Minifigure – Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking SS and police general and a principal architect of the Holocaust during World War II, shown in two different uniforms (LEGO Compatible)

This image displays two toy minifigures, both representing Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking SS and police general and one of the principal architects of the Holocaust during World War II. The figures show him in two different uniforms.

The figure on the left is depicted in the black M32 service uniform of the Allgemeine-SS (General SS). This was the formal black uniform worn by the SS for ceremonial and office duties, especially prominent before the war.

• Insignia: His rank is identifiable by the SS-Obergruppenführer (General) collar tabs. He also wears a Swastika armband (Kampfbinde), an SS officer’s peaked cap (Schirmmütze), and numerous decorations, including the Golden Party Badge.

The figure on the right is depicted in the field grey service uniform (Dienstanzug). This became the standard service dress for the Waffen-SS and the entire SS-police apparatus during the war, modeled after the German Army (Heer) uniform but with SS insignia.

• Insignia: He wears the same SS-Obergruppenführer rank insignia on his collar and the corresponding grey peaked cap. This figure is shown with a different, more extensive set of decorations, including the German Cross in Gold on his right breast pocket, the Iron Cross First Class, and a long ribbon bar, reflecting awards received during the war.

Historical Background: Reinhard Heydrich was an SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei (General of the Police) and one of the most powerful and feared figures in Nazi Germany. He was the founding head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the SS intelligence service. He later became the chief of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), an organization that consolidated all state security and police agencies (including the Gestapo, Kripo, and SD).

In this capacity, Heydrich was a principal architect of the Holocaust. He chaired the January 1942 Wannsee Conference, which formalized the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question”—the plan for the genocide of all Jews in Europe. In 1941, he was also appointed as the Reichsprotektor (Reich Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia, where his brutal rule earned him the nickname “the Butcher of Prague.” He was assassinated in Prague in May 1942 by Czechoslovak agents trained by the British SOE, an operation codenamed “Operation Anthropoid.”