Reinhard Heydrich summary

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Reinhard Heydrich, (born March 7, 1904, Halle, Ger.—died June 4, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia), German Nazi official. He resigned from the navy in 1931 to join the SS, becoming SS chief for Berlin (1934), head of the Reich Security Central Office (1939), and Heinrich Himmler’s chief deputy. Noted for his ruthlessness against “enemies of the state,” in the early years of World War II he organized mass executions in the German-occupied territories and became known as “the Hangman.” In 1942 he chaired the Wannsee Conference. Appointed deputy administrator of Bohemia and Moravia, he was assassinated by Czech patriots; in retaliation the Gestapo demolished the village of Lidice and executed its male population of about 200.

Nazi Party Summary

Nazi Party, political party of the mass movement known as National Socialism. Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, the party came to power in Germany in 1933 and governed by totalitarian methods until 1945. Anti-Semitism was fundamental to the party’s ideology and led to the Holocaust, the

Third Reich Summary

Third Reich, official Nazi designation for the regime in Germany from January 1933 to May 1945, as the presumed successor of the medieval and early modern Holy Roman Empire of 800 to 1806 (the First Reich) and the German Empire of 1871 to 1918 (the Second Reich). With the onset of the Great

army Summary

Army, a large organized armed force trained for war, especially on land. The term may be applied to a large unit organized for independent action, or it may be applied to a nation’s or ruler’s complete military organization for land warfare. Throughout history, the character and organization of

concentration camp Summary

Concentration camp, internment centre for political prisoners and members of national or minority groups who are confined for reasons of state security, exploitation, or punishment, usually by executive decree or military order. Persons are placed in such camps often on the basis of identification