Prague to Celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Operation Anthropoid

This year marks the 80th anniversary of Operation Anthropoid, – the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, acting Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia and the third highest-ranking Nazi.

The capital, in cooperation with the city district of Prague 8, is planning a series of thematic events to commemorate this important landmark of the Second World War.

The celebrations will take place on Friday and Saturday 27 and 28 May at the Operation Anthropoid Memorial in Libeň, in the grounds of the Great Löwit Mill and in Thomayer’s Orchards.

The reconstruction of the assassination in Libeň will take place after 10:30am – the time when parachutists Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš attacked Heydrich’s vehicle. Military aircraft flyovers, including a World War II era Hawker Hurricane, will take place above the Anthropoid memorial in Libeň after which a commemorative act will be held, the Czech News Agency writes.

A rich program will start at 2 pm in U Českých loděnic Street, and in Thomayer’s Orchard, which will continue on Saturday 28 May.

The program will feature, for example, Scottish bagpipers sung by the children’s choir of the Taussigova School. Other bands include Petr Sovič & Golden Big Band Prague, the Ježek Track Orchestra, and the Taxmeni Group.

Operation Anthropoid

Anthropoid was the cover name for a secret parachute airdrop sent from the United Kingdom during World War II to the territory of the then Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. It consisted of two soldiers of the Czechoslovak exile army Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš.

It was a diversionary operation, the main aim of which was the assassination of the deputy Reich-Protector Reinhard Heydrich, which took place on May 27, 1942.

The operation was successful, Heydrich died as a result of his injuries on June 4, 1942. However, the participants in the operation paid for their actions with their lives.

Together with other paratroopers, they succumbed on June 18, 1942, in a fight outnumbered by Nazi soldiers in the Church of St. Cyril and Methodius in Prague.