Today is the anniversary of one of the worst war crimes in WWII.
Is the death of one Nazi leader worth the death of thousands of people? Reinhard Heydrich was a protégé of Heinrich Himmler. He was the head of the Reich Main Security Office and then was appointed Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. He was given the job to crack down on Czechoslovakian resistance and “encourage” more production from Czech workers making essential war supplies. He was successful and earned the nicknames the Butcher of Prague, the Blond Beast, and the Hangman. Czech intelligence pushed the British to assassinate him. The mission was given to the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and they found two exiled Czech soldiers who were trained for the mission. The men were Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubis. They were parachuted near Prague and put up in safe houses as they planned the killing. It was decided to intercept Heydrich on his commute to work. Heydrich traveled in an open car to show his confidence. The attempt took place on May 27, 1942. Gabcik stepped in front of the car, but his Sten machine gun jammed. Instead of speeding on, Heydrich ordered his driver to stop and Heydrich opened fire with a pistol. Meanwhile, Kubis approached from behind and threw an explosive which hit the back of the car. The blast was powerful enough to seriously injure Heydrich. He staggered out of the car to exchange fire with Kubis, but then collapsed. Both assassins were able to escape. Heydrich looked like he was recovering when he suddenly took a turn for the worse and died of sepsis on June 4. A manhunt failed to find the two killers until a member of the resistance gave information in return for the bounty. The families that aided the two men were tortured, executed, or sent to concentration camps. The Germans found out that the two men and some accomplices were hiding in a church. 750 SS troops assaulted the church and in a two hour gun battle killed the Czech patriots. The retaliation made people wonder if it was worth it. Over 5,000 Czechs were killed. The most infamous action was the targeting of the town of Lidice on June 2, 1942, because of false information that it had been connected to the assassination. 199 men were executed. 195 women were hauled off to Ravensbruck concentration camp, where most died. 95 children were captured. 81 were killed in gas vans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Reinhard_Heydrich
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