Operation Anthropoid

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Operation Anthropoid
Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-039-44, Heydrich-Attentat.jpg
Heydrich's car after the attack
Operational scope Assassination
Location Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (today Czech Republic)
Planned December 1941–May 1942
Planned by Special Operations Executive
Target Reinhard Heydrich
Date 27 May 1942
Executed by Jozef Gabčík
Jan Kubiš
Outcome Heydrich dies from his wounds, 4 June; Nazis order reprisals

Operation Anthropoid was the code name for the assassination attempt on SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office, RSHA), the combined security services of Nazi Germany, and acting Reichsprotektor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.[1] The operation was carried out in Prague on 27 May 1942 after having been prepared by the British Special Operations Executive with the approval of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile. Although only wounded in the attack, Heydrich died of his injuries on 4 June 1942. His death led to a wave of merciless reprisals by German SS troops, including the destruction of villages and the killing of civilians.

Heydrich had been a key player in the rise of Adolf Hitler; as a Nazi potentate, he was given overall charge of the Final Solution and the Holocaust of the Jews in Europe. Despite the risks, the primary purpose of Anthropoid, from the Czech perspective, was to confer legitimacy on Edvard Beneš's government-in-exile in London.[2]

Reinhard Heydrich, the target of Operation Anthropoid

Contents

Background [edit]

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia [edit]

Heydrich, who had been the chief of the RSHA since September 1939[3], was appointed acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia after replacing Konstantin von Neurath in September 1941. 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.[4] Heydrich came to Prague to "strengthen policy, carry out counter measures against resistance" and keep up production quotas of Czech motor and arms that were "extremely important to the German war effort".[4] 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.[5] Due to his brutal efficiency, Heydrich was nicknamed the Butcher of Prague, the Blond Beast, and the Hangman.[6]

Strategic context [edit]

Nazi zenith 1941–42

By late 1941, Hitler controlled almost all continental Europe, and German forces were approaching Moscow.[7] The Allies deemed Soviet capitulation likely. The exiled government of Czechoslovakia, under President Edvard Beneš, was under pressure from British intelligence, as there had been very little visible resistance since the occupation of the Sudeten regions of the country in 1938 (occupation of the whole country began in 1939). The takeover of these regions that was enforced by the Munich Agreement and the subsequent terror of the German Reich broke the will of the Czechs for a period.

While in several other countries defeated in open warfare (e.g. Poland, Yugoslavia and Greece) the resistance was active from the very beginning of occupation, the subjugated Czech lands remained relatively calm, and produced significant amounts of military material for the Third Reich. The exiled government felt it had to do something that would inspire the Czechs, as well as show the world that the Czechs were allies.

The status of Reinhard Heydrich as the acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia as well as his reputation for terrorizing local citizens led to him being chosen over Karl Hermann Frank as an assassination target. The operation was also meant to prove to the Nazis that they were not untouchable.[2]

Operation [edit]

Planning [edit]

The operation was given the codename "Anthropoid". With the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), preparation began on 20 October 1941. Warrant Officer Jozef Gabčík (Slovak) and Staff Sergeant Karel Svoboda (Czech) were chosen to carry out the operation on 28 October 1941 (Czechoslovakia's Independence Day).[2] Svoboda was replaced with Jan Kubiš (Czech) after a head injury during training, causing delays in the mission, as Kubiš had not completed training nor had the necessary false documents been prepared for him.[8]

Insertion [edit]

Jozef Gabčík
Jan Kubiš

Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš were airlifted along with seven soldiers from Czechoslovakia’s army-in-exile in the United Kingdom and two other groups named Silver A and Silver B (who had different missions) by a Royal Air Force Halifax of No. 138 Squadron into Czechoslovakia at 10 pm on 28 December 1941. Gabčík and Kubiš landed near Nehvizdy east of Prague; although the plan was to land near Pilsen, the pilots had problems with orientation.[9] The soldiers then moved to Pilsen to contact their allies, and from there on to Prague, where the attack was planned.

In Prague, they contacted several families and anti-Nazi organisations who helped them during the preparations for the targeted kill.[10] Gabčík and Kubiš initially planned to kill Heydrich on a train, but after examination of the logistics, they realised that this was not possible. The second plan was to kill him on the road in the forest on the way from Heydrich’s seat to Prague. They planned to pull a cable across the road that would stop Heydrich’s car but, after waiting several hours, their commander, Lt. Adolf Opálka (from the group Out Distance), came to bring them back to Prague. The third plan was to kill Heydrich in Prague.

