27th May 1942: Reinhard Heydrich fatally injured in an assassination attempt in Prague

Reinhard Heydrich was a high-ranking SS official and one of the principal architects of the Holocaust. As the head of the Reich Security Main Office he orchestrated the Einsatzgruppen’s mass killings and played a central role in the Wannsee Conference, where plans for the Final Solution were devised.

Heydrich was targeted for assassination by the Czechoslovakian resistance due to his brutal rule as the acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Codenamed Operation Anthropoid, the assassination plot aimed to deal a blow to Nazi power and morale by targeting one of the regime’s most ruthless senior figures.

On the morning of 27 May, Heydrich’s open-topped Mercedes-Benz staff car encountered armed Czechoslovakian resistance fighters on a bend in the road. Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík had been trained by the British Special Operations Executive and had been preparing the assassination since their arrival in Prague the previous December.

As Heydrich’s car slowed down to negotiate the bend, Gabčík attempted to shoot him with a Sten submachine gun, but the weapon jammed. Heydrich ordered his driver to stop and drew his own pistol, but in the meantime Kubiš threw a modified anti-tank grenade at the car. The explosion caused significant damage to the vehicle and severely wounded Heydrich with shrapnel.

Although he managed to return fire before collapsing, Heydrich died from his injuries on June 4, 1942. His death triggered brutal reprisals from the Nazis against the Czechoslovakian people, including the complete destruction of the village of Lidice and the massacre of its population.

[Eric-knyn]

Czechs were getting too friendly with nahtsee govt.