
June 9, 1942. Fuhrer posthumously awarded Heydrich "German Order"
After the death of Heydrich, the leadership of the RSHA was initially taken over by Himmler himself, but on January 30, 1943 he handed it over to Ernst Kaltenbrunner. The post of Imperial Protector of Bohemia and Moravia was given to SS Oberstgruppenführer, Police Colonel General Kurt Dahluge.
June 9, 1942. The coffin with the body of Heydrich in the courtyard of the new Reich Chancellery after the official ceremony
Guard of honor at Wilhelmstrasse in front of the New Imperial Chancellery.
The coffin with the body of the deceased is loaded onto the carriage
June 9, 1942. Funeral procession in the courtyard of the new Reich Chancellery after the official ceremony
June 9, 1942. A funeral procession led by SS Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler marches through Berlin.
Heydrich's grave is located in Berlin's Invalidenfriedhof Cemetery, approximately in the center of Zone A. After the end of the war, the tombstone was destroyed so that the grave would not become a place of worship for neo-Nazis, and now the exact place of burial is unknown.
June 9, 1942. Cemetery of the Invalids. Funeral guard on both sides of the grave.
June 9, 1942. Cemetery of the Invalids. Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler throws flowers on the coffin.
June 9, 1942. Cemetery of the Invalids. Heinrich Himmler gives his last greetings to the deceased
June 9, 1942. Cemetery for the Invalids. Flower-strewn coffin of Reinhard Heydrich.
Model of the Tomb of Heydrich. The tomb was supposed to become a monument in honor of those who died for Germany
On the first anniversary of Heydrich's death, his bust was erected at the site of the assassination attempt, which was destroyed by the Soviet troops that liberated Prague. On May 27, 2009, a monument to the heroes of the Resistance who executed Heydrich was unveiled at the site of the assassination attempt in Prague.
Bust of Reinhard Heydrich was installed at the scene of the murder in Prague
Heydrich had four children from his marriage to Lina von Osten: sons Klaus and Haider, daughters Silke and Martha (Martha was born on July 23, 1942, almost two months after her father's death). Lina, who inherited a castle in the Czech Republic after her husband, tried to play an independent political role and in the 1940s developed plans to create a National Socialist agricultural commune, which, however, did not meet with the support of Himmler, who was the author of this idea. In the 1970s, she wrote an interesting memoir entitled Living with a War Criminal, which contains important information about her husband's relationship with Himmler and Canaris.
Lina Heydrich as representative of the Reich Division at the ceremony of conferring the title of Honorary Citizen of Brno to Reinhard Heydrich. September 21, 1942
Lina Heydrich in 1943 with her children, Klaus Haider, Silke and Martha
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(All material is taken from
They fully corresponded to their soul mates and shared their beliefs. But the fates of women were different. Some died along with Hitler's ideology, while others had a long life. For example, Magda Goebbels, when it became clear that Germany had lost, decided to voluntarily die. At the same time, I took the children with me. And the famous "Buchenwald Witch" Ilsa Koch, despite all the atrocities, dared to do this only 22 years after the end of the Second World War.
Hermann and actress Emmy's wedding took place in 1935. Three years later, they had a daughter. Adolf Hitler became her godfather. Since officially Germany did not have a first lady. This "position" was secretly given to Emma. Although Magda Goebbels was a strong competitor in this matter.
At the end of the war, Emmy, along with her daughter Edda, was in American captivity. In 1948 she was convicted. By a court decision, a third of her property was confiscated, she was sentenced to a year in labor camps and banned from performing on stage for five years.
Göring's daughter was baptized by Hitler
In the 60s, the mother and daughter moved to Munich. And in 1967, her book appeared under the title "Near My Husband" ("An der Seite meines Mannes").
Emmy Goering's life ended in 1973, after a long illness.
Gerda did not pay attention to her husband's intrigues on the side. Moreover, when it became known about Martin's romance with actress Behrens, his wife supported their relationship.
Gerda was convinced that National Socialism needed a fundamentally new system of organizing society. A system that would imply a complete ban on monogamy. And in 1944, Gerda encouraged male Germans to enter into several marriages at the same time. Accordingly, she advised the people of Germany to forget such a relic of the past as adultery.
