May 27, 1942: Czechoslovak Paratroopers Assassinate Reinhard Heydrich in Prague

On May 27, 1942, Czechoslovak paratroopers Jan Kubiš and Jozef Gabčík, trained by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, Nazi "Reichsprotektor" of Bohemia and Moravia, on his way into Prague. Heydrich died of his wounds on June 4. The paratroopers were betrayed and killed two weeks later.

The vicious reprisals took some 5000 lives, most notoriously, the murder of the villagers of Lidice and razing of the entire town, which aroused international outage.

Czechoslovak postage stamp (part of a series commemorating World War II), issued on the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination:

Below, commemorative t-shirt sold at the shrine to the resistance movement at the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius, where the two assassins and other paratroopers were killed.

The motto means, die in order to live.

Previous posts on this theme:

• 27 May 1942: Assassination of Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich by Czech Paratroopers  (2009)
• The Heydrich Assassination: "Killing Heydrich" (documentary) (2010)
• 4 June 1942: Death of Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich; reflections on the new monument at the assassination site (2010)
• 9-10 June 1942: Nazis Destroy the Czech Village of Lidice (Heydrichiade) (2010)
• "this most savage single act of repression": the Washington Post reports the Lidice massacre, June 1942 (2015)
• Commemorations of Lidice on Medals and Stamps (2015)
• 18 June 1942: Nazis Kill Heydrich Assassins in Bloody Church Shootout (2010)