History Daily - The Assassination of the Butcher of Prague

Episode Date: May 27, 2025

May 27, 1942. Two Czechoslovakian operatives assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, a principal architect of the Holocaust. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

It's the morning of May 27, 1942 in Prague in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Reinhardt Heidrich scows in irritation as his open-top Mercedes speeds through the city streets. Heidrich prides himself on his punctuality, but today he's running late. When he glances at his watch, he tells his chauffeur to drive faster. At the age of 38, Heidrich is already a high-ranking SS officer and part of Adolf Hitler's inner circle. Recently, he's been promoted and given responsibility for the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the Czech lands occupied by the Nazis. Heidrich promised Hitler he would rule with an iron fist,

and by the spring of 1942, he has already declared martial law and ordered numerous mass arrests. His harsh actions have earned him a new nickname, too. His enemies now call him the butcher of Prague. Hydrick's car approaches a streetcar ston, thronged with waiting passengers. Beyond that, the road bends sharply, and the chauffeur slows down as he approaches. But as the car glides around the corner, Heidrich spots a man on the sidewalk beside him. A man drops his raincoat, revealing a submachine gun. Heidrich ducks down, but there's no gunfire.

The man's weapon has jammed. Seizing his chance, Heidrich pulls out his pistol. His would-be assassin dives for cover, but Heidrich is too good of a shot. He shoots his assailant twice in the leg. and the man goes down. But before Heidrick can take aim again, a blast throws him backward. Hydric feels a sharp pain in his side

and sees blood seeping through his shirt. Dazed, he sits up and looks around, just in time to see a second man with a briefcase hurry away from the Mercedes. Heidric is injured, but he can't let his assassins get away. He grits his teeth, stumbles from the car,

still clutching his pistol. Heidrich shoots, but now his aim falls through. Spasm of pain ceases it. He collapses to the ground as his assailants vanish into the crowd. Reinhardt Heidrich is taken to the hospital. Still conscious, he vows revenge for the attack, but he won't live to see it. Shrapnel from the explosion has damaged his lung and spleen beyond repair, and he will die a week later from blood poisoning. It's a victory for the Czechoslovakian resistance, but it will come at a heavy price. The Nazi response will be swift and mercilessing,

They will hunt down those responsible for the assassination and execute thousands more as punishment for the attack on Reinhardt-Hydrich in the streets of Prague on May 27, 1942. From Noisor in Airship, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily. History is made every day. On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is May 27, 1942, the assassination of the butcher of Prague. It's 2.30 a.m. on December 29, 1941, and a heavy bomber flying over Nazi-occupied Prague five months before the attack on Reinhardt Heidrich. On board, 27-year-old Czech resistance fighter Jan Kubush offers up a silent prayer as the British Halifax bomber rattles around him. Jan is one of a dozen parachutists on the plane who are waiting to make their jump.

Standing behind him is 28-year-old Slovak Yosef Gavchik. The two men have been charged with a secret and highly dangerous mission. They both know they have little chance of surviving it, but they are willing to sacrifice their lives to rid their homeland of the Nazis. Czechoslovakia was carved up by Adolf Hitler in the spring of 1939. Slovakia became a separate client state run by fascist allies of Germany. Meanwhile, the Czech lands were effectively annexed by the Nazis and renamed the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. But with the support of British diplomats, Czechoslovakian leaders formed a government in exile in London. There, they coordinated efforts to end the German

occupation of their country, but the resistance struggled to secure widespread support on the ground in Czechoslovakia. Many Czechs and Slovak seem cowed to the brutality of the Nazis and the futility of opposing a force that now occupied almost all of Europe. Hoping to undermine German rule and inspire his countrymen to join the resistance, exile Czechoslovakian intelligence leader Franchich Moravits proposed a daring plan. Reinhardt Heidek had become the face of Nazi rule in Prague. Taking him out would send a powerful message and avenge the horrific treatment of Czech citizens under his rule. And so Operation Anthropoid was born.

