Reinhard Heydrich quotes from The Man in the High Castle

Reinhard Heydrich

The duty of maintaining order is never as thrilling as the challenge of establishing it.

Reinhard Heydrich

Colonel. You look rested.

Rudolph Wegener

Hardly.

Heydrich

You've had time to reflect on your situation.

Wegener

I have. This is a list of names, not just my wife and children, but her father and the rest of her family.

Heydrich

Ten lives in exchange for yours.

Wegener

That's the deal.

Heydrich

You need not worry, Colonel. Come. You have a rocket to board.

Wegener

Where am I going?

Heydrich

Berlin.

Wegener

What is it you expect me to do there?

Heydrich

I thought it was obvious, Colonel. The Führer is old and ill, standing in the way of the empire he built.

Wegener

Am I meant to talk to him?

Heydrich

No, Colonel Wegener. You're meant to kill him.

Reinhard Heydrich

[as he prepares coffee] What is the power of the films? Do you know why the Führer prizes them so highly?

John Smith

You'd have to address any questions on that subject to the Führer himself.

Heydrich

The Führer is a spent force, John. We both know that. I don't believe for a second that sharing the land of your birth with the Japanese sits well with you.

Smith

I'm sure the Führer has his reasons.

Heydrich

Loyalty is an overrated virtue, John, championed by the bovine, dignified by the weak to justify their weakness. It's certainly not worthy of you.

Smith

Neither is betrayal.

Heydrich

Ultimately, John, we owe our hearts and our minds not to any one man but to an idea, and that idea is under threat. It is up to the best of us to step forward now as both the Führer and nature demands. The strong must overcome the weak.

[as guards release Heydrich's restraints] Oberstgruppenführer, if you will please get dressed, we must evacuate you immediately.

John Smith

[enters cell] Please forgive our hastiness, Oberstgruppenführer. We don't afford to take chances with your safety at a time like this. [pause] Reinhard, I don't speak for myself.

Reinhard Heydrich

What is this?

Smith

Please. Please hear me out. I know it's too late for me. I accept that. But I ask you to bear in mind that I was just a soldier... a loyal soldier... doing his duty.

Heydrich

Am I to believe the Führer is dead?

Smith

I ask you one thing. Will you give me your word that you will spare Helen and the children?

Heydrich

How do I know this is not a deception?

Smith

I wish it were. One hour ago, San Francisco was flattened with an atomic blast. [Heydrich looks sad] I won't presume to tell you the details, but our invasion of the Pacific States is underway. And then I receive an order from Berlin demanding your immediate release. You won, Reinhard. You won.

Heydrich

[sniffles but face gets smug] You had your chance, John, and now you are on the wrong side of history. When the Japanese are eradicated, we will have a better world. A world, sadly, you will now never see.

Smith

Do I have your word that you will spare my family?

Heydrich

That is up to the new Führer.

Smith

It's not you?

Heydrich

[shakes head] No. It is someone with a much grander vision. [stands erect and gives Nazi salute] Heil Heusmann! [laughs hard]

Smith

Reinhard?

Heydrich

Yes, John?

Smith

Thank you. [Raeder kills Heydrich]