Gerda Bormann advocated the abolition of monogamy
When it became clear that there would be no new world and Germany would lose, Gerda fled to South Tyrol. But she soon died. Since the woman was ill with cancer, she resorted to chemotherapy. The mercury accumulated in the body was the cause of her death. The remaining children of the Bormanovs were adopted by the priest Schmitz.
Ilse's husband, Karl Koch, was the commandant of the Buchenwald and Majdanek concentration camps. And in the "difficult" work he was always supported by his wife. For her zeal and hatred for all prisoners, she was nicknamed the Buchenwald Witch. There was one more nickname - Frau Lampshade. Ilse was charged with making souvenirs from human skin. But no reliable evidence could be found.
For the terrible torture Ilsa was nicknamed the Buchenwald witch
In 1943, the spouses were arrested by representatives of the SS. Karl was accused of killing the doctor Kremer and his assistant, as they were treating him for a venereal disease. And after 2 years, Karl was executed. Ilsa was then acquitted. But already on June 30, 1945, she was in American captivity. And after 2 years she was sentenced to life imprisonment. Several years later, Ilsa was released, but the public revolted. Therefore, in 1951, she was arrested again and sentenced to life imprisonment.
In 1920, Ilsa met Rudolf Hess and joined the NSDAP. They got married 7 years later. Their marriage was also patronized by Hitler. Moreover, he even became the godfather of the Hessian son, Wolf.
As befits a true Aryan, she completely and completely shared the views of her husband. After Rudolph fled to Britain and was arrested there, Ilsa still did not remain without Hitler's support.
Ilsa remained a zealous National Socialist until the end of her days.
On June 3, 1947, she, like other wives of Nazi criminals, was convicted at the Nuremberg trials. Then Ilsa was sent to the camp in Augsburg. But she was soon released.
Ilsa lived a long life, remaining a true National Socialist until her last breath. Ono died in 1995. She was buried beside her husband in the Lutheran cemetery in Wunsiedel. True, in 2011, by decision of the church council, the grave of the Hessians was liquidated.
Magda met Joseph Goebbels in the late 1920s. One day she heard him speak and became very interested in him. Their marriage was patronized by Hitler himself, because Magda's appearance fully corresponded to the Aryan portrait. The leader of the Third Reich decided that it was she who should become the "calling card" of Nazi Germany.
Before her marriage to Goebbels, Magda was already married. She had a son from her first marriage. She gave birth to six more from Joseph. It is curious that the names of all the children began with the letter "X": Harold (from a marriage with Quandt), Helga, Hildegard, Helmut, Holdina, Hedwig, Haidrun.
Magda was against the extermination of the Jews
And although she only partially shared her husband's views (the stumbling block was the policy towards Jews), Magda supported him in everything. When it became clear that Germany had lost, Goebbels wrote a letter to her eldest son, who was at that time in captivity: “The world that will come after the Fuehrer is not worth living in. Therefore, I take the children with me, leaving it. It is a pity to leave them to live in the life that will come. The merciful God will understand why I decided to take on my own salvation ”.
On May 1, 1945, six of her children were injected with morphine. After that, ampoules with potassium cyanide were placed in their mouths and handed out. Following the children, the Goebbels themselves passed away.
The assassination attempt on Heydrich was planned by the Czechoslovak "government-in-exile" Edward Beneš with the participation of the British Special Operations Directorate. The murder of Heydrich was planned to simultaneously raise the prestige of the Resistance and provoke punitive actions of the Germans, which, in turn, would push the local population into active resistance to the invaders. The direct executors of the operation, called "Anthropoid", were agents trained by the British, Josef Gabczyk and Jan Kubis.
May 27, 1942. Reinhard Heydrich's Mercedes.
