Impressed by his self-confidence, cold-blooded technocratic skills,
and Aryan appearance, Himmler engaged Heydrich in development
of the Gestapo. His role in the Night of the Long Knives in 1934
earned him a promotion, and within two years he had control of the
Sicherheitspolizei. His targets were numerous, not only Jews and
Marxists but also Catholics and representatives of the old order. Even
party members and colleagues feared him. His method was rarely
direct confrontation but rather carefully calculated subterfuge. When
rumors began to circulate that Heydrich possessed Jewish ancestry
through his father’s line, a special investigation was ordered. Despite
its conclusion that the allegation had no factual basis, he continued
to be haunted by this possibility, which aggravated his own highly
suspicious temperament and singular pursuit of power.
In 1939, Heydrich was appointed head of the new RSHA, giving
him authority over the Gestapo, the criminal police, and the SD.
Following the invasion of the Soviet Union, Hermann Göring com-
missioned him to carry out “a total solution of the Jewish question
in those territories of Europe which are under German influence.”
Heydrich accordingly convened the Wannsee Conference of 20 Janu-
ary 1942 to harmonize the activities of the relevant government and
party agencies. The extermination of Polish Jewry was code-named
Operation reinhard.
Heydrich was also named the successor to Constantin von Neurath
as Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia. Taking up residence in
Prague in late September 1941, he inaugurated a new policy toward
the Czech population, first ruthlessly eliminating most of the resis-
tance movement within a matter of weeks, then promoting improved
living conditions for workers and peasants through a variety of
measures. Czech exiles in London grew increasingly alarmed over
the success of this pacification program and developed plans for
his assassination—Operation anthropoid. As Heydrich was rid-
ing in an open Mercedes on the outskirts of Prague—unarmored and
unescorted—a two-man Czech squad fatally wounded him with a
grenade thrown under the car. After his death on 4 June 1942, the
most elaborate funeral in the history of the Third Reich was staged
in Berlin, featuring eulogies by Hitler, Himmler, and Canaris. More-
over, the entire village of Lidice was razed to the ground as part of
the savage reprisals. A monument to Heydrich with a perpetual SS
HEYDRICH, REINHARD • 189