Heydrich the Psychopath Reinhard Heydrich fit the profile of a psychopath. While Heydrich’s lack of conscience, cunning, diverse criminal career, and personal ambition could be chalked up to variables such as the Nazi ideology, upbringing, and/or the demands of intelligence work, other personality traits cannot. Heydrich had an impulsivity and sex drive commonly found in psychopaths, getting himself thrown out of the Navy and losing a pension he greatly desired as the result of an indecent relationship with a woman. Heydrich would continue to remain addicted to sex during his time with the SS, often dragging colleagues on escapades to find women for sex and showing a callous disregard for his wife and children (Dederichs 2009, 77-78). Heydrich was also known for consuming excessive amounts of alcohol during these escapades and on other occasions. Alcohol use was generally not encouraged by Hitler or the Nazi regime, and numerous sexual escapades involving alcohol were clearly violations of the principles of operational security. For that matter, in the contentious world of Nazi politics, such antics risked giving …show more content…
Heydrich generally did not handle failure well and could not tolerate or accept criticism (Gerwarth 2011, 73). Heydrich’s actions towards Alfred Naujocks regarding the counterfeiting plot show a man that did not take kindly to potential competitors either. Had the counterfeiting operation been implemented in 1940, it is possible that the British economy could have been dealt a blow significant enough to force Britain to accept a peace or at the minimum, inhibit its ability to wage further war against the Nazis. This could have allowed Germany to invade the USSR without having to wage a two front