Post by dusty350 on Dec 22, 2017 23:00:19 GMT 1
Couple of weekends back, me and the missus visited Prague - capital of the Czech Republic, for a few days. It was my birthday prezzie from her this year, and a place we always wanted to visit. It's history dates back 1000 years, and is very pretty place to see. As you may know, Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Germans during WW2, and the Czech's had a particularly hard time during the occupation. Britain, France, Italy and Germany had signed the Munich Agreement in 1938, allowing Hitler to march his troops into Czechoslovakia without a shot being fired. The allies were keen to appease Hitler and avoid another war, and Hitler stated he only wanted to unite the Germans living in the Sudetenland. He in fact occupied the whole country, keen to seize the industrial facilities essential for his upcoming invasion of Europe. Many Czechs managed to escape - the Government were exiled to London, and many military personnel fled to Britain so they could fight for the allies when the time came.
War came a year later, and the Czech resistance were a constant thorn in the side of the occupying force. Keen to stamp this out, Hitler sent his third in command - Reinhard Heydrich - to Prague, to deal with the problem. He was a particularly nasty b*****d, earning the nickname "butcher of Prague", and was merciless in his pursuit of resistance members. He was also instrumental in the Nazi's "Final Solution" - the extermination of all European Jews. During his time, Heydrich all but crushed the resistance, and very little could be done to strike back against the German occupiers.
Back in Britain, the Czech Government in exile were keen to strike a blow, and send a message that showed they still existed and could take action. A team of Czech soldiers were trained in Scotland by the SOE, and parachuted into Czechoslovakia in late December 1941. 2 men were tasked with the assassination of Heydrich, 7 others had a separate mission. The 2 assassins, Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis, found safe houses in Prague and made their preperations.
By May of 1942, they were ready. They knew the route Heydrichs driver would take from his quarters to Prague castle, and waited 2 hours for the open top Mercedes to appear. They knew the car would slow for a bend in the road, and as it did so, Gabcik stepped out in front of it, took aim with his Sten gun, and pulled the trigger. But nothing happened - the gun had jammed. The driver had by now come to a complete stop and started firing at Gabcik. Unseen by the Germans, Kubis approached from behind and threw a modified bomb he had made, exploding by the running board of the car. Heydrich was injured by shrapnel from the car, and particles of the horse hair upholstery entered his body. The 2 would be assassins made an escape, and the injured Heydrich was taken to hospital, where he was expected to recover after surgery. He died from his wounds - probably Sepsis - a week later.
The Germans went beserk. Heydrich was no.3 in the German chain of command, behind Hitler and Himmler, and retribution was swift. It is estimated that 5000 Czechs were murdered by the Germans in reprisal. They were desperate to find the "Parachutists", and offered 1 million Reichsmarks for information leading to their capture. Eventually, a member of a Czech resistance group approached the Gestapo and ratted on the people that had given the assassins the safe houses. Torture led to the whereabouts of the parachutists, along with 5 other Czech soldiers. They were hiding in an Orthodox church -the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius. They were laying low hoping to escape when able, but the Germans now knew where they were and surrounded the Church with over 700 SS soldiers. It was obvious that escape was impossible now, although the 4 men who were in the Crypt attempted to break through a stone wall to find a sewer they believed was behind it. As the Germans stormed the Church, the 3 Czechs in the upper part of the Church engaged in a firefight. They weren't well armed though, and although they inflicted casualties on the German troops, they were over run. Rather than being taken prisoner, 2 saved a bullet for themselves, and a third bled to death from his wounds.
The Germans soon realised that the rest of the team were hiding in the Crypt, and struggled to dislodge them. There was a small window that provided the only light down into the crypt, and tear gas and water from the local fire brigade pumps were used to try and dislodge the men.. When it was clear there was going to be no escape, the 4 remaining men all shot themselves rather than be captured.
Heydrich was the highest ranking German official to be assassinated during the second world war. Churchill tore up the Munich agreement, saying that Czechoslovakia would regain all it's lands once the Germans were defeated.
Today, there is a memorial to the "Heroes of the Heydrich terror", and we visited it on our last day. If you have seen the film "Anthropoid", it's clear to see that the Church was used for the filming, and the sets that was used for the Crypt scenes are incredibly accurate.
