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Rienhard Heydrich's Death During The Holocaust

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The Holocaust was a dark time in humanity’s history; a time that should be looked back on in shame. People lost their compassion and empathy towards one another. These emotions are essential in keeping peace and harmony throughout the world, and give mankind a natural kindheartedness towards one another. Having the innate sense to feel for one another and understand the trials and tribulations others go through is what truly makes us human. This is what was lost during the Holocaust. The inherent good that humans are born with, was taken away by Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich. It led to the deaths of entire cultures and millions of innocent peoples’ lives were changed for the worse. However, the Nazis did not carry out the mass killings of …show more content…

According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Heydrich “died in June 1942 from injuries sustained during an assassination attempt by Czech partisans” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Heydrich was highly regarded by his superiors. Hitler even stated that Heydrich was “one of the best National Socialists, one of the staunchest defenders of the concept of the German Reich and one of the greatest opponents of all enemies of this Reich” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Before his death, he was tasked with helping structure the Final Solution. Himmler and Hitler sent him to represent them in the Wannsee Conference in January 20, 1942, to discuss to the German offices the solution to the Jewish question (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Judging by Hitler’s words and Heydrich’s high ranking in the Nazi government, Heydrich was very well respected by Himmler and was his right-hand man. And when Heydrich died in 1942 Himmler was very hurt by it and wanted to carry on his legacy. This is what triggered Himmler to start the Final Solution. So he commenced Operation Rienhard, which was named in honor of Heydrich. Operation Rienhard was started in the autumn of 1941 (but later renamed in honor of Heydrich) and marked the start of the Final Solution as history knows it today (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Its goal was “to “resettle” (i.e., to kill) the Polish Jews, (2) to exploit the skilled or manual labor of some Polish Jews before killing them, (3) to secure the personal property of the Jews (clothing, currency, jewelry, and other possessions), and (4) to identify and secure alleged hidden and immovable assets such as factories, apartments, and land” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Death camps were set up in Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Heydrich’s death and consequently Operation

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