'Operation Anthropoid' was the codename given to the successful plot to assassinate which senior Nazi?
"Operation Anthropoid Operation Anthropoid was the code name for the assassination during World War II of Schutzstaffel (SS)-""Obergruppenführer"" and ""General der Polizei"" Reinhard Heydrich, head of the ""Reichssicherheitshauptamt"" (Reich Main Security Office, RSHA), the combined security services of Nazi Germany, and acting ""Reichsprotektor"" of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Heydrich was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and an important figure in the rise of Adolf Hitler; he was given overall charge of the ""Final Solution (Holocaust) to the Jewish question"" in Europe. The Czechoslovaks undertook the operation to help confer legitimacy on Edvard Beneš's government-in-exile"
"and the party escaped. It took a long time for the Germans to recover from the disruption caused. The nearby U-boat docks were put out of action for months, 250 people were arrested, the Pessac area was fined one million French Francs and 12 German guards were shot. The attack was SOE's first successful industrial sabotage attack in France. Operation Anthropoid was the code name for the assassination attempt on SS-""Obergruppenführer"" and ""General der Polizei"" Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi Germany acting ""Reichsprotektor"" of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The operation was prepared by the SOE. Clarke and Wood designed"
"Atentát Atentát (english title: ""The Assassination"") is a 1964 black-and-white Czechoslovak war film directed by Jiří Sequens. The World War II story depicts events before and after the assassination of top German leader Reinhard Heydrich in Prague (""Operation Anthropoid""). The film was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Golden Prize. Czech historians have called the film the historically most accurate depiction of the events surrounding ""Operation Anthropoid"". On September 27, 1941, Reinhard Heydrich, one of the most feared top officials of the Nazi Party, an architect of the Holocaust and Hitler's possible successor, is"
"to split and operate on their own. One member of the group, Ivan Kolařík, committed suicide on 1 April 1942 in a futile effort to protect members of his family against reprisals after his cover was blown. First Lieutenant Adolf Opálka, and Karel Čurda went to Prague and joined Operation Anthropoid, a group preparing to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich. The assassination was successful, but Čurda revealed to Gestapo information that led to the finding of the hiding place of the assassins (Prague's Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral) by the Gestapo. Following a fierce battle around the church, Opálka and others were"
"the most powerful men in Nazi Germany—Reinhard Heydrich—during Operation Anthropoid, accomplished by Czechoslovak national heroes Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš. Hitler ordered bloody reprisals. In February 1945, Prague suffered several bombing raids by the US Army Air Forces. 701 people were killed, more than 1,000 people were injured and some buildings, factories and historical landmarks (Emmaus Monastery, Faust House, Vinohrady Synagogue) were destroyed. Many historic structures in Prague, however, escaped the destruction of the war and the damage was small compared to the total destruction of many other cities in that time. According to American pilots, it was the result"
"Jozef Gabčík Jozef Gabčík (; 8 April 1912 – 18 June 1942) was a Slovak soldier in the Czechoslovak army involved in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of acting Reichsprotektor (Reich-Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia, SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich. Gabčík was born 1912 in Poluvsie, part of Rajecké Teplice, Žilina district, Slovakia (former Slovak territory of Austria-Hungary). He learned to be a farrier, as well as a blacksmith. He was also taught clock making at the village of Kostelec Nad Vltavou (Bohemia). He was taught by local master blacksmith J. Kunike. He lived with the Kunike family in their house of"
"sources, German military intelligence discovered, after breaking a U.S. Navy code, that a major conference would be held at Tehran in mid-October 1943. Based on this information, Adolf Hitler approved a scheme to kill all three Allied leaders. Operational control was passed to Ernst Kaltenbrunner, chief of the Reich Security Main Office, who chose Skorzeny to head the mission. The German agent Elyesa Bazna (codenamed ""Cicero""), in Ankara, Turkey, was also brought into the operation. The NKVD alleged that, despite German secrecy, it quickly uncovered the plot following a tip-off from Soviet agent Nikolai Kuznetsov, who was posing as Paul"
"Operation Spark (1940) Operation Spark (sometimes translated as ""Operation Flash"") was the code name for the planned assassination of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler by the anti-Nazi conspiracy of German Army officers and political conservatives, known as the ""Schwarze Kapelle"" (""black band"") during World War II. The name was coined by Major General Henning von Tresckow in 1941. He believed that because of Hitler's many successes up to that time, his personal charisma, and the oath of personal loyalty to him sworn by all German army officers, it would be impossible to overthrow Hitler and the Nazis with Hitler still alive."
