On This Day in 1942, Reinhard Heydrich—one of the chief architects of the Holocaust—drove through Prague on his regular route






On This Day in 1942, Reinhard Heydrich—one of the chief architects of the Holocaust—drove through Prague on his regular route

OnThisDay in 1942, Reinhard Heydrich—one of the chief architects of the Holocaust—drove through Prague on his regular route. Waiting for him were two Czechoslovak agents, Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík. They were on a secret mission to assassinate Heydrich. 

Heydrich joined the Nazi Party and the SS in 1931 and quickly rose through the ranks. As head of the Reich Security Main Office, he was a key player in the development of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question," the Nazi plan to murder Europe's Jews. 

At the time of his death, Heydrich was also the acting Reich Protector of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, based in Prague. In this position, he oversaw harsh occupation policies targeting the Czech population, including the Nazi persecution of Czech Jews. 

In 1941, the British Special Operations Executive and Czechoslovak government-in-exile began developing a plan to assassinate Heydrich. Kubiš and Gabčík were tasked with this important mission.

After parachuting into the German-occupied Czech lands, Kubiš and Gabčík ambushed Heydrich on his drive, rolling an explosive under his car. Heydrich died a few days later on June 4. 

In retaliation for Heydrich's death, the Nazis unleashed a wave of terror in the Czech lands. In the town of Lidice, the Germans shot the men and deported the women and children. They then razed Lidice to the ground. 

Kubiš and Gabčík were eventually discovered by the Nazis. While Kubiš succumbed to injuries in a shoot out, Gabčík committed suicide before he was captured. Both are remembered today for their role in the resistance to the Nazis.

Photo 1: National Archives
Photos 2 and 3: Alamy

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