DEATH OF THE BUTCHER

On 27 May, SS officer and governor of the Nazi occupied protectorate Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich, was attacked by two Czech soldiers in Prague. Trained by the British Special Operations Executive, Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabcík inserted into the country months earlier and met with the Czech resistance while they planned the assassination of Heydrich. The pair ambushed Heydrich’s car while he was travelling to his headquarters in Prague Castle. Known as the ‘Butcher of Prague’ for his ruthless tactics, Heydrich had months earlier presided over the Wannsee Conference, in which he put forward the Nazis’ “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” in Europe. Heydrich died days later of his injuries sustained during the attack.