"in Berlin attended by all leading Nazi figures, including Hitler, who placed the German Order and Blood Order medals on the funeral pillow. The betrayer Karel Čurda was hanged for high treason in 1947, after attempting suicide. The soldiers of Operation Anthropoid, their helpers, and the Operation itself were memorialized in the Czech Republic and abroad. The oldest is the memorial plaque on Orthodox Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Resslova Street, Prague. It was created in 1947 by the ex-soldier of the Czechoslovak Army in Exile, František Bělský and is dedicated to the paratroopers, the clergymen, and other"
"Operation Fruhwirth Akcja Fruhwirth (eng. Operation Fruhwirth) - assassination attempt carried out on October 25, 1943 at SS-Scharführer Engelberth Frühwirth, which was part of an extensive campaign to eliminate representatives of the Nazi German terror apparatus in occupied Poland called Operation Heads (). The planned action to kill Frühwirth failed. The assassins mistook the aim and they shot the SS-Scharführer Stephan Klein, who was the official of the IVth Office of the Commander of the Security Police and Security Service of the Warsaw District in General Government. Klein was also sentenced to death by the Polish Underground State and his"
"appointed ""Reichsprotektor"" of Bohemia and Moravia. As a result of his brutality and oppression he is also called ""The Butcher of Prague"" or ""The Blond Beast"". A squad of agents is selected, trained and then parachuted into Czechoslovakia. The team operated in Prague and planned the attack for about six months. The mission, Operation Anthropoid, is successfully executed in the capital on May 27, 1942 by means of an ambush, but almost fails at a crucial moment when one of their Sten guns jams and they are obliged to use a grenade instead. Heydrich eventually succumbs to his wounds and"
"also killed. Adolf Opálka First Lieutenant Adolf Opálka (4 January 1915 – 18 June 1942) was a Czechoslovak soldier. He was a member of the Czech sabotage group Out Distance, a World War II anti-Nazi resistance group, and a participant in Operation Anthropoid, the successful mission to kill Reinhard Heydrich. Opálka was born into a middle-class family in Rešice and joined the Czechoslovak Army in 1936 where he served in the 43rd Infantry Regiment in Brno. The Munich Agreement and subsequent German occupation of Czechoslovakia led to the disbanding of the Czechoslovak Army, and Opálka's career ended. He escaped to"
"name was also on the list of people to be killed in ""action Heads"". Operation Fruhwirth Akcja Fruhwirth (eng. Operation Fruhwirth) - assassination attempt carried out on October 25, 1943 at SS-Scharführer Engelberth Frühwirth, which was part of an extensive campaign to eliminate representatives of the Nazi German terror apparatus in occupied Poland called Operation Heads (). The planned action to kill Frühwirth failed. The assassins mistook the aim and they shot the SS-Scharführer Stephan Klein, who was the official of the IVth Office of the Commander of the Security Police and Security Service of the Warsaw District in General"
"Operation Kutschera Operation Kutschera was the code name for the successful execution of Franz Kutschera, SS and Reich's Police Chief in German-occupied Warsaw, who was shot on 1 February 1944 by a combat sabotage unit of Kedyw of the Home Army (predecessor of Battalion Parasol) mainly manned by members of scouting and guiding Gray Ranks. This special action was a part of the larger Operation Heads - the code name of a series of executions of Nazi officials by the Polish Resistance. SS-""Brigadeführer"" und Generalmajor der Polizei Franz Kutschera became SS and Police Leader of the Warsaw District on 25"
"the mass-grave at the cemetery in Ďáblice, northern Prague, and to be given a dignified burial fitting ""the heroes of anti-Nazi resistance"". Jozef Gabčík Jozef Gabčík (; 8 April 1912 – 18 June 1942) was a Slovak soldier in the Czechoslovak army involved in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of acting Reichsprotektor (Reich-Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia, SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich. Gabčík was born 1912 in Poluvsie, part of Rajecké Teplice, Žilina district, Slovakia (former Slovak territory of Austria-Hungary). He learned to be a farrier, as well as a blacksmith. He was also taught clock making at the village of Kostelec"
"Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg Berthold Alfred Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (15 March 1905, Stuttgart – 10 August 1944, Berlin-Plötzensee) was a German aristocrat and lawyer who was a key conspirator in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944, alongside his younger brother, Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. After the plot failed, Berthold was tried and executed by the Nazi regime. Berthold was the oldest of four brothers (the second being Berthold's twin Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg) born into an old and distinguished aristocratic South German Catholic family. His parents were the last ""Oberhofmarschall"""