Morovets considered dozens of highly qualified Czechoslovakian soldiers for this mission. And after rigorous evaluation, Jan Kubish and Yosef Gavchik were chosen for the job. Jan and Yosef spent many months training for the operation at a military base in Scotland. They completed dozens of practice jumps, undertook extensive weapons training, and learned the locations and code words of local operatives who would help them in their mission. All of their training has led to this moment 10,000 feet over Prague. As the plane soars over the city, Jan completes his final safety checks and nods to Yosef. The jump signal light turns from red to green, and Jan unhooks himself from the safety line.

He feels the familiar shock of adrenaline as he stares through an open door at the snow-covered city below, its twinkling lights just visible through the clouds. Jan takes a deep breath and jumps. The shock of the cold night air steals the breath from his lungs as he plummets toward the earth. The aircraft vanishes into the clouds above him as Jan pulls his ripcourt and the parachute jerks open. Five minutes later, Jan lands in a snow-packed field. He hides his parachute and goes to meet Yosef, who has landed only a few hundred feet away. The two of them must move fast or risk discovery.

But they soon realized their jump has not gone to plan. They've landed in a field miles from their plan drop location. Luckily, a resistance member lives in the area and lets Jan and Yosef spend the night with their weapons and equipment hidden in his shed. The next day, the two men set out to meet their first contact a local police inspector. But as Yon climbs the stairs to the man's apartment, he grows tense. There's every chance that this contact may have already been arrested or compromised. So when a middle-aged man opens the door,

Jan repeats the password that they've been instructed to share. Adina greets Pilsen, March 8th, is good. To his relief, the policeman recognizes the phrase and ushers them inside. He uses his authority as an inspector to get Jan and Yosef false identification papers and helps them make contact with other members of the anti-Nazi underground. But Jan and Yosef's arrival is not welcomed by everyone in Prague. When local resistance leaders learn of their mission, they warn of terrible reprisals if Hydrick is killed. They contact Czech intelligence in London and beg them to call off the attack, but the exiled leaders insist the assassination must proceed as planned. Five months of preparation will follow before Jan and Yosef will finally be ready,

and there will be no stopping them at that point. Operation Anthropoid will go ahead, and Reinhardt Heidrich will die. It's 10.30 a.m. on May 27, 1942, just moments after Jan Kubish and Yosef Gabchik ambushed Reinhardt Heidrich in Prague. With the sound of pistol shots still ringing in his ears, Jan leaps onto his bicycle. Pedestrians scream and scatter across the street as he kicks off with his feet and launches himself into the crown. Things have not gone according to plan. Yosef's submachine gun jammed and Jan's grenade only wounded Hyderick. Now, Jan maneuvers through the gaps in the crowd and pedals away as fast as he can.

He doesn't slow down until he is several miles from the scene of the attack, and certain no one has followed him. His heart races, and his lungs ache from the exertion. He wipes the sweat from his brow, but then notices blood on his hands. He must have sustained a wound in the chaos, and he knows the Germans will be looking for a man with a bicycle, but this injury will make him all the more suspicious. He has to find someone who can close. clean him up. Jan hides the bike and does his best to wipe away the blood on his face. Then he takes stock of his surroundings. Thanks to his training in Scotland and the months he spent in Prague,

Jan knows the area. There's a doctor friendly to the resistance living nearby. So he makes his way to the doctor's home doing his best to blend in with the crowds. But his heart is pounding all the way and he expects to hear the shout of a German soldier or a hand on his shoulder at any moment. But Jan reaches the doctor without incident. The man cleans and dresses his head wound. And as the adrenaline wears off, Jan feels disappointment set in. Operation Anthropoids carefully laid plans seem to have failed. Hydric has survived the attack, and now the Nazis will surely demand retribution. The failure weighs heavily on Jan's mind, but there is nothing to be done. He must go into hiding and wait for news of Yosef,

so the next morning, Jan says goodbye to the doctor and heads to his safe house, crossing his fingers that Yosef also survived the attack. Jan remains at the safe house for days. He spends his time listening to the radio, reading the papers, and anxiously waiting for news. It's not until June 4th, more than a week after the assassination attempt that Jan hears the news he's been waiting for. Bynard Hydrick has died of his wounds.

