This year marked the 80th anniversary of the assassination of SS General Reinhard Heydrich. Chief of the Reich Security Main Office, Heydrich was in control of the SS and the police agency most concerned with implementing the Holocaust. He was also acting Reich Protector of German-Occupied Bohemia and Moravia.

*Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum*

Launching his violent history of crimes at the age of 16, Heydrich worked for the Freikorps by carrying out “cleansing acts'' against the German Communist Party. He had a short career in the German military before he was dismissed from the German Intelligence Service for impropriety. Heydrich joined the Nazi Party in 1931. He became the commander of the Gestapo, commissioning and participating in horrendous acts such as compiling the list for The Night of Long Knives.

His move to Prague is where Heydrich gained his real infamy. He was known as The Butcher of Prague after a series of mass executions he commissioned in September of 1941. He is also responsible for the Crystal Night, in which 101 Jewish synagogues were burned and 76 were demolished. Under his orders, Nazis destroyed 7,500 Jewish-owned stores, pillaging and looting throughout the night. The glass-filled streets reflecting in the light of burning buildings gave this night its’ misleading name.

Heydrich was also the creator of the “Final Solution” to the Jewish problem. He attended the Wannsee Conference with 15 leading Nazis in 1942. His Plan was to march all Jews East and create large labor columns. He believed that the Jews would “fall to natural domination” and that the strong would finish the journey and make good labor workers.

During the German occupation, many Czech leaders were forced to evacuate. After watching the terror inflicted, President Eduardo Bene, who had been evacuated to London, could stand by no longer. President Bene ordered a team to be put together to take action. After months of planning, an attack was initiated. Heydrich was a man of habit, taking the same routes to every location. His crimes, routine, and status made him a perfect target.

The assassins chosen were Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubis, two Czech paratroopers who entered into a special training program with the British Military.

Josef Gabcik was born in the year 1912 in Slovakia. He was a blacksmith and locksmith before eventually joining the military in 1932. A natural leader, he had moved up to the rank of Sergeant before he was forced to flee to Poland. There he was signed to the French Foreign Legion and sailed on the Chrobry to France, then on to Algiers. Eventually returning to France, he was assigned to the 12th company of the Czech army. Deputy commander of a platoon, he fought many battles in France. He was eventually evacuated to England.

Born in 1913, Jan Kubis joined the military in 1935 as an army conscript. Improving his rank quickly, he rose up to deputy commander of a platoon on the Czech border. Soon after the Munich Agreement, Kubis was discharged from the military and turned home to work in a brick factory. When he was forced to flee Czechoslovakia, he rejoined the fight. He enlisted in a unit that had been formed in Poland to hold the front line, before also being evacuated to England.

These men were handpicked to train and prepare to lead the mission that was given the code name: Anthropoid.

The Attempt

There was a total of 7 men involved in the assassination attempt. They parachuted into the Bohemian Hills in December of 1941. Hidden among the resistance, they waited patiently and watched Heydrich. It was decided the ambush would happen in the Liber District.

The attempt nearly failed. Initially to be shot by Gabcik, a jammed gun through a wrench in the plan. Kubis made a second attempt by tossing a modified grenade. It detonated under one of the tires on the vehicle, wounding but not killing Heydrich. Heydrich attempted to return fire but in a stroke of luck, his gun also jammed, allowing the assassins to escape. The explosion from the grenade eventually did its’ work, Heydrich was embedded with splinters of shrapnel in both his leg and back. Heydrich collapsed in the street and was rushed to the hospital. He would die a week later from his injuries.

After the attempt, the members of Anthropoid were able to hide out in the nearby church of St Cyril and St Methodius. They were able to successfully evade discovery for 3 weeks. In the end, they were betrayed by Karen Curda. After a standoff, Kubis and several others were killed. Trapped and with no options, Gabcik and the rest of the team committed suicide.

The retaliation to Heydrich’s assassination was devastating. The villages of Lidice and Lezaky were all but destroyed. After shooting all of the men, most of the women and children were then deported to camps.

The Lidice Memorial
*Source: Lidice Memorial and Museum*

Written by Kelsey McDade

‘St. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral’, Memory of Nations, https://www.mistapametinaroda.cz/?lc=en&id=122, (Accessed June 24, 2022).

Hauner, Milan, ‘Terrorism and Heroism: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich’, JSTOR, World Policy Journal, Duke University Press, 2007, pg. 85-89, https://www.jstor.org/stable/40210095, (Accessed June 26, 2022).

‘Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich’, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1942-1945/assassination-of-reinhard-heydrich, (Accessed June 26, 2022).

Simkin, John, ‘Reinhard Heydrich’, Spartacus Educational, 2020, https://spartacus-educational.com/GERheydrich.htm, (Accessed June 24, 2022).