Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity | Heydrich, Reinhard

[MARCH 7, 1904–JUNE 4, 1942]

SS officer and chief architect of the Final Solution

Tall, blonde, and blue-eyed, with chiseled features that reflected the Nazi "Nordic" ideal, Reinhard Heydrich was the second-most powerful person in the SS, subordinate only to Heinrich Himmler. He was intelligent and cynical, but not dogmatic. With ruthless ambition he managed the planning and execution of Hitler's Final Solution, the extermination of Europe's Jews during World War II.

Heydrich was born in Halle to an aristocratic family. Well educated and culturally sophisticated, he had displayed great promise as a violinist at a young age, but became a naval intelligence officer following his schooling. He was discharged from the navy in April 1931 and immediately joined the SS. Himmler entrusted him with the organization and leadership of the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service or SD), the new intelligence branch of the...