Alex McCrory
🎥 shares his thoughts on The Man With The Iron Heart.


Recently, I watched a fantastic film about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, considered by some as the natural successor to Hitler. 

The attack was planned by Britain's Special Operations Executive, and was carried out by 3 British trained Czech parachutists, Josef Gabcik, Jan Kubis and Josef Vakick, with the active assistance of the Czech resistance.

Reinhard Heydrich was a complex individual as portrayed in the film. He was cultured and an accomplished musician. His wife was a major influence on his decision to join the Nazis. She was almost as ruthless as he was in her single minded determination to succeed. They had two children which they loved to parade before Nazi officials. The difference between the treatment of their own children and the inhumanity shown to so many others is almost inexplicable. It can only be possible whenever the other is viewed in a completely different light: as being less than human.
 
Hydrich had a lucky break whenever he met SS-Reichführer Heinrich Himmler. He wanted to establish a new security department tasked with rooting out spies and traitors. What he saw in Heydrich convinced him of the young man's suitability for the job. Heydrich possessed unlimited ambition and an abundance of self-confidence. This meeting began a meteoric rise to the heights of Nazi officialdom.
 
Reinhard Heydrich was head of the murderous Einsatzgruppen, ideological soldiers picked for their resemblance to the Aryan stereotype. These detachments operated in the newly occupied territories where they rounded up tens of thousands of Jews and Communists for deportation and extermination.

There are stomach churning scenes of mass executions of men, women and children, their bodies dumped in pits covered with lime to speed decomposition. I have often wondered how millions walked to their deaths without protest or resistance. I can only conclude the fear and resignation was literally paralysing.
 
Such was the magnitude of the genocide that the German High Command cynically complained about the demoralising effect close-up executions was having on it's soldiers, and the shortage of bullets. A more economic method for getting rid of European Jewry would have to be found, and soon. Himmler had just the man for the job.

In 1941 Reinhard Heydrich became Deputy Reich-Protector of Bavaria and Moravia, including Czechoslovakia. He rule with an iron fist and was greatly feared by the people. But not all were cowed. In every occupied territory resistance was organised by those brave enough to take the risk. One of the most inspiring examples of resistance to the Nazis was the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. There a cohort of young Jews decided to fight rather than go defeated to the gas chambers.

I think this explains why I loved reading Mila 18 by American author Leon Uris. For me, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising redeemed the Jews during their darkest period.
 
In January 1942, only six months before he was assassinated, Heydrich was tasked with finding a Final Solution to the Jewish Question. Toward this end he convened the Wannsee Conference just outside Berlin attended by top German officials, senior SS officers, and Nazi collaborators like Hans Frank. A bigger bunch of genocidaires you could not find anywhere. At this diabolical meeting Heydrich outlined the policy of mass extermination and ordered it's immediate implementation across all Europe.
The Final Solution was a Nazi euphemism for genocide.
 
The Czech resistance was led by three individuals codenamed The Three Kings. Heydrich knew of their existence and desperately wanted to cut the three heads off the resistance Hydra. The three young parachutists that were dropped behind enemy lines made contact with the resistance movement. In the beginning they did not know what their mission was in case of capture. After a short period of acclimatisation, they received their order to kill Reinhard Heydrich. Once they shared this information with the resistance there was widespread alarm. Some wanted to abort the operation because the consequences would be too great for the Czech people. Reprisals would be swift and harsh.
 
The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich has been well rehearsed in both book and in film. I have no need to cover it here. Suffice to say that he died from a combination of shock and blood poisoning caused by shrapnel or a piece of the car upholstery. Unfortunately, the resistance fighters also died inside a church where they were holed up, betrayed by a friend.

The scene of Heydrich dying in his wife's presence utterly failed to move me. I felt no sympathy for either one of them. She was complicit in all of his horrendous crimes for self-advancement. Also by his side was Heinrich Himmler, perhaps even a bigger war criminal by the time it all ended. If the truth be told, I found myself wishing him a speedy journey straight to hell.

Alec McCrory 
is a former blanketman.

The Man With The Iron Heart

Alex McCrory
🎥 shares his thoughts on The Man With The Iron Heart.


Recently, I watched a fantastic film about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, considered by some as the natural successor to Hitler. 

The attack was planned by Britain's Special Operations Executive, and was carried out by 3 British trained Czech parachutists, Josef Gabcik, Jan Kubis and Josef Vakick, with the active assistance of the Czech resistance.