The attack in Prague [edit]

The Mercedes 320 Convertible B car in which Heydrich was mortally wounded, showing the tank grenade damage.
Another of Heydrich's Mercedes 320 Convertible B cars, similar to the one in which he was mortally wounded (currently in the Military History Museum in Prague)

On 27 May 1942, at 10:30, Heydrich proceeded on his daily commute from his home in Panenské Břežany to Prague Castle. Gabčík and Kubiš waited at the tram stop at a tight curve near Bulovka Hospital in Prague 8-Libeň. The spot was chosen because the curve would force the car to slow down. Valčik was positioned about 100 metres north of Gabčík and Kubiš as lookout for the approaching car. As Heydrich’s open-topped Mercedes 320 Convertible B reached the curve two minutes later, Gabčík stepped in front of the vehicle, trying to open fire, but his Sten submachine gun jammed. Heydrich ordered his driver, SS-Oberscharführer Klein, to stop the car. When Heydrich stood up to try to shoot Gabčík with his Luger pistol, Kubiš threw a modified anti-tank grenade[11] (concealed in a briefcase) at the vehicle, and its fragments ripped through the car’s right-rear bumper, embedding shrapnel and fibres from the upholstery into Heydrich’s body, even though the grenade failed to enter the car. Kubiš was also injured by the shrapnel.[12] Heydrich, apparently unaware of his shrapnel injuries, staggered out of the car, returned fire and tried to chase Gabčík but soon collapsed. Klein returned from his abortive attempt to chase Kubiš who fled the scene by bicycle. Now bleeding profusely, Heydrich ordered Klein to chase Gabčík on foot.[13] Gabčík was chased by Klein into a butcher shop, where the former shot Klein twice (using his revolver) and severely wounded him in the leg; Gabčík escaped to a local safe house via tram.[14][15] The soldiers were initially convinced that the attack had failed.

Medical treatment and death [edit]

A Czech woman went to Heydrich's aid and flagged down a delivery van. Heydrich was first placed in the driver's cab, but complained that the truck's movement was causing him pain. He was placed in the back of the truck, on his stomach, and taken to the emergency room at Na Bulovce Hospital.[16] Heydrich had suffered severe injuries to his left side, with major damage to his diaphragm, spleen, and lung; along with a fractured rib. Dr. Slanina packed the chest wound, while Dr. Walter Diek the Sudeten German chief of surgery at the hospital, tried unsuccessfully to remove the splinters. Heydrich was operated on by Professor Hollbaum, a Silesian German who was chairman of surgery at Charles University in Prague, with assistance by Drs. Diek and Slanina.[16] The surgeons reinflated the collapsed left lung, removed the tip of the fractured eleventh rib, sutured the torn diaphragm, inserted several catheters and removed the spleen, which contained a grenade fragment and upholstery material.[17] Heydrich’s direct superior, Himmler, sent his personal physician, Karl Gebhardt, who arrived that evening. After 29 May, Heydrich was entirely in the care of SS physicians. Postoperative care included administration of large amounts of morphine. There are contradictory accounts concerning whether sulfanilamides were given, but Gebhardt testified at his 1947 war crimes trial that they were not.[17] The patient developed a high fever of 38–39 °C (100.4–102.2 °F) and wound drainage. After seven days, his condition appeared to be improving when, while sitting up eating a noon meal, he collapsed and went into shock, dying the next morning.[17] Himmler’s physicians officially described the cause of death as septicemia, meaning infection of the bloodstream.[18] One of the theories was that some of the horsehair used in the upholstery of Heydrich’s car was forced into his body by the blast of the grenade, causing a systemic infection.[19] It has also been suggested that he died of a massive pulmonary embolism. In support of the latter possibility, at autopsy particles of fat and blood clots were found in the right ventricle and pulmonary artery, and severe edema was noted in the upper lobes of the lungs, while the lower lobes were collapsed.[17]

Botulinum poisoning theory [edit]

The authors of A Higher Form of Killing claim that Heydrich died from botulism; i.e. botulinum poisoning.[20] According to this theory, the Type 73 anti-armour hand grenade used in the attack had been modified to contain botulinum toxin. This story originates from comments made by Paul Fildes, a Porton Down botulism researcher. There is only circumstantial evidence to support this allegation[17][21] (the records of the SOE for the period have remained sealed) and few medical records of Heydrich's collapse have been preserved.[17]

The general evidence cited to support the theory includes the modifications made to the Type 73 grenade: the upper third part of this British anti-tank grenade had been removed and the open end and sides wrapped up with tape. A specially modified weapon could be explained by the need to attach a toxic or biological payload. Heydrich received excellent medical care by the standards of the time. His autopsy showed none of the usual signs of septicaemia, although infection of the wound and areas surrounding the lungs and heart was reported.[17] The authors of a German wartime report on the incident stated that "Death occurred as a consequence of lesions in the vital parenchymatous organs caused by bacteria and possibly by poisons carried into them by bomb splinters ... ".

