Heydrich: Henchman of Death

A gripping biography chronicles the life of the man behind one of history’s most horrifying events: the Holocaust.

Perfect for readers of the works of Ian Kershaw, William L. Shirer, and Richard J. Evans.

Reinhard Heydrich, a man Hitler famously dubbed ‘the man with the iron heart,’ played a pivotal role both before and during World War Two. He founded the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), an intelligence organization that sowed terror among Nazism's enemies through arrests, deportations, and murders. He aided with the implementation of Kristallnacht, a precursor to later atrocities, that targeted Jews throughout Nazi Germany. By the time the war began he was Director of Reich Security Main Office meaning that he was in charge of the Gestapo, Kripo, and SD, and it was from this position that he chaired the 1942 Wannsee Conference which planned the ‘Final Solution to the Jewish Question’ — the deportation and genocide of all Jews living in Nazi-occupied Europe.

His reign of terror came to an end when he was assassinated in mysterious circumstances while fulfilling his duties brutally eliminating opposition to Nazi control in Bohemia and Moravia in May 1942. But who assassinated this man with many enemies?

Charles Whiting utilises a variety of sources, including interviews with Heydrich’s widow, to examine the various theories about who was behind the plot to murder one of the darkest figures of the Nazi regime.

Whiting also explores the legacy of this man, demonstrating how Heydrich not only ruled institutions that still exist like Interpol, but also how he laid the foundations of an economic system in central Europe which is partially still present to this day.

Heydrich should be essential reading for all eager in learning more about one of Hitler’s most ruthless henchmen.