Reinhard Heydrich was a complex individual as portrayed in the film. He was cultured and an accomplished musician. His wife was a major influence on his decision to join the Nazis. She was almost as ruthless as he was in her single minded determination to succeed. They had two children which they loved to parade before Nazi officials. The difference between the treatment of their own children and the inhumanity shown to so many others is almost inexplicable. It can only be possible whenever the other is viewed in a completely different light: as being less than human.
 
Hydrich had a lucky break whenever he met SS-Reichführer Heinrich Himmler. He wanted to establish a new security department tasked with rooting out spies and traitors. What he saw in Heydrich convinced him of the young man's suitability for the job. Heydrich possessed unlimited ambition and an abundance of self-confidence. This meeting began a meteoric rise to the heights of Nazi officialdom.
 
Reinhard Heydrich was head of the murderous Einsatzgruppen, ideological soldiers picked for their resemblance to the Aryan stereotype. These detachments operated in the newly occupied territories where they rounded up tens of thousands of Jews and Communists for deportation and extermination.

There are stomach churning scenes of mass executions of men, women and children, their bodies dumped in pits covered with lime to speed decomposition. I have often wondered how millions walked to their deaths without protest or resistance. I can only conclude the fear and resignation was literally paralysing.
 
Such was the magnitude of the genocide that the German High Command cynically complained about the demoralising effect close-up executions was having on it's soldiers, and the shortage of bullets. A more economic method for getting rid of European Jewry would have to be found, and soon. Himmler had just the man for the job.

In 1941 Reinhard Heydrich became Deputy Reich-Protector of Bavaria and Moravia, including Czechoslovakia. He rule with an iron fist and was greatly feared by the people. But not all were cowed. In every occupied territory resistance was organised by those brave enough to take the risk. One of the most inspiring examples of resistance to the Nazis was the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. There a cohort of young Jews decided to fight rather than go defeated to the gas chambers.

I think this explains why I loved reading Mila 18 by American author Leon Uris. For me, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising redeemed the Jews during their darkest period.
 
In January 1942, only six months before he was assassinated, Heydrich was tasked with finding a Final Solution to the Jewish Question. Toward this end he convened the Wannsee Conference just outside Berlin attended by top German officials, senior SS officers, and Nazi collaborators like Hans Frank. A bigger bunch of genocidaires you could not find anywhere. At this diabolical meeting Heydrich outlined the policy of mass extermination and ordered it's immediate implementation across all Europe.
The Final Solution was a Nazi euphemism for genocide.
 
The Czech resistance was led by three individuals codenamed The Three Kings. Heydrich knew of their existence and desperately wanted to cut the three heads off the resistance Hydra. The three young parachutists that were dropped behind enemy lines made contact with the resistance movement. In the beginning they did not know what their mission was in case of capture. After a short period of acclimatisation, they received their order to kill Reinhard Heydrich. Once they shared this information with the resistance there was widespread alarm. Some wanted to abort the operation because the consequences would be too great for the Czech people. Reprisals would be swift and harsh.
 
The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich has been well rehearsed in both book and in film. I have no need to cover it here. Suffice to say that he died from a combination of shock and blood poisoning caused by shrapnel or a piece of the car upholstery. Unfortunately, the resistance fighters also died inside a church where they were holed up, betrayed by a friend.

The scene of Heydrich dying in his wife's presence utterly failed to move me. I felt no sympathy for either one of them. She was complicit in all of his horrendous crimes for self-advancement. Also by his side was Heinrich Himmler, perhaps even a bigger war criminal by the time it all ended. If the truth be told, I found myself wishing him a speedy journey straight to hell.

Alec McCrory 
is a former blanketman.

15 comments:

  1. Alec

    Isaw the film myself and, like you, found no sympathy for Heydrich or his animal wife. As he lay in hospital dying I felt nothing but hatred even though it was only a film. The Czech resistance, like all those trained by the SOE whose leader Hugh Dalton studied the IRA strategies in the War of Independence as a blue print for SOE operations, almost made a mess of it. Thankfully they did get him. There is a train of thought Himmler had Heydrich finished off, because the Reichfuhrer saw him as a serious threat to his own position, long term. The Czech doctors were forbidden from treating Heydrich until Himmlers medical team arrived from Germany. Himmler could not afgord to have Heydrich around, once the "final solution" was ratified Himmler could take full credit. The Czechs might have saved him, if the theory is true, Himmler inadvertently did us all a favour.

