Previous
Heinrich Müller
The head of the S.D. and later R.S.H.A., as well as the central organizer of Kristallnacht, the Wannsee Conference, the Einsatzgruppen, and ultimately the Final Solution, Heydrich was Eichmann’s second-order superior (after Heinrich Müller, head of the R.S.H.A. Gestapo bureau) and answered only to Himmler and Hitler. He was also the one to inform Eichmann of Hitler’s plan for the Final Solution, and Eichmann was elated when he seemed to open up to him in a meeting. He was assassinated in Prague in 1942.
Reinhardt Heydrich Quotes in Eichmann in Jerusalem
The Eichmann in Jerusalem quotes below are all either spoken by Reinhardt Heydrich or refer to Reinhardt Heydrich. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 8 Quotes
Eichmann, much less intelligent and without any education to speak of, at least dimly realized that it was not an order but a law which had turned them all into criminals. The distinction between an order and the Führer’s word was that the latter’s validity was not limited in time and space, which is the outstanding characteristic of the former. This is also the true reason why the Führer’s order for the Final Solution was followed by a huge shower of regulations and directives, all drafted by expert lawyers and legal advisers, not by mere administrators; this order, in contrast to ordinary orders, was treated as a law.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This distinction between orders and the law is central to both the character of the Nazi legal regime and Eichmann’s ability to defend his crimes as “acts under superior orders.” Arendt is contrasting Eichmann’s attitude toward the Nazi regime at the end of the war with that of the Nazi generals tried at Nuremberg: while the generals claimed that their job was simply to follow orders rather than make moral judgments, Eichmann believed that Hitler’s words counted as law, over and above any orders he received from Heydrich or Himmler. Orders are “limited in time and space” because they command Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impedit sunt. Excepturi ullam nobis. Ducimus odio quo. Ut autem harum. Omnis vel voluptatum. Assumenda officia maiores. Voluptatem sint velit. Quod quia sapiente. Cum sunt quo. Accusamus veritatis voluptatum. Rerum est et. Aut autem sit. Soluta dolor
Get the entire Eichmann in Jerusalem LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Reinhardt Heydrich Character Timeline in Eichmann in Jerusalem
The timeline below shows where the character Reinhardt Heydrich appears in Eichmann in Jerusalem. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3: An Expert on the Jewish Question
When Eichmann joined the S.D. in 1934, Reinhardt Heydrich was its head, and its mission was to spy on other Nazis for the S.S....
(full context)
...longer voluntary but now forced. His expulsion policy was remarkably successful, but only because of Heydrich’s plan to make rich Jews pay a fee that could be used to fund poor...
(full context)
Chapter 5: The Second Solution: Concentration
...police (including the Gestapo) into the Head Office for Reich Security (R.S.H.A.), headed by Reinhardt Heydrich (and later Ernst Kaltenbrunner), which became one of the S.S.’s twelve main offices. The Nazis...
(full context)
...Eichmann worked directly for him in Subsection IV-B, dealing with Jewish matters. Müller answered to Heydrich (later Kaltenbrunner), who answered to Himmler, who directly carried out Hitler’s orders. Himmler also directed...
(full context)
...jumps around among “human-interest stories of the worst type,” like the time he first saw Heydrich’s “more human side” and the time the Slovakian government invited him to Bratislava, where he...
(full context)
Chapter 6: The Final Solution: Killing
A few weeks after Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, Hitler tasked Heydrich with “the implementation of the desired final solution of the Jewish question” and Heydrich informed...
(full context)
Chapter 7: The Wannsee Conference, or Pontius Pilate
...the January 1942 Wannsee Conference, at which various Ministers in the Nazi government assembled at Heydrich’s request to plan the Final Solution. Heydrich was understandably worried about their willingness to participate,...
(full context)
...of extermination. The Nazis even saved certain prominent and friendly Jews—Hitler exempted 340 people, and Heydrich was actually half-Jewish. even after the war, Germans commonly lament the fates of “prominent” and...
(full context)
Chapter 12: Deportations from Central Europe—Hungary and Slovakia
...which could be seized) but reluctant to kill them. In March 1942, Eichmann and then Heydrich came to coordinate deportations, and the Slovak government duly agreed, so long as they “would...
(full context)
Chapter 13: The Killing Centers in the East
...matter was even worse than the court in Jerusalem assumed.” According to the court’s judgment, Heydrich was in charge of the Final Solution; Eichmann was “his chief deputy in the field”...
(full context)