The delivery of Gabchik and Kubis took place on the night of December 28-29, 1941. The British Air Force Handley Page Halifax took off from Sussex at 22:00 and dropped Gabchik and Kubis at 02:12. Due to a navigational error, the saboteurs were not landed near Pilsen, as planned, but in the Negvizdy suburb of Prague. Then two more groups of Czech saboteurs were dropped, three and two people, respectively. Gabczyk and Kubish were equipped with Colt revolvers, Mills hand grenades, bombs of various types and fake documents. The saboteurs hid their equipment and, following the instructions received before the flight, reached Pilsen, where they stayed in pre-determined apartments with the members of the Resistance Vaclav Kral and Vaclav Stelik. Later they established contacts with many other active figures of the underground.
Josef Gabczyk
The assassination attempt took place on the morning of May 27, 1942, at a bend in the Prague suburb of Liben on the way from Heydrich's country residence Jungfern Breschan to the center of Prague. When Heydrich in a car with an open top (except for the SS Obergruppenfuehrer himself, only the driver was in it - Heydrich preferred to drive without any protection at all) at 10:32 was driving through a turn, Gabchik pulled out a "STEN" submachine gun and tried to shoot Heydrich at close range, but the cartridge jammed. Heydrich ordered the driver to stop the car and pulled out his service pistol.
Reinhard Heydrich's Mercedes. after the assassination attempt on May 27, 1942
At this moment, Kubish threw a bomb, but missed, so that the bomb exploded behind the right rear wheel of the car.
Jan Kubis
Heydrich, who received a fractured rib and a shrapnel wound to his spleen, which got metal parts of the car's upholstery and a piece of his uniform, got out of the car, but immediately fell down beside him. He was taken to the Bulovka hospital in a truck, which was stopped by a Czech policeman who happened to be at the scene of the assassination attempt.
A crime scene with a damaged car.
Heydrich was operated on around noon. The surgeon removed the damaged spleen. On May 27, Himmler's personal physician Karl Gebhardt arrived at the hospital. He prescribed large doses of morphine to the patient. On the morning of June 3, Heydrich's condition improved, but by about noon he fell into a coma and died the next day. The cause of death was the infection of internal organs, weakened due to the removal of the spleen.
Until late in the evening of June 5, 1942, the coffin with the body of Reinhard Heydrich was in the guarded room of the Bulovka hospital.
Immediately after the death of Heydrich, a huge number of telegrams of condolences came to Himmler, both from the leading officials of the Reich and military leaders from the Soviet-German front, and from representatives of the satellite countries (including Italian and Bulgarian police) and even from Ukrainian nationalists ...
On the night of June 5-6, 1942, the coffin was transported on a gun carriage from the Bulovka hospital to Prague Castle.
In Prague, state flags were lowered after the death of Reinhard Heydrich
After a two-day farewell to the body in Prague, the coffin was taken to Berlin.
On June 7, 1942, from the very early morning, tens of thousands of Germans and Czechs came to the courtyard of the Prague Castle to say goodbye to the deceased
June 7, 1942. Removal of the coffin from Prague Castle
7 June 1942. SS Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler, family members and leading officials
June 7, 1942. Heinrich Himmler with his two sons at the coffin in the courtyard of Prague Castle
June 7, 1942. A funeral procession marches through Prague to the railway station
June 7, 1942. From the Prague railway station, the coffin with the deceased was loaded onto a special train to Berlin. The next day, June 8, 1942, the train arrived at 12.00 at Berlin station
The funeral took place on June 9. The entire top of the country took part in the burial ceremony. Adolf Hitler himself held the farewell speech, calling Heydrich "a man with an iron heart."
June 9, 1942. The Fuhrer says goodbye to the body of the late Reinhard Heydrich
June 9, 1942. The Fuhrer speaks words of consolation to the sons of Reinhard Heydrich
Himmler later called Heydrich "a shining great man" and stressed that he "made a sacrificial contribution to the struggle for freedom" of the German people, "with the depth of his heart and blood he felt the worldview of Adolf Hitler, understood it and realized it." The London Times sarcastically remarked that one of the most dangerous men of the Third Reich had been given a "gangster's funeral." Hitler posthumously awarded Heydrich the "German Order", a rare award intended for senior party officials (most of the awards were also posthumous). The Ahnenerbe Society issued a mourning booklet in memory of Heydrich.