    Caoimhin O'Muraile

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heydrich was kicked out of the Navy for conduct unbecoming an Officer and a Gentleman when he reneged on a promise to marry, leaving the spurned woman for the already avowed Nazi Lina Van Osten.

    Once he left the Navy she had him quickly join the Nazis and through a mutual friend of Himmler had arranged an interview with the idea of a good desk job.

    But the interesting thing about this meeting is that Himmler was taken with Heidrich's bullshit. He'd no experience in intelligence methodology but he merely spouted reconstituted crap from the detective novels he read when he was a kid!

    Coupled with his intense anti-Semitism, he was mercilessly bullied as kid by being of rumoured Jewish ancestry, he really became the iron hearted bastard of the Reich.

    Himmler was fond of the fawning bestowed upon him by Heidrich and was certainly planning on keeping him around until at least until the Jewish question was answered. The mistake in not trusting the Czechs is what killed him, perhaps they could have stopped the sepsis but who knows?

    Either way humanity was far better off without this monster in Europe.

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  3. The book this is based upon is superb - HHhH.

    In the cages in 77 one of the projector reel films the screws showed was Operation Daybreak: one of my favourite war movies.

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  4. A great film for sure, but can I recommend 'Come and See', a visceral film about Nazi actions in Byelorussia. That, and of course, Das Boot.

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  5. The film Anthropoid, which is about the same subject, is much better in my humble opinion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just watch The Man With The Iron Heart again as I was ill the first time I watched it. On second viewing I am even more convinced Anthropoid is the superior film. And our very own Cillian and Jamie are both in it too.

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    2. I must give that a watch Peter. A few years back I watched Conspiracy with Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci playing Heydrich and Eichmann respectively. It was about the Wannsee Conference referred to by Alex. Thought it very good.

      Delete
  6. AM
    Anthropoid was on RTE2 last night, Saturday, it was very good. It does not give the same background into Heydrich, his dismissal from the Navy, his meeting his future wife on a train and his rise through the ranks of the NSDAP and the SS, SD department as does The Man With The Iron Heart.
    Anhropoid seems to come from a slightly different angle, the SOE operatives landing and a certain oppossition within the Czech resistance to carry out the attack. This reluctance was understandable to a point because the reprisals on the Czech civilians would be, and was, severe. That said, why have a resistance if reprisals are going to prevent you resisting kina defeats the purpose??

    Caoimhin O'Muraile

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    Replies
    1. Caoimhin - I will make a point of watching it based on both your and Peter's recommendation.
      I enjoy good war movies. On the topic a month or so back I finished The Battle Of Stalingrad by Des Latham on Podcast. It is brilliant stuff. Each episode is less than thirty minutes in length. If you like that type of thing this is a must hear.

      Delete
    2. Caoimhin O'Muraile

      And which did you prefer? I watched Anthropoid as it was recommended by the Guardian and loved it.

      AM

      If you like war films and series have you seen Generation War (Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter)? It was described as the German Band of Brothers and was hugely controversial in Germany on its release. It follows a group of Berliner friends through the war, fantastic stuff. The problem was I had to subscribe to a small network for one month to see it.

      Delete
    3. Peter - I actually did watch it some time ago. It was excellent. Band Of Brothers was also top drawer stuff.

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    4. Peter - when you first mentioned it I thought you had it wrong as I was thinking of Generation Kill which was about Iraq. When I googled it I realised I had watched it and that you were right.
      One of the best stories ever told out the door during the blanket protest was by a Derry guy called Eamonn O'Donnell - he called it America and it was a Vietnam War story. It ran each night for a week and there wasn't a sound to be heard on the wing other than his voice. He was so good at it atmospherically, he placed us right in the jungle.
      I love good war stories whether via film, book or podcast.

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  7. AM

    Oh I love a good Vietnam war movie, there hasn't been a good one in ages. The documentary series was one of the best I've ever seen, the 10 parter called The Vietnam War I think by Ken Burns.

    I take it you've watched Fauda, the Israeli series on Netflix?

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    Replies
    1. That ten part series was very good. I haven't seen anything better.
      We haven't got to the end of Fauda yet but it is very good also.

      Delete
  8. The Band of Brothers book was better though the TV series is quality.

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