Hitler's Hangman (2 page)

sister Maria,
c
. 1910. The

three Heydrich children

– Reinhard, Maria and

Heinz Siegfried – enjoyed a

privileged childhood. Later

in life, Reinhard and Maria

had a falling out as he treated

his family with disdain.

6 Heydrich as a naval officer cadet, 1924. During his time in the German

navy Heydrich remained an outsider, but his career seemed to thrive until,

in 1931, he was dismissed from military service due to a broken engagement

promise and arrogant behaviour towards the military court of honour.

7 The Heydrich wedding, 1931. By the time Reinhard Heydrich married his fiancée, Lina von

Osten, he had embarked on a new career path in the SS. Lina had a crucial influence on his

decision to join the SS.

8 Heinrich Himmler looks on as Heydrich and Himmler’s personal adjutant, Karl Wolff, depart

after a birthday party at Himmler’s Bavarian home in Waltrudering. No other figure except his

wife had a greater impact on Heydrich’s career than the Reich Leader SS, Heinrich Himmler. Their

personal relationship was close and Heydrich rose steadily in Himmler’s shadow.

9 The Hunters: Himmler, Heydrich and the chief of the uniformed German Order Police,

Kurt Daluege, shared a passion for deer-hunting. The three men represent the key institutions in

charge of repression and mass murder in the Third Reich: the SS, the SD, the Gestapo, and the

Order Police.

10 Heydrich (second from left with his back to the camera) explains the exhibits in the SS

Freemason Museum in Berlin to a delegation of German industrialists,
c
. 1935. In the first years of

the Third Reich, Heydrich perceived the Freemasons as one of the Nazis’ key enemies. By 1935, he

considered the problem resolved and established a museum for this ‘vanished cult’ close to Gestapo

headquarters in Berlin.

11 Heydrich, his sons and his new-born daughter Silke on the eve of the Second World War.

Although he was never really a family man, he felt particular affection for his first-born daughter

who worked as a fashion model after the end of the Second World War.

12 Heydrich looks on as Hitler observes the front line in Poland, 1939. During the German attack

on Poland Heydrich repeatedly visited the front line, encouraging his SS
Einsatzgruppen
to speed

up the process of murdering the Polish elites in the rear of the advancing German armies.

13 Heydrich in pilot gear during the Battle of Britain, 1940. He often indicated that he felt

deprived of the possibility to fight on the front and repeatedly participated in combat missions as a

fighter pilot, often without Himmler’s knowledge.

14 Himmler, Heydrich, and the chief of the Criminal Police, Arthur Nebe, confer after Georg

Elser’s failed attempt on Hitler’s life in 1939. Although they first suspected a British conspiracy, it

soon turned out that Elser had no foreign assistance.

15 Heydrich takes a break during a fencing

tournament in Berlin,
c
. 1941. Throughout the

1930s and the early stages of the Second World

War, Heydrich kept up an ambitious training

schedule to keep physically fit and participated

in a number of fencing tournaments.