June 9, 1942. Fuhrer posthumously awarded Heydrich "German Order"
After the death of Heydrich, the leadership of the RSHA was initially taken over by Himmler himself, but on January 30, 1943 he handed it over to Ernst Kaltenbrunner. The post of Imperial Protector of Bohemia and Moravia was given to SS Oberstgruppenführer, Police Colonel General Kurt Dahluge.
June 9, 1942. The coffin with the body of Heydrich in the courtyard of the new Reich Chancellery after the official ceremony
Guard of honor at Wilhelmstrasse in front of the New Imperial Chancellery.
The coffin with the body of the deceased is loaded onto the carriage
June 9, 1942. Funeral procession in the courtyard of the new Reich Chancellery after the official ceremony
June 9, 1942. A funeral procession led by SS Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler marches through Berlin.
Heydrich's grave is located in Berlin's Invalidenfriedhof Cemetery, approximately in the center of Zone A. After the end of the war, the tombstone was destroyed so that the grave would not become a place of worship for neo-Nazis, and now the exact place of burial is unknown.
June 9, 1942. Cemetery of the Invalids. Funeral guard on both sides of the grave.
June 9, 1942. Cemetery of the Invalids. Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler throws flowers on the coffin.
June 9, 1942. Cemetery of the Invalids. Heinrich Himmler gives his last greetings to the deceased
June 9, 1942. Cemetery for the Invalids. Flower-strewn coffin of Reinhard Heydrich.
Model of the Tomb of Heydrich. The tomb was supposed to become a monument in honor of those who died for Germany
On the first anniversary of Heydrich's death, his bust was erected at the site of the assassination attempt, which was destroyed by the Soviet troops that liberated Prague. On May 27, 2009, a monument to the heroes of the Resistance who executed Heydrich was unveiled at the site of the assassination attempt in Prague.
Bust of Reinhard Heydrich was installed at the scene of the murder in Prague
Heydrich had four children from his marriage to Lina von Osten: sons Klaus and Haider, daughters Silke and Martha (Martha was born on July 23, 1942, almost two months after her father's death). Lina, who inherited a castle in the Czech Republic after her husband, tried to play an independent political role and in the 1940s developed plans to create a National Socialist agricultural commune, which, however, did not meet with the support of Himmler, who was the author of this idea. In the 1970s, she wrote an interesting memoir entitled Living with a War Criminal, which contains important information about her husband's relationship with Himmler and Canaris.
Lina Heydrich as representative of the Reich Division at the ceremony of conferring the title of Honorary Citizen of Brno to Reinhard Heydrich. September 21, 1942
Lina Heydrich in 1943 with her children, Klaus Haider, Silke and Martha
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (German: Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich; March 7, 1904, Halle, Saxony, German Empire - June 4, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Third Reich) - statesman and politician of Nazi Germany, head of the Main Directorate of Imperial Security (1939-1942), Deputy (Acting) Imperial Protector of Bohemia and Moravia (1941-1942). SS Obergruppenführer and Police General (from 1941).
Reinhard Heydrich's mother Elisabeth, née Krantz, came from a wealthy family: her father headed the Royal Conservatory in Dresden. Reinhard's father, Bruno Heydrich, was an opera singer and composer. Operas by Bruno Heydrich were staged in theaters in Cologne and Leipzig. In 1899, he founded a music school for middle-class children in Halle, but he was never able to enter urban high society. For the townspeople, he remained a stranger, aided by rumors of his Jewish origin.
On March 7, 1904, Reinhard Heydrich was born in Halle an der Saale.
From an early age, Reinhardt was interested in politics. His parents read the works of the racial theorist Houston Chamberlain, devoted to the issues of "race struggle." When the First World War began, Heydrich was 10 years old. At the end of the war, Heydrich had the opportunity to observe demonstrations and street clashes in Halle.
In the summer of 1904, the Heydrich family moved to the four-story conservatory building in Halle, where his father, as director, was supposed to live.
In 1919, at the age of 15, Heydrich, still a schoolboy, began to get involved in politics and joined the freikor Georg Ludwig Rudolf Merker, a paramilitary nationalist organization. Heydrich begins to actively engage in sports, fostering a spirit of competition.
