He was born in Halle, Saxony, on March 7, 1904, the son of the founder of the Halle Conservatory. He was a rounded individual, possessing exceptional intellectual ability, as well as being an accomplished sportsman. In 1922 he joined the navy as a cadet and was under the orders and tutelage of Canaris, but in April 1931, due to allegations of dishonourable conduct towards a young lady who declared that he had impregnated her, he was brought before an honour court, presided over by Canaris, which found him guilty and dismissed him from the service. He became engaged to Lina von Osten and it was she who was to convert him to Nazism, and he joined the NSDAP in 1931. Lina enlisted the help of Frederich Karl von Eberstein to bring him to Himmler’s notice, which he did on the June 14, 1931. Himmler found him appealing; the interview was short and he came straight to the point: “I want to set up a security and information service within the SS and I need a specialist. If you think you can do this management job, will you please write down on paper how you think you would tackle it, I’ll give you 20 minutes.”
His considerable organizational abilities, his total ruthlessness, the intensity of anti-Semitism and his Nordic appearance were self-evident. Himmler perhaps perceived the perverse view that Heydrich’s fear of being considered Jewish, or partly Jewish, would be a means of controlling his talented associate. Whatever the truth in this, Heydrich rose quickly within the SS and became Protector of Bohemia and Moravia in September 1941. Tipped to be a future leader of the Third Reich, he was assassinated in 1942.