This is the Church today;
20171211_144332 by David Miller, on Flickr
The window that led into the Crypt. Tear gas and water was pumped through this window in an effort to dislodge the men inside. Note also the bullet damage from a German MG34 that was trained on the opening;
20171211_144304 by David Miller, on Flickr
Inside the Crypt, looking up to the window. You can see the wall - lower right - where the Czechs had tried to break through and find the sewer;
20171212_105500 by David Miller, on Flickr
The Crypt was entered by a small trap door. The Germans did locate another entrance that was hidden by a large memorial stone hidden beneath a carpet at the front of the church. Stairs descended beneath the stone into the crypt. When the stone was removed with explosives, and the crypt fast filling with water, the Czechs knew their battle was lost;
20171212_105507 by David Miller, on Flickr
The "Choir" where 3 Czechs held off the might of the German SS. It took the Germans 6 hours to take control of the church;
20171212_112619 by David Miller, on Flickr
And the only way up or down;
20171212_112704 by David Miller, on Flickr
The main church;
20171212_112647 by David Miller, on Flickr
The Germans dislodged this memorial stone with explosives to reveal the stairs into the Crypt;
20171212_105924 by David Miller, on Flickr
Memorials to the men that died here;
20171212_105507 by David Miller, on Flickr
It was quite surreal being there. The film portrayal is very accurate which is refreshing. A more recent film - The Man with the Iron Heart - focuses more on Heydrich himself, and the Church scenes bear no resemblance to the facts at all.
The story is told in more detail here;
www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjNl6Lk0J7YAhVmKsAKHblUAd0QFgguMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FOperation_Anthropoid&usg=AOvVaw1NZk06LQ0SKShjJGZoD-Uf
And if you fancy watching a very accurate portrayal of the events;
www.bing.com/videos/search?q=operation+anthropoid+film&view=detail&mid=2D948E07E486746C773C2D948E07E486746C773C&FORM=VIRE0&mmscn=tpvh&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3doperation%2banthropoid%2bfilm%26form%3dEDNTHT%26mkt%3den-gb%26httpsmsn%3d1%26refig%3d178648320d2f48eaae8d1895502efd3a%26PC%3dASTS%26sp%3d2%26ghc%3d1%26qs%3dAS%26pq%3doperation%2banthropoid%26sk%3dAS1%26sc%3d8-20%26cvid%3d178648320d2f48eaae8d1895502efd3a%26cc%3dGB%26setlang%3den-GB
Dusty
War came a year later, and the Czech resistance were a constant thorn in the side of the occupying force. Keen to stamp this out, Hitler sent his third in command - Reinhard Heydrich - to Prague, to deal with the problem. He was a particularly nasty b*****d, earning the nickname "butcher of Prague", and was merciless in his pursuit of resistance members. He was also instrumental in the Nazi's "Final Solution" - the extermination of all European Jews. During his time, Heydrich all but crushed the resistance, and very little could be done to strike back against the German occupiers.
Back in Britain, the Czech Government in exile were keen to strike a blow, and send a message that showed they still existed and could take action. A team of Czech soldiers were trained in Scotland by the SOE, and parachuted into Czechoslovakia in late December 1941. 2 men were tasked with the assassination of Heydrich, 7 others had a separate mission. The 2 assassins, Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis, found safe houses in Prague and made their preperations.
By May of 1942, they were ready. They knew the route Heydrichs driver would take from his quarters to Prague castle, and waited 2 hours for the open top Mercedes to appear. They knew the car would slow for a bend in the road, and as it did so, Gabcik stepped out in front of it, took aim with his Sten gun, and pulled the trigger. But nothing happened - the gun had jammed. The driver had by now come to a complete stop and started firing at Gabcik. Unseen by the Germans, Kubis approached from behind and threw a modified bomb he had made, exploding by the running board of the car. Heydrich was injured by shrapnel from the car, and particles of the horse hair upholstery entered his body. The 2 would be assassins made an escape, and the injured Heydrich was taken to hospital, where he was expected to recover after surgery. He died from his wounds - probably Sepsis - a week later.
