May 27, 1942: Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazis' Military "Protector" of Czechoslovakia, is assassinated by a thrown bomb, although he lives until June 4. He was 38 years old.
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was born on March 7, 1904 in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. He was a true believer in the Nazi cause, and rose through the ranks of the SS. He helped organize Kristallnacht, the coordinated attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on November 9 and 10, 1938.
He was appointed Director of the Reich Security Main Office on September 27, 1939, and Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, including much of the present-day Czech Republic, on September 29, 1941, essentially serving as Chancellor Adolf Hitler's "viceroy" there. He still held both posts at the time of his death.
Upon his arrival in the Czech capital of Prague, Heydrich sought to eliminate opposition to the Nazi occupation by suppressing Czech culture (suppressing national culture was done in other Nazi-controlled lands), and deporting and executing members of the Czech resistance. He was directly responsible for the Einsatzgruppen, the special task forces that travelled in the wake of the German armies and murdered more than 2 million people by mass shooting and gassing, including 1.3 million Jews.
Hitler called him "the man with the iron heart," and was ready to transfer to him to France, where the Resistance was gaining ground. Had he lived, he could have helped the Nazis win the war. He was, arguably, to the Nazis what Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was to the Confederate States of America: The psychotic genius whose early death doomed the cause.
Due to this, and his role as a true believer in Nazi bigotry, people who write alternate history stories where the Nazis won the war often place Heydrich as the Führer, or at least as a leading potential successor to an elderly Hitler, in their story's "present day."
On May 27, 1942, in anticipation of his transfer to Paris, Heydrich prepared to meet Hitler in Berlin. His car would have to pass a section where the Dresden-Prague road merges with a road to the Troja Bridge, requiring to slow down due to a hairpin bend. As Heydrich's car slowed, Jozef Gabčík took aim with a Sten submachine gun, but it jammed and failed to fire. Heydrich ordered his driver, Klein, to halt and attempted to confront Gabčík rather than speed away.
Jan Kubiš, who had not been spotted by Heydrich or Klein, threw a converted anti-tank mine at the car as it stopped, which landed against the rear wheel. The explosion ripped through the right rear fender and wounded Heydrich in the lung, diaphragm and spleen. Gabčík and Kubiš had both been assigned to the task by the Czech government-in-exile in London. After Kubiš fled, Heydrich ordered Klein to chase Gabčík on foot, and Gabčík shot Klein in the leg before escaping.
Heydrich did not die immediately. On June 2, his immediate boss, Heinrich Himmler, flew to Prague to visit him. Heydrich's father had been a music impresario, and Himmler reported back that the son quoted a line from one of the father's operas: "The world is just a barrel-organ, which the Lord God turns Himself. We all have to dance to the tune which is already on the drum."
Heydrich fell into a coma the next day, and died the next, June 4. He would remain the highest-ranking Nazi official to be assassinated during World War II.
*
May 27, 1942 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-3 at Yankee Stadium. Tommy Henrich hit a home run. Joe DiMaggio went 0-for-3, but drew a walk, and had an RBI on a groundout.
* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Giants player-manager Mel Ott went 1-for-3 with a walk.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Boston Braves, 4-1 at Braves Field in Boston. Billy Herman hit a home run.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 10-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Ted Williams went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Jimmie Foxx did not play in this game, and the Red Sox soon waived him. He was picked up by the Chicago Cubs.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Rookie Stan Musial went 2-for-4.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-7 at League Park in Cleveland.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 10-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* And the St. Louis Browns beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.
No comments:
Post a Comment