On October 6, 1904, Reinhard Heydrich was baptized in the Catholic Church of St. Francis and Elisabeth in Halle
In 1918-1919 he was a member of the National Association of Pan-German Youth - the "German National Youth Union" in Halle. This organization seemed too moderate to Reinhard, and in 1920 he joined the "German People's Union for Defense and Offensive" (German: Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund). In the same year, eager to participate more actively in the political life that was raging around, Heydrich became a liaison in the Lucius division, which was part of the volunteer units in Halle, where he became interested in the ideas of youth militaristic pro-patriotic movements. In 1921 he created a new association - "German People's Youth Squad"
1908 year. In the photo, four-year-old Reinhard Heydrich with his brothers and sisters in Halle near the house where the Bruno Heydrich Conservatory was located
The economic crisis that hit post-war Germany put Father Heydrich's music school on the brink of ruin. A career as a musician did not promise any success now, although Reinhard Heydrich played the violin well. Just as financially unpromising seemed to Heydrich and the career of a chemist, about which he dreamed.
Reinhard Heydrich as a child with his sister Maria.
On March 30, 1922, Heydrich entered the naval school in Kiel. The navy, with its tough code of honor, seemed to young Heydrich the elite of the nation. In 1926, after graduating from college and receiving the rank of lieutenant, Heydrich was sent to serve in naval intelligence. The future leader of the Abwehr and the future Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, then a senior officer on the cruiser Berlin, began to contribute to his career. The relationship of the Canaris family with Heydrich was very close - for example, Heydrich often played in a string quartet with Canaris' wife
Fencing school in Halle. Here Reinhard Heydrich learned fencing
However, Heydrich's relationship with his co-workers was not particularly good. As in his time to his father, he was hindered by rumors that he had Jewish ancestors. While serving in the Navy, Heydrich was even more active in sports, in particular pentathlon.
Admiral Felix Count von Lackner, who awakened interest in navigation in Reinhard Heydrich
Heydrich had a reputation for red tape. In December 1930, at one of the balls, Heydrich met his future wife, a rural teacher Lina von Osten, whom he married in December of the following year. According to another, more romantic version, Reinhard and a friend were on a boat ride and saw a boat with two girls overturned nearby. Of course, the young people heroically came to the rescue. One of the rescued girls was Lina von Osten.
March 1922. Reinhard Heydrich was recruited to serve in the navy as a midshipman.
Earlier, Heydrich developed an affair with another woman, the daughter of the head of the naval shipyard in Kiel (according to other sources, the daughter of the owner of the largest metallurgical holding IG Fabernim). Heydrich broke this connection by mailing an advertisement cut from the newspaper about his engagement to Lina. The girl's father turned to the head of the Navy, Admiral Erich Raeder, with a request to influence Heydrich. According to the Navy's honor code, Heydrich committed a grave offense by having two novels at the same time. The behavior of the young lieutenant was examined at the court of honor, which for some reason was headed by Raeder himself. At the meeting of the court of honor, Raeder noted that the daughter of "such a person" was worthy of the "village simpleton", while Heydrich replied with a request not to interfere in his choice. In April 1931, Admiral Raeder dismissed Heydrich for "misconduct"
On April 1, 1924, Reinhard Heydrich, ensign entered the Naval Academy, where he remained until March 1925
In June 1931, Reinhard Heydrich joined the NSDAP, having received a party card number 544 916, and the SS (ticket number 10 120). Together with militants from the SA, Heydrich took part in battles with socialists and communists.
At the same time, Heinrich Himmler began to streamline the activities of the SS. For better coordination of SS actions, as well as for spying on political opponents and participating in SS force actions, a trained intelligence service was required. Through his friend Karl von Eberstein, Heydrich made the acquaintance of Himmler and made him suggestions for the creation of an SS intelligence service; Himmler liked them, and he instructed Heydrich to create a security service known as the SD. At first, the main task of the SD was to collect incriminating materials on people occupying a prominent position in society, as well as to conduct information campaigns to discredit political opponents.
Heydrich soon became an important person for the Nazi party, and his career took off quickly. In December 1931 he was promoted to SS Obersturmbannfuehrer, and in July 1932 - SS Standartenfuehrer. At the same time, Heydrich changed the spelling of his name from Reinhardt to Reinhard.
