Browse the article Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Heydrich
Heydrich , Reinhard ( 1904-1942 ) , a German Nazi official . As head of the Reich Security Office ( a part of the SS , the Nazi party police ) , he was responsible for the arrests and executions of many opponents of the Nazi regime . Heydrich was the chairman of the Wannsee Conference , where the Holocaust was planned . He was known as the " Hangman " because of his brutality . In 1941 Heydrich became Reich Protector ( governor ) of Bohemia and Moravia . He was killed by Czech underground agents; in Retaliation , the Nazis put to death hundreds of Czechs and wiped out the village of Lidice .