Whatever happens now, Jan knows he has done his duty. And more good news soon follows. A message reaches him that, Joseph also escaped undetected and is hiding out in another safe house in Prague. Jan breathed a sigh of relief. Operation Anthropoid is a success after all. But his celebrations don't last long. In the evening papers a few days later,

Jan reads about the Nazis' terrible retribution for Hydric's death. The village of Liedzaa, just outside Prague, has been wiped out. Wrongly believing that Hydric's assassins were there, German forces executed all male villagers over the age of 15, and sent the women and children to a nearby concentration camp. Then they raised the town to the ground. But they didn't find the men who killed Reinhardt-Hydrick. So now the Nazis make a public announcement,

unless the assassins are apprehended by June 18th, and even more terrible mass punishment will be inflicted on the Czech people. It's clear to yawn that he can't stay in his safe house any longer. He's putting the owners in too much danger, so he reunites with Yosef Gabchik and searches for a new hiding place. but no one seems willing to put their friends and communities at risk to harbor the two men. Eventually, their prayers are answered by Orthodox priests, who agreed to hide the two men in the Cathedral of St. Cyril and Methodius.

Jan, Yosef, and several other resistance fighters move into the church under the cover of darkness. It's the perfect hiding place. The high windows mean the men can't be seen at night. The thick stone walls are easily defensible, and the crypt of the church is accessible only through an inconspicuous stone hatch. The men hoped that they will be safe here, but the cathedral won't provide sanctuary for long. Soon, German soldiers will track them down, and the resistance fighters who assassinated Reinhardt-Hydricks will be forced to make their last stand. It's June 18, 1942, in the crypt of the Cathedral of St. Cyril and Methodius, three weeks after the attack on Reinhardt Heidic.

Yosef Gabchik sits crouched against a wall of the crypt, gripping his pistol. He and the other Czech resistance fighters with him count out the last of their ammunition. The men have been betrayed, and this morning hundreds of German soldiers surrounded the cathedral. So far, the resistance fighters have fought off the Nazi attack, but now they are running out of bullets and time. Yosef's partner Jan Kubish has already been mortally wounded, and another man has committed suicide to avoid capture. So Yosef and the remaining four men have retreated to the basement of the church to make their last stand. The crypt is dark, except for a sliver of light from a small window high in the wall that looks out onto the street outside. Overhead,

Yosef can hear the shouts of German soldiers as they swarm through the cathedral. He keeps his pistol trained on the hatch in the ceiling, the only entrance to the crypt. Then suddenly the voices overhead fall quiet. Yosef hears a hissing noise, followed by a gush of water. Soldiers on the street outside have pushed a hose through the window, and water is beginning to fill the crypt. The Germans are trying to flush them out. seconds tick by as water sloshes at their feet. Yosef looks grimly at his remaining companions. They'd all rather die than fall into the hands of the Nazis,

so they each wish each other luck and say a prayer for their families. And one of them takes a cyanide pill, while Yosef and the three other men raise their pistols to their temples. Yosef nods at his companions, and then fires. It has taken 750 German soldiers more than six hours to defeat the Czech resistance fighters, but Jan, Yosef, and their fellow operatives are not the only ones who pay for the assassination of Reinhardt-Hydrick. The Nazi regime will murder around 5,000 checks in revenge and send countless more to the concentration camps, including most of Jan and Yosef's friends and family.

As the highest-ranking Nazi officer to be assassinated during the war, Reinhardt-Hydricks' death was a powerful symbol of resistance. It proved that even the most feared members of the regime were not invulnerable and gave hope to insurgents all over Europe. But whether it was worth the terrible cost to the people of Czechoslovakia will be debated for decades after the attack on May 27, 1942. Next on History Daily, May 28, 1934. The first quintopolis to survive infancy are born in Canada,

only to face a childhood of exploitation as tourist attractions. For Noisor and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay, Grant. Audio editing by Moham Shazim. Supervising sound designer is Matthew Filler. Music by Thrun. This episode is written and researched by Lauren Sudworth, edited by William Simpson. Managing producer Emily Burke, executive producers are William Simpson for airship and Pascal Hughes for Noisor.