Service record of Reinhard Heydrich

The service record of Reinhard Heydrich was a collection of official SS documents maintained at the SS Personalhauptamt in Berlin from 1934 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. Most of Reinhard Heydrich's record was then captured by the Allies and used for subsequent investigation into Heydrich's duties as head of the RSHA and overall performance in the SS in general.

Today, Reinhard Heydrich's original paper service record is maintained at the German Federal Archives. A microfilm copy of the record is also available at the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland.

ummary of SS career

Dates of rank

* SS-Mann: 14 July 1931
* SS-Sturmführer: 10 August 1931
* SS-Sturmhauptführer: 1 December 1931
* SS-Sturmbannführer: 25 December 1931
* SS-Standartenführer: 29 July 1932
* SS-Oberführer: 21 March 1933
* SS-Brigadeführer: 9 November 1933
* SS-Gruppenführer: 30 June 1934
* SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei: 27 September 1941

The earliest official photographs of Heydrich wearing an SS uniform are from 1933 when he held the rank of SS-Oberführer. Some private photographs exist showing him as an SS-Standartenführer from 1932, but there are no known pictures of Heydrich wearing a junior SS rank from before this time.

ervice history

* July 1931: Appointed as an SS member under SS Number 10120
* August 1931: Appointed as SS officer and tasked with forming the SS Security Service
* July 1932: Founded the "Sicherheitsdienst"
* 1936: Appointed Commander of the "Sicherheitspolizei"
* September 1939: Founder and first Commander of the "Reichssicherheitshauptamt"
* September 1941: Appointed as Deputy Reichsprotector of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
* January 1942: Chairman of the Wannsee Conference
* May 1942: Attacked by British supported Czechoslovak partisans in Prague
* June 1942: Died from wounds received in partisan attack

Heydrich's decorations

* German Order (Posthumous)
* Blood Order (Posthumous)
* Golden Nazi Party Badge
* Iron Cross Second (1940) and First (1941) Classes
* Luftwaffe Pilot's Badge (Flugzeugführerabzeichen)
* Luftwaffe Front Pilot Badge (Frontflugspange) in bronze (1940) and in silver (1941)
* Danzig Cross (First Class)
* Anschluss Medal
* Sudetenland Medal with Prague Castle Bar
* Memel Medal
* Olympic Games Decoration (First Class)
* Social Welfare Decoration (First Class)
* NSDAP Long Service Ribbon for 10 years service
* Police Service Ribbon for 18 years service

ervice as fighter pilot

Reinhard Heydrich served as Reserve Hauptmann, then Major in the Luftwaffe. Some sources claim that he served in the Invasion of Poland as a bomber gunner, but this is not confirmed. Then, despite his advanced age, he completed a fighter pilot course in 1940, probably due to his ambition. Heydrich wanted to set an example and show that the SS were not "asphalt" soldiers behind the front lines, but the elite of the Third Reich. In April 1940 he flew a Bf 110 in the Fighter Group II./JG 77 "Herz As" [For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organization] in Norway. The planes flown by Heydrich had an ancient Germanic runic character S for "Sieg" -- "victory" painted on the side of the fuselage. On May 13 1940 he crashed his plane during take-off and was injured. For a short time in May, he flew patrol flights over North Germany and the Netherlands. Then, after another accident, he returned to Berlin. In mid-June 1941, before the German attack on the USSR, he resumed flying, ignoring Himmler's orders. He flew his personal Bf 109E-7 again with Group II./JG 77 from Bălţi, Romania on the southern Eastern Front, which put the wing commander under pressure due to Heydrich's position and lack of experience. On 22 July 1941, while on a mission, his plane was badly damaged over Yampil by Soviet AA artillery. Heydrich crash-landed in no-man's land, evaded a Soviet patrol and made his way back to German lines. After this, he was forbidden to fly in combat, as it was realized that his capture as a POW would be a major security breach for Germany. He never flew another operational sortie.

Heydrich was decorated with the Iron Cross Second (1940) and First (1941) Classes. The number of missions he flew is not known, but he was awarded the "Frontflugspange" (Front Pilot Badge) in silver, which usually was awarded after 60 combat missions. According to Ballantine Books' "Illustrated History of the Violent Century" (1973), Heydrich flew 97 missions in a Me-110 twin engine fighter.

References

* SS service record of Reinhard Heydrich, National Archives and Records Administration; College Park, Maryland