Heydrich s Motivation Was Highly Complex

Reinhard Heydrich was a highly complex individual – hence, it is no surprise that his motivation was highly complex as well.

First and foremost, Heydrich was a genius – and he was well aware that he was a genius. And genius wants, first and foremost, fame. Eternal fame. And he got one – most likely, not the one he wanted… but still, he will not go into oblivion. He will be remembered for eternity (who knows – maybe, it is the only thing he really cared about).

Second, Heydrich was a national-sociopath – and thus a patriot of Germany… according to his definition of patriotism, of course. Hence, he was driven by a burning desire to do something great for his Fatherland. And he did… however, it turned out to be criminally, diabolically great.

Which did not help Germany in any way – on the contrary, it caused his Fatherland a colossal, gigantic, mammoth, gargantuan, enormous, grandiose, catastrophic harm. The harm which will be felt for eternity.

Third, since his days in Maercker’s Volunteer Rifles (a paramilitary Freikorps unit) he was driven by a desire to “serve and protect”. In other words, to serve his beloved Germany by protecting it from all enemies – foreign and domestic.

Initially, he was protecting his Fatherland from foreign enemies – by serving faithfully in Reichsmarine – and when he was unceremoniously (and quite unfairly) thrown out of German Navy, he switched to protecting Germany from internal enemies (according to Nazi definition, of course).

First, in Ic; then in SD; then in Gestapo, SiPo – and, finally, in RSHA (the latter included setting up and running SS death squads). The latter ultimately led to him becoming the CEO of the “Holocaust Project” that killed four million Jews.

It is hard to pinpoint exactly when Reinhard Heydrich subscribed to the objective of making Germany Judenrein (“cleansed of Jews”) – which became a powerful drive for gim. Most likely, it was even before Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January of 1933.

Whatever the exact date, Heydrich exhibited classic traits of a serial killer: he escalated (from emigration to internment); then snapped (in April of 1941); then began to kill (in June of 1941, using Einsatzgruppen), then escalated again – ultimately to the “Final Solution” and “Holocaust by Gas”.