1924 year. Reinhard Heydrich midshipman.
The appointment of Adolf Hitler in 1933 to the post of Reich Chancellor meant for the SA and SS the coming to power and the beginning of reprisals against the opposition. Officials who held their posts in the Weimar Republic were largely replaced by people from the SA and SS.
The year is 1929. Reinhard Heydrich as lieutenant
Meanwhile, the SA stormtroopers, under the leadership of Ernst Rohm, caused Hitler more and more anxiety. SA officers and rank and file, who largely ensured Hitler's rise to power, were unhappy with the fact that, in their opinion, the SA received insufficient powers. The situation was heated by the presence of two wings within the National Socialist Party - one who leaned more towards national politics (Adolf Hitler) and the other, who believed that the party should first of all implement a socialist program (Gregor Strasser). Among the stormtroopers, there was more and more talk about the need for a second, truly socialist revolution. At this time, it was Heydrich's SD that was collecting incriminating material on Rohm and his closest associates. The materials collected by Heydrich pointed to the imminent putsch preparing in the bowels of the SA. After the forces of the SS during the so-called "Night of Long Knives" the SA were defeated, and Rem himself was killed, on June 30, 1934, Heydrich received the title of SS Gruppenfuehrer.
December 26, 1931. Reinhard Heydrich and Lina's wedding.
As part of the apparatus struggle between the two power departments - the SS and the Wehrmacht - Heydrich's SD took a serious part in the removal from power of the commander-in-chief of the ground forces, Colonel-General Werner von Fritsch and Defense Minister Werner von Blomberg. Compromising files were collected on both military personnel. Von Blomberg's young wife was a former prostitute, a scandal erupted and Hitler dismissed him. Fritsch was accused of homosexual affairs on false testimony and was also removed from his post. At the same time, several dozen more senior military ranks were removed or demoted.
Lina and Reinhard Heydrich shortly after their wedding in 1931.
Serious friction also existed between the SD of Heydrich and the military intelligence - the Abwehr, which was led by the former patron of Heydrich, Wilhelm Canaris. In public, both leaders remained friendly and even met every morning for a walk. However, behind the scenes, each tried to take the other out of the game: Heydrich gave orders to conduct secret searches in the office of Canaris, and he diligently sought evidence of Heydrich's Jewish origin.
SD office in Munich. Here Reinhard Heydrich was hired as head of department
In 1934, the SD became part of the secret police (Gestapo). In 1936, Himmler became chief of the German police, and Heydrich became chief of the Security Police (Sicherheitspolizei, Sipo), which united the criminal and political police. With the help of this instrument of violence, Heydrich was given the opportunity to deal with both the enemies of the regime and his personal enemies. Security police agents also spied on Jews, communists, liberals and religious minorities. The SD staff consisted of about 3,000 agents, and up to 100,000 people were part-time informants. After the Anschluss, Heydrich, together with Himmler, organized terror against the opponents of the regime in Austria, and also created the Mauthausen concentration camp near Linz.
In 1939, the SD, the Zipo and the Gestapo were transferred to the subordination of the newly created department of the RSHA - the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) General Directorate, headed by Heydrich. The RSHA has become a powerful organization for collecting and analyzing information, as well as suppressing opposition.
In 1933, Reinhard Heydrich at his office at the Wittelsbach Palace in Munich.
It was Heydrich who developed the plan for staging the border incident, called the Gleiwitz incident. The purpose of the staging was to show that the German attack on Poland is only Germany's response to the acts of violence against German residents committed by the Polish side. In August 1939, SS men dressed in Polish uniforms attacked a German radio transmitter in the town of Gleiwitz. The corpses of the "Poles" were presented to the world media outlets. In fact, the killed Poles were the deceased prisoners of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. On September 1, 1939, German troops attacked Poland and World War II began. During the occupation of Poland, the SS Einsatzgruppen, subordinate to Heydrich, exterminated the Polish intelligentsia, communists and Jews
August 7, 1934. Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich oversee preparations for the funeral of President Hindenburg
In the early years of World War II, Heydrich did more than just organizational work. As a reserve officer of the Air Force, Heydrich took part in combat missions of German aviation (first as a radio operator on a bomber, then as an attack pilot) during campaigns against France, Norway and the USSR. This was consistent with Heydrich's ideas about the ideal SS officer, who not only sits at his desk, but also participates in hostilities. After Heydrich's plane was shot down east of the Berezina River in 1941 and Heydrich was rescued only by German soldiers who arrived in time, Himmler, by personal order, forbade him to participate in hostilities.
Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich in 1934.
After the occupation of Poland, Heydrich gave the order to create for Jews special areas of compact settlement in large cities, ghettos, where Jews were to be resettled from the countryside, as well as from Germany itself, and also to form “Jewish councils” from the local Jewish population dealing with Jewish affairs ( German Judenräte). Thus, Heydrich managed to force the Jews themselves to participate in the policy of their own destruction. In December 1939, Heydrich appointed Eichmann head of the RSHA special unit for Jewish affairs and then with his help carried out the mass deportations of Jews from Germany and Austria to the Polish ghettos.
Reinhard Heydrich welcomes the leaders to Nuremberg. 1935 year
After German troops occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939, changing the government there, for the regions of Bohemia and Moravia, which had passed under the German protectorate, the position of imperial protector was created, who took up residence in the Prague district of Hradcany. Initially, the former German Foreign Minister Konstantin von Neurath was appointed to this position. His tenure in office was accompanied by a rivalry between bodies loyal to the protector, special services and party structures, caused by the overlapping competence of different branches of government. This, as well as the lack of rigidity of Neurath in the suppression of the Czech resistance, led to his actual removal from office. Special services with the participation of Heydrich prepared a report to Hitler on the Czech resistance criticizing Neurath
June 18, 1936. Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick delivers a speech on the occasion of the appointment of Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler as Chief of the German Police. Right Reinhard Heydrich
At the end of September 1941, A. Hitler summoned Konstantin von Neurath, Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, and announced that he had decided to appoint Heydrich as his deputy. Von Neurath did not agree with this decision and announced his resignation from this post. Then Hitler sent von Neurath on "indefinite leave." His duties were transferred to Heydrich as "the acting Reich protector of Bohemia and Moravia" (German: "Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor von Böhmen und Mähren").
July 2, 1936. Commemoration of the memory of the German king Henry I the Birdcatcher (876-936) revered as the founder of the empire and fighter against Slavism
Thus, Heydrich became a de facto imperial protector (von Neurath never returned to perform his duties), retaining the post of chief of the Main Directorate of the RSHA. On September 27, 1941, Heydrich took over his residence in Hradcany. Heydrich set up his country residence, to which he moved his family, in the so-called "Lower Palace" inherited after K. von Neurath's resignation in the town of Panenské Břežany, 15 km north of Prague, confiscated from the Jewish sugar manufacturer Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer
Reinhard Heydrich (left in civilian clothes) during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
January 2, 1937 Heydrich at Hermann Goering's birthday party
January 29, 1937. Lieutenant Colonel Richard Prashnow, Lina Heydrich, Brigadier Karl Wolf, Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler at a family celebration.
Reinhard Heydrich with his wife Lina and son Klaus.
A week after his appointment, Heydrich initiated a trial against Czech Prime Minister Alois Eliash, who was suspected of having links with the resistance. The trial, chaired by Otto Tirak, took place in four hours, and Eliash was sentenced to death (which was carried out after the death of Heydrich). One of the first after the appointment of Heydrich's actions was the order to close all synagogues on the territory of the protectorate, and in November 1941, on his order, the Theresienstadt concentration camp was created, intended to contain Czech Jews before being sent to death camps. At the same time, Heydrich began to take measures to pacify the population: he reorganized the social security system, increased wages and food standards for workers.
September 1937. Reinhard Heydrich and his wife Lina during a visit to Germany Benito Mussolini
Heydrich had many of the stereotypically Nordic qualities: a tall, thin blond with an icy calmness. Contrary to this image, Heydrich had a very high voice, for which he received the nickname "goat" from his friends. This is probably why few records of his speeches have survived. Heydrich was a keen sportsman and gifted musician.
