Tag Archives: Heinrich Himmler

Operation Anthropoid and the Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (Volume 5, Episode 5) Part One

In 1942, the Czech government in exile decided to parachute two commandos into the former Czechoslovakia to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, considered the most brutal and sinister Nazi in Occupied Europe.  Code named Operation Anthropoid, this suicide mission remains one of the most heroic and remarkable stories of World War II.

Himmler and Heydrich, Vienna, 1938

Nazi lore has it that Heinrich Himmler, appointed in 1929 as the head of the newly formed SS, was intent on developing a unit consigned with obtaining and organizing intelligence on both internal party members and external individuals of political and social interest, essentially an elite domestic spying apparatus.  Heydrich’s dossier was given to Himmler by a Von Osten connection and the Reichsfuhrer was impressed enough to summon the former officer to headquarters in Munich.  However, at the last minute the interview was cancelled, a development that Heydrich and Lina perceived as a sign that he had been eliminated from consideration.  Heydrich, encouraged by Lina, decided to keep the appointment anyway and when he got to Munich, managed to wangle a 20 minute interview.  As it turned out, the appointment was cancelled merely because of Himmler not feeling well and he was doubly irritated by having to deal with an official matter during his illness.  Initially resolved to quickly dispense with this annoyance, the Reichsfuhrer brusquely informed the candidate that he had twenty minutes to describe how Heydrich would organize a potential internal party intelligence agency.  It probably did not hurt that the six foot, blonde haired, blue eyed candidate exactly fit the Aryan physical prototype of the perfect SS man.  Himmler was so surprised and impressed by Heydrich’s thoughtful and detailed response that he hired him on the spot.  Reinhard Heydrich, 27 years old, was now the head of what eventually became known as the Sicherheitsdienst or SD, literally, in English, the Security Service.

Heydrich as a Naval Cadet

Reporting to the German naval port city of Kiel, Heydrich quickly was perceived as an outsider, especially when he showed up for training with a violin.  This possession differentiated him from his lower class compatriots as pompous and even effeminate.  His high-pitched voice, tall, gawky demeanor and lack of self confidence did little to endear him to his fellow cadets, another native of his hometown did him no favors by repeating the rumor that he was actually Jewish.  A lesser individual might have crumbled under this type of adversity but instead Heydrich thrived on his loner status, becoming technically proficient in wireless operations and passing language exams in French, Russian and English.  He completed his initial training, received promotions and excelled in athletic competitions that included fencing, horse riding and even membership in the naval pentathlon team.  Heydrich’s naval career progressed positively during the twenties and resulted in a promotion to sub-lieutenant, an officer’s rank.

Edvard Benes, President of Czechoslovakia

To maintain his personal profile and also the national relevance and autonomy of his organization, Eduard Benes resolved that some bold and decisive action must be undertaken, even if it was symbolic, to reassert, even conceptually, the existence of the Czech resistance.  He also hoped that the operation was so bold as to serve as a catalyst for a massive uprising of the Czech population. This concept precipitated the specific plot to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, code named Anthropoid.

Jan Kubis

Secret commando agents had parachuted into the former Czechoslovakia already, with very limited success.  Most were rounded up and executed after only a few weeks of operation.  But these agents came from an ongoing initiative, assisted by the British Special Operations Executive, to continue to infiltrate Czech operatives into the Protectorate.  From this operation two commandos were selected, Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubis, for the specific purpose of killing both Heydrich and Karl Herman Frank.

Martin Gabcik

It was not until December 28, 1941, that the British Air Command provided a long-range Halifax bomber to transport all nine of the Czech agents to three separate drop zones.  The flight, with sixteen men total, including crew, and a full load of fuel did not allow for any evasive maneuvers in the event of detection, but the bomber made it across France and Germany without incident.  Unfortunately, short summer nights meant that the darkness necessary for such an operation was only possible in the dead of winter.  Thus, freshly fallen snow removed any opportunity to note landmarks identifying appropriate drop zones, nevertheless Gabcik and Kubis went out first the other two teams jumping shortly thereafter.

Karl Hermann Frank

Heydrich used information provided by Karl Herman Frank, another Nazi official in the Protectorate administration, to aid in this process.  Frank believed that should Von Neurath be pushed aside, he would be appointed as the replacement.  On September 21, 1941, all interested parties met at Hitler’s East Prussian bunker headquarters to discuss this situation.  First, Frank met with Hitler to enumerate issues and complaints concerning Von Neurath and even was afforded the privilege of eating lunch with the Fuhrer.

