The Czechoslovak government in exile planned the assassination of Reinhard Butcher
Heydrich. Heydrich had earned the title The Hangman of Prague
and was developing a secret program of racial assimilation.
The operation to assassinate Heydrich was codenamed Anthropoid
and two volunteers for the task were selected from a group of Czech army volunteers that were being trained by the British SOE for underground work. They were Jan Kubiš and Josef Gabčík.
Kubiš and Gabčík were dropped into the German occupied Protectorate on the 28th December 1941 and by May 27th 1942 had finalised their plans for the assassination attempt. On a hairpin bend in the suburb of Holešovičkach, they made their attempt. Heydrich was not directly killed, but died from his wounds a few days later on the 4th June 1942.
A massive manhunt began. In the first three months of Gestapo terror, 3188 people were arrested of which 1357 were executed and 657 more died under interrogation. Victims included people who merely expressed approval of the assassination. The Gestapo concluded that the operation had been planned in England because of the techniques and equipment that had been used.
After Heydrich's funeral, Hitler ordered the total destruction of the village of Lidice on the 9th June 1942. 199 men were killed and 195 women and 87 children were sent to concentration camps. Only 8 children were spared for adoption by SS families. The buildings were dynamited and levelled to the floor with everything recorded on film.
The Lonely Planet guide describes the site now and explains that there is a museum nearby that includes original SS footage of the destruction.
A 10 million Mark reward was offered for information leading to the capture of the assassins. Kubiš and Gabčík were hiding in the crypt of a Serbian orthodox church in Prague together with 5 other parachutists sent from Britain. They were eventually betrayed by a colleague of theirs and surrounded by the German SS on the 18th June. Sadly, in the following gun fight, 6 of them killed themselves and one died of his wounds.
Abroad, the assassination placed Czechoslovakia and the government-in-exile much more strongly in the political picture.
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