None of Heydrich s Nicknames Was True

Adolf Hitler called Reinhard Heydrich “Man with the Iron Heart” … and was wrong. Wrong because this definition (nickname) portrays Heydrich as heartless (iron heart means no heart), emotionless killing machine – and Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was nothing of the sort.

He was an extreme, radical, murderous national-sociopath; a mission-oriented serial killer (serial mass murderer, actually) driven by deep, passionate, sincere love for Germany and German people – and his highly incorrect (though also deep, passionate and sincere) belief that to save them from genuine Hell he had to kill all Jews under German control (and “pacify” Poland prior to that).

Heydrich was not “Hitler’s Hangman” either; first, he was not “Hitler’s” but Himmler’s as he reported to the latter and served as the tool (Chief Security Officer) of SS-Reichsfuhrer – not of Der Fuhrer.

Second, he was no “hangman”: none of his victims (of which there were millions) was executed by hanging – they were either shot or (mostly) gassed. So “Himmler’s Gasman” (or at least “Himmler’s Rifleman”) would have been far more appropriate.

Heydrich was often called HHhH: “Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich”. This nickname (very possibly invented by Heydrich himself) is grossly incorrect. Incorrect because it states that Heydrich was far smarter and more capable (as leader, manager and statesman) than Himmler.

Some even claim that Heydrich was far better fit to replace Hitler as Der Fuhrer… and that was the primary reason why Heydrich was murdered by Himmler’s personal physician on orders by SS-Reichsfuhrer.

In reality, Himmler was far smarter and far more capable than Heydrich – and the only one in the Reich who could have succeeded Adolf Hitler and make things far, far better than they were under the latter.

Because Himmler created the SS-Staat – the state within a state – and Heydrich… only the second most powerful security service in the world. Hardly sufficient credentials for becoming Der Fuhrer… oh, and Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was no Third Reich.

In reality, Heydrich was no more than Himmler’s “human filing cabinet” because (1) Heydrich had photographic memory; and (2) he was the chief of the SD – domestic and foreign intelligence service of the SS. So, for Himmler, Heydrich was but the source of information (knowledge) – hence the real reason for the nickname.

Heydrich was no “Butcher of Prague” either – this nickname was also grossly incorrect. Incorrect because that it stated that he ruled Bohemia and Moravia solely by terror – which was not true at all.

In reality, Heydrich used a very efficient combination of “carrot and stick” – and mostly “carrot”. For a very simple reason – Czechs (unlike Poles) were inclined to cooperate, not resist.

True, hundreds of Czechs resistance activists were ruthlessly executed and thousands more were no less ruthlessly shipped to SS concentration camps. However, this was no butchery (by definition, vicious, savage, beastly murder) – it was a highly calculated, pragmatic, rational Aktion.

Highly successful Aktion – when Czech government-in-exile decided to kill Heydrich, they could not one even one individual in Bohemia or Moravia to do the job. Not one was willing to do the assassination – although Heydrich was an easy target (riding in an open car every day with no security detail at all).

Neither he was a “Blond Beast”. Oh, he was blond all right… but Reinhard Heydrich was no beast. Because the latter definition means that Heydrich was uncultured, uncivilized savage (brute, barbarian) … and he was exactly the opposite.

Heydrich was refined, highly civilized, deeply cultured, well-educated German gentleman (yes, the finest gentlemen still can be mission-oriented serial killers – as were many Einsatzgruppen commanders – they even had doctorates!). In fact, he was one of the two most cultured individuals among Nazi top brass – the second one was Dr. Joseph Goebbels.

And, finally, while Heydrich was definitely the ideal national-sociopath, the perception of him as an “ideal national-socialist” is of questionable accuracy. True, he was highly efficient SS executive (albeit ultimately not effective – he did the wrong things in a highly efficient way); top-level athlete (he was a near Olympic-level fencer); and a fighter pilot with over 100 combat missions under his belt.

However, he was not known to be driven by the National-Socialist ideology (he was far too pragmatic and rational for that). Neither was he driven by a fervent love for Der Fuhrer or the Nazi Party (ditto).

It appears that Heydrich was, indeed, a perfect national-sociopath: he was driven by his love for Germany and for the German people – so he did what he believed was good for them, not for Adolf Hitler or the Nazi Party. Thus, he was essentially the Chief Security Officer of German State (and German people) rather than of Adolf Hitler, NSDAP… or even the SS.