Heydrich's progression to death was not recorded in detail, but he appears not to have displayed any of the paralytic or other symptoms associated with botulism (which are very distinctive and have a gradual, progressive onset). Two other people were also wounded by fragments of the same grenade: Kubiš, the Czech soldier who threw the grenade, and a bystander. Neither was recorded to have shown any sign of poisoning.[17][22] Given that Fildes is reported to have had a tendency to make "extravagant boasts", and that the grenade modifications could have been aimed at making it lighter, the validity of the botulinum toxin theory has been disputed.[17] Two of the original six modified grenades are kept by the Military History Institute in Prague.[23]

Consequences [edit]

Reprisals [edit]

Memorial plaques with names of the victims at the Kobylisy shooting range in Prague, where over 500 Czechs were executed in May and June 1942.

On the day of the assassination attempt, Hitler ordered an investigation and reprisals, while suggesting that Himmler send SS General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski to Prague, as according to Karl Hermann Frank's post-war testimony, Hitler knew Zelewski to be harsher than Heydrich.[24] Hitler was in favour of killing 10,000 politically unreliable Czechs but, upon consultation with Himmler, the idea was dropped due to the Czech lands being an important industrial zone for the German military and indiscriminate killing could reduce the productivity of the region.[25]

Upon Himmler's orders, the Nazi retaliation was brutal. More than 13,000 people were arrested, including the girlfriend of Jan Kubiš, Anna Malinová, who died at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp. First Lieutenant Adolf Opálka's aunt, Marie Opálková, was executed in Mauthausen on 24 October 1942;[26] his father, Viktor Jarolím, was also killed.[27] According to one estimate 5000 people were killed in reprisals.[28]

Intelligence falsely linked the assassins to the villages of Lidice and Ležáky. A Gestapo report stated that Lidice was suspected as the hiding place of the assailants as it was known that several Czech army officers, then in England, had come from there. Further, the Gestapo had found a resistance radio transmitter in Ležáky.[29] In the village of Lidice, which was destroyed on 9 June 1942: 199 men were executed, 95 children taken (81 were later killed in gas vans at the Chełmno extermination camp; eight were taken for adoption by German families), and 195 women were deported immediately to Ravensbrück concentration camp. All the men and women in the village of Ležáky were murdered. Both towns were burned and the ruins of Lidice were levelled.[30][31]

The possibility that the Germans would apply the principle of "collective responsibility" on this scale in avenging Heydrich's assassination was either not foreseen by the Czech government-in-exile or else was deemed an acceptable cost to pay for eliminating Heydrich and provoking reprisals that would reduce Czech acquiescence to the German administration.

Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill was infuriated, and suggested leveling three German villages for every Czech village the Nazis destroyed. Two years after Heydrich's death they planned one more attempt, this time targeting Hitler in Operation Foxley, but failed to obtain approval.

Operation Anthropoid remains the only successful government-organised targeted killing of a top-ranking Nazi. The Polish underground killed two senior SS officers in the General government (see Operation Kutschera and Operation Bürkl); additionally, in Operation Blow-up, General-Kommissar of Belarus Wilhelm Kube was killed by Soviet partisan Yelena Mazanik, a Belarusian woman who had managed to find employment in his household in order to assassinate him.[32]

Investigation and manhunt [edit]

Bullet-scarred window of the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague where the attackers were cornered.

In the days following Lidice, no leads on those responsible for Heydrich's death were found and the Nazis were impatient. During that time, a deadline set for the assassins to be apprehended by 18 June 1942 was publicly issued to the military and the people of Czechoslovakia. If they were not caught by then, the Germans threatened to spill far more blood as a consequence; the Germans believed that this would threat would be sufficient to force somebody to sell out the culprits. Many civilians were indeed weary and fearful of further retaliations and it was becoming unbearable to hide information much longer. The assailants initially hid with two Prague families and later took refuge in Karel Boromejsky Church, an Orthodox church dedicated to Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague. The Germans were unable to locate the attackers until Karel Čurda of the "Out Distance" sabotage group was arrested by the Gestapo and gave the names of the team’s local contacts[33] for the bounty of 500,000 Reichsmarks.

