by
H.H. Norden
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was
born on 7th March 1904 in Halle an der Saale. He was the son of Richard Bruno Heydrich,
a composer and Elisabeth Anna Amalia Krantz. The father was at the time of his
birth director of a music school. Reinhard visited the Reform-Realgymnasium at
the Hedwigstraße in Halle an der Saale. Already as a scholar he was very
educated. He studied for instance the book „Histoire de la civilisation“ by the
French author Charles Seignobos and discussed the contents with his friend
Erich Schultze.
After having finished his
grammar-school Reinhard Heydrich Joined the Reichsmarine as a see-cadet in
Kiel-Holtenau. The influence of the famous „Seeteufel“ Graf Luckner, who stayed
frequently as a guest at the residence of the Heydrich-family, certainly played
a part with regard to Heydrich’s choice for a career with the navy. He started
his service with the Crew 22. After a training-period of four and a half years
he was promoted Leutnant zur See on 1st October 1926 and then educated for a
liaison officer. In 1928 he became Oberleutnant zur See. According to the later
vice-admiral Kleikamp Heydrich was a man who as far as talent, knowledge and
skillfulness were concerned, stood far above the average. Nothing seemed to
obstruct a successful career with the navy. Destiny however had decreed
otherwise. On 6th December 1930 Oberleutnant Heydrich met with the eighteen
years old Lina von Osten. She came from the island Fehmarn in the Ostsee where
her father was a school-master. On Boxing-day 1930 the couple became engaged.
Heydrich sent his engagement-card also to a former girlfriend who was the
daughter of an influential industrialist. The latter demanded from Heydrich
that he would marry his daughter who wished to be Heydrich’s fiancée herself.
When he refused this the father lodged a complaint through admiral Raeder
resulting in Heydrich being summoned before a navy court of honor. Giving
effect to a recommendation of this court of honour admiral Raeder decided that
Oberleutnant zur See Reinhard Heydrich had to be dismissed from the navy. It is
remarkable that one has never discovered a written piece of evidence relating
to the described court of honor-procedure. Heydrich was convinced that he was
dismissed from the navy because of political reasons.
Through the later
SS-Obergruppenführer Karl von Eberstein Heydrich made contact with Heinrich
Himmler who had become Reichsführer. SS in January 1929. Himmler was just in
search of a capable man to build up an intelligence service for the SS. He gave
Heydrich twenty minutes time to put on paper how he would take up such a task.
Heydrich wrote down his ideas, sketched a suitable organization-structure and
submitted the result to the Reichsführer who was very impressed and immediately
decided to admit the former naval officer. Heydrich who already had become a
member of the NSDAP on 1st June 1931, became a member of the SS in Hamburg on
14th July 1931. He now was an SS-Sturmmann with the SS-number 10120. On 26th
December 1931 the marriage between Reinhard Heydrich and Lina von Osten took
place in the village-church of Grossenbrode.
Heydrich began now with building up
an intelligence department. This was in the early days known as „Abteilung Ic“.
End 1931 two rooms were rented for the „SS-Ic“ on the fourth floor of the
Türkenstraße 25 in Munich. This was the residence of party member Viktoria
Edrich who had been hiding the „Blutfahne“ in her wardrobe during the period
that the SA and the SS were banned. In these times Heydrich was an
SS-Hauptsturmführer. On 25th December 1931 he became SS-Sturmbannführer and on
29th July 1932 SS-Standartenführer und Chef des Sicherheitsdienstes des
Reichsführers-SS. The name of the service was now Sicherheitsdienst (SD). In
September 1932 the SD had its seat at a small villa in the Zuccalistraße 4 in
Munich; Heydrich and his wife lived at the same address. Heydrich as leader of
the Sicherheitsdienst was called „C“; his office „Zentrale Dienststelle des SD“.