"of the 1959 movie ""Zamach"" by Jerzy Passendorfer. Every year the operation is commemorated by Polish Scouts. Operation Kutschera Operation Kutschera was the code name for the successful execution of Franz Kutschera, SS and Reich's Police Chief in German-occupied Warsaw, who was shot on 1 February 1944 by a combat sabotage unit of Kedyw of the Home Army (predecessor of Battalion Parasol) mainly manned by members of scouting and guiding Gray Ranks. This special action was a part of the larger Operation Heads - the code name of a series of executions of Nazi officials by the Polish Resistance. SS-""Brigadeführer"""
"Adolf Opálka First Lieutenant Adolf Opálka (4 January 1915 – 18 June 1942) was a Czechoslovak soldier. He was a member of the Czech sabotage group Out Distance, a World War II anti-Nazi resistance group, and a participant in Operation Anthropoid, the successful mission to kill Reinhard Heydrich. Opálka was born into a middle-class family in Rešice and joined the Czechoslovak Army in 1936 where he served in the 43rd Infantry Regiment in Brno. The Munich Agreement and subsequent German occupation of Czechoslovakia led to the disbanding of the Czechoslovak Army, and Opálka's career ended. He escaped to North Africa"
"exploded a few weeks later, jolting the SS guards. SS Chief Himmler immediately launched an inquiry into the incident which was deliberately blocked by Lieutenant Colonel Werner Schrader–the investigative officer in charge and, as it turned out, a fellow conspirator. Operation Spark (1940) Operation Spark (sometimes translated as ""Operation Flash"") was the code name for the planned assassination of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler by the anti-Nazi conspiracy of German Army officers and political conservatives, known as the ""Schwarze Kapelle"" (""black band"") during World War II. The name was coined by Major General Henning von Tresckow in 1941. He believed that"
"20 July plot On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The name Operation Valkyrie—originally referring to part of the conspiracy—has become associated with the entire event. The apparent aim of the assassination attempt was to wrest political control of Germany and its armed forces from the Nazi Party (including the SS) and to make peace with the Western Allies as soon as possible. The details of the conspirators' peace initiatives remain unknown, but they would have included unrealistic"
"igniting World War I after a succession of minor conflicts, while belligerents on both sides in World War II used operatives specifically trained for assassination. Reinhard Heydrich died after an attack by British-trained Czechoslovak soldiers on behalf of the Czechoslovak government in exile in Operation Anthropoid, and knowledge from decoded transmissions allowed the United States to carry out a targeted attack, killing Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto while he was travelling by plane. The Polish Home Army conducted a regular campaign of assassinations against top Nazi German officials in occupied Poland. Adolf Hitler was almost killed by his own officers, and"
"arrested Thümmel, depriving Beneš of one of his most valuable bargaining chips. Faced with this situation when the Allies were demanding more Czech resistance at the same time that Heydrich had launching a crackdown that was weakening the resistance, Beneš decided in October 1941 on a spectacular act of resistance that would prove to the world that the Czechs were still resisting. In 1941, Beneš and František Moravec planned Operation Anthropoid to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking German official who was responsible for suppressing Czech culture, and for deporting and executing members of the Czech resistance. Beneš felt his dealings"
"Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann (; ; 19 March 1906 – 1 June 1962) was a German-Austrian Nazi SS-""Obersturmbannführer"" (""Senior Assault Unit Leader"") and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust. He was tasked by SS-""Obergruppenführer"" (""Senior Group Leader"") Reinhard Heydrich with facilitating and managing the logistics involved in the mass deportation of Jews to ghettos and extermination camps in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe during World War II. He was captured by the Mossad in Argentina on 11 May 1960 and subsequently found guilty of war crimes in a widely publicised trial in Jerusalem, Israel. Eichmann was executed by hanging"
"the Germans. SOE sent many missions into the Czech areas of the so-called Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and later into Slovakia. The most famous mission was Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich in Prague. From 1942 to 1943 the Czechoslovaks had their own Special Training School (STS) at Chicheley Hall in Buckinghamshire. In 1944, SOE sent men to support the Slovak National uprising. In March 1941 a group performing commando raids in Norway, Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1) was organised under leadership of Captain Martin Linge. Their initial raid in 1941 was Operation Archery, the best known"
"Operation Scherhorn Operation Scherhorn (in English sources) or Operation Berezino (original Soviet codename) or Operation Beresino (in East German sources) was a secret deception operation performed by the NKVD against the Nazi secret services from August 1944 – May 1945. It was proposed by Joseph Stalin, drafted by Mikhail Maklyarsky and executed by Pavel Sudoplatov and his NKVD subordinates, assisted by ethnic German antifascists and communists. The main objective of Operation Berezino was to create an illusion of a large German armed group operating behind the front line in Soviet held territory and to deplete Nazi intelligence resources, through capture"
