Operation Anthropoid – Charting The Assassination of Reinhart Heinrich in Prague
This first episode of the Too Square to be Hip podcast explores one of the darkest chapters in Czech history, the occupation of their country by Nazi Germany and an assassination that shook the country. This historical podcast / walking tour / travel guide seeks to trace the steps of the famed Czech Paratroopers as they journey to assassinate Reinhart Heydrich, a top Nazi official. Then it will follow them as they are hunted down, resulting in a heroic last stand in the. Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral.
Of the auxiliary themes covered was the price borne by civilians as a consequence of the assassination. This includes the infamous massacre at Lidice that stands as testament to the indignities inflicted upon the captive peoples of occupied Europe.
Table of Contents
- Podcast
- Interactive Maps
- Chapters
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Historical Context – Wenceslaus Square
- Chapter 2: Planning an Operation – Biskupcova Street No. 1795/7
- Chapter 3: The Man with the Iron Heart – Panenské Břežany
- Chapter 4 : The Assassination – Holešovice Curve
- Chapter 5: The Assassination Part 2 – Bulovka Hospital and Prague Castle
- Chapter 6: The Manhunt – Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral – National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror
- Chapter 7: A Brief Interlude – Paratrooper Pub – Krcma U Parasutistu
- Chapter 8: Reprisals and Commemoration – Lidice
- Conclusion and Epilogue
- Resources and Bibliography
Podcast
Here is the full podcast episode from start to finish. If you wish to listen to the episode in neatly divided sections, please see the Chapters heading below.
Interactive Maps
Map 1: Prague [Chapters 1, 2 & 4-7]
Map 2: Outside of Prague [Chapters 3 & 8]
Chapters
Introduction
Welcome to Prague! Come discover the city before we dive into our subject matter.
Chapter 1: Historical Context – Wenceslaus Square
This chapter takes the listener to the famed Wenceslaus Square to better understand the events that set the stage for Operation Antropoid.
Chapter 2: Planning an Operation – Biskupcova Street No. 1795/7
In this chapter we visit the main hideout of the paratroopers in Prague to discuss the activities of the Czech resistance.
Chapter 3: The Man with the Iron Heart – Panenské Břežany
This stop takes us outside of Prague to visit a small village that one of the most famed Nazis, Reinhard Heydrich, made home. He was the target of Operation Anthropoid.
Chapter 4 : The Assassination – Holešovice Curve
The moment you have all been waiting for! This stop takes us to the site of the assassination Reinhard Heydrich and a detailed description of the event is given. Be forewarned, this site is very different today, then it was at the time of the assassination.
Chapter 5: The Assassination Part 2 – Bulovka Hospital and Prague Castle
In this chapter we will visit the sites of Reinhard Heydrich’s death and funeral march.
Chapter 6: The Manhunt – Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral – National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror
This stop to the Church of St. Cyril and Methodius details the last days of freedom experienced by our paratroopers before their eventual demise, culminating in a blistering firefight.
Chapter 7: A Brief Interlude – Paratrooper Pub – Krcma U Parasutistu
A last stop to grab refreshments before moving on to Lidice.
Chapter 8: Reprisals and Commemoration – Lidice
This last chapter takes us to the small village of Lidice where one of the most horrifying acts of Nazi retribution took place.
*** If limited for time, stop 2, 3, 5 and 7 are optional parts of this walking tour.
Conclusion and Epilogue
Conclusion
All stories must come to an end. Come back to Wenceslaus Square to hear the conclusion to this story.
Epilogue
A last coda to this story. This chapter contains a historians perspective and the consequences of dissent.
Resources and Bibliography
This podcast was created with Audacity, a free software. The music and sound events are of free use but belong to the following authors.
Music by u_mt1uz3t7f7 from Pixabay
Sound Effects by freesound_community from Pixabay and Alice_soundz from Pixabay
If you would like to take a look at some of the primary sources in the Anthropoid Exhibition in Prague, the National Museum has been kind enough to post them here https://www.nm.cz/media/tiskove-zpravy/do-narodniho-muzea-dorazily-dva-unikatni-dokumenty-z-velke-britanie-souvisejici-s-atentatem-na-reinharda-heydricha
Other recommended readings include:
This book put our by the Czech Military, Anthropoid: 1941-1942 https://www.mo.gov.cz/assets/files/9952/atentat_en.pdf
The Archive “SILVER A and B: to re-establish communications between UK and Protectorate; ANTHROPOID: liquidation of Heydrich; PERCENTAGE: communications operation, 1941-1946, HS 4/39, The National Archives, Kew, UK.”
This New York Times article, “Brighamby, Daniel T., Nazis Blot Out Czech Village; Kill All Men, Disperse Others, The New York Times, 11 June 1942. https://www.nytimes.com/1942/06/12/archives/nazis-kill-34-more-intio-czech-cities-follow-up-the-lidice-massacre.html”
These books were also a great resource.
Cherry, Niall, Tony Moseley, Jonathan Saunders, and John Howes. You’ll Be Hearing from Us! : Operation Anthropoid : The Assassination of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich and Its Consequences. Warwick: Helion & Company Limited, 2019.
Bryant, Chad (2009). Prague in Black Nazi Rule and Czech Nationalism. Harvard University Press: Cambridge
Demetz, Peter. Prague in Danger : The Years of German Occupation, 1939-45 : Memories and History, Terror and Resistance, Theater and Jazz, Film and Poetry, Politics and War. 1st ed. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008.
Keary, F. E., ed. SOE in Czechoslovakia : The Special Operations Executive’s Czech Section in Ww2 : An Official History. Barnsley, S. Yorkshire: Frontline Books, 2022.
Leong Kok Wey, Adam. “Operation Anthropoid: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich and the Fate of a Nation.” RUSI Journal 157, no. 2 (2012): 68–75.