Čurda betrayed several safe houses provided by the Jindra group, including that of the Moravec family in Žižkov. At 05:00 on 17 June, the Moravec flat was raided. The family was made to stand in the corridor while the Gestapo searched their flat. Mrs. Maria Moravec was allowed to go to the toilet, and killed herself with a cyanide capsule. Mr. Moravec, oblivious to his family's involvement with the resistance, was taken to the Peček Palác together with his 17-year-old son Ata. Ata was interrogated through the use of torture throughout the day, yet he refused to speak. Finally, Ata was stupefied with brandy, shown his mother's severed head in a fish tank and was warned that if he did not reveal information, his father would be next.[34] Ata Moravec finally cracked and told the Gestapo what they wanted to know.

SS troops laid siege to the church but, despite the best efforts of over 700 SS soldiers under the command of Generalleutnant Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld, they were unable to take the paratroopers alive; three, including Kubiš, were killed in the prayer loft (Kubiš was said to have survived the battle, but died shortly afterward from his injuries) after a two-hour gun battle.[35] The other four, including Gabčík, committed suicide in the crypt after repeated SS attacks, attempts to smoke them out, and fire trucks being brought in to try to flood the crypt.[36] The Germans (SS and police) also had casualties, allegedly 14 SS were killed and 21 wounded.[37][38] The official SS report about the fight mentions only five wounded SS soldiers.[39] The men in the church had small calibre pistols, while the attackers had submachine guns, machine guns and hand grenades. After the battle, Čurda confirmed the identification of the Czech resistance fighters—including Kubiš and Gabčík.

Bishop Gorazd, in an attempt to minimise the reprisals among his flock, took the blame for the actions in the church and even wrote letters to the Nazi authorities. On 27 June 1942, he was arrested and tortured. On 4 September 1942, Bishop Gorazd, the church's priests, and senior lay leaders were taken to Kobylisy Shooting Range in the northern suburbs of Prague, where they were shot by Nazi firing squads. For his actions, Bishop Gorazd was later glorified as a martyr by the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Political consequence and aftermath [edit]

The assassination of Heydrich was one of the most significant moments of the resistance in Czechoslovakia.[citation needed] The act had such an impact that it led to the immediate dissolution of the Munich Agreement (called the "Munich dictate" by the Czechs) as signed by Great Britain and France, as well as Germany's ally Italy. Britain and France agreed that after the Nazis were defeated the annexed territory (Sudetenland) would be restored to Czechoslovakia.

As Heydrich was one of the most important Nazi leaders, two large funeral ceremonies were conducted. The first one was in Prague, where the way to Prague Castle was lined by thousands of SS men with torches. The second was in Berlin attended by all leading Nazi figures, including Hitler, who placed the German Order and Blood Order medals on the funeral pillow.[40]

The betrayer Karel Čurda, after attempting suicide, was hanged in 1947 for high treason.[41][42]

Memorials [edit]

Memorial plaque on the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius, where the Czech paratroopers died in battle with the SS

The National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror is located beneath the Orthodox Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prague.

The Slovak National Museum opened an exhibition in May 2007 to commemorate the heroes of the Czech and Slovak resistance, presenting one of the most important resistance actions in the whole of German-occupied Europe. There is a small fountain in the Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa (one of the places where the Czech Free Army were based) commemorating the bravery of the troops.

Memorial to Gabčík and Kubiš in Nehvizdy

The Anthropoid Operation Memorial, 2009, Prague, authors: sculptor David Mojescik and sculptor Michal Smeral, architects — M. Tumova and J. Gulbis.

Portrayals in fiction [edit]

Operation Anthropoid was the basis for the films Hangmen Also Die and Hitler's Madman (1943); Atentát (1964), and Operation Daybreak (1975).

It is also the subject of several books, including:

Gallery [edit]

Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral, where the Allied agents died after being cornered, and the memorial there for those that killed by the SS in retaliation for Operation Anthropoid.

