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Grave of Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich dug up

By Jonna Lorenz
A memorial dedicated to the local children who perished in Nazi concentration camps is seen during a remembrance ceremony honoring the 70th anniversary of the destruction of the village of Lidice by the German Nazi troops, in Lidice, Czech Republic, in retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. File Photo by Matej Divizna/EPA
A memorial dedicated to the local children who perished in Nazi concentration camps is seen during a remembrance ceremony honoring the 70th anniversary of the destruction of the village of Lidice by the German Nazi troops, in Lidice, Czech Republic, in retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. File Photo by Matej Divizna/EPA

Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Police in Berlin are investigating after the grave of high-ranking Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich was dug up.

Nothing appears to have been removed from the site, and police were seeking suspects on charges of disturbing a burial site, according to German media reports.

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Heydrich served under SS leader Heinrich Himmler, leading the Reich Main Security Office, which controlled the Gestapo and Nazi security services. He played a key role in planning the Holocaust, including chairing the Wannsee conference on Jan. 20, 1942, when plans for the Holocaust were discussed.

Adolf Hitler called Heydrich "the Man with the Iron Heart." Other nicknames included "the Butcher," "the Hangman" and "Himmler's Evil Genius."

Czechoslovak agents attacked his car in on May 27, 1942, and he died of his injuries a few days later. In retaliation, German forces executed 390 residents of the village of Lidice in the Czech Republic.

Heydrich was buried in Berlin's Invalidenfriedhof military cemetery with top honors. His grave is unmarked.

A motive for the grave's defilement, which happened overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, was unclear. In 2000, a group of extremists opened the grave of Nazi storm trooper Horst Wessel, removed the skull and threw it in the Spree River.

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