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Reinhard Heydrich

head of the RSHA · Acting Reich Protector

7 March 1904–4 June 1942

Reinhard Heydrich was among the most powerful figures in the Nazi security apparatus and a principal organizer of the persecution of European Jews. From September 1941, as Acting Reich Protector, he directed severe repression in the Czech lands while seeking to sustain war production. Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš fatally wounded him in Prague on 27 May 1942. The Nazis began another wave of repression that day; Heydrich died on 4 June.

Rise in the SS and leadership of the security apparatus

After joining the SS, Heydrich built its intelligence service. He later headed the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), combining the Security Service, Gestapo and criminal police. His authority extended beyond one occupied territory into Nazi-controlled Europe.

Persecution and extermination policy

He helped organize the persecution and deportation of Jews. In January 1942 he chaired the Wannsee Conference, where Nazi agencies coordinated the implementation of genocide. His role in extermination policy continued alongside his Protectorate duties. The attack therefore targeted someone whose responsibility extended far beyond one occupation administration.

Acting Reich Protector

He arrived in Prague in September 1941, imposed martial law, ordered the arrest and execution of real and alleged opponents, and sought stable industrial production for the war. Under his rule, persecution of Czech Jews became connected with the Terezín ghetto and deportations. Repression and offers of social benefits to workers were parts of the same occupation policy.

The attack and Nazi reprisals

Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš attacked him on his route to Prague on 27 May 1942. After Gabčík’s gun failed, Kubiš’s explosive detonated beside the car. Heydrich was taken to Bulovka Hospital and died on 4 June. The Nazi response, beginning on the day of the attack, struck a broad network of helpers and the populations of Lidice and Ležáky. These acts were decisions of the occupying authorities, not part of ANTHROPOID.

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Sources

  • Atentát: Operace Anthropoid 1941–1942 · Michal Burian, Aleš Knížek, Jiří Rajlich, Eduard Stehlík · VHÚ Praha

    Original citations and evidence accompany the underlying accepted claims; especially relevant are PDF/printed pages 48–65, 76–80 and 90–93.

    This link leads to information about the publication. Chrona does not host a scan of the book.

  • Operace Anthropoid · Vojenský historický ústav Praha · výstavní panely

    PDF pages 20–28 (preparation, domestic network, flight and landing), 32–36 (attack, repression and refuge), 40–42 (battle and aftermath).

  • Reinhard Heydrich: In Depth · United States Holocaust Memorial Museum · Holocaust Encyclopedia

    Sections Creating a Nazi Party Intelligence Service, Resistance and Reprisal in Bohemia and Moravia, and Assassination.

  • Atentát 80: Oduznání Mnichova a atentát na Reinharda Heydricha na křižovatkách československých a velmocenských zájmů · Karel Straka · Vojenský historický ústav Praha

    Introduction and sections on the Intelligence Department’s plan, Beneš’s position and British diplomacy; conclusion on Eden’s letter of 5 August 1942.