Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich

On May 27, 1942, two members of the Czechoslovak resistance attacked and mortally wounded Reinhard Heydrich, a prominent Nazi official. The two Czechoslovak agents tasked with the assassination were Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík. They trained in Great Britain and parachuted into the Czech countryside in late 1941. On the day the attack, they lied in wait on a road in Prague. As Heydrich’s car slowed around a tight curve, Gabčík attempted to shoot Heydrich. However, Gabčík’s submachine gun jammed. This forced Kubiš to throw a bomb at the automobile. The bomb exploded near the rear wheel and injured Heydrich, who had ordered the chauffeur to stop the car, so he could shoot back at Gabčík. Heydrich was not mortally wounded by the blast. However, shrapnel from the explosion required Heydrich to be hospitalized, and led to septicemia (blood poisoning by bacteria). Heydrich died from this infection on June 4, 1942.

In retaliation for the attack, the Germans unleashed a wave of terror against the Czechs. For example, they destroyed the Czech village of Lidice.