English source-aligned edition
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich served as chief of the RSHA and acting Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. The profile reconstructs the person’s function in German security apparatus in occupied Europe and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia through documented office, decisions, supervision or operational conduct. It does not assign every crime committed by an institution or region to one individual.
Confirmed findings
- Heydrich built the SD, led the Security Police and from September 1939 headed the RSHA, which combined the Gestapo, criminal police and SD.
- He organised and directed Einsatzgruppen and on 21 September 1939 issued instructions concerning the concentration of Polish Jews in ghettos.
- After receiving Göring's authorisation, he chaired the Wannsee Conference on 20 January 1942 to coordinate the administrative implementation of the murder of European Jews.
Place in the chain of responsibility
Heydrich occupied the coordinating centre between political authorisation and police execution. His responsibility is grounded in institutions, directives and coordination; it does not make him the sole author of every operation conducted by the RSHA or Einsatzgruppen.
Key events and mechanisms
- formation of the RSHA under Heydrich, 27 September 1939
- Wannsee Conference, 20 January 1942
- Operation Anthropoid attack in Prague and Heydrich's death, May–June 1942
The circle records authority, function and agency. Several profiles may describe different parts of the same persecution chain, so profile-level totals must not be added together.
Postwar accountability
Heydrich did not survive to face trial. Czechoslovak agents attacked him in Prague on 27 May 1942 and he died from his wounds on 4 June; the occupation authorities then carried out mass reprisals, including the destruction of Lidice and Ležáky.
Limits of the evidence
The profile separates Heydrich's documented direction and coordination from crimes later committed in his name or after his death, including subsequent phases of Operation Reinhard.
Sources
The source set combines institutional, archival, trial or scholarly material from at least two independent publishers.
