1942 June 4

Reinhard Heydrich dies in Prague due to the assassination of Czechoslovak paratroopers (Operation Anthropoid). During World War II, the Czechoslovak-British Operation Anthropoid was the code name for the assassination of top Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich. He was the chief of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) (Reich Main Security Office), the acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, and a chief planner of the Final Solution, the Nazi program for the genocide of the Jews of Europe. On May 27, 1942 Heydrich proceeded on his daily commuting journey from his home in Panenské Břežany to Prague Castle. In a hurry, he didn't wait for the customary police escort. Gabčík and Kubiš waited at the tram stop in the curve near Bulovka hospital. Valčik was positioned about 100 metres north of Gabčík and Kubiš as lookout for the approaching car. As Heydrich’s open-topped Mercedes-Benz neared the pair, Gabčík is said to have stepped in front of the vehicle, trying to open fire, but his Sten gun jammed. Heydrich ordered his driver, SS-Oberscharführer Klein, to stop the car. When Heydrich stood up to try to shoot Gabčík, Kubiš tossed a modified anti-tank grenade at the vehicle, and its fragments ripped through the car’s right fender, embedding shrapnel and fibres from the upholstery in Heydrich’s body, even though the grenade failed to enter the car. Heydrich managed to return fire but soon collapsed. Klein was killed in a manhunt in pursuit of Gabčík. Heydrich died 11 days later from septicemia (blood poisoning).

Hitler ordered the SS and Gestapo to “wade in blood” throughout Bohemia to find Heydrich’s killers. Initially, Hitler wanted to start with brutal, widespread killing of the Czech people, but, after consultations, he reduced his response to only some thousands. The Czech lands were an important industrial zone for the German military, and indiscriminate killing could reduce the productivity of the region.

Ultimately, more than 13,000 people were arrested. The most notorious incidents were the murder of all residents, and the complete destruction of the villages of Lidice and Ležáky. Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill, infuriated, suggested leveling three German villages for every Czech village the Nazis destroyed. Instead, the Allies stopped planning similar operations to assassinate top Nazis for the fear of similar reprisals. Two years after Heydrich was killed, however, they attempted one more time, this time targeting Hitler in Operation Foxley which failed to materialize. Operation Anthropoid remained the only successful assassination of a top-ranking Nazi German leader during the Third Reich.

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