  • Orthodox church of Saints Cyril and Methodius

  • Photo of memorial outside door of the church

See also [edit]

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ McNab 2009, pp. 41, 158-161.
  2. ^ a b c Assassination by Michal Burian et al. See p. 31.
  3. ^ Lumsden 2002, p. 83.
  4. ^ a b Williams 2003, p. 82.
  5. ^ Williams 2003, p. 141.
  6. ^ Ramen, Fred. Reinhard Heydrich: Hangman of the Third Reich, p 8. ISBN 0-8239-3379-2
  7. ^ Shepherd, Ammon (2008). "World War II — Timeline". Retrieved 7 July 2008. 
  8. ^ Burian et al 2002, p. 35
  9. ^ Burian et al 2002, p. 44
  10. ^ Burian et al 2002, pp. 48 – 49
  11. ^ Michel, Wolfgang, Britische Spezialwaffen 1939–1945: Ausrüstung für Eliteeinheiten, Geheimdienst und Widerstand, p. 72. ISBN 3-8423-3944-5
  12. ^ Williams 2003, pp. 145–147.
  13. ^ Williams 2003, pp. 147, 155.
  14. ^ Burgess, Alan, Seven Men At Daybreak, p. 160. ISBN 0-553-23508-7
  15. ^ Burian et al 2002, p. 64
  16. ^ a b Williams 2003, p. 155.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i Defalque, R. J.; Wright, A. J. (January 2009). "The Puzzling Death of Reinhard Heydrich". Bulletin of Anesthesia History (Pittsburgh PA: Anesthesia History Association and Wood-Library Museum of Anesthesiology) 27 (1): 1–7. Retrieved 29 May 2009. 
  18. ^ Burian et al 2002, p. 65
  19. ^ MacDonald 1998, pp. 182–183.
  20. ^ Harris, Robert; Paxman, Jeremy (1982). A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret History of Chemical and Biological Warfare. London: Chatto & Windus. pp. 336 (see chapter 4, pp. 70–108). ISBN 978-0-8129-6653-4. OCLC 8261705. 
  21. ^ Carus, W. Seth (2001). Bioterrorism and Biocrimes: The Illicit Use of Biological Agents Since 1900. The Minerva Group, Inc. p. 89. ISBN 1-4101-0023-5. 
  22. ^ Middlebrook and Franz (1998). Botulinum toxins. Office of The Surgeon General, Department of the Army, United States of America. 
  23. ^ http://aktualne.centrum.cz/domaci/spolecnost/clanek.phtml?id=746282 Grenades in The Military History Institute (acc to Eduard Stehlík).
  24. ^ Dederichs 2009, pp. 150–151.
  25. ^ Dederichs 2009, p. 151.
  26. ^ "SPOLEK PRO VOJENSKÁ PIETNÍ MÍSTA, O. S. – VPM okres Znojmo – Rešice". Vets.estranky.cz. Retrieved 12 January 2012. 
  27. ^ "SPOLEK PRO VOJENSKÁ PIETNÍ MÍSTA, O. S. – VPM okres Znojmo – Vémyslice". Vets.estranky.cz. Retrieved 12 January 2012. 
  28. ^ Heroes or cowards? Czechs in World War II
  29. ^ Dederichs 2009, pp. 151–152.
  30. ^ MacDonald 1998, pp. 186, 187.
  31. ^ Dederichs 2009, p. 152.
  32. ^ Vasiliy Tsvetkov. "A BOMB FOR GAULEITER". De Bello. Retrieved 2012-12-24. 
  33. ^ "The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich", The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team
  34. ^ MacDonald 1998, p. 202.
  35. ^ MacDonald 1998.
  36. ^ Burgess, Alan, Seven Men At Daybreak. ISBN 0-553-23508-7
  37. ^ Axis History Forum • View topic – Last fight of Heydrich's killers
  38. ^ Cowdery, Ray R. & Vodenka, Peter, Reinhard Heydrich: Assassination. Victory WW2 Publishing Ltd. (1994) Lakeville, MN, USA
  39. ^ Karl von Treuenfeld: Report about the employment of Waffen-SS 23 June 1942 (in Czech translation)
  40. ^ Williams 2003, p. 223.
  41. ^ 'Czech Traitors Hanged Today", 1947, The Free Lance-Star
  42. ^ "Trial and terror in a by-gone Prague", 2007, The Telegraph

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Operation Anthropoid

Coordinates: 50°7′4″N 14°27′51″E / 50.11778°N 14.46417°E / 50.11778; 14.46417 (Assassination location in Prague)

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