The Man in the High Castle Wikia
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Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (March 7, 1904 - ca. 1962) was a high-ranking German Nazi official in the Greater Nazi Reich and one of the main architects of the Holocaust. After being arrested for treason, he was executed by then-Obergruppenfuhrer John Smith's SS officer, Erich Raeder after inadvertently revealing Martin Heusmann as the putsch mastermind.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

He was an SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer and General der Polizei (Senior Group Leader and General of Police) as well as chief of the Reich Main Security Office. He was also Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor (Deputy/Acting Reich-Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia and President of the ICPC and Reichsprotektor of all occupied territories, and assisted Arthuur Seyss-Inquart in crushing various rebellions in Africa with appalling massacres.

Season One[]

During the cold war with Japan, Heydrich planned an assassination on the Japanese crown prince in hopes of sparking a war with Japan. When Rudolph Wegener was arrested by Obergruppenführer Smith for delivering German military secrets to the Japanese, specifically the plans for the Heisenberg Device, Heydrich personally traveled to America to have Wegener transferred to his custody. He had also planned to have Wegener kill Adolf Hitler to clear the way to war with the Japanese. However Smith had discovered this, and warned Hitler of Heydrich's plan. While hunting with Smith, Heydrich attempted to gain Smith's support, but Smith refused. When he was expecting a phone call from Wegener, he actually received a call from Hitler and was immediately arrested by Smith seconds later.

Season Two[]

After Hitler succumbed to his poisoning, Smith mislead an imprisoned Heydrich into thinking Germany and Japan were already at war, leading Heydrich to confirm what Smith had suspected: a conspiracy to create a pretext for war with the Japanese exists among the Nazi ranks. Smith then had his subordinate Erich Reader execute Heydrich, but not before revealing Martin Heusmann as the mastermind behind the rush to war.

Appearance & Personality[]

After the years following the war, Heydrich has aged significantly and has lost most of his hair. Heydrich seemed to "enjoy" his job as an SS officer, and especially the work he has done in Africa. His recollections of his African campaigns disturbed Helen Smith, despite being a fervent Nazi herself and John Smith was wary of him whenever they met.

Relationships[]

To be Added

Appearances[]

Season One
"The New World"
Absent
"Sunrise"
Absent
"The Illustrated Woman"
Absent
"Revelations"
Absent
"The New Normal"
Absent
"Three Monkeys"
Appears
"Truth"
Absent
"End of the World"
Appears
"Kindness"
Appears
"A Way Out"
Appears
Season Two
"The Tiger's Cave"
Absent
"The Road Less Traveled"
Absent
"Travelers"
Absent
"Escalation"
Absent
"Duck and Cover"
Absent
"Kintsugi"
Absent
"Land O' Smiles"
Absent
"Loose Lips"
Appears
"Detonation"
Absent
"Fallout"
Absent

Gallery[]

Notes & Trivia[]

  • In real life, Heydrich joined the SS in 1931, and he quickly gained Himmler's trust. Though he had no previous intelligence experience, he was tasked with creating the SS intel department, the SD. He is considered to have been one of the most ruthless and feared men in the Nazi regime.
  • In real life, his highest rank was Obergruppenführerbut in the show, he has achieved the rank of Oberst-Gruppenführer, which is superior to the rank of a Obergruppenführer
  • He became the Protector of Bohemia and Moravia after the annexation of the Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia). In that role, he earned the names "Hitler's Hangman" and "The Butcher of Prague" for his brutality.
  • Heydrich was ordered to organize the 1942 Wannsee Conference. This is where Heydrich, along with Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann, and many other SS officials and Reich Ministers discussed and finalized Hitler's "Final Solution to the Jewish Question".
  • He was assassinated in 1942 by Czech resistance forces in Prague. Himmler's gave his eulogy in Berlin at a state funeral in the Reich Chancellery. Hitler was also in attendance and placed Heydrich's medals on his funeral pillow.
  • Thousands of Czech men, women, and children were murdered in the wake of his death.

References[]

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