Naval War College Review Volume 66 Article 17 Number 1 Winter

2013 Hitler’s Hangman: The Life of Heydrich Richard Norton

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Recommended Citation Norton, Richard (2013) "Hitler’s Hangman: The Life of Heydrich," Naval War College Review: Vol. 66 : No. 1 , Article 17. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol66/iss1/17

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maritime archaeological contributions reader extends beyond methodologies to social history that constitute such and processes. Maritime archaeology a feature of terrestrial archaeology. is a means to find greater understand- As this handbook suggests, underwa- ing and meaning in traces and remains ter archaeology is best known for its that can be found in an underwater contributions to understanding ship equivalent of libraries and archives, but construction in periods and places for to do so its results need to be merged which other sources are either scarce with those from other complementary or nonexistent, but at the same time, methodologies and processes. As is additional areas are opening up for the clear from this volume, practitioners field as it expands. The long section of maritime archaeology have a way to with fifteen chapters on the processes go, but the reader is left with hope that of maritime archaeology shows that the there is movement toward that end. field is becoming increasingly complex JOHN B. HATTENDORF and changing rapidly as new technolog- Naval War College ical capabilities are brought to bear. This work repeatedly displays the immature aspects of the field, with several authors suggesting that they prefer a closed and private field of inquiry and others Gerwarth, Robert. Hitler’s Hangman: The Life of noting the relative lack of analytical Heydrich. New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, publication, the numerous investiga- 2011. 393pp. $35 tions that have produced little in the Reinhard Heydrich, Reich way of written results. Nevertheless, this of Bohemia and , favorite of work provides room for optimism that , and architect of more and more maritime archaeologists the Nazis’ notorious “,” are moving beyond the earlier narrow stares out of a seventy-year-old pho- foci on process, procedure, and intrinsic tograph looking more movie star than objects toward wider interpretations. monster. Yet monster he was, in a party Francisco C. Domingues, in his contri- of monsters. Any biography of this bution, touches on this point when he once-rising star of the Third Reich must emphasizes the relationships of mari- ask and attempt to answer the question, time archaeology to the broader study How does a person become a monster? of maritime history, the study of man- Robert Gerwarth does as well as any kind’s interaction with the seas, oceans, scholar in answering this question. and waterways of the world. Indeed, He meticulously charts the course of maritime archaeology is one of the Heydrich’s life. Heydrich’s childhood many complementary disciplinary ap- was relatively normal. His family held proaches by which we can better under- the values of the middle class, perhaps a stand that basic theme in global history. bit more so than most, since his father It is a distinct methodological discipline, ran a music conservatory. Heydrich ac- but its meaning must extend beyond cepted, along with most of his genera- its process and procedures, just as the tion, the military myth of betrayal as work of an archival researcher or library an explanation for Germany’s defeat in

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the First World War. The Depression Heydrich’s more interesting, and chill- brought his family the specter of want ing, attributes was a belief that the times and uncertainty, as it did to hundreds called on true Germans to be hard, of thousands of families. He developed even ruthless, in reestablishing their a passion for sports, and throughout place as the rightful rulers of Europe. this period there was never any sign that Heydrich was also hardworking, Heydrich was destined for anything out athletic, personally brave, and fairly of the ordinary, but when he joined the good-looking. Upon several occasions German navy as a cadet, as Gerwarth he disobeyed orders and flew combat chronicles, Heydrich began to display a missions with the . He was fierce ambition and an ability to identify quick to accept and master new chal- opportunities for advancement and lenges, particularly ones that would position himself to take advantage of enable him to rise within the party them. Heydrich was clearly on a path for structure or gain power. Increasingly, success when he was obliged to appear these involved the removal of Jews and before a naval court of honor, as a result other “undesirables” from the Reich. As of a prior love affair that had surfaced the regime moved inexorably toward after he announced an engagement—a mass murder and genocide as policy, minor scandal made worse by Hey- so too did Heydrich. He was respon- drich’s arrogance before the court. sible for the , special Heydrich was stripped of the uniform task forces that followed the advancing that in many ways had defined him, and front rounding up intellectuals, profes- his potential for historic impact seemed sionals, politically suspect individuals, slight. However, leaving the navy he and—always, always—Jews. Impressed found himself at a unique and eventu- with pseudoscience and apparently ally rewarding nexus of personal, state, obsessed with sanguinary percentages, and global changes. Heydrich’s fiancée Heydrich divided and subcategorized and her family were passionate Nazis, the inhabitants of Europe on the basis and for Heydrich the party offered a of the Aryan “purity” of their blood. new path to power, position, and a posi- Early ideas, such as transporting tive self-image. For the rest of his life European Jews to Madagascar, quickly Heydrich would commit himself to be- faded, to be replaced with murder on coming a paragon of National Socialism. an industrial scale. By 1941 Heydrich He would succeed far better than most. had crafted the so-called final solution. Getting in at what amounted to the For him the elimination of populations ground floor of the creation of the was also the road to increased personal (SS), Heydrich rapidly power, advancement, and fame. It was rose in the organization, becoming also a personally fulfilling task, for he a confidant and trusted agent of had come to hate these unarmed and Heinrich Himmler. Gerwarth argues all but helpless enemies of the state. convincingly that Heydrich was not an To the German people Heydrich pre- ideologue when he joined the move- sented an image of the perfect National ment, but he increasingly acted as Socialist, secure in his roles as loyal an apparently true believer. Among servant of the people, good family man,

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and warrior standing between loved Some readers may find Gerwarth a ones and the war’s devastation. At shade too empathetic with his subject, dinner parties he was urbane, charm- but it is important to note that it is all ing, and attentive to women. It was too easy to paint Heydrich as a mon- not surprising that he had affairs. ster born or to suggest that somehow A workaholic, he became a master the catalyst of National Socialism was of political infighting, and Gerwarth required to create him. The author chronicles how Heydrich continually reminds us that the reality is far more and successfully employed this skill, terrifying—that the conditions that which gained him many enemies and transformed Heydrich into an architect opponents, such as Admiral Wilhelm of evil can all too easily be re-created. Canaris, the head of German military If there is a shortcoming to Hitler’s intelligence. He knew how to hold a Hangman, it is the lack of an in-depth grudge and how to take advantage of examination of Heydrich’s leader- opportunities for advancement. Still, ship, which leaves a curious gap in our Gerwarth debunks the modern myth understanding of the man. Still, taken of competition and jealousy between in its entirety, this book has earned a Himmler and his protégé. Gerwarth rightful place on the shelves of seri- quite early in the book also disproves ous biographies. The lessons it offers allegations that Heydrich’s ethnic are ones that should not be forgotten. heritage included Jewish forebears. RICHARD NORTON Naval War College

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