The Germans went beserk. Heydrich was no.3 in the German chain of command, behind Hitler and Himmler, and retribution was swift. It is estimated that 5000 Czechs were murdered by the Germans in reprisal. They were desperate to find the "Parachutists", and offered 1 million Reichsmarks for information leading to their capture. Eventually, a member of a Czech resistance group approached the Gestapo and ratted on the people that had given the assassins the safe houses. Torture led to the whereabouts of the parachutists, along with 5 other Czech soldiers. They were hiding in an Orthodox church -the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius. They were laying low hoping to escape when able, but the Germans now knew where they were and surrounded the Church with over 700 SS soldiers. It was obvious that escape was impossible now, although the 4 men who were in the Crypt attempted to break through a stone wall to find a sewer they believed was behind it. As the Germans stormed the Church, the 3 Czechs in the upper part of the Church engaged in a firefight. They weren't well armed though, and although they inflicted casualties on the German troops, they were over run. Rather than being taken prisoner, 2 saved a bullet for themselves, and a third bled to death from his wounds.
The Germans soon realised that the rest of the team were hiding in the Crypt, and struggled to dislodge them. There was a small window that provided the only light down into the crypt, and tear gas and water from the local fire brigade pumps were used to try and dislodge the men.. When it was clear there was going to be no escape, the 4 remaining men all shot themselves rather than be captured.
Heydrich was the highest ranking German official to be assassinated during the second world war. Churchill tore up the Munich agreement, saying that Czechoslovakia would regain all it's lands once the Germans were defeated.
Today, there is a memorial to the "Heroes of the Heydrich terror", and we visited it on our last day. If you have seen the film "Anthropoid", it's clear to see that the Church was used for the filming, and the sets that was used for the Crypt scenes are incredibly accurate.
This is the Church today;
20171211_144332 by David Miller, on Flickr
The window that led into the Crypt. Tear gas and water was pumped through this window in an effort to dislodge the men inside. Note also the bullet damage from a German MG34 that was trained on the opening;
20171211_144304 by David Miller, on Flickr
Inside the Crypt, looking up to the window. You can see the wall - lower right - where the Czechs had tried to break through and find the sewer;
20171212_105500 by David Miller, on Flickr
The Crypt was entered by a small trap door. The Germans did locate another entrance that was hidden by a large memorial stone hidden beneath a carpet at the front of the church. Stairs descended beneath the stone into the crypt. When the stone was removed with explosives, and the crypt fast filling with water, the Czechs knew their battle was lost;
20171212_105507 by David Miller, on Flickr
The "Choir" where 3 Czechs held off the might of the German SS. It took the Germans 6 hours to take control of the church;
20171212_112619 by David Miller, on Flickr
And the only way up or down;
20171212_112704 by David Miller, on Flickr
The main church;
20171212_112647 by David Miller, on Flickr
The Germans dislodged this memorial stone with explosives to reveal the stairs into the Crypt;
20171212_105924 by David Miller, on Flickr
Memorials to the men that died here;
20171212_105507 by David Miller, on Flickr
It was quite surreal being there. The film portrayal is very accurate which is refreshing. A more recent film - The Man with the Iron Heart - focuses more on Heydrich himself, and the Church scenes bear no resemblance to the facts at all.
The story is told in more detail here;
www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjNl6Lk0J7YAhVmKsAKHblUAd0QFgguMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FOperation_Anthropoid&usg=AOvVaw1NZk06LQ0SKShjJGZoD-Uf
And if you fancy watching a very accurate portrayal of the events;
www.bing.com/videos/search?q=operation+anthropoid+film&view=detail&mid=2D948E07E486746C773C2D948E07E486746C773C&FORM=VIRE0&mmscn=tpvh&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3doperation%2banthropoid%2bfilm%26form%3dEDNTHT%26mkt%3den-gb%26httpsmsn%3d1%26refig%3d178648320d2f48eaae8d1895502efd3a%26PC%3dASTS%26sp%3d2%26ghc%3d1%26qs%3dAS%26pq%3doperation%2banthropoid%26sk%3dAS1%26sc%3d8-20%26cvid%3d178648320d2f48eaae8d1895502efd3a%26cc%3dGB%26setlang%3den-GB
Dusty