Kurt Daluege and Himmler, Poland

Karl Herman Frank was again denied a promotion, the SS General Kurt Daluege was appointed as temporary Reichsprotector.  Himmler sent his personal physician to take charge of Heydrich’s treatment, Goebbels wrote in his diary that “such an attack could set a precedent if we do not counter it with the most brutal means.”

The turn where the assassination took place, 1942

Operation Anthropoid and the Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (Volume 5, Episode 5) Part Two

In 1942, the Czech government in exile decided to parachute two commandos into the former Czechoslovakia to assassinate  Reinhard Heydrich, considered the most brutal and sinister Nazi in Occupied Europe.  Code named Operation Anthropoid, this suicide mission remains one of the most heroic and remarkable stories of World War II

On the evening of June 26, 1942, Heydrich hosted a concert featuring classical music composed by his father. Twelve hours later he would be fighting for his life after one of the two parachutists successfully detonated an anti-tank grenade near his limousine.
Heydrich’s convertible Mercedes-Benz limousine after the commando attack.

But Kubas had also approached the car, undetected and he hurled the grenade towards the open interior of the vehicle.  He missed badly, the device skittering against the rear right tire and exploding against the side and undercarriage of the Mercedes.  Although inaccurate, the blast was intense enough to shatter the tram’s windows and send shrapnel into a group of passengers exiting the streetcar.

St. Cyril and Thelonius Cathedral, where the commandos made their final stand against overwhelming Nazi force.

It is not known where exactly Kubis and Gabcik hid in the first days after the assassination.  But, understanding that it was only a matter of time before they would be located, Jan Zelensky arranged for seven of the fugitive commandos to be hidden in the expansive crypt of the Saint Cyril and Methodius Cathedral, Prague’s most prominent Czech Orthodox church.

Heinz Pannwitz, Gestapo investigator

Heinz Pannwitz, the local Gestapo official in charge of the investigation and manhunt decided that a change of strategy was in order.  He got Frank to agree to announce that an amnesty would be provided to any citizen who provided valuable information about the assassins, as long as this occurred before June 18.  If an arrest was not forthcoming by then, 30,000 Czechs would be detained and executed.

Vent that led to the crypt at St. Cyril and Thelonius cathedral, bullet holes were made during the final standoff.

The only other access was through a narrow opening leading to the exterior of the church, essentially for ventilation.  Not wanting to instigate another mass suicide, Pannwitz attempted to reason with the remaining commandos inside.  Announcements via loudspeaker blared that the defenders would be treated as POW’s if they surrendered.  Petrek, and even Karol Curda, was sent up to the narrow opening, hoping to induce a peaceful conclusion.  Upon hearing Curda’s voice, one of the defenders let loose with gunshots and yelled that they would never surrender.  Pannwitz then tried having the city fire department flood the crypt, jamming large fire houses down the vent and releasing hundreds of gallons of water a minute as well as tear gas into the crypt, to no avail.  The hoses were pushed out by the defenders, who also hurled Molotov cocktails at the firemen.

Horst Bohme, ranking officer at Lidice, with Karl Hermann Frank and Himmler.

The ranking officer on the scene in charge of the Lidice massacre, Horst Bohme, disappeared at the end of the war and was declared legally dead in 1954, most likely a suicide.

Lidice, after initial German demolition.

Even before Heydrich’s state funeral in Berlin concluded, on the evening of June 9, upon hearing the details of Lidice’s defiance, Hitler ordered the village to be completely destroyed.  At 9:30 at night, the village was sealed off, men over the age of fifteen were separated from the town’s women and children, and in groups of ten were placed against a wall and shot.  At midday on the tenth, all 173 men were dead.  They were buried in a mass grave dug by concentration camp inhabitants from Theriesiensdtadt.  203 women were placed on an armed transport to the women’s concentration camp facility at Ravensbruck.  Although brutal, this was not an extermination camp, 143 of these deportees survived their imprisonment.  As many as 105 children were detained, the exact number unclear based on their ultimate fates.  Only a handful of these victims were determined to be suitable for “Germanization,” several eventually murdered in German orphanages.  The rest were consigned to the Chelmno extermination camp.  Only seventeen made it home after the war.

Lidice memorial to the child victims of the Nazi massacre.

Operation Anthropoid and the Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (Book and Music Information)

The books used in this podcast included:

“The Killing Of Reinhard Heydrich,” by Callum MacDonald and

“Hitler’s Hangman,” by Robert Gerwarth

The music used in the intro of part one and the outro of part two was:  “The Empty Moons of Jupiter,” by DivKid.

The music used in the outro of part one and the intro of part two was, “Surrrender,” by Asher Fulero.