Reinhard Heydrich, the commander of the German Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), the acting Reichsprotektor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a principal architect of the Holocaust, was attacked during the Second World War in a coordinated operation by the Czechoslovak resistance. The assassination attempt, code-named Operation Anthropoid, was carried out by resistance operatives Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš on 27 May 1942. Heydrich was wounded in the attack and he died 8 days later of his injuries.
The operatives who carried out the assassination were soldiers of the Czechoslovak Army who were prepared and trained by the British Special Operations Executive with the approval of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, led by Edvard Beneš. The Czechoslovaks undertook the operation to help confer legitimacy on the government-in-exile, and to exact retribution for Heydrich's brutal rule. The operation was the only verified government-sponsored assassination of a senior Nazi leader during the war. Heydrich's death led to a wave of reprisals by SS troops, including the destruction of villages and mass killings of civilians, including the Lidice massacre.
Multiple memorials have been created in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the United Kingdom to commemorate both the assassination and its aftermath. The events have been the subject of various films (usually in the general context of World War II in popular culture and specifically portrayals of Heydrich).
Background Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Reinhard Heydrich had been the chief of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) since September 1939 and was appointed acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia after replacing Konstantin von Neurath in September 1941. Chancellor Adolf Hitler agreed with Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler and Heydrich that von Neurath's relatively lenient approach to the Czechs promoted anti-German sentiment, and encouraged anti-German resistance by strikes and sabotage.
Heydrich came to Prague to "strengthen policy, carry out countermeasures against resistance", and keep up production quotas of Czech motors and arms that were "extremely important to the German war effort". During his role as de facto dictator of Bohemia and Moravia, Heydrich often drove with his chauffeur in a car with an open roof. This was a show of his confidence in the occupation forces and in the effectiveness of his government. Due to his brutal suppression of resistance and use of occupation forces to terrorize the people, Heydrich was nicknamed the Butcher of Prague, the Blond Beast and the Hangman.Ramen, Fred. Reinhard Heydrich: Hangman of the Third Reich, p. 8.
Strategic context
By late 1941, Nazi Germany and its allies controlled most of Continental Europe, and German forces were approaching Moscow; the Western Allies deemed the Soviet Union's capitulation likely. The Czechoslovak government-in-exile under President Edvard Beneš came under pressure from the British government to take direct action against Nazi Germany, as there had been little visible anti-German resistance in Czechoslovakia since Germany's occupation of the Sudeten regions of the country in 1938. The takeover of these regions had been accepted by the governments of Britain and France in the Munich Agreement, and Germany began occupying the rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939. Combined with the Munich Agreement, the brutality of the German occupation seemed to break the will of the Czechoslovak public for a period.
The German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 had inspired acts of anti-German sabotage by Czech communists, resulting in Heydrich's appointment. In addition to stamping out resistance and establishing the Theresienstadt ghetto/concentration camp, Heydrich had overseen a progressive policy of good wages (equivalent to those in Germany) for local industrial workers and farmers. This incentive caused the number of acts of sabotage to drop significantly and helped boost production of war materials. Heydrich was thought to be scheduled to transfer to occupied northern France and Belgium, with the intent to implement similar policies there.
Resistance movements were active from the very beginning of German occupation in several other countries defeated in open warfare (Poland, Yugoslavia and Greece), but the subjugated Czech lands remained relatively calm and produced significant amounts of materiel for Germany. The exiled government believed that it had to do something to inspire the Czechoslovaks, as well as show the world that the Czechs and Slovaks were allies of the West. In particular, Beneš felt that a dramatic action undertaken by Czechs as part of the Allied cause would make it politically harder for the British to sign any possible peace agreement with Germany that would undermine Czech national interests. Heydrich was chosen over Karl Hermann Frank as an assassination target due to his status as the acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia and his reputation for terrorizing local citizens. The operation was also intended to demonstrate to senior Nazis that they were not beyond the reach of Allied forces and the resistance groups they supported.
Assassination Planning
The operation was initiated by František Moravec, head of the Czechoslovak intelligence services, with the knowledge and approval of Beneš, almost as soon as Heydrich was appointed Protector. Moravec personally briefed Brigadier Colin Gubbins, who at the time was the Director of Operations in the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and who had responsibility for the Czech and Polish "country" sections of the organisation. Gubbins readily agreed to help mount the operation, although knowledge of it was restricted to a few of the headquarters and training staff of SOE. The operation was given the codename Anthropoid, Greek for "having the form of a human", a term usually used in zoology.
