The Antropoid Operation, Denating Checoslovaquia

THE ANTROPOID OPERATION, DENATING CHECOSLOVAQUIA

The anthropoid operation, executed on May 27, 1942, was an ultrasecreta operation that had as intellectual authors Czechoslav President DR. Edvard Bene, from his exile in London, along with Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain;This was the murder of the Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich of the Bohemian and Moravia protectorate, decreed on March 16, 1939, by the Führer;Heydrich was the third in the Nazi hierarchy, nicknamed by the divergent Czechs as "the blonde beast" and cataloged by Hitler as "the man of the heart of iron";This operation was entrusted to Sergeants Czechs Josef Gabcík and Jan Kubiš, and helped by the Czech resistance, eliminated by the Gestapo, and by other undercover British operations such as Silver to. This work aims to analyze the objectives, risks and consequences of this operation, and thus measure its success in its objective of destabilizing the Nazi regime in Czechoslovakia, through the death of the Protective.

The objective of the operation, killing one of the Supreme Leaders of the Nazis in the old Czechoslovakia, was based on “[…] to demonstrate to the Nazis that none of them was untouchable […]”, in addition, to be a remuneration for theterror unleashed in the protectorate and destabilize the Nazi regime in Czechoslovakia;On the other hand, historian Robert Gerwath adds that the operation was also born in the face of the despair of the British and French for the constant defeats against the Germans, so, “[…] the British hoped to cause popular discontent in the territoriesoccupied by the Nazis, thus diverting vital military resources for the Germans towards the different focus of conflict.

[…] ”, Thus, allies can gain more territory in the trenches, because of distracted Germany. In addition, he suggests that the British Special Operations Directorate (SOE), created by Churchill to "set fire to Europe", had had little or nothing successful since its creation in July 1940, was "desperate to achieve some kind of successthat justified its existence ”, which is why, Operation Antopoide became its hope of existence, so it should be effective;On the other hand, Heydrich was a very important figure among Nazism, described by the ex official of the Gestapo Hansjürgen Kölher as “[…] the power behind the throne that moves the threads and follows its own and dark destinations. […] ”, Therefore, his murder would destabilize the Nazi regime.

The operation was executed on May 27, 1939, a day before Reinhard starts towards Berlin, a scenario faithfully portrayed in the man of the iron heart directed by Cédric Jimenez and described in Assassination, the sergeants Josef Gabcík, Jan Kubiš, withThe help of Lieutenant Adolf Opálka and the host Josef Valčík, as vigilantes, executed the operation, in the corner where the Heydrich vehicle would reduce the speed, Gabcík went to the road and lifted the subfusil Sten, but stuck and heydrich with his driver, they got up starting to shoot, Kubis from behind threw a grenade that exploded on the tire of the car, causing minor injuries to Reinhard, he pursued what could Gabcík, while the driver to Kubis, achieving both escape. The four went to the houses of the resistances and then to the "San Cirilo y Methodio" church, where they were located, along with Jaroslav ŠVARC, Josef Bublík and Jan Hrubý, other infiltrated agents;Because of the information provided by Karel Kurda, assistant to the operation classified as a traitor, to the Gestapo.

The reprisals for that act were presented from the moment Heydrich died, “Hitler out of himself ordered Hermann Frank, High Command of the SS and Chief of the Protectorate Police, who executed ten thousand Czechs in retaliation for the attack by the attack’;However, the order was not fulfilled, because Hermann Frank insisted the Führer that this would cause a negative effect for the economic interests of the regime.

Following the traces of the paratroopers, where they are supposed to protect themselves, it is ordered from Berlin “a decision on the final bloody of a Czech people to atone. The name of the people is leader ”, a people who are destroyed and its murdered people, as retaliation for the death of the Protector Reich. After that, with Karel Kurda’s statement, the Nazi military discovered what was left of resistance, capturing them and executing them with their families;where only a few were saved.

On the other hand, the authors of Assassination comment that the Nazi regime, despite its undeniable loss, remained in force with its protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, that “the protective government convened a public meeting in the Plaza del Casco.The Nazi propaganda, to denounce the murder of Reinhard Heydrich and proclaim the Czech Nation alliance to the Kingdom of Hitler, ”stating that sixty thousand residents of Prague participated in the demonstration;stating that, despite everything, a large amount of the Czech people aligns the party. This campaign, in which according to Nazi estimates, participated about 1.5 million people culminated on July 3, 1942. In contrast to Nazis actions, Eva Manethovah comments that "the attack on Heydrich showed that the Czech nation had not complied with the Nazi occupation and that he was determined to fight for his freedom".

The reprisals imposed by the Nazis to Czechoslovakia, such as the total elimination of leaders and other peoples, together with the execution of thousands of Czechs, were perfect excuse for, on Wednesday, August 5, 1942, British Minister of Foreign Affairs Anthony Eden Eden Eden Eden Eden Eden Eden Eden Eden EdenHe sent the Minister of Foreign Affairs Czech Jan Masaryk a letter expressing that “it was, through this act, after the murder and bloody repressions of the Nazis against Czech citizenship, which Great Britain finally revoked the Munich agreement." 

However, according to several authors and to history itself, Hitler continued with the Nazi regime in his protectorate in Bohemia and Moravia, until the arrival of the Russians at the end of the war, which really meant the liberation of ancient Czechoslovakia of theNazi regime.

Taking into account what was studied, the response to conjecture was the anthropoid operation in its attempt to destabilize the Nazi regime in Czechoslovakia? It is that, the operation was certainly a turning point in Nazism, since, it was aimed, it was an incentive for the other occupied peoples to fight the regime. In addition, the facts unleashed because of this operation, which sat on the population with the total elimination of lídice;What led to consider whether the number of people in the campaign offered by the Führer, after Reinhard’s death, were there for fear of the regime or for a real support for these. It should be noted that such exasperating measures were a great justification for Great Britain, to revoke the Munich Pact;thus separating responsibilities with Nazi Germany. 

Finally, the protectorate continued until the total liberation by the Russians in the last moments of the war, demonstrating that the operation marked a precedent, managing to destabilize the regime, but not to eradicate it at all.