"Hans Georg Klamroth Johannes ""Hans"" Georg Klamroth (12 October 1898, Halberstadt – 26 August 1944) was, by his knowledge of the plans through distant relatives and his son-in-law Lieutenant-Colonel Bernhard Klamroth, involved in the 20 July Plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. After the bombing at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia on 20 July 1944 failed to kill Hitler, Klamroth was arrested and, after a show trial at the ""Volksgerichtshof"" on 15 August, sentenced to death for keeping his knowledge of the plot to himself. He was hanged at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin on 26 August. Reportedly he was also"
"Hans Georg Klamroth Johannes ""Hans"" Georg Klamroth (12 October 1898, Halberstadt – 26 August 1944) was, by his knowledge of the plans through distant relatives and his son-in-law Lieutenant-Colonel Bernhard Klamroth, involved in the 20 July Plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. After the bombing at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia on 20 July 1944 failed to kill Hitler, Klamroth was arrested and, after a show trial at the ""Volksgerichtshof"" on 15 August, sentenced to death for keeping his knowledge of the plot to himself. He was hanged at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin on 26 August. Reportedly he was also"
"was the subject of the 2015 UK television film ""The Eichmann Show"", featuring Martin Freeman and Anthony LaPaglia. The film intercuts dramatic scenes with historical footage from the trial. Informational notes Citations Bibliography Further reading Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann (; ; 19 March 1906 – 1 June 1962) was a German-Austrian Nazi SS-""Obersturmbannführer"" (""Senior Assault Unit Leader"") and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust. He was tasked by SS-""Obergruppenführer"" (""Senior Group Leader"") Reinhard Heydrich with facilitating and managing the logistics involved in the mass deportation of Jews to ghettos and extermination camps in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe during"
"Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German Nazi official during World War II, and a main architect of the Holocaust. He was an SS-""Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei"" (Senior Group Leader and General of Police) as well as chief of the Reich Main Security Office (including the Gestapo, Kripo, and SD). He was also ""Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor"" (Deputy/Acting Reich-Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia. Heydrich served as president of the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC; later known as Interpol) and chaired the January 1942 Wannsee Conference, which formalised plans for"
"Gran Sasso raid The Gran Sasso raid or Operation ""Eiche"" (""Oak"") was the rescue of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini by German paratroopers led by Major Otto-Harald Mors and ""Waffen-SS"" commandos in September 1943, during World War II. The airborne operation was personally ordered by Adolf Hitler, planned and executed by Major Harald Mors, and approved by General Kurt Student. On the night between 24 and 25 July 1943, a few weeks after the Allied invasion of Sicily and bombing of Rome, the Italian Grand Council of Fascism voted a motion of no confidence (""Ordine del Giorno"" Grandi) against Mussolini. On"
"Naval High Commander, Baltic, and Rear Admiral Konrad Engelhardt, head of the Kriegsmarine's shipping department, to plan and execute the ""Rettungsaktion"" (evacuation operation). Dönitz radioed a message to Gdynia in occupied Poland on January 23, 1945, to begin evacuations to ports outside of the Soviet area of operations. The operation was codenamed ""Hannibal"". Dönitz stated in his post-war memoirs that his aim had been to evacuate as many people as possible away from the Soviets. Right up until his suicide, Adolf Hitler insisted that the war go on. The flood of military personnel and German civilians eventually turned the operation"
"Operation Long Jump Operation Long Jump () was an alleged German plan to simultaneously assassinate Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt, the ""Big Three"" Allied leaders, at the 1943 Tehran Conference during World War II. The operation in Iran was to be led by SS-""Obersturmbannführer"" Otto Skorzeny of the Waffen SS. A group of agents from the Soviet Union, led by Soviet spy Gevork Vartanian, uncovered the plot before its inception and the mission was never launched. The assassination plan and its disruption has been popularized by the Russian media with appearances in films and novels. According to Soviet"
"Hans-Jürgen von Blumenthal Hans-Jürgen Graf von Blumenthal (23 February 1907 – 13 October 1944) was a German aristocrat and Army officer in the Second World War who was executed by the Nazi régime for his role in the 20 July Plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Hans-Jürgen was born in Potsdam, the son of Count Hans (XII) von Blumenthal, and was christened Hans-Jürgen Adam Ludwig Oscar Leopold Bernard Arthur. His father, a colonel in the Prussian Army, had been wounded in the First World War, during which he served as military governor of the Belgian district of Neufchâteau. The Blumenthal family,"