Prague Resistance in WW2: The Czech Martyrs

Prague is a beautiful city with a riveting history. But most visitors pass through the capital without hearing what I think is one of Prague’s most intriguing tales. It involves Operation Anthropoid and the Czech resistance during WW2. And I was lucky to discover it before I reached Prague.

As a diehard history buff, I’m drawn to places where key events occurred. And I love retracing the steps of historical figures. At each spot, I try to imagine what it was like to be right there as history unfolded. What would I have done in their shoes? How would I have felt?  

Churchill’s bunker in London. Anne Frank’s hideout in Amsterdam. The very location where Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, and an abandoned watchtower where the Berlin Wall once stood. Each one impressed me. But the bullet-ridden church at 9 Resslova Street in Prague’s “New Town” topped them all.
 

Nazi Occupation of Prague 

During WW2, the Czech Republic was still known as Czechoslovakia. From September 1941, Reinhard Heydrich— a senior official in the SS— ruled the area as Hitler’s hand-picked emissary. Heydrich’s nickname, the Butcher of Prague, tells you a lot about the man. But it’s also important to know Heydrich was a key proponent of The Final Solution— Nazi Germany’s plan to annihilate the Jewish people.   

So the exiled Czechoslovak government plotted with the British to assassinate Heydrich. The plan was codenamed Operation Anthropoid. In December 1941, Czech commandos Jan Kubiš, 28, and Josef Gabčík, 30, flew from England toward their homeland. They parachuted into the countryside near Prague, where they joined local resistance fighters to carry out their assignment.  

Operation Anthropoid — The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich

After several operational setbacks, the pair met their quarry on the morning of May 27, 1942. Heydrich and his chauffeur were in a Mercedes convertible on their way to Nazi headquarters at Prague Castle. The car slowed for a bend in the road.   

Gabčík waited there for them. As the Mercedes braked, Gabčík tried to shoot Heydrich, but the gun jammed. Kubiš instead tossed a grenade that exploded next to the car and fatally wounded Heydrich. The SS leader died on June 4, 1942, and became the only top Nazi leader to be assassinated during WW2.

And as Gabčík and Kubiš surely knew beforehand, it was no small thing to kill a senior SS official. 

Nazi Reprisal for Operation Anthropoid

The Nazi reprisal was brutal and infamously included the annihilation of the town of Lidice on June 9, 1942. (The SS mistakenly thought the townspeople aided the parachutists.)

Kubiš, Gabčík, and several other members of the Czech resistance went into hiding. But an intense Nazi manhunt forced them to abandon local safe houses. They found refuge for several days in the basement crypt of the Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius at 9 Resslova Street. But an informant betrayed them, and several hundred SS troops surrounded the church on June 18, 1942.

Movies Inspired by Czech Resistance During WW2

The Nazis tried unsuccessfully to storm the basement. Then they focused their attention on a street-level portal into the crypt. But tear gas, flooding, and a 6-hour barrage of gunfire failed to evict the Czech resistance fighters.

The assassins and their compatriots fought until their ammunition ran out. They either died of their wounds or killed themselves with their last bullets to avoid surrender. Their courage and resourcefulness in the face of overwhelming odds inspired two movies. The more recent one, Anthropoid (2016), stars Golden Globe winner Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan. (Click the green button below to watch it.)

A Memorial to Czech Resistance During WW2

Once in Prague, I made a beeline for the cathedral. It’s away from the main tourist area but fairly easy to reach. To my astonishment, the stone front wall is still pockmarked with Nazi bullet holes around the portal to the crypt. A plaque in Czech commemorates the events here but is lost on English-speakers. Inside, though, is a memorial to the “Czech Martyrs”, as locals now refer to them. A new museum (with signage in Czech and English) opened next door in 2022.

Visitors can enter the very crypt where the resistance fighters spent their last days. It’s bone chilling to see where they slept and to peer through that same portal. The crew’s desperation is evident in the failed escape tunnel they started to dig. Even the books they brought with them remain— stained with the blood of their owners. I have goosebumps as I write this, thinking about everything they went through.

Connecting with Operation Anthropoid 

I can’t help imagining how it felt to be in the fighters’ shoes—before, during, and after the assassination. The movie really helps to contextualize events. It  underscores just how complicated, daring, and— for the Czechs— costly the assassination really was.

Knowing the assassins’ names and their story before I visited allowed me to “connect” with the place, with them, and with that moment in history in ways that would have been lost to a casual tourist on the street outside. 

National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror – Hours and Cost

The memorial (museum and crypt) is open Tuesday through Sunday from 09:00 to 17:00.  Admission is free. For more information and to plan your visit, click here. 

Prague is rich with opportunities like this one— I’ll share more of them in future posts. In the meantime, for more WW2 travel tips, read my articles about the Eagle’s Nest in Germany, a visit to Hitler’s bunker, and Malta’s WW2 sites.  

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