Preparation began on 20 October 1941. Moravec had personally selected two dozen of the most promising personnel from among the 2,000 exiled Czechoslovak soldiers in Britain. They were sent to one of SOE's commando training centres at Arisaig in Scotland. Warrant Officer Jozef Gabčík (Slovak) and Staff Sergeant Karel Svoboda (cs) (Czech) were chosen to carry out the operation on 28 October 1941 (Czechoslovakia's Independence Day), but Svoboda received a head injury during training and was replaced by Jan Kubiš (Czech). This caused delays in the mission because Kubiš had not completed training, nor had the necessary false documents been prepared for him.
Training was supervised by the nominal head of the Czech section, Major Alfgar Hesketh-Prichard, who turned to Cecil Vandepeer Clarke to develop the necessary weapon. It was light enough to throw but still lethal enough to destroy an armour-plated Mercedes-Benz. During extensive training, the new weapon was found to be easy to throw by Hesketh-Prichard (who had a strong cricketing background, his father having been a first-class bowler), but less so by Gabčík and Kubiš.
Insertion Gabčík and Kubiš, along with seven other soldiers from Czechoslovakia's army-in-exile in the United Kingdom in two other groups, Silver A and Silver B (who had different missions), were flown from RAF Tangmere by a Halifax of No. 138 Squadron RAF at 22:00 on 28 December 1941. The groups, along with some supply containers, left the plane by parachute, in drops in three separate areas. The Anthropoid pair landed near Nehvizdy east of Prague. Originally, the plane had been planned to land near Pilsen, but the aircrew had navigation problems and each of the groups landed in different places from where intended. Gabčík and Kubiš moved to Pilsen to contact their allies, and from there to Prague, where the attack was planned.
In Prague, the pair contacted families and Czechoslovak resistance organisations who helped them during the preparations for the assassination. Upon learning of the nature of the mission, resistance leaders begged the Czechoslovak government-in-exile to call off the attack, saying that "[a]n attempt against Heydrich's life... would be of no use to the Allies and its consequences for our people would be immeasurable". Beneš personally broadcast a message insisting that the attack go forward, although he denied any involvement after the war. Lawyer and diplomat Vojtěch Mastný argued that Beneš "clung to the scheme as the last resort to dramatize Czech resistance".
Attack in Prague
At 10:30 on Wednesday, 27 May 1942, Heydrich started his daily commute from his home in Panenské Břežany, north of central Prague, to his headquarters at Prague Castle. He was driven by SS-Oberscharführer Johannes Klein. Gabčík and Kubiš waited at the tram stop at the junction between the road then known as , and , in Prague 8-Libeň near Bulovka Hospital. The tight curve there would force Heydrich's car to slow down as it turned westwards into . Josef Valčík (from group Silver A) was positioned about north of Gabčík and Kubiš to look out for the approaching car.
Heydrich's green, open-topped Mercedes 320 Cabriolet B reached the curve two minutes later. Gabčík concealed his Sten submachine gun under a raincoat. As the car slowed and rounded the corner, Gabčík dropped his raincoat and raised the gun to shoot Heydrich but the gun jammed. Heydrich stood up and drew his Luger pistol, yelling to halt instead of ordering to accelerate. As the car braked in front of him, Kubiš, who was not spotted, threw a modified No. 73 grenade (concealed in a briefcase) at the car; he misjudged his throw. Instead of landing inside the car, it landed against the rear wheel. Nonetheless, the bomb severely wounded Heydrich when it detonated, its fragments ripping through the right rear fender and embedding fragmentation and fibers from the upholstery of the car into Heydrich, causing serious injuries to his left side, with major damage to his diaphragm, spleen and lung, as well as fracturing a rib. Kubiš received a minor wound to his face from the shrapnel. The explosion shattered the windows of the tram, which had stopped on the opposite side of the road, and shrapnel struck passengers. Two SS jackets folded on the back seat of the car were whirled upwards by the blast and landed draped over the trolley wire.