| Lina Heydrich | |
|---|---|
In Prague, the day before the attack that led to his death, Reinhard Heydrich and wife Lina attend a concert of Richard Bruno Heydrich's music in the Waldstein Palace, May 26, 1942. |
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| Born | 14 June 1911 Fehmarn, Germany |
| Died | 14 August 1985 (aged 74) Fehmarn, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Other names | Lina Manninen |
| Spouse | Reinhard Heydrich Mauno Manninen |
| Children |
Klaus Heydrich (born June 17, 1933; † October 24, 1943 in traffic accident) |
Lina Heydrich (née Lina Mathilde von Osten, June 14, 1911, Fehmarn, Schleswig-Holstein, died August 14, 1985, Fehmarn, age 74) was the wife of assassinated SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, a central figure in Nazi Germany.
She was the daughter of a minor German aristocrat who worked as a schoolteacher. Lina met Reinhard Heydrich in December 1930, and was married December 26, 1931. They had four children.[1] She claimed that she knew nothing about Reinhard Heydrich’s crimes committed while he was head of the RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office).[2]
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Lina von Osten joined the National Socialist Party in 1929 after attending a speech by Adolf Hitler; her Party Membership Number was 1201380. Lina was a fervent Nazi and persuaded Heydrich to look into the recently formed Schutzstaffel or (SS) as a career option after his "dismissal for impropriety" from the Navy.[3] In 1931, SS Leader Heinrich Himmler began to set up a counter-intelligence division of the SS. Acting on the advice of his associate Karl von Eberstein, who was a friend of Lina von Osten, Himmler agreed to interview Heydrich. When Himmler cancelled Heydrich's interview in Munich due to illness, Lina ignored the message, packed Heydrich's suitcase and sent him on a Munich bound train. Himmler received Heydrich and hired him as the chief of the SS Intelligence Service, the Sicherheitsdienst or (SD).[4] Lina stated that Reinhard Heydrich never read Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf.[5]
Lina von Osten met the then Naval Lieutenant Heydrich on December 6, 1930, at a gala hosted by a local rowing club in Kiel. There was an immediate attraction and after a handful of dates the couple became engaged on December 18, 1930. Lina von Osten was nineteen at the time. After Heydrich's dismissal from the Navy, they married at a small church in Grossenbrode on December 26, 1931. Lina Heydrich gave birth to two sons, Klaus (born June 17, 1933) and Heider (born December 23, 1934). After serious strain on the marriage that nearly resulted in divorce, the reconciled Heydrich couple had another child, a daughter named Silke (born April 9, 1939).[6] Their fourth child, a daughter named Marte (born July 23, 1942) was born shortly after Reinhard Heydrich's death. Her eldest son, Klaus, died as a result of a traffic accident on October 24, 1943. On that day, Klaus was cycling with his brother Heider Heydrich in the courtyard of the Castle Jungfern-Breschan. Seeing that the gate to the street was open, Klaus rode out onto the street where he was struck by a small truck coming down the road. Klaus died from his injuries later that afternoon.[7]
In 1965 she met Finnish theatre director Mauno Manninen while she was on a holiday trip to Finland. Eventually they married for the purpose of changing her last name. She received a German state pension and ran Reinhard Heydrich’s former summer house on Fehmarn as a restaurant and inn until it burned down in February 1969. [8] She wrote a memoir, Leben mit einem Kriegsverbrecher (1976) (Life with a War Criminal).[9] She spoke with several authors, sent in letters of correction to many newspapers, and defended her late husband, Reinhard Heydrich, until her death in Fehmarn at the age of 74 on August 14, 1985.[10]