Guess the Nazi ! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Reinhard Heydrich

By 1942 Heydrich had amassed several offices in the Nazi regime, including those of deputy head of the SS, head of 'Jewish Affairs' and acting governor of Bohemia and Moravia. He was an SS-Obergruppenführer (roughly equivalent to lieutenant-general) at the time of his assassination.

Two members of the Czech resistance escaped from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to the UK, where they were trained by British Special forces. They were later sent back to Bohemia to assassinate Heydrich. On the day of the assassination, one of the pair attempted to shoot him with a machine gun, but it jammed, and then the other threw a grenade, fatally wounding him. He was rushed to hospital, and then went into a coma, after several days he died of blood poisoning.

The team was betrayed by a local member of the resistance. The Nazis were led to the Orthodox church in Prague, which was being used as a hiding place by the team. At the end of a spectacular shoot-out in the church the assassins committed suicide. The damage done by the betrayal was enormous, with the Nazis discovering several safe houses. Savage reprisals followed.

Answer: Hermann Fegelein

Before Himmler left for Lubeck, he informed his adjutant, Fegelein, of his plans to negotiate a surrender with Eisenhower. Fegelein remained silent about this. However, when Hitler found out about these plans, he ordered the execution of Fegelein, Himmler's 'Golden Boy'. Fegelein was found AWOL and in bed with his wife drunk. He was taken outside the bunker and shot.

Answer: Hermann Göring

Hermann Göring was for a long time seen as #2 in the Third Reich and in 1941 was designated as Hitler's successor, but at the very end Hitler stripped him of all ranks and offices: Göring in effect proclaimed himself Führer (on the grounds that Hitler was surrounded in Berlin and unable to carry out his functions) - an act that Hitler regarded as treason.

He was addicted to morphine and when taken to Nuremberg, he brought many jars of tablets with him!

Sentenced to death by the Nuremberg Tribunal, he committed suicide the night before he was due to be executed.

Answer: Joseph Goebbels

He also committed suicide in the bunker, along with his wife, who also poisoned their five of their six children. (One was not in the bunker at the time of the poisonings).

Answer: Eichmann

He was found by Israeli intellgence, taken to Israel, given a major, highly publicized trial, convicted and hanged for his crimes.

Answer: Himmler

Himmler joined the Nazis very early and participated in the Beer Hall Putsch (Novemeber 1923). He was an ardent believer in Nordic paganism and an equally ardent racist.

In 1925 he joined the SS and rose rapidly, becoming head of the SS. By 1936 at the latest he was in charge of the entire Nazi terror apparatus and turned it into a formidable lobby.

Towards the very end of the war Himmler tried to negotiate with the Allies. Hitler stripped him of all offices and ranks (like Göring) and expelled him from the NSDAP. Shortly after being arrested by the British in May 1945 he committed suicide.

Answer: Hess

Rudolf Hess's real position was much less influential than the title of Deputy Führer would suggest.

He was found and gave his name as Alfred Horn, then taken to hospital. The Home Guard alerted the authorities and the next day it was reported in the media.

Answer: Speer

He was first introduced to Hitler for a design and soon became quite close to the Führer and sometimes also dined with Göring, Himmler and other Nazi leaders.

Answer: Rudolf Höss

Höss was arrested in April 1946. He appeared at the Nuremberg Tribunal as a witness for the defence(!) and was then sent to Poland for trial. While awaiting trial he wrote his memoirs, which reveal an archetypal authoritarian personality (as posulated by Adorno).

In April 1947 Höss was tried in Warsaw, convicted, sentenced to death and hanged at Auschwitz, just inside the former camp, facing the notorious sign inscribed 'Arbeit macht frei'.

Answer: Adolf Hitler

Hitler, as is well known, promised Germany a better future, more jobs and the restoration of "German honour", but brought Germany into disrepute as nobody else has ever done.