In June 1933 Heydrich’s first son Klaus was born. The year of the assumption of
power, 1933, also brought the rank of SS-Brigadeführer. The SD now had its seat
at the Wittelsbacherpalace in the Briennerstraße in Munich. On 9th November
1933 the SD became an independent SS-office. During the months November and
December 1934 the SD moved to the Wilhelmstraße 102 in Berlin. On 17th June
1936 Reinhard Heydrich became Chef der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD. On 27th
September 1939 the Reichssicherheitshauptamt was formed with Heydrich as chief.
In 1940 he was elected Präsident der Internationalen Kriminalpolizeilichen
Kommission.
At the beginning of the German
campaign in the West Heydrich passed his fighter pilot examination. During the
campaign in Norway he flew from Stavanger several reconnaissance flights over
England and Scotland with a Me 110. For his heroic way of acting he was awarded
with the bronzene Frontflugspange and the Eiserne Kreuz II. Klasse. In the
middle of May 1940 he was back in Berlin. On 1st January 1940 he became
Reichsleiter des Fachamtes Fechten im NS-Reichsbund für Leibesübungen. During
the campaign in Russia Heydrich served once more as a fighter pilot in southern
Russia and was awarded with the silberne Frontflugspange and the Eiserne Kreuz
I. Klasse,
On 23rd September 1941 Hitler
relieved the Reichsprotektor für Böhmen und Mähren, Constantin von Neurath, of
his office and appointed as from 27th September 1941 Reinhard Heydrich as
acting Reichsprotektor. At the same time he was promoted SS-Obergruppenführer.
The Führer relied on Heydrich to make the government of the protectorate
function in close harmony with the Reich. Karl Hermann Frank, the
Staatssekretär, who descended from the Sudetenland should assist him.
In Prague Heydrich assumed command
during an official ceremony at Hradcany Castle. With his wife and children he
moved into the castle of Jungfern-Breschan which is situated at about twenty
kilometers distance from Prague. In contradiction to the false information
which is spread nowadays the measures taken by Heydrich were well received in
the protectorate. Two hundred thousand pairs of shoes were distributed free and
the tobacco rations for the workers were increased substantially. Heydrich also
had plans to rebuild Prague as a German city and to link it through the German
Autobahn system with Berlin.
Besides the position of
Reichsprotektor Heydrich did retain the office of chief of the
Reichssicherheitshauptamt. It was in this capacity that on 20th January 1942 he
presided at a conference which took place in the villa Am Großen Wannsee 56/58
in Berlin. The Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring had authorized Heydrich to make
preparations with regard to the solution of the Jewish question. In contrast
with the allegations of post-war publicists the objective of the
national-socialist Germany was not the physical extermination of the Jewish
people but to bring to an end the Jewish influence which was experienced as a
burden in all parts of the national community. As early as in the thirties
German government departments had taken the initiative to stimulate – in
cooperation with Jewish organizations – the emigration of Jewish citizens to
Palestine. As examples of this policy I can mention the „Haavara-agreement“ and
the „Rublee-Wohlthat-agreement“. For a detailed explanation of the
above-mentioned terms I can recommend the book „Auswanderung der Juden aus dsm
Dritten Reich“ by Ingrid Weckert. Particularly the SS believed in a policy
which pursued the emigration of the Jews. It was due only to the war – which
Germany did not cause – that the emigration started to decrease. In the course
of the war the decision was taken to evacuate the Jews to labor settlements in
the East. In this context one should remember that already in March 1933 World
Jewry had declared war on Germany. The taking of measures to evacuate the Jews
from Europe has been the subject of the Wannsee-conference.
Meanwhile Eduard Benesch who
considered himself as president in exile had evolved plans to have
Reichsprotektor Heydrich assassinated. Two non-commissioned officers of the
former Czechoslovakian army, Jan Kubis and Josef Gabcic, were chosen for this
mission. Together with some others they were parachuted into the protectorate
on 28th December 1941. During the following months they went into hiding and
made inquiries regarding Heydrich’s lifestyle and movements. In connection with
the increase of activities of terrorist groups, stimulated and financed by London,
particularly in Belgium and France Heydrich – who had with his measures
restored order in the protectorate – would be appointed to Chef der
Zivilverwaltung for Belgium and North-France and to Protektor of Vichy-France.
