Operation Anthropoid

Overview

Reinhard Heydrich, the commander of the German Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), the acting Reichsprotektor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a principal architect of the Holocaust, was attacked during the Second World War in a coordinated operation by the Czechoslovak resistance. The assassination attempt, code-named Operation Anthropoid, was carried out by resistance operatives Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš on 27 May 1942. Heydrich was wounded in the attack and he died 8 days later of his injuries.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

Operation Anthropoid resulted in the death of Reinhard Heydrich, commander of the German Reich Security Main Office and acting Reichsprotektor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, making it one of the few successful targeted killings of a senior Nazi official during the war. Heydrich was also a principal architect of the Holocaust, and his removal from command had direct implications for the German occupation apparatus in Bohemia and Moravia. The operation was carried out by Czechoslovak resistance operatives Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, demonstrating the reach and capability of Allied-backed resistance networks operating inside occupied Europe during the war.

Tactics