Reinhard Heydrich at his desk in 1937
He was able to become a good assistant for his boss Himmler (Heydrich held leading positions in the SD from the age of 29, headed the RSHA at 35). For example, he did almost all the work of integrating the political police into the party apparatus. A joke is attributed to Hermann Goering: it. HHHH, Himmlers Hirn heißt Heydrich, “H. H. H. H. - Himmler's brain is called Heydrich.
January 9, 1938. Reinhard Heydrich at the Imperial Hall of the Landwehr casino after the fencing competition
From his youth, Heydrich was accompanied by rumors of Jewish origin, and this information was later used by his political enemies to fight him. One of the arguments was that Heydrich's father, Bruno Heydrich, appeared in the 1916 "Riemann Encyclopedia of Music" as "Bruno Heydrich, the real name of Suess."
February 23, 1938. Reinhard Heydrich congratulates Scherer on his victory
In 1932, one of the leaders of the NSDAP, Gregor Strasser, ordered the party genealogist Achim Gerke to investigate information about a possible admixture of Jewish blood. Gerke came to the conclusion that the information in the Riemann Encyclopedia of Music was erroneous, and the second husband of Heydrich's grandmother bore the surname Suess (Bruno Heydrich was born from his first marriage). After the war, the hypothesis of Heydrich's Jewish origins was the subject of serious scientific research.
March 12, 1938. Reinhard Heydrich with Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler after the Anschluss of Austria at the entrance to the Hotel Metropol in Vienna
The Israeli historian Shlomo Aronson, while working on his doctoral dissertation on the topic "Heydrich and the Formation of the Gestapo and the SD" (published in 1966), built a family tree of Heydrich on the paternal side until 1738, and on the maternal side until 1688 and did not find among his ancestors Jews
July 2, 1938. Laying a wreath at the grave of the German king Henry I the Birdcatcher (876-936) in the crypt of the Cathedral of Quedlinburg.
August 20, 1938. The delegation congratulates the Fuehrer on his birthday. From left to right, General Dalyuge, SS General Karl Wolf, Reinhard Heydrich, August Hessmeier and Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler
January 30, 1939 Celebration at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Berlin. At the table Reinhard Heydrich, Kurt Dahluge, secretary, Mrs. Frick, Heinrich Himmler and others
Franz Josef Huber, Arthur Nebe, Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Gestapo chief Heinrich Müller. 1939
March 15, 1939. Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Karl Wolf in the courtyard of Prague Castle
Reinhard Heydrich describes the organization of the General Directorate of Imperial Security during the visit of the Spanish Police Delegation
April 9, 1939. Birthday of Reinhard Heydrich's daughter Silk.
Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich on the way to the Imperial Chancellery.
September 1939. Polish company. Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler receives progress report from Reinhard Heydrich
During the war, Reinhard Heydrich flew as a fighter pilot and was awarded the Iron Cross I and II degrees
November 1940. Funeral of Italian police chief Senator Boccini in Rome. Photo: Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Himmler
Reinhard Heydrich with his family. 1941
1941 year. Visit of Gauleiter Karl Hanke. Welcome to Prague Castle.
September 28, 1941. Reinhard Heydrich during the ceremonial raising of the national flag in the courtyard of Prague Castle.
October 29, 1941. Karl Hermann Frank, Heinrich Himmler, Karl Wolf and Reinhard Heydrich at Prague Castle
In December 1941, a meeting of the Association of Southeast Europe was held in Prague in the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle
April 20, 1942 Protectorate President Dr. Emil Hacha demonstrates to Reinhard Heydrich a fully equipped ambulance train for the Führer's birthday
September 27, 1941. SS Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich on the day of the inauguration in Prague
Reinhard Heydrich examines the crown of St. Wenceslas in Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral
Opening of the imperial police and security school in Prague. Reinhard Heydrich speaks to Bruno Strechenbach
Reinhard Heydrich and Karl Hermann Frank meet with a delegation of Czech farmers
Reinhard Heydrich and Minister of Education Moravec at a meeting in Prague
May 26, 1942. The last lifetime snapshot of Heydrich. Musical evening at Wallenstein Palace.