On 27th May 1942 he would leave by plane to Berlin for a meeting
with the Führer. By that time the assassins had chosen a hairpin turn in the
Prague suburb of Holeschowitz as the place most suited for the assassination
since there Heydrich’s car had to reduce speed. On 27th May 1942 Heydrich had
left Jungfern-Breschan at 10.00 h.; at 10.30 h. he arrived at the spot where
the assassins were waiting. He was driven by SS-Oberscharführer Klein in his
dark-green open Mercedes Benz. One of the murderers, Gabcic, aimed a stengun at
Heydrich and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. The weapon malfunctioned and
failed to fire. Heydrich now drew his pistol and fired at Gabcic. At that time
the second murderer, Kubis, threw a bomb which exploded close to the right
rear-wheel of the Mercedes. Heydrich was seriously injured by fragments but
fired nevertheless several shots at Kubis. Then he collapsed. A Czech lady
hastened to Heydrich’s assistance and so he was brought to the Bulovka-Hospital
where both Czech- as German surgeons tried to save his life during more than
one week. Unfortunately it was of no use: in the morning of 4th June 1942
Reinhard Heydrich died.
The coffin with the mortal remains
of the Reichsprotektor lay in state, covered with a swastika flag, in the
court-yard of Hradcany Castle. An honor guard of Wehrmacht- and SS-officers
stood watch. In the afternoon of 7th June 1942 the coffin was brought by train
from Prague to Berlin to be lain in state at the Reichssicherheitshauptamt,
Prinz Albrecht Straße 8, and later – on 9th June 1942 – in the Mosaic Hall of
the new Reichschancellery. During the funeral ceremony the Reichsführer-SS
Heinrich Himmler delivered an oration in which he pointed out the great
importance of Reinhard Heydrich. The last speaker was Adolf Hitler who called
him one of the best national-socialists, one of the strongest defenders of the
idea of the German Reich and one of the greatest adversaries of all enemies of
the Reich. The Führer awarded the fallen hero the Verwundetenabzeichen in Gold
and the oberste Stufe des Deutschen Ordens. The coffin with Heydrich’s body was
placed on a gun-carriage towed by six black horses and transported from the
Wilhelmstraße to the Invaliden-cemetery. There the great soldier Reinhard
Heydrich was laid to his last rest.
In which way can we,
national-socialists in the twenty first-century, follow the example Reinhard
Heydrich gave us during his lifetime? In the first place we have to believe
unconditionally in the immutable national-socialist ideology and be prepared to
do whatever may be necessary for the future of the Aryan race. It is our sacred
duty to combat our adversaries with unprecedented hardness. If necessary we
will use conspiratorial means while in other situations we will take up arms.
We do not recognize the legitimacy of the democratic systems which are
governing Europe since 1945 and our purpose is consequently to conquer the
democracies and to eliminate the prominent politicians of these terrible times.
When we as national-socialists really want to gain political and military power
there is still a long way to go. Very rarely nowadays one meets politicians who
are as national-socialists comparable to their glorious predecessors from the
twenties, thirties and forties of the last century. It is an insult for every
convinced national-socialist that the Jewish controlled media put on a level
politicians who pretend to be nationalists and patriots – just think of certain
people in Belgium and Austria – with true national-socialists. These
politicians have nothing to do with the ideology of our Führer Adolf Hitler;
repeatedly they disassociate themselves from the so-called ,,crimes of the
Third Reich“ and sometimes they even pay tribute to the worst enemy of the
cultivated Aryan man: the Jew. One should mistrust these people even more than
the Christian, liberal or socialist politicians; they are nothing but
characterless cowards and weaklings. The life of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard
Heydrich shows us the course to pursue. We shall never leave this road. Only
then victory will ours.
Heil Hitler!
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