born March 7, 1904, Halle, Ger.
died June 4, 1942, Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
German Nazi official.
He resigned from the navy in 1931 to join the SS , becoming SS chief for Berlin (1934), head of the Reich Security Central Office (1939), and Heinrich Himmler 's chief deputy. Noted for his ruthlessness against "enemies of the state," in the early years of World War II he organized mass executions in the German-occupied territories and became known as "the Hangman." In 1942 he chaired the Wannsee Conference . Appointed deputy administrator of Bohemia and Moravia, he was assassinated by Czech patriots; in retaliation the Gestapo demolished the village of Lidice and executed its male population of about 200.